Shellycoat

A Shellycoat is a type of bogeyman that haunts rivers and streams in Scottish and Northern English folklore. Many places on the coast of Scotland have names that reference the shellycoat. Supposedly, shellycoats are particularly fond of the area around the River Hermitage.

Myths & Legends
Shellycoats are considered to be relatively harmless; they may mislead wanderers, particularly those they think are trespassing upon the creature's territory, but without malice. A common tactic of a shellycoat would be to cry out as if drowning and then laugh at the distracted victim.

Appearance
Their name comes from the coat of shells these creatures are said to wear, which rattle upon movement.

Origins
As described above, the shellycoat shares many of the traits of the Brag. Jacob Grimm stated in his Deutsche Mythologie that the Scottish goblin Shellycoat is one and the same as the German Schellenrock, or "bell-coat."

Thomas Keightly quotes Grimm and classifies the shellycoat as a type of brownie.

The domestic nature of the shellycoat emphasized by Grimm and Keightly stands in contradistinction to the wild nature of the water sprites mentioned in other sources.