Also called Bucca Gwidden, Bucca Dhu, Bucca-boo.
The tale
The bucca was a spirit of the sea in Cornwall, to whom Newlyn and Mousehole fishermen once left a fish on the sand for luck. Farmers were said to leave a little bread on the ground and pour beer for him at harvest. Nineteenth-century collectors recorded a white bucca, Bucca Gwidden, who was kind, and a black bucca, Bucca Dhu, who was not; later the name became a bogey to frighten children.
When they are met
- after a good catch
- at harvest
- on stormy nights
Staying on their good side
- a fish left on the shore, as fishermen once did
- a little bread and beer poured on the ground at harvest
- respect for the sea
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Leave a little of a fish supper for him on the shore, well away from the tideline so it doesn't add to litter.
- Thank the sea for food whenever you eat fish.
What their tales teach
- luck at sea
- respect for fishermen
- the cycle of storms and calm
Symbols
- the fish left on the sand
- the sea
- the storm
The bucca's role as a god of Cornish witchcraft is largely a twentieth-century development.
Sources
- Hunt, Popular Romances of the West of England
- Courtney, Cornish Feasts and Folk-Lore
More Celtic folklore
- The Banshee The keening woman of the fairy mound
- Selkies The seal folk who come ashore
- The Púca The shape-shifter of November
- The Aos Sí The people of the fairy mounds
- The Kelpie The water horse of the lochs
- The Tylwyth Teg The Fair Family of Wales
- Leprechaun The solitary fairy shoemaker
- Clurichaun The fairy of the wine cellar