Billy Blind (also known as Billy Blin, Billy Blynde, Billie Blin, or Belly Blin) is an English and Lowland Scottish household spirit, much like a brownie. He appears only in ballads, where he frequently advises the characters.[1] It is possible that the character of Billy Blind is a folk memory of the god Woden or Odin from Germanic mythology, in his "more playful aspect" [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and is speculated to have been the same character as Blind Harie, the "blind man of the game" in Scotland.[8]
- ^ Katharine Briggs, An Encyclopedia of Fairies, Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures, "Billy Blind", p 23. ISBN 0-394-73467-X
- ^ "The Review of English studies, Volumes 7-8", Clarendon Press, 1956.
- ^ "Mythical bards and The life of William Wallace", William Henry Schofield, Harvard University Press, 1920
- ^ "Scottish fairy belief: a history",Lizanne Henderson, Edward J. Cowan, Dundurn Press Ltd., 2001, ISBN 1-86232-190-6, ISBN 978-1-86232-190-8, p.49
- ^ "The English and Scottish Popular Ballads", Francis James Child, Courier Dover Publications, 2003, ISBN 0-486-43145-2, ISBN 978-0-486-43145-1, p.67
- ^ In Search of Lost Gods: A Guide To British Folklore Ralph Whitlock, Phaidon, 1979, p. 160
- ^ "Living With Ballads" Willa Muir, Oxford University Press, 1965
- ^ a b "The Critic, Volume 21" Carolyn Shipman, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, The Critic Printing and Pub. Co., 1894, page 435
- ^ "The American-Scandinavian review, Volume 8" Henry Goddard Leach, American-Scandinavian Foundation., 1920
- ^ "Games and songs of American children, collected and compared" W.W. Newell, 1883