1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday after we name dropped the Rugaroo and are 2 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: behind the scenes for our Werewolf of Bedburg episode. We 3 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,079 Speaker 1: are replaying our episode on Hellhounds, which is where the 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,919 Speaker 1: Rugaroo made a past appearance on the show. This originally 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: came out on October twenty eighth, twenty twenty and if 6 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: you're listening to this episode on the day we publish it, 7 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,600 Speaker 1: or even the day after, the rugaroofest that we mentioned 8 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:28,280 Speaker 1: at the end is going on right now. If that 9 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: sounds fun and interesting. The place to get more information 10 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: is still at Rugaroofest dot org. Who wouldn't want to 11 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: be in the New Orleans and Homa, Louisiana area right now, 12 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: but hopefully you'll check it out. Enjoy. Welcome to Stuff 13 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello, 14 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Holly Frye and I'm 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:05,240 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson. Crazy. It's almost Halloween. I know it's 16 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: the best week of the year, so this seems like 17 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:10,560 Speaker 1: a really good time to talk about sort of a 18 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:13,800 Speaker 1: version of something that I think we've been tiptoeing around 19 00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: for a while, which is dogs, specifically demon dogs. I 20 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: swear I do want to do a domestication of dogs 21 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,640 Speaker 1: episode at some point, but there's a lot and they're 22 00:01:22,680 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: constantly finding new things, so I keep getting scared off. Yeah, 23 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:30,240 Speaker 1: and a weird coincidence. This morning, I tweeted something about 24 00:01:30,240 --> 00:01:35,039 Speaker 1: how basically needing to do an episode about something lighter, 25 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: even though my episodes lately have been pretty fun, just 26 00:01:37,480 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: because there's a lot of stress and chaos happening in 27 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 1: the world right now, and somebody replied that maybe we 28 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: could do a history of puppies, and I'm like, this 29 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: is almost that kind of and right, I want to 30 00:01:49,040 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: acknowledge it. For some people, dogs are just scary. Not 31 00:01:51,440 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: everybody likes dogs, but there's a reason for that, right. 32 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: This is a fear that has been part of many 33 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:01,160 Speaker 1: cultures for centuries, including dog from the nether World, which 34 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:03,360 Speaker 1: go all the way back to the three headed Cerberus 35 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: who guarded the gates of the underworld in Greek mythology. 36 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: But today, as we inch closer to Halloween, I thought 37 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: it would be fun to talk about three of the many, 38 00:02:11,240 --> 00:02:15,359 Speaker 1: many supernatural canines and hell hounds that have lengthy histories 39 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: in our collective storytelling. And the first two of these 40 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: are very closely related. They're both based in England, and 41 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: really the second of them makes up the bulk of 42 00:02:24,440 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: the episode. Now the last one is a North American creature, 43 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,240 Speaker 1: and it's just incredibly charming and fun. In my opinion, 44 00:02:31,919 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: it's a little bit thematically different than the other two, 45 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: but I thought it would be a good upbeat place 46 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:40,480 Speaker 1: to land, particularly, you know, these are fraught times. It's 47 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:43,919 Speaker 1: been a rough year. I love Halloween and creepiness and 48 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: being scared as much as anyone, but gosh, it's also 49 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: great to laugh if we can, so we'll try for 50 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:51,880 Speaker 1: a little bit of that. And there are of course 51 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:55,760 Speaker 1: loads more demon dog myths throughout the world, so odds 52 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:57,840 Speaker 1: are really really good that this is the start of 53 00:02:57,880 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: a perhaps a Halloween series, and next Halloween will do 54 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: more and perhaps more geographically and culturally varied. I have 55 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: a list started already for that. But if you have 56 00:03:07,639 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: stuff you want to send us, you can do it. 57 00:03:09,919 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: But right now we're going to talk about some hell hounds. 58 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:15,880 Speaker 1: Sounds like a potential Halloween version of Crampus and Friends, 59 00:03:15,919 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 1: which has been a winter holiday staple. That is kind 60 00:03:20,200 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: of the thinking nice. So first up is the bar 61 00:03:24,919 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 1: gest the dog that is part of Northern England's folklore 62 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:34,680 Speaker 1: tradition and is normally associated with Yorkshire, sometimes described as 63 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,080 Speaker 1: a goblin or a ghost, and I wanted to mention 64 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: the bar Guest in part because of an interesting coincidence 65 00:03:41,080 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 1: that happened recently on the show. So I was already 66 00:03:44,000 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 1: working on this episode for a while, and when I 67 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: started working on our recent bram Stoker episode, I had 68 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 1: already been kind of doing prelium work on this, and 69 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: then unexpectedly the bar Guest showed up while I was 70 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: doing bram Stoker research. In that episode, we mentioned that 71 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: a ship that had run aground near Whidby had served 72 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:05,480 Speaker 1: as the inspiration for the ship that transported Dracula from 73 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: Transylvania to London. And one of the details which we 74 00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:11,760 Speaker 1: mentioned that was shared by locals with bram Stoker when 75 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: he was doing his research was that a black dog 76 