Brownie

Brownie, a kind of domestic spirit in the folklore of Scotland, represented as a good-humoured drudging goblin, who attached himself to farm-houses and other dwellings in the country, and occupied himself over night, while the family were in bed, in doing any kind of work, as churning, thrashing corn, and the like. He was neither seen nor spoken to, but was known only by the obliging performance of his voluntarily undertaken labours, and his sole reward was a dish of cream left out for him. His services were much valued by good housewives, 'who,' says King James I., 'were so blinded as to believe that their house was all the sonsier, as they called it, that such spirits resorted there.' The resemblance of the Scotch brownie to the Robin Goodfellow of English, and the Kobold of German folklore is obvious, but perhaps they may be traced further to the lares or hearth spirits of the ancients. The Russian domovoy, Mr Ralston tells us, lives behind the stove, and in some families a portion of the supper is always set aside for him; for if he is neglected he waxes wroth and knocks the tables and benches about at night. Spirits with the same functions elsewhere are the Lithuanian kanka, the Finnish paara, and the French lutin.