To pick up where we left off…
Shellycoat – a water bogie who haunts the coasts and rivers of Scotland, so named because of the coat of shells he wears. He finds great fun in leading travelers astray, although he is most often considered to be mischievous rather than malevolent.
Cu Sith – Fairy dogs appear in the lore of many different lands, and each has its own name for them. How they look varies as well. Sometimes they are great white hounds with red ears. Sometimes they are seen as huge black dogs with glowing eyes. However, the Cu Sith of the Scottish highlands has to be one of the most interesting I have found. They are as large as a good-sized calf or small cow, with vermilion eyes and shaggy dark green coats. And if you should come across him in Lumina and the Goblin King, this is how he would appear to be.
They can be harbingers of disaster and sometimes will foretell a man’s doom.
Hogboon – A mound dweller of the Orkney Isles, this goblin can be helpful if shown the respect he feels is his due, or bring great misfortune if he is not.
Bucca – a Cornish hobgoblin that sometimes is said to inhabit tin mines and sometimes likened to a Brownie. However, they are also mentioned in association to storms and the sea. Fisherman will often leave offerings of fish on the shore in hopes of their good regard.
I haven’t often run across them in my reading, but they are worth looking into further if you have the time.
Brownie – A household spirit often found in English and Scottish lore. They are very small, brown as a nut, and have no nose to speak of. Their clothes are often ragged, if they wear any at all. They help about the house and farm, often taking on the most tedious tasks. The only payment needed for all their hard work is a bowl of cream and a slice of bread or cake. However, their help can be easily lost if the work they do is criticized. And they may even undo all that had been done, adding more work to it besides if they feel the slight they were given warrants it.
Barguest – A bogie found in Northern England, it is often described as a great black dog bound in chains, with glowing eyes, huge claws, and on occasion, horns. It can sometimes appear as a headless man or woman. Which is the form I pictures when I was writing the scene where Lumina gets her first peak at the goblin’s market, through the Mirror Gate.
Curious to learn more? Then I hope you’ll join me for my next post. Until then, here are some resources that I have used that might go a ways to satisfying your curiosity:
The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore
By Patricia Monaghan
An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, & Other Supernatural Creatures
by Katharine Briggs
Encyclopedia of Fairies in World Folklore and Mythology
By Theresa Bane
Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee
Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins – an encyclopedia by Carol Rose
Idyll Dreams & Nonsensical Things 