A Brownie, Brounie (Lowland Scots) or Brùnaidh, Ùruisg or Gruagach (Scottish Gaelic listen) is a mythical household spirit from English and Scottish folklore. Brownies are especially popular in the north. In this region, brownies are commonly paired with Hobs. A brownie is the northern Scottish and English equivalent of the Scandinavian Tomte, the Slavic Domovoi and the German Heinzelmännchen.
Tradition[]
In folklore, a brownie resembles a hob, similar to a hobgoblin. Thomas Keightley describes a brownie as "a short, wizened-faced character covered with short curly brown hair and wearing a brown cloak and hood."
Brownies are said to inhabit houses and help with tasks around the house, like getting rid of spiders. However, they do not like to be seen and only work at night, traditionally in exchange for small gifts of food. At meal, they especially enjoy porridge, honey, butter, and cream. They usually leave the house if their gifts are called "payments", or if the owners of the house abuse them. Brownies make their home in unused parts of the house, usually attics and holes in walls.
Every manor house has its ùruisg and, in the kitchen, near the fire, there was a seat left unoccupied for him. Until the early 20th century, a house on the banks of the River Tay was believed to be haunted by such a goblin, with one of its rooms being called "Seòmar Bhrùnaidh" (Brownie's Room) for centuries.
In 1703 John Brand wrote in his description of Shetland:
Not more than forty or fifty years ago, every family had a brownie, or evil spirit, so called, to serve them, to whom they gave a sacrifice for his service; like when they churned their milk, they took a part, and sprinkled all the corners of the house with it, for the use of the brownie; likewise, when they brewed beer, they had a stone they called "Brownie's stane", where there was a little hole where they poured some for a sacrifice for the brownie. He also had some piles of corn, which they called brownie piles, which, although they were not tied by straw ropes, or fenced off in any way as the other piles used to be, not even the greatest storm was able to move a straw.
The brownies rarely spoke to humans, but they did have frequent and affectionate conversations with each other. They also held general meetings, usually held on distant rocky shores. In a certain district of the Scottish Highlands, "Peallaidh an Spùit" (Peallaidh of the Spout), "Stochdail a’ Chùirt" and "Brùnaidh an Easain" (Brownie of the Waterfall) were names at those gatherings. According to the Scottish place name William J. Watson, every stream in Breadalbane once had a ùruisg and its king was Peallaidh (the name Peallaidh is preserved in "Obair Pheallaidh", known in English as "Aberfeldy"). It may be the case that ùruisg was combined with some water sprite or that the ùruisg were water sprites combined with brownies. Anothername for the house spirit known in some parts of Scotland was Shellycoat, of uncertain origin.