Christie-Cleek
Encyclopedia
Christie Cleek is a legendary Scottish
cannibal, somewhat in the vein of the better-known Sawney Bean. According to folklore
, his real name was Andrew Christie, a Perth
butcher. During a severe famine
in the mid-fourteenth century (Hector Boece
records floods, morrain
and plagues of 'myce and ratonis' throughout Scotland
in 1340), Christie joined a group of scavengers in the foothills of the Grampians
. When one of the party died of starvation, Christie put his skills to work on the corpse, and provided his companions with a ready meal. The group obviously developed a taste for human flesh as, under Christie's leadership, they began to ambush travellers on the passes of the Grampians, feeding on their bodies and those of their horses. It is alleged that before attacking, Christie would haul his victims from their mounts with a hook on a rod: this implement was the 'cleke' (i.e., 'crook') from which he took his sobriquet. Thirty riders apparently died at Christie's hands. Eventually the company were defeated by an armed force from Perth, except for Christie himself, who supposedly escaped and re-entered society under a new name. The earliest versions of this narrative are much less detailed, recording only Christie's cannibalism and his methods of trapping prey. No mention is made of his accomplices or eventual fate.
The parallels between Christie and Sawney Bean are obvious and insistent. One story may well have given rise to the other, or both may have been derived from a common source. While Bean far exceeds his counterpart in terms of notoriety, the Christie legend does appear to be the older of the two. Whereas tales of the Bean family do not appear before the eighteenth century, Christie's exploits are documented from the fifteenth century onwards. For instance, Andrew of Wyntoun
's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland (c.1420) refers to a figure called 'Chwsten Cleek' who, during a time of 'sae great default...that mony were in hunger dead', set up traps with the intent 'children and women for to slay,/ And swains that he might over-ta;/ And ate them all that he get might'. A little later, in an entry for 1341, Holinshed's Chronicles (c.1577) reports that:
In other words, the name came to be used as a bugbear
or bogeyman
for children.
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
cannibal, somewhat in the vein of the better-known Sawney Bean. According to folklore
Folklore
Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
, his real name was Andrew Christie, a Perth
Perth, Scotland
Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...
butcher. During a severe famine
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
in the mid-fourteenth century (Hector Boece
Hector Boece
Hector Boece , known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aberdeen.-Biography:He was born in Dundee where he attended school...
records floods, morrain
Murrain
Murrain is a highly infectious disease of cattle and sheep. It literally means "death" and was used in medieval times to represent just that. The population of that era had no way of identifying specific diseases in their livestock so they simply put all illnesses under one heading...
and plagues of 'myce and ratonis' throughout Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
in 1340), Christie joined a group of scavengers in the foothills of the Grampians
Grampian Mountains (Scotland)
The Grampian Mountains or Grampians are one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, occupying a considerable portion of the Scottish Highlands in northeast Scotland.-Extent:...
. When one of the party died of starvation, Christie put his skills to work on the corpse, and provided his companions with a ready meal. The group obviously developed a taste for human flesh as, under Christie's leadership, they began to ambush travellers on the passes of the Grampians, feeding on their bodies and those of their horses. It is alleged that before attacking, Christie would haul his victims from their mounts with a hook on a rod: this implement was the 'cleke' (i.e., 'crook') from which he took his sobriquet. Thirty riders apparently died at Christie's hands. Eventually the company were defeated by an armed force from Perth, except for Christie himself, who supposedly escaped and re-entered society under a new name. The earliest versions of this narrative are much less detailed, recording only Christie's cannibalism and his methods of trapping prey. No mention is made of his accomplices or eventual fate.
The parallels between Christie and Sawney Bean are obvious and insistent. One story may well have given rise to the other, or both may have been derived from a common source. While Bean far exceeds his counterpart in terms of notoriety, the Christie legend does appear to be the older of the two. Whereas tales of the Bean family do not appear before the eighteenth century, Christie's exploits are documented from the fifteenth century onwards. For instance, Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew of Wyntoun
Andrew Wyntoun, known as Andrew of Wyntoun was a Scottish poet, a canon and prior of Loch Leven on St Serf's Inch and later, a canon of St...
's Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland (c.1420) refers to a figure called 'Chwsten Cleek' who, during a time of 'sae great default...that mony were in hunger dead', set up traps with the intent 'children and women for to slay,/ And swains that he might over-ta;/ And ate them all that he get might'. A little later, in an entry for 1341, Holinshed's Chronicles (c.1577) reports that:
Folklore
Cheviot's Proverbs (1896) mentions some folklore about the character:In other words, the name came to be used as a bugbear
Bugbear
A bugbear is a legendary creature or type of hobgoblin comparable to the bogeyman, bogey, bugaboo, and other creatures of folklore, all of which were historically used in some cultures to frighten disobedient children. Its name is derived from an old Celtic word bug for evil spirit or goblin...
or bogeyman
Bogeyman
A bogeyman is an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into compliant behaviour...
for children.