Введение
Черная Аннис (также известная как Черная Агнес или Черная Анна) — персонаж английского фольклора, злой дух или ведьма. Её представляют как синелицую старуху с железными когтями и тягой к человеческой плоти (особенно к детям). Говорят, что она преследует сельскую местность Лестершира, обитая в пещере на холмах Дейн-Хиллз, у входа в которую растет огромный дуб. Рассказывают, что она выходит по ночам на поиски ничего не подозревающих детей и ягнят, чтобы съесть их, а затем выдубливает их шкуры, развешивая их на дереве, прежде чем опоясать ими талию. Она могла проникать в дома, чтобы схватить людей. Легенда гласит, что она выкопала свою пещеру в песчаниковом обрыве железными когтями, обустроив там жилище, известное как Боуэр Клоуз Черной Аннис. Эта легенда заставляла родителей предупреждать детей, что Черная Аннис заберет их, если они будут непослушными. Другие предания утверждали, что когда она скрипит зубами, люди могут услышать её, успевая запереть двери и держаться подальше от окон. Говорят, что коттеджи в Лестершире специально строили с маленькими окнами, чтобы в них могла пролезть только одна рука Черной Аннис. Когда она выла, её можно было услышать на расстоянии 5 миль (8 км), после чего жители коттеджей затягивали окна шкурами и помещали над ними защитные травы, чтобы обезопасить себя. Существует несколько версий происхождения образа Черной Аннис. Некоторые, как, например, Т. С. Летбридж, полагают, что корни его лежат в кельтской мифологии, связанной с Дану (или Ану). Дональд Александр Маккензи в своей книге 1917 года «Мифы Крита и доэллинской Европы» предположил, что легенда может уходить корнями в культ древней европейской богини-матери, которую считали пожирательницей детей. Он проводит параллель между Черной Аннис и индийской Кали, гэльской Муилеартеах и Кайлеах Беаре. Считается, что в археологический период охоты богине, вдохновившей эту легенду, могли приносить в жертву детей, а дуб у входа в пещеру служил местом для местных собраний. Хаттон предполагает, что память о некоем Скотте была искажена и превратилась в образ Черной Аннис либо для запугивания местных детей, либо из-за антианкоритских настроений, возникших после протестантской Реформации. Многие современные представления о Черной Аннис стали популярными благодаря стихотворению Джона Хейрика, полностью опубликованному в «Фолклоре округа», но представленному здесь лишь частично:
Black Annis (also known as Black Agnes or Black Anna) is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. She is imagined as a blue faced hag or witch with iron claws and a taste for human flesh (especially children). She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire, living in a cave in the Dane Hills with a great oak tree at the entrance. She is said to venture out at night looking for unsuspecting children and lambs to eat, then tanning their skins by hanging them on a tree before wearing them around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig her cave out of the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis' Bower Close. The legend led to parents warning their children that Black Annis would get them if they did not behave. Other traditions stated that when she ground her teeth people could hear her, giving them time to bolt their doors and to keep away from the window. It is said that cottages in Leicestershire were purposely built with small windows so that Black Annis could only get a single arm inside. When she howled she could be heard 5 mile (8 km) away, then the cottagers would fasten skins across the window and place protective herbs above it to keep themselves safe. The Black Annis figure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as T. C. Lethbridge did, that the origin can be found in Celtic mythology based on Danu (or Anu) Donald Alexander Mackenzie in his 1917 book Myths of Crete and Pre Hellenic Europe suggested the origin of the legend may go back to the mother goddess of ancient Europe which he contends was thought of as a devourer of children. He identified Black Annis as being similar to the Indic Kali, Gaelic Muilearteach and Cailleach Bheare,
It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspired the legend in the archaeological Hunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also a common site of local meetings. Hutton suggests that the memory of Scott was distorted into the image of Black Annis either to frighten local children or due to the anti anchorite sentiment that arose from the Protestant Reformation. Many of the modern conceptions of Black Annis were popularised in a poem by John Heyrick, given in full in County Folklore but excerpted here:
'Tis said the soul of mortal man recoiled
To view Black Annis' eye, so fierce and wild
Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew
In place of hands, and features livid blue
Glared in her visage, whilst her obscene waist
Warm skins of human victims close embraced
Not without terror they the cave survey
Where hung the monstrous trophies of her sway
'Tis said that in the rock large rooms were found
Scooped with her claws beneath the flinty ground
«Говорят, душа смертного отступала,
Когда встречала взгляд Черной Аннис, дикий и свирепый.
Огромные когти, оскверненные человеческой плотью, росли
Вместо рук, а на лице синели черты.
В её непристойной талии тесно облегала
Теплая кожа человеческих жертв.
