BLACK SHUCK
Folklore of England
This is the name of a monstrous dog , also known as SHUCK, SHUCK DOG, or OLD SHUCK, in the folklore of East Anglia, England. Then name is possibly derived from the Anglo-Saxon Scucca, meaning "demon". BLACK SHUCK is described as about the size of a shaggy donkey with huge glowing red eyes, or a single eye, which shower sparks of green or red fire.
At Clopton Hall near Stowmarket however, this monster is described as resembling a monk with the hound's head. Its abode is variously the salt marshes or the sea its self, from which BLACK SHUCK emerges only at dusk to patrol the lanes, marshes, river banks, and graveyards. This creature may be encountered on the roads, where its icy breath and shaggy pelt can be felt as it draws alongside a traveler.
In Suffolk it offers no harm if left alone, but death soon follows for any who challenge it. In Norfolk merely seeing the BLACK SHUCK was enough to invoke sickness or death. One variant of this monster, said to have the face of a monkey, haunts the area between Balsham and Wratting in Cambridgeshire, where it is known as the SHUCK-MONKEY.
Another variant, the ESSEX SHUCK, however, is a benevolent creature that has been known to guide lost travelers and protect those under attack. The fact that it haunts gallows, gibbets, or cemeteries links it with the EVIL SHUCK.
Source: Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth