There were a whole host of Faery Folk to choose from for the letter B, from Banshees to Boggarts, Blue Men to Bucca but by far the most famous is the Brownie. As House Faeries they like to do various chores around the home or farm at night, cleaning, threshing corn, churning butter. It was thought that they would only stop work when a cockerel crowed in the morning, some people even believing that they turned into cockerels during the day.
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| © Shona M MacDonald 2012 All Rights Reserved |
They seem to be particularly common in Scotland where there are many stories of them serving local lairds and their families, one even going out to get a midwife when the lady of the house went into labour.
While generally benign, Brownies do become angry with people who make a mess or are lazy and can injure people they've taken a dislike to for this reason. In extreme circumstances they have been known to turn into Boggarts, destroying property, stealing food and terrorizing the family. However, if they are looked after, given bread and warm milk or cream, they remain content and will stay loyal to a family for generations.
By far the most famous 'Brownie' today is Dobby the House Elf who appears throughout J K Rowling's Harry Potter books, closely followed by Thimbletack in Holly Black's Spiderwick Chronicles.
On the subject of Brownies and clothes, stories vary. In some cases giving a Brownie clothing as a gift is extremely offensive and he will refuse to do any more work. In other cases is seems that this was the Brownie's goal all along and when he finally receives this coveted gift he will skip away happily, never to be seen again.
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