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Monty
Chief Inspector
Username: Monty
Post Number: 851
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 10, 2004 - 3:10 am: | 
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Guys,
Heres a couple of links.....
http://theshadowlands.net/jack.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Meteor/3602/springy.html
There are plenty others out there, so check 'em at your free will.
I find this case absoulutely fascinating, does anyone else ?
So, Montys question is a simple one today.
Spring Heeled....was he an inspiration for our Jack ?....or for the letter writers at least ? Was he the reason these murders were reported in such a melodramtic fashion?
Man or myth ? He was certainly real enough in the Duke of Wellingtons eyes.
You views please.
Cheers,
Monty
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Dustin Gould
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Sunday, March 28, 2004 - 10:31 pm: |
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I wish I knew for sure! I believe him to be real enough. The mystery surrounding his existance is so vast, I feel compelled to learn as much as I can about him. Unfortunately, the more I read, the less I seem to know!  |
Deborah
Police Constable
Username: Elgyfu
Post Number: 2
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, May 01, 2004 - 1:46 am: |
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Spring Heeled Jack was certainly well know to the Victorian population.
However, as for the melodrama of the reports - well, many Victorian newspaper reports are as melodramatic. I guess it sold papers then! |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1246
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Friday, August 13, 2004 - 5:16 pm: |
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Spring Heels springs again:
'Spring Healed Jack: The origin of the Jack the Ripper and Bone Collector Legend by Calton Lawrence Forwarded By: mystery@ic24.net (Mystery Magazine) HauntedscotlandMM@onelist.com
Lawrence takes the position that both Jack the Ripper and the Bone Collector are manifestations of a semi-legendary figure called "Spring Healed Jack."
Lawrence explains that Victorian England played host to periodic reports of a strange man or being to whom the press referred variously as "Springald," "Spring Heeled Jack," or "Springheel Jack." The figure's presence was first noted in September 1837, when he assaulted four separate persons, three of them women, at locations in and around London. In one instance he ripped off the top of victim Polly Adams's dress, scratching her belly with fingers that felt as if they were made of iron.
What made these incidents different from conventional sexual crimes was the attacker's appearance. He was tall, thin, and powerful, wore a cloak, and had pointed ears, glowing eyes, and a mouth that spat blue flames into victims' faces. He also could effect enormous leaps which enabled him to move with such rapidity that it was impossible to escape or catch him.
By January 1838 London's Lord Mayor, Sir John Cowan, had declared Springheel Jack a public menace and formed a vigilance committee to bring the bizarre criminal to justice. But the attacks went on regardless. On the evening of February 20, for example, a stranger appeared at the gate of a London residence and called out, "For God's sake, bring me a light, for we have caught Spring-heeled Jack in the lane!" When 18-year-old Jane Alsop brought a candle, she saw a figure, according to the London Times (February 22), "who appeared to be enveloped in a large cloak.... [H]e threw off his outer garment, and applying the lighted candle to his breast, presented a most
hideous and frightful appearance, and vomited forth a quantity of blue and white flame from his mouth, and his eyes resembled red balls of fire.... [H]e wore a large helmet, and his address, which appeared to fit him very tight, seemed to her to resemble white oil skin."
He lunged for her, his clawlike hands ripping her dress. The young woman struggled with him and was soon rescued by a sister, who with great difficulty pulled her into the house and slammed the door. Undeterred, Jack knocked two or three times on the door and left only when family members looking out from an upstairs window shouted for the police. Jack dashed across a field, dropping his cloak in his haste. When it was quickly picked up by someone else, the Alsops and later the police concluded that Jack had an accomplice.
Sporadic attacks continued through 1839, and a few were recorded in 1843. In 1845, in daylight and in view of numerous witnesses, Jack bounded toward a young prostitute who was crossing a bridge in a London slum. Grabbing her by the shoulders, he breathed fire into her face, tossed her into the open sewer below, and watched her drown. It was the only murder with which his name would be linked.
However bizarre his appearance and behavior, Springheel Jack was assumed by investigating authorities to be a real person. Rumors spread that he was Henry, the Marquis of Waterford, a young Irish nobleman of rowdy habits and cruel humor, but it was not possible, nor is it now, to effect huge leaps with springs concealed in boot heels. When German soldiers tried this during
World War II, 85 percent of them reportedly suffered broken ankles. In any case, Waterford died in 1859.
