Portuguese Ghost Mythology Archives

The Myth

The Bicho do Cidrão is a ghostly being from the mountains of Madeira said to wander the highlands with an invisible flock of sheep. People never clearly see the creature itself, but they hear strange cries echoing through the mountains — sounds identical to the bleating of lambs. These cries are believed to foretell rain, storms, or approaching bad weather.

According to legend, the creature was once a human shepherd who lived in Montado do Cidrão in the region of Curral das Freiras. One day his beloved sheepdog disappeared into the mountains. Desperate and overwhelmed with grief, the shepherd silently promised his soul to the devil if the dog would return.

Soon afterward, the missing dog came back.

After the shepherd eventually died, he did not rest peacefully. Instead, he became the Bicho do Cidrão, a strange supernatural being condemned to roam the mountains forever with his unseen flock. Travelers sometimes claimed to hear phantom sheep moving through foggy valleys or across rocky slopes even when no animals could be seen.

The creature’s mournful cries were feared because they announced storms and rain approaching the island. In older times people in Madeira said the sound could be heard clearly through the mountains during dark or misty weather, though many later claimed the cries had not been heard for many years.

Tradition / Region: Portuguese Mythology
Alternate Names: Coralário (plural: Coralários)
Category: Dog, Ghost

The Myth

In Portuguese tradition, the Corrilário is said to be the spirit of a restless dead person, appearing in the form of a dog.

These beings are believed to be the souls of those whose lives ended wrongly or whose fate remained unfinished. Some say they were people who died violently, who left promises unfulfilled, or who failed to complete the rites expected of them in life. Others say that a werewolf who dies before the time appointed for his curse must continue on after death as one of these wandering spirits.

As a Corrilário, the soul does not find rest. Instead it is bound to wander the roads and paths of the world. Unlike werewolves, which are said to follow only straight roads, the Corrilário moves along both straight ways and hidden shortcuts, passing through fields, tracks, and lonely routes where few people walk.

Because they are spirits tied to unfinished fate, they are thought to remain in this form only for as long as they would have lived had death not come early. Until that time has passed, they continue their wandering, like messengers moving between places, never settling.

Thus the Corrilário was remembered as a ghostly dog of the roads — not a beast of malice, but the shape taken by the unquiet dead, walking the paths of the living until their destined time was finally spent.

Sources

The Narrator. (2020). Corrilários. In portuguesecreaturesandlegendsgalore.wordpress.com, from https://portuguesecreaturesandlegendsgalore.wordpress.com/2020/01/17/corrilarios/