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:17,279 Speaker 1: had emerged from the hold of directship and run off, 77 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: and that dog was believed by some people in the 78 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,160 Speaker 1: community to have been the bar guest. So the bar 79 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,400 Speaker 1: Guest is described as a huge dog and its teeth 80 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: are large and prominent. There are a couple of things 81 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: that set him apart from another so called hell hound 82 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:35,799 Speaker 1: that we are about to talk about. The bar guest 83 00:04:35,920 --> 00:04:39,119 Speaker 1: is not always described as being black. Sometimes he's gray. 84 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: But beyond that, this dog sometimes is described as a 85 00:04:42,760 --> 00:04:47,279 Speaker 1: shape shifter, including sometimes appearing headless. If you see a 86 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: bar guest, that means you are going to die soon. 87 00:04:50,440 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: If you only catch a glimpse of it, your death 88 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: might take a little longer to arrive. Yeah, I feel 89 00:04:57,080 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: like this would create a whole community of people that 90 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: hear dog noise and clamp their eyes shut. But in 91 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:06,720 Speaker 1: terms of the written record, a lot of the more 92 00:05:06,760 --> 00:05:10,279 Speaker 1: persistent qualities of the bar guest story and its legend 93 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:13,400 Speaker 1: seemed to come from the book Notes on the Folklore 94 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,400 Speaker 1: of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders. That 95 00:05:16,480 --> 00:05:19,479 Speaker 1: book was written by William Henderson in eighteen seventy nine, 96 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: and in this collection of folk tales that he kind 97 00:05:23,120 --> 00:05:26,160 Speaker 1: of gathered oral recollection from people and wrote it down, 98 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: Henderson shares more details about the bar guest as a 99 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,080 Speaker 1: harbinger of death. So he writes, quote on the death 100 00:05:33,080 --> 00:05:36,320 Speaker 1: of any person of local importance in the neighborhood, the 101 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:40,039 Speaker 1: creature would come forth a large black dog with flaming 102 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,919 Speaker 1: eyes as big as saucers, followed by all the dogs 103 00:05:43,960 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 1: of the place, howling and barking. If anyone came its way, 104 00:05:47,720 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: the bar guest would strike out with its paw and 105 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,280 Speaker 1: inflict on man or beast a wound which would never heal. 106 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 1: My informant, a Yorkshire gentleman lately deceased, said he perfectly 107 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:01,480 Speaker 1: remembered the terror experienced when he was a child at 108 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:05,640 Speaker 1: beholding this procession before the death of a certain Squire 109 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:10,320 Speaker 1: Wade of new Grange. Henderson also put in writing some 110 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: details about the bar guests shape shifting that have persisted, 111 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: writing quote, A friend informs me that glasen Zykes, near Darlington, 112 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: is haunted by a bar guest, which assumes at will 113 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:24,239 Speaker 1: the form of a headless man who disappears in flame, 114 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: a headless lady, a white cat, rabbit or dog, or 115 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: a black dog. So many things. The bar guests can 116 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: be whatever it wants. The bar guest legend is popular 117 00:06:38,400 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: enough that you might have bumped into it before if 118 00:06:40,839 --> 00:06:43,920 Speaker 1: you've read Roald Dalls the Witches, or played the Witch 119 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,800 Speaker 1: or video game or Forgotten Realms or Dungeons and Dragons, 120 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,240 Speaker 1: or engaged with any number of other entertainment options you 121 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,120 Speaker 1: might have crossed paths with mentions of it. Yeah, I 122 00:06:55,160 --> 00:06:57,080 Speaker 1: think it comes up in the Lord of the Rings 123 00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 1: game online. The bar guest is everywhere part of it. 124 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,359 Speaker 1: It's because it's just a fun word to say. But 125 00:07:02,360 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: the bar guest is also hardly the only hell dog 126 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:07,760 Speaker 1: of Great Britain. There have been many, many names for 127 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:12,560 Speaker 1: very similar beings. So there's the capaldweight, trash striker or 128 00:07:12,600 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: shriker you'll sometimes see. There's the Welsh counanon and the 129 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: Isle of Man's mouta d'Or. But perhaps the most famous 130 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: alternate to the bar guest name is the iteration of 131 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: this English hell hound that we are going to talk 132 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:28,120 Speaker 1: about next, and who actually started this episode because I 133 00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:33,080 Speaker 1: love saying this name black shuck. Yes. So. In fifteen 134 00:07:33,120 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: seventy seven, Abraham Fleming wrote an account of an event 135 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: at the parish church in a town near Norwich that 136 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: created a version of this English legend that still persists 137 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:48,400 Speaker 1: until today. That account was titled and just Buckle Up 138 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 1: because it is one of the one of those one 139 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: of the titles we love so much. The title was 140 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: a strange and terrible wonder wrought very late in the 141 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: parish church of bon Game, a town of no great 142 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:05,320 Speaker 1: distance from the city of Norwich, namely the fourth of 143 00:08:05,400 --> 00:08:09,880 Speaker 1: this August, in year of our Lord, fifteen seventy seven, 144 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,920 Speaker 1: in a great tempest of violent rain, lightning and thunder, 145 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: the like whereof hath been seldom seen, with the appearance 146 00:08:18,400 --> 00:08:22,520 Speaker 1: of an horrible shaped things sensibly perceived of the people 147 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: then and there assembled drawn into a plain method according 148 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 1: to the written copy by Abraham Fleming, in addition to 149 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: the length art, just all the delightful spellings that are 150 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,520 Speaker 1: coming on. I even cleaned that up a little bit 151 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: to make it easier. We've taught. We did our whole 152 00:08:41,800 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: episode about you know, grammar and spelling and how things evolve. 