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"Black Dog" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, the opening track on their fourth album (1971). It was released as a single in the US and in Australia with " Misty Mountain Hop" as the B-side, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 10 in Australia.
In 2004, the song was first ranked #294 on Rolling Stones list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time before being ranked at #300 in 2010. Music sociologist Deena Weinstein calls "Black Dog" "one of the most instantly recognisable [Led] Zeppelin tracks".
Black Dog is a 1998 action film directed by Kevin Hooks and starring Patrick Swayze. The film tells the story of a trucker and ex-con who is manipulated into transporting illegal arms. The film co-stars musicians Randy Travis and Meat Loaf.
A black dog is the name given to a being found primarily in the folklores of the British Isles. The black dog is essentially a nocturnal apparition, often said to be associated with the Devil or a hellhound. Its appearance was regarded as a portent of death. It is generally supposed to be larger than a normal dog, and often has large, glowing eyes. It is often associated with electrical storms (such as Black Shuck's appearance at Bungay, Suffolk), and also with crossroads, places of execution and ancient pathways.
The origins of the black dog are difficult to discern. It is impossible to ascertain whether the creature originated in the Celtic or Germanic elements in British culture. Throughout European mythology, dogs have been associated with death. Examples of this are the Cŵn Annwn, Garmr and Cerberus, all of whom were in some way guardians of the underworld. This association seems to be due to the scavenging habits of dogs. It is possible that the black dog is a survival of these beliefs. Black dogs are almost universally regarded as malevolent, and a few (such as the Barghest) are said to be directly harmful. Some, however, like the Gurt Dog in Somerset and the Black Dog of the Hanging Hills in Connecticut, are said to behave benevolently.
Black dog or blackdog may refer to:
A dog or a black dog was a coin in the Caribbean of Queen Anne of Great Britain, made of pewter or copper, typically worth 1½ pence or of a dollar. The name comes from the negative connotations of the word "dog," as they came from debased silver coins, and the dark color of those same debased coins. Black dogs were also at times called "stampes" or "stampees," as they were typically the coins of other colonial powers—French coins worth 2 sous or, equivalently, 24 diniers—stamped to make them British currency.
A dog and a stampe were not necessarily of equal value. For example, the Spanish dollar was subdivided into bits, each worth 9 pence, 6 black dogs or 4 stampees. Before 1811, 1 dollar equalled 11 bits (making a dog of a dollar and a stampee of a dollar); after 1811, 1 dollar equalled 12 bits (making a dog of a dollar and a stampee of a dollar). In 1797, however, a "black dog" is equated with a "stampee."
Mary Prince's narrative tells of slaves in Antigua buying a "dog's worth" of salted fish or pork on Sundays (the only day they could go to the market).
Black Dog is a debut novel by author Stephen Booth in the Cooper and Fry series of novels, set in the Peak District. Black Dog won the 2001 Barry Award for the Best British Crime Novel
Usage examples of "black dog".
Of course he can't see it - how could you see a black dog in the middle of the night?
She had to jog a little to catch up to him, slapping her leg for Brownie to follow, then became exasperated when her pet raced on ahead, the black dog plodding along beside her.
Evandar waited a long moment, then shrank his form and turned himself into a large black dog.
I finish loading the rifle and prop my left elbow on one knee, steadying the barrel in the direction of the big black dog closest to our end of the lot.
Two or three were found who admitted they had seen it coming in the distance--although they hadn't known it for what it was, had taken it in the gloom for a large, rabid black dog.
The snarling black dog was circling him at a yard's distance, tensely stalking, but he ignored it in the greater disaster.
Nig, equally friendly, though less demonstrative, was a huge black dog, half bloodhound and half deerhound, with eyes that laughed and a boundless good nature.
Harlan, followed by a woman in an evening gown holding a cage, followed by a large, black dog.