I do not think that the piskies were ever definitely held to be the spirits of the dead, and while a certain confusion has arisen, as some of Mr. Wentz's informants show, I think it belongs to the confused eschatology of modern Protestants.
"The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries"
W. Y. Evans Wentz
Maybe to Harkaway it's eschatology, but to me it's just plain scatology!"
"Once a Greech"
Evelyn E. Smith
Finally, the doctrine created an eschatology by which vistas of moral perfection were opened before purer spirits in worlds to come, and the infinite responsibilities of this life were terribly enforced by threats of endless degradation.
"Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius"
Samuel Dill