Dando and the Wild Hunt

Disclaimer

This is NOT a page about Wiccans or neo-pagans, and I do not advocate the belief that Wiccans are Satan-worshippers and/or baby-killers. I am well aware that they are not. This is a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD. And please, don't ask me for spells.

Dando and the Wild Hunt

The story of a priest, Dando, who lived in the village of St. Germans in Cornwall, is an example of the way in which the Devil's hunt becomes attached to a wicked human being. Dando was a priest who cared for nothing but sensual pleasures and hunting. Weekdays and Sundays were alike to him, and he thought nothing of leading the hunt out, however sacred the day. One fine Sunday Dando and his rout were hunting over the estate of Earth, as it was called, and had had a fine and prosperous hunt, with many kills. When they paused to bait their horses, Dando found that no drink was left in the flasks of any of his attendants. He clamoured for it, and said, 'If none can be found on Earth, go to Hell for it!' At that a stranger who had joined the hunt unperceived, rode up and offered him a drink, saying that it was the choices brew of the place he had just mentioned. Dando drank it eagerly, then emptied the whole flask. 'If they have drink like this in Hell, I will willingly spend Eternity there.' In the meantime the stranger was quietly collecting all the game. Dando demanded it back again with furious curses. The stranger said, 'What I have, I hold.' Dando leapt off his horse and rushed at the stranger, who lifted him by the scruff of the neck as Dando shouted out, 'I'll follow you to Hell for it!' and the stranger said, 'You shall go with me.' With that he spurred his horse with a great leap into the middle of the stream, with Dando sitting before him. A burst of flame came up from the stream; the stranger, the horse and Dando disappeared. But not for ever: for since that day Dando and his hounds are from time to time heard in wild chase over the countryside (K. Briggs 89).

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Dando and the Wild Hunt is copyright 1998 to Shantell Powell.