153 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:51,720 Speaker 1: And this is a case where Fleming had his own flourish, 154 00:08:52,280 --> 00:08:56,520 Speaker 1: particularly when it came to vowels. There's actually some comparative 155 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,800 Speaker 1: writing in other pieces where people are trying to f 156 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:02,079 Speaker 1: you're out if it's Fleming and they start talking about 157 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,720 Speaker 1: he kind of does that same weird spelling here. This 158 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:08,760 Speaker 1: might be the same right here, because those things were 159 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,360 Speaker 1: not codified yet. So this pamphlet with that incredibly long 160 00:09:12,440 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 1: name actually tells the tale of two appearances of a 161 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: large black dog The first is at Saint Mary's Church 162 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:21,920 Speaker 1: in Bongay on a day during services when there was 163 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:25,320 Speaker 1: an intense thunderstorm, and in the pamphlet it is written 164 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: that the quote whole church was so darkened yeay, with 165 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: such palpable darkness that one person could not perceive another. 166 00:09:33,400 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: Then during this storm their quote appeared in a most 167 00:09:36,960 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 1: horrible similitude and likeness, a dog of a black color. 168 00:09:42,000 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: This dog, according to Fleming's story, was so terrifying that 169 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:49,080 Speaker 1: it made the parishioners think that Doomsday had arrived. The 170 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 1: dog ran between two people who were praying and wrung 171 00:09:51,800 --> 00:09:54,640 Speaker 1: both of their necks, but killed them while they were praying. 172 00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,240 Speaker 1: The dog also bit another man, leaving scorch marks. That 173 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,120 Speaker 1: man survived. The steeple of the church was struck by lightning, 174 00:10:03,160 --> 00:10:07,400 Speaker 1: and the mysterious dog disappeared, leaving behind only claw marks 175 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: in the pavers and the door of the church. But 176 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: this was, as we mentioned, only one church that experienced 177 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,400 Speaker 1: a terrifying canine visit that day. The dog also appeared 178 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 1: at Holy Trinity Church about seven miles away in a 179 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:25,600 Speaker 1: town called Blitheburg. Fleming described it this way, quote the 180 00:10:25,880 --> 00:10:29,080 Speaker 1: like thing entered in the same shape and similitude, where 181 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,040 Speaker 1: placing himself on a main bulk or beam, whereon sometime 182 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: the rude did stand. Suddenly he gave a swing down 183 00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:40,640 Speaker 1: through the church, and there also, as before, slew two 184 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 1: men and a lad, and burned the hand of another 185 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:46,880 Speaker 1: person that was among the rest of the company, of 186 00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 1: whom divers were blasted. This mischief thus wrought, he flew 187 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,359 Speaker 1: with wonderful force to not little fear of the assembly 188 00:10:56,559 --> 00:11:00,800 Speaker 1: out of the church in a hideous and hellish likeness. Yeah. 189 00:11:00,840 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: So in both cases, giant, terrifying black dog arrives, kills 190 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,440 Speaker 1: a couple of people, injures some others, and vanishes. And 191 00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: we're going to talk about the way that this story 192 00:11:10,400 --> 00:11:12,439 Speaker 1: took on a life of its own in just a moment. 193 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:14,800 Speaker 1: But first we will pause and have a sponsor break. 194 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:27,400 Speaker 1: Fleming's write up about the fiendish dog who attacked the 195 00:11:27,480 --> 00:11:30,240 Speaker 1: churches is the start of a century's long tradition of 196 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,959 Speaker 1: stories about that dog, who was eventually named black Shuck 197 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: as the story was passed down. We'll talk about the 198 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,160 Speaker 1: first time that name appears in writing in a moment. 199 00:11:38,880 --> 00:11:41,200 Speaker 1: When Fleming wrote this account, he was an editor and 200 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,000 Speaker 1: publisher who went on to become an ordained minister. And 201 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:47,240 Speaker 1: this document, which has come to be known sort of 202 00:11:47,280 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 1: casually as the Wonder Pamphlet, is just as much a 203 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: sermon as it is a report of a dog attack. 204 00:11:53,679 --> 00:11:57,439 Speaker 1: It includes passages early on in it about this whole 205 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: thing being a warning not to stray from fate. He wrote, quote, 206 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 1: God warneth by signs from heaven, by fiery appearances from 207 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: the air, by wonders wrought on earth, strange and unusual. 208 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: There is also language in the pamphlet about how man 209 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,959 Speaker 1: has engaged in all manner of ungodly behaviors, and then 210 00:12:15,960 --> 00:12:19,200 Speaker 1: it tells these dog stories, and then it concludes with 211 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: a prayer. So this appears to be a scenario where 212 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: Fleming is reporting these events based on news that someone 213 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:29,640 Speaker 1: else had relayed to him for when there's no way 214 00:12:29,679 --> 00:12:32,760 Speaker 1: he could have been in both of those churches where 215 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: the appearances happened one after the other for another. His 216 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:39,920 Speaker 1: first printing of the Wonder Pamphlet, and the detail of 217 00:12:39,960 --> 00:12:43,680 Speaker 1: the church door being marked by the beast's clause was 218 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: attributed to the wrong location, and he corrected it later 219 00:12:46,840 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: on in subsequent printings. Because Fleming later became a minister. 220 00:12:51,800 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: It seems that when people have referenced his work, there's 221 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,280 Speaker 1: been some timeline confusion, and they characterized the writer as 222 00:12:58,280 --> 00:13:01,000 Speaker 1: a clergyman who was working at one of these churches 223 00:13:01,040 --> 00:13:04,120 Speaker 1: where it allegedly happened. He was not a clergyman at 224 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:07,679 Speaker 1: all yet at the time, definitely not one working at 225 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: one of these churches. No, he was a publishing man 226 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:15,200 Speaker 1: living in London. What did happen though, was that this 227 00:13:15,320 --> 00:13:19,880 Speaker 1: pamphlet was put into circulation very soon after the thunderstorm 228 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: of August fourth, fifteen seventy seven, which was a real 229 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,200 Speaker 1: thunderstorm that's documented. I mean, it was a very popular pamphlet. 