British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions

[EndtheMadnessNow]

Front cover to British Goblins (1880), a book of Welsh myth and folklore. Amongst the supernatural beings described are "Bwbachod", friendly goblins who help out with chores; and "Gwyllion", female fairies who haunt the mountain roads:

In British Goblins (1880) Wirt Sikes, the United States consul to Cardiff from 1876 to 1883, describes the mythology and legends of Wales, a land steeped in folklore. (Considering its geographic focus, why the book is not simply called Welsh Goblins remains a mystery.) The first section of the book concerns the fairies, which are known as “y Tylwyth Teg” in Welsh, meaning the fair folk or family. They come in five varieties: Ellyllon (elves), Coblynau (mine fairies), Bwbachod (household fairies), Gwragedd Annwn (underwater fairies), and Gwyllion (mountain fairies).

The Ellyllon are pigmy elves who haunt the groves and valleys. They dine on poisonous toadstools and fairy butter, which they extract from deep crevices in limestone rocks. Their hands are clad in the bells of the foxglove, the leaves of which are a powerful sedative. They are sometimes kindly, sometimes menacing and almost always mischievous. One variety of Ellyllon, the Ellylldan, will wait in boggy wetland and flash their fiery lures to lead travellers off the safe path, sometimes to their death.

The Coblynau populate the mines, quarries and underground regions of Wales. They are about half a metre tall, very ugly to look it, and generally good-natured. They will make a peculiar knocking or rapping sound to let miners know the whereabouts of a rich vein of ore. The word coblyn has the double meaning in Welsh of “knocker” and “sprite”. And, Wirt Sikes asks, “may it not be the original of ‘goblin’?”

The Bwbachod are friendly goblins who will help you out with chores at home or on the farm, like making butter, if you behave correctly. That means making a good fire last thing at night and leaving a bowl of cream out for the Bwbachod to drink. It also means drinking a good deal of ale yourself, for the Bwbachod hate teetotallers. There was once a Baptist preacher in Cardiganshire who was much fonder of prayers than of ale so a Bwbach took to pestering him while he prayed: jerking the stool from under him; jangling the fire-irons on the hearth; making the dogs howl; frightening the farm-boy into fits of screaming by grinning through the window. At last the Bwbach took on the exact aspect of the preacher and confronted him as he crossed a field. The preacher fainted in fright. When he eventually came to he packed up and left Cardiganshire never to return.

The Gwragedd Annwn are female fairies of the streams and lakes, particularly the isolated lakes of the high mountains, where they serve as “avenues of communication between this world and the lower one of annwn, the shadowy domain presided over by Gwyn ap Nudd, king of the fairies.”

The Gwyllion are also female fairies. They haunt the lonely roads of the Welsh mountains. Like the Ellylldan, they have a habit of luring travellers away from safety. In stormy weather they will sometimes knock on a door and ask for refuge by the fire. To refuse them is to risk great harm.

The fairies interact with non-human animals too. In the excellently titled subchapter Occult Intellectual Powers of Welsh Goats, we learn that those bearded ruminants possess secret intelligence and knowledge and are on very good terms with the fairies. Every Friday night the fairies comb their beards “to make them decent for Sunday.”

The second section of British Goblins departs fairyland and travels to the spirit world. Subchapters worth a dip include: Spectral Animals; The Gwyllgi or Dog of Darkness; The Stupid Medieval Devil in Wales; The Story of Haunted Margaret; The Corpse-Bird; and The Question of a Future Life.

Section three concerns “quaint old customs” and contains insights into such matters as: The Spiritual Potency of Buns; Marketing on Tombstones; The Puzzling Jug; Welsh Morality; and The Sin-Eater.

Section Four is all about “bells, wells, stones and dragons”. There you can discover: The Bell that committed Murder and was damned for it; The Gigantic Rock-tossers of Old; Obstacles in the way of Treasure-Seekers; Whence came the Red Dragon of Wales?; and The Goblins of Electricity.

Enjoy!

British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions (1880)

[BIAD]

Writing in 1955, folklorist E. H. Rudkin also records an Ancholme Valley belief of North Lincolnshire of an imp-like
race of beings who were generally considered mischievous but benevolent. They were 'called the Tiddy people',
(Tiddy Mon) but also the Strangers, Greencoaties and Yarthkins.

The 'Tiddy' name related to their size and Rudkin quotes a source describing them: 'They be tiddy critturs, no more
than a span high, wi' arms an' legs as thin as thread, but great big feet an' hands, an' heads rollin' aboot on their
shoulders'.



The Tiddy people would dance, by moonlight, on large flat stones, known as Strangers Stones, found in the area.
Rudkin records a local tradition of smearing the stones with blood and lighting fires on them, but was unable to
determine a meaning, or specific belief, behind the practice. The first of the crops would also be left on the
Strangers Stones, as well as bread and salt, to keep the Tiddy people happy and ensure a good harvest.
.......................................

