The Bradfield Raven
Think back to your childhood and, if you are of a certain age, you may remember your parents threatening you with retribution from the ‘bogey man’, particularly if you were misbehaving, typically, refusing to go to bed, for example. Personally, I’ve not heard this for many years, but it was certainly common when I was growing up. As dealt with in our article on boggarts, the bogey man can certainly be seen as one of these types of nebulous but menacing supernatural entities. Whilst, in most cases, the form a bogey man takes is left to the child’s imagination, in Bradfield, a tiny settlement on the Yorkshire edge of the Peak District, their bogey man is a bogey bird; the Raven of Bradfield.
The appearance of the Raven of Bradfield was first recorded directly by the Rector of Bradfield, Reginald Gatty, in 1884, when he wrote:
“... I found there still existed a tale, that once upon a time, a black raven came up the dale, and carried off, not only the flocks and herds; but men, women, and children were involved in
a dreadful massacre.”
This long-remembered tale had somehow morphed into the threat that if a child did not behave then a - one presumes - gigantic raven would come and carry them off; rather horrific by today’s standards! Less than ten years later, in 1893, another author also recorded the use of this supernatural raven in Bradfield as a threat to a misbehaving child. The use of this fearsome raven figure seems to suggest that, in the dim distant past, a great tragedy had befallen the area around Bradfield.
As dealt with in our page on corvids, the raven holds a very special place in legend and mythology, both for the Celts, Anglo-Saxons and - most importantly - the Vikings. Many place names in the northern Peak District attest to Viking settlement in the area, so, perhaps, this tradition is quite ancient and has been passed down over many centuries? Whilst we can never know for sure where this comes from, one explanation might be as follows: Many Viking armies carried a ‘Raven Banner’ into battle, both as a sign of their dedication to the god, Odin, their ferocity and commitment to victory. Who knows? Perhaps this tradition is a dim memory of a horde of Vikings, charging up the dale, with the great raven banner flapping above them, as they brought bloody death and slaughter to the local inhabitants!
Whatever the case, the Raven of Bradfield is a unique and very local twist on the archetypal bogey man.
Note: This article borrows heavily from the work of Simon Young and his article ‘The Raven of Bradfield: A Yorkshire Child-Scarer’, which can be found, in full, in Northern Earth magazine, issue 175, March 2024.
The appearance of the Raven of Bradfield was first recorded directly by the Rector of Bradfield, Reginald Gatty, in 1884, when he wrote:
“... I found there still existed a tale, that once upon a time, a black raven came up the dale, and carried off, not only the flocks and herds; but men, women, and children were involved in
a dreadful massacre.”
This long-remembered tale had somehow morphed into the threat that if a child did not behave then a - one presumes - gigantic raven would come and carry them off; rather horrific by today’s standards! Less than ten years later, in 1893, another author also recorded the use of this supernatural raven in Bradfield as a threat to a misbehaving child. The use of this fearsome raven figure seems to suggest that, in the dim distant past, a great tragedy had befallen the area around Bradfield.
As dealt with in our page on corvids, the raven holds a very special place in legend and mythology, both for the Celts, Anglo-Saxons and - most importantly - the Vikings. Many place names in the northern Peak District attest to Viking settlement in the area, so, perhaps, this tradition is quite ancient and has been passed down over many centuries? Whilst we can never know for sure where this comes from, one explanation might be as follows: Many Viking armies carried a ‘Raven Banner’ into battle, both as a sign of their dedication to the god, Odin, their ferocity and commitment to victory. Who knows? Perhaps this tradition is a dim memory of a horde of Vikings, charging up the dale, with the great raven banner flapping above them, as they brought bloody death and slaughter to the local inhabitants!
Whatever the case, the Raven of Bradfield is a unique and very local twist on the archetypal bogey man.
Note: This article borrows heavily from the work of Simon Young and his article ‘The Raven of Bradfield: A Yorkshire Child-Scarer’, which can be found, in full, in Northern Earth magazine, issue 175, March 2024.