Andrew Christie ‘Cleek’
As the story of the Sawney Bean clan wasn’t told for over 200 years after it supposedly happened, it is hard to take it seriously. Also, there is little or nothing in the way of cold, hard evidence to support the idea that a murderous family of cannibals was able to eat 1,000 people over the course of 25+ years.
There is also a possibility that the macabre tale was based on the apparently real-life cannibal, Andrew Christie. He was a butcher in the town of Perth but almost became a victim of a famine in the middle of the 14th century. Christie joined a number of scavengers on the foothills of the Grampians, and when one of the desperate men died, Christie used his butchering skills to carve up the corpse and serve a meal to the rest of the group.
As a result, the group developed a taste for human flesh and with Christie as their leader; they roamed the countryside looking for victims. Much like the Bean clan, Christie’s group ambushed lonely travelers and ate them, along with their horses. According to legend, Christie would pull victims off their horses with a ‘cleke’ (a hook), and this is how he got his nickname ‘Cleek.’
Overall, the gang murdered up to 30 people until one day, an armed government force arrived in the Grampians and found the cannibal group. They killed or captured the majority of the group, but Christie managed to escape into the mountains. His fate is unknown, but there is a suggestion that he moved to the town of Dumfries under the name David Maxwell. He got married, had three daughters and enjoyed a good life as a prosperous merchant. He only confessed that was Christie Cleek on his deathbed.
While the Sawney Bean clan is far better known, the story of Christie Cleek is far older; the cannibal was first mentioned in a chronicle of Scotland by Andrew of Wyntoun in 1420. He wrote about a figure called ‘Chwsten Cleek’ who set up traps to slay children and women and he “ate them all that he get might.”
In 1577, an English chronicler by the name of Raphael Holinshed wrote about a Scottish man he called ‘Tristicloke’ who fed on the flesh of women and children in 1341. There are also court records from the era which states that a husband and wife in Perth, Scotland, were executed for cannibalism at around the same time that Christie Cleek was apparently embarking on his murderous spree.
Does this mean that while the legend of Christie Cleek in the Grampians is a myth, it is based on the real-life cannibalism of a Scotsman and his wife? There were almost 100 famines in Britain during the Middle Ages, so it is hardly a stretch to suggest that at least one couple engaged in cannibalism to avoid starvation. While the Sawney Bean story is probably a myth, it is likely based on a real episode of murder and cannibalism in Scotland during the 14th century.
Where Did We Find This Stuff? Some Sources and Further Reading
Who was Sawney Bean? – BBC Channel
Where is Sawney Bean’s Cave? – Ayrshire Scotland
Sawney Bean’s Cave – Atlas Obscura
Sawney Bean – Scotland’s Most Famous Cannibal – Historic UK
The Scottish Legend of Mass Murderer Alexander “Sawney” Bean and His Cannibal Clan – Owlcation
10 Eerie Details About Sawney Bean – Listverse
Sawney Bean and Other Spooky Happenings In Scotland – Arcadia Scotland
16 Macabre Instances of Cannibalism in History – History Collection