Otherworldly black dogs are a surprisingly common feature of English folklore - though their powers and nature vary wildly from tale to tale. Take a look at...
- The Black Dog of Newgate Prison
- Barghest (or Barguest)
- The Shug Monkey
- The Black Dog of Lyme Regis
- Church Grim
- Gytrash, Guytrash or Padfoot
- The Gurt Dog
- Black Shuck
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| Who's a good boy...? (FotoArt-Treu) |
1. The Black Dog of Newgate Prison
Newgate Prison has an incredibly dark history. In the past, condemned prisoners traveled a couple of miles from the prison to reach the Tyburn Tree - a large set of gallows used for public hangings. The executions eventually moved to Newgate Prison itself.
The story of Newgate's black dog comes to us from Luke Hutton (a former inmate) who claimed to have heard the tale from another prisoner. It begins with the incarceration of a scholar with a reputation for witchcraft in the reign of Henry III... and his subsequent cannibalization by the starving prisoners.
The legend went that the prison was henceforth haunted by a black dog - one that would walk the halls at midnight, hungry for revenge and the flesh of those that had consumed its physical body. Even after some of those responsible escaped, they lasted mere days before their bodies were found - each rent asunder by some feral thing.
The story may have existed as prison scuttlebutt long before Hutton used it to highlight the conditions in Newgate - certainly the setting would be enough to give anyone nightmares.
2. Barghest (or Barguest)
A Barghest is one of the more fearsome black dogs in this list. Not only are they described as a large and powerful canine with sharp, shredding claws, some legends give them the power to turn a victim to stone with a glance, or to become invisible and intangible.
They can also be an omen of impending death - family members of the soon-to-be-deceased see faint glimpses of the dog, with the closest relatives receiving the clearest sightings. Those who see the Barghest and move towards it find the beast matching their pace backwards, vanishing as soon as they take their eyes off it... or sometimes witness it slipping into the ground.
The name of these creatures may come from combining the English bar, bargh or bergh (ridge or hill) with ghest (ghost) but there are several named Barghest in Lancashire folklore. One known as "Trash" usually takes the form of a large black dog with saucer-like eyes and large feet that make a wet, splashing sound as it walks. "Skriker" is another, with a name given for the weird cries it utters!
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| Black dogs came in many forms... (Ben Griffiths) |
3. The Shug Monkey
Something stalks the countryside of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, a chimeric beast blending dog, bear and primate into one bizarre package - the Shug Monkey.
Ok, the name may sound a little silly at first, but "shug" may actually be a corruption of the Old English scucca or fiend - or it could be a twist on shucky, meaning hairy or shaggy. It's also described as almost 10ft long, having a simian face, being able to stand on hind legs and having "blazing eyes."
Encounters with the beast seem to have been fairly tame (if intimidating) usually ending with the Shug Monkey staring at a terrified human for a while then shuffling off into the woods. Perhaps it's just a British version of Bigfoot?
4. The Black Dog of Lyme Regis
From the costal town of Lyme Regis comes the tale of a ghostly black dog and a hoard of hidden treasure!
The story goes that an old man and his black dog lived in Colway Manor during the 17th century. One fateful night, thieves broke into the manor and demanded the man hand over his valuables - he refused and the enraged thieves beat him to death, leaving his dog to pine away.
In time the manor was destroyed by war and a farmhouse was built in its place. It incorporated the remnants of the original building - including a fireplace with a pair of seats fixed either side. The new owner took to relaxing there of an evening... and then he began to be joined by a black dog that would sit on the vacant seat.
One night the farmer had been drinking and decided to chase his mysterious guest. The dog fled up into the attic and disappeared... but the farmer found a box of old gold and silver coins. He spent some of this bounty on an inn that he named "The Black Dog."
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| Not the idea... (YamaBSM) |
England's Church Grim is a sinister looking creature with a surprisingly benevolent role. It's known by a number of other names such as the churchyard beast, hell-beast, Hateful Thing or swoundling (swooning shadow, for the effect it has on those witnessing it.)
Despite its appearance, a Church Grim was said to defend churches and graveyards from threats physical (grave-robbers or vandals) and supernatural (evil spirits and witches.)
One curious bit of folklore is that the first creature buried in a graveyard can be conscripted into being the guardian of that place for all eternity - a dog or boar was sometimes sacrificed and buried in a new cemetery as a "foundation sacrifice" to take that role. The skeletons of dogs have been discovered in some English graveyards, such as the remains of a large canine found buried at Leiston Abbey (some people have claimed that these are the bones of Black Shuck!)
It may have been a guardian, but seeing a Church Grim was a terrible omen - and if it caused the church bell to ring at midnight, death would soon follow. Other tales put a more sinister spin on the Church Grim, suggesting that the last person to die in the year would be forced to serve the resident Grim until the anniversary of their death.
6. Gytrash, Guytrash or Padfoot
Probably the most well known black dog in literature is the "Hound of the Baskervilles" but another example crops up in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë.
Descriptions of the Gytrash (sometimes Guytrash or Padfoot) vary - while in some instances it's described as a "great black dog" it's also portrayed as a demonic cow with cloven feet and eyes as large as saucers. Brontë describes it as a horse, mule or large dog that waylaid solitary travelers.
This creature was said to haunt liminal ("between") places like crossroads, the edges of towns and even the alleyways between buildings. Either way, you don't want to encounter this creature - its presence was believed to be an omen of impending death!
7. The Gurt Dog
The Quantock Hills of Somerset are both beautiful and treacherous - sure, you can see for miles on a good day... until the fog rolls in and leaves you stranded in the mists. Fortunately, the area has legends of a friendly black dog that saves the lost and stranded!
The Gurt Dog (great dog) of the Quantocks would certainly be an intimidating sight looming out of the fog. Roughly the size of a horse, the shaggy black-furred beast's steaming breath would add to the mist with each pant.
You could be forgiven for thinking the creature was about to devour you, but local legend claims that the beast calmly herds lost travelers home, vanishing as soon as the wanderer is back on familiar territory!
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| Black Shuck seems to have been the most dangerous example... (Ramith Bhasuka) |
8. Black Shuck
Most of the otherworldly canines on this list have been content to intimidate (or even help) those who encounter them. That's not the case with Black Shuck, a hellhound said to haunt Suffolk and East Anglia.
Descriptions of Black Shuck paint it as an enormous (possibly matching the size of a horse) black dog. Usually it's described as having a pair of burning red eyes, but some tales claim it to be cyclopean or lacking a head entirely. The creature also seems to have an affinity for strange weather, sometimes appearing on a carpet of mist... but its best known outing was during a powerful storm in 1577.
The story goes that a "strange and terrible wonder" occurred in the Town of Bungay, when a huge black dog burst through the doors of St Mary's Church as thunder crashed overhead. The beast ran through the church, killing two parishioners while the church steeple collapsed in the wake of its passage.
Black Shuck wasn't done - it appeared in Blythburgh Church shortly afterwards, again racing in to slay parishioners sheltering from the storm. This time the dog scorched the north-facing church doors as it left, leaving marks known in local folklore as "The Devil's Fingerprints!"
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