The Hills Have Eyes — The Legend of Sawney Bean
According to the legend, Sawney Bean was born in East Lothian, Scotland in the 13th century. Unable to make an honest living Bean moved to a cave in the wilderness with his wife. Lacking a trade, it was Sawney's plan to support his new wife on the proceeds of robbery. It proved a simple enough matter to ambush travellers on the lonely narrow roads that connected the villages of the area.
Then it dawned on him that in order to help make sure that he could never be identified for his crimes, he should murder his victims. To avoid those unnecessary visits to the shops for provisions whilst at the same time disposing of any evidence, he came on the bright idea of butchering the bodies to provide a high protein diet of human meat for himself and his wife.
Eventually Bean had a number of children with his wife, who in turn produced a number of grandchildren through incest. Soon the Bean clan reached 48 people, most of whom where born of incestuous brother and sister relationships. In order to feed all the hungry mouths the clan turned to cannibalism, murdering and consuming any who were unfortunate to be ambushed in the nearby countryside.
One day the Bean’s attacked a man and wife on horseback who were returning from a local country fair. Skilled in combat the man was able to fend off the Bean’s with his sword and pistols, although his wife was kidnapped, killed, and eaten. The traumatized man reported the events to the magistrate, who in turn reported the murder to the king.
The king organized a hunting party of 400 heavily armed soldiers and a number of hounds. When they entered the large cave they were able to corner and capture the Bean family. Scattered among the cave were various human body parts, pickled human meat, personal belongings of victims, and human bones.
The Bean clan was taken to Edinburgh, where they were locked up in Tollbooth Prison. A short time later they were executed, with the men hung, drawn, and quartered and the women burned at the stake.
Reference:
http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofScotland/Sawney-Bean-Scotlands-most-famous-cannibal/
#history #legendsofScotland #meatandbonesdiet
Read the whole article- quite amazing! I wonder if there will ever be enough evidence found to support the folk history!
ReplyDeleteLegends and traditions are a mix of history and imagination. More imagination I'd say :)
ReplyDeleteBut I like blood and guts...therefore I like this story.
What a morbid tale... I imagine, if murder was not illegal, there would be far more going on. Humans are a pretty brutal and ruthless species
ReplyDeleteWell, many of us have what you might call a demonic nature. ;)
ReplyDeleteAnd now I am going to have nightmares....
ReplyDeleteExcellent story....The Black Donelly family from London ,Ontario,Canada were an interesting read..They fought, killed , tampered and were eventually murdered,,,for their deeds in the late 1800's...
ReplyDelete😘Corina Marinescu🎭 a te, Ti esorcizzo io ;) 😄😄😊
ReplyDeleteIl morbo della mucca pazza non è una novità! Molti anni fa in gioventù vidi un documentario in bianco e nero dove si parlava di una tribu africana che per onorare i propri defunti ne mangiava i cadaveri. In tal modo si pensava di acquistare le loro virtù (lo spirito). Ma c'era l'effetto collaterale che a volte qualcuno impazziva.
ReplyDeleteForse non era Africa:
ReplyDeletehttps://it.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(malattia)
Powerful argument not to get rid of the food stamps programs :)
ReplyDeleteso if you're going to draw and quarter them, why hang them first, or else, why bother with the quartering after you've hung them? Dead is dead, isn't it? Anyone know why they did both? Or did some get one execution, others get another?
ReplyDeleteann kiszt
ReplyDeleteMaybe they just liked to play with their food.
ann kiszt the crime was so horrendous that the mere hanging was not enough as punishment. Whoever looks at their end was to remain terrified, here is why the quartering, was a deterrent.
ReplyDelete