Just Coincidence ? : The Black Dog Legend
The Black Dog Legend has been heard across the world, for thousands of years, there have been sightings of huge black spectral dogs roaming the forests, castles, and caves of times long forgotten. They are known for having deep red eyes that penetrate the darkness and are seen in locations known for having demonic presence. But what are these dogs? Just an omen? Or something a hell of a lot more sinister?
Anubis Lord of the Underworld. Image via – Ancient History
The Black Dog legend is most often associated with the Devil or death. They are generally the size of a calf and have thick black fur and their signature glowing red eyes. They are also seen around crossroads, places of execution and ancient pathways.
These creatures are universally regarded as malevolent and few have even been known to psychically harm people. Black dogs have been sighted in almost every English county, as well as Scotland, The Channel Islands, Wales, Cornwall, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and North and South America.
They are known by many different in names and to have many different purposes. In Scotland for instance, there is a legendary Black Dog that is said to guard a great treasure beneath a standing stone in Perthshire. These black
These dogs are seen at night and no-one has ever dared pass. Are these dogs standing guard of something? Or are they simply a manifestation of lingering evil. Let’s check out some of the locations they are known to haunt and find what they have in common.
Leap Castle’s Devil Dog Legend
Leap Castle. image via – Leap Castle
Leap Castle was named Ireland’s most haunted location long ago. It has a strong history in Druidic worship. The Devil himself was said to have visited the castle. The castle has been subject to hundreds of years of death and murder, in the 70s construction workers found a great pit containing thousands of bones. This room is now called the bloody chapel and they later found the pit was a torture hole with a spiked floor 30ft deep, people were thrown down there and impaled, over time, however, the body count grew so high they were just met with rotten flesh and left to starve.
The castle is best known for its malevolent hauntings, including a powerful and ancient spirit known as an Elemental. The Black Dog Legend of Leap Castle in one of its most infamous and has been seen countless times by numerous different visitors. Described as being as black as night, with dangerous red eyes, and being massive stature. The dog is said to have started appearing after the Devil sat here for a game of cards, the owner knows that seeing this dog never has a good outcome.
Dartmoor and the Hell Hounds
Dartmoore Standing Stones. Image via – National Parks
The Dartmoore Hounds are an infamous pack of spectral dogs that roam the Moore by night, made famous by Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of Baskerville, which was inspired by Dartmoore’s legendary black dogs. Actual pictures of what appears to be the black dogs surfaced recently and the beast was only meters away from a group of school children. You can check out the full story here.
The Legend begins with a man called Squire Richard Cambell, a hunter from Brook Manor, Buckfastleigh. The squire was rumored to have sold his soul to the Devil for wealth. He died in 1677 and shortly afterward a pack of pitch Black Dogs with glowing red eyes were reported to be running across the Moore and howling at his tomb by the local residents. These dogs are still seen right up to the modern day, roaming Dartmoor in the black of night. Locals will always warn against heading into the Moore after the sun sets, for thats when the legend of the Black Dog comes to life.
The Newgate Prison Sorcerer
Newgate Prison was known to be amongst the most wretched in England. Still today the alleyway by the former prison site dubbed ” Dead man’s walk” is still haunted today, with reports of the large black shadow of a man or a Red-eyed dog standing at the foot of the alley. The Legend of Newgate’s Black Dog Legend begins with the incarceration in 1596 following his capture he was sentenced to life in prison for suspected sorcery. Unfortunately for him, this was during he was imprisoned during one of London’s greatest famines and the inmates and decided to take up cannibalism. A group of prisoners ganged up on the man and ate him alive.
So the legend tells us the vengeful spirit of the Sorcerer managed to stick around long enough to summon up a demonic great Black Dog to terrorize the prison. It did just that and rampaged throughout the prison for seven nights in a row, tearing the prisoner’s limb from limb or caused them to die from pure fright. The actual prisoners who killed the sorcerer all ended up escaping from the prison, and so they thought the cursed dog. They were all found within a year their limbs torn away from their bodies and their torso half eaten. The alleyway by the former site of the prison, now known as Amen Court is still haunted by this Black Dog right up until the present day.
