fetch-light
[Of uncertain formation; perh. f. fetch n.2, if that be an old word. But it may be f. fetch v., as the ‘corpse-candle’ is supposed to be a light sent to ‘fetch’ the doomed person.]
A name given (app. in South Wales) to the ‘corpse-candle’ (Welsh canwyll corff), a spectral light supposed to be seen before a person's death travelling from his house to his grave.
| 1692 Athenian Mercury VI. vi. 1/1 Before the Death of any person in the Family, there is an Appearance vulgarly called a Fetch-light. |