Hobgoblins - Folklore or Fact?

 

Boggarts and Hobgoblins

 Boggarts and Hobgoblins are found in UK folklore.There are places in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire called after Boggarts  such as  Boggart’s Hole in Lancashire or Boggle Hole in North Yorkshire . Boggarts were not invented for Harry Potter books and have been around for hundreds of years.

Hobgoblins look like small hairy men and interact with humans.  Households were thought to have their own hobgoblin that could help around the house, if treated well. The hobgoblin  would finish household chores at night whilst the family were asleep.If you upset or angered a Hobgoblin it would retaliate and would follow a family even if they moved house.It would turn  milk  sour, remove things from the house, cause animals to become lame and generally make a mess.An angry hobgoblin becomes  a boggart.

A Boggart could still look like a small hairy man or shape shift .Some  like  The  Boggart of Longar Hede  from Yorkshire were said to be  fearsome creatures the size of a calf, with long shaggy hair and eyes like saucers. The "Boggart of Hackensall Hall" in Lancashire had the appearance of a huge horse.

A story about a  boggart in Lancashire was published in 1861; the author wrote about  an elderly couple. They maintained that a boggart was buried at a nearby bend in the road under an ash tree, along with a cockerel with a stake driven through it. Despite being buried, the boggart was still able to create trouble. A farmer's wife, the old couple claimed, just two weeks earlier had heard doors banging in her farmhouse at night, then loud laughter; she looked out to see three candles casting blue light and a creature with red burning eyes leaping about. The following morning many marks of cloven hooves were seen outside the house. The couple claimed that the boggart had unhitched their horse and overturned their cart.

It is said you should never name a boggart or it will turn violent.

Another story from North  Yorkshire involved the family at Hart Hall Farm in Glaisdale and their hobgoblin. The family had been helped by this hobgoblin  for generations.One night, the master of the house caught sight of the hobgoblin.. He saw that the creature was completely naked, although very hirsute, so instead of the usual milk or cream left in payment for the work , the farmer  decided to pay that night with a smock.The hobgoblin was upset. He started shouting at the farmer  for the lack of payment and abandoned the farm. They never saw it again.

Are such little men real or just folklore? Bones that were claimed belonged to a race of small people have been found so it may be possible that small people that helped out did once exist.

Read about the find here : https://cryptozoo-oscity.blogspot.com/2009/10/ebu-gogo-hobbit-ape-or-myth.html