The British Isles are awash with ancient legends of ghostly black dogs.
These demonic entities, also known as hellhounds, are said to roam the length and breadth of Britain and Ireland, and many are said to be harbingers of doom.
Each region has its own version - In Lancashire the black hound is called Barguist, Gytrash, Padfoot, The Grim, Shag, Trash, Striker or Skriker; in Yorkshire the local version of the legend is known as Padfoot; in Tring, Hertfordshire, a fierce-looking black hound with red eyes is said to haunt the middle of the road in the area where the gibbet once stood. Locally it is known as Lean Dog, and is the spirit of a chimney sweep executed for murder. When approached, the lean dog sinks into the ground; a black dog is said to haunt Ivelet Bridge near Ivelet in Swaledale, Yorkshire. The dog is allegedly headless, and leaps over the side of the bridge and into the water, although it can be heard barking at night. It is considered a death omen, and reports claim that anybody who has seen it died within a year; a Barguest is said to roam the snickelways and side roads of York, preying on passers by; this dog has also been seen near Cliffords Tower. To see the monstrous dog is said to be a warning of impending doom; the Cù Sìth is an enormous, otherworldly hound, said to haunt the Scottish Highlands. Roughly the size of a cow or large calf, the Cù Sìth was feared as a harbinger of death and would appear to bear away the soul of a person to the afterlife (similar to the manner of the Grim Reaper); in the Isle of Man is the legend of the Moddey Dhoo, 'black dog' in Manx, also styled phonetically Mauthe Doog or Mawtha Doo. It is said to haunt the environs of Peel Castle. People believe that anyone who sees the dog will die soon after the encounter with the dog; in Wales, it is known as the gwyllgi, the "Dog of Darkness", a frightful apparition of a mastiff with baleful breath and blazing red eyes. Also related are the spectral Cŵn Annwn, connected with the otherworld realm of Annwn referred to in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi and elsewhere; however, they are described as being dazzling white rather than black in the medieval text; in Ireland a black dog is known to haunt an area that was frequented by a local Hellfire Club, and is connected to a spiritual Black Cat.
Some of these demonic black dogs are said to have large, flaming eyes the size of saucers; some are said to have feet which point backwards; and some are said to make a splashing sound with their feet when they walk.
Probably the most famous ghostly back dog, however, is Black Shuck, which haunts the East Anglian counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
According to folklore, Black Shuck appeared during a storm on August 4, 1577, at Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh, about seven miles from Leiston in Suffolk.
Villagers were reportedly sheltering inside the church when a huge clap of thunder caused the doors to burst open and the huge snarling dog - seven feet tall - crashed in.
It ran through the congregation, killing a man and a boy, before the steeple crashed through the roof.
The dog then fled, leaving scorch marks from its claws on the church door which are still visible today.
Later the same day, Black Shuck is said to have struck again 12 miles away, killing two worshippers during a service at St Mary’s Church, Bungay, while the storm was still raging.
And now, have the remains of Black Shuck been found?
On Wednesday, 500 years after Black Shuck first went on the prowl, archaeologists were examining the skeleton of a giant dog, 7ft tall dog and which weighed 14 stone, unearthed in the remains of Leiston Abbey in Suffolk.
It was discovered a few miles from two the churches where Black Shuck is said to have killed worshippers in August 1577.
What’s more, it appears to have been buried in a shallow grave at precisely the same time as Shuck is said to have been on the loose, primarily around Suffolk and the East Anglia region.
"Black Shuck" is also a 2003 song by Suffolk glam rockers The Darkness. The song mentions Black Shuck's attack on Blythburgh's church.
Is this the skeleton of legendary devil dog Black Shuck who terrorised 16th century East Anglia? Folklore tells of SEVEN FOOT hell hound with flaming eyes
According to folklore, Black Shuck terrorised East Anglia in 16th century
He towered at seven feet tall, with flaming red eyes and shaggy black hair
Now, remains of legendary hound may have been unearthed during a dig
Bones found by archeologists among ruins at Leiston Abbey in Suffolk
They belong to 'male dog', standing at seven feet tall and weighing 200lbs
Experts are currently carrying out radio carbon dating tests on remains
By Paul Harris
15 May 2014
Daily Mail
Daily Mail
It roamed the countryside spreading death and terror – a giant, ferocious hell-hound with flaming eyes and savage claws.
For centuries, the beast that came to be known as Black Shuck struck fear into the hearts of all who crossed its path.
Just a single glimpse was enough to impart a fatal curse; the briefest encounter sufficient to suck the life from any hapless victim.
Discovery: These remains of a giant dog were found during a dig among the ruins of Leiston Abbey in Suffolk. Like Black Shuck, the dog was over seven feet tall!
Is it him? The bones are believed to date back to the 16th century, when the legendary hell hound Black Shuck (pictured in an artist's impression) was rumoured to roam East Anglia. They show the dog was a 'large male'
One thing, however, has always been absent from the many tales of the dog-like entity and its sinister appearances in the East of England flatlands: A single fact.
Now that may be about to change with an answer to the question: Did it exist only in folklore ... or was it flesh and blood?
Yesterday, 500 years after Black Shuck first went on the prowl, archaeologists were examining the skeleton of a 7ft tall dog unearthed in the remains of an ancient abbey.
