 | Alexander "Sawney" Bean: Encyclopedia II - Alexander "Sawney" Bean - Sources & veracity
Alexander "Sawney" Bean - Sources & veracity
Whatever the truth, the grim legend has entered the folklore of the British Isles. Alexander "Sawney" Bean and his cannibalistic family are largely considered just a myth, mostly because of a notable lack of written sources. It is thought that a crime this major and long lasting which ended with King James I himself hunting down the perpetrator would have generated some historical records, but so far none have appeared. There is also some uncertainty over which king was involved in the search; some accounts say James IV or even earlier eras.
The implausibility of four dozen people – said to be the number of the entire inbred Beane clan at the time of their eventual capture – evading capture for a quarter century has sown the seed of scepticism amongst many historians. At some point, the disappearances along the particular stretch of land near the Beanes' cave, which must have numbered in the thousands, would have had to lead to some intense investigation of the area. According to the story, mass searches for missing victims were conducted, but for some reason, no one ever thought to look in the cave along the coast.
A recent article by Sean Thomas argues there is significant doubt as to the actuality of the Sawney Beane tale, at least in the best-known, most detailed version,
"...from broadsheet to broadsheet, the precise dating of Sawney Bean's reign of anthropophagic terror varies wildly: sometimes the atrocities occurred during the reign of James IV, or the reign of James I more than 150 years before. Other versions claim the Beans thrived 'hundreds of years ago'"
This dating could place the murders as far back as the days of Bruce, or even Macbeth. Thomas continues,
"Viewed in this light, it is arguable that the Bean story may have a basis of truth but the precise dating of events has become obscured over the years. Perhaps the dating of the murders was brought forward by the editors and writer of the broadsheets, so as to make the story appear more relevant to the readership ... To add to the intrigue, we do know that cannibalism was not unknown in mediæval Scotland, and that Galloway was in mediæval times a very lawless place; perhaps nothing on the scale of the Bean legend took place, but every story grows and is embroidered over time."[1]
Thomas also notes that newspapers and diaries during the era when Sawney Beane was supposedly active make no mention of ongoing disappearances of hundreds of persons.
The legend of Sawney Bean first appeared in the British chapbooks (rumour magazines of the day), which today leads many to argue that the story was a political propaganda tool to denigrate the Scots after the Jacobite uprising. Thomas argues against this, noting that "If the Sawney Bean story is to be read as deliberately anti-Scottish, how do we explain the equal emphasis on English criminals in the same publications? Wouldn't such an approach rather blunt the point?"
However, the Ayrshire area is known for some dark folklore, and it is known that during the famine of the late 15th century there were some instances of cannibalism in Scotland, so it is also possible that the legend has simply grown from there. There is also a similar legend of cannibalism, Christie-Cleek.
Other related archives15th century, 1843, 1975, 1977, 1994, 2005, American, Ayrshire, British, Bruce, Christie-Cleek, East Lothian, Edinburgh, Galloway, Glasgow, Ireland, Jacobite uprising, James I, James I of Scotland, James IV, King James I, Leith, London Dungeon, London Underground, Macbeth, Newgate Calendars, Newgate Prison, November 28, Raw Meat, Real McKenzies, Scotland, Scots, Sol Invictus, South Ayrshire, The Hills Have Eyes, Wes Craven, ambush, bloodhounds, brigands, broadsheet, burned alive, cannibalistic, cave, chapbooks, crime, executed, famine, historians, incest, innkeepers, legend, neofolk, ocean, pickle, propaganda, punk rock, subway, tourism industry, wax museum, witch
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