Dunnie

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A Dunnie is a small Brownie-like being in the folklore of the Anglo-Scottish borders, specifically Northumberland, the most famous being that of the Hazlerigg Dunnie of Hazlerigg in the parish of Chatton, Northumberland.Notes on the folk-lore of the northern counties of England and the borders By William Henderson, 1866, pages 227-228. The Dunnie has been known to take the form of a horse in order to trick a rider into mounting him before disappearing and leaving them in the muddiest part of the road. He also is said to disguise as plough-horses only to vanish when the ploughman takes him into the stalls.

The Dunnie was also said to wander the crags and dales of the Cheviots singing:

:"Cockenheugh there's gear enough,

:Collierheugh there's mair,

:For I've lost the key o' the Bounders, (or "It is also "I've lost the key o' the Bowden-door.")

:An' I'm ruined for evermair."

The Dunnie is thus thought to be a ghost of a reiver who hoarded his loot in the fells and guards his ill-gotten gains to this day.

In full the song of the dunnie goes:

:"Cockenheugh there's gear enough,

:Collierheugh there's mair,

:For I've lost the key o' the Bounders"

:"Ross for rabbits, and Elwick for kail,

:Of a' the' towns e'er I saw Howick for ale:

:Howick for ale, and Kyloe for scrubbers,

:Of a' the towns e'er I saw Lowick for robbers;-

:Lowick for robbers, Buckton for breed,

:Of a' the towns e'er I saw Holy Island for need;-

:Holy Island for need, and Grindon for kye,

:Of a' the towns e'er I saw Doddington for rye:-

:Doddington for rye, Bowisdon for rigs,

:Of a' the towns e'er I saw Barmoor for whigs:-

:Barmour for whigs, Tweedmouth for doors,

:Of a' the towns e'er I saw Ancroft for whores:-

:Ancroft for whores, and Spittal for fishers,

:Of a' the towns e'er I saw Berrington for dishes."Folk-lore: or, A collection of local rhymes, proverbs, sayings, prophecies, slogans, &c. relating to Northumberland, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and Berwick-on-Tweed, Michael Aislabie Denham, 1858, pp. 136-137