Tradition / Region: English Mythology
Alternate Names: Devil’s Dandy Dogs
Category: Dog, Ghost
The Myth
In English tradition there is a tale of Dando, a priest who loved hunting more than he loved the duties of his church.
One Sunday, after spending the day hunting instead of attending to sacred matters, he sat with his companions drinking. They gave him ale and wine, but he demanded more and more. At last he swore that if the drink he wanted could not be found on Earth, then it must be fetched from Hell itself.
At that moment a strange huntsman appeared among them. He offered Dando a flask and gave him drink, but then seized part of the priest’s game. Dando, drunk and furious, shouted that he would follow the huntsman even to Hell to recover it.
No sooner had he spoken than the huntsman carried him away, vanishing with him in an instant. Dando’s hounds gave chase, racing after their master, but they could not catch him.
From that time on, people said that Dando was lost, taken into the otherworld by the mysterious hunter. Yet his dogs never stopped searching. On certain mornings, especially early on Sundays, their howling is said to be heard in the distance, still hunting or still seeking their vanished master.
Thus Dando’s Dogs were remembered as ghostly hounds of the Wild Hunt — forever running across the unseen fields, chasing what they can never reach and echoing through the air as a warning against sin and excess.
Gallery
Sources
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Dando’s dogs. In Wikipedia, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dando%27s_dogs
Interpretive Lenses
Religious Readings
- Christian Ascetic Deep Dive
Philosophical Readings
- Nietzschean Deep Dive
Psychological Readings
- Jungian Deep Dive
Esoteric Deep Dive
- Hermetic Deep Dive
Political / Social Readings
- Marxist Deep Dive