Yallery Brown

Story

A young boy called Tom discovers a creature trapped under a stone, who is calling out for help. The creature is as small as a baby but it has a face full of wrinkles. Tom is wary of the creature, who introduces himself as Yallery Brown, but is persuaded to release him…

Why we chose it

A traditional Lincolnshire story, which has all the slightly sinister mischief of traditional British folk tales. An encounter with an elf or faerie might lead to good luck but beware…

Where it came from

An oral story told in Lincolnshire, the story was first written down in 1891 by M. C. Balfour, who wrote in Lincolnshire dialect. In 1893 Joseph Jacobs retold the tale in standard English and included it in his collection More English Fairy Tales. The farm labourer who first told the story claimed that these events had really happened to him in his youth.

Where it went next

Alan Garner included it in his Collected Folk Tales (2001) and Kevin Crossley Holland in Between Worlds, his 2018 collection of British and Irish folk tales.

Associated stories

There are many Lincolnshire folktales, including The Dead Moon and The Green Mist. In The Dead Moon the moon itself becomes trapped and must be freed so that she can take her place back in the sky.