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Bloody Bones is a bogeyman figure in English and North American folklore whose first written appearance is approximately 1548. As with all bogeymen the figure has been used to frighten children into good behaviour. The character is sometimes called Rawhead, Tommy Rawhead, or Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones (with or without the hyphens).
The Oxford English Dictionary cites approximately 1548 as the earliest written appearance of "Bloodybone". [1] The term "Raw-Head and Bloody-Bones, and such other Names" was used "to awe children, and keep them in subjection", as recorded by John Locke in 1693. [2] Samuel Johnson in his Dictionary of the English Language (first published in 1755) defined "Rawhead" as "the name of a spectre, mentioned to fright children". [3] The stories originated in Great Britain where they were particularly common in Lancashire and Yorkshire, [4] [5] and spread to North America where the stories were common in the Southern United States. [6]
Bloody Bones is sometimes regarded as a water demon haunting deep ponds, oceans, and old marl pits (which often became filled with water to form ponds) where it dragged children into the depths, much like the grindylow and Jenny Greenteeth. Children were told to "keep away from the marl-pit or rawhead and bloody bones will have you." [4] [5]
Ruth Tongue said in Somerset Folklore that he "lived in a dark cupboard, usually under the stairs. If you were heroic enough to peep through a crack you would get a glimpse of the dreadful, crouching creature, with blood running down his face, seated waiting on a pile of raw bones that had belonged to children who told lies or said bad words. If you peeped through the keyhole he got you anyway." [7]
Old Bloody Bones is a Cornish version of Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones according to F. W. Jones in Old Cornwall. Old Bloody Bones inhabited Knockers Hole near the village of Baldhu. There was said to have been a massacre in the area, and it is suggested that he was a ghost or evil spirit attracted by the carnage. [8]
In the Southern United States, Rawhead and Bloody Bones are sometimes regarded as two individual creatures or two separate parts of the same monster. One is a skull stripped of skin that bites its victims (Rawhead) and its companion is a dancing headless skeleton (Bloody Bones). In one cautionary tale a gossip loses his head to the monster as punishment for his wicked tongue. Legends about Bloody Bones eventually made their way into African-American tradition as well as spreading to other parts of the United States. [9] There are numerous references to "Raw Head and Bloody Bones" in the WPA slave narratives. [10]
Rawhead Rex (1986) is a movie set in Ireland where Rawhead is unleashed on the countryside.
"Rawhead and Bloody Bones" (1988) is a song from the album Peepshow by English rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The Anita Blake series book Bloody Bones (1996), a novel by Laurell K. Hamilton also deals with a version of Rawhead and Bloody Bones.
In the start of episode 12 in the first season (2005) of TV series Supernatural , the lead characters, Sam and Dean, are fighting a rawhead.
A rawhead shows up in the first chapters of the Dresden Files novel Cold Days (2012).
The bogeyman is a mythical creature used by adults to frighten children into good behaviour. Bogeymen have no specific appearance and conceptions vary drastically by household and culture, but they are most commonly depicted as masculine or androgynous monsters that punish children for misbehaviour. The bogeyman and conceptually similar monsters can be found in many cultures around the world. Bogeymen may target a specific act or general misbehaviour, depending on the purpose of invoking the figure, often on the basis of a warning from an authority figure to a child. The term is sometimes used as a non-specific personification of, or metonym for, terror, and sometimes the Devil.
The redcap is a type of malevolent, murderous goblin found in Border folklore. He is said to inhabit ruined castles along the Anglo-Scottish border, especially those that were the scenes of tyranny or wicked deeds and is known for soaking his cap in the blood of his victims. He is also known as Redcomb and Bloody Cap.
A sprite is a supernatural entity in European mythology. They are often depicted as fairy-like creatures or as an ethereal entity.
A spriggan is a legendary creature from Cornish folklore. Spriggans are particularly associated with West Penwith in Cornwall.
A bodach is a trickster or bogeyman figure in Gaelic folklore and mythology. The bodach "old man" is paired with the cailleach "hag, old woman" in Irish legend.
In English folklore, grindylow or grundylow is a creature in the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire. The name is thought to be connected to Grendel, a name or term used in Beowulf and in many Old English charters where it is seen in connection with meres, bogs and lakes.
Katharine Mary Briggs was a British folklorist and writer, who wrote The Anatomy of Puck, the four-volume A Dictionary of British Folk-Tales in the English Language, and various other books on fairies and folklore. From 1969 to 1972, she was president of the Folklore Society, which established an award in her name to commemorate her life and work.
