From Cerberus, the three-headed guardian of the underworld, to the hounds of Count Arnau (the pack of devil dogs the nefarious Spanish aristocrat is doomed to ride for eternity as punishment for his cruelties), folklores throughout the world have some form of the hellhound, a supernatural canine - sometimes the possession of the Devil - who is sicced on the living, often as recompense for their transgressions.[1] As Richard Jones reveals, the mythologies of England are no stranger to this legend and various versions of it have emerged in different regions throughout the nation.
The west of England is steeped in histories and legends that date as far back as 3,000 B.C.E. and the formidable woods of Dartmoor, with their mires and windswept terrains, possesses the most well-known rendition of the hellhound: the Wisht hounds. Made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s 1902 novel The Hound of the Baskerville, the spectral dogs have been a longstanding mythos in the region, where, at the behest of the Devil, they search for the souls of unbaptized babies and stalk hapless trekkers.[2]
Over three-hundred miles north of Dartmoor’s foreboding wilderness is the Trollers Gill ravine in Appletreewick, whose lofty rock walls and dark caves are rumored to be the homes of flesh-eating trolls and a black-haired demon dog with flaming eyes the locals have christened Barguest.[3] An allusive hellhound that attacks those who wander into the gully, the animal is rumored to have mauled to death a nineteenth-century young man intent on capturing the blood-thirsty beast.[4]
About fifty miles west of Appletreewick, the quite village of Beetham’s Fairy Steps, a small flight of tiny stone stairs nestled between two lofty rocks, are believed to be the long-lost product of elfin craftsmen and local lore maintains that, if you make a wish before descending their steep steps and manage to reach the bottom without touching the flanking rocks, your request will be granted; however, misfortune is also a factor in the idyllic setting, with Cappel, a demonic canine who prowls the staircase at night, bringing bad luck to whomever sees his passing shadow and death to those unfortunate enough to gaze into his fiery eyes.[5]
Works Referenced
Brown, Nathan Robert. The Mythology of Supernatural: The Signs and
Symbols Behind the Popular TV Show. New York: Berkley Boulevard Books,
2011.
Jones, Richard. Haunted Britain and Ireland. New York: Barnes and Noble, 2002.
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[1] Brown, 80-82.
[2] Jones, 20-21.
[3] Jones, 135.
[4] Jone, 135.
[5] Jones, 137-138.
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