1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,400 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Fry and I'm Tracy Vie Wilson. Trazy it's 4 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: almost Halloween. I know it's the best week of the year. 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:25,360 Speaker 1: Uh so this seems like a really good time to 6 00:00:25,440 --> 00:00:28,720 Speaker 1: talk about sort of a version of something that I 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: think we've been tiptoeing around for a while, which is dogs, 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,239 Speaker 1: specifically demon dogs. I swear I do want to do 9 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:38,200 Speaker 1: a domestication of dogs episode at some point, but there's 10 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: a lot and they're constantly finding new things, so I 11 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: keep getting scared off. Yeah, and a weird coincidence this morning, 12 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,960 Speaker 1: I tweeted something about how basically needing to do an 13 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: episode about something lighter, even though my episodes lately have 14 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:54,960 Speaker 1: been pretty fun, just because there's a lot of stress 15 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: and chaos happening in the world right now. Um, and 16 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: somebody replied that maybe we could do a history of puppies, 17 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: and I'm like, this is almost that kind of kind 18 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:06,400 Speaker 1: of and right, I want to acknowledge it. For some people, 19 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: dogs are just scary. Not everybody likes dogs, but there's 20 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: a reason for that, right, This is a fear that 21 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: has been part of many cultures for centuries, including dogs 22 00:01:16,319 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: from the nether world, which go all the way back 23 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: to the three headed Cerberus who guarded the gates of 24 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:23,800 Speaker 1: the underworld in Greek mythology. But today, as we inch 25 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:25,720 Speaker 1: closer to Halloween, I thought it would be fun to 26 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: talk about three of the many, many supernatural canines and 27 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:33,480 Speaker 1: hellhounds that have lengthy histories in our collective storytelling. And 28 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,399 Speaker 1: the first two of these are very closely related. They're 29 00:01:36,440 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: both based in England, and really the second of them 30 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: makes up the bulk of the episode. Now the last 31 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,880 Speaker 1: one is a North American creature, and it's just incredibly 32 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: charming and fun. In my opinion, it's a little bit 33 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: thematically different than the other two, but I thought it 34 00:01:51,520 --> 00:01:55,400 Speaker 1: would be a good upbeat place to land, particularly, you know, 35 00:01:55,480 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: these are fraught times. It's been a rough year. I 36 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: love Halloween and creeping us and being scared as much 37 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: as anyone, but gosh, it's also great to laugh if 38 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,960 Speaker 1: we can, so we'll try for a little bit of 39 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: that um And there are of course loads more demon 40 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 1: dog myths throughout the world, so odds are really really 41 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: good that this is the start of a perhaps a 42 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:18,560 Speaker 1: Halloween series, and next Halloween will do more and perhaps 43 00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: more geographically and culturally varied. I have a list started 44 00:02:22,360 --> 00:02:24,480 Speaker 1: already for that, but if you have stuff you want 45 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:26,680 Speaker 1: to send us, you can do it. But right now 46 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,120 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about some hell hounds. Sounds like 47 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: a potential Halloween version of Crampus and Friends, which has 48 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: been a uh, you know, winter holiday staple that is 49 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: kind of the thinking nice. So first up is the 50 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: bar guest. This is the dog that is part of 51 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: Northern England's folklore tradition and is normally associated with Yorkshire, 52 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: sometimes described as a goblin or a ghost. And I 53 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,080 Speaker 1: wanted to mention the bar Guests in part because of 54 00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,520 Speaker 1: an interesting coincidence that happened recently on the show. So 55 00:02:59,560 --> 00:03:02,959 Speaker 1: I was already working on this episode, uh for a while, 56 00:03:03,480 --> 00:03:06,400 Speaker 1: and when I started working on our recent bram Stoker episode, 57 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:09,200 Speaker 1: I had already been kind of doing prelim work on this, 58 00:03:09,280 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: and then unexpectedly the bar Guests showed up while I 59 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:15,840 Speaker 1: was doing bram Stoker research. In that episode, we mentioned 60 00:03:15,840 --> 00:03:17,639 Speaker 1: that a ship that had run aground near would Be 61 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: had served as the inspiration for the ship that transported 62 00:03:20,800 --> 00:03:24,679 Speaker 1: Dracula from Transylvania to London. And one of the details 63 00:03:24,680 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: which we mentioned that was shared by locals with bram 64 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:29,960 Speaker 1: Stoker when he was doing his research was that a 65 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:32,480 Speaker 1: black dog had emerged from the hold of the wrecked 66 00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: ship and run off, and that dog was believed by 67 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: some people in the community to have been the bar guest. 68 00:03:38,920 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: So the bar guest is described as a huge dog, 69 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:45,280 Speaker 1: and its teeth are large and prominent. There are a 70 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,400 Speaker 1: couple of things that set him apart from another so 71 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: called hell hound that we are about to talk about. 72 00:03:51,440 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: The bar guest is not always described as being black. 