Myths Of Great Britain.

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If the UK is respected for its love of pets, then the canine variety will surely be in the top-two of the list of animals that
are enjoyed within a home-setting. However, there's a certain dog that is known around the British Isles that might be
the type not have visit one's fire-side, the mythical hell-hound called 'Black Shuck'.

Set in stone on a wall of a street in my own town, a carved rendering of Shuck is there to commemorate a lesser-known
account of the large black howling beast that dwelled in a thicket only a few hundred yards from where I live. Some say
the glowing-eyed fiend portends misfortune to those who see its passing, others believe the brute is a ghost that cannot
rest until it finds its master.



Black Shuck roams the land and in certain areas, he is as intransigent in their folklore as he is in that block of weathered
masonry. East Anglia, a region above the capital of England holds so many tales about the strange ghostly dog, that it
warranted its own 'special' title. 'The Norfolk Shuck, Salthouse Shuck' and even became a brand for a particular gin.
(£37.50/$46.85 per 70cl)
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On the same east coast area of England, there is the ceremonial county of Suffolk. Leiston Abbey fell foul to flooding in
1363 and a fire in 1379. But in modern times, the ruins of the Abbey is the location for another head-shaking incident,
a skeleton some suggest is the bones of the legendary Black Shuck.



In 2014, archeologists unearthed -what they suggested were the remains of a seven foot-long dog that was probably
a Great Dane and 'DigVentures' managing director Lisa Westcott Wilkins said: “We’re still waiting for results from
specialists but we believe the bones are from when the abbey was active - so they could be medieval."

Others believe it is Shuck... or at least the earthly body of the Hell hound with flaming eyes.
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Inland and slightly north of Leiston Abbey is the town of Bungay. Legend has it that on 4th August 1577, a large black dog
burst in through the doors of St Mary's Church in Bungay to a clap of thunder. It ran up the nave, past a large congregation,
killing a man and boy and causing the church steeple to collapse through the roof, before moving on to Blythburgh Church
where it mauled and killed more people. In fact a poem was written to remind people not to take Black Shuck lightly.



"A straunge, and terrible Wunder wrought very late in the parish church of Bungay:
a town of no great distance from the citie of Norwich, namely the fourth of this August,
in the yeere of our Lord 1577.

In a great tempest of violent raine, lightning, and thunder, the like wherof hath been seldome
seene. With the appeerance of an horrible shaped thing, sensibly perceiued of the people
then and there assembled.

Drawen into a plain method according to the written copye. by Abraham Fleming."

On the northern edge of the once-marshy region is the coastal village of Blakeney. A quaint area that smacks of another
time when fishermen worked the inlets of the River Glaven for their livelihood and in the Middle Ages, was a busy shipping
point for imports via the North Sea. Yet even here in the serene vista of the Anglican coast, Black Shuck is a regular to
those who live there.



In 1953, a lady called Iris Portal wrote to Eastern Daily Press newspaper after an article was published about the roaming
beast. Miss Portal explained that Shuck had been spotted several times in Little Lane in Blakeney as he runs between Wells
and Sheringham She also added that the huge dog regularly ran past her garden wall in Long Lane. As if the woman had hit
a nerve with readers, a few days later, Geoffrey Booty of West Runton dispatched a letter to the newspaper to state:

'He travels between Blakeney, Sheringham and Overstrand and is supposed to be searching for his master
who was shipwrecked on the coast. ‘Shuck’ is a large black retriever with a chain attached to his neck.'

Moving closer to our times, Shuck has been seen on the B1388 at Blakeney where, in a letter to a website dedicated to such
folklore -'Hidden East Anglia', J Wallace wrote in 1983, that Black Shuck is described as having two heads, noted because
when the marauding hound catches a rat, it escapes through his other mouth.


And in another letter to Ivan Bunn, editor of the Borderline Science Investigation Group’s Lantern, a Mrs AP Marcucci recalled
hearing something strange on the A149 between Cley and Blakeney at around midnight in the summer of 1968. Mrs Marcucci
remarked that she heard the “light dragging and tinkling of a chain” but could see nothing. However, she believed Shuck was
following her.

Arriving at a crossroads, where there was a street light, she paused to see if whatever was behind her would pass by, but
saw nothing. Then, suddenly, she was aware that her invisible walking partner had passed and made its way down Back Lane.
Fearing for her sanity and her life, Mrs Marcucci realised he would be making his way to the marsh banks and so she fled home
down the High Street and away from the beast that was so frequently believed to foretell disaster.

There are those who believe Shuck has only one glowing eye, and fiery breath, a sight guaranteed to evoke the curse that anyone
who sees Old Shuck is sure to die within twelve month. Such dread of the beast was rampant along the eastern coast of England
that it's said that Norfolk smugglers took advantage of the gullibility of the villagers and tied a lantern round the neck of a black ram,
sending it running off to frighten nosey locals when a run was due.

Maybe the legend of Black Shuck was born from the love of pet dogs and on some nights, maybe one of these darlings of the rug
in front of the fire took a walk along unlit footpaths and ran with a salty breeze caressing its muzzle. Imagination and the dark can
turn a family pet into a flame-eyed Hound from Hell and makes a fine tale to tell the grandchildren.

Or... or maybe Shuck is out there and no mountain, ocean or modern street-lighting will sway its from its journey. Just make sure
that destination of the shaggy creature of the ethereal isn't your door.