Peg Powler is a hag and water spirit in

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 ...

who inhabits the

River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...

. Similar to the Grindylow, Jenny Greenteeth, and Nelly Longarms, she drags children into the water if they get too close to the edge. She is regarded as a bogeyman figure who is invoked by parents to frighten children into proper behavior.Briggs, Katharine (1976). ''An Encyclopedia of Fairies''. Pantheon Books. pp. 323–324. . The 19th century folklorist William Henderson describes Peg Powler as having green hair and "an insatiable desire for human life" and she is said to lure people into the river to drown or be devoured. The foam or froth which is often seen floating on certain parts of the Tees is called "Peg Powler's suds" or "Peg Powler's cream". A similar creature named Nanny Powler is said to haunt the

River Skerne The River Skerne is a tributary of the River Tees. It flows through County Durham in England. Course The Skerne is about long and begins in Magnesian Limestone hills between Trimdon and Trimdon Grange and ends at Hurworth Place where it ...

, a tributary of the Tees. Michael Denham regards her as either the sister or daughter of Peg Powler. Elliott O'Donnell paints a somewhat different picture of Peg Powler in his 1924 book ''Ghosts, Helpful and Harmful''. He describes her as a spirit who lures men and boys to their doom in the River Tees by appearing as a beautiful young woman with green hair and pretending to drown so that her victim will enter the water in an attempt to save her. She may even appear on land on foggy nights and lead men astray until they stumble into the river.

Adaptions

In 1952, an uncredited writer, penciler Alex Toth, and inker Mike Peppe produced a 1-page comic for issue #6 of the Standard Comics horror anthology ''The Unseen'' based on the Peg Powler legend. The Peg Powler myth is also at the heart of the 2018 novel '' Ironopolis'' by Glen James Brown.

References

County Durham folklore English legendary characters Female legendary creatures Northumbrian folklore Water spirits Crones and hags Bogeymen {{europe-myth-stub