Hob (folklore)

Hobs have been described as small, hairy, wizened men. Hobs were viewed as kind but mischievous spirits, helpful to local people in need. One famous hob lived near Runswick Bay in a hobhole; this hob was believed to be able to cure young children of kink-cough (whooping cough).[8] Parents would bring their ailing young to the hob's cave dwelling and recite the following:[9]

Hobhole Hob!
Ma' bairn's gotten 't kink cough,
Tak't off ! tak't off!

Hobs are generally considered household spirits, who preferred to be about at night. Hobs were not tied to a particular place, but seemed to come and go as they chose.[10] A hob would help the farmer in the field or the shopkeeper in his store.[11] The householder had to be careful in dealing with a hob, so as not to offend it. If a farmer were to speak poorly of a hob on his farm, the hob might retaliate by breaking dishes and turning loose livestock.[12] Most importantly, a hob must not be given a gift of clothing, as this would be greatly resented and might cause a helpful hob to leave immediately.[13] This was said to have happened at Sturfit Hall in Yorkshire, where the well-meaning family left a small hat and cloak for their helpful hob; however, when he encountered the gift, he exclaimed "Ha! a cap and a hood, / Hob'll never do mair good!" and was never seen again.[14] Another Yorkshire hob, this one at Hart Hall, refused with a warning when offered a work shirt: "Gin Hob mun hae nowght but a hardin' hamp, / He'll come nae mair nowther to berry nor stamp."[9]

The following is a list of examples of Hob habitations on the North York Moors: [lower-alpha 3]

According to local folklore, the hob-trush hob lived in a cave in Mulgrave woods.[15]

Hob-trush Hob !
Where is thou ?
Ah's tying on mah left-fuit shoe;
An' Ah'll be wiv thee—Noo !"[15]

The name hob-trush may be derived from "hob o' t' hyrst" ("hob of the hurst"):[lower-alpha 5][lower-alpha 6]

• Hob o' t' hyrst.
• Hob-t-hyrst
• Hob-tyrst.
• Hob-trust.
• Hob-trush.

Farndale in the North York Moors is separated from its neighbour Rosedale to the east by a high but relatively level moorland promontory known as Blakey Ridge. On the east side of that ridge is a topological feature known as Hobb Crag, overlooking the village of Rosedale Abbey. A local storyate's how a farmer in Farndale was so troubled by a Hob that he decided to relocate to another farm – just to get rid of that Hob.[2]

He loaded his cart with furniture and farm equipment and set off. On the way he met a neighbour who exclaimed, "What's thoo doin' George, flittin'?" And a voice from the churn called out, "Aye, lad, we're flittin'!" So the farmer turned his horse and cart round and went back to his farm, knowing that the hobgoblin would always be with him.[2]

Note the local dialect word flittin[lower-alpha 7] which may be derived from the Old Norse language.

Many topological features, especially in North Yorkshire, are named "Hobs". [lower-alpha 8]

Examples of "Hob" place names in the North York Moors include:[lower-alpha 9]

• Hob Hill above the Fairy Glen (a deep gorge), Saltburn-by-the-Sea § Saltburn Valley Woods.[18]
• Hob on the Hill, Commondale Moor, near Guisborough.[19][lower-alpha 10][lower-alpha 11]
• Hob Holes near Runswick Bay.[20][lower-alpha 12]
• Hobb Crag and Hobb Farm near Rosedale Abbey.[21]

Examples in Derbyshire:[lower-alpha 13]

• Hob's House Cave, Monsal Dale.[22]
• Hob Hurst's House, Beeley Moor, near Chatsworth House.
• Hob Hall and Hob Wood (Hobcrofte 1610) near Hob (folklore)|Wirksworth.
• Hob Hill and Hobroyd, Whitfield, Glossop.

• Hobbs Flow, source of the Kershope Burn, Scottish Borders.
• Hobb Hill, Bloxham, near Banbury, Oxfordshire.[23]
• Hobbs Hole Farm, near Great Tew, Oxfordshire.[24][25]
• Hobb's Hill, near Hobbs Hill tin mine, Bodmin Moor, Cornwall.[26]

• Hobhouse is a rare English family name, belonging originally to a Somerset family.
• The Scottish national hero Robert the Bruce was known as "King Hobbe" by his English enemy.[lower-alpha 14]

• The 1958 TV serial Quatermass and the Pit, and the later film version, centre around the fictional Hobbs Lane (formerly called Hob's Lane), the significance of the name becoming apparent as the plot unfolds.
• In Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, hobs are eyeless creatures who burn in light. They serve the Queen Mab of the Winter Court of the Sidhe.
• In Lionhead Studios' video games Fable, Fable II, and Fable III some of the minor adversaries are creatures known as "hobbes". They are created from children who misbehave and are captured by hobbes.
• In J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter series, house-elves (such as Harry's friend Dobby) appear to be a type of hob, doing household tasks for human masters and driven from their households if given gifts of clothing (in what most house-elves see as a type of shameful expulsion, but the eccentric Dobby – and several human observers – consider an emancipation from slavery).
• The Hob appearing in The Years of Longdirk by Ken Hood is considerably different from the traditional depiction, being a powerful spirit which is amoral, neither good nor bad, but which has considerable destructive powers it can use if provoked. In Hood's fantasy world, "Hob" and "Imp" are two names for much the same kind of being.
• In The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs, the Hob is a powerful creature, possibly the last of his kind, who bargains to help protect a local village from a necromancer in exchange for a mate. The heroine who brought the Hob to the village agrees to his bargain in exchange for his help.
• In Moonshine, the second novel of the Cal Leandros novels by Rob Thurman, the villain is "Hobgoblin" or "the Hob", the oldest of the race of immortal creatures known as pucks. In this series, the pucks all look alike, with curly brown hair, green eyes, and "foxlike" faces. Unlike his fellow puck, Robin Goodfellow, the Hob sees humans merely as toys and tools, beings which are utterly beneath him.
• In An Elder Scrolls Novel: The Infernal City, hobs are used as kitchen slaves.
• In Richard Dawson's 2017 album Peasant, a song titled "Hob" tells the story of a family's encounter with a hobthrust.
• In Travis Baldree's book Legends & Lattes, the main character hires a hob as a carpenter in her coffee shop, noting that they are disparagingly referred to as 'pucks' by humans and are not often seen in cities.

• Atkinson, John Christopher (1868). A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect (1st ed.). London: J. R. Smith. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
• Crofton, Ian (2014). Walking the Border: A Journey Between Scotland and England. Birlinn. ISBN 978-1-78027-207-8.
• Scott, Harry J. (1965). Portrait of Yorkshire. Portrait Books. London: Robert Hale Limited. OCLC 2898758. Linked version is the 1977 second edition.
• Scott, Charles P. G. (1895). "The Devil and His Imps: An Etymological Inquisition". Transactions of the American Philological Association. 26: 79–146. doi:10.2307/2935696. JSTOR 2935696.