I have covered quite a few cannibal stories on StrangeAgo in the past, but the story of Alexander “Sawney” Beane is one that tends to creep me out the most.
The story has been told for centuries, and it has become a popular legend in Scottish folklore. There is some debate over whether Sawney Beane was a real person or simply a myth, there are many who believe that he was, in fact, a real person.
Sawney Beane was born in the late 15th century in East Lothian, Southern Scotland. He was a tanner by trade, but according to some accounts, the villagers thought he was a lazy bum and a liar.
Eventually, he and his newly wed wife were chased out of the village. They took up residence in Bennane Cave, by Ballantrae in Ayrshire.
Bennane Cave was a huge cave with extensive tunnels (you can still visit it today), and it provided the perfect hiding place for Sawney and his wife.
Having no money and little in the way of resources, Sawney began robbing anyone who came close to their new home. This included travelers, merchants, and anyone else who happened to cross their path.
Due to a famine and bodies being an untapped resource for Sawney’s new family, stories began circulating that the Beane’s were eating their victims.
Some people say they smoked the flesh of their victims to preserve the meat for later use. Other reports say that the human flesh was brined for later use.
The couple did well for themselves, and the added protein in their diet allowed them to have at least 14 children.
Those children had children, and there was soon a large group of cannibals living in the area.
Occasionally, bits of brined, decaying human flesh would wash up onto nearby shores. This terrified the locals.
While the local authorities were aware of the rumors, they had no proof that the Beane family was responsible for the disappearances – and there were NUMEROUS disappearances in the area.
Eventually, one evening the Sawney family army attacked a man and his wife as they returned from a fair. The men pulled the wife down from her horse, removed her clothing, and disemboweled her so that they could take her back to the cave for meat.
The husband, rightfully terrified at the sight, escaped in a panic as around 20 more people from the fair happened upon the scene.
The Sawney’s, realizing they were outnumbered, ran off, leaving the hollowed out remains of the wife.
It did not take long for word of this horror to make its way to King James I. The king arrived with an army of around 400 men and tracker dogs.
Locals joined in the hunt.
It took a bit of searching, but they found the Sawney’s family cave.
However, the true horrors were about to begin.
Inside the cave, the army found human bodies, human limbs, and chunks of human meat hanging from the walls like that in a butcher shop. They also found piles of clothing, jewelry, and human bones.
The fight against the Sawney family was brief. 48 of them were arrested and sentenced to death.
The 27 men in the family suffered a fate similar to their victims. Their arms and legs were cut off, and they were left to bleed to death as their women watched.
After the Sawney men were dispatched, the remaining women were burned alive in huge fires.
It was estimated that they killed and ate around 1,000 people.
