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The leader -

Alexander “Sawney” Bean was born sometime during the 16th century in East Lothian, Scotland.

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Family -

Bean was born into an honest, hard-working family. His father was a hedger and ditcher, but ditch-digging and hedge-trimming was not for Sawney Bean.

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Love -

He did work as a tanner, but soon enough he traded manual labor for a trip across the country with his newfound love: "Black" Agnes Douglas.

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Move -

Sawney Bean and Black Agnes moved across the southwestern coast of Scotland and settled in a cave between Girvan and Ballantrae.

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They settled in a cave -

The cave, known as Bennane Cave, became the couple’s home, and where for some 25 years they lived a life of anonymity and terror. Its entrance would flood at high tide, making it the perfect hideout for the couple.

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Agnes Douglas was a witch -

"Black" Agnes Douglas was accused of being a witch in East Lothian. She reportedly conjured demons and performed human sacrifices.

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Making a living -

Without a job, Bean came up with a plan to support his family: robbing travelers. He would ambush them on the road and kill them.

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Diet -

Trips to buy food were not needed either. The couple got their protein from all the people Bean murdered. Yes, not only did they kill and rob these people, they would eat them, too.

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Cannibalism -

Sawney Bean and his partner would dismember their victims and eat them. As for leftovers, they would pickle them.

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Family cave -

Their cave was not very big, but it featured a network of tunnels, which allowed plenty of room for their horrific practices, and space to grow a family.

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Family -

Not long after they moved to the cave, Bean and Douglas started a family. And the family grew indeed. The couple had 14 children: eight sons and six daughters.

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Family -

The clan grew and soon 18 grandsons and 14 granddaughters were part of the family. But how did the family grow in such conditions, you may ask? The answer is inbreeding.

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Inbreeding -

The Sawney Bean clan was essentially a group of inbred killers and cannibals who procreated and lived isolated from the world for over two decades.

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Conserving food and body part disposal -

The clan is believed to have killed an average of 40 people per year. As mentioned previously, leftover meat was pickled. But not every single body part was kept. Some would be thrown off cliffs.

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People went missing -

People from nearby towns were starting to miss a number of loved ones, and some of them were washing up ashore, but they had no idea of what had happened to them.

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Scapegoat -

Innkeepers were usually blamed for the disappearance of these people. Accused of murder, many left the towns where they were established. Everyone was oblivious to the actions of the Bean clan.

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A victim exposed the clan -

A couple was returning from a fair when they were attacked by the clan. Bean and his family managed to kill the woman, but the man fought back and escaped.

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The reign of terror was coming to an end -

The man notified others of the location of the cave and an investigation followed. This was the beginning of the end for the Bean clan.

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The king took charge of the manhunt -

King James VI of Scotland (James I of England and Ireland) together with 400 soldiers and bloodhounds went looking for the cave of the murderous clan.

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The clan was caught and captured -

The cave was eventually found and the clan arrested. By then, the suspicion was that the clan had murdered at least 1,000 people.

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Execution -

There was no trial. The evidence found in the cave was enough to get the clan brutally executed.

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Execution -

The male members of the clan were dismembered and left to die, and the women were burned at the stake as witches. Except for one, but more on that later.

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The clan showed no remorse -

Even before they were executed, the clan showed no remorse for their actions, cursing and shouting obscenities at the torturers.

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Creepy words -

Legend has it that Sawney Bean said the phrase "It isn't over, it will never be over," multiple times, until the moment he died.

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The fugitive daughter -

It is said that one of Sawney Bean’s daughters, Elspeth, escaped the clan during the days they were still active and tried to live a normal life in Girvan.

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The fugitive daughter -

Legend has it that Elspeth planted a tree. When the clan was captured, Elspeth‘s past came to light, and she was hung from the very same tree she'd planted.

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Similar legend -

Another legendary Scottish cannibal, with a similar story, is a butcher from Perth named Christie Cleek. The similarities between Cleek and Bean are immense. The former, however, became known as the bogeyman, or bugbear.

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The story might just have been propaganda -

Some historians believe the Sawney Bean clan legend was simply anti-Jacobite propaganda. What better way to demonize the Scots than to portray them as barbaric, incestuous cannibals, right?

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Local attraction -

Real or not, the story is part of Scottish folklore. The Edinburgh Dungeon tourist attraction even has a Sawney Bean attraction.

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Sawney Bean in popular culture -

Sawney Bean was the inspiration for both Wes Craven’s 1977 film ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ and the horror movie 'Wrong Turn' (2003).

Sources: (Historic UK) (BBC 1 and 2) (Ranker) (Listverse) (The Crime Wire)

See also: Horror films based on true stories

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