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Black Annis

Black Annis, also known as Black Agnes, is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. Sheis imagined as a blue-facedcroneor witch with iron claws and a taste for human

(especially child) flesh.[1]

She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire, living in acave in the Dane Hills, with an oak tree at its entrance.[2]

She supposedly goes out onto the glens at night looking for unsuspecting children andlambs to eat, then tanning their skins by hanging them on a tree, before wearing themaround her waist.[2] She would reach inside houses to snatch people, which was theprofessed reason why houses in that area had small windows.[citation needed] Legend has it thatshe used her iron claws to dig into the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a homethere which is known as Black Annis's Bower. The legend led to parents warning theirchildren that Black Annis would catch them if they did not behave. [2]

Origins

It is thought that the earliest written reference to Black Annis was from the eighteenthcentury, from which a title deed referred to a parcel of land as "Black Anny's BowerClose".[3] Ronald Hutton, in his book The Triumph of the Moon: A History of ModernPagan Witchcraft, suggests that the Black Annis of Leicestershire legend was based on areal person, Agnes Scott, a late medieval anchoress(or by some accounts a Dominicannun who cared for a local leper colony), born in Little Antrum, who lived a life of prayerin the cave in the Dane Hills, and was buried in the church yard inSwithland.[4][5] Huttonsuggests that the memory of Scott was distorted into the image of Black Annis, either tofrighten local children, or due to the anti-anchorite sentiment that arose from the

Protestant Reformation.[4] In Victorian times, the story of Agnes Scott, or Annis, becameconfused with the similarly-named goddess Anu. T.C. Lethbridgemade this connectionand went on to claim that Annis was the personification of the Great Goddess in croneform, leading to interest from Wiccangroups.[4]

While Agnes Scott may have been the inspiration for the local legend, the Black Annisfigure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as Lethbridge did, that the origincan be found in Celtic mythology, based on Danu(or Anu), wife of the Celtic God Llud,[2] or it may derive from Germanic mythology (see Hel).[6] It has been suggested that thelegend may derive from a popular memory of sacrifice to an ancient goddess .[7] BlackAnnis has also been identified as being the same as the Gaelic legend Yellow

Muilearteach, with the wearing of the victims' skins a local addition to the myth. [3] Othershave identified her with the Celtic legend ofCailleach Bheare.[8] The origin of the legendmay go back to the mother-goddess of ancient Europe, who was remembered as adevourer of children.[3]

It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspiredthe legend in the archaeologicalHunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also acommon site of local meetings.[3]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeymanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_folklorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Briggs-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicestershirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_sheephttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoritehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoritehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Orderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Orderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Hutton-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Hutton-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.C._Lethbridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.C._Lethbridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Hutton-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_mythologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danu_(Irish_goddess)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danu_(Irish_goddess)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lludhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Germanic_mythologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Spence-6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Spence-6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_Muilearteach&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_Muilearteach&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_Muilearteach&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cailleach_Bhearehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cailleach_Bhearehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Turner-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hunting_Period&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hunting_Period&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hunting_Period&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bogeymanhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_folklorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Briggs-0http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leicestershirehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dane_Hillshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oakhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domestic_sheephttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_neededhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoritehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominican_Orderhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithlandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Hutton-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-4http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_Reformationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Hutton-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T.C._Lethbridgehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Hutton-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_mythologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danu_(Irish_goddess)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lludhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Alexander-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continental_Germanic_mythologyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Spence-6http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_Muilearteach&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Yellow_Muilearteach&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cailleach_Bhearehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-Turner-7http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hunting_Period&action=edit&redlink=1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Annis#cite_note-MacKenzie-2

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Annis was also represented in 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, tocelebrate the end of winter.[8]

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