KATIE MARIE

Hag time!

Today I am writing to you about Black Agnes.

Black Agnes, also known as Black Annis, is effectively a witch or a hag. She is said to roam the lands around Leicestershire and eat kiddies. She apparently lives in a cave with a large oak tree at the entrance (so if you see one avoid it).

The stories say she ventures out at night eating kiddies and little lambs. Once she has eaten the child or lamb she’ll turn the skin to leather and wear it.

Many accounts talk about her having iron claws which she would use to snatch children (although sometimes she was known to snack on an adult). She used these claws to make her cave (that must have taken ages).

There are a few odd traditions around Black Agnes, including building small windows to keep her out, hanging herbs to keep her out and dragging a dead cat covered in aniseed around Leicester followed by dogs. That last one was particularly odd.

Black Agnes has appeared in various modern stories, sometimes as a witch, occasionally as a fairy or a hag. But ultimately she isn’t seen much in stories these days, which is a pity she was a traditionally scary monster, out for blood which seems to be something we see less of these days.