The Ruardean Bears -1889 (General)

by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Monday, August 08, 2005, 06:07 (7054 days ago)

I can do no better than point you towards an excellent article on this story and the roots of animosity between Ruardean and Cinderford !

http://www.fweb.org.uk/dean/towns/ruardbears.htm

and http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/weirdwest/2004/11/bear.shtml

The bones of the story :-

The two Russian bears came to the Forest in 1889 with four Frenchmen.

It is believed that they had been displayed in Cinderford, and that the animals and their keepers were en route to nearby Ruardean and angry mob gave chase.

Popular myth at the time had it that foreign bear-keepers fed their animals on the flesh of children.

Perhaps inspired by this, a rumour had spread that the animals had killed a child and mauled a woman in the village.

The residents launched a vicious attack, slaughtering the innocent animals and brutally beating two of the Frenchmen.

Individuals from Ruardean witnessed the violence, and came to the rescue. They sheltered and nursed the injured itinerants.

The assailants were later fined heavily for their part in this unfounded attack, but during legal proceedings they were erroneously described as residents of Ruardean.

The mocking refrain, "Who killed the bears?" taunts the people of the village to this day, and visitors are best advised not to mention the sorry episode.