It was discovered a few miles from two churches where Black Shuck is said to have killed worshippers during an almighty thunderstorm in August 1577.
What’s more, it appears to have been buried in a shallow grave at precisely the same time as Shuck is said to have been on the loose, primarily around Suffolk and the East Anglia region.
Site: The bones were uncovered in a 20-inch deep unmarked grave among the ruins of Leiston Abbey (pictured)
Experts will subject the bones and surrounding material to 21st century dating techniques.
But first, the legend. The beast’s most celebrated attack began at Holy Trinity church, Blythburgh. A clap of thunder burst open the church doors and a hairy black ‘devil dog’ came snarling in.
It ran through the congregation, killing a man and boy and causing the church steeple to fall through the roof. Scorch marks still visible on the church doors are purported to have come from Shuck’s claws as it fled.
Local verse records the event thus: ‘All down the church in the midst of fire, the hellish monster flew, and, passing onward to the quire, he many people slew.’
Next stop was 12 miles away in Bungay, where two worshippers were killed at St Mary’s church. One was left shrivelled ‘like a drawn purse’ as he prayed.
Brendon Wilkins, projects director of Dig Ventures, which organised the dig, pictured, said he believed the dog could have lived around 1577 because it was buried alongside pottery fragments from the period
Ruins: Dig Ventures projects director, Brendon Wilkins, said the grave was dug partly over the foundations of what appeared to have been a kitchen area - indicating it had been created after the abbey fell into disrepair
In his 1577 pamphlet A Straunge And Terrible Wunder, the Rev Abraham Fleming told how the Satan-like beast came ‘running all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible fourm and shape’, wringing the necks of two parishioners as they knelt.
Spookily, a later work reveals: ‘Although his howling makes the hearer’s blood run cold, his footfalls make no sound.’
Subsequent appearances of Shuck – a name believed to derive either from an old English word for demon, or from local dialect meaning ‘shaggy’ – have immortalised it.
An image of Black Shuck is incorporated in Bungay’s coat of arms, and the nickname for equally legendary Bungay Town FC is the Black Dogs.
The bones of the giant dog were found during a dig among the ruins of Leiston Abbey in Suffolk
The bones uncovered in the ruins of Leiston Abbey, Suffolk, were first found by archaeological group Dig Ventures in a project last year.
Painstaking work revealed the skeleton of an extremely large dog.
Estimates suggest it would have weighed more than 14 stone and stood 7ft tall on its hind legs.
The grave was less than 20 inches deep and unmarked. Pottery fragments found at the same level date from the height of Shuck’s alleged reign.
Radio carbon dating tests will now give an exact age for the bones, results that will serve either to enhance the shaggy dog stories – or perhaps to support the far less entertaining theory that here lies a 16th century abbot’s beloved old hunting dog.
'HIS HOWLING MADE BLOOD RUN COLD': THE LEGEND OF BLACK SHUCK
Folklore: The legend of Black Shuck is now so popular that images of the dog have been put up across Bungay. Above, a weather vane in the town
According to folklore, Black Shuck appeared during a storm on August 4, 1577, at Holy Trinity Church in Blythburgh, about seven miles from Leiston in Suffolk.
Villagers were reportedly sheltering inside the church when a huge clap of thunder caused the doors to burst open and the snarling dog crashed in.
It ran through the congregation, killing a man and a boy, before the steeple crashed through the roof.
The dog then fled, leaving scorch marks from its claws on the church door which are still visible today.
The scorch marks left by Black Shuck on Blythburgh church door in 1577 are still visible to this day (upper right of the door)
Later the same day, Black Shuck is said to have struck again 12 miles away, killing two worshippers during a service at St Mary’s Church, Bungay, while the storm was still raging.
Clergyman, the Rev Abraham Fleming, is believed to have described the appearance of the legendary hell hound in a pamphlet written in 1577, entitled ‘A Straunge and Terrible Wunder’.
He wrote: 'This black dog, or the divel in such a linenesse (God hee knoweth al who worketh all,) running all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse, and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible fourm and shape, passed between two persons, as they were kneeling uppon their knees, and occupied in prayer as it seemed, wrung the necks of them bothe at one instant clene backward, in somuch that even at a moment where they kneeled, they strangely dyed.'
Historian W. A. Dutt also wrote about Black Shuck in his 1901 book, Highways and Byways, set in East Anglia.
'He takes the form of a huge black dog, and prowls along dark lanes and lonesome field footpaths, where, although his howling makes the hearer’s blood run cold, his footfalls make no sound,' he wrote.
'Although his howling makes the hearer’s blood run cold, his footfalls make no sound'
W. A. Dutt, historian
The legend of Black Shuck is now so popular that images of the dog have been put up in buildings across the town - and the animal is even being incorporated into Bungay’s coat of arms.
There is also a Black Dog Running Club and a Black Dog antiques shop, while the nickname for the town's football club is 'The Black Dogs'.
And the legend has even infiltrated popular culture - with Suffolk rock band The Darkness featuring a track inspired by the devil dog on their 2003 debut album, Permission To Land.
The track, named 'Black Shuck', includes the lyrics: 'In a town in the east, the parishioners were visited upon by a curious beast.
'And his eyes numbered but one and shone like the sun, and a glance beckoned the immediate loss of a cherished one.'
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