Bungay weathervane
_What is the legend of Black Shuck in East Anglia
An incarnation of the Devil stalks the coast
What is Black Shuck?
Black Shuck is a legendary spectral black dog with flaming red eyes who roams the coast of East Anglia terrorising the natives. He is often seen as an omen of death, with anyone looking into those fearsome eyes doomed to die within a year.
Depending on reports, the beast ranges in size from a large dog to a horse. He has been seen headless and also floating on a carpet of mist. One report even suggests the dog has one fiery eye, like the Cyclops.
His howling is enough to make the blood run cold, but his footfalls make no sound.
What does Black Shuck mean?
The name Black Shuck is thought to come from the Old English word scucca, meaning ‘devil’ or ‘fiend’, perhaps from the root skuh 'to terrify'. The dog is also known as Old Shuck or Old Shock.
Where can I find Black Shuck in East Anglia?
In Norfolk it’s believed Black Shuck comes from the depths of Beeston Bump between Cromer and Sheringham. In Suffolk he is best known for appearing in Bungay and Blythburgh. But the dog has also been seen in graveyards, by bodies of water and in dark forests.
Where does the Black Shuck legend come from?
Many scholars believe the story comes from Norse mythology, and in particular Odin’s fearsome black hound Freki, brought to these shores by Viking invaders who ruled East Anglia under Danelaw in the 9th century.
Beeston Bump between Cromer and Sheringham
Was Black Shuck the inspiration for The Hound of The Baskervilles?
It’s thought that Sherlock Holmes’ author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle got his inspiration for The Hound of the Baskervilles from a golfing trip to Norfolk in 1901 when he was told the story of Black Shuck.
Cromer Hall is said to have inspired the location of the Sherlock Holmes tale, with the pre-Gothic pile’s architecture catching the imagination of the writer, although Conan Doyle moved the story to Dartmoor. The coachman who took him on his visit to the house went by the name of Baskerville.
The story was serialised in the Strand Magazine from August 1901 to April 1902 before becoming a book.
Bungay market place
What is the Black Dog of Bungay?
The most famous spine-chilling sighting of Black Shuck is in Bungay and Blythburgh on August 4, 1577, when it first burst through the doors of St Mary's Church in Bungay to a clap of thunder. The beast ran up the nave, past the congregation, savaging a man and a boy and causing the church steeple to collapse through the roof.
The hell hound then moved on to Blythburgh’s Holy Trinity Church where it mauled and killed more people. Scorch marks from the attack, referred to as ‘the devil’s fingerprints’ by locals, can still be seen today on the church doors.
The account was chronicled by the reverend, Abraham Fleming.
The incident is also remembered in verse:
All down the church in midst of fire,
the hellish monster flew,
and, passing onward to the quire,
he many people slew.
Not everyone thought the black dog was the Devil, some speculated it was an incarnation of Norman landowner Hugh Bigod who had terrorised the area three hundred years earlier.
Bungay remembers Black Shuck in many ways, not least on its coat of arms and on the town’s weathervane. There is a Black Dog Brewery, Black Dog Running Club, Black Dog Marathon, Black Dog Antiques and the nickname of Bungay Town Football Club is The Black Dogs. There’s even an annual Black Shuck Festival.
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