73 00:03:54,360 --> 00:03:58,320 Speaker 1: Sometimes he's gray. But beyond that, this dog sometimes as 74 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,800 Speaker 1: described as a shape shifter, including sometimes appearing headless. If 75 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:05,200 Speaker 1: you see a bar guest, that means you are going 76 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,720 Speaker 1: to die soon. If you only catch a glimpse of it, 77 00:04:08,840 --> 00:04:12,840 Speaker 1: your death might take a little longer to arrive. Yeah, 78 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 1: I feel like this would create a whole community of 79 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:20,080 Speaker 1: people that here dog noise and clamped their eyes shut. Um. 80 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:22,599 Speaker 1: But in terms of the written record, a lot of 81 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,800 Speaker 1: the more persistent qualities of the bar Guest story and 82 00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:28,919 Speaker 1: its legend seemed to come from the book notes on 83 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: the Folklore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders. 84 00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:35,720 Speaker 1: That book was written by William Henderson in eight seventy nine, 85 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,360 Speaker 1: and in this collection of folk tales that he kind 86 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: of gathered oral recollection from people and wrote it down, 87 00:04:42,960 --> 00:04:46,080 Speaker 1: Henderson shares more details about the bar guest as a 88 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: harbinger of death, so he writes, quote, on the death 89 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: of any person of local importance in the neighborhood, the 90 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: creature would come forth a large black dog with flaming 91 00:04:56,400 --> 00:04:59,880 Speaker 1: eyes as big as saucers, followed by all the dar 92 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: was of the place, howling and barking. If anyone came 93 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: its way, the bar guest would strike out with its 94 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: paw and inflict on man or beast a wound which 95 00:05:08,800 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: would never heal. My informant, a Yorkshire gentleman lately deceased, 96 00:05:13,680 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 1: said he perfectly remembered the terror he experienced when he 97 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,599 Speaker 1: was a child at beholding this procession before the death 98 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:25,400 Speaker 1: of a certain Squire Wade of New Grange. Henderson also 99 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:28,480 Speaker 1: put in writing some details about the bar guests shape 100 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:32,120 Speaker 1: shifting that have persisted, writing quote, A friend informs me 101 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,039 Speaker 1: that Glass and Dyke's near Darlington is haunted by a 102 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: bar guest, which assumes at will the form of a 103 00:05:38,240 --> 00:05:42,440 Speaker 1: headless man who disappears in flame, a headless lady, a 104 00:05:42,520 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: white cat, rabbit or dog, or a black dog, so 105 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:50,960 Speaker 1: many things. The bar Guests can be whatever it wants. 106 00:05:52,839 --> 00:05:55,240 Speaker 1: The bar Guests legend is popular enough that you might 107 00:05:55,240 --> 00:05:58,279 Speaker 1: have bumped into it before. If you've read Royal Dolls 108 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: the Witches, or played the Which or video game, or 109 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,400 Speaker 1: Forgotten Realms or Dungeons and Dragons, or engaged with any 110 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,880 Speaker 1: number of other entertainment options, you might have crossed paths 111 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,160 Speaker 1: with mentions of it. Yeah. I think it comes up 112 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: in the Lord of the Rings game online, and I 113 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:17,320 Speaker 1: know Neil Gaiman has mentioned it. Like heat, the bar 114 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: Guests is everywhere. Part of it's because it's just a 115 00:06:19,560 --> 00:06:22,040 Speaker 1: fun word to say. But the bar guest is also 116 00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: hardly the only hell dog of Great Britain. There have 117 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:28,479 Speaker 1: been many many names for very similar beings. So there's 118 00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: the capital thweight, trash striker or shriker you'll sometimes see, 119 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: there's the Welsh conan on and the Isle of Man's 120 00:06:36,440 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: mount a door. But perhaps the most famous alternate to 121 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,400 Speaker 1: the bar guest name is the iteration of this English 122 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,920 Speaker 1: hellhound that we're going to talk about next, and who 123 00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,920 Speaker 1: actually started this episode because I love saying this name 124 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: Black Shuck. Yes. So in fifteen seventies seven, Abraham Fleming 125 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,960 Speaker 1: wrote an account of an event at the Paris Church 126 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,560 Speaker 1: in a town near Norwich that created a version of 127 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: this English legend that still persists until today. That account 128 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:07,920 Speaker 1: was titled and just buckle up, because this is one 129 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: of the one of those, one of the titles we 130 00:07:11,120 --> 00:07:14,880 Speaker 1: love so much. The title was a strange and terrible 131 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:19,120 Speaker 1: wonder wrought very late in the parish church of Bongay, 132 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: a town of no great distance from the city of Norwich, 133 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:26,920 Speaker 1: namely the fourth of this August, in year of our Lord, 134 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: fifteen seventy seven, in a great tempest of violent rain, 135 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,520 Speaker 1: lightning and thunder, the like whereof hath been seldom seen, 136 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:40,560 Speaker 1: with the appearance of and horrible shaped things sensibly perceived 137 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,640 Speaker 1: of the people then and they're assembled drawn into a 138 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 1: plain method, according to the written copy by Abraham Fleming. 139 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,440 Speaker 1: Um in addition to the length, are just all the 140 00:07:52,480 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: delightful spellings. I even cleaned that up a little bit 141 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:00,520 Speaker 1: to make it easier. We've taught, we did our whole 142 00:08:00,560 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: episode about you know, grammar and spelling and how things evolve. 143 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:10,480 Speaker 1: And this is a case where Fleming had his own flourish, 144 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: particularly when it came to vowels. There's actually some comparative 145 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:18,880 Speaker 1: writing in other pieces where people are trying to figure 146 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:21,520 Speaker 1: out if it's Fleming and they start talking about it 147 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 1: kind of does that same weird spelling here? This might 148 00:08:23,760 --> 00:08:27,520 Speaker 1: be the same right here, um, because those things were 149 00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: not codified yet. So this pamphlet with that incredibly long 150 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: name actually tells the tale of two appearances of a 151 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 1: large black dog. The first is at St Mary's Church 152 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,680 Speaker 1: in Bongay on a day during services when there was 153 00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:44,120 Speaker 1: an intense thunderstorm, and in the pamphlet it is written 154 00:08:44,200 --> 00:08:46,840 Speaker 1: that the quote whole church was so dark and yea 155 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: with such palpable darkness that one person could not perceive another. 