Notes & Queries Archive
NOTE1850

Shuck the Dog-fiend

By E. S. T.

This phantom I have heard many persons in East Norfolk, and even Cambridgeshire, describe as having seen as a black shaggy dog, with fiery eyes, and of immense size, and who visits churchyards at midnight. One witness nearly fainted away at seeing it, and on bringing his neighbours to see the place where he saw it, he found a large spot as if gunpowder had been exploded there. A lane in the parish of Overstrand is called, after him, Shuck's Lane. The name appears to be a corruption of "shag," as *shucky* is the Norfolk dialect for "shaggy." Is not this a vestige of the German "Dog-fiend?"

Topics: Folklore, Phantom Dogs, Local Legends

Locations: East Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Overstrand