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Omen · Wednesbury · Hidden

Gabriel's Hounds

Don't go down when the hounds call.

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Illustration: Gabriel's Hounds
The legend
OmenHidden

Gabriel's Hounds

Listen for the pack.

Stand where it happened

What's there
Town streets on old coalfield land
Legend from
Black Country mining lore
Tone
Eerie
OmensMining

Before you go

Town; former mining area. Check before you go.

  • Wednesbury
  • Near A41
  • The pin is approximate.

Hounds in the air over the pits.

F.W. Hackwood (1884) records an old superstition of the Wednesbury colliers: at certain times they heard a noise in the air at the coal pits like a pack of hounds, which they called 'Gabriel's Hounds'.

One sourceOnly one written account of this legend has been found so far.

Sources

  1. Wednesbury Papers: Customs and Superstitions (F.W. Hackwood, 1884), transcribed at justgenealogy —

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