The Meon Hill Witch Hunt
Image via Pinterest
Peel Castle is a Viking built castle and one of the most haunted and mysterious locations on the Isle of Man, all thanks to the Moddey Dhoo. “Moddey Dhoo” directly translates into Black Dog. The Moddey Dhoo was first seen on site during the castle’s original construction. He was a huge black dog with thick shaggy fur, some say he looked like an Irish Wolfhound but no-one knows who it belonged to. Its appearance continued to mystify the men, after the construction of the castle the Moddey Dhoo would appear only after the guards locked the gate. Every night as the sun set and the fire would die out the guards reported hearing heavy padded footsteps coming up the corridor to join them in the barracks.
There was one solid rule, that was not to take the keys to the captain’s room by yourself. Two guards in the castle’s history did just that. They were both found dead, ashen faced and a contorted expression of fear carved onto their faces. It was later discovered that the castle was built upon the foundations of an ancient church and the guard’s corridor passed directly over that area. Even more fascinating, was when the excavators dug up a coffin and discovered it held the remains of an ancient priest with a huge skeleton of a dog, buried alive at his feet.
Origins of the Black Dog
Looking back on a few of the locations with legends of a black dog above, they are all linked by evil deeds, in both the past and the present. Between Satanism, witchcraft, or murder these locations are all similar in the dark past they share. These locations are just a few compared to the hundreds similar found online. Hundreds upon hundreds of locations with sightings reported of these Black Dogs.
Image via – Horrorpedia
These spectral pooches can also be found in countless ancient scriptures, mythologies, and old fairy tales. In Celtic Welsh Mythology it states that the guardian of their Otherworld has a pack of red eyed spectral dogs, they guard the entrance points to his realm. Or in Greek Mythology, Cerberus a 3 headed black dog guards the entrance to the Underworld. Not only that but Chinese, Japanese, Native American, Icelandic, European and Australian mythology… Coincidence?
Whatever these dogs are there red eyes are a key point to look at. In a lot of demonic locations a key sign of their infestation are the red eyes often seen in the darkness, they are also known manifest as large black shapeless figures. Are the Black Dogs a demonic manifestation, guardian or just an omen? One thing is for sure if you ever see one, it’s time to get packing.
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Anubis Lord of the Underworld. Image via – Ancient History
The Black Dog legend is most often associated with the Devil or death. They are generally the size of a calf and have thick black fur and their signature glowing red eyes. They are also seen around crossroads, places of execution and ancient pathways.
These creatures are universally regarded as malevolent and few have even been known to psychically harm people. Black dogs have been sighted in almost every English county, as well as Scotland, The Channel Islands, Wales, Cornwall, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, and North and South America.
They are known by many different in names and to have many different purposes. In Scotland for instance, there is a legendary Black Dog that is said to guard a great treasure beneath a standing stone in Perthshire. These black
These dogs are seen at night and no-one has ever dared pass. Are these dogs standing guard of something? Or are they simply a manifestation of lingering evil. Let’s check out some of the locations they are known to haunt and find what they have in common.
Leap Castle’s Devil Dog Legend
Leap Castle. image via – Leap Castle
Leap Castle was named Ireland’s most haunted location long ago. It has a strong history in Druidic worship. The Devil himself was said to have visited the castle. The castle has been subject to hundreds of years of death and murder, in the 70s construction workers found a great pit containing thousands of bones. This room is now called the bloody chapel and they later found the pit was a torture hole with a spiked floor 30ft deep, people were thrown down there and impaled, over time, however, the body count grew so high they were just met with rotten flesh and left to starve.
The castle is best known for its malevolent hauntings, including a powerful and ancient spirit known as an Elemental. The Black Dog Legend of Leap Castle in one of its most infamous and has been seen countless times by numerous different visitors. Described as being as black as night, with dangerous red eyes, and being massive stature. The dog is said to have started appearing after the Devil sat here for a game of cards, the owner knows that seeing this dog never has a good outcome.
