The Legend of Sawney Bean

Do you remember the 1977 movie THE HILLS HAVE EYES (remade in 2006)?  It was a film set in America about a cannibalistic clan that terrorized a town.  Did you know the movie was based on the Scottish legend of Alexander "Sawney" Bean?

According to the legend, Sawney Bean was the head of a 15th or 16th century family, executed for their gruesome acts of violence and cannibalism.  He is said to have disliked the manual labor required of daily living in his Scottish village.  Bean left his hometown with a woman and together they started a family.  Their clan is said to have been quite large and they lived together in a cave, ambushing their victims by night.

The disappearances were noted and villagers began to take revenge.  Many people were wrongly accused and put to death.  Local innkeepers were targeted more than other villagers because they would be the last to see the missing people.  Eventually, the Bean family was discovered by a manhunt lead by King James VI of Scotland.  When captured, the Bean family was executed without trial; the men were dismembered and allowed to bleed to death, the women and children - after being subjected to watch the deaths of the men - were burned alive. 

For the most part, historians tend to dismiss the story of Sawney Bean, claiming that it is just a bit of folklore.  What do you think?