Britain is abound with folklore, in all forms, some as traditional as Robin Hood, to more
contemporary legends like the Beast of Bodmin Moor.
Some stories can be traced back to their roots, while the origins of others are a mystery,
becoming a ghost story told around fireplaces, and to children to steer them away from the
forgotten path.
So today on Top 5 Scary Videos, I’m going to be counting down some of my favorite legend
with our list of the Top 5 Scary UK Urban Legends.
Before we begin though, be sure to stick around until the end of the video where I’ll be
responding to some of your comments.
Lets jump in.
5 Hairy Hands The legend of Hairy Hands is infamous around
the English moors of Devon, with this ghost story built up around a particular stretch
of road in Dartmoor, which was purported to have an unusually high number of motor vehicle
incidents during the last century.
Now, between Cherrybrook and Postbridge in Devon, an isolated stretch of road named B3212
runs over the leviathan folds of Dartmoor -- a wide open space that gives any traveller
a claustrophobic sense of self, while amongst natures grand order.
Along this stretch of road, there has been a high presence of driver, motorcyclists,
and cyclists falling prey to dangerous collisions and accidents.
However, this isn’t what’s baffling, it is instead their story and recounts of how,
and why their accidents occurred.
On the 26th of August, 1921, an army Captain was driving across the moors, when, according
to him, a pair of invisible hands took hold of him and forced his motorcycle off the road.
This resulted in London newspapers picking up the story and made this supernatural occurrence
famous nationwide.
However, this wasn’t the only occurrence, many others have also experienced hands, bu
not always invisible ones, some have even reported hairy hands grabbing their steering
wheel and attempting to steer the hapless traveller off of the road.
More interesting still, not all incidents have occurred in moving vehicles.
In 1924, a woman camping on the moor with her husband reported seeing a hairy hand attempting
to gain access to her caravan.
However, she reported that the hand retreated after she made the sign of the Holy Cross.
Now, the story of the hairy hands has grown over the years, with many attempting to write
a backstory for the baffling road, with a few local versions attributing the hands to
an unnamed man who died in an accident on B3212.
4 Beast of Bodmin Moor Also known as the Beast of Bodmin, this English
urban legend first came to light back in 1978 after multiple people reported sightings of
mutilated slain livestock, and an alleged panther-like cat.
Now, the sightings of the Beast of Bodmin Moor are the most famous alleged wild cat
sightings across the whole of the UK.
This legend baffled folks across Britain due to the fact that owning of importing big cats
are illegal, and often results in the animal getting detained or shot, sadly.
Bodmin Moor is a creepy place, beast or not, and should you happen to find yourself wandering
alone across the rugged landscape it is hard for your mind not to dwell on the legend of
the Beast.
The giant cat-like animal was supposedly three to five feet long and sporting white-yellow
eyes, and was reported enough for authorities to order an investigation into the beast and
the mutilated livestock it left behind.
However, the report concluded that there was no verifiable evidence of a big cat on Bodmin
Moor.
However, there may be a logical reason for the reported sightings of the Beast of Bodmin
Moor.
It has been claimed that animal trainer, Mary Chipperfield, released three pumas into the
wild following the closure of the Plymouth Zoo in 1978, and thus giving rise to the rumors
of the beast.
3 Jenny Greenteeth Occasionally referred to as Ginny Greenteeth,
this is an infamous figure in English folklore, and is a river hag, not dissimilar to Peg
Powler or Girndylow.
Jenny Greenteeth would reportedly pull children, or the elderly into the water and drown them.
This legend was popular in Lancashire and North Staffordshire, with many children describing
this figure as green-skinned, with long hair, and sharp teeth, and is also described as
lurking in the upper branches of trees at night, although folks are unsure if this is
the blurring of two popular legends, Jenny Greenteeth and Ginny-Hewlet, a folk name for
an owl.
Now, if you ask any Brit, they won’t tell you how, or why this legend began, simply
because they don’t know.
There is no particular story behind Jenny Greenteeth, yet that doesn’t stop reports
of scared children running from a woman in a swamp.
However, many do consider her to be a memory of sacrificial practices, or perhaps even
a form of social control: parents evoking fear into their children in order to take
them away from dangerous pngs, streams, rivers and canals.