230 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: It seems a lot of people believed those stories in 231 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:32,479 Speaker 1: it about the dog attacks, and while still working in publishing, 232 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:35,840 Speaker 1: so before he became ordained, Fleming had the second part 233 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:39,480 Speaker 1: of this story published in the Holland Shed Chronicles, with 234 00:13:39,640 --> 00:13:42,520 Speaker 1: one notable exception which we'll talk about in just a moment, 235 00:13:42,960 --> 00:13:46,720 Speaker 1: so for context. Holland Shed's Chronicles was a large collaborative 236 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: history of the British Isles that was initiated as a 237 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,120 Speaker 1: project by printer Rayner Wolf in the late fifteen forties. 238 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:57,199 Speaker 1: The multi volume work was first published in fifteen seventy seven. 239 00:13:57,600 --> 00:14:00,800 Speaker 1: Then in fifteen eighty seven a much and an update 240 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,200 Speaker 1: was published under the stewardship of Abraham Fleming. So even 241 00:14:04,240 --> 00:14:07,960 Speaker 1: a decade after this first writing, Fleming was still writing 242 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: about that thunderstorm. Additionally, by this point Fleming had plenty 243 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:15,120 Speaker 1: of clout he was considered an expert on that particular storm. 244 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:19,880 Speaker 1: Hollandshed's Chronicles was considered an important source of historical information, 245 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,960 Speaker 1: and it was famously used as a source by writers 246 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: like Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. So you might think 247 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:29,480 Speaker 1: that the inclusion of the black dog story in this 248 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:32,400 Speaker 1: chronicle is really going to cement it as sort of 249 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,760 Speaker 1: settled history at the time, But in fact there is 250 00:14:35,920 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: no mention of the dog in this account. So this 251 00:14:39,480 --> 00:14:43,640 Speaker 1: is the version as it appears in Hollandshed's On Sunday, 252 00:14:43,640 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: the fourth of August, between the hours of nine and 253 00:14:46,040 --> 00:14:49,200 Speaker 1: ten o'clock in the forenoon, whilst the minister was reading 254 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:52,480 Speaker 1: of the Second Lesson in the parish church of Blithsburg, 255 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: a town in Suffolk, a strange and terrible tempest of 256 00:14:55,640 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: lightning and thunder strike through the wall of the same 257 00:14:59,120 --> 00:15:02,600 Speaker 1: church into the around a yard deep, drove down all 258 00:15:02,640 --> 00:15:06,280 Speaker 1: the people on that side above twenty persons, then renting 259 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,920 Speaker 1: the wall up to the vestra, cleft the door, and 260 00:15:09,120 --> 00:15:12,720 Speaker 1: returning to the steeple, rent the timber, break the chimes, 261 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: and fled toward Bongay, a town six miles off. The 262 00:15:16,160 --> 00:15:19,080 Speaker 1: people that were stricken down were found groveling more than 263 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: half an hour after, whereof one man more than forty 264 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:25,320 Speaker 1: years and a boy of fifteen years were found stark dead. 265 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:29,200 Speaker 1: The other were scorched. The same or like flash of 266 00:15:29,280 --> 00:15:32,280 Speaker 1: lightning and cracks of thunder that rent the parish church 267 00:15:32,320 --> 00:15:35,760 Speaker 1: of Bongay, nine miles from Norwich, rung as under the 268 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:38,640 Speaker 1: wires and wheels of the clocks, and slew two men 269 00:15:38,680 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: which sat in the belfry when the other were at 270 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:45,360 Speaker 1: the procession of suffrages, and scorched another which hardly escaped. 271 00:15:45,920 --> 00:15:49,600 Speaker 1: So it's interesting that the deaths and injuries are mentioned here, 272 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:53,360 Speaker 1: but they're attributed simply to lightning strikes and not the 273 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: sudden appearance of a hellish dog. And there are records 274 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 1: that indicate that those deaths and injuries did in fact happen. 275 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: I mean, it's totally within the realm of possibility that 276 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:06,960 Speaker 1: if lightning strikes the steeple of a church, people inside 277 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,280 Speaker 1: may be killed, but there's just no reference at all 278 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: to a dog causing them, So maybe the decision was 279 00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: made to remove that flourish of the Hellish canine In 280 00:16:18,800 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: later years, and again going to the church records, there 281 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:25,480 Speaker 1: is a mention that there was a payment made to 282 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 1: a professional dog whipper named John Hines quote for whipping 283 00:16:30,000 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: dogs out of the church at prayer time on the 284 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: day of the storm. This was actually a profession. People 285 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: would bring their dogs and sometimes the dogs would get unruly, 286 00:16:38,880 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: and they would keep professional dog whippers on hand. This 287 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: sounds horrible and I don't like it, but they would 288 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 1: get the dogs out of the church so that the 289 00:16:45,480 --> 00:16:48,920 Speaker 1: proceedings could go on. So it's possible that the original 290 00:16:48,920 --> 00:16:52,680 Speaker 1: write up of the story, again probably relayed to Fleming 291 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:56,640 Speaker 1: by someone else not witnessed by him, conflated some events, 292 00:16:56,880 --> 00:16:59,160 Speaker 1: that there was an unruly dog in the church that 293 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:03,040 Speaker 1: had to be forcibly removed, and that separately lightning strikes 294 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: killed several people and injured others. Despite that change in 295 00:17:07,160 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: the later version of the story that Fleming edited the 296 00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:13,120 Speaker 1: legend of the Suffolk appearances of the dog, which might 297 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: have been a demon, was established, and that story persisted. 