B is for ... Black Shuck

Good old Black Shuck!
He's a demon dog that's close to my heart *sigh*

We both hail from the area of East Anglia in the UK and I grew up hearing his stories.
He's a bit of a celebrity around here. 
A terrifying, demon celebrity. 

If you didn't grow up with Black Shuck like I did, then you might not know too much about this scary, phantom hound.

Black Shuck was said to terrorise the area of East Anglia in the 16th Century.
He is described as a HUGE, black, ghostly dog with a single, firey eye in the middle of his head. His howl is said to make the hearers blood run cold, yet his footsteps make no sound at all. He is said to be an omen of death and you should squeeze your eyes tight shut if you think he might be close.

In a pamphlet from 1577 a terrorfying attack by Black Shuck is described as happening at St Mary's Church in Bungay:

"This black dog, or the devil in such a linenesse (God hee knoweth al who worketh all,) running all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse, and incredible haste, among the people, in a visible fourm and shape, passed between two persons, as they were kneeling uppon their knees, and occupied in prayer as it seemed, wrung the necks of them bothe at one instant clene backward, in somuch that even at a mome[n]t where they kneeled, they stra[n]gely dyed."

*shudder*

A similar attack also is said to have happened in Suffolk and there are even burn marks left on the church door that were apparently made by Black Shuck as he made his exit.

Burn marks made by Black Shuck on a church door in Suffolk.

 The word 'Shuck' is thought to come from an old English word meaning 'demon' - scucca.
Or possibly an old local dialect word that meant 'shaggy' or 'hairy' - shucky

More recently in East Anglia, the bones of a very large dog were discovered in the ruins of an Abbey. This Abbey is only a few miles away from where the Black Shuck attacks were said to have taken place!

The remains of a large dog found in the ruins of Leiston Abbey, Suffolk.

The skeleton that was uncovered is thought to belong to a male dog who would have stood at 7 foot tall on his hind legs, and weighed in at 200lb!
What a monster!
Pottery fragments found alongside the skeleton date from the time of Black Shuck's alleged rein.

Do we need more proof that Black Shuck is real?
I. THINK. NOT.

Books featuring Black Shuck: