In folklore, a brownie resembles the hob, similar to a hobgoblin. Brownies are said to inhabit houses and aid in tasks around the house. However, they do not like to be seen and will only work at night, traditionally in exchange for small gifts of food. Among food, they especially enjoy porridge and honey. They usually abandon the house if their gifts are called payments, or if the owners of the house misuse them. Brownies make their homes in an unused part of the house.
A fairy tale which appears to pertain brownies, but are called elves, would be the tale of the Elves and the Shoemaker written by the Grimm brothers.
Folklorist John Gregorson Campbell distinguishes between the English brownie, which lived in houses, and the Scottish ùruisg or urisk, which lived outside in streams and waterfalls and was less likely to offer domestic help. The ùruisg enjoyed solitude at certain seasons of the year. Around the end of the harvest, he became more sociable, and hovered around farmyards, stables and cattle-houses. He particularly enjoyed dairy products, and tended to intrude on milkmaids, who made regular libations of milk or cream to charm him off, or to gain his favour. He was usually seen only by those who possessed second sight, though there were instances when he made himself visible to ordinary people as well. He is said to have been jolly and personable, with flowing yellow hair, wearing a broad blue bonnet and carrying a long walking staff.
Brownies seldom spoke with humans, but they held frequent and affectionate conversations with one another. They had general assemblies as well, usually held on a remote, rocky shore.
Anglo-Scottish Border folklore also included a figure, 'Billy Blind' or 'Billy Blin', much like the brownie, but mentioned only in ballads. A hob came from the Scottish Borders and north of England, while the lubber fiend, lob or lob lie-by-the-fire was a variant from England. The Killmoulis was a similar creature which inhabited mills. Its distinguishing feature was that its face was made up of a huge nose and no mouth. The fenodyree is a folkloric fairy from the Isle of Man with similar attributes to the brownie. Jack o' the bowl is a Swiss folkloric fairy.
