The Northern Barguest

[4wd]

hauntedspotslibrary.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/weekly-haunted-spot-2-the-barghest-whitby-england/

The most well-known of these is mentioned in the link - the great black dog which leapt from the ship and raced up the cliff steps to the Abbey ruins at Whitby in Bram Stoker's 'Dracula'.
He was drawing on local legend with this idea as several places have recorded sightings of the mythical beasts.
This is not like the Big Cats which may or may not be real but more of a ghostly spirit creature able to shape shift and trick the naïve passerby.

Like most of these tales there may be an element of truth, perhaps the locations were indeed for a while the haunt of cunning solitary wolves or even bears - so rarely seen they were little known and considered almost supernatural even in medieval times.

Also spelled 'Barghest'
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barghest

[rgsp]

An alias for Black Shuck?

W. A. Dutt, in his 1901 Highways & Byways in East Anglia describes the creature thus:

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. You may know him at once, should you see him, by his fiery eye; he has but one, and that, like the Cyclops', is in the middle of his head. But such an encounter might bring you the worst of luck: it is even said that to meet him is to be warned that your death will occur before the end of the year. So you will do well to shut your eyes if you hear him howling; shut them even if you are uncertain whether it is the dog fiend or the voice of the wind you hear.

[quadbod]

Tales of the Black Shuck are very common around Suffolk, particularly in Bungay (on the Suffolk/Norfolk border) and also a little further south at Blythburgh.

The 'Shuck' is also depicted on the towns coat of arms to remember the visit on August 4th 1577



Bungay - www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk/bungay/black-dog-legend.asp

It can also be seen above the town market place.



On the same day in 1577, the 'Shuck' was reported as visiting Blythburgh church, killing a man and a boy and leaving scorch marks on the door of the church.




More recently, the terror has been revisited in a much more modern form by a local band, The Darkness, who released the following tribute.

This is, almost without doubt another horrific ordeal for us to endure........ 



The lyrics add little to the story......


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

It was the coming of the



Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck

Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck



Flames licked round the sacred spire

And the congregation's last line of defence

Was engulfed in fire

As the flaming priest stepped into the firing line

On the business end of despair

God, he took his own life

During the coming of the



Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck

Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck



A nimbus of blue light surrounds a crimson paw

As he takes another fatal swipe

At the Blythburgh Church Door



Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck

Black Shuck



Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck



Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) Black Shuck

(Black Shuck) That dog don't give a f*ck



Woof!

[quadbod]

While looking for a couple of pictures and links for the above post, I also spotted a recent story in the 'Daily Fail' about the legend.

'Is this the skeleton of the Black Shuck?'
Reporting a supposed find of dog remains at Leiston Abbey - which is not too far south from Blythburgh.


www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2629353/Is-skeleton-legendary-devil-dog-Black-Shuck-terrorised-16th-century-East-Anglia.html


A little more digging unearths a couple of reports which may contain a little less 'fake news'

www.eadt.co.uk/news/leiston_are_these_the_bones_of_devil_dog_black_shuck_1_3600768

digventures.com/2014/10/digventures-and-the-bbc-one-show-devil-dog-black-shuck-returns/