“This black dog, or the divel… running all along down the body of the church with great swiftnesse, and incredible haste, among the people…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 moment where they kneeled, they strangely dyed.” The Reverend Abraham Fleming, c. 1577
Hell Hounds are known by many names in the UK: Padfoot, The Yeth Hound. Gurt Dog. They are The Isle of Man’s Moddey Dhoo and Scotland’s Cù Sìth.
First recorded in the summer of 1577, a huge, ferocious + blood-thirsty hound terrorized the people of Suffolk, invading two separate church services with murderous intent + killing innocent people as they knelt in prayer.
It was during a tremendous thunderstorm in Blythburgh, that the doors of The Holy Trinity Church flew open + “Old Black Shuck,” as it became known, first materialized. Legend has it that its massive claws left the devil’s scorch marks on the church door (which can still be seen today). The church’s steeple reportedly collapsed through the roof minutes after its departure. That very same evening, some 12 miles away, parishioners of St. Mary’s church in the village of Bungay were victims of a similar episode.
So, where does a large + murderous spectral hound come from? Well, lots of places. Some say from Norse mythology, others from Medieval English superstition. The idea of a monstrous hound coming to get you has been terrorizing Britons for centuries. “Old Black Shuck” is kind of a catch all for these types of encounters. For example, those who saw it in late 19th Century Norfolk were said to have felt a presence before seeing an ominous dark mist that took the form of a large black dog with glowing red eyes. Others report Old Shuck has no head. Sometimes he has two. Sometimes he has chains. Sometimes not. Sometimes he floats, sometimes he howls…at any rate, he is very busy.
Even Sherlock Holmes has witnessed his blood-curdling howl. It has been said that the legend of Old Black Shuck inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous tale “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
Way Up in the Attic 