Shock! the Black Dog of Bungay: A Case Study in Local Folklore

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In actuality, sightings of hellhounds or other demonic figures and acts are often inspired by fearsome weather phenomena. For example, the sightings in Bungay are often attributed to massive thunderstorms that caused buildings to collapse. Lightning strikes might burn wooden structures or at least cause a few stones to fall from stone churches — which could be seen as the devil’s work. St Mary’s Church still attracts many visitors who come to see where this strange event took place but whereas the door in Blythburgh Church still retains the scorch marks of the Devils claws there is no similar evidence surviving in Bungay. Jarvis, Robin (7 October 2021). "The Ghost Hound Of Goshen Hill Is A Legendary Ghost Dog That Haunts A Five-Mile Stretch Of Road In South Carolina". OnlyInYourState® . Retrieved 7 November 2023. The noted French writer, politician, diplomat and historian, François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand while exiled from France, 1792 – 1800, during the Revolution spent a period living at the Music House, No. 34 Bridge Street. This is recorded on a blue plaque. [16]

While the congregation were assembled for worship, a thunderstorm blew up a –“great terryble & ferfull tempest… such darknes, Rayne, hayle, Thunder & lightyng as was never seen the lyke”, as it was described in the contemporary Churchwardens’ Account book. Porter, Enid (1969). Cambridgeshire customs and folklore: with Fenland material provided. Taylor & Francis. p.53. Biography | James Mayhew". Archived from the original on 2 February 2018 . Retrieved 1 February 2018.Paynter, William and Semmens, Jason (2008). The Cornish Witch-finder: William Henry Paynter and the Witchery, Ghosts, Charms and Folklore of Cornwall. Federation of Old Cornwall Societies. ISBN 978-0-902660-39-7. The town was almost destroyed by a great fire in 1688. The central Buttercross was constructed in 1689 and was the place where local farmers displayed their butter and other farm produce for sale. Until 1810, there was also a Corn Cross, but this was taken down and replaced by a pump.

The festival was established in 2022 to reclaim the legend, and the date, for the town of Bungay and will run for 3 days in August. There will be a varied programme of events including a carnival parade and an art display Shipton, Clifford K (1970). Sibley's Harvard Graduates; Biographical Sketches of Those Who Attended Harvard College. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. pp.404–406.McNab, Chris "Mythical Monsters: The scariest creatures from legends, books, and movies" in Scholastic Publishing 2006, pp. 8–9. Fleming was a translator and editor for several printing houses in London, and therefore probably only published his account based on exaggerated oral accounts. Other local accounts attribute the event to the Devil (Fleming calls the animal "the Divel in such a likeness"). The scorch marks on the door are referred to by the locals as "the devil’s fingerprints", and the event is remembered in this verse: Simpson, Jacqueline (1994). Penguin Book of Scandinavian Folktales. 15. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0140175806. Ritson, Joseph (1831). Fairy Tales, Now First Collected: To which are prefixed two dissertations: 1. On Pygmies. 2. On Fairies. Elibron Classics [facsimile], 2007. ISBN 1-4021-4753-8. See pp.137–139 ("The Mauthe Doog"). With no more people to eat, the large dogs turned on one another. Only a cunning and very large, single female hound survived. Eventually she grew weak from hunger and was rescued by the fensmen who trained her to hunt the baron’s deer to supply them with fresh meat. Eventually the monks returned to attempt to finish the church again. Although the dog was friendly with the local people, she would reportedly growl at any Christians that came near. One year, the hound disappeared for a week, prompting concern from the fensmen. She soon returned, her paws cut and bleeding as if she had walked miles. It soon became apparent she was pregnant. With no wild wolves around this part of England, the monks nearby suspected the wolf was pregnant with the Devil’s child.

The history turns to folklore at the funeral of Henry Hobart. After dying of his wound in the hall itself, his family buried his body in the grounds. During the service, a dog came and sat at the feet of the Sexton, whining loudly. Later that day, Henry’s body was found torn from the ground and from his lead coffin and laid out on the grass. The family attempted to bury him again, this time in the woods nearby, but the ‘common ground spat it out’. His body was finally weighted with stones and lowered into the lake. A few days afterwards, the gamekeeper caught a “monstrous eel” from the waters while fishing. Although it looked ‘evil in appearance’ he took it home to cook in a stew. Wright, Elizabeth Mary (1913). Rustic Speech and Folk-Lore. Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. Others were Catharine Parr Traill, who concentrated on children's literature, and Susanna Moodie, who emigrated to Canada and wrote Roughing it in the Bush (1852) as a warning to others. The novelist Sir H. Rider Haggard (1856–1925) was born nearby in Bradenham and presented St. Mary's Church with a wooden panel, displayed behind the altar. Religious writer Margaret Barber (1869–1901), author of the posthumously published best-selling book of meditations, The Roadmender, settled in Bungay.

Local accounts attribute the event to the Devil - The scorch marks on the door of Blythburgh Church are referred to by the locals as "the devil’s fingerprints" which can be seen at the church to this day. Hilsdon, Sonia. Jersey Witches, Ghosts & Traditions. Norwich: Jarrold Colour Publications, 1984. Print. Evans-Wentz, Walter (1966, 1990) [1911]. The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries. Citadel Press. ISBN 0-8065-1160-5. Barber, Sally and Barber, Chips (1988, 1990). Dark and Dastardly Dartmoor. Obelisk Publications. ISBN 0-946651-26-4.

Nevertheless, experts believe it was simply a Great Dane, one of the largest dog breeds in the world. Crosby, Alan (2000). The Lancashire Dictionary of Dialect, Tradition and Folklore. Smith Settle. ISBN 1-85825-122-2. For he was speechless, ghastly, wan Like him of whom the Story ran Who spoke the spectre hound in Man. Padfoot [ edit ] The basic story is that the dog was ill-treated by his master and managed to escape but did not know where to go. This was the morning of the day he appeared in the church. He just wanted to shelter from this awful storm. The story tells what happens when the children are suddenly confronted by this apparently savage animal and discover his side of the story.' Bungay Castle, which is shown on Bungay's town sign, was originally built by the Normans but was later rebuilt by Roger Bigod, 5th Earl of Norfolk and his family, who also owned Framlingham Castle. The castle contains a unique surviving example of mining galleries, dating to the siege of the castle in 1174. They were intended to undermine and thus collapse the castle's tower and keep.The audience was delighted by music from Martin Newell and his Hosepipe Band, the ever-popular Willpower and The Feathered Thorns. The railway arrived with the Harleston to Bungay section of the Waveney Valley Line opening in November 1860 and the Bungay to Beccles section in March 1863. Bungay had its own railway station near Clay's Printers. The station closed to passengers in 1953 and freight in 1964.