Obviously, a creature that hunts down items of great value can be considered to be of beneficial use to those who are able to control it. To this end, the Broggan box was created. Often fashioned from wych elm and bound by a local wise woman, these vessels were able to trap a Broggan.

 

Anyone who then opened the Broggan Box would become the Broggan’s master; able to pluck at will any items the Broggan would find.

 

It created a miserable life for the Broggan however; bound to the box with a powerful spell that forced them into an unhappy and painful life of servitude.

 

A Broggan released from a Box is in terrible danger; presenting itself to other animals who might attack it and working too closely to humans who might hurt it.

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Many believe the sharp decrease in the number of Broggans in Ireland is largely due to Broggan Boxes, many creatures under the spell of a box are thought to have perished in their attempts to please their masters.

 

The most significant danger is of course the Magpie; a fearsome predator of a defenseless Broggan

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The 'one for sorrow' poem is commonly associated with magpies but was originally thought to be an indicator that a Broggan was near as magpies often follow and hunt them, as they covet their shiny treasures.  It was originally recited to protect the Broggan from a magpie; a kind of spell that wards the magpie away.