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Black Dogs?

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Black Dog

James Sanderson

About seven years ago I was still living in Kent in a town called Tenterden. Myself and three mates used to regularly drink in Smarden, which is a just few miles from Pluckley. The route we would drive home was single-track back road, with the odd house and a few farms. We were driving back at about 11.45 pm on a October evening with a patchy fog, you know the sort of thing...

http://www.forteantimes.com/happened/blackdog.shtml

Link is dead. See post below for complete text.
 
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Yes - it was probably just a big, black dog.
Is that so unusual?
 
This is interesting to me (but probably no one else). I have seen a black dog twice, when I was about the age of 15, and then again at 16. Each time I was with a friend, each time it bounded across our path, each time only I saw it. If it is a supernatural entity, it is rather on the dull side. I would rather have seen the group of gnomes reported in another thread. Much more dramatic. And cinemagraphic. Hi ho. :eek!!!!:

By the way, Fraser has little to say on black dogs. I think it is up to us to interpret them as we will.
 
Did anyone get a look at their eyes? I wonder if the legends are true....?

OO
 
Every day I look in my backyard and see a tiny white Westie... o_O
 
I once saw a headless dog running past in the moonlight (in a remote part of north Devon).

But it was only my Jack Russell Fred, who had a mostly white body but a brown head! A good illusion though!
 
Black Dog

When I was little my grandmother would occasionally warn me the Big Black Dog would get me if I misbehaved, well one day I stayed out on her patio when she wanted me to come in.
The patio has a rail around it and people wanting to enter it without just hopping over it have to walk half way around it.
well I'm out there still playing around and all of a sudden I see a big black dog run half way around and into the patio and having been threatened by my grandmother in this manor it scares me quite well so my grandmother who was watching from the kitchen window comes out as I'm standing up on a bench terrified as this dog is licking me. Turns out it got loose from a neighbors house.
Odd coincedence but a funny one looking back now.
 
I once saw a headless cat. Dead it was. Not pleasant.
 
phantom black-dog/bell-witch

I recall an account of a "black dog" appearing in a book about the Bell Witch of Tennessee (U.S. haunting, early 19th century). The book is "Mysterious Spirit: the Bell Witch of Tennessee" by Charles B. Bell & Harriet P. Miller (amazon.com has it). This supposed entity, dubbed the "Bell Witch" could appear in various forms & speak. It terrorized & amazed a 19th cent. community & family (the Bells) in rural U.S. Legend has it that future President Andrew Jackson even witnessed the phenomena. Of course, many skeptics would consider this just folklore. There's a U.S. website you can read this story on, it's bellwitch.org. I think I've seen accounts of mysterious black-dogs also in various occult/strange phenomena encyclopedias & classic ghost stories. Maybe you & your friends just had too much to drink & were easily spooked. There's an online U.S. magazine, http://www.strangemag.com You can read accounts & some stories for free on it.
 
I've got a cat called Gustav Amadeus Jones. He's not black though.:blah:
 
Have just found the following in Peter Ackroyd's book, London: The Biography (at 248):

"It was in this period [the sixthteenth century] that there first emerged the legend of the 'Black Dog' - 'a walking spirit in the likenesse of a blacke Dog, gliding up and down the streets a little before the time of the Execution, and in the night whilst the Sessions continued'. Some believed the creature to be an emination of the miseries of twelfth-century Newgate, when famine compelled certain prisioners to cannibalism. Others surmised that it was a being which walked 'in the Name of Service and Office'; that it was, in other words, a phantom created by the wickedness of the gaolers. By the early eighteenth century, however, 'Making the Black Dog Walk' was the phrase used to designate 'the prisioners' brutal treatment of new inmates'. The present ivy-covered wall at the bottom of Amen Court, close to the old Sessions House yard, is still supposed to be the haunt of this malign spirit."

:monster:
 
I read something (may have been Colin Wilson) mentioning that Black Dogs appear in very similar circumstances to ball lightening and behave in a very similar way.
 
Black Dog behaviour...

From most of the accounts of the Black Dogs, it
appears that they behave in a most unusual fashion.

The behaviour is very stereotypical. The dog always appears at much the same place, moves along beside the traveller (they don't ever seem to interact) and always disappear at the same place.

The dogs don't seem to interact with people. They don't interact with cars, either; you'd think that if they were some sort of electromagnetic phenomenon that the presence of a tonne or so of iron would affect 'em, but it doesn't seem to.

So the question remains: are thse mysterious black dogs ghosts, haunts or something entirely other? Are they related to the Phantom Hitchiker stories (Man in car picks up hitch-hiker who then disappears whilst the vehicle is in motion) or what?

