Brownie (folklore)
Brownies are household spirits from English and Scottish folklore, often characterized as helpful yet mischievous beings. Known by various names such as broonie, brunaidh, and hobgoblin, these creatures are typically depicted as small, wizened figures clad in brown clothing. They are believed to live in homes or barns, where they assist with chores under the cover of night, completing tasks like harvesting crops and cleaning. However, if displeased, they can become troublesome, leading to disarray or even malevolent acts akin to poltergeists.
Brownies have roots in ancient traditions of ancestor worship and may reflect a blend of these beliefs with fairy mythology. In some regions, like the Hebrides, specific offerings such as milk or cream are left for brownies to ensure their goodwill and protection, while failing to do so could result in dire consequences. Unlike their more cheerful Germanic counterparts, Celtic folklore presents brownies as beings whose actions can turn from benevolent to harmful if offended. Tales also feature rare female brownies, like Meg Mullach, who may embody both helpful and sinister traits. The rich tapestry of brownie mythology showcases the complexities and cultural significance of these enigmatic spirits.
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Brownie (folklore)
A brownie is a household spirit in English and Scottish folklore. It is also called a broonie, brunaidh, gruagach, puck, or hobgoblin. They are the only type of fairy with brown skin. Brownies live in houses or barns, where they often are helpful in doing chores, but at times they become mischief makers who disorganise rooms. Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts, chose to dub the youngest scout group Brownies after the friendly household helpers of mythology. In Yorkshire, England, where they are called boggarts, and Scotland, where they are known as bogles, they are dangerous creatures others call poltergeists. Brownie mythology may have developed from ancient ancestor worship and merged with belief in fairies centuries ago. For example, belief in the gruagach in the Hebrides involved making offerings seeking protection for cattle, a practice that suggests the creature was once a deity.
Background
Brownies are a type of tutelary spirit, or a house fairy or guardian. In some world cultures, tutelary spirits are minor deities or house gods. They protect a house, geographic feature, family line, or occupation. In other cultures, the spirits are ancestors who protect members of a family. The tradition of a tutelary is common in many cultures. For example, the ancient Greeks believed deities protected some places. Athena was the patron of the city of Athens, while the Romans held Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva as their patrons.
The Celts were of various ethnic backgrounds but united by commonalities such as language and religion. Ancient Celtic myths are based in animism, or the belief that spiritual beings inhabit the natural world and can help or hinder humans. These sentient spiritual beings may be living creatures such as animals or trees, objects such as stones, and places such as rivers, caves, or other geographic features. Ancient Celts saw every marsh, mountain, river, and tree as a creature with a spirit.
Various forms of folkloric brownies are tied to different regions and cultures in the United Kingdom, but are also common in other cultures. Brownies are very similar to Germanic house elves and may have similar origins. Germanic folktales include more cheerful and helpful creatures, while Celtic tales tend to be inhabited by dark and suspect spirits. Celtic folklore is rife with fairy gifts that deceptively appear to be valuable—a pot of gold that is later revealed to be a worthless pile of leaves, for example. In Germanic stories, a seemingly worthless gift, such as a pile of twigs, turns into a valuable treasure when a human accepts it with gratitude.
Overview
As recently as the late eighteenth century, dairy maids in Scotland’s Hebrides Islands left a portion of milk in hollows of certain stones every day for the gruagach, who in return kept cattle from harm on the rocks. This brownie, a female creature, carried a whip stick and would use it on those who offended her by neglecting to leave her a share of the day’s milk. Some traditions hold that failure to leave an offering would be punished more severely, in that the best cow in the fold would be dead in the morning. This was a real hardship because cattle were vital to survival. Even in the early twentieth century, gruagachs were still said to reside near special stones in the countryside.
Most brownie tales describe the creature as a short male, round or of average build, dressed in brown clothing. Brownies are typically wizened and may have short curly brown hair. They may live in a building, such as an occupied house, an old ruin, or a barn, but also may reside in the hollow of an old tree. The creatures may live with members of one family for centuries. Members of a household might please a brownie with gifts of cream, bread, honeycomb, or milk, but could displease or offend with other gifts. A suit of clothing gifted to a brownie would cause it to leave forever. While typically of small stature, in many regions, brownies are male, while in a few they are female.
Helpful brownies are believed to finish tasks left undone at the end of the day. These tasks might include harvesting crops, threshing grains, churning butter, or cleaning houses or barns. They work at night in darkness. Traditionally, the woman of the house would leave a bowl of cream or other food in a place the brownie would find it. It was important to do so in a way that the brownie would not view this as payment for his actions, or the brownie would take offense and abandon the family.
Any criticism of a brownie’s work could lead to disaster. Such an affront would turn the helpful creature into a boggart, who would cause the family trouble. This might be simple mischief or malevolent acts. Because a gift of clothing causes a brownie to leave forever, the way to rid oneself of a boggart is to leave a small green cloak with a hood in the kitchen by the fire.
One Scottish tale holds that a family’s brownie grew distressed when a servant was slow in riding for the midwife when the lady of the house went into labor. The brownie put on the servant’s coat, rode to town, and brought the midwife to the house, even crossing a rain-swollen river without coming to harm. Discovering the dawdling servant still pulling on his boots to make the trip, the brownie beat the servant with his horsewhip.
Meg Mullach, or Hairy Meg, is the rare female brownie. She is said to keep an immaculate house and magically serve meals. In some tales, Meg is no helpmate, but instead steals children.
Bibliography
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