156 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: Then during this storm their quote appeared in a most 157 00:08:55,679 --> 00:08:59,880 Speaker 1: horrible similitude and likeness, a dog of a black color. 158 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: This dog, according to Fleming's story, was so terrifying that 159 00:09:03,960 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: it made the parishioners think that Doomsday had arrived. The 160 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: dog ran between two people who were praying and rung 161 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: both of their necks that killed them while they were praying. 162 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:18,000 Speaker 1: The dog also bit another man, leaving scorch marks. That 163 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,840 Speaker 1: man survived. The steeple of the church was struck by lightning, 164 00:09:21,880 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: and the mysterious dog disappeared, leaving behind only claw marks 165 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:28,680 Speaker 1: in the pavers and the door of the church. But 166 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: this was, as we mentioned, only one church that experienced 167 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:36,160 Speaker 1: a terrifying canine visit that day. The dog also appeared 168 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:39,480 Speaker 1: at Holy Trinity Church about seven miles away in a 169 00:09:39,559 --> 00:09:43,920 Speaker 1: town called blythe Berk. Fleming described it this way, quote 170 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,559 Speaker 1: the like thing entered in the same shape and similitude, 171 00:09:47,600 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: where placing himself on a main bulk or beam, where 172 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: on sometime the rude did stand. Suddenly he gave a 173 00:09:55,360 --> 00:09:58,440 Speaker 1: swing down through the church, and there also, as before, 174 00:09:58,600 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: slew two men and a lad, and burned the hand 175 00:10:02,679 --> 00:10:05,440 Speaker 1: of another person that was among the rest of the company, 176 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:10,760 Speaker 1: of whom diverse were blasted. This mischief thus wrought, he 177 00:10:10,880 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 1: flew with wonderful force to not little fear of the 178 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: assembly out of the church, in a hideous and hellish likeness. 179 00:10:19,559 --> 00:10:23,439 Speaker 1: So in both cases giant, terrifying black dog arrives kills 180 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 1: a couple of people injure, some others and vanishes, And 181 00:10:27,240 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the way that this story 182 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,199 Speaker 1: took on a life of its own in just a moment. 183 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: But first we will pause and have a sponsor break. 184 00:10:41,360 --> 00:10:44,440 Speaker 1: Flemming's right up about the fiendish dog who attacked the 185 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: churches is the start of a centuries long tradition of 186 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: stories about that dog, who was eventually named black Shuck 187 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 1: as the story was passed down. We'll talk about the 188 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:55,200 Speaker 1: first time that name appears in writing in a moment. 189 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:58,240 Speaker 1: When Fleming wrote this account, he was an editor and 190 00:10:58,320 --> 00:11:02,040 Speaker 1: publisher who went on to come and ordained minister. And 191 00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:04,240 Speaker 1: this document, which has come to be known sort of 192 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: casually as the Wonder Pamphlet, is just as much a 193 00:11:07,559 --> 00:11:10,319 Speaker 1: sermon as it is a report of a dog attack. 194 00:11:10,720 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: It includes passages early on in it about this whole 195 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: thing being a warning not to stray from faith. He wrote, quote, 196 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: God warneth by signs from heaven, by fiery appearances from 197 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: the air, by wonders wrought on earth, strange and unusual. 198 00:11:27,160 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: There's also language in the pamphlet about how man has 199 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:33,080 Speaker 1: engaged in all manner of ungodly behaviors. And then it 200 00:11:33,120 --> 00:11:36,760 Speaker 1: tells these dog stories and then it concludes with a prayer. 201 00:11:37,360 --> 00:11:40,800 Speaker 1: So this appears to be a scenario where Fleming is 202 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,559 Speaker 1: reporting these events based on news that someone else had 203 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:47,160 Speaker 1: relayed to him for when there's no way he could 204 00:11:47,160 --> 00:11:50,400 Speaker 1: have been in both of those churches where the appearance 205 00:11:50,400 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: has happened one after the other for another. His first 206 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: printing of the Wonder pamphlet and the detail of the 207 00:11:57,120 --> 00:12:01,240 Speaker 1: church door being marked by the beast's claws was attributed 208 00:12:01,280 --> 00:12:04,000 Speaker 1: to the wrong location, and he corrected it later on 209 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: in subsequent printings. Because Fleming later became a minister, it 210 00:12:08,960 --> 00:12:11,360 Speaker 1: seems that when people have referenced his work, there's been 211 00:12:11,400 --> 00:12:15,400 Speaker 1: some timeline confusion, and they characterized the writer as a 212 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: clergyman who was working at one of these churches where 213 00:12:18,320 --> 00:12:21,360 Speaker 1: it allegedly happened. He was not a clergyman at all 214 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:24,840 Speaker 1: yet at the time, definitely not one working at one 215 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 1: of these churches. No, he was a publishing man living 216 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:32,800 Speaker 1: in London. What did happen though, was that this pamphlet 217 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:37,000 Speaker 1: was put into circulation very soon after the thunderstorm of 218 00:12:37,040 --> 00:12:40,880 Speaker 1: August four fifty seven, which was a real thunderstorm that's documented. 219 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:43,679 Speaker 1: I mean, it was a very popular pamphlet. It seems 220 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: a lot of people believed those stories in it about 221 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,600 Speaker 1: the dog attacks, and while still working in publishing, so 222 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:52,960 Speaker 1: before he became ordained, Fleming had the second part of 223 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:56,880 Speaker 1: this story published in the Holland shed Chronicles, with one 224 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,600 Speaker 1: notable exception, which we'll talk about in just a moment, 225 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,760 Speaker 1: So for context, Holland Sheds Chronicles was a large collaborative 226 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: history of the British Isles that was initiated as a 227 00:13:06,840 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: project by printer Rayner Wolf in the late fifteen forties. 228 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:14,280 Speaker 1: The multi volume work was first published in fifteen seventy seven, 229 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: then in fifteen eighties seven a much expanded update was 230 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: published under the stewardship of Abraham Fleming. So even a 231 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:25,280 Speaker 1: decade after this first writing, Fleming was still writing about 232 00:13:25,280 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: that thunderstorm. Additionally, by this point Fleming had plenty of 233 00:13:29,120 --> 00:13:32,439 Speaker 1: clout he was considered an expert on that particular storm. 