El Coco

[Sweeney]

I was curious if anybody else was terrified of El Coco as a child. My grandmother would tell me Coco will come get me if I was bad. Does anybody know the full story about this boogyman?

[Mouguias]

I think el "coco" comes from certain Roman character which was already used in those old times to scare children. Yeah, I also heard of it when was a little boy
In Asturias there are more of those monsters, like for instance
- La guaxa (also known as curuxa, at times). Some sort of vampire - witch - shrew. It resembles vaguely the Banshee, the Black Annis or the Gwrach from the British Isles. La Guaxa has a long fang which uses to suck blood from little children.
-The "sacauntos", or "fat-collector", a bogey man which used to take away human fat and keep it in his bag.
-The "manona", the Big Hand, a misterious hand which gets through windows and takes away children. The English Black Annis has also a big hand which uses to grab kids through the windows.
In Asturian tradition there are also some tales about werewolves, if you are interested on them

[Sweeney]

I am sure glad my grandmother restricted herself to one monster to scare me with. I would love to hear any folklore from Astruias.

[Agustin]

La figura de "El Coco" no es exclusiva de la mitología asturiana. Existe en toda España y es un personaje con el que se asusta a los niños que no se portan bien.
Existe una referencia ya en la literatura española del siglo XVI, concretamente EL LAZARILLO DE TORMES. En ella se cuenta que el lazarillo, cuando era pequeño, al ver a un hombre negro, cree que es el Coco.


Translation by Bob

The "El Coco " character is found not only in Asturian mythology, but also appears in other areas of Spain, and is a character used to frighten children who misbehave. There is a reference in the Spanish literature of the XVIth century, namely EL LAZARILLO DE TORMES. In it there is a story about a child, having seen a black man, who thought that it was El Coco.

[Carlos]

Efectivamente, el personaje de "el Coco" se halla por prácticamente toda la Península Ibérica, no solamente en Asturies. Sólo añadir que la etimología de esta palabra se hace derivar del latín "Coccus", que quiere decir "cocinero". Otro personaje que cumple la misma función de asustar a los niños, este sí exclusivo de Asturies, es "el Papón", o también "la Paparresolla". También se llama en lengua asturiana "cocos" a cualquier bicho que le salga a la comida, a la madera, etc, como por ejemplo, la carcoma, o el gusano de una manzana, etc. En las legumbres se llama "papones" a unos insectos muy pequeños de color negro. El sentido último de todas estas palabras está relacionado con "comer", los carrillos se llaman en asturiano "los papos". "Papón" es un aumentativo de "papu".

Como curiosidad, os puedo decir que en los Países Bajos (Holanda, Bélgica...), con la misma finalidad de asustar a los niños para que coman o se porten bien, se les dice "¡que vienen los españoles!". Esto data de las guerras de independencia de estos países, cuando las tropas del Conde-Duque de Olivares hicieron grandes matanzas.

Saludos.

[Ana Cris]

Duerme mi nenu/que vien el Coco/se come a los nenos/que duermen poco
(sleep my child/or the Coco will come/he eats children/that sleep little
Yes el Coco is still a familiar figure, even in adult conversation!

In my family two figures were employed to terrify children: el Coco and El Hombre del Saco (the man with the sack, he would get you and take you away who knows where). But el Coco is the most popular.

I was curious if anybody else was terrified of El Coco as a child. My grandmother would tell me Coco will come get me if I was bad. Does anybody know the full story about this boogyman?

[evacollado]

Yes mum use to always talk about how the coco was going to take us away, my nephew who is 15 remembers being scared of the coco

My father would refer to his mother-in-law as "La Fay" i still dont understand what "La Fay" means, but everyone in Villahormes would roll around laughing..

[Betty]

As a very small child I once hid in a closet for many hours because I believed the gypsies were coming to get me. We were told by our grandmother to be good or the gypsies would take us away... somewhere!
I could hear everyone shouting for me, but I knew it was just the gypsies waiting out there!
When my aunt finally found me hiding way back in a closet I still remember the fear and crying for them not to send me to the gypsies... my mother doesn't remember this at all. I have no idea what behavior created the "Gypsy Incident!"

I also recall the word "coco" but I don't remember any "Coco Incidents!."
Betty Vega

[Bob]

My father used to talk of, and demonstrate, what was done to keep gypsies away during his childhood in Spelter. He would encircle his chin with the thumb and forefinger of one had, palm down, then link his other thumb with the pinkie on the first hand, and waggle the second hand back and forth with its fingers open. Supposedly, if this were directed at a gypsy, the gypsy would leave.

Has anyone else ever heard of this?

He also said that everyone thought gypsies would feed crushed glass to a cow, thereby killing it so the gypsies could purchase the apparently diseased cow cheaply.

[isabeau88]

Hello! I am new to this site and as I was browsing found a reference to El Coco. I just let out a yelp and was excited to find it! We have asked around and searched a bit for info on this character with little result.
I did find a site that describe El Coco rather like the one my abuela used to describe and was a little "spooked".
My story:
We lived in a two story old home. The upstairs was now only used for storage, as it was not finished - exposed rafters, no insulation, etc. So the adults did not want us children poking around up there. SO she told us the the Coco lived up there and that he would get us if we went up there. It was a humanoid creature with wild hair and crooked teeth and a bulbous hairy nose. Imagine having it living in your home!! EEk! Well, it worked for us and we never wanted to go up alone, even as we got older and we were sent to do a chore. My older sister, in her late fifties, STILL is afraid to go up there alone.
Would enjoy any other stories out there.
Thanks and glad to have found you.

[Raquel M]

En Cuba tambien se le mete miedo a los ninos con el Coco y con El
Hombre del Saco ! Ahora en los Estados Unidos los Cubanos aqui
hemos seguido la tradicion !