Black Shuck

There is a legend in Norfolk about Black Shuck, a vicious dog as large as a calf that roams the countryside ready to attack. Should you be stalked by him and by luck manage to avoid his slavering jaws but in so doing catch a glance of his flaming, ember-like eyes, you are sure to die within the year anyway. Tough luck that!

As befits a hound of his size, his territory is wide and his most infamous deeds are recorded as happening on the same day over 400 years go. First at St Mary’s Church, Bungay on the edge of the Norfolk/Suffolk border and then at Blythburgh church a dozen or so miles away.

The story goes that in the summer of 1577, during a violent storm on the 4th August, an apparition of the devil disguised as a black dog raced through a fearful congregation already quailing under the effects of the violent weather beating upon the church. The Devil in the form of a dog (it is said), tore through the building, killed a man and child and caused the steeple to fall through the roof. The animal then raced off to Blythburgh church, killed more people and, branded the door with scorch marks known locally as 'the Devil's finger-prints' and which are still visible today.

Now, Granny, being a logical sort of person tried to put all this into perspective and with her 21st Century head, thought a good explanation might be lightening-strikes and thunderbolts in candle-lit churches redolent with fear of God and the Devil as taught in those far-off superstitious times. Even a large rabid dog or one driven mad with terror might possibly be capable of such attacks. The storm itself seems real enough as on that night, St. Mary's Church roof was indeed so badly damaged that full restoration only took place some two hundred years later.

Now we may dismiss these tales as lot of old hooey but often there is an element of truth in such matters and a recent archaeological discovery may (or may not) yet shed more light on the ghastly goings-on. Recently, the bones of a large animal were uncovered in the ruins of Leiston Abbey, Suffolk which lies less than seven miles from Blythburgh and were first discovered by archaeological group Dig Ventures in a project blazoned in the Daily Mail, 2014.

According to the report the dig revealed the skeleton of an extremely large male dog estimated to have weighed more than 14 stone, standing 7ft tall on its hind legs. The unmarked grave was less than 20 inches deep and pottery fragments found at the same level date from the time of Black Shuck’s alleged reign of terror.

We are told that radio carbon dating tests will give an exact age for the bones which will enable us to decide if the whole thing fits in with a medieval shaggy dog story or is in fact the skeleton of a rather large hunting dog used by a 16th century Abbot...

What do you think?

Granny Bonnet

Addendum: Oh dear, Granny has done further research and has found the newspaper report to be a teeny bit of an exaggeration... In setting the record straight, DigVenture's Projects Director Brendon Wilkins said on 28 October, 2014 - 'Far from being the final resting place of a bloodthirsty hell-hound, it was clear that our dog skeleton had been laid to rest with care and consideration... Armed with this historical background, combined with the biographical analysis of the dog’s skeleton, a picture emerges of a working dog that lived long into ‘retirement’.'

So folks, the truth is that this skeleton is not that of the terrible Black Shuck but just for a moment there it had me going...

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Let There be Snap Dragons!

Snap the Dragon - Norwich castle Museum, made in 1795

Dragons have always featured in the history of England and East Anglia. April 23rd is England's National Day and commemorates St George, who according to legend, was a Roman soldier who killed a dragon and saved a princess. He was also the patron saint of the City of Norwich which has two churches dedicated to him.

The powerful Guild of St George was the major body of civic government throughout the late medieval period up until 1731. In those times a pageant was held each year to celebrate the election of a new Mayor beginning with a mass in Norwich Cathedral, a public oration, official swearing in, gunfire salute and a procession in fine regalia. There was a Corporation dinner and Snap the dragon was paraded through the streets with an attendant Fool to add fun and laughter to the otherwise serious occasion.

Whifflers or sword-bearers dressed in scarlet satin breeches, white satin jerkins and a hats decorated with cockades of feathers and ribbons, cleared the processional way through the thronging crowds with the aid of Dick Fools, who wore the traditional colours of red and yellow painted on canvas coats, their cloth caps decorated with cats' tails and small tinkling bells.

