Читать книгу The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: The Ultimate A–Z of Fantastic Beings from Myth and Magic - John Matthews - Страница 193

The Barguest is a native of Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham. It takes a variety of forms, predominantly as a black mastiff with fiery eyes, horns and fangs, but also as a bear with glowing eyes and huge claws. Reports state that it drags a chain, or that it is wrapped in chains like Marley’s ghost in Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, symbolic of the chains of sin. Specific Barguests appear around their own locality; for example, the one in Leeds causes all the dogs of the city to bark when it makes its appearance. It has been suggested that the name has been derived from the German bahrgeist or ‘spirit of the bier’.