Black Shuck

The Account

On 4 August 1577 Black Shuck burst into the church at Bungay, Suffolk, killed two parishioners, and left scorch marks on the door that remain today. To see him is to die within the year.

From the Public Record

In English folklore, Black Shuck, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply Shuck is the name given to a ghostly black dog which is said to roam the coastline and countryside of East Anglia, one of many such black dogs recorded in folklore across the British Isles. Accounts of Black Shuck form part of the folklore of Norfolk, Suffolk, the Cambridgeshire Fens and Essex, and descriptions of the creature's appearance and nature vary considerably; it is sometimes recorded as an omen of death, but, in other instances, is described as companionable.

Text under CC BY-SA 3.0 · fetched from the public archive · refreshed weekly.