The local bogie of the black dog type from the Westmorland (a historic county in North West England) and adjacent parts of Yorkshire. He could apparently assume any form at will, but preferred that of the calf-sized black dog. There used to be a barn near Milnthorpe called Capelthwaite Barn which was the home of one of these creatures. He was well disposed towards the farm people, and used to round up their sheep and cattle for them. The story was told about him which is more commonly told of various hobgoblins of how he once rounded up a hare among the sheep, and complained of having had more trouble with the little lamb than with any of the rest.

Towards strangers, however, he was very spiteful and mischievous, so that in the end the Vicar of Beetham laid him with due ceremony in the river Bela. Since then he has not been seen, except that one man came back from the fair capless, coatless and much dishevelled and told his wife that Capelthwaite had chased him and thrown him into the hedge. William Henderson, who tells this story in "Folk-Lore of the Northern Counties", seems to regard this adventure with some scepticism (1290: p.62):

In the county of Westmoreland and some adjacent parts of Yorkshire there was formerly a belief in the existence of a similar being, called the Capelthwaite. He had the power of appearing in the form of any quadruped, but usually chose that of a large black dog. Fifty years ago there was, perhaps still is, in the parish of Beetham, near the town of Milnthorpe, a barn called Capeltbwaite barn, as having been the residence of such a being. He was very well disposed towards the occupants of the barn, who suffered him to haunt it unmolested. For them he performed various kind acts, especially helping them in driving home their sheep. On one occasion he is said, after a hard chase, to have driven a hare by mistake into the barn, observing, "How quickly that sheep runs".

Towards all other persons he appears to have been very spiteful and mischievous, so much so that tradition tells of a Vicar of Beetham in former days going out in his ecclesiastical vestments and saying some prayers or forms of exorcism with intent to "lay" this troublesome sprite in the river Bela. Accordingly the Capelthwaite does not seem to have appeared in later times, except that a man of the neighbourhood who returned home late at night, tipsy, much bruised, and without coat or hat, persistently assured his wife that he had met the Capelthwaite, who threw him over a hedge and deprived him of those articles of dress.

There was also a farm in Yorkshire, not far from the town of Sedbergh, called Capelthwaite farm, and said to be haunted by such a being. Of his reputed doings I can give no account, further than that the stuffed skins of five calves were preserved there, which calves were born at a birth — a fact ascribed to the influence of the Capelthwaite. These particulars were communicated to me by the Rev. W. De Lancey Lawson (578: p.275-276).