184:. It has been suggested that the legend may derive from a popular memory of sacrifice to an ancient goddess. It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspired the legend in the archaeological Hunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also a common site of local meetings.
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Other traditions stated that when she ground her teeth people could hear her, giving them time to bolt their doors and to keep away from the window. It is said that cottages in
Leicestershire were purposely built with small windows so that Black Annis could only get a single arm inside. When she
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their skins by hanging them on a tree before wearing them around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig her cave out of the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis' Bower Close. The
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Black Annis was also represented in monstrous cat form, and the legend led to a local ritual in early spring when a dead cat would be dragged before a pack of hounds in front of her bower to celebrate the end of winter. According to
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legend led to parents warning their children that Black Annis would get them if they did not behave. She was also known to hide in the branches of her oak tree waiting to leap upon unsuspecting prey.
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The earliest known written reference to Black Annis was from an eighteenth century title deed that referred to a parcel of land (or "close") as "Black Anny's Bower Close". The first volume of
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the story of Agnes Scott, or Annis, became confused with the similarly named goddess Anu. Lethbridge made this connection and went on to claim that Annis was the personification of the
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was performed at the
Leicester Theatre. The plot involved the murder of a landlady of the Blue Boar Inn, in which Black Anna played a part similar to that of the witches in
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The connection between Black Annis and Agnes Scott was made previous to Hutton, including the gravesite and cave, in an issue of the
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howled she could be heard 5 mi (8.0 km) away, then the cottagers would fasten skins across the window and place protective
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of ancient Europe which he contends was thought of as a devourer of children. He identified Black Annis as being similar to the
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and that there was an underground passage extending from the cellars to the Dane Hills along which she ran.
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308:) and led from Annis' Bower to the mayor of Leicester's house. The bait dragged was a dead cat drenched in
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Many of the modern conceptions of Black Annis were popularised in a poem by John
Heyrick, given in full in
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with iron claws and a taste for human flesh (especially children). She is said to haunt the countryside of
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209:), born in Little Antrum, who lived a life of prayer in a cave in the Dane Hills and was buried in the
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Another tradition stated that Black Annis (in the form of Cat Anna) lived in the cellars beneath
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She is said to venture out at night looking for unsuspecting children and lambs to eat, then
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The Black Annis figure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as
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Briggs here quotes Ruth Tongue who records these traditions in
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The
Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
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The
Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft
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A Companion to the
Folklore, Myths & Customs of Britain
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dated Feb. 26th, 1842 and reprinted in the first volume of
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Turner, Patricia & Coulter, Charles
Russell (2001).
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suggested the origin of the legend may go back to the
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Black Anna's Bower, or the Maniac of the Dane Hills
525:Black Annis – leicester legend or Widespread Myths
281:Scooped with her claws beneath the flinty ground
279:'Tis said that in the rock large rooms were found
190:however disagrees with such theories in his book
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607:BBC – h2g2 – Black Annis – Legend of Leicester
270:Glared in her visage, whilst her obscene waist
266:Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew
277:Where hung the monstrous trophies of her sway
391:Forgotten Folk-Tales of the English Counties
264:To view Black Annis' eye, so fierce and wild
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268:In place of hands, and features livid blue
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561:The Minor Traditions of British Mythology
262:'Tis said the soul of mortal man recoiled
589:. Oxford University Press. pp. 274–275.
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119:Myths of Crete and Pre-Hellenic Europe
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74:above it to keep themselves safe.
38:. She is imagined as a blue-faced
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105:(or Anu) or it may derive from
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540:Dictionary of Ancient Deities
502:Mackenzie, Donald A. (1917).
429:. Pantheon Books. pp. 24–25.
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696:Germanic legendary creatures
686:English legendary characters
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691:English legendary creatures
352:Black Lady of Bradley Woods
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635:Billson (1895). pp. 76–77.
425:Briggs, Katharine (1976).
205:nun who cared for a local
115:Donald Alexander Mackenzie
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50:, living in a cave in the
706:History of Leicestershire
681:Culture in Leicestershire
506:. Kessinger. pp. 111–122.
471:County Folk-Lore (Vol. 1)
16:English folklore bogeyman
661:Mysterious Britain entry
626:Billson (1895). pp. 4–6.
515:Billson (1895). pp. 8–9.
453:Alexander, Marc (2002).
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585:Hutton, Ronald (2001).
427:Encyclopedia of Fairies
201:(or by some accounts a
559:Spence, Lewis (1972).
467:Billson, Charles James
322:In 1837 a play called
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219:Protestant Reformation
58:tree at the entrance.
711:Witchcraft in England
647:Billson (1895). p. 9.
617:Billson (1895). p. 6.
486:Billson (1895). p. 8.
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86:(1895), published by
475:The Folklore Society
257:but excerpted here:
88:The Folklore Society
716:Witches in folklore
243:Leicester Chronicle
287:Customs and traces
595:978-0-19-285449-0
569:978-0-405-08989-3
548:978-0-19-514504-5
435:978-0-394-73467-5
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670:Categories
477:. pp. 4–9.
400:References
372:Peg Powler
211:churchyard
52:Dane Hills
34:figure in
28:Black Anna
357:Grindylow
347:Baba Yaga
298:drag hunt
221:. In the
215:Swithland
203:Dominican
199:anchoress
101:based on
676:Bogeymen
336:See also
250:(1895).
237:groups.
196:medieval
167:Egyptian
165:and the
107:Germanic
32:bogeyman
393:(1970).
329:Macbeth
310:aniseed
162:Labartu
153:Demeter
78:Origins
63:tanning
30:) is a
721:Crones
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235:Wiccan
175:Hathor
156:, the
147:, the
136:Gaelic
378:Notes
296:this
231:crone
181:Neith
149:Greek
127:Indic
72:herbs
44:witch
701:Hags
591:ISBN
565:ISBN
544:ISBN
431:ISBN
178:and
171:Isis
141:and
131:Kali
103:Danu
229:in
213:in
113:).
111:Hel
56:oak
42:or
40:hag
26:or
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