The Black Dogs of England It Was on a Cold Dark Night in the English Moors

Goering 1 English Comp 22 Sep. 2010 Research paper: The Black Dogs of England It was on a cold dark night in the English moors, with a clouded sky catching only glimpses of the night’s full moon, the air is dense, and the atmosphere is unnaturally quiet, almost as if death has stolen through the woods. Silent and petrified, a man hears the padding steps of someone, no, something behind him. The sound continues to grow louder, “pad… pad…pad…” until it seems the noise is right behind him, but then suddenly the noise is silent as the surrounding woods. Pale from terror the man finally finds the courage to turn around and face the empty noise. He turns to stare into the large red saucer eyes of a shaggy black dog reaching as high as his shoulders. The dog simply stares back at him with frightening intent behind its eyes, sitting silently, frighteningly. The Black Dog of England is an ominous creature that is sometimes referenced as a Hound from Hell. This event is similar to what many people have recounted when they have walked through the long and empty roads in Great Britain. The Black Shuck, as described by many is a large, sometimes horse-sized dog with long black shaggy fur and large red saucer eyes. Also, the Black Suck has been described as appearing to people floating on a shroud of mist in the marshes of Britain, or then rising out of the water when off of the Norfolk Coast (Hussey), the Black Shuck is one of the oldest and well known myths in English legends. Goering 2 The description of the Black shuck does not simply stop at is looks; he is said to be a fierce dog that is a remaining legend from when the Vikings invaded England. Many reports of this creature describe it as being a sudden apparition with bared teeth and dripping saliva. It is also a creature known as a Ghost Dog. Of which most are considered by many people to be “bringers of doom,” and to witness the Black Shuck, is certain death. The belief is that if an unlucky victim witnesses the “dog”, they will soon die. However, Ghost Dogs are also known as Black Dogs, which are also known to be a protectors or watchdogs. Sometimes, they are seen as a black hound standing watch over their master’s grave for decades and even centuries, a dog that was so faithful in life that it stayed by its master’s side in death. Another myth of Black Dogs is that they are the cursed souls of the dead, condemned to repeat a task until redemption has been attained. One such example is the death of Lady Howard. She was the daughter of John Fitzgerald (1670-1745) and had four husbands, all of whom have died during their marriages to the lady. These four husbands died of unexplainable deaths and were believed to be murdered by her. When Lady Howard died, her spirit is said to have been forced for eternity by some “divine will” to serve a penance for the crimes of murdering her husbands. The legend says that she travels from the Fitzgerald House to Okehamton Castle in the form of a large black dog with great red eyes. She is also in the company of a carriage that is said to be made of the bones of her husbands. The story says that if a person is nearby, he or she will hear the coaches rattling bones accompanied with the sound of thundering hooves (Sandles). Goering 3 Another example of these creatures is the Barghest. With many sightings it has become a legend in its own right. Sighted in York, England, unlike the Black Shuck, which is a generally benevolent spectre, the Barghest is a supposed malevolent beast. It wanders the dark alleys of York, and a person that chances upon this creature is doomed an unappealing death. In the world of these spirits, most Black dogs are generally considered portents of doom. Witnessing a Black Dog and looking into its eyes means a person will surely die. To give a better element to this story is the fact that an alley in York is nothing more than a narrow walkway, and if someone were to meet this Barghest, he or she would most likely be run down and torn apart. These Black Dogs have been sighted and believed by many people throughout the centuries. Many people have sought the origin of these wild and amazing tales. One of the oldest written stories found of the Black Dog is the “Legend of the Trollers Gill” (Dixon) within the book Chronicles and Stories of the Craven Dales by James Henry Dixon from the year 1881. The story depicts a drunk, who does not believe in the Black Dog, and he decides he will go out to the location called Trollers Gill, and if he sees one, he will bash it with a club. The story continues that he did find one and was killed by the beast for being such an unbelieving fool. In the Legend of the Trollers Gill, the man was the nonbeliever who tempted fate. While the truth is that while the Black Dog belief is most likely a myth, it is one that people can easily believe, by witnessing a growling dog in the middle of night. It may seem large, angry, but the most important characteristic is that it strikes the mind with the fear of the unknown. The evil Goering 4 beast that was once growling in the night could easily be a bull terrier or border collie. The superstition about black dogs is mostly disproved through research, but they still retain a psychological presence, which is enough for any person on a cold dark night. We as a people have trouble seeing a rabid dog, because dogs are considered man’s best friends, a constant companion and guardian from those who would do us harm. Therefore it is scary when the guardian and friend of humanity turns and growls back in the shadows. Famous authors have used psychological troubles such of Black Dog in famous novels, though few realize it. The most well-known reference of the Black Dog is in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of the Baskervilles. The Dartmoor Hound was the major inspiration for that book (hargan). The Hound of Dartmoor also follows the usual lore of a Black Dog. It is a large black shaggy dog, with large red eyes, that is said to wear a rattling chain around its neck. Stories continue that these dogs can be dangerous towards travelers, but also sometimes offer aid to lost wanderers, mostly women. Sometimes the dog appears as a headless mule to guide the way through the old roads and its domain. Many stories of many of these black dogs exist, and most stories seem to have linking traits. Many of these dogs are similar, but each has its own “personality” in the old stories. For example the Black Dog of Bungay has affected the entire life of a town because of its story. According to the legend, a Black Dog broke into a church on Sunday morning, and killed two people praying at the front of the church, and then ran down the aisle leaving the church. Though that is how the story goes, the church report states that there was a lightning strike and a fire that actually caused the harm, but with information like that, soon stories were published on what happened. The oldest known publishing of the story of the Black Dog, titled “A staunge and terrible wunder,” from 1577 describing the event that took place in the church and is widely Goering 5 believed by the local communities. Today, the town still remembers the event, and even celebrates yearly festivals. Even if the local folklore could be easily disproven, telling a town that its economy is based on something that doesn’t exist is difficult, though, that would still not change much. The town’s life and culture have focused on the Dog and its lore (Waldron and Christopher Reeve). In a world of science and few mysteries, many people will believe what they want to believe, just to hold onto some unexplained event that takes place. The Black Dog, while some consider it real and some consider it fake, may actually be alive, but not in a way that some would think. When the sky is dark and someone hears a sound behind them, that is a Black Dog. When a person witnesses a lightning strike and sees a shadowed figure, they see the Black Dog. Like a timeless story, the Black Dog will follow in the mind of humanity, always at the edge of consciousness, winking in and out of the conscious mind when the time is right. Goering 6 Works Cited Dixon, James. “Chronicles and Stories of the Craven Dales.” Book, 1881 7 Dec. 2010 Hargan, Jim. “Dartmoor of the Baskervilles.” British Heritage 19.5 (1998): 52. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 8 Dec. 2010 Hussey, William. “Folklore of the Fens Black Shuck the Devil Hound.” Wordpress. n.d. Web. 29 Sep. 2010. Sandles, Tim. “Lady Howard.” Legendary Dartmoor.” n.d. web. 29 Sep. 2010. Waldron, David and Christopher Reeve. Shock: the Black Dog of Bungay. Hidden Publishing, 2010. .

Load more