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Hedley Kow

 
English Folklore: Hedley Kow

A very mischievous, but not dangerous, shape-changing boggart which used to plague the villagers of Hedley (North-umberland) by his many tricks (Henderson, 1866: 270-1). A farmer mistook him for his own horse, a milkmaid for her favourite cow, an old woman for a bundle of straw; in each case he caused unexpected trouble, and then vanished with a loud guffaw. He could even turn into the likeness of a girl, to trick her sweetheart into following him till he ended up knee-deep in a bog.

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English Folklore. A Dictionary of English Folklore. Copyright © 2000, 2003 by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.  Read more