Comments?
 
My teacher once told me about a this black dog he and his friend saw in Mexico.

He said he and his friend were talking when all of a sudden they noticed this black dog coming down the street.They looked closer and noticed the dog was floating.It was walking..but it was off the ground.He said that it's eyes glowed red.

They tried to avoid looking at it.His friend crossed himself.The dog didn't pay any attention to them.It just kept on walking.It stopped at the house next door and an owl hooted.My teacher's friend told him that something bad would happen at that house.

Sure enough,the family that lived their lost their little boy. :(

I'm not sure that I believe the story yet,but my teacher gets pretty irate when I laugh at it.He seems to believe it.

He also tells me that weird stuff like that is commonplace in Mexico.
 
movie

There's a U.S. movie from the 1970s called "Devil Dog." I saw it in the 80s on tv when I was a kid. It has a big, black Chow that's really an ancient demon incarnate. It's a B-grade movie, but you might like it if you're fond of these "mysterious" dog tales.
 
I saw that movie.It was digusting.

Wish I hadn't seen it. :p

It was pretty scarry for a little kid.
 
greenronin said:
Ah yes, Mexico, home of Don Juan of Carlos Casteneda fame. Also home to all kinds of strange entities it seems. I have really enjoyed reading all of my fellow contributors experiences. Does anyone know where I can find info on the Superstition mountains in the American southwest? I am also interested in strange underground sounds, like machinery in remote places of the Earth. Also looking for a paperback about Bigfoot that I used to have (loaned it out, big mistake!) best I've read so far. Author and friends camped in a cabin and had motion-detector lights rigged up. They could hear loud breathing in the cabin and noises outside but could see nothing. They also experienced other strangeness including small blue flashes inside their cabin. Oh yeah, what's up with the Jersey Devil? Anyhoo.....later my fellow searchers.:devil:
Click to expand...
Shoot straight you bastards, don't make a mess of it!
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jersey devil

The last post on here mentioned the "Jersey Devil." I believe the following site, http://www.strangemag.com has some info. on that. Note: you hafta type in the "www" part of the address for the site to pop up. Also, be sure & read "The Haunted Boy..." on this site, you can read this article for free. The author did excellent research into the 1949 case of the supposedly "possessed" American boy. This is the supposedly true story that the novel & film "The Exorcist" were partly based on. The author concludes he was just mentally-ill & a prankster, whether you agree or not he did the best research on this topic, even has a pic of the boy's old home. Enjoy.
 
Black Dogs and other beasts

When I first heard of barguest/black dogs back in the '70's there were also early reports of ABC's. At that time it occured to me that the phenomena were largely reported from the same areas.
Anyone else notice the same thing?:confused:
 
ABC's?

I asssume you're not talking about the American Broadcasting Company or the alphabet. ;)

So what are ABCs?
 
Dogs

I was reminded of a story a friend of mine told. He was working for Historic Scotland and was on a tour of his new post. Curator of St Andrews Cathedral no less. The bloke he took over from was showing him all the neuks and crannies of rubble and kirk... opening old doors and generally giving him the Full Works tour.
When they came across yet another heavy wooden door set in the boundary wall, when this was opened a dog bounded out and ran at some speed past them. My friend was a little ruffled by this sudden unexpected dog but had put it down to the dog getting locked in by accident maybe the night before. The old curator was standing their crossing himself. Whats the matter my friend asked. The old curator said that the door had not been unlocked in the past 3 or 4 years and there was simply no way it could have gained entry to the room by any other means. And right enough the room in the wall did not have any other means of entry, just four stone walls and a heavy wooden normally locked door.

The dog was not black but white or fair in coloured and he described it as a large long haired dog.

I wonder if their are a lot of Ghost dogs but you only notice them normally if they look large and black like the previous entries
 
rynner said:
Alien
Big
Cats
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I think we should stress for the benefit of the unenlightened that "Alien" here refers to them being out of place - eg a Lion living in Knightsbridge - rather than being from Mars or something.

Although that would be quite fab and groovy, methinks.

Jon
 
There is a small hamlet near Exeter, Devon, called Black Dog, named after a local legend where a young girl was guided home by a fearsome-looking but benevolent black dog that vanishes into thin air. This dog was also regularly seen along the Down St Mary to Copplestone road. In recent years anomalous aerial phenomena have been seen in the area.
Another place near Exeter is called Dog Village, I don't know the origin of this name, and we have the Gurt Dog stories in Somerset.
Bob Rickard's book 'Phenomena' gives good details of these beasties and their peculiar behaviour.
 
Black Dogs go by lots of different names, like Shuck oop north and Girt Dog around south west. Probably the most famous one is the Moddy Dhoo at Peel Castle on the Isle of Man.