Black Annis (also known as Black Agnes or Black Anna) is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. She is imagined as a blue faced hag or witch with iron claws and a taste for human flesh (especially children). She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire, living in a cave in the Dane Hills with a great oak tree at the entrance. She is said to venture out at night looking for unsuspecting children and lambs to eat, then tanning their skins by hanging them on a tree before wearing them around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig her cave out of the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis' Bower Close. The legend led to parents warning their children that Black Annis would get them if they did not behave. Other traditions stated that when she ground her teeth people could hear her, giving them time to bolt their doors and to keep away from the window. It is said that cottages in Leicestershire were purposely built with small windows so that Black Annis could only get a single arm inside. When she howled she could be heard 5 mile (8 km) away, then the cottagers would fasten skins across the window and place protective herbs above it to keep themselves safe. The Black Annis figure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as T. C. Lethbridge did, that the origin can be found in Celtic mythology based on Danu (or Anu) Donald Alexander Mackenzie in his 1917 book Myths of Crete and Pre Hellenic Europe suggested the origin of the legend may go back to the mother goddess of ancient Europe which he contends was thought of as a devourer of children. He identified Black Annis as being similar to the Indic Kali, Gaelic Muilearteach and Cailleach Bheare,
It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspired the legend in the archaeological Hunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also a common site of local meetings. Hutton suggests that the memory of Scott was distorted into the image of Black Annis either to frighten local children or due to the anti anchorite sentiment that arose from the Protestant Reformation. Many of the modern conceptions of Black Annis were popularised in a poem by John Heyrick, given in full in County Folklore but excerpted here:
'Tis said the soul of mortal man recoiled
To view Black Annis' eye, so fierce and wild
Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew
In place of hands, and features livid blue
Glared in her visage, whilst her obscene waist
Warm skins of human victims close embraced
Not without terror they the cave survey
Where hung the monstrous trophies of her sway
'Tis said that in the rock large rooms were found
Scooped with her claws beneath the flinty ground
Не без ужаса осматривали они пещеру,
Где висели чудовищные трофеи её власти.
Говорят, что в скале были найдены просторные комнаты,
Вырытые её когтями под каменистой землей».
Black Annis (also known as Black Agnes or Black Anna) is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. She is imagined as a blue faced hag or witch with iron claws and a taste for human flesh (especially children). She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire, living in a cave in the Dane Hills with a great oak tree at the entrance. She is said to venture out at night looking for unsuspecting children and lambs to eat, then tanning their skins by hanging them on a tree before wearing them around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig her cave out of the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis' Bower Close. The legend led to parents warning their children that Black Annis would get them if they did not behave. Other traditions stated that when she ground her teeth people could hear her, giving them time to bolt their doors and to keep away from the window. It is said that cottages in Leicestershire were purposely built with small windows so that Black Annis could only get a single arm inside. When she howled she could be heard 5 mile (8 km) away, then the cottagers would fasten skins across the window and place protective herbs above it to keep themselves safe. The Black Annis figure has several possible origins. Some have claimed, as T. C. Lethbridge did, that the origin can be found in Celtic mythology based on Danu (or Anu) Donald Alexander Mackenzie in his 1917 book Myths of Crete and Pre Hellenic Europe suggested the origin of the legend may go back to the mother goddess of ancient Europe which he contends was thought of as a devourer of children. He identified Black Annis as being similar to the Indic Kali, Gaelic Muilearteach and Cailleach Bheare,
It is thought that offerings of children may have been made to the goddess that inspired the legend in the archaeological Hunting Period, the oak tree at the cave's entrance also a common site of local meetings. Hutton suggests that the memory of Scott was distorted into the image of Black Annis either to frighten local children or due to the anti anchorite sentiment that arose from the Protestant Reformation. Many of the modern conceptions of Black Annis were popularised in a poem by John Heyrick, given in full in County Folklore but excerpted here:
'Tis said the soul of mortal man recoiled
To view Black Annis' eye, so fierce and wild
Vast talons, foul with human flesh, there grew
In place of hands, and features livid blue
Glared in her visage, whilst her obscene waist
Warm skins of human victims close embraced
Not without terror they the cave survey
Where hung the monstrous trophies of her sway
'Tis said that in the rock large rooms were found
Scooped with her claws beneath the flinty ground
Таможенные процедуры и следы
Черный Аннис также изображался в виде чудовищной кошки, и легенда привела к местному ритуалу в начале весны, когда мертвую кошку волокли перед стаей собак к ее логову, чтобы отметить окончание зимы. По словам Кэтрин Бриггс, эта охота проводилась в пасхальный понедельник (также известный как Черный понедельник) и начиналась от Аннис Боуэр и заканчивалась у дома мэра Лестера. В качестве приманки использовалась мертвая кошка, обильно политая анисовым маслом. Этот обычай прекратился в конце XVIII века. Согласно другой традиции, Черная Аннис (в обличье Кошки Анны) жила в подвалах Лестерского замка, и оттуда простирался подземный ход к холмам Дэйна, по которому она бегала. В 1837 году в Лестерском театре была поставлена пьеса под названием «Черная Анна Боуэр, или Безумец из Дэнских холмов». Сюжет вращался вокруг убийства хозяйки трактира «Голубой вепрь», в котором Черная Анна играла роль, схожую с ролью ведьм в «Макбете».