Here we are now, two steps closer to the big spooky day that is taking place this weekend. There really isn’t much else that is like Halloween if you think about it, not really another day that gives it all up to the spooky stuff that may or may not exist in this world. A day that gives it up to the big orange pumpkins and all the great spooktacular decorations that people put up for one day and then immediately take down again not long after.
And thus, it is always a time that goes by really fast cause it really is just one day, but that’s why I like to make the follow up week a Halloween week as well so you can get more out of the time. It always does go by far too quickly though.
With that being said let us get on to the next part of this mythical creature consortium, with five more mythical creatures from the folklore of the United Kingdom.
Number 1 – The Boggart
A Boggart is depicted as an evil spirit that often inhabits households and causes terror or disruption/general annoyance to the inhabitants. The Boggart can also be depicted as a spirit that guards certain environments such as a field or marsh for example, these Boggarts tend to be more malicious/dangerous than the household version.
Some of the activities that a household Boggart may partake in is things such as causing milk to sour, making the pet dog go lame or causing lots of noise or make household items vanish. Boggarts may also disturb someone who is sleeping by crawling into their beds and placing discomforting clammy hands on their faces or they may rip the bedsheets off while you are trying to sleep. Families also can’t hope to flee from a Boggart either by moving house as it will follow them wherever they go.
Those Boggarts which guard certain environments may partake in more sinister activities such as abducting children for example or eating whole those who trespass on to the land. These Boggarts are said to most often live in places such as marshland, under bridges, on the bends of hazardous roads or within holes in the ground and also sometimes caves.
Some areas also have folkloric belief that a Boggart should never be given a name as it can make it even more malicious and violent with no chance of negotiating with it.
The appearance of the Boggart varies from place to place but generally they are described a small ugly looking humanoid or a mixture of beast and humanoid. They can also be hairy and be described as having long arms. Many a time the Boggart is invisible to people.
Number 2 – The Buggane
The Buggane is little known in popular culture and is an obscure piece of folklore from the Isle of Man. The Buggane is an ogre-like giant that are native to the Isle of Man, it is said the giant has the ability to shapeshift but that it also has a true form, one such description of this true form includes it having a mane of coarse, black hair, eyes that are like torches and large sharp tusks that would glitter in the light.
Some stories say that as the Buggane is a magical creature it was unable to tread on water or walk through hallowed ground. Some stories have the Buggane living in large caves. Some stories also depict battles with the giants creating certain geographical features around the Isle of Man.
Number 3 – The Silkie
Silkies are female spirits who are normally portrayed as being helpful and also guardians. They were said to perform household chores and guard households against any harmful intruders that may come about, which made them a very valued edition to the house. Some folklore also says they may sometimes be mischievous as well at times, which may lead to them leaving a house in a complete mess.
Silkies are said to be dressed in silk clothing, therefore giving them a fitting name. The folklore of Silkies originates from the Scottish-English borders.
Number 4 – The Glashtyn
The Glashtyn is another creature from the folklore of the Isle of Man. It has several different variations but is always said to be an aquatic creature. Such descriptions include it being a type of Goblin, or a young male horse known as a Colt, or that it is a mythical water horse on the Isle of Man known as the Cabyll-ushtey. Some believe it could be a shapeshifter which is why it has multiple descriptions.
Some stories talk of it also being able to transform into a human and may try and lust after woman, sometimes with intentions of turning back into its normal form and dragging them out to sea to drown them (in this case it may also try and target males as well to murder them at sea), but they can be given away by their ears, which remain horse-like. This behavior makes it very similar to the Each-Uisage, another type of mythical water horse that is said to drag people into bodies of water and drown them.
The Glashtyn in some stories can be banished by the break of day as they are not a mortal being.
Number 5 – The Kelpie
The Kelpie is an aquatic shapeshifting water spirit (although some disagree with it being aquatic, believing that it is a mix-up between the Kelpie and Each-Uisage), this one coming from Celtic folklore and is often confused with the Each-Uisage. The Kelpie is known quite well in popular culture perhaps on a similar level to the Boggart, it is certainly more well-known than the others on this list excluding the Boggart.
The most common form of the Kelpie is that of a black horse, which is why it is often confused with the Each-Uisage. The Kelpie can transform into a human, which will often be a handsome young man who lusts after woman, but almost always with sinister intentions (although there are exceptions), other forms are also possible, such as an old man and a beautiful young woman. Some stories say you can tell if a human is a Kelpie as their feet will still be hooves (which may be backwards facing), it appears that this is a common motif of shapeshifting water horses, that some part of them may still remain looking like their original form when they are disguised as a human.
Such bad intentions of a Kelpie can be that they may be murderous, such as luring a human to them and then tearing them apart and devouring them or crushing them to death.
The Kelpie is popular in the folklore of Scotland and much of its lochs and other bodies of waters will often have at least one Kelpie legend surrounding it.
The Kelpie is often portrayed as malevolent and many stories talk of them being demons in disguise. There is much association with it also being a type of bogeyman as well to make children afraid of bodies of water, to ensure that they are kept from the dangers of drowning or to give warning of young strangers, particularly for young woman.
Some stories give the Kelpie and item, such as a necklace, that if removed will have the Kelpie be unable to shapeshift unless the item is returned to them, one such story had a young woman do this to a Kelpie that had transformed into a young man in an attempt to be with her (as it was lonely, and in this instance did not have bad intentions) and made the Kelpie work on a farm like a normal horse, until a wise man told her to return the necklace to the Kelpie, the wise man then asks the Kelpie (in its human form) if it would want to remain a Kelpie or become a mortal man, which it chooses to become a mortal man as the woman had agreed to marry him If he did, they then later married and presumably lived happily ever after.
There is much, much more to the Kelpie as well, much of which deserves its own blog post.
Well, there you have it. Another five mythical creatures from the United Kingdom. See you again tomorrow for another five!
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