Also called broonie, brùnaidh, hob, gruagach
A brownie is a small, shaggy household spirit of Scottish and northern English folklore who does chores at night in return for a bowl of cream or milk and a bit of bread. Insult him, show off his work, or hand him a gift of clothes, and he leaves for good.
Tonight's moon is read when the page loads.
Take care: Do not leave milk out long enough to spoil, and keep it where pets cannot drink it if they are lactose intolerant. Pour leftovers away the next morning.
Brand reported that a generation or two earlier nearly every Shetland family had a brownie. When churning they sprinkled milk in each corner of the house for him, and when brewing they poured wort into a hollow in a stone called Brownie's stane.
Uses: milk, wort
Scot gives the first English mention of a helpful spirit vanishing after being given clothes. Later tales, like the Cauld Lad of Hilton, have the spirit singing or reciting a rhyme as it leaves, satisfied or offended.
The farmer at Bodsbeck near Moffat called out to his brownie after pouring the cream instead of letting him find it. Offended at being treated like a hired hand, the brownie left for the neighboring farm of Leithenhall.
Uses: cream
Brownies belong to a family of British household spirits that includes the English hob, the Welsh bwbach and the Manx fenodyree. They were pictured as small and ragged or naked, working at night threshing, churning, sweeping and minding livestock. Reginald Scot recorded the clothing taboo in 1584, John Milton described a drudging goblin earning his cream bowl in L'Allegro, and John Brand's account of Shetland described milk and wort offerings.
Scholars note that brownies were often feared as well as welcomed; Brand called the Shetland brownie an evil spirit, reflecting the views of the Reformed church. In the nineteenth century Scottish collectors and writers such as James Hogg kept the tales alive, and illustrators turned brownies into friendly children's characters. Juliana Horatia Ewing's story The Brownies gave its name to the youngest section of the Girl Guides.
A loaf and a little salt carried into a new home or offered at its door, so the household will never go hungry and life there will keep its savour.
The domovoi is the guardian spirit of the Slavic household, usually pictured as a small, hairy old man who lives behind the stove. Kept happy with bread, salt and leftovers, he protects the family and livestock, and when the family moves house he must be invited to come along.
Fairy rings are natural circles of mushrooms that European folklore blamed on dancing fairies or witches, and stepping inside one was said to be dangerous. Across Britain and Ireland, households left milk, bread or butter for the fairies to keep on good terms with them.
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