The Black Dog and the Wolds Panther

Anyone living recently in the Wolds will have heard of the strange black beast seen wandering the hills and fens, and the giant footprints found on the beach; and anyone who has read Harry Potter and the PRisoner of Azkaban will be aware of the folkloric legends of the evil black hound or barguest.

Just as once upon a time comets and other celestial phenomena were spoken of as dragons and angels, but now are more likely to be reported as UFOs and alien spacecraft, the reports which have consistently been printed in the Horncastle News and other local papers of a large black animal prowling the countryside in Lindsey recall the sightings of a phantom Black Dog once prevalent in the same area.

Whereas in other countries the dog is fearsome, foreshadowing death and misfortune, in Lincolnshire the apparition was always previously seen as a good omen, and a protector. E.H.Rudkin details one old story from North Lincolnshire, a sighting of 1912:

"One moonlit evening in the early spring of 1912, I was cycling alone from Goxhill to Barton-on-Humber. All the day I had been working at Goxhill with my men, and was riding to Barton about 9 p.m. I had about a mile and a half to go when I had a punctured tyre. As I pushed my cycle along I wished I had a friend to accompany me. I was not in the least afraid, as I knew every part of the way. I am not by nature a nervous fellow, but I had a premonition of evil. Quite suddenly I was aware that on my left hand side was heavy breathing and padding feet. I found that my companion was a large black dog; his coat curly and glossy. And as I looked down, two friendly eyes met mine. I did not speak to the dog because I felt that a strange voice might frighten him away, and I appreciated his companionship.

As I walked he kept close to my side and continued to pad heavily and pant loudly. PResently the moon became obscured by black clouds, but I could still see the dog clearly because his coat was so shiny and bright and his body so large. All at once I heard a rustle in the high hawthorne hedge which flanked the road, and a tall, broad-shouldered man sprang towards me and barred my way. His attitude was menacing and offensive. He quickly stopped short when he noticed the dog, and calmly asked if I could tell him the time.

I reached home safely, the dog seeming to hug my side more closely all the way. Outside my house there is a street-lamp, and here I could see the dog very clearly. Turning to leave my cycle on the house railing, I decided to take the dog indoors and give him a good meal and rest him until morning. When I looked back, he was disappearing, melting into thin air, as it were! I called, and coaxed, but there was no sound. I waited a while hoping he would return, but then realised in a flash that he had been no real dog. I lived in Barton all my life, and know that nobody in a wide area possessed such a large black dog, and I am sure in my mind that the faithful friend saved me from a would-be enemy."

There's really nothing new under the sun...