March 29, 2013

A British Baby Bigfoot?

The Bigfoot Evidence blog has a new post titled Baby Bigfoot in England? The article includes a blurry photo of, well, something. What though, I’m not sure. A monkey maybe? Whatever it is, the legs seem pretty long.

But it’s interesting that the location is the English county of Dorset. And why might that be interesting?

Well, because Dorset has a long history of reports of hair-covered wildmen that date back centuries.

In my book, Wildman! The Monstrous and Mysterious Saga of the British Bigfoot, here’s what I have to say about the Dorset creatures:

EXTRACT:

“…Robert Newland and Mark North say that Dorset legends tell of Woodwoses inhabiting the woods of Yellowham Hill, which is located near to the town of Dorchester. The creatures had the regular habit of abducting young girls from the nearby villages, many of whom supposedly ended up pregnant during their time spent in the company of the Woodwose.

“One such incident befell a particular young girl, who, when questioned by magistrates about the nature and name of the father of her impending child, replied: ‘Please your worshipfuls, ‘twere the Wild Man of Yal’ham.’ None should doubt the possibility – perhaps even the probability that this may simply have been an ingenious ploy on the part of the girl to try and protect her unknown, very human lover from the scalding wrath of her irate father!

“Or,perhaps, on the other hand, Woodwose really did once inhabit the thick woods of Dorset. And, in view of the many and varied hairy man-beast encounters that have been reported from all across the British Isles for centuries, we might well ask this important question:

“Are the woods of Dorset still, to this very day, the domain of the Woodwose? If the Woodwose were truly Bigfoot-style entities, then they surely would not have been able to successfully mate with Homo sapiens.

“However, if they were merely human beings who, having reverted to wild lives and states, subsequently developed excessive amounts of body hair as a result of near-starvation, then getting the girls of the local villages pregnant would not have posed much of a problem at all. While the wild men may have looked somewhat unusual, their genetic make-up would have been perfectly compatible with the girls, because for all intents and purposes, they were of one and the same, precise type.

“Before we leave Dorset, let’s take note of a final few words on the nature of the county from Mark North: ‘Dorset is a strange place, and you can go into some of the old woods and it’s like being in a different world, where anything might happen.’ And, just maybe, that even includes encountering a wild man…”

So, yes, the area does have a rich history of reports of a somewhat Bigfoot-type nature. But, those reports are far more akin to classic wildman-type tales. Whatever the photos shows, in my opinion it’s something else entirely.

Hopefully, more data may surface in time…

Filed under Bigfoot, Bigfoot Evidence, Cryptozoology, Eyewitness Accounts, Feral People, Folklore, Forteana, Out of Place, Photos, Sasquatch