SOURCE: The Princess and the Goblin (1872) by George MacDonald
The Princess and Curdie (1882)

DESCRIPTION: "Running with him into that part of the garden which I have already described, they saw a score of creatures, to not one of which they could give a name, and not one of which was like another, hideous and ludicrous at once, gambolling on the lawn in the moonlight.  The supernatural or rather subnatural ugliness of their faces, the length of legs and necks in some, the apparent absence of both or either in others, made the spectators, although in one consent as to what they saw, yet doubtful, as I have said, of the evidence of their own eyes - and ears as well; for the noises they made, although not loud, were as uncouth and varied as their forms, and could be described neither as grunts nor squeaks nor roars nor howls nor barks nor yells nor screams nor croaks nor hisses nor mews nor shrieks, but only as something like all of them mingled in one horrible dissonance.  Keeping in the shade, the watchers had a few moments to recover themselves before the hideous assembly suspected their presence; but all at once, as if by common consent, they scampered off in the direction of a great rock, and vanished before the men had come to themselves sufficiently to think of following them." (The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald)

NOTES: The strange animals of the goblins are not as supernatural as they seem. When the goblins moved underground they took their livestock and pets with them. Living underground the animals have mutated into weird looking creatures. One of these includes a cat with legs like stilts that chases the princess Irene in her home.

HISTORY: In faery legends the fey folk are said to have magical animals such as horses, dogs, cats and birds. MacDonald may have been inspired by these, those his animals are far uglier than the creatures of legend.