Black Annis is a bogeywoman from Leicestershire folklore, usually pictured as a blue-faced hag with iron claws who lived in a cave in the Dane Hills, west of Leicester. The place name "Black Anny's Bower Close" is documented in eighteenth-century title deeds, but the hag herself comes from oral tradition, and the sources disagree on where she came from.
In the record
- An eighteenth-century title deed names a plot of land “Black Anny’s Bower Close”; County Folklore (1895) mentions two deeds dated 13 and 14 May 1764.
- A play, Black Anna’s Bower, or the Maniac of the Dane Hills, was staged at the Leicester Theatre in 1837.
- A Leicester Chronicle of 26 February 1842 tied the figure to a woman named Agnes Scott; it was reprinted in 1895.
- C. J. Billson’s County Folklore: Leicestershire & Rutland (Folk-Lore Society, 1895) collects the Black Annis material, including a poem by John Heyrick.
Not in the record
- That a real creature lived in the cave, dug it with iron claws or took children and lambs.
- Any single origin theory: Agnes Scott, an ancient goddess, or a plain nursery bogey.
- The exact form and end date of the cat-drag custom, which secondary sources describe differently.
Who Is Black Annis?
Black Annis (also Black Agnes or Black Anna) is described in Wikipedia's summary as an English bogeywoman, a hag or witch with a blue face and iron claws. In the tale she lives in a cave in the Dane Hills with a great oak at the entrance, goes out at night for children and lambs, and can reach into houses. Her howl is said to carry about five miles.
Told as a warning, this is a classic nursery bogey: a figure used to keep children indoors after dark. No source consulted gives a named victim, a date or a record of any real attack.
Is Black Annis Real?
Not as described. The land name and the stories about her exist; the creature does not appear in any record found. Sources consulted trace the earliest written reference to the title deeds of 13 and 14 May 1764, which use the phrase "Black Anny's Bower Close." That is a field name, not an eyewitness report.
Later records are cultural rather than factual: the 1837 Leicester stage play, the Heyrick poem reprinted by Billson in 1895, and newspaper material from 1842.
What Does Black Annis Look Like?
Accounts agree on a few features. Wikipedia lists a blue face and iron claws. Mysterious Britain adds long black claws and sharp teeth, but also calls her one-eyed and shrivelled, a detail not found in the other sources consulted, so it is treated as one retelling only. Most modern images of her trace to the Heyrick poem, which Billson printed in 1895; Wikipedia gives no date for the poem, and h2g2 dates Heyrick to 1742-97.
Black Annis's Bower and the Dane Hills
The Dane Hills are a large area on the western side of Leicester that includes Western Park. Wikipedia's Dane Hills page says a cave there was known as Black Annis's Bower, reputed to be a witch's lair. In the tale she scraped it out of a sandstone cliff with her claws and ambushed people from an oak at its mouth.
Mysterious Britain says the bower survived until just after the First World War and now lies beneath the Dane Hills housing estate. That comes from a single, self-described online compilation, so treat the date as unconfirmed.
Where Does the Name Come From?
Several theories exist, and none is settled.
Agnes Scott. Ronald Hutton (2001) proposed that the legend rests on a real late medieval woman named Agnes Scott, whose memory was distorted. The link was already made in the 1842 Leicester Chronicle item.
Goddess theories. T. C. Lethbridge connected the name to the Celtic Danu or Anu, and Donald Mackenzie (1917) compared her to a devouring mother goddess. These are speculative comparisons by writers, not evidence of worship in Leicestershire.
A plain bogey. Mysterious Britain suggests parents simply used her to frighten children.
A separate tradition, per Wikipedia, called her “Cat Anna” and placed her in cellars under Leicester Castle with a passage to the Dane Hills.
The Cat-Drag Hunt: What Do the Sources Say?
According to Wikipedia, a dead cat was dragged before hounds in front of the bower in early spring, and the custom is said to have ended in the late eighteenth century. Katharine Briggs (1976) places the drag hunt on Easter Monday, running from the bower to the mayor of Leicester's house, with the cat soaked in aniseed.
Mysterious Britain gives a similar picture: a “hare hunt” on Easter Monday (“Black Monday”) with a cat dragged on a horse's tail from the bower to the mayor's door, later becoming the Dane Hills Fair. The original Billson wording could not be read directly, so the exact form of the custom remains second-hand. The sources agree on the drag and the Easter timing; they differ on detail.
Related British and European Hags
Black Annis sits among English bogeys that police the edges of the countryside. For comparison see Black Shuck, England's phantom black dog, the hairy hands of Dartmoor and our guide to haunted places in the UK. For other hag figures, read about Baba Yaga, the Irish banshee and Perchta of the Alps.
How Much Is Documented
Documented: the land name in 1764 deeds, the 1837 play, the 1842 newspaper item and the 1895 Billson collection. Disputed: the origin of the name and the figure. Oral tradition: the cave, the claws, the oak and the child-taking. Unverified: the exact form of the cat hunt and the bower's destruction date. The site therefore labels this entry partially documented.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Black Annis?
A bogeywoman of Leicestershire folklore, described as a blue-faced hag with iron claws who lived in a cave in the Dane Hills. Parents are said to have used her to keep children indoors.
Is Black Annis real?
No record shows a real creature. The land name "Black Anny's Bower Close" appears in 1764 deeds, but the hag is a folk figure. Ronald Hutton suggests a real medieval woman, Agnes Scott, may lie behind the story.
Where is Black Annis's Bower?
On the Dane Hills, a large area west of Leicester that includes Western Park. One online source says the cave now lies under housing, but that claim is not independently confirmed.
What is the Black Annis cat-drag custom?
Sources say a dead cat soaked in aniseed was dragged before hounds from the bower, said to be on Easter Monday and to have ended in the late eighteenth century. Accounts vary in detail.
Is Black Annis a goddess?
Only in theory. Writers such as T. C. Lethbridge and Donald Mackenzie linked her to older goddess figures, but no document shows such worship in Leicester.
Why is Black Annis blue?
No source consulted explains it. Descriptions give a blue face, but the reason is not recorded and any explanation would be guesswork.
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