The Barghest

North Yorkshire, 1870s

‘...a monstrous, goblin-like dog with fiery eyes and rattling chains’.

Cryptids are my favourite, it is criminal that it has taken me this long to research some northern Cryptids (funnily enough, that’s what people call me...). But I have found a humdinger of a Cryptid for our first; the ever mysterious and completely terrifying Barghest, although I bet ten quid if I saw one I’d try to pet it.

The Barghest name, historically, seems to be a hybrid of several ye olde words. ‘Burr’, the Anglo-Saxon word for ‘Town’ and ‘Geist’ the German for ‘Ghost’, giving it the literal meaning of Town Ghost, but our four-legged friend seems a lot more than just a simple friendly neighbourhood ghost. This canine spectre has been described as ‘monstrous’ and ‘goblin-like’, with fur as dark as the night and eyes which glow a fiery red. With huge teeth and claws, it has been reported to shape-shift into different demonic entities... Yeah, I’d still try and pet it.

Most reports from the 1870s, m0re notably from the city of York but has been named in other places in North Yorkshire, state that the Barghest is capable of shifting into several different forms: headless man or woman, a white cat, or a rabbit... the latter two I would also try to pet. As most creatures from Hell, the Barghest is said to have certain rules - much like vampires, this beast cannot cross water and is only seen at night time.

One of the more amazing aspects of the Barghest’s tales, and one I am stealing for every day use, is that this beast has been seen to roam the ‘snickleways’ of York... yes, you are right, that is an amalgamation of the Yorkshire terms ‘ginnel’, ‘snicket’ and ‘alleyway’. Weary travellers in the 1800s have reported seeing the Barghest lurk in the shadows, and many did not survive their encounters.

It has been said that Barghests are the harbingers of death, much like my favourite Cryptid the Mothman, and so those who stumble upon it were already destined for death. There aren’t many documented tales of much length relating to the Barghest, at least that I can find, but there has been one report from York local James Wallace who took his own life shortly after encountering a Barghest - although there really isn’t a lot written about this!

A lot of folklore tales, especially ones from times-gone, do have a habit of reflecting societal fears of the time. A suppose there is something to say about this beast being a large black dog with piercingly bright eyes which only appears at night time (given it’s appearance, one would assume you’d only be able to see the eyes), the fear of the unknown and that which we cannot see mixed with the ever-present fear that something that is usually a companion (in this case a dog) suddenly being something malevolent probably holds a lot of weight in these types of folklore stories. But that’s boring! I believe a huge, black canine of death and destruction walks the streets of York. And I will find it and pet it!

Sources

https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Barghest

https://www.wyrdwessex.co.uk/blog-1/the-barghest-unraveling-the-folklore-of-yorks-snickleways

https://www.britannica.com/art/Barghest

https://connectparanormal.net/2025/02/06/the-barghest-yorkshires-phantom-hound-of-death/

https://www.information-britain.co.uk/loredetail.php?id=87

https://www.spookyisles.com/black-dog-of-ayrshire/#google_vignette