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The legend of Sawney Bean. (source)
The story of Sawney Bean is one of the most gruesome
Scottish legends, the plot of which would not look out of place in any modern
horror/slasher movie. Evidence suggests the tale dates to the early 18th
century.
Alexander Sawney Bean was - legend tells - the head of an incestuous
cannibalistic family, who oversaw a 25-year reign of murder and robbery from a
hidden sea cave on the Ayrshire/Galloway coast in the 15th century. The cave
most readily associated with Sawney and his nefarious clan is close to
Ballantrae on Bennane head in Ayrshire, although other sea caves along the
Ayrshire and Galloway coast have also been associated with the story.
There are numerous written sources detailing the account of Sawney and his
family, and it has been suggested that the legend has its roots in real events,
although this is unlikely as will be outlined later in this article. The tale
appears in full and lurid detail in the succinctly titled Historical and
Traditional Tales Connected with the South of Scotland by John Nicholson in
1843. The following is a watered down account of the tale based on Nicholson:
The Legend
Sawney Bean was born in the late 14th century, in a small East Lothian village
not ten miles from Edinburgh. He began life as a hedger and ditcher, but, being
prone to idleness and inclined towards dishonesty he ran away from home with a
woman who was as viciously inclined as himself. Having no means to make a living
they set up home in a sea cave in Galloway supporting themselves by robbing and
murdering travellers and locals, and surviving on their victim's pickled and
salted flesh. In time their family grew to an incestuous gang of 46 sons,
daughters, grandsons and granddaughters. Their reign of terror did not go
unnoticed: for one hundreds of people went missing over the years, and the Beans
became so successful in their butchery that they cast unwanted limbs into the
sea. These were washed up on distant and local beaches, much to the horror of
the coastal communities. In time the areas reputation reached the ears of the
authorities and, in these suspicious times, many innocent people were executed
for Sawney's crimes. The hardest hit were innkeepers as, more often than not,
the missing person was last seen in an inn or lodgings: suspicion naturally
falling on those who had seen them last. This happened on so many occasions that
numerous innkeepers fled to take up other less risky occupations, and the area
became a shunned and depopulated place.
Sawney's family had by now grown very large and started to attack larger groups,
although never more than they thought they could overwhelm. They were confident
they would not be discovered: the cave that they had chosen had kept them well
hidden from prying eyes. The tide passed right into the mouth of the cave, which
went almost a mile into the cliffs. It was estimated that in their 25-year reign
of terror they had killed more than a thousand men women and children. They were
finally discovered by fortunate chance: A man and his wife were returning from a
local fayre on horseback - the man in front with his wife behind - when they
were ambushed by the Bean family. The husband put a furious struggle with his
sword and pistol and managed to plough through the villainous host.
Unfortunately his wife lost her balance and fell from the horse, to be instantly
butchered by the female cannibals, who ripped out her entrails and started to
feast on her blood. Her horrified husband fought back even harder and was lucky
that 30 or so other revellers from the fayre came along the path. The Bean
family made a hasty retreat back to their hideout, as the man explained to the
crowd what had happened. The husband went along with the group to Glasgow,
magistrates were informed, who in turn told the King, James IV, who was so
enthralled with the case that he took personal charge. Equipped with bloodhounds
the King and a posse of 400 men made their way to the scene of the slaughter and
the hunt began.
The bloodhounds get all the credit for the capture of Sawney Bean: the King's
men did not notice the well-hidden cave but the dogs could not ignore the strong
smell of flesh that surrounded it. The men entered the cave and found a horrible
scene: dried parts of human bodies were hanging all from the roof, pickled limbs
lay in barrels, and all around piles of money and trinkets from the pockets of
the dead lay in piles. The Beans made no attempt to escape all were caught alive
and brought to Edinburgh in chains, where they were incarcerated in the
Tollbooth, and the next day taken to Leith.
The people were horrified when they heard about the crimes of Sawney Bean and
his family and decided to give them a punishment even more barbaric. The
execution was a slow one: the men bled to death after their hands and legs were
cut off, and the women were burned alive after they were forced to watch the
execution of the men. John Nicholson tells us about the execution as follows
"...they all died without the least sign of repentance, but continued cursing
and vending the most dreadful imprecations to the very last gasp of life."
Truth in the Tale?
The truth of the Sawney Bean legend is hard to confirm, but there are many
factors which suggest the story is an 18th Century invention. It seems that the
legend first saw print in the early 18th Century in the lurid broadsheets and
chapbooks of the time. (See The Legend of Sawney Bean, London 1975 by Ronald
Holmes for an excellent investigation into the myth.)These were all printed in
England, but broadly match Nicholson's later rendering of the tale. The content
of chapbooks was mainly invented and exaggerated stories about grisly deeds,
executions, murders and other lurid accounts, aimed at shocking readers. They
were evidently very popular and were certainly the forerunners of the Victorian
Penny Dreadfuls.
According to Fiona Black in The Polar Twins, the tale was probably an English
invention to denigrate the Scots, especially in the period of unrest that saw
the Jacobite rebellion. There are however records of periods of famine, and some
occurrences of cannibalism, in Scotland in the late 15th century.
Another sticking point is that there are no contemporary records from the time
that even mention Sawney Bean. Although there are 'relatively' few records from
the time, it is strange that such a high profile story, with the added
involvement of the King James IV, has no historical evidence at all. There are
also no records of the executions of the various innkeepers, and the
disappearances of travellers in the Ayrshire area.
Like many legends said to be based on fact - where contemporary evidence does
not exist - it is possible that a grain of truth exists somewhere in the story.
It is also impossible to conclusively prove that there is no truth at all in the
story. Personally I do not think that Bean existed, but the Ayrshire coastline
is steeped in dark folklore, and the Bean legend may have its root in some far
away bloody deed or gristly piece of folklore that has been long forgotten.
A Local Anecdote
Local blacksmith, and psychic detective, Tom Robinson is convinced of the truth
to the tale after witnessing ghosts in the cave of Sawney Bean. Mr Robinson
believes that instead of being executed in Edinburgh, the Sawney family were
cornered and sealed alive in their cave to die a slow, agonising death. The
ghosts aren't those of Sawney and his family though, but their victims who were
cursed before they were killed and eaten by the cannibalistic clan. Inside a
cave, which he considered to be the Sawney home, Tom recounts how he heard a
woman's scream and saw a female form dragged into the back of the cave by 12
white lights, while a male form lay immobile on the cave floor. The images faded
into the cave wall. Upon further investigation, Mr Robinson returned to the site
in 1991 and performed an exorcism.
Sights to See
Today the Sawney Bean legend has become part of the Tourism and Heritage trial.
The cave identified with the tale, since the late 19th Century, is on the coast
at Bennane head between Lendalfoot and Ballantrae. There is a reconstruction of
the cave that was home to the cannibalistic Sawney Bean and his family at the
Edinburgh Dungeon on Market Street, near the Waverly Bridge in Edinburgh.
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