Yes, the old legend of Black Annis could have contributed to the beginning of the Black Annie traditions. Here's what Wikipedia says about this terrifying apparition:

"Black Annis is a bogeyman figure in English folklore. She is imagined as a blue-faced crone or witch with iron claws and a taste for human (especially child) flesh. She is said to haunt the countryside of Leicestershire, living in a cave in the Dane Hills.
    "She supposedly goes out onto the glens at night looking for unsuspecting children and lambs to eat, then hangs their skins around her waist. She would reach inside houses to snatch people, which was the professed reason why houses in that area had small windows. Legend has it that she used her iron claws to dig into the side of a sandstone cliff, making herself a home there which is known as Black Annis's Bower.[citation needed]
    "This legend is of disputed origin. Some say it is based on a Fifteenth century hermit named Agnes Scott, while others say it is much older and probably Celtic in origin, based on a Christian demonisation of a Celtic goddess known variously as Aine, Annis, Ana, Anu, Dana and Danu."

Bob