Boggart
For boggarts from the Harry Potter novels, see boggart (Harry Potter).In
Celtic mythology, a
boggart (or
bogart,
bogan,
bogle or
boggle) is a
household spirit, sometimes mischievous, sometimes helpful. In Northern England, at least, there was the belief that the boggart should never be named, as when the boggart was given a name, it would not be reasoned with or persuaded and become uncontrollable and destructive.
It is said that the boggart crawls into people's beds at night and puts a clammy hand on their faces. Sometimes he strips the bedsheets off them. Sometimes a boggart will also pull on a person's ears. A horseshoe hung on the door of a house will keep a boggart away.
It is also an agricultural goblin, responsible for missing implements on the farm. This is why today the word
boggart is a verb meaning
to steal,
to take more than one's fair share, or
to refuse to share.
There is a large municipal park called 'Boggart Hole Clough,' which is bordered by
Moston and
Blackley in
Manchester,
England. Clough is a northern dialect word for a steep sided, wooded valley; a large part of Boggart Hole Clough is made up of these valleys and are said to be haunted by Boggarts. Supposed mysterious disappearances over the years, particularly in the early 19th century, were often attributed to the Boggart of the Clough.
On
Puck, a moon of
Uranus, there is a crater named "Bogle," in deference to the system of
nomenclature on this satellite, whose features are all named after various mischievous spirits.
In the 1960's an incorrect origin of the word
boggart surfaced, based on the actor Humphry Bogart smoking a cigarette down to the end without sharing it in the movie
Casablanca.
*
Bogeyman*
Bogle*
Brownie*
Buggane*
Hobgoblin*
Kobold*
sprite
