Jimmy Squarefoot

In Manx folklore, Jimmy Squarefoot is a legendary bipedal pig-headed creature living on the Isle of Man.[1]

Folklore

Jimmy Squarefoot is typically described as a man with the head of a pig with large tusks or as a large white boar.[1][2] He is thought to have once been ridden by an unnamed Foawr, a type of stone-throwing giant, living on Cronk yn Irree Lhaa who may have been the husband of the Caillagh ny Groamagh.[1][3] Cailleach and her husband, after a fight, vanished and left their pet boar, which later became Jimmy Squarefoot.[3]

Jimmy Squarefoot is said to live in the hills of Arbory and Malew, mainly near the bridge over the Grenaby river.[2][3][4] He is said to have a cave near South Barrule, and takes humans through it to the underworld.[2] Jimmy Squarefoot may also be linked with the story of a buggane in Rushen which was able to transform between a man and a black pig.[3]

The name "Jimmy Squarefoot" was also used by sailors to refer to the devil during the late 1800s and early 1900s.[5][6]

Jimmy Squarefoot is also the name of Monster in My Pocket #80 as well as a character in the 2007 PlayStation 3 video game Folklore.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Jimmy Squarefoot". The Element Encyclopedia of the Psychic World. Vol. 10. Harper Collins. p. 342.
  2. 1 2 3 Douglas, p. 216.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Gill 1929, The Parish of Malew.
  4. ↑ Gill 1963.
  5. ↑ Harper & Brothers, p. 281.
  6. ↑ Whitney, p. 669.

Sources

  1. Harper's Young People. Harper & Brothers. 1892. Retrieved 25 August 2026.
  2. Whitney, William Dwight (1910). The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language and a Pronouncing and Etymological Dictionary of Names in Geography, Biography, Mythology, History, Art, Etc., Together with Atlas of the World. Century Company. Retrieved 25 August 2026.