Hobs & helpers · Yorkshire

Hobhole Hob of Runswick Bay

Hob Hole, a sea cave in Runswick Bay, on the North Yorkshire coast

Family-friendly

Not every sprite in the North was something to be afraid of. In his own county, William Henderson wrote, there was a sprite of a much kinder sort, with the homely name of Hob.

Hob lived in Hob Hole, a natural cave in Runswick Bay, hollowed out of the cliff by the tides. And Hob could cure the whooping cough, or the “kink cough” as they called it.

So when a child had that dreadful cough, the mother or father would carry them down to the shore and into the cave. There, in a low voice, they would ask Hob for help:

Hobhole Hob!Ma' bairn's gotten 't kink cough,Tak't off! tak't off!as Henderson recorded it

In plain English: “Hobhole Hob, my child has got the whooping cough. Take it away! Take it away!”

No plate yet. We are still looking for an old picture of this place.

What people said

  • Hobs that work. Up the dale near Reeth, Henderson was told of another Hob, or Hobthrush, who lived with the family at Sturfit Hall. Like a Scottish brownie, he churned the butter, made up the fires and did all sorts of jobs. But the mistress felt sorry for him going about with nothing to wear, and left him a hat and cloak. He cried out “Ha! a cap and a hood, Hob'll never do mair good!” and was never seen again.
  • Never pay a hob. The Vicar of Danby found another Hob attached to a farm near Danby, with an old rhyme that warns: “Gin Hob mun hae nowt but harden hamp, He'll come nae mair to berry nor stamp.” If all Hob gets is a coarse hemp shirt, he'll come to work no more.

Other tellings

  • Henderson says the cave was formed by the tides, like the “fairy caves” near Hartlepool and the hollows in the cliffs near Sunderland.

What the history says

[TODO: about Hob Hole itself, and whether it can still be visited]

Go and See

Where
Runswick Bay, on the North Yorkshire coast. The pin marks the village. [TODO: where Hob Hole is on the bay]
Access
[TODO: beach access and tide times. Sea caves can be cut off by the tide]
Allow
An hour or two on the beach.
Families
A gentle, kindly tale for young children. Check the tide before going near any caves.

54.5327° N, 0.7504° W · Open in OpenStreetMap

Make a day of it

From our sister sites

Acorn & InkPrint a day-out prep sheetGet children ready for a day at the seaside and a sprite's cave.The Name GeneratorsName a sprite of your ownHobs, brownies and fairies: give yours a name.

Sources

  1. William Henderson, Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders (1879), p. 264. Our main source. Internet Archive.

This is a legend, told as people told it. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.