The Black Dog. Simon Unsworth
The mythical ‘Black Dog’ is synonymous with British folklore. Whilst the majority of Black Dog sightings are around Norfolk, these beasts occur across the rest of Britain too. This article will look at the different legends around Black Dogs in Derbyshire and the Peak.
Firstly, we must understand that not all Black Dogs are necessarily the same. However, there is a general description that seems to fit most of the sightings. As its name would suggest, this beast has thick, shaggy, black fur and overwhelmingly canine features. Many describe it as having yellow or red, glowing eyes and great teeth. It is almost always significantly bigger than a regular dog, in some cases, as big as a cow. Black Dogs are often associated with the Devil and almost always considered to be malevolent. However, some legends cast these dogs as more benevolent; protecting people or places. There are a number of reports from the Calver area of Derbyshire, of a mysterious ghost dog, who would protect folk on their way home.
The origins of the Black Dog myth are unclear, but there are many potential sources for them. In Celtic belief, the Lord of the Underworld, Arawn (pron. ah-roun), led a pack of hounds known as the Cŵn Annwn (pron. koon anoon), or Hounds of the Underworld; another potential version of the mythical Wild Hunt. These dogs, however, were white, with red eyes and ears. In Viking mythology, we have the hound Garmr, who was the guardian of Hel’s gate; Hel being both the name of the Viking underworld and the goddess who ruled it. The howling of Garmr was also said to signify the beginning of Ragnarok; the Viking Armageddon.
Another origin for the Black Dog lies in the ancient legend of the Wild Hunt, popular with our Germanic; Viking and Anglo Saxon, ancestors. This was a spectral hunting party, composed of gods and spirits, atop flying horses and surrounded by packs of dogs. In the Germanic version, the hunt is led by Woden (Odin), the ruler of the gods and associated with death, magic and storms - all key elements of the Wild Hunt legend. In the Viking version, Odin is also accompanied by the Einherjar, who are the spirits of dead Viking warriors, now dwelling in Valhalla. As well as the Welsh Arawn (mentioned above), the Wild Hunt is recorded as also being led - in different versions - by King Arthur and Herne the Hunter, though these are later versions of the legend.
Throughout the country Black dogs are known by many different names. The best known are the Barghest of Yorkshire and Black Shuck in East Anglia. Other names include; Hairy Jack, Padfoot, Skriker, Churchyard Beast, Shug Monkey, Capelthwaite, Moddey Dhoo, Hateful Thing, Swooning Shadow, Bogey Beast and Gytrash. Interestingly, there is a Black Dog that haunts the slopes of Kinder Scout and is known as the Kinder Boggart; not a term usually ascribed to Black Dogs (see the section on Boggarts on our Wirksworth page).
Firstly, we must understand that not all Black Dogs are necessarily the same. However, there is a general description that seems to fit most of the sightings. As its name would suggest, this beast has thick, shaggy, black fur and overwhelmingly canine features. Many describe it as having yellow or red, glowing eyes and great teeth. It is almost always significantly bigger than a regular dog, in some cases, as big as a cow. Black Dogs are often associated with the Devil and almost always considered to be malevolent. However, some legends cast these dogs as more benevolent; protecting people or places. There are a number of reports from the Calver area of Derbyshire, of a mysterious ghost dog, who would protect folk on their way home.
The origins of the Black Dog myth are unclear, but there are many potential sources for them. In Celtic belief, the Lord of the Underworld, Arawn (pron. ah-roun), led a pack of hounds known as the Cŵn Annwn (pron. koon anoon), or Hounds of the Underworld; another potential version of the mythical Wild Hunt. These dogs, however, were white, with red eyes and ears. In Viking mythology, we have the hound Garmr, who was the guardian of Hel’s gate; Hel being both the name of the Viking underworld and the goddess who ruled it. The howling of Garmr was also said to signify the beginning of Ragnarok; the Viking Armageddon.
Another origin for the Black Dog lies in the ancient legend of the Wild Hunt, popular with our Germanic; Viking and Anglo Saxon, ancestors. This was a spectral hunting party, composed of gods and spirits, atop flying horses and surrounded by packs of dogs. In the Germanic version, the hunt is led by Woden (Odin), the ruler of the gods and associated with death, magic and storms - all key elements of the Wild Hunt legend. In the Viking version, Odin is also accompanied by the Einherjar, who are the spirits of dead Viking warriors, now dwelling in Valhalla. As well as the Welsh Arawn (mentioned above), the Wild Hunt is recorded as also being led - in different versions - by King Arthur and Herne the Hunter, though these are later versions of the legend.
