Talk:Jack o' the bowl
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"Jack o'the bowl"? Any way of finding out what kind of figure is behind this name? The name is more or less screaming for a glass of "Old Speckled Hen" a filling of good old black pudding, and a fox-hunt. In other words, being Swiss and very interested in folklore, I can't help imagining this imp as a very, very English fellow indeed. What is the Swiss fairy creature behind it? Trigaranus (talk) 17:12, 18 January 2009 (UTC)
- The name is referenced at pantheon.org but no citation is given. It's also mentioned in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Fairies by Anna Franklin, on p. 138. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1894) calls him "the most famous brownie or house-spirit of Switzerland" but again, gives no sources. Perhaps a search of one of the academic databases (e.g. Lexis/Nexis) would turn up something? --Bookgrrl holler/lookee here 02:43, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
Haven't found any reference in Swiss folk tales that would turn up a name like this (i.e. in German or French, in the style of "Jacques à / de la Cuvette" or sth like that). There are of course house spirits in Swiss folklore, even such as are happy to receive a bowl of milk, but I have never seen them named Jakob / Jacques or anything like that. Trigaranus (talk) 19:26, 14 September 2009 (UTC)