From our man at the OED :)
dobby | dobbie, n.
2. A household sprite or apparition supposed to haunt certain premises or localities; a brownie. dial. (In Sussex called Master Dobbs.)
1811 J. B. S. Morritt Let. to Scott 28 Dec. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott, She..became a ghost..under the very poetic nom de guerre of Mortham Dobby.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall xvi. 136 An ancient grange..supposed..to be haunted by a dobbie.
1823 Scott Peveril I. ix. 231 The Dobby's Walk was within the inhabited domains of the Hall.
2. A household sprite or apparition supposed to haunt certain premises or localities; a brownie. dial. (In Sussex called Master Dobbs.)
1811 J. B. S. Morritt Let. to Scott 28 Dec. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott, She..became a ghost..under the very poetic nom de guerre of Mortham Dobby.
1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall xvi. 136 An ancient grange..supposed..to be haunted by a dobbie.
1823 Scott Peveril I. ix. 231 The Dobby's Walk was within the inhabited domains of the Hall.