Throughout the country Black dogs are known by many different names. The best known are the Barghest of Yorkshire and Black Shuck in East Anglia. Other names include; Hairy Jack, Padfoot, Skriker, Churchyard Beast, Shug Monkey, Capelthwaite, Moddey Dhoo, Hateful Thing, Swooning Shadow, Bogey Beast and Gytrash. Interestingly, there is a Black Dog that haunts the slopes of Kinder Scout and is known as the Kinder Boggart; not a term usually ascribed to Black Dogs (see the section on Boggarts on our Wirksworth page).
The Gabriel Hound. AI generated.
The Gabriel Hounds
Though not limited to Derbyshire, the legend of the Gabriel Hounds is probably the best connected to the area. These beasts are also known as Rache or Ratchet Hounds, which is believed to derive from the Old English ræc, meaning a dog that hunts by scent. In some places, these flying dogs were known as Gabble Ratchets. Northern dialectical pronunciations of ‘gabble’ sounded very much like Gabriel, in the same dialect and may have led to some confusion and the name being applied to the hounds. A legend in Derbyshire does, however, provide an actual person as the leader of the hounds. In the early 12th century one Squire Gabriel was a voracious huntsman. He would regularly hunt on Sundays; an action frowned upon by the church and once even drove his pack into the church itself, which was an act of outright sacrilege. For this action, Squire Gabriel was cursed to forever ride with the hunt on windy nights; another later reflection of the tradition of the Wild Hunt. The great poet, William Wordsworth was clearly aware of this sabbath breaker, when he wrote the following lines:
For overhead are sweeping Gabriel’s Hounds,
Doomed, with their impious lord, the flying hart
To chase forever on aerial grounds
Oddly, in contrast to other Black Dogs, the Gabriel Hounds were sometimes said to have human heads or bird heads with raptor-like hooked beaks and yellow eyes. It appears that the Gabriel Hounds were more often heard than seen; giving out some kind of gabbling, yelping sound. Throughout English folklore, the howling of dogs is almost exclusively viewed as an omen of death.
A common threat to children who were reluctant to go to bed, was “If you’re not in bed asleep in five minutes you’ll hear the Gabriel Hounds!” This is strikingly similar to a saying in Nottingham and Leicester, where, instead of Gabriel Hounds, children would be threatened with the ‘Clock Horses’. Interestingly, both hounds and horses have strong associations with the Wild Hunt.
Essentially, the Gabriel Hounds were seen as harbingers of death. The general belief was that to hear the baying of the Gabriel Hounds meant that a death was soon to follow and a number of old accounts, from the area, testify to this belief. The Sheffield poet, John Holland, penned these words, about the Gabriel Hounds:
Oft have I heard my honoured mother say
How she hath listened to the Gabriel Hounds:
Those strange, unearthly and mysterious sounds
Which on the ear through murkiest darkness fell:
And how, entranced by superstitious spell
The trembling villager not seldom heard
In the quaint notes of the nocturnal bird
Of death premonished, some sick neighbour’s knell* …
* the tolling sound of a bell
The sound of the Gabriel Hounds is still heard even in our modern era, with reports from Castleton, Hathersage, Edale and Shatton. As to what the Gabriel Hounds are, writers suggest that they are the cries of evil spirits, condemned to eternal torture - as with the case of Squire Gabriel - or, more chillingly, the cries of unbaptised children, unable to enter paradise. A more prosaic explanation is that they are just the calls of Bean Geese, who come here to breed during the warmer months.
The Black Dog of Bunting Nook
On the edge of the Peak District, is the rural suburb of Norton, Sheffield, where you will find a road called Bunting Nook. This is the site of one of the most well-documented sightings of a Black Dog in the area, with the last sighting being in 2007. This is a classic example of a Black Dog, differing from the popular description only in that its eyes are described as “... blacker than the dead of night.” rather than the usual red or yellow. It is also said that this beast can turn to mist at will.
This dog’s particular habit is to suddenly appear out of nowhere, in front of people’s cars, causing them to stall. It will then terrorise or even savage the passenger, particularly if they are male. Legend has it that this Black Dog actually killed a teenager, 16 year old Alan Glover, in 1846. This Black Dog has been spotted by numerous people over the years, including a police officer in 1958.