boogyman

[David Bergdahl]

Beverley--

Consider the etymology under "bugger" in the OED: the Cathars [whom we call
Albigensians] who were eradicated in the Second Crusade had a heresy which
originated in Bulgaria.  As part of the Roman Catholic Church's propaganda
campaign against the heretics--the details of their faith are too much for a
short note--they were alleged to be sodomites.  I suggest that the
"boogeyman" with [u] is the popular

Webster's online has a very late date.

Main Entry: bo·gey·man
Variant(s): also bo·gy·man   /'bu-gE-"man, 'bO-, 'bü-, 'bu-g&r-/
Function: noun
Date: circa 1890
1 : a monstrous imaginary figure used in threatening children
2 : a terrifying or dreaded person or thing : BUGBEAR

Two other online sources give variants but no dates:

bo·gey·man also boog·ey·man or boog·y·man or boog·ie·man   Pronunciation Key
(bg-mn, bg-, bg-)
n.
A terrifying specter; a hobgoblin.

Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth
Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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bogeyman

n : an imaginary monster used to frighten children [syn: bugbear, bugaboo,
boogeyman, booger]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University

Dave and Carlos Wilton's www.wordorigins.org has

Bogle is an old Scottish word for ghost, often spelled bogy, bogil, bogie,
and other ways. The term dates at least to 1505, and is the source for our
modern bogeyman or boogieman. It is akin to the Middle English bugge,
meaning scarecrow, which survives to this day in bugbear.

This citation is closer to the time period I claim the term originated in.
Transmission to English would not be unusual because of the political
climate of the day with the crown having holdings in both England and
France.  Simon de Montfort was the Pope's man inn the service of the French
King who is still remembered bitterly: it was he, when he came to a city on
the Rhone with many Cathars, when asked how they could discriminate between
Catholics and Cathars, told his troups to "kill them all: God will know his
own."  His nephew was one of the barons leading the revolt against the crown
in England a generation later.  What this proves is that in one family a
leading military man for the French king could have an English lord as a
close relative who was also a powerful political figure.

--David Bergdahl
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"Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott, aber Boshaft ist er nicht"
--Albert Einstein