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The one I find the most interesting because it has a recent history extending over the Atlantic is the one about the burglar's fingers in the dog's mouth. Briefly, the story is that a couple come home after an evening out and when they opened their front door they are met by their excited dog who has three fingers in its mouth. Upstairs they open a wardrobe and find a cowering burglar, of course, minus three fingers! I first saw this as a serious newspaper report in a local newspaper in Oxfordshire. It so happened that I knew a local policeman quite well and I later asked him if the burglar had been charged. He laughed and said it was a well-known story that had appeared as true in many local newspaper at different times in various places. The story was even mentioned as false in The Times (sometime in the 1970s I think). Since then I've heard that it appeared as a true story in many American local newspapers. A version is known as "The Choking Doberman" appears at http://www.snopes.com/horrors/animals/doberman.asp with many other urban myths. On 6 May 2008, at 17:15, John Hutchings wrote: > Urban myths/ legends and contemporary legend are the stuff of life to > folklorists. Amazon has more than 50 titles listed on this theme. > > John Hutchings