I suppose it comes from
A.S. [Illustration: bupp], a town, and [Illustration: jart], a ghost,
and so signifies a town sprite. N.B. [Illustration: jart] is in the
Belgic and Teutonic softened into gheist and geyst."
The boggart or bar-gaist of the following story resembles the German
_kobold,_ the Danish _nis_, and the Scotch _brownie_; but, above all,
the Spanish _duende_, which signifies a spirit or sprite, supposed by
the vulgar to haunt houses and highways, causing therein much terror and
confusion. "DUENDE. _Espiritu que el vulgo cree que infesta las casas y
travesea, causando en ellas ruidos y estruendos_"--LEMURES, LARVAE. "To
appear like a _duende_," "to move like a _duende_" are modes of
speaking by which it is meant that persons appear in places where they
are least expected. "To have a _duende_" signifies that a person's
imagination is disturbed.
The following curious Spanish "Moral," the MS. of which has been kindly
lent to the author by Mr Crofton Croker may not be deemed uninteresting
as an illustration of the subject. We have accompanied each stanza with
a parallel translation of our own.
DUENDE ENEMIGO DEL JUEGO.
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