What's up you guys hope you’re having an awesome day, Im your host Ayman Hasan and
welcome back to another video.
I havent talked about folklore in a hot minute on the channel so i am here for this one.
Im quite well versed in English folklore so i tried to make the list ones many people
wouldnt know so i mean lemme know if I succeeded.
Either way grab your popcorn folks this is gonna be a good one, these are the Top 10
Scary English Folklore.
Starting us off with number 10 is The Wild Hunt.
And this one is borderline ancient, the first account of the Wild Hunt was back in 1127
when a historical document revealed this, ‘many men both saw and heard a great number
of huntsmen hunting.
The huntsmen were black, huge, and hideous, and rode on black horses and on black he-goats,
and their hounds were jet black, with eyes like saucers, and horrible’.
Apparently the huntsmen were sinners while they were alive and so the nightly exercise
was just part of their punishment and them on their own isnt scary enough, they were
also accompanied by demons.
Lone travellers would get taken by the whole group of them and dragged to the literal pits
of hell.
Coming in at number 9 is Redcap.
So a bit of a history lesson for you, England and Scotland were at war for far too long
back in the day and that made the Ango-Scottish border a dangerous ass place to be.
Raiders from both countries would go and commit crimes on the other side of the border and
come back and not be punished for it and with horrible people, there are also horrible creatures.
Redcap was an evil creature that took the form of an old man with iron shoes.
He had long pointed teeth, red eyes, talon like fingers and long hair.
And the cherry on top was his red hat.
Redcap would ravage all the abandoned castles along the border hunting for bodies left behind
from the war and use their blood to dye his cap.
And if he didnt find any bodies hed just wait around and kill an unlucky passerby.
Apparently the only way to defeat him is to either brandish a crucifix or recite biblical
scripture after which he should scream and disappear into a ball of fire and if he doesnt
well dont quote me on that.
No cap.
At number 8 we have The Vampires of Burton-on-Trent.
No folklore video is ever complete without the mention of some kinda vampires or another.
According to an old Anglo-Saxon chronicle there were 2 peasants in Burton on Trent that
had died yet were seen walking around town with their coffins on their backs.
They would knock on peoples doors calling their names and whoever they called upon would
very quickly fall sick and die.
Suspicious the villagers decided to open up the coffins of the 2 men to see the corpses
were completely undecayed, and their mouths were covered with cloths drenched with blood.
Being like absolutely not, the villagers beheaded the corpses, cut their hearts out and burned
the bodies.
2 black birds were seen emerging from the fire and after that point the men were never
seen again.
I feel like Twilight and The Vampire Diaries really ruined vampires for me i always have
to remind myself theyre not like Edward Cullen or the Salvatore brothers theyre like this.
Filling our number 7 slot is Cutty Dyer.
Now the legend of Cutty Dyer goes way back to at least 1879.
Thats the first time this creature was talked about in local publications and everyone had
already been shitting it for a while.
This creature is said to be an ogre or a water sprite that stalked the stream of the River
Yeo (yo) or Ashburn depending on the version of the story you hear.
The legend originated in the town of Ashburton where he supposedly lived under the Kings
Bridge.
Cutty Dyer would wait around stalking children and any drunkards that came by, hed pounce
on them drowning them and then gorging on their blood.
Appetising.
Parents used to tell his story to their kids kind like of an ode to the bogeyman so theyd
stay away from the river.
2 people have said to have witnessed him standing waist deep in the water bearing shark teeth
and bright glowing red eyes.
Now at number 6 is Spring-Heeled Jack.
Good ol Jack terrorized Victorian Britain namely London from the 1830s onwards.
First mentioned back in 1810, 3 women reported being attacked by a tall figure wearing a
skin tight black suit, long fingers, red eyes and metal claws.
Apparently he would breathe blue fire into their faces not burning them but paralysing
them.
Fear was ripe around the city, everyone was shitting bricks and obviously so.
Many groups even set out to find and kill Jack but he was never caught.
As he gained popularity his attacks became few and far between cus mans likes to keep
it lowkey yknow how it is.
Coming in at number 5 is the Gytrash.
Now already the countryside of Yorkshire is pretty much deserted, the hills have a bunch
of footpaths around them that people havent used in centuries.
So because of that and the major lack of signage its almost inevitable that one would get lost
if travelling the area.
The Gytrash was said to be THE most dangerous spirit to live in Yorkshire and here i am
like damn theres more than one spirit?
Lookswise it could appear as a black horse or dog or mule with fiery red eyes.
It would stalk the footpaths looking for lost travellers and would then lead them further
astray so theyd be even more screwed.
One the traveller was lost with no hope the gytrash would either disappear leaving them
for dead in the dark or itd attack them killing them instantly.
At number 4 is The Mermaid of Galloway.
First mentioned back in 1810, the tale goes as follows.
The mermaid of Galloway used to live in a breathtaking burn or watercourse and every
night she would sit on a rock and locals would come to her seeking medical advice.
Everything was all rainbows and butterflies but one particular religious woman thought
the mermaid was the work of the devil.
She ended up pushing the mermaids rock in the water and so when the mermaid appeared
the next day she was so distraught due ot the lack of seat.
She cried out saying “You may look to your toom (empty) cradle/And I’ll look to my
stane.’ she said more than that but its in old english so i didnt understand it and
it simply wasnt relevant.
The next day the religious womans baby was found dead in its cradle and the mermaid was
never seen again.
I mean never take a womans seat.
Yknow what they say.
Filling our number 3 slot is The Kelpie and the 9 children.
Reverend John Gregorson Campbell was the first person to recount this story in his book Superstitions
of the Highlands and Islands of Scotland back in 1900.
Legend has it a group of 9 children were roaming around Lochaber (lock-ah-ber) in the Scottish
highlands when they came across a relatively massive friendly horse.
This horse was so big that it had room for all 9 kids to sit on its back and as soon
as they did the horse galloped off with the kids fearing for their life.
They wanted to jump off but were magically stuck to the horse and only one of the kids
survived because he had a pocketknife in his bag.
He cut off his finger that was attached to the horses mane and watched it dive into a
loch taking its damned cargo with it.
None of the kids were seen again but following day guts and other organs were seen floating
on the surface of the water.
Now at number 2 is The Witch-Hare of Cleveland.
And not Cleveland Ohio we’re talking Britain baby.
So this story came to light in the early 19th century, apparently a group of farmers were
out hunting hares when they ran into Nanny X a well known witch in the area.
She told them that shed tell them where a huge hare is but that they should set a black
dog on it to kill it.
They agreed and she pointed out a massive brush where ofc there was a hare.
The hare started running for the hills and ofc the farmers went off after it.
Just as the hare finally reached Nanny Xs cottage a massive demon hellhound appeared
out of thin air, snapping the hares legs and taking a massive bite out of its leg.
Distraught the hunters went to her cottage to apologise for letting the black dog get
the hare but when they went inside they found her half dead in bed with a massive lump out
of her thigh.
Exactly where the hellhound bit the hare.
And finally at number 1 is Black Annis aka Black Anny.
First mentioned in a title deed back in 1764, Anny was a witch that apparently lived in
a cave known as Black Annys Bower.
The cave has since been lost to erosion and was supposedly built over for housing after
world war 1.
Looks wise she had a grimy blue face, long arms that she used to reach through windows
and snatch peoples kids and claws made of iron like she could slice a hoes head clean
off.
She would go around Leicestershire haunting locals and looking for animals or children
to eat.
Once shed kidnapped a child she would drain them of all their blood and thier drape their
skin on the tree outside her cave.
Shed then wait for the skin to dry before adding it to skirt that was already made from
kids of murdered past.