What is a Brownie?

Brownie (folklore)

Brownie

(Brounie Urisk Brùnaidh Ùruisg Gruagach)
A representation of a brownie
Creature
Grouping	Mythological creature
Sub grouping	Fairy Goblin Household spirit
Data
First reported	In folklore
Country	Scotland and Northern England
Habitat	Within the home

A brownie/brounie or urisk (Lowland Scots) or brùnaidh, ùruisg, or gruagach (Scottish Gaelic) is a legendary creature popular in folklore around Scotland and England (especially the north, though more commonly hobs have this role). It is the Scottish and Northern English counterpart of the Scandinavian tomte, the Slavic domovoi and the German Heinzelmännchen.

Tradition

In folklore, a brownie is a type of hob, similar to a hobgoblin. Brownies are said to inhabit houses and aid in tasks around the house. However, they do not like to be seen and will only work at night, traditionally in exchange for small gifts or food. Among food, they especially enjoy porridge and honey. They usually abandon the house if their gifts are called payments, or if the owners of the house misuse them. Brownies make their homes in an unused part of the house.
Folklorist John Gregorson Campbell distinguishes between the English brownie, which lived in houses, and the Scottish ùruisg or urisk, which lived outside in streams and waterfalls and was less likely to offer domestic help.^[1] The ùruisg enjoyed solitude at certain seasons of the year. Around the end of the harvest, he became more sociable, and hovered around farmyards, stables and cattle-houses. He particularly enjoyed dairy products, and tended to intrude on milkmaids, who made regular libations of milk or cream to charm him off, or to gain his favour. He was usually seen only by those who possessed second sight, though there were instances when he made himself visible to ordinary people as well. He is said to have been jolly and personable, with flowing yellow hair, wearing a broad blue bonnet and carrying a long walking staff.
Every manor house had its ùruisg, and in the kitchen, close by the fire was a seat, which was left unoccupied for him. One house on the banks of the River Tay was even until the beginning of the twentieth century believed to have been haunted by such a sprite, and one room in the house was for centuries called "Seòmar Bhrùnaidh" (Brownie’s room).
In 1703, John Brand wrote in his description of Shetland (which he called "Zetland") that:

“Not above forty or fifty years ago, every family had a brownie, or evil spirit, so called, which served them, to which they gave a sacrifice for his service; as when they churned their milk, they took a part thereof, and sprinkled every corner of the house with it, for Brownie’s use; likewise, when they brewed, they had a stone which they called ‘Brownie’s stane’, wherein there was a little hole into which they poured some wort for a sacrifice to Brownie. They also had some stacks of corn, which they called Brownie’s Stacks, which, though they were not bound with straw ropes, or in any way fenced as other stacks used to be, yet the greatest storm of wind was not able to blow away straw off them.”

Brownies seldom spoke with humans, but they held frequent and affectionate conversations with one another. They had general assemblies as well, usually held on a remote, rocky shore. In a certain district of the Scottish Highlands, "Peallaidh an Spùit" (Peallaidh of the Spout), "Stochdail a’ Chùirt", and "Brùnaidh an Easain" (Brownie of the little waterfall) were names of note at those congresses. Every stream in Breadalbane had an ùruisg once according to Watson the Scottish place name expert, and their king was Peallaidh. (Peallaidh's name is preserved in "Obair Pheallaidh", known in English as "Aberfeldy".) It may be the case, that ùruisg was conflated with some water sprite, or that ùruisg were originally water sprites conflated with brownies.
Anglo-Scottish Border folklore also included a figure, "Billy Blind" or "Billy Blin", much like the brownie, but mentioned only in ballads.

Modern culture

A modernized version of the Cleveland Browns's brownie elf mascot, minus the crown.

Brownies were popularized in the humoristic poems and drawings of Canadian-American artist and author Palmer Cox.
By extension, the name of "Brownies" was given to the junior branch of the Girl Guides (Girl Scouts of the USA) as well as their Canadian counterparts.
The Cleveland Browns are occasionally called the Brownies by their fans and used a brownie elf as an official mascot from their beginnings in 1946 until owner Art Modell phased it out in the mid-1960s. It was revived on a limited basis by the Browns since the team returned in 1999. During the 2004 Season, The Brownie appeared on the Team's sideline ponchos and equipment trunks.
The defunct St. Louis Browns baseball team also used the brownie as a mascot.
The House Elves featured in the Harry Potter series have characteristics of brownies.
Arthur Stillwell, founder of Port Arthur, Texas, claimed that brownies instructed him to establish the city at its present location.
The game company Brownie Brown is named after the brownies, and has a brownie mascot named Brown.
In the book "Dragon Rider", written by Cornelia Funke, brownies were depicted as cat-like, mushroom-eating creatures that live alongside dragons rather than being creatures who do house chores and get treats for it.
In the book "The Blue Girl" written by Charles de Lint, Brownies secretly live in the school alongside Adrian the ghost. They who usually refer to themselves as fairies.
In the film Willow, two brownies "helped" Willow throughout the film. Their names were Franjean and Rool. The same pair appear in the trilogy of novels set after the film's events, "Shadow Moon", "Shadow Dawn", and "Shadow Star".
In "The Divide", "Back to the Divide", and "Jinx on the Divide" by Elizabeth Kay, brownies are small elf-like creatures that practice reading crystal balls and are called "Ragamuckies."
Four brownies serve Elena the godmother in the Mercedes Lackey book The Fairy Godmother
Numerous references exist in Enid Blyton's books, where brownies are depicted as fun-loving creatures on the lookout for adventure, such as in the book "Tuppenny, Feefo and Jinks". She wrote a book called Book of Brownies, which follows the adventures of Hop, Skip and Jump, three brownies. Big-Ears, a character in Blyton's Noddy series of books, is also a brownie.
In the science-fiction novel, The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, the Watchmaker sub-species of the Moties are nicknamed "brownies" by the crew of the INSS MacArthur.
The Spiderwick series of books by Holly Black and Tony DiTerlizzi feature a brownie named Thimbletack, undergoing an often combative relationship with the new residents of the Spiderwick estate.
The world creation project Santharia includes a Brownie race. A small number of them live as house-spirits in the flourishing port of Milkengrad, but most have their own Brownie communities. The largest all-Brownie settlement is in the Vale of Brownies, where around 250,000 of the little people live together in one huge, magically-enlarged pine tree. They have their own form of magic called Life Magic and tame a wide range of animals for their steeds - anything from tiny drakes to owls.
Brownies are mentioned in the book series The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher starting with the book Summer Knight where the current Summer Lady, Lily, has them clean Harry Dresden's house in gratitude for saving her.
Brownies are also a prominent figure in the Fablehaven series, written by Brandon Mull. The main characters visited their underground community in book 2.
Brownies appear in the MMORPG Eternal Lands. They are portrayed as a small, weak, humanoids, wearing furs, and carrying a stick.
Additionally, brownies are the name of a creature that inhabits the Marram Marshes in the Septimus Heap series, by Angie Sage.
The Hellboy comic book series prominently features as villain "the Gruagach of Loch Leane", reduced at the time of his first appearance to a diminutive brownielike creature but determined, if necessary through great bloodshed, to regain his prehistoric stature as a semidivine magical being associated with the Tuatha de Danaan.
The urban helper role was adapted to Christmas by mother of 7 Charlie Horn in the mid 1900s by placing a small fairy figurine in the home and explaining to her children that it was a 'Brownie that reported back to Santa' whether they were naughty or nice. The tradition has since spread throughout the west coast and reportedly Colorado.