ObscUrban Legend Wikia
Shug Monkey

Slough Hill Lane, now a grass & gravel bridleway, meets the Balsham-Wratting road at TL598520, and heads north-west across the fields.
Background
Type Cryptid
Continent Europe
Country Scotland and Northern England
One-Time? No
Theories  · Cryptid
 · Entity
 · Nursery Bogie

The Shug Monkey is a ghost-like hairy humanoid sighted in Rendlesham Forest in Britain, in the Suffolk area, particularly on the road that runs between West Wratting and Balsham. Witnesses describe it as combining the chacteristics of a big dog and a monkey.[1]

In behavior and habits, it resembles the numerous spectral black dogs that are sighted in Britain to this day, such as Black Shuck. Both "Shug" and "Shuck" derive from an Old English word for demon. Most researchers, in fact, classify the Shug Monkey among the weirder types of ghostly black dog. For example, some black dogs have cat features, cow features, are headless, eyes like glowing saucers, or human heads.[2]

Appearance[]

It appeared as an indeterminate figure between canine and monkey. It is linked with British werewolf legends because of its canine features. It leaves footprints that look like a dog's tracks, except that they are gigantic and have flattened "claws" that seem shaped more like human fingernails.[3]

Witness Reports[]

James Wentworth Day was the first author to catalouge this piece of folklore, and the old informants he interviewed in the 40's all agreed the Shug hadn't been seen in a long time.

  • "A curious variation of this ghostly hound ['Black Shuck'] is said to haunt an overgrown and little-used lane called Slough Hill in the parish of West Wratting...Police Constable A. Taylor, of The Tiled House, Panton Street, Cambridge, tells me that, in his youth, this lane which is on the road from West Wratting to Balsham was haunted by an extraordinary thing called 'the Shug Monkey.' It was, he says, 'a cross between a big rough-coated dog and a monkey with big shining eyes. Sometimes it would shuffle along on its hind legs and at other times it would whiz past on all fours. You can guess that we children gave the place a wide berth after dark!'"[4]
  • "The creature, either ghost or demon, is said to be jet-black and shaggy-haired, with a monkey's face and staring eyes."[5]
  • "The Shug-monkey...haunts the short stretch of road, and the adjacent lanes, between West Wratting and Balsham...With the body of a shaggy sheepdog, only black, and a monkey's face..."[6]

Possible Explanations[]

There are several explanations as to what the creature could be. Theories include:

