- Billy Blind
Billy Blind, Billy Blin, Billie Blin, or Belly Blin is an English and Scottish household spirit, much like a brownie. It appears, however, only in ballads, where it frequently advises the characters. [Katharine Briggs, "An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures", "Billy Blind", p 23. ISBN 0-394-73467-X]
In
Child Ballad no 5c, "Gil Brenton ", it is Billie Blin that advises the hero that his bride is not the woman beside him, who is a virgin, but she is hiding in her bower and already pregnant. [Francis James Child , "English and Scottish Popular Ballads", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch005.htm "Gil Brenton"] ]In Child Ballad no 6, "
Willie's Lady ", Willie's wife has been in labor and can not deliver because Willie's mother, a rank witch, is preventing her. Billy Blind advises Willie to make a wax figure of a baby and invite his mother to the christening. In her rage, the mother demands to know how all her magic was undone, listing all the things she's done, and Willie is able to undo them. [Francis James Child , "English and Scottish Popular Ballads", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch006.htm "Willie's Lady"] ]In Child Ballad no 53C, "
Young Bekie ", he advises Burd Isobel that Young Bekie is about to marry another bride, and gives her assistance in the magical journey to reach him in time. [Francis James Child, "English and Scottish Popular Ballads", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch053.htm "Young Beichan"] ]In
Child ballad no 110, "The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter ", he appears in many of the variants to reveal the true births of the marrying couple: much higher than was apparent. [Francis James Child, "English and Scottish Popular Ballads", [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch110.htm "The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter"] ]In modern
fantasy , the Billy Blind appears inPeter S. Beagle 's "Tamsin ", where his main characteristic is constantly to give advice.References
External links
* [http://www.ling.hawaii.edu/faculty/stampe/Oral-Lit/English/Child-Ballads/child.html#53 "Young Bekie"] (Third version)
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