A Bogey is in English folklore a horrible evil spirit or hobgoblin, usually big and black, who scares children. The “Bogey-Man” or “Boogie-Man” arrives at night and appears in bedrooms and at the sides of beds. In appearance the bogey often looks like the dark silhouette of a man. The bogey is called the bwg (ghost) in Welsh, bogle in Scotland, and Boggelmann in German. Among other names are bug-a-boo, boo, bugbear, bock, and boggart. The Irish puca is similar. Bogey also is another name for the Devil.

SOURCE:

The Encyclopedia of Demons and Demonology – Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – Copyright © 2009 by Visionary Living, Inc.

Bogies (also boggans, bogles, bogans, boggarts)—Malicious spirits found around British bogs (hence the name), which often take the form of either a demonic ram, a ghostly white cow or horse, or a monstrous hound with glowing eyes. Bogies probably led to the American idea of the “boogey man.” In the Highlands of Scotland, Halloween bogies (who could be driven away by carrying torches around the homestead) were sometimes called “wirrey-cows.”

SEE ALSO:

• SAMHANACH

SOURCE:

The Halloween Encyclopedia Second Edition written by Lisa Morton © 2011 Lisa Morton. All rights reserved