A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

In William Henderson’s Northern Counties collection, Redcap, Redcomb and Bloody Cap name a malicious sprite inhabiting Border castles, towers and peelhouses associated with past tyranny. Henderson describes a short, thickset old man with prominent teeth, long disordered hair, fiery red eyes and thin fingers ending in talons compared with an eagle’s. Iron boots and a pikestaff carried in the left hand give this particular account a sharply defined appearance. These are features of Henderson’s witness, rather than a fixed anatomy shared by every later game or story using the name.

Travellers who enter the ruins for shelter face stones thrown by the inhabitant. Henderson also reports killings in which the goblin catches the victims’ blood in its cap, explaining the crimson colour. Repeated scriptural words or a displayed cross can drive it away; its departure is accompanied by a cry or a disappearance in flame, with a large tooth left behind. The passage does not say that a drying cap kills the creature, so that frequently repeated rule is not part of this account.

Henderson connects the ruin-haunting figure with Redcap sly, the supernatural companion of Lord Soulis at Hermitage Castle. His quoted verses promise the lord protection from ordinary weapons and bonds until ropes of sifted sand can confine him. The subsequent retelling invokes Michael Scott’s book and True Thomas, and ends with Soulis boiled at the Nine-stane Rig. Redcap cannot save him. This is Henderson’s presentation of a ballad tradition, not evidence that its magical acts or execution occurred as narrated.

The same section preserves a short song attributed to Mr. Wilkie, in which Redcap’s frightening appearance, cries, laughter and falling tooth drive the encounter. Henderson also cites a Denham proverb and an earlier Scott discussion of spirits in ruined Scottish towers. He explicitly distinguishes Dutch Redcaps, helpful household workers, from the Border attacker. Their shared name therefore does not justify combining their actions, origin or appearance. His speculative connection with an inn called Mother Redcap is likewise not a demonstrated identity.

Blood-coloured cap in Henderson’s accountIron boots and left-hand pikestaffHaunts Border ruinsDriven off by scripture or cross in this witness
01

Origins & earliest records

The fully inspected witness is Henderson’s new edition of 1879, Chapter VII, pp. 253–255. It cites earlier Scott, Denham and Wilkie material; those earlier witnesses have not all been independently inspected here, and no absolute first documentation date is claimed.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete Redcap section, song, neighbouring Dutch comparison and footnotes read in the 1879 transcription and Wellcome scan OCR. This establishes a printed folklore witness, not physical evidence of a goblin.

In the literature

“Syne a tooth fell out o’ his head.”
William Henderson · Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders
Chapter VII, p.255, last line of song attributed to Mr. Wilkie

The song’s last line describes a fallen tooth; attribution to Wilkie is preserved rather than inventing an independently verified oral narrator.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders

    William Henderson · 1879

    Chapter VII, Local Sprites, pp. 253–255; complete Border Redcap account, Wilkie song and separate Dutch comparison read.

  2. 02

    Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, vol. IV, p. 243 — reference cited by Henderson

    Walter Scott · Edition not identified in the inspected footnote

    Bibliographic lead mediated through Henderson p. 254; neither the complete original Scott note nor a complete Lord Soulis ballad was inspected for this profile.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

Located primary passages

Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.

Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders

New edition with many additional notes, 1879; title and complete section checked in Wellcome scan OCR, quotation additionally checked in validated Wikisource transcription.

  1. Henderson distinguishes the blood-capped Border ruin-haunter from friendly Brownies and Dutch Redcaps. Iron boots, eaglelike fingers and a left-hand pikestaff accompany stone attacks and reported blood-taking. Scripture or a cross drives it away, leaving a tooth. His Soulis ballad retelling ends with Redcap unable to prevent the lord’s boiling. Wilkie’s attributed song ends in a fallen tooth; Dutch household assistance and subsequent ruin are separately narrated.

    Chapter VII, Local Sprites, complete Redcap discussion and comparisons, pp.253–255

The inspected witness establishes a reported or literary version, not supernatural physical fact. Complete selected passage does not mean complete source volume or earlier cited sources were read.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Primary textHenderson 1879, Chapter VII, pp. 253–255Research access: 2026-10-05
  2. Custodial bibliographyWellcome Collection: 1879 new edition, public-domain scanResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

FT·645 · RESEARCH EDITION 01Back to top ↑