They always struck me as a bit unpredictable, I mean, if you see one, you'll die, but then they can also protect you. Bit of a risk involved there, methinks.

'The many phantom dogs of local legend are almost invariably large black shaggy ones with glowing eyes; those which appear only in this form are simply called 'the Black Dog' whereas those that change shape often have some regional name such as bargest, padfoot, or Shuck. A few are said to be ghosts, but the majority are either supernatural creatures in their own right or manifestations of the Devil. They are solitary, unlike the pack of hounds forming the Wild Hunt (though these too are black) [note - the Wild Hunt dogs can also be white with red ears - H]; they usually patrol specified lanes, but some are associated with churchyards, streams, pools, gallows sites and barrows. In some districts (eg. Lincolnshire) it is said that they are harmless, or even friendly, if they are not disturbed, though in others it is an omen of death to meet one. Occasionally they guard treasure as at Dobb park Lodge (Lancashire). Another haunted a farm near Lyme Regis (Dorset) to the annoyance of the farmer, who chased it with a poker and accidentally struck the attic wall, dislodging a hidden box of coins. [note - I think it's somewhere around Lyme Regis where there's a pub wall with burnt in scratch marks down the door, supposedly from a Black Dog - H]

The idea that the Devil may appear as a Black Dog is found in several accounts of witch trials and in other printed sources. A violent storm one Sunday in August 1577 damaged the villages of Blythburgh and Burngay in Suffolk, and a contemporary tract claimed that a black dog of 'horrible shape' accompanied by 'fearful flashes of fire' was seen rushing through both churches, killing or injuring several people; it was 'the divil in such likeness' (Briggs) Another pamphlet of 1638 described the Black Dog of Newgate Gaol which would ride in the cart beside criminals going to the gallows; this was explained as the ghost of a medieval wizard, killed and eaten by starving prisoners.

Black Dog legends are common in East Anglia, the northern counties and the south west, and occur sporadically elsewhere; there is an extensive list, including modern eyewitness accounts, in Janet and Colin Bord Alien Animals, 1981......'
[A Dictionary of English Folklore by Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud - only purchased a couple of days ago courtesy of Amazon, and it's proving to be great fun to dip into and read snippets of]

Few other references, but that about covers it, I suppose, unless anyone wants more, or Moddy Dhoo story etc.
 
black cat at u.s. capitol

I've seen a television show, either on the History or Discovery channel about the U.S. Capitol's "black cat." Some claim this is a ghost-like or even demon-like creature. Legend has it that before certain tragic events, like Lincoln's & JFK's assassinations, it makes an appearance around George Washington's basement tomb. Surely it's just folklore, but makes a nice counterpart to the "black woof-woof" legends.
 
Omen of Death

Any jests about american presidents being spellbound by a little pussy will be treated with the contempt they deserve:blah:

But surely the black cat is a symbol of evil in america, in the UK generally a black cat is lucky.

Back to dogs, when I did my reading, the tale seemed to be that if the dog spoke to you, you were doomed. Or that if the dog breathed on the back of your neck similarly. Parallels with Pan?

The reason why I say this is that there is a valley in Cornwall haunted by a BD. The only time I have felt the Pan-ic was in that valley. I walked down it feeling certain that I was been tracked by a dog, I could even hear it's steps and breathing tho' I saw nothing. Feeling foolish I went to my brother in law's pub and mentioned where I had been - only then did he tell me that the valley was haunted by a large BD. - I
 
Interesting account of "black dog" encounter. Didn't know black pussy is considered lucky in the U.K. (I don't guess Mick Jagger felt it was very lucky after Bianca divorced him). Let's not forget Led Zeppelin's spirited tune, "Black Dog." The color black, at least in the West is usually associated with evil, the unknown etc. I suppose because the ancients were more likely to step on a poisonous snake, be attacked by an enemy tribe, etc. in the dark night. The Persian myths of Zoroaster make great use of dark/light symbolism. Some of the evil connotation of black may have come about after the Muslim Moors invaded Europe. In that instance it would be racist.
 
another thought just came to me Didn't Churchill refer ro his depressive attacks as Black Dog - I
 
From Phenomena, Mitchell and Rickard, p122:-

" 'Twas awful. It had four legs, and it was black, and had great fiery eyes as big as saucers." This description is of a black dog seen in 1907 by a Somerset man near Budleigh hill. It sounds like one of our modern pumas, but this was no ordinary beast, for "it ran on until it came to where the water crosses under the road, and they things, of course, can never abide running water, so it just couldn't get across, and it went up in the air like a flash of fire."
 
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