THE PHOOKA
An Irish Goblin, the Phooka is a shape shifter and sometimes appears as a goat, a dog, a bull, a horse, or an eagle and he is almost always black with blazing eyes. He is fond of offering rides to weary travellers, appearing to be a kind, docile pony, but then takes them for the wildest ride of their lives once they have mounted and soon after dumps them headfirst into an undesirable locale. Phookas are pack animals and frequent fights occur among the vicious creatures. The Irish believe that should the sun shine though it be raining, the Phooka will be abroad that night. The species adores human babies and are always looking for one to steal. Aside from babysnatching, they wreck havoc by destroying crops, specifically claiming any crop not harvested by Samhain. A farmer who dares to cut any crops after that date is likely to receive retribution in the form of dead herd animals (the Irish say mysteriously dead cows have been pooked.). The Phooka loves potatoes and swipes them from untended fields at night. Between Midsummer and Samhain humans are safe from the Phooka's tricks, as they are believed to go into hibernation for a time.
PUCK
Pouk was a typical medieval term for the devil.Puck used his shape-shifting to make mischief. As a shape-shifter, Puck has had many appearances over the years. He's been in the form of animals, like how the Phouka can become a horse, eagle or ass. He's been a rough, hairy creature in many versions. One Irish story has him as an old man. He's been pictured like a brownie or a hobbit. In some paintings, he looks like Pan from Greek mythology. In others he looks like an innocent child. Being misled by a Puck (sometimes the legends speak of Pucks, Pookas and Robin Goodfellows in the plural) was known in the Midlands as being "pouk-ledden."
ROBIN GOODFELLOW
Robin Goodfellow is one of the faeries known as hobgoblins or just hobs. Hob is a short form for the name Robin or Robert ("the goblin named Robin".) Robin itself was a medieval nickname for the devil. Robin Goodfellow was not only famous for shape-shifting and misleading travellers, he was also a helpful domestic sprite much like the brownies. He would clean houses and such in exchange for some cream or milk. If offered new clothes, he'd stop cleaning. There are stories of the Phouka and Pwca doing similar deeds.