234 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: Holland SED's Chronicles was considered an important source of historical information, 235 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:40,000 Speaker 1: and it was famously used as a source by writers 236 00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: like Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. So you might think 237 00:13:43,640 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 1: that the inclusion of the black dog story in this 238 00:13:46,640 --> 00:13:49,400 Speaker 1: chronicle is really going to cement it as sort of 239 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: settled history at the time, but in fact there is 240 00:13:52,960 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: no mention of the dog in this account. So this 241 00:13:56,520 --> 00:14:00,679 Speaker 1: is the version as it appears in Holland Shed's. On Sunday, 242 00:14:00,679 --> 00:14:03,000 Speaker 1: the fourth of August, between the hours of nine and 243 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: ten o'clock in the forenoon, whilst the minister was reading 244 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,520 Speaker 1: of the second Lesson in the parish church of Blitheberg, 245 00:14:09,600 --> 00:14:12,600 Speaker 1: a town in Suffolk, a strange and terrible tempest of 246 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:16,040 Speaker 1: lightning and thunder strike through the wall of the same 247 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: church into the ground a yard deep, drove down all 248 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,320 Speaker 1: the people on that side above twenty persons, then renting 249 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 1: the wall up to the vestric, left the door and 250 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: returning to the steeple, rent the timber, break the chimes, 251 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:33,120 Speaker 1: and fled towards Bongay, a town six miles off. The 252 00:14:33,200 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: people that were stricken down were found groveling more than 253 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: half an hour after, whereof one man more than forty 254 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:42,320 Speaker 1: years and a boy of fifteen years were found stark dead. 255 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,200 Speaker 1: The other were scorched. The same or like flash of 256 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: lightning and cracks of thunder that rent the parish church 257 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: of Bongay, nine miles from Norwich, rung asunder the wires 258 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: and wheels of the clocks, and slew two men which 259 00:14:55,920 --> 00:14:58,320 Speaker 1: sat in the belfry when the other were at the 260 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:03,080 Speaker 1: procession of suffrages, and scorched another which hardly escaped. So 261 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: it's interesting that the deaths and injuries are mentioned here, 262 00:15:07,160 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: but they're attributed simply to lightning strikes and not the 263 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:13,840 Speaker 1: sudden appearance of a Hellish dog. And there are records 264 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: that indicate that those deaths and injuries did in fact happen. 265 00:15:18,400 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: I mean, it's totally within the realm of possibility that 266 00:15:20,920 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: if lightning strikes the steeple of a church, people inside 267 00:15:24,000 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: may be killed, but there's just no reference at all 268 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 1: to a dog causing them. So maybe the decision was 269 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,720 Speaker 1: made to remove that flourish of the Hellish canine in 270 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,840 Speaker 1: later years, And again going to the church records, there 271 00:15:39,960 --> 00:15:42,480 Speaker 1: is a mention that there was a payment made to 272 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: a professional dog whipper named John Hines quote for whipping 273 00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 1: dogs out of the church at prayer time on the 274 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 1: day of the storm. This was actually a profession. People 275 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:55,880 Speaker 1: would bring their dogs and sometimes the dogs would get unruly, 276 00:15:55,880 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: and they would keep professional dog whippers on hand. This 277 00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: sounds horrible and I don't like it, but they would 278 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 1: get the dogs out of the church so that the 279 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 1: proceedings could go on. So it's possible that the original 280 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:09,720 Speaker 1: write up of the story, again probably relayed to Fleming 281 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,640 Speaker 1: by someone else not witnessed by him, conflated some events 282 00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:16,200 Speaker 1: that there was an unruly dog in the church that 283 00:16:16,240 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: had to be forcibly removed, and that separately lightning strikes 284 00:16:20,120 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: killed several people and injured others. Despite that change in 285 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: the later version of the story that Fleming edited, the 286 00:16:27,040 --> 00:16:30,120 Speaker 1: legend of the Suffolk appearances of the dog, which might 287 00:16:30,160 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: have been a demon, was established, and that story persisted. 288 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:36,480 Speaker 1: So to be clear, this was certainly not the first 289 00:16:36,560 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: account in England of a terrifying black dog that was 290 00:16:40,080 --> 00:16:43,840 Speaker 1: characterized as supernatural. Dating back to some time between the 291 00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: eleventh and twelveth centuries, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle included the 292 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:51,720 Speaker 1: sighting by multiple witnesses of a pack of black dogs 293 00:16:51,840 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: quote with eyes like saucers and horrible running through the woods. 294 00:16:57,240 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: In this case, the dogs weren't alone, but they appeared 295 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: to be on a hunt that was led by mysterious men. Yes, 296 00:17:04,080 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: that's another version of the story. These wild hunts. So 297 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:11,040 Speaker 1: the name black Shuck first appeared in the eighteen hundreds, 298 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,520 Speaker 1: and then it seems to have been applied retroactively to 299 00:17:13,600 --> 00:17:16,239 Speaker 1: a lot of these stories. It first came up in 300 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:19,480 Speaker 1: writing by Reverend E. S. Taylor in eighteen fifty, and 301 00:17:19,520 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 1: he wrote about it in the periodical Notes and Queries, 302 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 1: quote this phantom. I have heard many persons in East 303 00:17:27,040 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: Norfolk and even Cambridge Shard described as having seen a black, 304 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:35,479 Speaker 1: shaggy dog with fiery eyes and of immense size, and 305 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:39,800 Speaker 1: who visits churchyards at midnight. One witness nearly fainted away 306 00:17:39,800 --> 00:17:42,520 Speaker 1: at seeing it, and on bringing his neighbors to see 307 00:17:42,560 --> 00:17:44,880 Speaker 1: the place where he saw it, he found a large 308 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:50,200 Speaker 1: spot as if gunpowder had been exploded. There. A lane 309 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,840 Speaker 1: in the parish of Overstrand is said is called after 310 00:17:53,920 --> 00:17:57,359 Speaker 1: him Shucks Lane. The name appears to be a corruption 311 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: of shag as chucky is the Norfolk dialect for shaggy. 