298 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:19,479 Speaker 1: So to be clear, this was certainly not the first 299 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,960 Speaker 1: account in England of a terrifying black dog that was 300 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: characterized as supernatural. Dating back to some time between the 301 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,760 Speaker 1: eleventh and twelfth centuries, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle included the 302 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: sighting by multiple witnesses of a pack of black dogs 303 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: quote with eyes like saucers and horrible running through the woods. 304 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:42,880 Speaker 1: In this case, the dogs weren't alone, but they appeared 305 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:46,840 Speaker 1: to be on a hunt that was led by mysterious men. Yes, 306 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:50,919 Speaker 1: that's another version of the story, these wild hunts. So 307 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: the name black shuck first appeared in the eighteen hundreds, 308 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:56,520 Speaker 1: and then it seems to have been applied retroactively to 309 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:59,199 Speaker 1: a lot of these stories. It first came up in 310 00:17:59,240 --> 00:18:02,080 Speaker 1: writing by Red and E. S. Taylor in eighteen fifty, 311 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,119 Speaker 1: and he wrote about it in the periodical Notes and Queries, 312 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 1: Quote this phantom. I have heard many persons in East 313 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: Norfolk and even Cambridgeshire described as having seen a black, 314 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:18,479 Speaker 1: shaggy dog with fiery eyes and of immense size, and 315 00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,760 Speaker 1: who visits churchyards at midnight. One witness nearly fainted away 316 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,480 Speaker 1: at seeing it, and on bringing his neighbors to see 317 00:18:25,520 --> 00:18:27,840 Speaker 1: the place where he saw it, he found a large 318 00:18:27,880 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: spot as if gunpowder had been exploded. There. A laine 319 00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: in the parish of Overstrand is said is called after 320 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: him Shuck's Lane. The name appears to be a corruption 321 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 1: of shag as Shucky is the Norfolk dialect for shaggy. 322 00:18:44,760 --> 00:18:47,560 Speaker 1: Is not this a vestige of the German dog fiend? 323 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:51,280 Speaker 1: The other frequently cited mention of black Shuck is one 324 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,280 Speaker 1: that was written in nineteen oh one, and this time 325 00:18:54,359 --> 00:18:57,280 Speaker 1: the legend kind of gets another upgrade this go around, 326 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:00,520 Speaker 1: in the form of black Shuck's appearance being important of death. 327 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: Our guest had been associated with as a death porton, 328 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:05,719 Speaker 1: but this is where black Shuck kind of comes in 329 00:19:05,760 --> 00:19:10,639 Speaker 1: with that same association. This was written by William Dutt 330 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,639 Speaker 1: in a book that was titled Highways and Byways in 331 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:16,640 Speaker 1: East Anglia. And this is kind of a lengthy excerpt, 332 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: so because I want to include all of the ways 333 00:19:18,520 --> 00:19:21,359 Speaker 1: that he kind of solidifies this legend. So Tracy and 334 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,280 Speaker 1: I are going to take turns with it. So it 335 00:19:23,400 --> 00:19:26,359 Speaker 1: starts quote, if this were a stormy night instead of 336 00:19:26,359 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: a stormy day, the old fisherfolk of the coast would 337 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:31,919 Speaker 1: say it were just the time for black Shuck to 338 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:35,120 Speaker 1: be abroad, for he revels in the roaring of the waves, 339 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,360 Speaker 1: and loves to raise his awful voice above the howling 340 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,240 Speaker 1: of the gale. He takes the form of a huge 341 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:46,520 Speaker 1: black dog and prowls along dark lanes and lonesome field footpaths, 342 00:19:46,560 --> 00:19:50,159 Speaker 1: where although his howling makes the hearers blood run cold, 343 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: his footfalls make no sound. That's such a great turn 344 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: of phrase. This passage goes on. You may know him 345 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,880 Speaker 1: at once, should you see him by his fiery eye. 346 00:20:02,280 --> 00:20:05,199 Speaker 1: He has but one, and that, like the cyclops, is 347 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 1: in the middle of his head. But such an encounter 348 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:11,000 Speaker 1: might bring you the worst of luck. It is said 349 00:20:11,040 --> 00:20:13,200 Speaker 1: that to meet him is to be warned that your 350 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:15,840 Speaker 1: death will occur before the end of the year. So 351 00:20:15,920 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: this ends quote. So you will do well to shut 352 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:21,800 Speaker 1: your eyes if you hear him howling. Shut them, even 353 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: if you are uncertain whether it is the dog fiend 354 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:27,159 Speaker 1: or the voice of the wind you hear. Should you 355 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:30,440 Speaker 1: never set eyes on our norfolk snarl yaw, you may 356 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 1: perhaps doubt his existence, And like other learned folks tell 357 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,359 Speaker 1: us that his story is nothing but the old Scandinavian 358 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:41,439 Speaker 1: myth of the black Hound of Odin, brought to us 359 00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,199 Speaker 1: by the Vikings who long ago settled down on the 360 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:48,240 Speaker 1: Norfolk coast. Scoffers at black Shuck there have been in plenty, 361 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:50,760 Speaker 1: but now and again one of them has come home 362 00:20:50,920 --> 00:20:54,360 Speaker 1: late on a dark stormy night, with terror written large 363 00:20:54,400 --> 00:20:57,400 Speaker 1: on his ashen face, and after that night he has 364 00:20:57,480 --> 00:21:02,040 Speaker 1: scoffed no more. Such a good little write up. As 365 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 1: the years have gone on, things have kind of reached 366 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:06,760 Speaker 1: a point, or at this point, you could go to 367 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: any number of towns and communities in England and find 368 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,760 Speaker 1: an assortment of location specific sightings of black Shuck that 369 00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,520 Speaker 1: are part of local lore. Just kind of scrolling around 370 00:21:16,560 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: through the Internet, I found so many that are, like, yes, 371 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,359 Speaker 1: black Shuck visits this one bridge in our town, every 372 00:21:22,600 --> 00:21:25,439 Speaker 1: you know, fortnite or whatever, Like every town seems to 373 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,040 Speaker 1: have some variation of it. Coming up, we will talk 374 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 1: about some modern