In the Northumbrian hills of England, the Simonside Dwarves have been part of local legend for generations.
Local folklore advises an unwary traveller of the craggy heather-bound ridges to resist the invitation to take
food or shelter with them. The Brownmen or Duergar are 'bad buggers' who will tempt wanderers from their
path with their lanterns and lure them to their doom in the bogs.


.......................................


Here's another one taken from the archived Rogue Nation thread 'Myths Of Britain'.

...For purely selfish reasons, the next participant for the British myths comes from a place quite close
to where I live and among the many supernatural entities that haunt the North-East of England.

This one is a Bogle -a term that comes from Scotland and is the name of a Goblin-like creature
that some have the power to shape-shift. In my neck of the woods, one of these grotesque beings
is known as 'The Hedley Kow'.



Before you query that I misspelled the name, I haven't. I suspect one of it's manifestations was
an actual cow and being a legend from way before writing abilities reached the northern environs
of Britain, the tale used a phonetic title.

The legend. (Well, one of them!)
Along the unpaved country lanes of Hedley on the Hill - a village of Northumberland, it is said an
old lady was out collecting sticks for her fire when coming across a favourable twig, she picked
it up and placed it in her basket. Before long the basket became heavier and heavier until she
could no longer carry it and the old woman dropped it to the ground in exhaustion, spilling the
load out across the road.

The stick that had earlier caught her eye then jumped up and began to gambol away in the style
of a folk dance, swaying side to side and after some distance from the old women the lively branch
gave out a hoarse laugh before fading away.
Fine... but no cow.

The Legend. (Take Two)

Ebchester is a small village in County Durham that existed though the times of many reigns of control.
The church in Ebchester is said to be founded by Æbbe of Coldingham, the daughter of Æthelfrith,
the first king of Northumbria. Yet, the hamlet's current name undoubtedly comes from Roman times.

In around 1800, two young men from Ebchester were all dressed up in their best gear and having
arranged to meet their girlfriends down by the river Derwent, they set off into the evening with a
spring in their step and a glint in their eyes.

On reaching the banks of the river, they saw their girlfriends ahead of them walking arm and arm.
However, they were walking away from the two young men. Calling to the girls, the men ran to catch
up, but no matter how much they tried, the girls stayed ahead of them.

Focusing on their goal, the men suddenly found themselves knee deep in slimy mud and as they
struggled, the girls disappeared in a wisp of smoke and the air was filled with booming laughter.

Scrambling out of the mire, the men realised that they had been tricked by the Kow and the frightened
pair ran for home. Stumbling through the darkness, they could hear the Kow pursuing them, laughing
and taunting them all the way.

One of the men stumbled into the river Derwent between Ebchester and Hamsterley Hall and in climbing
out, collided with his friend who was tumbling head over heels down the bank towards the water.
In the gloom, the terrified pair scrambled over each other believing the Kow was on top of them.
Realising what had happened they both got up, found their footing and ran to the safety of home.

The Legend. (Family Friendly!).

A recent tale -or at least spoken of in the last century, was offered that catered more for children than
just a general myth to warn everyone. This involved the old lady again.

Our familiar old woman was once again walking the road that led to Hedley on the Hill when presumably
ignoring any kindling for her fire, her eyes alighted on a pot of gold sitting in the middle of the road.
Looking around and seeing no one near she decided to take it home.

Arriving back at her cottage -which we'll assume had no fire in its hearth, she noticed that the gold had
turned into silver. Her original intentions were to hand the gold over to the local constabulary in case it
was stolen, but now confused by her precious find, she decided to keep it!

Looking at the pot of silver, she sees the metal transform into iron and being ever the optimist, sighs and
believes the block of iron in the pot will be -at least, easier to sell at the market.

With a grunt of resignation, the old woman reaches into the pot and plucking out the iron, the chunk of heavy
metal turns into a stone which begins to wriggle in her hand. In fright, she drops it to the floor and the rock
dances across her floor and laughs as it rolls out of the cottage.

The tale ends with the old women not becoming upset and instead, chuckles to herself thinking how lucky
it was for to finally have met the Kow in person.

I suppose the moral of the tale is either always look on the bright side of life or stay off the 'shrooms'.
.................................................

But the Hedley Kow has some redeemable features, it never encroached on anyone in mourning or dealing
with great sadness. During births, it sometimes showed itself in one form or another, usually frightening the
horse of the soon-to-be father racing for the midwife.

Occasionally, the Kow would also take delight in knocking on the door of the prospective parents and when
the door was opened, the mocking sprite would disappear. The little sod also liked to mimic voices, appearing
at windows of the servant girls in the manor houses of the area pretending to be their lovers or shouting down
the hallways in their masters voices.

And finally, The shape-shifting trickster would sometimes appear as a dairy cow and would continuously avoid
the milkmaids attempt to catch it before disappearing with its familiar laugh.

So maybe that's how it got its name!

[BIAD]

Divna' follow the lights...