Shmoo

I came across this funny creature when paging through my book, Giants, Monsters & Dragons by Carol Rose. It states that this lovable creature is the sweetest thing around. He's always smiling and happy, and is self-sacrificing. He can produce milk, eggs, and butter when needed and if looked at by a starving man would die of happiness to be eaten.
He taste like chicken if you boil him, steak if grilled, his hide was the finest leather, he multiplied quicker than a rabbit, and his eyes could be made for perfect buttons.

I read here: http://www.deniskitchen.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=bios.shmoo that he was so good that the people stopped working and became dependent upon them. So the American government took them all to try and get the people to work again but one managed to slip away and start his own colony in Dogpatch's Valley.

If you're in need of a creature sidekick in your story, he would probably be a good one. Until next time~

Water Leaper

The Water Leaper does exactly as it's name states - it hops on top of the water like a crazy beach ball.

Its image varies but, what is consistent it that it is round and winged with a tail that has a stinger and looks like a large toad-ish bat, except no legs. It uses its wings to skip across the water's smooth surface and with its sharp teeth cuts fishermen's lines and eats their bait. Sometimes, when it's fed up with fish bait and livestock and decidedly feeling adventurous, it lures the fishermen themselves to the edges of their boat and gobble them instead.

You don't have to worry about this little devil popping up and eating you while leaning over the rail of your cruise ship to ogle at the sunset. That is...if that cruise is stopping by Wales. Then you should be worried. So, if your cruise ship just happens to be chugging by Wales on the Irish Sea, stay in your cabins folks.

Until next time~

Uilebheist

The Uilebheist is a Nordic/Scottish sea monster that has multiple heads and is sometimes called a Draygan. They came to the remote Orkney and Shetland Islands by way of Norse invaders. Instead of tearing apart ships and gobbling sailors, this beast is more akin to the title of protector. He guards the rocky coasts and the islands' inlets.

Because the Uilebheist's second name, Draygan, is so similar to the English word Dragon, they may have at one time been thought of as watery cousins to the fire breathing ones that storm castles and take the princesses locked up in towers.

It says vaguely in very old Norse text that there was some sort of being that watched the coasts. They were probably what sparked the idea for the Uilebheist.

Until next time!

Gremlins

Do not be fooled by this adorable face! This Hollywood dramatization couldn't be more wrong..... Because, gremlins are evil little creatures that look like this!!!!!

This is also the face of the creepy thing hiding under your bed. 

Gremlins, according to my fairy dictionary, didn't start causing mayhem until WWII when airplanes came to be in use. They would attach themselves to plane wings and hitch-hike. That is, if they didn't sharpen their claws with them or ice them first. They'd also appear out of nowhere in the pilot's windshield as a cruel joke. These happenings only occurred over Europe. It says that many pilots experienced the torture of these little devils. The Allies nor the Axis wanted to believe these claims...but they kept happening. Eventually, they felt they had to log them in the flight records.

The gremlin of the 1943 Bugs Bunny cartoon

Most pilots who complained of Gremlin attacks had, had their wire pulled out of the engines, holes poked in their wings, gas leaks, spontaneous combustion, wing ice even though they were no where near freezing temperatures, and of course, they'd pop in front of the windshield.

They are little body builders, for, they can tear through metal without a sweat. They don't need food, air, or water for longs periods. They also range from the sizes of a child to an adult and are very hairy and have a grin like the Cheshire Cat, supposedly. I can't say for myself since I've never seen one - and hope to never see one.

I hope this helps you in some way if you've got writer's block. All of this information came from my beloved book - A Witches Guide to Faery Folk by Edain McCoy. Until next time!

The Water Mannikin

Water Mannikin is a guardian fairy that inhabits the figurehead of a ship. This creature is of German origin and reportedly invisible. Another name is the Klaboutermannikin. Sailors believed that for the fairy to want to choose to inhabit their figurehead, the figurehead would have to be very lifelike. Only the oldest and most precious woods would be used to carve the figurehead. Supposedly, the Water Mannikins guarded the ship from ill health, rocks, troubling weather, and fearsome winds. If the ship went down, the fairy would guide the sailors to the Other Side. The Dutch thought that if you went down without the Water Minnikin it meant you would be forced to stay in a watery eternity.

I found this quite interesting when I'd read it from the dictionary at the back of A Witches Guide to Faery Folk by Edain Mccoy. It has many interesting things listed back there. If you're a fairy enthusiast like me, I encourage you to get it. The dictionary at the back is very helpful if you're writing a story involving the fae.

Until next time~ ^_^