Billy Blind (also known as Billy Blin, Billy Blynde, Billie Blin, or Belly Blin) is an English and Lowland Scottish

household spirit A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in paganism as well as in folklore across many parts of the world. Household deities fit into ...

, much like a brownie. He appears only in

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s, where he frequently advises the characters. It is possible that the character of Billy Blind is a

folk memory Folk memory, also known as folklore or myths, refers to past events that have been passed orally from generation to generation. The events described by the memories may date back hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years and often hav ...

of the god ''

Woden Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

'' or ''

Odin Odin (; from non, Óðinn, ) is a widely revered Æsir, god in Germanic paganism. Norse mythology, the source of most surviving information about him, associates him with wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, war, battle, v ...

'' from Germanic mythology, in his "more playful aspect" "The Critic, Volume 21" Carolyn Shipman, Charles Waddell Chesnutt, The Critic Printing and Pub. Co., 1894, page 435 and is speculated to have been the same character as Blind Harie, the "blind man of the game" in Scotland.

Child Ballads

Child Ballad The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as '' ...

no 5c, ''

Gil Brenton "Gil Brenton" is Child ballad 5, Roud 22, existing in several variants. Synopsis A man (often described as a king or lord) has brought home a foreign woman to be his wife. In several variants, the bride is warned that if she is not a maiden (i ...

'', it is Billy Blind that advises the hero that his bride is not the woman beside him, who is a virgin, but she is hiding in her bower and already pregnant. In Child Ballad no 6, ''

Willie's Lady Willie's Lady is Child ballad number 6 and Roud #220. The earliest known copy of the ballad is from a recitation transcribed in 1783. A variant of this ballad was one of 25 traditional works included in ''Ballads Weird and Wonderful'' (1912) and i ...

'', Willie's wife has been in labour and can not deliver because Willie's mother, a rank witch, is preventing her. Billy Blind advises Willie to make a wax figure of a baby and invite his mother to the christening. In her rage, the mother demands to know how all her magic was undone, listing all the things she's done, and Willie is able to undo them. In Child Ballad no 53C, ''

Young Bekie "Young Beichan", also known as "Lord Bateman", "Lord Bakeman", "Lord Baker", "Young Bicham" and "Young Bekie", is a traditional folk ballad categorised as Child ballad 53 and Roud 40. The earliest versions date from the late 18th century, but ...

'', he advises Burd Isobel that Young Bekie is about to marry another bride, and gives her assistance in the magical journey to reach him in time. In Child Ballad no 110, ''

The Knight and the Shepherd's Daughter "The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter" is an English ballad, collected by Francis James Child as Child Ballad 110 and listed as number 67 in the Roud Folk Song Index. Synopsis A knight persuades a shepherd's daughter to give him her virgini ...

'', he appears in many of the variants to reveal the true births of the marrying couple: much higher than was apparent.Francis James Child, ''English and Scottish Popular Ballads''
"The Knight and the Shepherd’s Daughter"
/ref>

Modern literature

In modern

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

, Billy Blind appears in Peter S. Beagle's '' Tamsin'', where his main characteristic is to give advice.

References

External links

''Young Bekie''
(third version) {{Fairies Northumbrian folklore Northumbrian folkloric beings Ballads English legendary creatures English folklore Scottish folklore Odin Household deities