Clent Hills & The
Devil's Huntsman
Ancient people believed that the Devil's huntsman and his
hellhounds went searching in the Clent Hills for damned souls.
Legend tells of a terrified fugitive who realised escape was
hopeless, so stopped running, fell to his knees in the bracken and
screamed for mercy.
He forced himself to look at some of the great black hounds
surrounding him because he dared not gaze up into the awful face of
their master who towered above him on a prancing, spectral
steed.
Then this huntsman cracked his whip and the pack, their muzzles
dripping with fire and hate, padded in on their victim - not for
the kill but for the living death of eternal damnation.
Thus runs the ancient legend of Harry Cannab, Worcestershire's
Devil's huntsman who captured damned souls on the Clent Hills and
brought terror to countless generations of country people living in
the north of the county.
Within living memory, residents throughout the Wyre Forest and
Bromsgrove areas recalled being warned by their parents in
childhood that Harry Cannab would come for them if they were
naughty.