Malcolm Jones's account on the Uncanny UK website of a huge, unidentifiable animal he saw in Brymbo, North Wales, recalls mysterious dog-like apparitions that are prevalent throughout British folklore. In Wales these spectres are known as Gwyllgi (translating as 'Dog of the Twilight'); in England they go by a variety of regional names, including Padfoot, Skriker, Trash and Black Shuck. In the literature, they are usually simply referred to as Black Dogs.
They are commonly described as being black in colour, with a shaggy pelt and closely resembling a dog of the mastiff breed but much larger, about the size of a calf. They are said to haunt lonely lanes at night or twilight. Mr Jones's spook, which may be an earlier sighting of 'The Beast of Brymbo', has many of these characteristics, although his had a leaner outline, more like a lurcher.
Such tales are believed to have been the inpsiration for Conan Doyles's famous Sherlock Holmes story 'The Hound of the Baskervilles', set on Dartmoor. This wild area of South Western England certainly has its Black Dog traditions, and they may be linked to the big black cats now currently haunting the moors. However, it has also been claimed the author got the idea while staying at the village of Clyro in Mid Wales (which has its own Black Dog and a pub called the Baskerville Arms), or while on holiday in East Anglia, an area particularly rich in Black Dog lore.
It's interesting to learn that such weird and inexplicable apparitions are still to be seen, at least as recently as 1971, the date of Mr Jones's encounter. When I was writing my 'Wales of the Unexpected' column in the North Wales Daily Post newspaper, I received accounts from readers of two separate Gwyllgi seen on Anglesey, dating back to approximately 1915 and 1930 respectively. These accounts are reproduced in my book of the same name (Gwasg Carreg Gwalch, ISBN 1-84527-008-8).
The are several other stories of the Black Dogs to be found on the Uncanny UK website, including one that could fly! To read more visit www.uncannyuk.co.uk
If you are interested in ghosts in Britain, check out my other blog: http://hauntedwales.blogspot.com
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