2 Black Shuck Now, this legend is perhaps the most common
myth in Britain, specifically in the counties of East Anglia.
Known as Black Shucks, Old Shuck, Old Shock or simply even Shuck, these are all the names
given to a ghostly looking black dog that is said to roam the coastline and countryside
of East Anglia.
Along the desolate coastal flats, among the graveyard, in the darkest forests is where
it is said the Black Shuck lurks.
This calf-sized malevolent houd with glowing red eyes is supposedly the harbinger of death,
with it reportedly appearing during electrical storms, such as the one that struck the churches
of Bungay and Blythburgh on the same day at the very same moment in August of 1577, leaving
scorched claw marks on the church door.
The incident resulted in two fatalities, with many reporting a feeling of deep dread, I
quote, “All down the church in the midst of fire, the hellish monster flew.
And, passing onward to the quire, he many people slew.”
W.A. Dutt wrote about the Black Shuch in his 1901 Highways and Byways in East Anglia book,
stating, “He takes the form of a huge black dog, and prowls along dark lanes and lonesome
field footpaths, where, although his howling makes the hearer’s blood run cold, his footfalls
make no sound.
You may know him at once, should you see him, by his fiery eye; he has but one, and that,
like the Cyclops’, is in the middle of his head.”
Now, I could go on, but I really don’t think there’s need.
Beware the Black Shuck, the harbinger of death and doom.
1 Big Grey Man From Ben Macdui In Scottish Folklore, the Big Grey Man, also
known as the Big Grey Man of Ben MacDhui is the name of the creature which is said to
haunt the summit and passes of Ben Macdui, the second highest peak in Scotland and the
British Isles.
Perhaps the most enduring myth on our entire list, the Big Grey Man is described as being
an extremely large, Sasquatch-like grey figure covered in short hair, and wherever he ventures,
he is said to be accompanied by a sense of irrational panic and dread.
Evidence of the creature is limited to various sightings across Ben MacDhui, as well as a
few photographs and unusually larged sized footprints, and almost all of the reports
includes the found of footsteps crunching on the gravel just out of sight of the witness.
Now, the first recorded sighting occurred in 1891, however, it wasn’t made public
until 1925.
J Norman Collie recounted their terrifying experience that they endured while summiting
Ben MacDhui alone some 35 years prior, stating, “I began to think I heard something else
than merely the noise of my own footsteps.
For every few steps I took I heard a crunch, and then another crunch as if someone was
walking after me but taking steps three or four times the length of my own.”
However, Collie isn’t the only one to experience the strange footsteps, many other Ben MacDuhi
climbers have reported the same sounds, as well as the similar feelings of fear and panic.
Now, some have summed this up as illusions, hallucinations even, a natural stimulus brought
on by exhaustion or isolation when climbing.
What do you believe though?
Well, there we have it!
Do you guys agree with our list?
Were there any UK Urban Legends that we missed?
Leave us all your thoughts and feelings in the comments down below and perhaps we can
do a part 2.
Before I depart, I just want to respond to a few comments from one of our last videos,
Top 5 Scariest Horror Movie Robots.
Scissor Me Timbers siad “Best thing about this channel: finding obscure movies I wouldn’t
know about otherwise.
Cheers, Lucy!”
-- You are very, very welcome.
And, quite honestly, that’s also one of my favorite things about this channel.
It’s broadened my horizons, for the better...and sometimes for the worst.
Now, I do have to say, some of you were a little upset about a comment I made in this
video regarding patriotism.
I do apologize if I upset you, and I in no way meant it as an insult to service men,
women, or Veterans.
We always try and keeps things fun and light on Top 5 Scary, and sometimes jokes don’t
land with everyone, so I’m sorry if any of you took offence to my joke.
James Sarno said “Good job!
But someone will most certainly pick Lucy as the Scariest Robot.
I got my money on Lucy against any of these robots.
They simply can’t comprehend the darkness which is Lucy.
Keep up the good work!”
-- Goddamn.
James.
Spitting the hard facts over here, respect!
And finally, The Real Thanos said “I was really hoping for a shout out.”
Ah, well, this is a little awkward, isn't it?
On that note.
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And until next time, see ya later.