 An artistic depiction of Bloody Bones under stairs | |
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Bloody Bones is abogeyman figure in English and North Americanfolklore whose first written appearance is approximately 1548. As with all bogeymen the figure has been used to frighten children into proper deportment. The character is sometimes calledRawhead,Tommy Rawhead, orRawhead-and-Bloody-Bones (with or without the hyphens).
TheOxford English Dictionary cites approximately 1548 as the earliest written appearance of "Bloodybone".[1] The term "Raw-Head and Bloody-Bones, and such other Names" was used "to awe children, and keep them in subjection", as recorded byJohn Locke in 1693.[2]Samuel Johnson in hisDictionary of the English Language (first published in 1755) defined "Rawhead" as "the name of a spectre, mentioned to fright children".[3] The stories originated inGreat Britain where they were particularly common inLancashire andYorkshire,[4][5] and spread toNorth America where the stories were common in theSouthern United States.[6]
Bloody Bones is sometimes regarded as a water demon haunting deep ponds, oceans, and oldmarl pits (which often became filled with water to form ponds) where it dragged children into the depths, much like thegrindylow andJenny Greenteeth. Children were told to "keep away from the marl-pit or Rawhead and Bloody Bones will have you."[4][5]
Ruth Tongue said inSomerset Folklore that he "lived in a dark cupboard, usually under the stairs. If you were heroic enough to peep through a crack you would get a glimpse of the dreadful, crouching creature, with blood running down his face, seated waiting on a pile of raw bones that had belonged to children who told lies or said bad words. If you peeped through the keyhole he got you anyway."[7]
Old Bloody Bones is aCornish version of Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones according to F. W. Jones inOld Cornwall. Old Bloody Bones inhabited Knockers Hole near the village ofBaldhu. There was said to have been a massacre in the area, and it is suggested that he was aghost or evil spirit attracted by the carnage.[8]
In the Southern United States, Rawhead and Bloody Bones are sometimes regarded as two individual creatures or two separate parts of the same monster. One is a skull stripped of skin that bites its victims (Rawhead) and its companion is a dancing headless skeleton (Bloody Bones). In onecautionary tale a gossip loses his head to the monster as punishment for his wicked tongue. Legends about Bloody Bones eventually made their way intoAfrican-American tradition as well as spreading to other parts of the United States.[9]
Rawhead Rex (1986) is a movie set in Ireland where Rawhead is unleashed on the countryside.
"Rawhead and Bloody Bones" (1988) is a song from the albumPeepshow by Englishrock bandSiouxsie and the Banshees.
The Anita Blake series bookBloody Bones (1996), a novel byLaurell K. Hamilton also deals with a version of Rawhead and Bloody Bones.
In the start of episode 12 in thefirst season (2005) of TV seriesSupernatural, the lead characters, Sam and Dean, are fighting a rawhead.
In the novelThe Haunting of Alaizabel Cray (2006), Rawhead is the entity behind the Green Tack Murders.
A rawhead shows up in the first chapters of theDresden Files novelCold Days (2012).
