There are several kinds of household fairies. The most common in the British Isles are brownies or hob goblins. In spite of the fact that we nowadays think of hob goblins as evil, the word hob refers to the hearth, and hob goblins were household helpers.

Occasionally pixies (with "squinny eyes & hairy bodies") would be the household helpers, and in Wales, the house spirits were called Bwbacks or Bwcas. In the Isle of Man, the fenodyree was a household/farm helper. He was hairy and very strong, able to thrash a barnful of corn in one night.

Most brownie stories came from the border area between England and Scotland. Again, the themes of the stories are generally similar. These fairies might help out the family either in the home or out in the barns/ fields/mills. To attract a Bwbach, the maid would sweep the kitchen clean, make a good fire before going to bed, and put out the butter churn, filled with cream on the (spotlessly clean) hearth. She would also put out a basin of cream for the Bwbach, and go to bed. In the morning, if she was lucky, a Bwbach would indeed have come, and churned the cream until she only had to move the churn-dasher a few times before she would have butter.

Brownie-type fairies seem to have been extremely hard workers, as in the case of the fenodyree who could thrash a barnful of grain in one night. They would go on in this manner for years, until one of two things happened;
someone might insult them in some way by saying or doing something the fairy took offense to. Fairies are apparently quite sensitive, and offense might be taken at something unintended.
Or, (though again, this may be a case of offense taken where none was intended) if the fairy is offered clothing, they will leave. Apparently most brownies are hairy and naked. The farmer or his wife often feel sorry for them in the stories, and decide to give them clothing so that they will be warm. When the gift is found, the brownie leaves.

If the brownie is insulted, it sometimes just leaves and goes to the next farm. It is never a good idea to insult them, however, as they may pull nasty pranks as a result.

Not all brownies are always helpful. Some of them come in at night and if things are a mess, they tidy them, but if things are tidy, they throw them everywhere.

Early brownies were often of human size or larger (like the fenodyree), but later they are described as small, wizened and shaggy. Sometimes they were supposed not to have separate toes or fingers (webbed?), or to have just nostrils and no noses.

Some house spirits turn out to be ghosts of children who have died in the service of the house sometime earlier. One such helper turned out to be the stable boy from a previous generation, who had been killed by the lord of the manor.

The "Wag-at-the-wa" is a Scottish fairy which sat on the pot-hook hanging over the kitchen fire. It was a grotesque old man with a tail and short legs, which wore a nightcap, and a bandage tied around its face because it had a lot of toothaches. It liked children and laughed a lot, but would plague lazy servants. He also got upset if the family drank strong liquor.

Not all brownies lived around families. Some of them are guardians of orchards and similar places. One which lived in the wilderness even apparently cured whooping cough.

The boggart is a type of house fairy which is not at all pleasant like the brownie. They would live in one home, and pull nasty and sometimes dangerous pranks. (Rather like a poltergeist.) The boggart is supposed to have a long, sharp nose.

last updated Feb 20, 2000 by Strawberry