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

(#5) The Bean Clan Was Almost 50 Inbred Family Members Strong

Inside their cave, Bean and Douglas had time and space to start having children. And have children they did: according to legend, they had eight sons and six daughters. Uninhibited by social mores—they were murderers, thieves, and cannibals, after all—those sons and daughters had 18 grandsons and 14 granddaughters with one another as well as with their own parents.

Consanguineous fornication and procreation is a central thread in the tapestry of horror woven by the story of Sawney Bean's clan. It not only consisted of criminals of the worst kind, but interbred children likely born to very young parents who lived only among their own in a cave for 25 years.
(#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.
(#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.
(#12) One Of Bean's Daughters Escaped And Was Hanged By A Town

A legend within this legend is the story of Elspeth, a Sawney Bean clan member who supposedly left the group and tried to live a normal life. She moved to a nearby town called Girvan and planted a tree near her new home, which came to be called The Hairy Tree. When the Bean clan was arrested, her past came to light. Elspeth Bean was hung from The Hairy Tree despite her desire to escape her terrible past.
(#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.
(#4) Sawney Bean's Cave Provided Plenty Of Room For A Growing Family

The cave where Sawney Bean's clan allegedly lived wasn't just a hole in a cliff face. It was a network of tunnels that supposedly extended for miles, giving him and Douglas plenty of room to live and expand their family. Even better for their purposes was the fact that the cave flooded during high tide, making it an unlikely place for people to live, and thus a place those searching for the reported thousand or so victims wouldn't bother to check. Because of its size and hidden nature, the Bean clan was able to grow to almost 50 people strong—all of them, aside from Bean and Douglas, related to one another.