A colt pixie (also colepixie, colepixy, collepixie, collpixie, colt-pixie, colt pixy, and cold pixie) is a creature from

English folklore English folklore consists of the myths and legends of England, including the region's Legendary creature, mythical creatures, traditional recipes, urban legends, proverbs, superstitions, Folk dance, dance, balladry, and Folklore, folktales tha ...

Southern England Southern England, also known as the South of England or the South, is a sub-national part of England. Officially, it is made up of the southern, south-western and part of the eastern parts of England, consisting of the statistical regions of ...

and

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

(especially the

New Forest The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, featu ...

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

). According to local mythology, it is a type of

Pixie A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas around Devon and Cor ...

which takes the form of a scruffy, pale

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 mi ...

pony A pony is a type of small horse, usually measured under a specified height at maturity. Ponies often have thicker coats, manes and tails, compared to larger horses, and proportionally shorter legs, wider barrels, heavier , thicker necks and s ...

to lead travellers and other livestock astray (similar to a

Will-o'-the-wisp In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp, or ; ), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in the United Kingdom by a variety of names, including jack-o'- ...

), and is often associated with Puck.

Erasmus Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus ( ; ; 28 October c. 1466 – 12 July 1536), commonly known in English as Erasmus of Rotterdam or simply Erasmus, was a Dutch Christian humanist, Catholic priest and Catholic theology, theologian, educationalist ...

's 16th century translation '' Apophthegmatum opus'' includes the line: "I shall be ready at thine elbow to plaie the parte of Hobgoblin or Collepixie." The phrase "as ragged as a colt pixie" was common in the

at least as recently as the early 20th century.Wise, John. ''The New Forest: Its History and its Scenery'' (1863) In the dialect of Dorset "to colt-pixy" meant to beat down the remaining apples after a crop has been harvested, i.e. to take the colts' horde.

Colloquial survivals

* Fossil echinoids are sometimes called colt-pixies' heads *Cold Pixie's Cave is the name of a barrow in the

, near Lyndhurst

References

{{Fairies English folklore Hampshire folklore New Forest folklore Dorset folklore Fairies Legendary horses English legendary creatures Pixies