312 00:18:01,800 --> 00:18:04,600 Speaker 1: Is not this a vestige of the German dog fiend? 313 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:08,280 Speaker 1: The other frequently cited mention of black Shuck is one 314 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: that was written in nineteen o one, and this time 315 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: the legend kind of gets another upgrade this go around, 316 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,560 Speaker 1: in the form of black shucks appearance being important of death. 317 00:18:17,640 --> 00:18:20,840 Speaker 1: Our guest had been associated with as a death portant. 318 00:18:20,920 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: But this is where black Shuck kind of comes in 319 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,880 Speaker 1: with that same that same association. This was written by 320 00:18:26,880 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: William Dutt in a book that was titled Highways and 321 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:32,679 Speaker 1: by Ways in East Anglia. And this is kind of 322 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:35,000 Speaker 1: a lengthy excerpt, so because I want to include all 323 00:18:35,000 --> 00:18:37,800 Speaker 1: of the ways that that he kind of solidifies this legend, 324 00:18:37,840 --> 00:18:39,640 Speaker 1: So Tracy and I are going to take turns with it. 325 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: So it starts quote, if this were a stormy night 326 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 1: instead of a stormy day, the old fisher folk of 327 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,119 Speaker 1: the coast would say it were just the time for 328 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: black Shuck to be abroad, For he revels in the 329 00:18:51,119 --> 00:18:53,840 Speaker 1: roaring of the waves and loves to raise his awful 330 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,119 Speaker 1: voice above the howling of the gale. He takes the 331 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 1: form of a huge black dog and prowls a long 332 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:05,360 Speaker 1: dark lanes and lonesome field footpaths, where although his howling 333 00:19:05,400 --> 00:19:09,520 Speaker 1: makes the hearer's blood run cold, his footfalls make no sound. 334 00:19:09,960 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 1: That's such a great turn of phrase. Um, this passage 335 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: goes on. You may know him at once, should you 336 00:19:16,920 --> 00:19:20,280 Speaker 1: see him by his fiery eye. He has but one, 337 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:22,840 Speaker 1: and that, like the cyclops, is in the middle of 338 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,119 Speaker 1: his head. But such an encounter might bring you the 339 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: worst of luck. It is said that to meet him 340 00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:31,440 Speaker 1: is to be warned that your death will occur before 341 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:34,720 Speaker 1: the end of the year. So this ends quote. So 342 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:36,919 Speaker 1: you will do well to shut your eyes if you 343 00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,959 Speaker 1: hear him howling. Shut them, even if you were uncertain 344 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: whether it is the dog fiend or the voice of 345 00:19:42,359 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: the wind you hear. Should you never set eyes on 346 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:49,199 Speaker 1: our Norfolk snarl, y'all, you may perhaps doubt his existence, 347 00:19:49,720 --> 00:19:53,080 Speaker 1: And like other learned folks tell us that his story 348 00:19:53,200 --> 00:19:56,280 Speaker 1: is nothing but the old Scandinavian myth of the black 349 00:19:56,359 --> 00:19:59,440 Speaker 1: Hound of Odin, brought to us by the Vikings who 350 00:19:59,480 --> 00:20:03,359 Speaker 1: long ago settled down on the Norfolk coast. Scoffers at 351 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: black Chuck there have been in plenty, But now and 352 00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: again one of them has come home late on a dark, 353 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:12,679 Speaker 1: stormy night, with terror written large on his ashen face, 354 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: And after that night he has scoffed no more. Such 355 00:20:16,600 --> 00:20:19,639 Speaker 1: a good little write up. Um. As the years have 356 00:20:19,760 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 1: gone on, things have kind of reached a point where 357 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: at this point you could go to any number of 358 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,600 Speaker 1: towns and communities in England and find an assortment of 359 00:20:27,680 --> 00:20:31,320 Speaker 1: location specific sightings of black Chuck that are part of 360 00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:34,320 Speaker 1: local lore. Just kind of scrolling around through the Internet, 361 00:20:34,359 --> 00:20:37,200 Speaker 1: I found so many that are, like, yes, black Chuck 362 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 1: visits this one bridge in our town. Every you know, 363 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,800 Speaker 1: fortnite or whatever, Like every town seems to have some 364 00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: variation of it. Coming up, we will talk about some 365 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,080 Speaker 1: modern developments of the Black Chuck legend, but first we 366 00:20:49,080 --> 00:20:51,320 Speaker 1: will hear from some of the sponsors that keep Stuffy 367 00:20:51,359 --> 00:21:01,920 Speaker 1: Miss in history class going. There are, as we mentioned 368 00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: before the break, some interesting modern events in the black 369 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: Shuck story, including one that started in with the announcement 370 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: of an archaeological find. Now this news broke via the 371 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:15,400 Speaker 1: UK paper The Daily Mail, which is known to publish 372 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 1: some less than carefully vetted stories. On May it ran 373 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,600 Speaker 1: a story with the headline, is this the skeleton of 374 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:28,560 Speaker 1: legendary devil dog black Shuck, who terrorized sixteenth century East Anglia. 