Picktree Brag is a shapeshifting goblin who haunts Picktree hamlet in the North of England.
Etymology
Brag originally meant to make a crackling noise
Description
Like the Irish pooka, Picktree Brag indulged in appearing as a horse, enticing travellers to mount it. It also appeared as a calf, with a white handkerchief around its neck; as an ass; as a naked man without a head; and as four men holding up a white sheet.
Behavior
Picktree Brag would naturally leap off on a wild chase, before depositing the poor people in duck-ponds along the way.
References
- Folk Lore of the Northern Counties by William Henderson.
- The Minor Traditions of British Mythology by Lewis Spense.