Murder podcasts are so trendy right now, but horrible gory tales have attracted human attention for centuries. (#grendelwasnothefirst) Take this gent, for instance — the legendary Scottish cannibal, Sawney Beane! (Or Bean, but I like “Beane” better because the spelling invokes Days Of Yore).
There are different accounts of when Sawney lived: the earliest put him in the 1300s, but most have him active in the 16th century, when he out of laziness turned to a life of banditry with his wife “Black Agnes”, having set up business in a cave along the coast at Bennane Head. The cave system was intricate, with tunnels periodically flooded by tidal activity, and proved to be a perfect hideaway for the Beane family.
And grew that family did — Sawney and Black Agnes had 14 children. The entire brood stayed far from civilization, and so as the kids grew up they had incestuous relationships with each other which produced upwards of 30 grandchild Beanes.
P.S. you can visit Bennane Cave! Sign me up!
Sources: See 1700s pamphlet from Huntington Library, HEH 289716, ESTC ID N8210. @ Historic UK.com, “Sawney Bean — Scotland’s most famous cannibal,” Ben Johnson. And there is a ballad. *Of course there is*. The ending goes: “They’ve hung them high in Edinburgh toon/ An likewise a their kin/ An the wind blaws cauld on a their bones/ An tae hell they a hae gaen” (from “Ballad of Sawney Bean” by Lionel McClelland, published by Lime tree Arts and Music UK.