Behind the splendidly attired Mayor rode the Sheriffs dressed in violet and Aldermen in scarlet gowns. Next came a standard-bearer carrying the Standard of England as the 'City Music played them along the streets'. The standard bearer for St. George's Company followed, while the Common Councillors brought up the rear.

Rather like a 'talking newspaper' of today, short speeches about the new Mayor in English as opposed to Latin were broadcast by 'speech boys' riding horse, richly dressed and carrying small decorated shields. All the while, Snap the dragon chased about grabbing hats or caps between its jaws in return for a ransom, while children teased it by calling out 'Snap, Snap, steal a boy's cap, give him a penny and he'll give it back.'

Snap himself was made of painted canvas stretched over a wooden frame with room for a man to stand inside. Sadly, after Guild influences began to wane, the splendours of the occasion also faded and Snap the dragon made his last public appearance in 1850 . Personally I think it's a great pity he no longer features prominently in the modern Mayor's parade which still takes place each July in the centre of Norwich.

From time to time he still ventures out though and he appeared along with many other dragons in Norwich's Dragon Festival of 2009 when our City's history of the mythical beasts was celebrated.

Norwich also has the magnificent Dragon Hall originally in the heart of the bustling merchant area down on the wharf-side of the River Wensum but that I think deserves an article all to itself...

t. George killing the dragon, ceiling boss from Norwich Cathedral.

Let There Be Dragons - credit ITV Anglia News

A Street Art Dragon on Red Lion Street by artist MalcaShotten

Pablo Fanque and The Circus Royal

Growing up in Norwich in 1810, one of five children could not have been easy, more especially if one was of mixed race, so it's perhaps not surprising that young William Darby turned what might have been seen as a disadvantage, to his good fortune. Part African and part English, he joined William Batty's circus as a ten-year-old where he became something of a prodigy learning numerous acrobatic, juggling, tight-rope walking and equestrian skills.

Originally billed as 'Young Darby' he first performed in the sawdust ring in Norwich in 1821 before changing his name to Pablo Fanque, perhaps because it suited his exotic appearance and lent him a more dashing air at a time when minstrel shows were also popular entertainment. Pablo Fanque's horse-training skills were legendary and he had them dancing to music. 'The grace and facility in shifting time and paces with change of the air, is truly surprising.' Another of his famous acts was to leap from a speeding horse over a lengthwise carriage and pair of horses, diving through a military drum on the way!

In 1841 he became the first black circus owner in Britain, and over the next 30 years toured his circus extensively in Britain and Ireland, eventually settling in the north of England. Just imagine for the moment the logistics of moving his entourage around, and the impact of the circus coming to town! For the populace, in an austere world of hardships where slogging daily to stay fed and housed was tough, and with little free time, the sight of the glittering, gilded and colourful circus would have been magical. In an era when most people rarely left their towns and villages, they could enter for a hard-won penny or two into a world of gaudily-dressed tight-rope walkers, tumbling clowns and exhibitions of fisticuffs and horsemanship.

A master of advertising, Fanque used captivating posters to stir imagination ahead of arrival and sometimes drove 'Twelve of his most beautiful Hanoverian and Arabian Steeds’ through the principal streets, accompanied by his ‘celebrated Brass Band’. On one occasion a rope-dancer almost fell to her death when she slipped from a wire strung 30' in the air between two buildings in 1869. After losing her balance pole and clinging in fear, her eventually drop from exhaustion was broken by the piled jackets of men below which saved her from injury and made national news.

Pablo Fanque was a strong character who weathered highs and lows without losing his compassionate streak. Belonging to an association known as the Ancient Shepherds who specialised in helping impoverished families meet funeral expenses, he often organised benefit performances for local charities as well as retiring performers from his own and others' circuses.

In 1967, Pablo's fame was immortalised world-wide in the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the song For the Benefit of Mr. Kite with the line 'the Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo Fanque's fair, what a scene!' written after John Lennon had bought an old poster for a circus performance in Rochdale from 1843. More recently, Norwich city centre has seen the erection of a fine new student accommodation block close to where the circus impresario was born and which has been named Pablo Fanque House in his honour.