Dunnie
Also called Doonie.
The Dunnie is a Northumbrian shapeshifting sprite that presents itself as a horse or donkey to a traveller, accepts the harness, and then vanishes from under them in the worst place it can find.
At a glance
- Tradition
- English folklore
- Region
- Anglo-Scottish Border (place of origin)
- Trait family
- The Water-Beckoners
Near this figure
Traits
Read from the figure's description, which a model wrote. Open "why" for the sentence a trait came from.
Form
- Disguised as harmless livestock
why
presents itself as a horse or donkey to a traveller
Behaviour
- Shapeshifts into horse to lure riders
why
It appears as a horse or a pony standing conveniently where a traveller wants one — often a farmer needing to fetch a midwife in a hurry, which is the version most often retold — submits to being saddled and ridden, and then dissolves, drops, or bolts, leaving the rider sitting in a bog, a ford, or the mud of the road. Local tradition attaches it to particular crags and to a specific district, and some accounts connect it with the ghost of a Border reiver who hid plunder in the rocks, which gives it a treasure-guarding aspect that sits loosely alongside the practical joking.
- Curse broken by removing bridle or harness
why
It appears as a horse or a pony standing conveniently where a traveller wants one — often a farmer needing to fetch a midwife in a hurry, which is the version most often retold — submits to being saddled and ridden, and then dissolves, drops, or bolts, leaving the rider sitting in a bog, a ford, or the mud of the road. Local tradition attaches it to particular crags and to a specific district, and some accounts connect it with the ghost of a Border reiver who hid plunder in the rocks, which gives it a treasure-guarding aspect that sits loosely alongside the practical joking.
Utility powers
- Shapeshifting
why
It appears as a horse or a pony standing conveniently where a traveller wants one — often a farmer needing to fetch a midwife in a hurry, which is the version most often retold — submits to being saddled and ridden, and then dissolves, drops, or bolts, leaving the rider sitting in a bog, a ford, or the mud of the road. Local tradition attaches it to particular crags and to a specific district, and some accounts connect it with the ghost of a Border reiver who hid plunder in the rocks, which gives it a treasure-guarding aspect that sits loosely alongside the practical joking.
Curses
- Mischief pranks
why
It appears as a horse or a pony standing conveniently where a traveller wants one — often a farmer needing to fetch a midwife in a hurry, which is the version most often retold — submits to being saddled and ridden, and then dissolves, drops, or bolts, leaving the rider sitting in a bog, a ford, or the mud of the road. Local tradition attaches it to particular crags and to a specific district, and some accounts connect it with the ghost of a Border reiver who hid plunder in the rocks, which gives it a treasure-guarding aspect that sits loosely alongside the practical joking.
Roles
Judged from the works' own entries, not from the description. Carries: the figure holds the role. Meets: the role is in its stories, held by something it meets.
- Trickster carries both readings
3 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Doonie."
- Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, s.v. "Doonie."
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Doonie."
- Water meets
3 citations
- Carol Rose, Spirits, Fairies, Leprechauns, and Goblins, s.v. "Doonie."
- Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, s.v. "Doonie."
- Carol Rose, Giants, Monsters, and Dragons, s.v. "Doonie."