Larry from Cameron, South Carolina, says a friend who grew up on Johns Island, South Carolina, was warned since she was a small child to stay out of the woods, lest she be seized by a scary beast known as the guyascutus. At least as far back as the 19th century, parents would invoke the wrath of this mythical monster to keep children in line. In those days, many other imaginary creatures supposedly roamed the American landscape, sporting such fanciful names as the swamp-gahoon, the hicklesnifter, the gillygaloo, and the whiffle-poofle. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Guyascutus, a Legendary Cryptid”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
This is Larry Barwick.
Where are you calling from, Larry?
Cameron, South Carolina.
All right, Cameron, South Carolina.
Well, Larry, what’s on your mind today?
Well, I’m trying to find the source of the word Gaius Gudis.
Gaius Gudis.
Tell us what that means.
Well, that’s what I was hoping y’all would tell me.
Well, where’d you hear it?
A friend of mine from Johns Island, South Carolina, when she was a child growing up, her mother told her sisters and her brother not to go out in the woods by themselves or the Gaius Gudis would get them.
-huh.
The Gaius Gudis.
Apparently, it’s something that lives in the woods.
Yeah.
Yeah, it sure does.
Yeah, Larry, the Gaius Gudis, that’s a name for a mythical monster, and it’s usually spelled G-Y-A-S-C-U-T-U-S.
Gaius gudus, which sounds scary in and of itself. That was really a popular term in the mid-1800s in this country. And the Gaius gudus was this imaginary animal that was really fearsome. There’s a lot of folklore about it. And it takes different forms in different parts of the country. In the Eastern United States, sometimes it was described as this monster about the size of a deer with rabbit ears and sharp teeth and telescopic legs that it could shorten and lengthen at will so that it could graze on steep hillsides. And out west, sometimes it was described as a rodent that was nine feet long and three feet tall. It sort of had scales like armadillos and projections like a stegosaurus on its back. And carnival owners would take advantage of this scary sounding animal and they lure gullible people to their tents and say, this is the most ferocious, rambunctious, man-eating animal ever exhibited under canvas.
And they talk about how scary this monster is.
And then when the last ticket’s been sold, the proprietor rushes out of the tent and says something like, run for your lives, ladies and gentlemen.
Escape before you’re swallowed alive.
The guy’s scooters is busted loose.
That would send me running.
This was a time when there were lots of stories about lots of mythical animals, like the swamp gahoon and the hickle snifter and the gilly glue, which is a bird that lays square eggs and the whiffle poofle and all these scary monsters, you know, that you would use to, you know, keep kids in line for one thing.
Well, I guess it worked.
It sure did.
They made it to tell the story to the next person.
They sure did.
Larry, thank you so much for your call.
We really appreciate it.
All righty.
Well, be careful.
Watch out for that guys’ gudas.
It’ll get you.
Take care.
Bye-bye.