developments of the black Shuck legend, but 375 00:21:31,680 --> 00:21:33,680 Speaker 1: first we will hear from some of the sponsors that 376 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:45,160 Speaker 1: keep Stuffy missed in history class going. There are, as 377 00:21:45,160 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: we mentioned before the break, some interesting modern events in 378 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,240 Speaker 1: the Black Shuck story, including one that started in twenty 379 00:21:51,280 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: fourteen with the announcement of an archaeological find. Now this 380 00:21:55,520 --> 00:21:58,320 Speaker 1: news broke via the UK paper The Daily Mail, which 381 00:21:58,359 --> 00:22:02,080 Speaker 1: is known to publish some less carefully vetted stories. On 382 00:22:02,119 --> 00:22:05,159 Speaker 1: May fifteenth, twenty fourteen, it ran a story with the 383 00:22:05,200 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: headline is this the skeleton of legendary devil dog black Shuck, 384 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: who terrorized sixteenth century East Anglia. Folklore tells of seven 385 00:22:14,440 --> 00:22:19,080 Speaker 1: foot hellhound with flaming eyes. I was curious and I 386 00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:21,159 Speaker 1: went to see if we had talked about this in 387 00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: the twenty fourteen edition of Unearthed. We had not, probably 388 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:31,280 Speaker 1: because I don't source Unearthed from the Daily Mail. I 389 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,240 Speaker 1: checked as well, and I was I had the exact 390 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: same thought process. It's like this would never show up 391 00:22:35,560 --> 00:22:39,480 Speaker 1: in Tracy's notes. So this story leads the reader to 392 00:22:39,520 --> 00:22:43,359 Speaker 1: the possibility that this archaeology team may have found the 393 00:22:43,400 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: remains of this legendary hellhound. It includes the following text quote. 394 00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:51,360 Speaker 1: It was discovered a few miles from two churches where 395 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,040 Speaker 1: black Shuck is said to have killed worshippers during an 396 00:22:55,080 --> 00:22:59,119 Speaker 1: almighty thunderstorm in August fifteen, seventy seven. What's more, it 397 00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,200 Speaker 1: appears to have been in a shallow grave at precisely 398 00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,640 Speaker 1: the same time as Shuck is said to have been 399 00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:08,679 Speaker 1: on the loose, primarily around Suffolk and the East Anglia region. 400 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: This article then goes on to mention that testing of 401 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,119 Speaker 1: the remains will determine if they are indeed from the 402 00:23:15,160 --> 00:23:18,720 Speaker 1: correct time period to ascertain whether it is the dog 403 00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:22,679 Speaker 1: from Fleming's Tail. And of course this got picked up 404 00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,479 Speaker 1: by other news outlets and it's spread really really quickly, 405 00:23:26,200 --> 00:23:28,600 Speaker 1: and it is fun to think about the possibility that 406 00:23:28,640 --> 00:23:31,480 Speaker 1: there's physical evidence for something that has only been legend. 407 00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: But if you've ever wondered what happens to the archaeologists 408 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 1: involved when a story like this breaks, here is your 409 00:23:37,920 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: chance to find out. Brendan Wilkins, the project director at 410 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 1: the group dig Ventures that conducted the dig, wrote a 411 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,320 Speaker 1: post on the dig Venture site about the experience and 412 00:23:48,359 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: the sensationalism of the work that he and his team 413 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:53,760 Speaker 1: did in October. He wrote it in October. Their team 414 00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:56,639 Speaker 1: was doing work earlier, but the post that he wrote 415 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:00,439 Speaker 1: was published in October twenty fourteen. So that post begins 416 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:04,119 Speaker 1: like this quote. As I scanned the headlines that fateful morning, 417 00:24:04,200 --> 00:24:06,240 Speaker 1: I felt a chill go down my spine and my 418 00:24:06,320 --> 00:24:10,119 Speaker 1: blood run cold. I read, re read, then read it again, 419 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,639 Speaker 1: shaking with disbelief as a terrifying and sinister thought began 420 00:24:14,760 --> 00:24:18,480 Speaker 1: to emerge. They were talking about us. We were in 421 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:22,720 Speaker 1: the Daily Mail. As an archaeological projects director, I pride 422 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:25,639 Speaker 1: myself on being on the right side of what's loftily 423 00:24:25,760 --> 00:24:29,840 Speaker 1: known as the public understanding of science. So reading about 424 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,920 Speaker 1: the quote seven foot hell hound with flaming eyes we 425 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,439 Speaker 1: had apparently discover at Lyston Abbey knocked me for six 426 00:24:37,160 --> 00:24:40,479 Speaker 1: How on earth did this happen? How could we contain it? 427 00:24:40,760 --> 00:24:43,720 Speaker 1: And was this the end of any shred of archaeological 428 00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:47,800 Speaker 1: credibility I would ever have. It was very illuminating to 429 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: read his very honest account of his reaction. That find, 430 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:55,040 Speaker 1: as he mentioned, happened at Lyston Abbey, which is a 431 00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 1: bit less than seven miles from the second church that 432 00:24:57,560 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 1: was terrorized in the Fleming account from fifteen seven twenty seven. Specifically, 433 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: these remains were found while they were excavating what had 434 00:25:05,240 --> 00:25:09,560 Speaker 1: once been a monastery kitchen building there. The dog's burial 435 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,879 Speaker 1: definitely postdated the monastery's use, although when that burial happened 436 00:25:13,920 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: was unclear, but in his post Wilkins states that he 437 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,280 Speaker 1: never thought these were the bones of black shuck, and 438 00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: that really the more exciting finds of archaeology are not 439 00:25:23,200 --> 00:25:26,280 Speaker 1: in the dig but in the analysis later. He then 440 00:25:26,640 --> 00:25:29,800 Speaker 1: shares what he learned about this dog. It was seventy 441 00:25:29,840 --> 00:25:34,040 Speaker 1: two centimeters tall at the shoulder, that's very roughly about 442 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,840 Speaker 1: two and a third feet. He compares it to the 443 00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:39,600 Speaker 1: size of a Great Dane or a mastiff, and because 444 00:25:39,680 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: the dog had worn teeth and an arthritic ankle, it 445 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:45,920 Speaker 1: appears to have lived for a long life. They weren't 446 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: able to conclusively date the sample. They got three different 447 00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:53,640 Speaker 1: date ranges as possibilities, all of them well after fifteen 448 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:57,280 Speaker 1: seventy seven. They were between sixteen fifteen and sixteen ninety. 