See caption
River Tees at Piercebridge
Source: Wikimedia Commons

Peg Powler is the evil spiritType of primitive spiritual entity from the pagan past, perhaps the manifestation of a race memory, usually associated with a single place. of the River Tees in northeastern England; Peg may be a corrupt version of an old Celtic name for a nymph or water spirit.[1] Rather like her counterpart Jenny GreenteethWater spirit said to inhabit pools in Cheshire, Lancashire and Shropshire. If children venture too close, then she reaches out of the water and drags them in to their deaths. in the northwest of the country, she was said to drag children who ventured too close the water’s edge to their deaths. And just like Jenny Greenteeth, she is very likely a nursery bogey intended to scare young children and keep them away from the dangerous waters of the river.[2]

With her green hair and long arms she would reach out from the water and grab an unwary child. The children of Piecebridge were told that Peg would even venture onto the land to catch them, and drag them to their deaths.[2]

Nanny Powler is a similar creature said to haunt the River Skerne, a tributary of the Tees. The folklorist Michael Denham has suggested that she is either the sister or daughter of Peg Powler.[3]

References

  1. loc. 3823–3836
  2. p. 130
  3. p. 42

Bibliography

Allen, Grant. The Evolution of the Idea of God. Ebook, Blackmore Dennett, 2018.
Briggs, Katharine Mary. Abbey Lubbers, Banshees, & Boggarts. Kestrel Books, 1979.
Denham, Michael, and James Hardy. Denham Tracts. The Folklore Society, 1895.