Redcap
A red cap or redcap (also Powrie or Dunter ) is a kind of malicious, bloodthirsty goblin , elf or fairy in British folklore .
Redcaps inhabit dilapidated castles along the border between England and Scotland , where they murder travelers wandering around their homes, then dye their headgear with the blood of their victims (hence their name). Redcaps have to find victims on a regular basis, as they die as soon as the blood in their caps dries up. They are very quick despite the iron spike they have with them and the iron-shod shoes they wear. Escape from these little demons is next to impossible; the only way to escape is to quote a passage from the Bible . They lose a tooth when they hear it, which they leave behind.
Robin Redcap & William de Soulis
According to legend, Lord William Soulis had a redcap as his servant spirit: Robin Redcap, the most notorious redcap of all. He did a lot of damage and destroyed his master's residence, Hermitage Castle . Men were killed, women cruelly abused, and dark arts practiced. Now Soulis came to a terrible end for all the evil he forged: He was taken by his angry subjects to the Nine Stane Rigg , a stone circle near the castle, wrapped in lead and boiled to death in a large cauldron. The death of Lord Soulis in the cauldron is pure Scottish folklore. In reality, William Soulis was imprisoned at Dumbarton Castle , where he died after confessing complicity in the 1320 plot against Robert the Bruce .
literature
- Redcap. In: Katharine Mary Briggs : An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Boogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures. ISBN 0-394-73467-X , p. 339.