In The Hound of the Baskervilles, the demonic ancestor of Sir Henry, is a character called Sir Hugo Baskerville, who was based on a real character, called Richard ‘Dirty Dick’ Cabell.
Dirty Dick Cabell, lived for womanising, drinking and hunting. He reputedly sold his soul to the devil and had it collected by a pack of hell-hounds on his death. He is buried in the Cabel sepulchre at Buckfastliegh, on the edge of Dartmoor.
Dirty Dick’s 2nd Great Grandfather, Richard Cabell of Cayford and Frome, is my 15th Great Grandfather, via my 10th Great Grandmother Damaris Cabel (somewhere along the line, they lost an ‘l’).
Dirty Dick is therefore my 3rd cousin, 13 times removed.