  • An undiscovered species (a Cryptid)
  • A nature spirit or remembrance of Pagan traditions
  • A tall tale
  • A "bogey story" meant to scare children
  • A bio-fortean manifestation
v · e · d
Cryptids
North American Cryptids
Airborne Frogman · Alkali Lake Monster · Batsquatch · Beast of Bladenboro · Beast of Bray Road · Beast of Busco · Belled Buzzards · Bigfoot · Black Demon · Black Star Penguins · Blue Birdman · Boston Lemur · Buena Vista Giant Spider · Campfire Creature · Carmel Creature · Champ · Charles Mill Lake Monster · Chicago Mothman · Chupacabra · Coonigator · Crawfordsville Monster · Crocodingo · Deer Man · Demon Leaper · Deridder Roadkill · Dos Palmas Winged Snake · Dublin Lake Monsters · East River Monster · El Verde Creature · Enfield Horror · Farmer City Monster · Flannel Shirt Sasquatch · Flying Horse of Mexico · Flying Horse of Virginia · Flying Rays · Giant Penguin · Giant Shrimp in the Laundry Room · Glawackus · Gow-Row · Green Clawed Beast · Green Eyes · Grunch Road Monster · Herrington Lake Monster · Herring Cove Sea Serpent · Highway Beast · Honey Island Swamp Monster · Iliamna Lake Monster · Jackson Dragon · Jersey Devil · Killer Cactus · Kinderhook Blob · Lizard Man of Scape Ore Swamp · Manor Road Pig-Dog · Man in the Plastic Bag · Mantis Man · Melrose Creep · Metepec Creature · Michigan Dogman · Mill Race Monster · Mogollon Monster · Montauk Monster · Moss Man · Mothman · Mountain Boomers · Mud Mermaids · Mutant Canine · Nightcrawler · Octoman · Ogopogo · Oil Pit Squid · Oklahoma Octopus · Panama Creature · Pennsylvanian Albino Bigfoot · Red Devil-Bat of Chester · Ridge Road Monster · Riverside Monster · Rochester Rat-Dog · Sewer Blob · Sheepsquatch · Skunk Ape · Snallygaster · Sugar Bundle · Sun Birds · Swift Peter · Texas Big Bird · The Awful · Thetis Lake Monster · Tick Canyon Giant Rabbit · Tumor Seal · Tuttle Bottoms Monster · Werewolf of Defiance · Whatzit · Wood Devils · Yellow What-Is-It
South American Cryptids
Arica Monster · Atlantic Ocean Winged Abomination · Beast of Macachín Airport · Brazilian Werewolf · Calama Creature · De Loys' Ape · El Cuero · Gargantuan Globulous · Huallepen · Kap-Dwa · Manta Man · Mapinguari · Minhocão · Parana Creature · Sawtooth Dolphin · Telepathic Football · Tshenkutshen
Asian Cryptids
Ahool · Buru · Con Rit · Ebu Gogo · Gilled Antelope · Hibagon · Inflatable Hedgehog · Iranian Toothed Bird · Issie · Jodhpur Baby · Kting Voar · Kussie · Maltese Tiger · Man Dragon · Masbate Monster · Minho−Taro · Mussie of Kako River · Orang Bati · Orang Mawas · Orang Pendek · Rock Apes · Sakhalin Island Sea Wolf · Sukotyro · Tsuchinoko · Wuhnan Toads · Yeren · Yeti
European Cryptids
Awd Goggie · Beast of Bodmin Moor · Beast of Bosnia · Beast of Dean · Beast of Gévaudan · Beast Of Tenby · Black Bird of Chernobyl · Boneless · Canvey Island Monster · Catalonia Fallen Angel · Chudinov Organisms · Crimean War Monstrosities · Exmoor Beast · Freiburg Shrieker · Flying Worm of Prague · Gnome of Girona · Grampus · Grass Monster · Grecian Dolphin · Highway Humanoid · Hollingworth Lake Monster · Kovahsi Creature · Loch Ness Monster · Morag · Octosquatch · Owlman · Pennine Pterodactyl · River Thames Monster · Sea Monk · Sewer Humanoid · Shug Monkey · Singing Spiders of Paris · Sussex Serpent · Vampire Caterpillar · Werewolf of Camberwell · Wolfie · 1856 French Pterodactyl
African Cryptids
Agogwe · Ambize · Dingonek · Emela-ntouka · Ennedi Tiger · J'ba Fofi · Kongamato · Manatee of Helena · Mbielu-mbielu-mbielu · Mokele-Mbembe · Mutant Muppet · Ngoubou · Olitiau · Spiny-backed Chimpanzee · Trunko
Australian Cryptids
Bunyip · Burrunjor · Elephantman · Hairy Lizard · Hook Island Sea Monster · Landsborough Gangle · Moha Moha · Pukehina Predator · Queensland Tiger · Tusked Yowie
Miscellaneous Cryptids
Antarctic Godzilla · Bermuda Beast · Giglioli's Whale · Kabagon · Ningen · Qupqugiaq · Rhinoceros Dolphin · Sky Jellyfish · Sky Serpents
v · e · d
Europe
European Cryptids
Awd Goggie · Beast of Bodmin Moor · Beast of Bosnia · Beast of Dean · Beast of Gévaudan · Beast Of Tenby · Black Bird of Chernobyl · Boneless · Brosno Dragon · Canvey Island Monster · Catalonia Fallen Angel · Chudinov Organisms · Crimean War Monstrosities · Exmoor Beast · Freiburg Shrieker · Flying Worm of Prague · Gnome of Girona · Grampus · Grass Monster · Grecian Dolphin · Highway Humanoid · Hollingworth Lake Monster · Kovahsi Creature · Loch Ness Monster · Morag · Octosquatch · Owlman · Pennine Pterodactyl · River Thames Monster · Sea Monk · Sewer Humanoid · Shug Monkey · Singing Spiders of Paris · Sussex Serpent · Vampire Caterpillar · Werewolf of Camberwell · Wolfie · 1856 French Pterodactyl
European Alien Sightings
Alien Octopoids · Badajoz UFO Creature · Bat Beast of Kent · Bird Beasts of Var · Conil Aliens · Crimean Slug · Cumberland Spaceman · Cussac Aliens · Domsten Blobs · Felixstowe Fire Demon · Ilkley Moor Alien · Kinnula Humanoid · Pendeli Egg · The Sandown Clown · Scottish Mines · The Silver Man · Villa Santina Aliens · Voronezh Aliens · Zanfretta's Aliens
European UFO Sightings
Berkshire UFO · Crucifix UFO · Plague-Bearing UFO · Rendlesham Forest Incident
European Hauntings
Ancient Ram Inn · Berkeley Square Horror · Black Shuck · Borley Rectory · Brown Lady of Raynham Hall · Cock Lane Ghost · Deogen · Derbyshire Ghost Plane · Drummer of Tedworth · Elemental of Leap Castle · Enfield Poltergeist · Gef the Talking Mongoose · Ghost Roman Soldiers in York · Glamis Castle · Hairy Hands · Houska Castle · Pupa the Doll · Rosslynlee Hospital · Specter of Newby Church
European Phenomena
Angels of Mons · Bélmez Faces · Black Volga · Busby Stoop Chair · Devil's Footprints · Eyes in the Wall · Hessdalen Lights · Hungry Grass · Invisible Crowd · Kitty Jay's Grave · Martebo Light · Rosenheim Poltergeist · The Crying Boy · The Green Hand · Trevor Silverwood Postcards · Wall-Jumping Dog · Zanetti Ghost Train
European Beings
Green Children of Woolpit · Headless Angel of Portugal · Highgate Vampire · Invisible Smoker · Jophar Vorin · Le Loyon · Lucy Lightfoot · The Manchester Pusher · Pérák · Ratman · Spring-heeled Jack · Whipping Tom
European Events
Dancing Plague of 1518 · Disappearance of James Worson · Hollinwell Incident · Moberly–Jourdain Incident
European Locations
Cannock Chase · Flannan Isles Lighthouse · Hoia Forest · Poveglia