Sawney Bean
A Scottish legend tells of a cave-dwelling clan that robbed and killed travellers for 25 years, until the king led a hunt for them.
What was reported
Sawney Bean, the story goes, lived in the 16th century in a sea cave at Bennane Head, near Ballantrae in Ayrshire, with his wife and a family that grew to dozens of children and grandchildren. For 25 years they ambushed travellers on the coast road, killing them and, the legend says, eating them.
In the tale, King James VI led 400 men with bloodhounds to the cave, captured the clan and had them executed in Edinburgh.
Explanations offered
Historians have found no record of the Bean family, the disappearances or the executions in the detailed records of the time. The story first appeared in English chapbooks in the 18th century, and some think it was anti-Scottish propaganda. It's now seen as a legend, and it inspired films such as The Hills Have Eyes.
- When
- Said to be the 1500s; printed in the 1700s
- Where
- Bennane Head, near Ballantrae, Ayrshire, Scotland
- Witnesses
- English chapbooks of the 1700s
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.