Alexander "Sawney" Bean was said to be the head of a 45-member clan in Scotland in the 16th century that murdered and cannibalized over 1,000 people in 25 years.
11 Facts About Sawney Bean
2.
The legend lacks sufficient evidence to be deemed true by historians, and there is debate as to why the legend would have been fictionalized; nevertheless, the myth of "Sawney" Bean has passed into local folklore and has become a part of the Edinburgh tourism circuit.
3.
Sawney Bean's father was a ditch-digger and hedge-trimmer; Bean tried to take up the family trade but quickly realised that he was not fit for this work.
4.
Sawney Bean left home with an allegedly vicious woman named Black Agnes Douglas, who apparently shared his inclinations and was accused of being a witch.
5.
The body parts and disappearances did not go unnoticed by the local villagers, but the Sawney Bean clan stayed in their cave by day and took their victims at night.
6.
The Sawney Bean clan was so clandestine that the villagers were unaware of the murderers living nearby.
7.
One night, the Sawney Bean clan ambushed a married couple riding from a fayre on one horse.
8.
The most common of the two is that the Sawney Bean clan was captured alive where they gave up without a fight.
9.
Some people believe that Sawney Bean was a real person, while others think he was just a mythical figure.
10.
Thomas explains that while many believe Sawney Bean's reign took place during the 16th century, others believe that it occurred centuries before.
11.
The legend of Sawney Bean first appeared in the British chapbooks.