375 00:21:28,960 --> 00:21:34,240 Speaker 1: Folklore tells of seven foot hellhound with flaming eyes. Uh. 376 00:21:34,320 --> 00:21:36,080 Speaker 1: I was curious and I went to see if we 377 00:21:36,119 --> 00:21:40,639 Speaker 1: had talked about this in the edition of Unearthed. We 378 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 1: had not, probably because I don't source Unearthed from the 379 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,800 Speaker 1: Daily Mail. I checked as well, and I was I 380 00:21:48,840 --> 00:21:51,120 Speaker 1: had the exact same thought process. It's like this would 381 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:54,919 Speaker 1: never show up in Tracy's notes. So this story leads 382 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:58,800 Speaker 1: the reader to the possibility that this archaeology team may 383 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,800 Speaker 1: have found the remain of this legendary hellhound. It includes 384 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:06,360 Speaker 1: the following text quote, it was discovered a few miles 385 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:09,119 Speaker 1: from two churches where Black Chuck is said to have 386 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:15,200 Speaker 1: killed worshippers during an almighty thunderstorm in August seven. What's more, 387 00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,359 Speaker 1: it appears to have been buried in a shallow grave 388 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: at precisely the same time as Shuck is said to 389 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:23,719 Speaker 1: have been on the loose, primarily around Suffolk and the 390 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,600 Speaker 1: East Anglier region. This article then goes on to mention 391 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,440 Speaker 1: that testing of the remains will determine if they are 392 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:34,000 Speaker 1: indeed from the correct time period to ascertain whether it 393 00:22:34,119 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: is the dog from Fleming's Tail. And of course this 394 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,600 Speaker 1: got picked up by other news outlets and it's spread 395 00:22:40,640 --> 00:22:43,800 Speaker 1: really really quickly, and it is fun to think about 396 00:22:43,840 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: the possibility that there's physical evidence for something that has 397 00:22:46,760 --> 00:22:50,159 Speaker 1: only been legend. But if you've ever wondered what happens 398 00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:53,480 Speaker 1: to the archaeologists involved when a story like this breaks, 399 00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:56,919 Speaker 1: here is your chance to find out. Brendan Wilkins, the 400 00:22:56,960 --> 00:23:00,479 Speaker 1: project director at the group dig Ventures that conducted a dig, 401 00:23:00,680 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: wrote a post on the dig Venture site about the 402 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:06,720 Speaker 1: experience and the sensationalism of the work that he and 403 00:23:06,800 --> 00:23:09,520 Speaker 1: his team did in October. He wrote it in October. 404 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:12,359 Speaker 1: Their team was doing work earlier, but the post that 405 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,560 Speaker 1: he wrote was published in October. So that post begins 406 00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: like this quote. As I scammed the headlines that fateful morning, 407 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,399 Speaker 1: I felt a chill go down my spine and my 408 00:23:22,440 --> 00:23:26,280 Speaker 1: blood run cold. I read, reread, then read it again, 409 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,840 Speaker 1: shaking with disbelief as a terrifying and sinister thought began 410 00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:34,679 Speaker 1: to emerge. They were talking about us. We were in 411 00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:38,879 Speaker 1: the daily Mail. As an archaeological projects director, I pride 412 00:23:38,880 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: myself on being on the right side of what's loftily 413 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:46,000 Speaker 1: known as the public understanding of science. So reading about 414 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:49,280 Speaker 1: the quote seven foot hellhound with flaming eyes we had 415 00:23:49,320 --> 00:23:53,680 Speaker 1: apparently discover at Lyston Abbey knocked me for six How 416 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,600 Speaker 1: on earth did this happen? How could we contain it? 417 00:23:56,920 --> 00:23:59,880 Speaker 1: And was this the end of any shred of archaeological 418 00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:04,600 Speaker 1: credibility I would ever have was very illuminating to rate 419 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:08,879 Speaker 1: his very honest account of his reaction um That find, 420 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,199 Speaker 1: as he mentioned, happened at Lyston Abbey, which is a 421 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 1: bit less than seven miles from the second church that 422 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:18,240 Speaker 1: was terrorized in the Fleming account from fifty seven. Specifically, 423 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:21,360 Speaker 1: these remains were found while they were excavating what had 424 00:24:21,400 --> 00:24:25,720 Speaker 1: once been a monastery kitchen building there. The dog's burial 425 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:30,040 Speaker 1: definitely postdated the monasteries use, although when that burial happened 426 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: was unclear, But in his post Wilkins states that he 427 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:36,399 Speaker 1: never thought these were the bones of black chuck, and 428 00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,240 Speaker 1: that really the more exciting finds of archaeology are not 429 00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,440 Speaker 1: in the dig but in the analysis later. He then 430 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,960 Speaker 1: shares what he learned about this dog. It was seventy 431 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: two centimeters tall at the shoulder, that's very roughly about 432 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: two and a third feet. He compares it to the 433 00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,760 Speaker 1: size of a Great Dane or a mastiff, and because 434 00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:59,199 Speaker 1: the dog had worn teeth and an arthritic ankle, it 435 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:02,080 Speaker 1: appears to have of for a long life. They weren't 436 00:25:02,119 --> 00:25:05,680 Speaker 1: able to conclusively date the sample. They got three different 437 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:09,800 Speaker 1: date ranges as possibilities, all of them well after fifteen 438 00:25:09,840 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: seventy seven, there were between sixteen fifty and sixteen nine, 439 00:25:13,960 --> 00:25:18,439 Speaker 1: seventeen thirty and eighteen ten, or sometime after nineteen twenty. 440 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,800 Speaker 1: Wilkins writes that quote, far from being the final resting 441 00:25:21,840 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: place of a bloodthirsty hellhound, it was clear that our 442 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,640 Speaker 1: dog skeleton had been laid to rest with care and consideration. 443 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:31,800 Speaker 1: So the more likely scenario here is that it was 444 00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:35,160 Speaker 1: a working dog that was essentially retired, and unlike many 445 00:25:35,200 --> 00:25:38,879 Speaker 1: working dogs, it was lovingly cared for long after this 446 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:41,600 Speaker 1: dog would have been able to do its job. Wilkins 447 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: states things very plainly, quote, were these the bones of 448 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: a seven foot hellhound with flaming eyes? Unequivocally no. Though 449 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:54,280 Speaker 1: dig Venture may not have found the infamous Suffolk hellhound, 450 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,160 Speaker 1: there have been some efforts to track the black dogs, 451 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: not just of England but throughout Europe and is part 452 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:06,040 Speaker 1: of a project called Public Archaeology. Researcher Nick Stone started 453 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: plotting out a map of the various sightings of black chuck, 454 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: the bar gust and other manifestations of this black dog myth. 455 00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,679 Speaker 1: The Public Archaeology Projects mission was to quote undertake a 456 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:22,000 Speaker 1: year of public engagement, led equally by archaeologists and non 457 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:27,720 Speaker 1: archaeologists aimed solely at the creation of public engagement with archaeology, 458 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,720 Speaker 1: where the definitions of all central terms remain open to 459 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: debate for the duration of the project. So they didn't 460 00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: want to necessarily like end up with a bunch of 461 00:26:35,640 --> 00:26:37,600 Speaker 1: papers at the end, but they wanted to get people 462 00:26:38,000 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 1: interested in how archaeology worked and how it could be 463 00:26:41,080 --> 00:26:45,840 Speaker 1: something that everyone engages with. So participants submitted proposals for projects. 