Welcome to our Halloween special on Wyrd Wessex! For this episode, Craig and I, Andy, decided to sink our teeth into one of the most classic and chilling figures in British folklore: the black dog. Are these creatures real, or are they ancient tales designed to keep us out of the woods?
The Birth of a New Myth
Before we get to the scary stuff, we have to talk about a myth I accidentally created. I posted a picture on Instagram wearing an Anglo-Saxon bee skep on my head as a joke, and wrote a caption about it being a long-lost myth of the "Honey Monster." I guess some people thought it was serious, because they started asking for sources! So, we've set ourselves a challenge: by next Halloween, we want to create a new piece of folklore and see if we can get it to come back to us from an outside source. I've already done it once with a ghost story for a storytelling walk, so let's see if we can do it again on a larger scale!
The Wild Hunt and the Wyrdness of the Wessex Dogs
The legend of the black dog is a global phenomenon, but we’re going to focus on our home turf. The earliest account we could find in England comes from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 11th-12th century, where a chronicler described “packs of dogs, jet black with eyes like saucers” led by a wild hunt.
What's fascinating is the regional difference in these stories. The black dogs of Northern Europe and Northern England are often described as malevolent omens of death and destruction. But down here in Wessex, they seem to be a bit... nicer.
Case in point, the ghost dog of Colway Manor in Lyme Regis. In the 17th century, a man and his black dog were murdered by thieves. Two centuries later, a new resident in the dilapidated manor kept seeing and hearing the ghost of the dog. Instead of being scared, he found the ghost to be good company. One night, after being mocked for his friendship with a ghost, the man got drunk and tried to chase the dog away with a poker. The dog led him to the attic where it disappeared through a wall. The man’s poker hit the wall, and a lockbox full of coins from the 17th century fell out! He used the money to buy a local pub, which he named The Black Dog, and the dog’s ghost is still said to roam a nearby lane.
Then you have the Girt Hounds of the Quantocks in Somerset. These great big black dogs with saucer-like eyes weren't terrifying at all. They were said to be guardians of the lost, guiding travelers and children back home.
Black Dogs, Big Cats, and... Depressing?
So where do these stories come from? We have some ideas. There's a connection to old Roman roads, a theory that they were dogs left behind by the Romans, and a strong link to the legend of the Wild Hunt, a supernatural hunting party that's said to roam the skies. The dogs are almost always described as servants to a master, be it the devil or a legendary figure. Could they be the servants of something even worse?
We also can't help but wonder if some of these sightings are just cases of mistaken identity. Craig and I both believe that big cats exist in the UK, and maybe a quick glance at a large dark Alsatian or even a huge Maine Coon could spark a story of a phantom hound. We also talk about the term "black dog" for depression, which shows how deeply this image is embedded in our psyche.
Weird News: A Mummified Man and a Killer Clown
No episode would be complete without some weird news. This time, we dove into a Halloween-themed story about "Stone Man Willie," a man mummified by accident in 1895, who finally received a proper burial 128 years later after being identified as James Murphy. We also tackled the very important story of a killer clown sighting, proving that some myths just never die.
Thanks for joining us for this special episode! We’re going to continue our spooky journey in the next one, where we’ll be talking about poltergeists and hauntings.