Brag (folklore)
A brag is a creature from the folklore of Northumberland and Durham that usually takes the form of a horse or donkey. It is fond of tricking unwary wayfarers into riding on its back before throwing the rider into a pool of water or bush, afterward running off laughing, much like the Bäckahästen (brook horse) or kelpie. The brag is also said to have appeared as a calf with a neckerchief, a naked headless man, and even four men carrying a sheet. Some well-known brags are said to live at Picktree (where it was called the Picktree Brag[1]) and Humbleknowe.[2]
There is also another similar shape-shifter in Northumbrian folklore, the Hedley Kow.
Description
The Brag is one of the mischievous Shape-Shifting Goblins, like the Irish Phooka, Barguest or Spriggan, he often takes the shape of a horse. Although in his horse form one can see the slight goblin features if they look hard enough, so those who are heavily acquainted with nature, animals and equine creatures should spot a very wily looking small horse.
Thankfully the Brag isn’t vicious like the Barguest, Spriggan or Padfoot, but it does enjoy playing tricks, sometimes even mean tricks, on others. Especially fond of giving others rides pretending to go to their destination and then tossing them into a pond and then laughing, sometimes revealing its true form of a 5 foot Goblinoid dancing in front of the wet soaked victim while pointing at them, and then running off.
In Popular Culture
Gary the Horse, from webcomic Bad Machinery, identifies himself as a brag after bucking character Shauna Wickle into water after convincing her to take a ride on his back.[3]
References
- ↑ Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders By William Henderson, 1866, page 233.
- ↑ Simpson, Jacqueline. A Dictionary of English Folklore, Oxford University Press 2000. ISBN 978-0-19-210019-1
- ↑ "Bad Machinery: The Big Hiatus August 5, 2016". scarygoround.com. Retrieved 9 June 2017.
