Aloha Tide Riders and happy post St. Patrick's day!

The little folk aren’t always lucky… and they’re definitely not friendly.

In the third installment of our March Miniatures saga, Strange Tides dives deep into two of the most infamous pint-sized entities in folklore: the gold-hoarding Leprechaun and the blood-soaked Redcap. One’s a sharp-witted trickster, guarding hidden treasure and bending reality with riddles, bargains, and sleight of hand. The other? A brutal, castle-haunting predator said to soak its cap in fresh human blood to survive—no tricks, just terror.

We trace their roots through windswept Irish landscapes and the haunted borderlands of England and Scotland, unpacking old legends, reported encounters, and the cultural fears that may have shaped these eerie figures. Along the way, we explore how these entities evolved from mischievous fae into something far more unsettling—and why stories about them refuse to fade.

Then, in Speculation Nation, we go full Strange Tides—diving into the theories behind what these beings really are. Are Leprechauns and Redcaps remnants of ancient pygmy races? Alien refugees from another time and place? Interdimensional tricksters and predators playing by rules we barely understand? Or something even stranger?

They may be small—but in this episode, the danger (and the mystery) looms large.

Sources:

Echtra Fergus mac Léti** (The Adventure of Fergus mac Léti) - https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110810104911304

Thomas Crofton Croker — Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland - https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39752

IrishMyths.com article “The Etymology of Leprechaun” (March 4, 2024) — https://irishmyths.com/2024/03/04/leprechaun-etymology

Jacopo Bisagni - Leprechaun: A New Etymology - https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289720627_Leprechaun_A_New_Etymology

World History Encyclopedia — “Leprechaun” (Feb 4, 2021) - https://www.worldhistory.org/Leprechaun

The Elusive Elf: Some Thoughts on the Nature and Origin of the Irish Leprechaun - https://www.jstor.org/stable/1259500

Pitt.edu Folklore Collection — “The Leprechaun: Ireland's Fairy Shoemaker” - https://sites.pitt.edu/~dash/leprechaun.html

The Last Leprechauns of Ireland — https://www.thelastleprechaunsofireland.com/

“Crichton leprechaun revisited” (Mar 9, 2015) — https://www.al.com/news/mobile/2015/03/crichton_leprechaun_revisited.html

Mythos Anthology — “Leprechaun” - https://mythosanthology.com/leprechaun

History.com — “The Jolly Leprechaun’s Sinister Origins” (Mar 11, 2025) — https://www.history.com/articles/leprechauns-history-lucky-irish-gold

Sir Walter Scott — Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border -  https://www.gutenberg.org/files/45778/45778-h/45778-h.htm

William Henderson — Notes on the Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders - https://archive.org/details/cu31924006726552

Icy Sedgwick — “What Are Redcaps And Why Should You Avoid Their Lair?” (June 24, 2023) - https://www.icysedgwick.com/redcaps

Hidden Scotland — “The Redcap of Hermitage Castle” - https://hiddenscotland.com/journal/the-redcap-of-hermitage-castle

Beasts of Legend — “Redcap Goblin” (December 28, 2025 update) - https://beastsoflegend.com/bestiary/europe/redcap-goblin

Mythical Creatures & Beasts — “Redcap” - https://mythicalcreaturesandbeasts.com/redcap

A Clan A Day (Substack) — “Haunted Castles of the Red Cap” - https://aclanaday.substack.com/p/haunted-castles-of-the-red-cap

Historic Environment Scotland — Hermitage Castle -  https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/hermitage-castle/

Grey Dog Tales — “Redcap, Coffman, and the Doom of Lord Soulis” (November 16, 2018) - http://greydogtales.com/blog/redcap-coffman-doom-lord-soulis

Medieval Death Trip — “Concerning Redcaps" - https://www.medievaldeathtrip.com/concerning-redcaps

Myth and Folklore Wiki (Fandom) — “Redcap” - https://mythus.fandom.com/wiki/Redcap