The lubber fiend, Lob, lubberkin, lurdane or Lob Lie-By-The-Fire is a legendary creature of English folklore that is similar to the "brownie" of Scotland and northern England, the "hob" of northern England and the Scottish Borders, the Slavic "domovoi" and Scandinavian "tomte". It has been related also to Robin Goodfellow, and Hobgoblins. It is best known for being mentioned by John Milton.
Peg Powler is a hag and water spirit in English folklore who inhabits the River Tees. Similar to the Grindylow, Jenny Greenteeth, and Nelly Longarms, she drags children into the water if they get too close to the edge. She is regarded as a bogeyman figure who is invoked by parents to frighten children into proper behavior. The 19th century folklorist William Henderson describes Peg Powler as having green hair and "an insatiable desire for human life" and she is said to lure people into the river to drown or be devoured. The foam or froth which is often seen floating on certain parts of the Tees is called "Peg Powler's suds" or "Peg Powler's cream".
Arkan sonney is the Manx term for hedgehog. In Manx folklore it is a type of fairy animal that takes the form of a white pig that brings good fortune to those who manage to catch it. It was even considered a favourable omen just to have seen the "lucky piggy". It was also said that if you caught one you would always find a silver coin in your pocket. However, holding on to it for too long will result in bad fortune.
Tylwyth Teg is the most usual term in Wales for the mythological creatures corresponding to the fairy folk of Welsh and Irish folklore Aos Sí. Other names for them include Bendith y Mamau, Gwyllion and Ellyllon.
The caoineag is a female spirit in Scottish folklore and a type of Highland banshee, her name meaning "weeper". She is normally invisible and foretells death in her clan by lamenting in the night at a waterfall, stream or Loch, or in a glen or on a mountainside. Unlike the related death portent known as the bean nighe, the caoineag cannot be approached, questioned, or made to grant wishes.
The asrai is a type of aquatic fairy in English folklore and literature. They are usually depicted as female, live in lakes and are similar to the mermaid and nixie.
A brag is a mischievous shapeshifting goblin in the folklore of Northumbria and often takes the form of a horse or donkey. It is fond of letting unsuspecting humans ride on its back before bucking them off into a pond or bush and running away laughing. One notable example is the Picktree Brag that was said to take other unusual forms such as a calf with a white handkerchief around its neck, a naked headless man, and even four men holding a white sheet. A brag at Humbleknowe was never seen but made hideous noises in the night.
A bluecap is a mythical fairy or ghost in English folklore that inhabits mines and appears as a small blue flame. If miners treat them with respect, the bluecaps lead them to rich deposits of minerals. Like knockers or kobolds, bluecaps can also forewarn miners of cave-ins. They are mostly associated with the Anglo-Scottish borders. They were hard workers and expected to be paid a working man's wages, equal to those of an average putter. Their payment was left in a solitary corner of the mine, and they would not accept any more or less than they were owed. The miners would sometimes see the flickering bluecap settle on a full tub of coal, transporting it as though "impelled by the sturdiest sinews". Another being of the same type was called Cutty Soames or Old Cutty Soames who was known to cut the rope-traces or soams by which the assistant putter was yoked to the tub.
The bauchan is a type of domestic hobgoblin in Scottish folklore. It is often mischievous and sometimes dangerous, but is also very helpful when the need arises.
Nelly Longarms is a hag and water spirit in English folklore who dwells at the bottom of deep ponds, rivers and wells. Like the Grindylow, Peg Powler and Jenny Greenteeth she will reach out with her long sinewy arms and drag children beneath the water if they get too close. She is regarded as a bogeyman figure who is invoked by parents to frighten children into proper behaviour.
In English folklore, the Apple Tree Man is the name given to the spirit of the oldest apple tree in an orchard, and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside. Tales about the Apple Tree Man were collected by the folklorist Ruth Tongue in the cider-producing county of Somerset. In one story a man offers his last mug of mulled cider to the trees in his orchard on Christmas Eve. He is rewarded by the Apple Tree Man who reveals to him the location of buried gold, more than enough to pay his rent.
In Scottish folklore the Biasd Bheulach is a monster or spirit that haunts Odal Pass on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is also known as the Biasd Bealach Odail.
In the folklore on the Anglo-Scottish border, the Brown Man of the Muirs is a dwarf who serves as a guardian spirit of wild animals. Also is a Folklore story, called "Brown Man of the Moor" in the Richardson's Table Book in the 19 century according to Publications of the Folklore Society of North England, where appear the creatures: boggleboes, bogies, redmen, portunes, grants, hobbits, hobgoblins and brown men.
