The Hobyahs
An old Scottish (Cornish?) nursery tale, of which there are at least two common versions, both of which are in the public domain. The first was recorded in 1891, and the second in 1918, both of which appear below. Of more interest and deserving of its own treatment, however, is the tale's impact on Australian culture, from the modified versions (okay, so at least a third version, but I don't currently have a source for that one) found in the Victorian Readers of the 1930s and forward, to the 1989 horror drama Celia by Ann Turner. through to the present day. Not being a part of that culture and fearing misrepresentation, I'll just move, move, move along to the tales themselves.
The Hobyahs
version 1
Once there was an old man and woman and a little girl, and they all
lived in a house made of hempstalks. Now the old man had a little dog
named Turpie; and one night the Hobyahs came and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
his tail." So in the morning the old man cut off little dog Turpie's
tail.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
one of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off one of little
dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
another of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off another of
little dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
another of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off another of
little dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
another of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off another of
little dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
little dog Turpie's head." So in the morning the old man cut off little
dog Turpie's head.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" And when the Hobyahs found that little dog
Turpie's head was off they tore down the hempstalks, ate up the old man
and woman, and carried the little girl off in a bag.
And when the Hobyahs came to their home they hung up the bag with the
little girl in it, and every Hobyah knocked on the top of the bag and
said, "Look me! look me!" And then they went to sleep until the next
night, for the Hobyahs slept in the daytime.
The little girl cried a great deal, and a man with a big dog came that
way and heard her crying. When he asked her how she came there and she
told him, he put the dog in the bag and took the little girl to his
home.
The next night the Hobyahs took down the bag and knocked on the top of
it, and said "Look me! look me!" and when they opened the bag--the big
dog jumped out and ate them all up; so there are no Hobyahs now.
Source:American Folk-Lore Journal, iii., 173, contributed by Mr. S.V. Proudfit as current in a family deriving from Perth and subsequently published in More Eglish Fairy Tales, collected and edited by Joseph Jacobs, 1894.
The Hobyahs
version 2
Once upon a time there lived a little old man and a little old woman in
a house all made of hemp stalks. And they had a little dog named Turpie
who always barked when any one came near the house.
One night when the little old man and the little old woman were fast
asleep, creep, creep, through the woods came the Hobyahs, skipping
along on the tips of their toes.
“Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away
the little old woman,” cried the Hobyahs.
Then little dog Turpie ran out, barking loudly, and he frightened the
Hobyahs so that they ran away home again. But the little old man woke
from his dreams, and he said:
“Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor
sleep. In the morning I will take off his tail.”
So when it came morning, the little old man took off little dog
Turpie’s tail to cure him of barking.
The second night along came the Hobyahs, creep, creep through the
woods, skipping along on the tips of their toes, and they cried:
“Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat the little old man, and carry away the
little old woman.”
Then the little dog Turpie ran out again, barking so loudly that he
frightened the Hobyahs, and they ran away home again.
But the little old man tossed in his sleep, and he said:
“Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor
sleep. In the morning I will take off his legs.”
So when it came morning, the little old man took off Turpie’s legs to
cure him of barking.
The third night the Hobyahs came again, skipping along on the tips of
their toes, and they called out:
“Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat up the little old man, and carry away
the little old woman.”
Then little dog Turpie barked very loudly, and he frightened the
Hobyahs so that they ran away home again.
But the little old man heard Turpie, and he sat up in bed, and he said:
“Little dog Turpie barks so loudly that I can neither slumber nor
sleep. In the morning I will take off his head.”
So when it came morning, the little old man took off Turpie’s head, and
then Turpie could not bark any more.
That night the Hobyahs came again, skip-ping along on the tips of their
toes, and they called out:
“Tear down the hemp stalks. Eat the little old man, and carry off the
little old woman.”
Now, since little dog Turpie could not bark any more, there was no one
to frighten the Hobyahs away. They tore down the hemp stalks, they took
the little old woman away in their bag, but the little old man they
could not get, for he hid himself under the bed.
Then the Hobyahs hung the bag which held the little old woman up in
their house, and they poked it with their fingers, and they cried:
“Look you! Look you!”
But when it came daylight, they went to sleep, for Hobyahs, you know,
sleep all day.
The little old man was very sorry when he found that the little old
woman was gone. He knew then what a good little dog Turpie had been to
guard the house at night, so he brought Turpie’s tail, and his legs,
and his head, and gave them back to him again.
Then Turpie went sniffing and snuffing along to find the little old
woman, and soon came to the Hobyahs’ house. He heard the little old
woman crying in the bag, and he saw that the Hobyahs were all fast
asleep. So he went inside.
Then he cut open the bag with his sharp teeth, and the little old woman
hopped out and ran home; but Turpie got inside the bag to hide.
When it came night, the Hobyahs woke up, and they went to the bag, and
they poked it with their long fingers, crying:
“Look you! Look you!”
But out of the bag jumped little dog Turpie, and he ate every one of
the Hobyahs.
And that is why there are not any Hobyahs now.
Source:Once Upon a Time Animal Stories by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey.
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