The Black Dog of Eastern England, A Great Thunderstorm in 1577

In the folk tradition of eastern England, there is a legend: at night on small roads, one may encounter a large black dog, bigger than a calf, with eyes like red lights, or perhaps only one eye in the center of its forehead emitting firelight. It is called "Black Shuck."

Those who see it are said to die within a year. Others say it is a guardian of the road, and only those who show it disrespect will come to harm.

The most famous instance occurred on August 4, 1577, a Sunday. In two villages in Suffolk, Bungay and Blythburgh, people were attending church when suddenly a violent storm broke outside, thunder roaring, the sky dark as night. It is said a black dog rushed into the church, ran through the crowd; in Bungay's church, it killed two people kneeling on the spot; in Blythburgh, it killed a man and a child, and another person's hand was shriveled by burning, after which it ran out again. The tower of Blythburgh church also collapsed in that storm, crashing through the roof.

At the time, a man named Abraham Fleming wrote the event into a pamphlet to sell, titled "A Strange and Terrible Wonder," claiming it was the work of the devil. To this day, on the wooden door of the north door of Blythburgh church, there are still several scorch marks, which guides will point out to people, saying they are the black dog's claw prints. The coat of arms of Bungay town still bears a black dog.

Some say that day was a thunderstorm, lightning struck into the church, and the so-called black dog was ball lightning, or terrified people mistook a ball of fire for a dog.

It is said that when Conan Doyle wrote "The Hound of the Baskervilles," he had heard black dog legends from various parts of England, though he himself said the inspiration came from stories his friend told about Dartmoor.

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