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[cunning-frog]

Black Dogs In English Folklore

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Citations at end

What are Black Dogs?

In English folklore Black Dogs are (usually) solitary spectral dogs that often appear during or before storms, sometimes at the same time as a flash of lightning, and at night. They can be differentiated from normal dogs by their looks and behaviour. Usually, they are large with shaggy fur and large, unnaturally red- or yellow-coloured eyes, or sometimes eye, that may glow. There are also cases in which the dog has no head, or even rare still, two. Some are shape-changers with the ability to change their size or even turn into another animal. They often act oddly, walking on their hind legs, or backwards, talking, etc.

Black Dogs are usually either creatures in their own right, a manifestation of the (Christian) Devil or, on occasion, a ghost. Black Dogs are most often seen as malicious and as omens of death. There are even some accounts of them killing people. But, on the other hand, they are also reported to be harmless or even helpful and protective, such as the Black Dogs of Lincolnshire. The sound of chains sometimes accompanies the Black Dog.

The Black Dogs’ Habitat

Black Dogs seem to commonly appear at roads, rivers and other bodies of water, bridges, and fields, they also commonly appear near older sites, such as ruins, standing stones, and burial mounds. Black Dogs are also commonly reported in places associated with death such as graveyards (see Church Grim), lone burial sites, and places of violent death, i.e. sites of execution; there are multiple reports of Black Dogs haunting the places where accused witches were put to death. They seem to patrol these places or haunt them. Sometimes they will haunt a person or group of people, often being an omen of their death or other misfortune.

Black Dogs as an Omen

Black Dogs are often seen as an omen of bad luck, death, and crime. If a Black Dog sits on the front step of a home or howls below a window it means one of the home’s occupants will soon die.

Black Dogs can also be an omen for less dreadful things. If a black dog is seen by a pregnant person, it means their child will be a boy.

Striker

Striker, also known as Trash, is a Black Dog and shape-changer seen in northern England. He most often takes the form of a large Blak Dog with large paws, ears, and eyes and shaggy fur. Striker also sometimes appears as a white cow or horse. Like many other black dogs Striker if often appears to a person as a death omen.

Citations:

Simpson, J., & Roud, S. (2003). A Dictionary of English Folklore. In Oxford University Press eBooks. https://doi.org/10.1093/acref/9780198607663.001.0001

Sherwood, Simon J. 2006. Black Dogs of England. Australian Folklore.

Theo Brown (1958) The Black Dog, Folklore, 69:3, 175-192, DOI: 10.1080/0015587X.1958.9717142

Harland, J. H., & Wilkinson, T. T. (1972). Lancashire folk-lore. http://gutenberg.org/ebooks/41148

Photo source:

Paget, Sidney. “The Coal-Black Hound (Hound of Baskervilles),” WikiMedia Commons, Aug. 1901, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Houn-53_-_The_coal-black_Hound_(Hound_of_Baskervilles).jpg. Accessed 24 June 2024.