Werewolf Folklore From Yorkshire And Other Sightings In The UK.
The Flixton Werewolf
Flixton is a very small village about 5 miles to the south of Scarborough on the North Yorksire coast, In a valley between the hills of the Yorkshire Wolds to the south and the edge of the North York moors a few miles to the north. Today it’s a quite desolate landscape, swampy and open, but long ago it was a dense forest with a large lake. It must have been quite a wild, remote spot in the 10th century when the Flixton werewolf was first reported terrorising the local countryside.
There is no way of knowing now just how far back the Flixton werewolf tales go, but in the year 940 the situation was such that a hostel was built in Flixton specifically for the protection of travellers. The werewolf had reportedly attacked sheep and local people as well as travellers. The winters at that time were particularly cruel in northern Britain and food was scarce. Freshly buried corpses were dug up and devoured, and anyone out after dark was risking being attacked. The Flixton werewolf became quite notorious at this time.
However, the reports then stopped, and he doesn't seem to have been reported again for a couple of hundred years or so, when around 1150 (ish) the reports began again. It, (even assuming it was the same, very old, creature), devoured a local shepherd and a young girl, as well as farm animals. This werewolf walked upright, was incredibly stinky, had a particularly long tail and ferocious looking eyes. Then all seems to have gone quiet again for about 600 years.
Maybe we should pause here a moment and consider the idea of lycanthropy (the ability to become a wolf, or werewolf) as either an inherited genetic trait, or something which is learned and passed down through the generations in particular families or groups, rather than a single creature roaming around for hundreds of years. Shape shifting is an incredibly ancient phenomenon, reported from all parts of the world in all time periods, even hinted at as far back as the palaeolithic in europe, where cave paintings show the possible transformation of humans into animals. Either way, it's unlikely that a single creature could survive over a period of at least a thousand years.
Another twist to the legend is that it was believed the werewolf was connected to a local magician who either used the creature for his own ends or was actually a shape shifter himself who took on wolf form.
Anyway, Sometime around 1800 a carriage travelling to York was attacked just outside Flixton by a huge wolf like creature who first attacked the driver and then the occupants of the carriage, one of whom shot the creature, but apparently he didn't use silver bullets as the creature was unharmed. It has to be remembered that wolves had been pretty well eradicated from this area by that time, and anyway a solitary wolf would have to be pretty desperate to attack a carriage full of people.
Another point of interest is that Flixton is the site of Star Carr, a neolithic lake village which dates back to the end of the last ice age and so is the first known site to be occupied after the glaciers retreated about 11, 000 years ago. This gives the place a very ancient history indeed and is a perfect place for stories and legends to grow, and although the oldest reports of the werewolf at Flixton date back over a thousand years, who knows whether people were telling tales of strange creatures here many thousands of years before that, way back in the mists of time.
P.S. A recent report which may be relevant..... http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/8ft-tall-werewolf-old-stinker-prowling-in-hull-industrial-estate_uk_573999d2e4b01359f6872265
Recent Accounts: In the early 70's a spat of sightings were reported throughout the Flixton area. The most interesting of these was a report of a commercial vehicle being attacked by a large dog like bipedal animal that tried to bash it's way into the front windscreen to access the driver. However the report remains largely unconfirmed. Interestingly the area is located a stones throw away from Hunmanby, a town ship who's name is derived from the Saxon word 'Hundemanbi' which translates to 'farmstead of the hounds men'. This is a common theme that recurs in British Werewolf folklore. For instance, Cannock Chase in Staffordshire today has mass sightings of large seven foot bipedal dog men like creatures and it is speculated that the name Cannock Chase comes from an early Celtic translation meaning place to be chased by the dog. However, this theory rests alongside several ideas for the origins of the place name. The truth is that no one knows. But Cannock Chase, Hull, and Flixton are just some of the places in Britain that have a rich history of werewolf sightings that date back centuries and are still happening today. In Hull the townsfolk call the creature 'Old Stinker' and in May 2016 the sightings were so numerous that police call centers were actually overwhelmed with calls reporting the creature prowling along the small waterways that pepper the area. Some could say it was an organised prank were it not for the diversity in backgrounds of the people who reported it as well as the fact that over the space of 24 hours over 1,000 sightings were phoned into law enforcement by shaken residents. Hull, like other places in Britain has a heritage of werewolf folklore. Do I believe that giant dog men roam the British countryside? Nah. It is interesting though that we have so many examples of sightings that all occur in areas with rich heritages of sightings and amazing folklore behind it to this day. Thanks for reading guys and Steem on.
Source for info/article: Earthworks