449 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:02,040 Speaker 1: Seventeen thirty and eighteen ten are sometime after nineteen twenty. 450 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,639 Speaker 1: Wilkins writes that quote, far from being the final resting 451 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,720 Speaker 1: place of a bloodthirsty hell hound, it was clear that 452 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:11,520 Speaker 1: our dog skeleton had been laid to rest with care 453 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,399 Speaker 1: and consideration. So the more likely scenario here is that 454 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:18,119 Speaker 1: it was a working dog that was essentially retired, and 455 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,879 Speaker 1: unlike many working dogs, it was lovingly cared for long 456 00:26:22,000 --> 00:26:24,359 Speaker 1: after this dog would have been able to do its job. 457 00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:28,840 Speaker 1: Wilkins states things very plainly quote, were these the bones 458 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: of a seven foot hell hound with flaming eyes? Unequivocally no. 459 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: Though dig venture may not have found the infamous Suffolk 460 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,199 Speaker 1: hell hound, there have been some efforts to track the 461 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,800 Speaker 1: black dogs, not just of England but throughout Europe. In 462 00:26:43,800 --> 00:26:47,040 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, as part of a project called Public Archaeology 463 00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:50,879 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen, researcher Nick Stone started plotting out a map 464 00:26:50,920 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 1: of the various sightings of black Shuck, the Barguest, and 465 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:58,200 Speaker 1: other manifestations of this black dog myth. The Public Archaeology 466 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:01,919 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen project's mission to quote undertake a year of 467 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:07,600 Speaker 1: public engagement, led equally by archaeologists and non archaeologists, aimed 468 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:11,800 Speaker 1: solely at the creation of public engagement with archaeology, where 469 00:27:11,800 --> 00:27:14,960 Speaker 1: the definitions of all central terms remain open to debate 470 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:17,480 Speaker 1: for the duration of the project. So they didn't want 471 00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:19,879 Speaker 1: to necessarily like end up with a bunch of papers 472 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:22,320 Speaker 1: at the end, but they wanted to get people interested 473 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: in how archaeology worked and how it could be something 474 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,760 Speaker 1: that everyone engages with. So participants submitted proposals for projects. 475 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,439 Speaker 1: Twelve were chosen, six by non archaeologists and six by archaeologists, 476 00:27:34,480 --> 00:27:37,240 Speaker 1: and this was one of those projects. Stone's map is 477 00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:39,640 Speaker 1: interactive and when you click on one of the points, 478 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 1: a pop up of the story linked to that spot appears. 479 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:47,320 Speaker 1: They sorted the sightings by color, with singular dogs represented 480 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:51,960 Speaker 1: with red, wear creatures in blue, shape shifters that fall 481 00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,479 Speaker 1: outside of the werewolf moon myth as purple, and wild 482 00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: hunt dogs in dark green. So looking at this map, 483 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,439 Speaker 1: it does seem like the idea of the singular demon 484 00:28:01,640 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: dog roaming the country is most popular in Britain and Ireland, 485 00:28:06,359 --> 00:28:10,840 Speaker 1: and other types spread throughout Europe. It's very fun, and 486 00:28:10,880 --> 00:28:14,600 Speaker 1: that is based on oral history. It's not like doing 487 00:28:14,640 --> 00:28:17,560 Speaker 1: the dig down of like, was this a plausible story? Oh? Sure, 488 00:28:17,680 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: collected stories. Yeah. So. Our last entry, as we mentioned 489 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,320 Speaker 1: at the top of the episode, is a little bit 490 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,439 Speaker 1: of a departure from Blackshuck and the Bar Guest, and 491 00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:30,200 Speaker 1: it is in southern Louisiana because Cajun culture has its 492 00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,760 Speaker 1: own version of a scary kind of using air quotes. There, 493 00:28:33,800 --> 00:28:38,600 Speaker 1: folklore canine figure the rugaroo is similar to a were wolf, 494 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,160 Speaker 1: usually depicted with a human body and a doghead. And 495 00:28:42,240 --> 00:28:45,320 Speaker 1: this name, of course, if you speak French or into folklore, 496 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:49,320 Speaker 1: probably sounds familiar, but not quite what you've heard before. Yeah, 497 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:52,920 Speaker 1: that's because the French word for were wolf is loo garoo. 498 00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: Loop means wolf, and while the origins of the word 499 00:28:57,000 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: garoo may have suggested that it can change forms, most 500 00:29:00,680 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 1: modern translations just punt it straight to werewolf, even without 501 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:07,440 Speaker 1: the loop part in front of it. It is most 502 00:29:07,720 --> 00:29:10,480 Speaker 1: likely that the story of the werewolf traveled with people 503 00:29:10,520 --> 00:29:13,200 Speaker 1: from France and Acadia as they move south and then 504 00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:16,600 Speaker 1: over time and with usage, the l at the beginning 505 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: of the word became an R. At this point, both 506 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:22,840 Speaker 1: of these are considered acceptable in the area. Yeah, you 507 00:29:22,880 --> 00:29:25,880 Speaker 1: could hear it said either way. And the origin of 508 00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: the rugaroo, like so much folklore, has its roots in 509 00:29:29,280 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: keeping people in line, and this has grown into a 510 00:29:32,280 --> 00:29:35,120 Speaker 1: number of different legends to scare different groups of people 511 00:29:35,200 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: with unpleasant consequences for inappropriate behavior. So possibly the oldest 512 00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,360 Speaker 1: version of the rugaroo myth is related to lent. The 513 00:29:43,400 --> 00:29:47,240 Speaker 1: story goes that the rugaroo hunts down Catholics who don't 514 00:29:47,280 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: observe lent or who fall short in their promises to 515 00:29:50,360 --> 00:29:54,479 Speaker 1: give up their vices during that time. According to Jonathan Foray, 516 00:29:54,800 --> 00:29:58,920 Speaker 1: executive director of South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center, there's even 517 00:29:58,960 --> 00:30:02,320 Speaker 1: a tale that if you fail in your lent observances 518 00:30:02,360 --> 00:30:07,200 Speaker 1: for seven consecutive years, you will become a rugaroo yourself. 