464 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:50,640 Speaker 1: Twelve were chosen, six by non archaeologists and six by archaeologists, 465 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:53,399 Speaker 1: and this was one of those projects. Stones map is 466 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: interactive and when you click on one of the points, 467 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:59,080 Speaker 1: a pop up of the story linked to that spot appears. 468 00:26:59,680 --> 00:27:02,800 Speaker 1: He saw to the sidings by color, with singular dogs 469 00:27:02,880 --> 00:27:07,800 Speaker 1: represented with red, where creatures in blue, shape shifters that 470 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:11,119 Speaker 1: fall outside of the werewolf moon myth as purple, and 471 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,760 Speaker 1: wild hunt dogs in dark green. So looking at this map, 472 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: it does seem like the idea of the singular demon 473 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:22,480 Speaker 1: dog roaming the country is most popular in Britain and Ireland, 474 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,880 Speaker 1: and other types spread throughout Europe. It's very fun um 475 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:29,080 Speaker 1: and that is like based on oral history. It's not 476 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: like doing the dig down of like was this applausible 477 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:37,679 Speaker 1: story collected stories. So our last entry, as we mentioned 478 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 1: at the top of the episode, is a little bit 479 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,080 Speaker 1: of a departure from black Shuck in the Bar Guests, 480 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:46,120 Speaker 1: and it is in southern Louisiana because Cajun culture has 481 00:27:46,160 --> 00:27:49,720 Speaker 1: its own version of a scary kind of using air quotes. 482 00:27:49,720 --> 00:27:54,720 Speaker 1: Their folklore canine figure, the rugarou is similar to a werewolf, 483 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:58,320 Speaker 1: usually depicted with a human body and a doghead. And 484 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,520 Speaker 1: this name, of course, if you speak for inch or 485 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:04,360 Speaker 1: into folklore, probably sounds familiar but not quite what you've 486 00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,760 Speaker 1: heard before. Yeah, that's because the French word for werewolf 487 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:12,600 Speaker 1: is lu guru loop means wolf, and while the origins 488 00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: of the word garou may have suggested that it can 489 00:28:15,240 --> 00:28:19,760 Speaker 1: change forms, most modern translations just punt it straight to werewolf, 490 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,679 Speaker 1: even without the loop part in front of it. It 491 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,159 Speaker 1: is most likely that the story of the werewolf traveled 492 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:29,000 Speaker 1: with people from France and Acadia as they moved south, 493 00:28:29,080 --> 00:28:32,199 Speaker 1: and then over time and with usage, the l at 494 00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: the beginning of the word became an R. At this point, 495 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: both of these are considered acceptable in the area. Yeah, 496 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: you could hear it said either way, and the origin 497 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:45,160 Speaker 1: of the rugaroo, Like so much folklore, has its roots 498 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:48,320 Speaker 1: in keeping people in line, and this has grown into 499 00:28:48,320 --> 00:28:50,920 Speaker 1: a number of different legends to scare different groups of 500 00:28:50,960 --> 00:28:55,600 Speaker 1: people with unpleasant consequences for inappropriate behavior. So possibly the 501 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:58,840 Speaker 1: oldest version of the rugaro myth is related to lent. 502 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:03,040 Speaker 1: The story os that the rugarou hunts down Catholics who 503 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: don't observe lent or who fall short in their promises 504 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,680 Speaker 1: to give up their vices during that time. According to 505 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: Jonathan for A, executive director of South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, 506 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,120 Speaker 1: there's even a tale that if you fail in your 507 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: lent observances for seven consecutive years, you will become a 508 00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:25,920 Speaker 1: rugarou yourself. And of course, a dog man from the 509 00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,280 Speaker 1: swamps is the perfect figure to scare children into doing 510 00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: as they're told. Bad behavior equals the rugarou will come 511 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 1: and eat you up. Adults and children both have also 512 00:29:37,480 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: been encouraged to do right by the people in their 513 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:43,120 Speaker 1: community less they be cursed and turned into a rugaroo 514 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:46,640 Speaker 1: through magic. If that happens, the only way to fix 515 00:29:46,640 --> 00:29:49,080 Speaker 1: it is to transfer that curse to someone else, and 516 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:51,040 Speaker 1: to do that you would have to trick them into 517 00:29:51,040 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: cutting you so that your rugarou blood is drawn. But 518 00:29:55,120 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 1: here's why the ruguru is more fun than scary. The 519 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:02,000 Speaker 1: best ways to to avoid the rugary making a stop 520 00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: at your house, other than good behavior, those always involved math. 521 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:11,680 Speaker 1: The rugaroo struggles with counting, but it's also simultaneously compelled 522 00:30:11,760 --> 00:30:14,760 Speaker 1: to do it. This idea crops up in like vampire 523 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 1: mythology sometimes also and apparently you can count to twelve 524 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:21,480 Speaker 1: but not higher than twelve. So if you leave thirteen 525 00:30:21,520 --> 00:30:24,000 Speaker 1: pennies on your doorstep, he'll stop and try to count 526 00:30:24,040 --> 00:30:27,239 Speaker 1: them before he comes in, but he'll get superplexed as 527 00:30:27,280 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 1: he tries to make sense of how many of there are, 528 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,400 Speaker 1: So you can he just will never enter the home 529 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:37,040 Speaker 1: because penny just throws him for a loop. Just keep 530 00:30:37,120 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: starting over. Yeah, it's just like, wait, I didn't get 531 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:46,800 Speaker 1: this right one. I love this story so much. If 532 00:30:46,840 --> 00:30:48,880 Speaker 1: you don't want to stack pennies, you can also leave 533 00:30:48,920 --> 00:30:54,000 Speaker 1: a calendar out on your doorstep, because apparently the rugarou 534 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: will try so hard to count the holes in that calendar, 535 