Skeleton of a giant dog: could it be the remains of the legendary black shuck?
A curious discovery in England reopens an x-file from the 16th century: the skeleton of a giant dog, 2.15 meters tall standing on its hind legs, could belong to an animal at the origin of the medieval legend of the "ghost black dog", aka the Black Shuck.
English folklore chronicles tell of a nocturnal creature, the Black Shuck, a phantom black dog with flaming eyes and shaggy fur, which terrorized East Anglia during the 16th century. According to the descriptions, the creatures moved by making long leaps on country paths during the night. The eyes, which glow red in the dark, indicate the ferocity of the beast.
Anyone who met this creature, even just fleetingly, or heard the hateful patter of its paws, knew that its end was near: it was considered, in fact, a messenger from the afterlife, and therefore a bad omen.
Superstition about these nocturnal creatures is widespread in many rural areas of Britain. Harbinger of death, they are known by different names depending on the area.
The idea of these monstrous dogs derives from medieval demonology, which had often seen cats, dogs and black goats as the relatives of witches, as well as the typical forms in which the Devil was often represented.
Many experts have wondered if at the origin of these legends there was some historical event, then loaded with religious and superstitious symbolism. As for the legend of the Black Shuck, the answer may be yes.
In 2014 a group of archaeologists from Dig Ventures came across the skeleton of a 2.15 meters tall dog standing on its hind legs, while engaged in an excavation in the ruins of the ancient Leiston Abbey, Suffolk. Estimates suggest the animal would have weighed nearly 90 kg.
The enormous skeleton was found a few kilometers away from two churches where, according to legend, the Black Shuck killed the faithful during a furious storm in August 1577.
Furthermore, the animal appears to have been buried in a shallow grave, approximately 20 cm, at exactly the same time that the chronicles record the presence of the Black Shuck, mainly around Suffolk and the East Anglia region. Ceramic fragments found in the burial would refer to the alleged Kingdom of Shuck.
According to legend, the first and most famous attack by the Black Shuck occurred in the Church of the Holy Trinity, in Blythburgh: thunder rumbled in the sky, the doors of the church flew open and a "big black evil dog" appeared at the entrance.
Having attacked the community, the large dog first killed a child and a man. After that, the presence of the demonic dog caused the bell tower to fall. Some burns still visible on the church doors are attributed to the claws of the Black Shuck.
