Random Legendary Scottish Family That Allegedly Killed And Cannibalized 1,000 Innocent People (14 items)

(#8) Sawney Bean Was Caught After Botching The Murder of A Married Couple

Though their macabre crimes went on for 25 long years, the Sawney Bean clan's reign of terror eventually came to an end. According to legend, the clan attacked a married couple returning from a fair and killed the woman, but the man fought back. In some versions of the story, he had a sword and/or pistol on him; in others, he had a horse that he used to plow through the attackers. Whatever the weapons, the man escaped, notifying others of the clan's location near the cave. After 25 years, the Sawney Bean clan was exposed, and investigations began.
(#11) The Bean Clan Showed No Sign Of Remorse

The Bean clan didn't show much remorse for their crimes. After all, the children and grandchildren of the family were all raised in an environment where incest, murder, and cannibalism were part of everyday life. At their execution, while watching their family members be tortured and killed, the Bean clan cursed and spat obscenities at the executioners. It's said Sawney Bean continuously repeated, "It isn't over, it will never be over," until he died.
(#2) Black Agnes Was Believed To Be A Witch

Bean reportedly left his life as a laborer behind around the time he entered a relationship with Agnes Douglas. While much of her life before their relationship was a mystery, one of the key points of the legend is that after they got together, Douglas was accused of being a witch in East Lothian, Scotland. When Bean and Douglas left their home, it was as much because they no longer wanted to work for a living as it was because both had been rejected by society, as Bean's father was allegedly abusive and Douglas was accused of human sacrifice and conjuring demons.
(#9) A King Led The Manhunt Against Bean

With an estimated 1,000 people killed by the Sawney Bean clan, bringing those responsible to justice was a major deal. That's why King James (King James I in some sources, VI in others) allegedly got involved. As the story goes, the king himself himself led 400 soldiers to the site of the botched murder, using bloodhounds to find the cave where the clan was hiding. Even the 48-person Bean family wasn't enough to take out 400 soldiers, and the clan were subsequently arrested.
(#10) The Clan Was Brutally Executed

Considering the sadistic nature of the Sawney Bean clan's crimes, it's no surprise their execution was exceptionally violent. Given the amount of bodies found in their cave, there was no trial, and the entire clan was put to death the day after they arrived in Edinburgh. The men were dismembered and left to bleed to death while the women watched, and the women were burned as witches.
(#3) Sawney Bean And His Clan Robbed Travelers On The Nearby Road

Though Bean retreated from a life of honest work, living wasn't free. To make ends meet, he and his girlfriend (for lack of a better word) ambushed passersby on a nearby road. To maintain the secret of their whereabouts, Bean and Douglas had to get rid of the bodies, which they could do by tossing them from nearby cliffs or, as Bean discovered, turning them into a food source. Cannibalism became an intrinsic part of the Bean clan lifestyle, a gruesome but effective means of both sustenance and hiding themselves from authorities.