black dog

Thanks to the Bords, I’m on to the “black dog”.  Never thought much about ghosty black dogs before…

One example is the Bhargest.  From Wikipedia:

Barghest, Bargtjest, Bo-guest, Bargest or Barguest is the name often given in the north of England, especially in Yorkshire, to a legendary monstrous black dog with huge teeth and claws, though in other cases the name can refer to a ghost or Household elf, especially in Northumberland and Durham (see Cauld Lad of Hylton). One is said to frequent a remote gorge named Troller’s Gill. There is also a story of a Barghest entering the city of York occasionally, where, according to legend, it preys on lone travellers in the city’s narrow Snickelways.Whitby is also associated with the spectre.^[1]

The derivation of the word barghest is disputed. Ghost in the north of England was once pronounced guest, and the name is thought to beburh-ghest: town-ghost. Others explain it as German Berg-geist (mountain spirit), or Bär-geist (bear-spirit), in allusion to its alleged appearance at times as a bear. Another mooted derivation is ‘Bier-Geist’, the ’spirit of the funeral bier’.

I think I like Old Shuck best, though.  It’s the one that scorched the church door at Bungay.  Marks are still visible 432 years later.