Ahob is a type of small mythologicalhousehold spirit found in theEnglish Midlands,Northern England,^[a][b] and on theAnglo-Scottish border, according to traditional folklore of those regions.^[3] They could live inside the house or outdoors. They are said to work in farmyards and thus could be helpful; however if offended they could become nuisances. The usual way to dispose of hobs was to give them a set of new clothing, the receiving of which would make the creatures leave for ever. It could, however, be impossible to get rid of the worst hobs.^[4]

Look uphob in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

‘Hob’ is adiminutive form of the nameRobin, which is itself a diminutive form of the nameRobert.^[5]

Hob is sometimes a generic term given to agoblin,bogle orbrownie. The name Hob became associated with the mythical creature as ‘a piece of rude familiarity to cover up uncertainty or fear’;^[6] essentially, calling a mystical creature by a common nickname was a way to make the concept less frightening and the nickname eventually became the common term.

As well as thebrownie, another cognate exists in theScandinaviannisse ortomte; all are thought to be derived from the household gods of olden times, known in England as thecofgodas (Old English for ‘house-gods’), of which the brownie and hob are indeed a survival.^{[7][full citation needed]}

The term 'hob' is also linked in the north of England to the Old Englishþyrs and Old Norseþurs, meaning 'giant' or 'monster’. These roots give rise to dialectal variants such as hob-thrush, hob-thrust and hob-dross, recorded acrossYorkshire,Lincolnshire andDerbyshire.^[8]

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 nearRunswick Bay in ahobhole; this hob was believed to be able to cure young children of kink-cough (whooping cough).^[9] Parents would bring their ailing young to the hob's cave dwelling and recite the following:^[10]

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.^[11] A hob would help the farmer in the field or the shopkeeper in his store.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.

A recurring motif in northern folklore is that when a hob is offered clothes—often a coarse shirt or hood—he vanishes, offended.^[14] This is often marked by a rhyme, such as: “Ha! a cap and a hood, / Hob’ll never do mair good.” (Sturfit Hall)^[15]

“Gin Hob mun hae nowght but a hardin’ hamp, / He’ll come nae mair nowther to berry nor stamp.” (Hart Hall, Glaisdale)^[10]

These couplets often signal the end of a hob’s aid, linking him to the wider European motif of the departingbrownie ortomte.

Farndale in theNorth York Moors is separated from its neighbourRosedale to the east by a high but relatively level moorland promontory known as Blakey Ridge. On the east side of that ridge is atopological feature known as Hobb Crag, overlooking the village ofRosedale Abbey. A local story relates how a farmer in Farndale was so troubled by a Hob that he decided to move 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 wordflittin^[c] which may be derived from theOld Norse language.^{[citation needed]}

It was customary for a local hob to have a local name and a local habitation.^[e]

Some "Hob" names may suggest their mischievous personality:

• Jester
• Hobshaddow^[f]

The nameHob-thrush may be derived fromHobbe Hyrste^[g] orHob o' t' hyrst – "Hob of the hurst".^[h]

1. Hob o' t' hyrst
2. Hob-t-hyrst
3. Hob-thyrst
4. Hob-thrust
5. Hob-thrush

See also WiKtionary :Old English <hyrst > ..."hurst, hillock, eminence, height, wood, wooded eminence".

The following names may be derived fromHobbe Hyrste:

Similar names are found in disparate parts of the country – it is possible that these were introduced bymigrant workers while moving between employments, especially those involved with mining and railway construction.

The habitation was usually atopological feature, such as a hill, crag, hole, cave or island.

Often the feature would be within view of the farm or local settlement:

WiKtionary: The name elementhole might relate to:

1. English <hole > ..."A hollow place or cavity; an excavation; a pit; a dent; a depression; a fissure".
2. Old Norse <hóll > ..."hill, hillock, knoll".

It was common forHob place names to be associated withtumuli:

This list isincomplete; you can help byadding missing items.(March 2023)

Manytopological features, especially inNorth Yorkshire, are named "Hobs".^[l] Dickins provides dozens of attested hob place-names across Northern England, many associated with barrows, springs, or moorlands.^[20]

• Hobhouse is a rare English family name, belonging originally to a Somerset family.
• The Scottish national heroRobert the Bruce was known as King Hobbe by his English enemy.^[s]

• The 1958 TV serialQuatermass and the Pit, and thelater film version, centre around the fictional Hobbs Lane (formerly called Hob's Lane), the significance of the name becoming apparent as the plot unfolds.
• InJim Butcher'sThe Dresden Files, hobs are eyeless creatures who burn in light. They serve the Queen Mab of the Winter Court of the Sidhe.
• InLionhead Studios' video gamesFable,Fable II, andFable III some of the minor adversaries are creatures known as "hobbes". They are created from children who misbehave and are captured by hobbes.
• InJ. K. Rowling'sHarry 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 anemancipation from slavery).
• The Hob appearing inThe Years of Longdirk byKen 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.
• InThe Hob's Bargain byPatricia 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.
• InMoonshine, the second novel of the Cal Leandros novels byRob 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.
• InAn Elder Scrolls Novel: The Infernal City, hobs are used as kitchen slaves.
• InRichard Dawson's 2017 albumPeasant, a song titled "Hob" tells the story of a family's encounter with a hobthrust.
• InTravis Baldree's bookLegends & 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.

• Hobbit
• Hobgoblin
• Lubber fiend, also known as "Lob".

• Atkinson, John Christopher (1868).A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect (1st ed.). London: J. R. Smith. Retrieved2 April 2023.
• Crofton, Ian (2014).Walking the Border: A Journey Between Scotland and England. Birlinn.ISBN 978-1-78027-207-8.
• Dickins, Bruce (1942), ‘Yorkshire Hobs’,Transaction of the Yorkshire Dialect Society 7, 9-23.
• 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.
• Scott, Harry J. (1965).Portrait of Yorkshire. Portrait Books. London: Robert Hale Limited.OCLC 2898758. Linked version is the 1977 second edition.

• Anglo-Scottish border
• Elves
• English folklore
• English legendary creatures
• Fairies
• Goblins
• Household deities
• Northumbrian folklore
• Northumbrian folkloric beings
• Tutelary deities
• Yorkshire folklore

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