Although some of the most iconic iterations of the vampire in popular culture were created in England (including Bram Stoker's Dracula himself, of course, but also Christopher Lee's portrayals in the Hammer Horror movies of the 1960s & 70s, & Bauhaus's gothic rock Bela Lugosi's Dead come to mind) there are surprisingly few instances of undead blood-drinkers in British folklore. They are scarce, but not entirely unheard of...
Medieval Menace
Possibly the first recorded revenants in Britain are to be found in the work of William of Newburgh, a 12th century Augustinian monk who wrote Historia de rebus anglicis, a history of England from 1066 to 1198. Amongst his records of shenanigans at the royal courts, he tells of several re-animated corpses arising from their graves to trouble the living.`
The archdeacon of Buckinghamshire apparently told William the tale of a man who arose from his grave the very first night after his burial & returned to his wife's bed, leaping upon her & almost smothering her with the weight of his body; this was repeated the following night, so after sunset on the third day the wife & assorted friends stayed awake until the revenant arrived, whereupon they managed to drive it away. He was not ready to rest, however, & turned his unholy attentions upon other family members, animals in the fields, & any unfortunate villager who might cross his path. Eventually they contacted the archdeacon, who conferred with the Bishop of Lincoln, later St Hugh. A notably peaceable man, Hugh chose not to advise exhumation, dismemberment & cremation (so unbecoming!) & instead wrote an absolution to be placed upon the chest of the corpse before the grave was resealed. Although the body was found to be disturbingly bloated & ruddy, the Bishop's instructions were obeyed...& the village slept safely again.
William also writes of a particularly loathsome fellow who took refuge (possibly from the law) in Anantis Castle; on discovering that his wife had an illicit beau, he resolved to spy upon the couple & surprise them in flagrante...however, in doing so, he fell from a roof & was mortally injured. Refusing the Last Rites, he died unshriven & thus would not rest despite having been given a decent Christian burial; he prowled the countryside in a cloud of reeking vapors, pursued by the very hounds of Hell. Villagers began to die shortly afterwards, more & more until few survived. Unwilling or unable to wait for the arrival of official assistance, two young men ventures to his gravesite, unearthed the corpse...only to find it bloated & bloody, its burial shroud in tatters. Blows from their spades caused it to spout gore, & thus they were emboldened to smash the ribcage, remove the heart & fling the whole bloody mess into the fire. The undead stalker was seen no more & the plague vanished from the land.
Meanwhile, north of the border in Scotland a chaplain whose behaviour had earned him the name of Hunderprest (Dog Priest) was living a decidedly ungodly life. Upon his demise he was not content to rest in peace, but arose nightly to seek out the pleasures that he had similarly sought in life - hence he began appearing in the bedchamber of the noblewoman in whose household he had served. The terrified lady sought help from the monks of nearby Melrose Abbey, who were happy to oblige. Keeping watch overnight, one friar was attacked by the ghoul, but managed to fend it off with an axe, following it back to the grave only to see the ground open up to welcome the corpse home before closing of its own accord. After sunrise, the bloody corpse was dragged from the earth & burned, its ashes cast to the winds.
An alternative manner in which to defeat the undead was recorded by Walter Map, a Welsh monk whose De Nugis Curialium includes advice from Gilbert Foliot, Bishop of Hereford: the Lord has given power to the evil angel of that lost soul to move about in the dead corpse. However, let the body be exhumed, cut the neck through with a spade, & sprinkle the body & the grave well with holy water, & replace it.
