torsos. They preyed upon any living creature that came near, fixing them with a petrifying stare. They were related to Thelgeth and Tsenahale.
BIRD-MAN
This creature wearing traditional Japanese dress, has the basic appearance of a human being but has a bird-shaped head, human ears, a cockerel’s comb, beak and wattles, with human hands at the ends of its thin wings. He plays tricks on people but is not malicious in nature.
BISAN
Among the Malay people, the Bisan is a cicada spirit who guards the camphor tree. No camphor can be taken without her permission. Those who come to harvest the camphor have to approach the tree speaking in bahasa kapor (camphor tongue.) A white cockerel is offered to Bisan that she may reveal where the camphor tree may be found.
BISHOP FISH
According to medieval European legend, this great fish had claws rather than pectoral fins. It had flipper-like feet and legs, and its head was like a bishop’s mitre. It was first described by the 16th-century Swiss naturalist Konrad von Gesner, who may have been describing a squid. However, the many legends of fish-men and the fact that the bishop’s mitre actually copies the ritual headgear of Mesopotamian fish-priests, may also inform this creature’s legend. (See Oannes.)
BISIMBI BI MASA
Bisimbi (singular Kisimbi) are water nymphs in the Congo region. They live only in wells and ponds that are sources of rivers. They are so dangerous that only medicine men and herbalists go near these places in search of roots and pebbles. The Bisimbi are said to cause skin diseases, the cure for which can only be obtained in their haunts.
A Congolese story tells how the mother of many children sent her eldest daughter, of whom she was sexually jealous because of her many conquests, to the river. As the girl drew water, the Bisimbi grabbed her and pulled her under. The mother then sent her eldest son, Mengi, to see what had happened. He saw his sister’s water jar floating in the river and heard her voice calling him. The girl’s hand rose from the water holding a pearl necklace. ‘Give this to our mother,’ she cried. Mengi brought it back to the village and was accused of stealing it. The elders came to the river to see and hear for themselves. Again, Mengi called out for his sister, and her hand rose with another necklace. The elders immediately directed the able men to build a dam to divert the water. As the river bed dried up, they found the girl in a coffin. Inside she was still beautiful but her skin was blood red. Bisimbi voices sang to them, ‘Take her back, if you are strong, or leave her with us and we will keep her.’ As soon as the girl was lifted from the coffin, a terrible storm struck, breaking the dam and drowning a man. As they lifted the girl to shore, the Bisimbi cried out, ‘Take her but never let her eat pork.’ She continued to live among her people, but she had become dreamy and quiet. Her mother, still fuelled by jealousy, gave a feast for her, concealing pork in the dish. As soon as the girl tasted it, water began to swirl about her feet, ever rising until it swept her back into the river where she remained, becoming one of the Bisimbi forever.
BISON
The ancient bison of the cave paintings of Lascaux in southern France is the same animal that is misleadingly called the ‘American buffalo’. (The buffalo is a completely different bovine animal.) The bison is an immense, heavy animal which yielded much meat, a tough skin and warm hide to help our ancestors survive the rigours of the Ice Age. Immense herds of buffalo used to roam the North American Plains, amply supporting the Plains Indians in the same way. When food was short for the Mandan Indians, their warriors performed a bison dance designed to change the direction of the herds’ wanderings and bring them near to their village. The dance continued, with new dancers replacing the hunters who were fatigued, until bison were sighted.
The Blackfoot Indians tell a story that takes us back to our ancient ancestors who stampeded bison (or buffalo as they are in this story) over cliffs. (See next page.)
The legend of how the American buffalo were first released upon Earth tells how a powerful being called Humpback owned all the buffalo, keeping them in a corral in the mountains north of San Juan. Humpback refused to share any of the beasts, so Coyote called a council in which their release was planned. Scouts went out to see how this might be accomplished, but the stronghold seemed impregnable. Coyote then noticed that Humpback’s young son had no pet. Coyote turned himself into the bird that the tribes call the kill-deer. Pretending to have a broken wing, he loitered by a spring where Humpback’s son took pity upon him and led him into the stronghold. Coyote planned to fly over the corral, causing the buffalo to stampede; however Humpback said the bird was good for nothing and ordered his son to cast it out. The next morning, Coyote turned into a little dog and the boy brought him home. Humpback tested the dog to see that it was what it claimed to be, by holding a coal from the fire near the dog’s eyes. As the fire drew close, Coyote gave three barks. Satisfied, Humpback allowed his son to retain the dog, but as soon as dark fell, the dog ran among the buffalo nipping at their heels until they stampeded right into Humpback’s house, smashing it down. As they cleaned up the damage, the boy wept for his dog, whom he assumed had been killed in the stampede. ‘That was no dog, but Coyote the trickster,’ growled Humpback, and that is how buffalo were released into the world.
The tribe were growing increasing cold and hungry, but whenever the bison were driven towards the cliff, they merely swerved right and left. One young woman looked at the escaping herd and cried out in despair, ‘If only one of you will jump into the corral, I will marry you’. Immediately, animals began to fall over the cliff but one leapt over the corral wall and took her at her word, taking her away. After cutting up the newly-killed bison, the girl’s father missed her and went searching for her. He got the help of Magpie, who showed her where his daughter lay. The bison-husband killed his father-in-law by trampling him to pieces. As his wife mourned, the bison remarked, ‘Now you see what it is like when our people are stampeded and killed. But if you can succeed in bringing your father back to life I will let him return to his people.’ The women asked Magpie for help, who searched and found a piece of her father’s backbone. She covered it with a robe and sang until the robe was covering a whole body which began to breathe again. The bison was impressed by the holy skill of human beings to bring the dead back to life again, and he bade his wife to return with her father and teach their people how to dance and sing like the buffalo. Ever since that time, the Blackfoot have danced the Buffalo Dance, wearing the head and skin of the buffalo.
(See Buffalo, Ptesan-Wi, White Buffalo Calf Woman.)
BISTERN DRAGON
According to a 16th-century manuscript held by the Berkeley family of Bistern in Hampshire, England, Sir Moris Berkeley fought and slew a dragon which had been killing whoever it encountered. He also died in the fight, together with all his dogs.
BLACK DOGS
Black dogs appear throughout British folklore as supernatural creatures who are met on the road by unwary travellers. The calf-sized dog is generally described as being covered with black shaggy hair and having red glowing eyes. Most accounts describe it as ferocious and menacing, although others speak of the dog as the guardian of the place that it haunts. In the days before metalled roads, most wayfarers used lonely tracks and drover’s roads which were kept open by the driving of cattle and other beasts. It is widely assumed that Roman roads were the first roads in Britain, but this is not so. Well-marked causeways were present
