Colt pixie
A colt pixie (also colepixie, colepixy, collepixie, collpixie, colt-pixie, colt pixy, and cold pixie) is a creature from English folklore in the South and South West of England (especially the New Forest and Dorset). According to local mythology, it is a type of Pixie which takes the form of a scruffy, pale horse or pony to lead travellers and other livestock astray (similar to a Will-o'-the-wisp), and is often associated with Puck. The earliest surviving written reference dates to the early 16th century (I shall be ready at thine elbow to plaie the parte of Hobgoblin or Collepixie)[1][2][3]
Colloquial survivals
- The fossil echini are called colt-pixies' heads
- To beat down apples is to colepixy in Dorset
- The phrase "as ragged as a colt pixie" is common in the New Forest[4]
- Cold Pixie's Cave is the name of a barrow in the New Forest, near Lyndhurst[5]
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary: Colt-pixie
- ^ "House Shadow Drake - Water Horses and Other Fairy Steeds". Shadowdrake.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ "Colypixy". Pandius.com. Retrieved 18 November 2011.
- ^ Wise, John. "The New Forest: Its History and its Scenery" (1863)
- ^ [1]