519 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,480 Speaker 1: And of course, a dog man from the swamps is 520 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:13,800 Speaker 1: the perfect figure to scare children into doing as they're told. 521 00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:18,320 Speaker 1: Bad behavior equals the rugaroo will come and eat you up. 522 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: Adults and children both have also been encouraged to do 523 00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:25,080 Speaker 1: right by the people in their community lest they be 524 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 1: cursed and turned into a rugaroo through magic. If that happens, 525 00:30:29,480 --> 00:30:31,560 Speaker 1: the only way to fix it is to transfer that 526 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: curse to someone else, and to do that you would 527 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,480 Speaker 1: have to trick them into cutting you so that your 528 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:40,480 Speaker 1: rugaroo blood is drawn. But here's why the rugaroo is 529 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: more fun than scary. The best ways to avoid the 530 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: rugaroo making a stop at your house, other than good behavior, 531 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:53,160 Speaker 1: those always involve math. The rugaroo struggles with counting, but 532 00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:57,520 Speaker 1: is also simultaneously compelled to do it. This idea crops 533 00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:01,640 Speaker 1: up in like vampire mythology. Sometimes so and apparently he 534 00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: can count to twelve but not higher than twelve. So 535 00:31:04,400 --> 00:31:07,080 Speaker 1: if you leave thirteen pennies on your doorstep, he'll stop 536 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:09,360 Speaker 1: and try to count them before he comes in, but 537 00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,200 Speaker 1: he'll get superplexed as he tries to make sense of 538 00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: how many there are, So you can he just will 539 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,920 Speaker 1: never enter the home because that thirteenth penny just throws 540 00:31:18,960 --> 00:31:23,480 Speaker 1: him for a loop. Just keep starting over. Yeah, it's like, wait, 541 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:29,360 Speaker 1: I didn't get this right one. I love this story 542 00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:32,040 Speaker 1: so much. If you don't want to stack pennies, you 543 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: can also leave a calender out on your doorstep, because 544 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:40,000 Speaker 1: apparently the rugaroo will try so hard to count the 545 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,000 Speaker 1: holes in that calender, but of course he loses his 546 00:31:43,080 --> 00:31:45,479 Speaker 1: place every time. Not only are there too many, but 547 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,720 Speaker 1: they're like in a big circle, and keeps starting over 548 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:52,959 Speaker 1: until he just wanders off at frustration. It seems like 549 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 1: maybe all of those decades of living in the swamp 550 00:31:55,240 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: have given him some interesting peccadillos and behaviors. Yeah, as 551 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,920 Speaker 1: far as I I know, I am not a rugaroo, 552 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: but I think I would become frustrated and wander off 553 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:07,400 Speaker 1: if I tried to count the holes in a colander. 554 00:32:08,240 --> 00:32:10,240 Speaker 1: I would be like, I need a sharpie. I'm gonna 555 00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: section this out. If you are as fascinated by the 556 00:32:14,440 --> 00:32:17,720 Speaker 1: rugaroo as i am, you can also attend the annual 557 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:21,600 Speaker 1: Rugaroo Fest that takes place every year in home A, Louisiana, 558 00:32:22,280 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: which is just a little bit southwest of New Orleans, 559 00:32:26,000 --> 00:32:30,320 Speaker 1: where storytellers continue to pass on this story through oral 560 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:33,960 Speaker 1: tradition of the rugaroo, and all proceeds from this festival 561 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:37,080 Speaker 1: go to the South Louisiana Wetlands Discovery Center. It is 562 00:32:37,120 --> 00:32:39,840 Speaker 1: normally the last week of October, so happening now as 563 00:32:39,840 --> 00:32:42,480 Speaker 1: we publish this episode, although of course this year in 564 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:45,760 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, things have changed a bit due to the pandemic. 565 00:32:45,840 --> 00:32:49,000 Speaker 1: So there are some fun online activities and if you're 566 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,560 Speaker 1: in the area on Fridays, what they've been doing because 567 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:57,040 Speaker 1: it is Louisiana, there is delicious food at that festival normally, 568 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,280 Speaker 1: so they started doing a pop up drives through would 569 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: pick up on Fridays of some of the goodies that 570 00:33:03,240 --> 00:33:06,240 Speaker 1: you would normally get at the festival. This Friday, the 571 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:09,400 Speaker 1: thirtieth is your very last chance. If you are anywhere 572 00:33:09,400 --> 00:33:12,000 Speaker 1: in the area. You can look up the info on 573 00:33:12,040 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 1: their website, which is rugaroofest dot org. That's r o 574 00:33:15,680 --> 00:33:18,640 Speaker 1: U g A r o U f E s T 575 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:24,320 Speaker 1: dot org. I have a friend who loves loves loves 576 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,920 Speaker 1: werewolf myth and legend, and she and I are already 577 00:33:27,960 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: plotting to attend this next year if it happens, because 578 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: it sounds like the most fun time ever. Yeah, I 579 00:33:36,440 --> 00:33:37,959 Speaker 1: just I love it. I love that this is like 580 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:42,960 Speaker 1: a fun version of a werewolf story. To end, are 581 00:33:43,480 --> 00:33:46,560 Speaker 1: are Halloween programming with because we all need a little 582 00:33:46,600 --> 00:33:50,160 Speaker 1: more fun. Think about that poor rugaroo counting. Part of 583 00:33:50,200 --> 00:33:52,360 Speaker 1: me wants to bring him some flash cards and upgrade 584 00:33:52,400 --> 00:34:06,000 Speaker 1: his knowledge. That's the GARO. Thanks so much for joining 585 00:34:06,120 --> 00:34:08,840 Speaker 1: us on this Saturday. Since this episode is out of 586 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 1: the archive, if you heard an email address or a 587 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,720 Speaker 1: Facebook RL or something similar over the course of the show, 588 00:34:13,880 --> 00:34:17,719 Speaker 1: that could be obsolete now. Our current email address is 589 00:34:17,920 --> 00:34:22,759 Speaker 1: History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. You can find us 590 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:26,200 Speaker 1: all over social media at missed Inhistory, and you can 591 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 1: subscribe to our show on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, the 592 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, and wherever else you listen to podcasts. Stuff 593 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:39,160 Speaker 1: you Missed in History Class is a production of iHeartRadio. 594 00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:44,120 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio, app, Apple podcasts, 595 00:34:44,239 --> 00:34:46,560 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.