00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: but of course he loses his place every time. I'm 536 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: not only are there too many, but there's like in 537 00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:05,479 Speaker 1: a big circle and keep starting over until he just 538 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:09,720 Speaker 1: wanders off at frustration. It seems like maybe all of 539 00:31:09,720 --> 00:31:12,000 Speaker 1: those decades of living in the swamp have given him 540 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:16,440 Speaker 1: some interesting peccadillos and behaviors. As far as I know, 541 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:19,240 Speaker 1: I am not a rugaroo, but I think I would 542 00:31:19,240 --> 00:31:22,200 Speaker 1: become frustrated and wander off if I tried to count 543 00:31:22,240 --> 00:31:25,040 Speaker 1: the holes in a calander, I would be like, I 544 00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:29,080 Speaker 1: need a sharpie when a section this out. If you 545 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: are as fascinated by the rugarou as I am, you 546 00:31:32,400 --> 00:31:36,040 Speaker 1: can also attend the annual Rugaroo Fest that takes place 547 00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: every year in Home in Louisiana, which is just a 548 00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:44,280 Speaker 1: little bit southwest of New Orleans, where storytellers continue to 549 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:47,800 Speaker 1: pass on this story through oral tradition of the Rugarou, 550 00:31:48,480 --> 00:31:50,800 Speaker 1: and all proceeds from this festival go to the South 551 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:54,240 Speaker 1: Louisiana Wentlands Discovery Center. It is normally the last week 552 00:31:54,280 --> 00:31:57,120 Speaker 1: of October, so happening now as we publish this episode, 553 00:31:57,320 --> 00:32:00,240 Speaker 1: although of course this year in things have changed a 554 00:32:00,280 --> 00:32:02,960 Speaker 1: bit due to the pandemic, so there are some fun 555 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,480 Speaker 1: online activities and if you're in the area on Fridays, 556 00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:11,720 Speaker 1: what they've been doing because it is Louisiana. There's delicious 557 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: food at that festival normally, so they started doing a 558 00:32:14,400 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: pop up drive through food pickup on Friday's of some 559 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,080 Speaker 1: of the goodies that you would normally get at the festival. 560 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:25,040 Speaker 1: This Friday is your very last chance. If you are 561 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,959 Speaker 1: anywhere in the area. You can look up the info 562 00:32:28,080 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: on their website, which is rugarou Fest dot org. That's 563 00:32:31,440 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 1: r o U g A r o U f e 564 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,800 Speaker 1: s T dot org. Um. I have a friend who loves, loves, 565 00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:43,600 Speaker 1: loves uh werewolf myth and legend, and she and I 566 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,520 Speaker 1: are already plotting to attend this next year if it happens, um, 567 00:32:47,560 --> 00:32:52,280 Speaker 1: because it sounds like the most fun time ever. Um, Yeah, 568 00:32:52,360 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: I just I love it. I love that this is 569 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:57,400 Speaker 1: like a fun version of a werewolf story. To to end, 570 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:02,440 Speaker 1: are are Halloween programming with because we all need a 571 00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,280 Speaker 1: little more fun. Think about that poor Rugaru counting part 572 00:33:06,280 --> 00:33:08,080 Speaker 1: of me wants to bring him some flash cards and 573 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:16,680 Speaker 1: upgrade his knowledge. Um, that's the rugarou Uh. So for 574 00:33:16,760 --> 00:33:20,520 Speaker 1: listener mail, I have a letter from our our listener, Eric, 575 00:33:20,560 --> 00:33:22,280 Speaker 1: who writes, I love the show and I have always 576 00:33:22,360 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: especially enjoyed the episodes that come out near your Halloween. 577 00:33:25,120 --> 00:33:27,520 Speaker 1: Since your Tarot episode came out right after the bram 578 00:33:27,520 --> 00:33:29,400 Speaker 1: Stoker one, I wondered if you had heard of the 579 00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:33,400 Speaker 1: connection between bram Stoker and Pamela Coleman Smith. Apparently they 580 00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:36,120 Speaker 1: worked together at the Lyceum Theater when he was stage manager, 581 00:33:36,200 --> 00:33:39,040 Speaker 1: and supposedly the artwork for her Emperor card was based 582 00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:42,440 Speaker 1: on his likeness, and Henry Irving is supposedly represented on 583 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:45,280 Speaker 1: the Magician card. I definitely look forward to an episode 584 00:33:45,320 --> 00:33:47,960 Speaker 1: diving into Pamela Coleman smithslife. I hope you were both 585 00:33:48,000 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 1: well and have a wonderful Halloween. Sincerely, Eric Eric. I 586 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 1: did not stumble across that, but I'm sure going to 587 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 1: look it up now. Um, it's been kind of funny 588 00:33:55,560 --> 00:34:00,200 Speaker 1: this Halloween season. I have accidentally had interlocking episodes at 589 00:34:00,200 --> 00:34:03,040 Speaker 1: every turn. I did not do that on purpose. I did. 590 00:34:03,800 --> 00:34:07,440 Speaker 1: They just keep like connecting to one another. Um, which 591 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:10,000 Speaker 1: is kind of fun and bizarre, but there you go. Like, 592 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,480 Speaker 1: I didn't think when I started doing Black Chuck that 593 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:16,600 Speaker 1: I would somehow find a reference to it in the 594 00:34:16,640 --> 00:34:21,799 Speaker 1: bram Stoker episode, and that like Madam Blovotsky, I mean, 595 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:24,600 Speaker 1: it makes sense that she would overlap with our Tarot episode, 596 00:34:24,600 --> 00:34:26,640 Speaker 1: but I didn't really think about that ahead of time. 597 00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,279 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, just and I have several other pieces of 598 00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:34,759 Speaker 1: um inspiration for subjects that are kind of related from 599 00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:37,839 Speaker 1: some of those, but those I recognize that their spinoffs, right, 600 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:41,719 Speaker 1: But this there was just a lot of interlocking strangeness. 601 00:34:41,760 --> 00:34:49,000 Speaker 1: This time. It's apparently mysticism year where everything connects to everything. Uh. 602 00:34:49,080 --> 00:34:51,400 Speaker 1: If you would like to write to us and point 603 00:34:51,400 --> 00:34:53,960 Speaker 1: out any other mystical connections or otherwise, you could do 604 00:34:54,000 --> 00:34:56,839 Speaker 1: that at History podcast at i heeart radio dot com. 605 00:34:56,920 --> 00:34:59,560 Speaker 1: You can also find us on social media as missed 606 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:01,600 Speaker 1: in History And if you would like to subscribe to 607 00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:03,920 Speaker 1: the podcast, that would be grand. You can do that 608 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:06,440 Speaker 1: on the i heeart Radio app, at Apple podcasts, or 609 00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:13,680 Speaker 1: wherever it is you listen. Stuff you Missed in History 610 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,399 Speaker 1: Class is a production of I Heart Radio. For more 611 00:35:16,480 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 612 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:22,800 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.