needfire

[ need-fahyuh r ]

/ ˈnidˌfaɪər /

luminescence, as of rotted or decayed wood.

Origin of needfire

First recorded in 1525–35; need + fire

The term “needfire” seems to be a corruption of “neatfire,” neat cattle being an old and common term.

Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland |Daniel Scott
Once a year the needfire was so lighted, and all the hearths of the village were rekindled from the blaze thus obtained.

Early Britain |Grant Allen
I never heard of the use of the needfire in the Marsh, though it was, I believe, used on the wolds not many miles off.

Balder The Beautiful, Vol. I. |Sir James George Frazer
As thou knowest, it seemed to me that I was watching two sparkles from the extinguished Needfire wheel.

The Dove in the Eagle's Nest |Charlotte M. Yonge

The last time the “needfire” was used in the Keswick neighbourhood, Mr. William Wilson says, was in 1841.

Bygone Cumberland and Westmorland |Daniel Scott