Dartmoor and the Hell Hounds
Dartmoore Standing Stones. Image via – National Parks
The Dartmoore Hounds are an infamous pack of spectral dogs that roam the Moore by night, made famous by Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes and the Hound of Baskerville, which was inspired by Dartmoore’s legendary black dogs. Actual pictures of what appears to be the black dogs surfaced recently and the beast was only meters away from a group of school children. You can check out the full story here.
The Legend begins with a man called Squire Richard Cambell, a hunter from Brook Manor, Buckfastleigh. The squire was rumored to have sold his soul to the Devil for wealth. He died in 1677 and shortly afterward a pack of pitch Black Dogs with glowing red eyes were reported to be running across the Moore and howling at his tomb by the local residents. These dogs are still seen right up to the modern day, roaming Dartmoor in the black of night. Locals will always warn against heading into the Moore after the sun sets, for thats when the legend of the Black Dog comes to life.
The Newgate Prison Sorcerer
Newgate Prison was known to be amongst the most wretched in England. Still today the alleyway by the former prison site dubbed ” Dead man’s walk” is still haunted today, with reports of the large black shadow of a man or a Red-eyed dog standing at the foot of the alley. The Legend of Newgate’s Black Dog Legend begins with the incarceration in 1596 following his capture he was sentenced to life in prison for suspected sorcery. Unfortunately for him, this was during he was imprisoned during one of London’s greatest famines and the inmates and decided to take up cannibalism. A group of prisoners ganged up on the man and ate him alive.
So the legend tells us the vengeful spirit of the Sorcerer managed to stick around long enough to summon up a demonic great Black Dog to terrorize the prison. It did just that and rampaged throughout the prison for seven nights in a row, tearing the prisoner’s limb from limb or caused them to die from pure fright. The actual prisoners who killed the sorcerer all ended up escaping from the prison, and so they thought the cursed dog. They were all found within a year their limbs torn away from their bodies and their torso half eaten. The alleyway by the former site of the prison, now known as Amen Court is still haunted by this Black Dog right up until the present day.
The Meon Hill Witch Hunt
Image via Pinterest
Peel Castle is a Viking built castle and one of the most haunted and mysterious locations on the Isle of Man, all thanks to the Moddey Dhoo. “Moddey Dhoo” directly translates into Black Dog. The Moddey Dhoo was first seen on site during the castle’s original construction. He was a huge black dog with thick shaggy fur, some say he looked like an Irish Wolfhound but no-one knows who it belonged to. Its appearance continued to mystify the men, after the construction of the castle the Moddey Dhoo would appear only after the guards locked the gate. Every night as the sun set and the fire would die out the guards reported hearing heavy padded footsteps coming up the corridor to join them in the barracks.
There was one solid rule, that was not to take the keys to the captain’s room by yourself. Two guards in the castle’s history did just that. They were both found dead, ashen faced and a contorted expression of fear carved onto their faces. It was later discovered that the castle was built upon the foundations of an ancient church and the guard’s corridor passed directly over that area. Even more fascinating, was when the excavators dug up a coffin and discovered it held the remains of an ancient priest with a huge skeleton of a dog, buried alive at his feet.
Origins of the Black Dog
Looking back on a few of the locations with legends of a black dog above, they are all linked by evil deeds, in both the past and the present. Between Satanism, witchcraft, or murder these locations are all similar in the dark past they share. These locations are just a few compared to the hundreds similar found online. Hundreds upon hundreds of locations with sightings reported of these Black Dogs.
Image via – Horrorpedia
These spectral pooches can also be found in countless ancient scriptures, mythologies, and old fairy tales. In Celtic Welsh Mythology it states that the guardian of their Otherworld has a pack of red eyed spectral dogs, they guard the entrance points to his realm. Or in Greek Mythology, Cerberus a 3 headed black dog guards the entrance to the Underworld. Not only that but Chinese, Japanese, Native American, Icelandic, European and Australian mythology… Coincidence?
Whatever these dogs are there red eyes are a key point to look at. In a lot of demonic locations a key sign of their infestation are the red eyes often seen in the darkness, they are also known manifest as large black shapeless figures. Are the Black Dogs a demonic manifestation, guardian or just an omen? One thing is for sure if you ever see one, it’s time to get packing.
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