The link to Jack the Ripper comes from a report almost twenty years later. 1877, during the height of the Whitechapel Murders scare, witness to the murder of a prostitute reported and strange occurrence. Jack merrily bounded from rooftop to rooftop while fleeing the crime, and dozens of people witnessed the spectacle. Observers said he had huge ears and was dressed in something resembling sheepskin. In August of the same year Jack, clad in an oilskin suit and wearing a "shining helmet," appeared before soldiers at Aldershot's North Camp. A sentry who fired on the figure claimed that his bullet passed through it without effect. Scotland yard refused to investigate these reports or connect them officially with the Whitechapel investigation (which by this time had begun to center on an eccentric American doctor).
Finally the connection to the Bone Collector comes from a report a century later and an ocean away. In Cincinnati, during the height of the Bone Collector scare, residents seeking relief from the heat by sitting in front of their apartment building said they saw a "huge shadow" cross the lawn in front of them, then "bounce upward into a pecan tree." A dim gray light illuminated the figure in the tree. It was a tall man with a "black cape, skintight pants, and quarter-length boots." He was dressed in "gray or black tight-fitting clothes." One witness thought she saw wings on the figure, but possibly this was an optical illusion caused by the cape. After a few minutes the figure "just melted away," his disappearance followed by a "loud swoosh" across the street and the rapid ascent of a rocket-shaped object.
Investigating police officers judged the witnesses sincere and clearly frightened. Later, when F.B.I. investigator, Scott Adams, apprehended the supposed murderer, he reported paranormal "ghost lights" and other strange occurrences which hint at an occult solution to the murder. It is still debatable whether the man that Adams shot was really the true Jack.'
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Dan Norder
Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 215
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Friday, August 13, 2004 - 9:28 pm: |
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1877 as the "height of the Whitechapel Murders scare" is just the most obvious error out of a large number in that bit. Some people like their history rather loose and fanciful I guess.
Dan Norder, editor, Ripper Notes
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Boris Karlogi
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2004 - 5:14 am: |
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Inclined to agree with you there, Mr. Norder. I also think too many people have read Peter Haining's colourful "The Legend & Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack" and accepted that as gospel. Try Mike Dash's marvellous piece of research on the SHJ story in "Fortean Studies 3" for a rather more fact-based reference tool.
Speaking of the vaguely "supernatural" angle, there's some stuff about the "Was Jack the Ripper a vampire" and Whitechapel Hauntings at http://mutinypress.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/
They go in for vampires and SHJ in a big way on that site! |
Adam Went
Police Constable
Username: Adamw
Post Number: 4
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, December 11, 2004 - 1:39 am: |
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I tend to think that Spring Heeled Jack was probably a true being, but that over time the sightings exaggerated a bit. If I remember correctly, he was first sighted in 1837 and last sighted in 1904. That's 67 years. Now that can't be right, because even if he was only 20 when he was first sighted, he would be close to 90 by the time he was last sighted. Can you imagine a 90 year old bouncing along on rooftops, over fences, etc? So while he probably did exist to a certain extent, I doubt very much his career was as long or as exaggerated as it is supposed to be.
As for the name of 'Jack' - well, many famous criminals had the name of 'Jack', pre-dating Spring Heeled Jack or the Ripper, such as One-Armed Jack, Sixteen-String Jack, etc. Although they were only thiefs, so it was a lesser scale to someone like the Ripper. My thinking is that the name 'Jack' was selected simply because it was so common at the time.
Regards,
Adam. |
AP Wolf
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Apwolf
Post Number: 1650
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 28, 2004 - 5:26 pm: |
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I found this research paper while looking for bodies in the Islington canal. It has some interesting detail and reference.
Research Note
Spring-Heeled Jack
Jacqueline Simpson
9 Christchurch Road
Worthing
West Sussex, BN11 1JH
Writing about the legendary Antjie Somers (FTN 47), Sigrid says some believed this Afrikaans robber-cum-bogey figure was a man in woman’s clothes who could moved fantastically fast because he had steel springs under his heels. I was reminded of Spring-Heel(ed) Jack in the 19th and early 20th century English lore.
The earliest known rumors about this figure (as yet nameless) centered round Barnes Common in southwest London in September 1837, where girls reported a man in a dark cloak vaulting the railings of a churchyard, tearing their clothes, and running off laughing loudly. There were similar assaults on Clapham Common the following month, in one of which the attacker left footprints which look as if there were “machines or springs” on his shoes. A barmaid attending Blackheath Fair on 11 October claimed to have been molested twice. At the fair itself a man with prominent eyes and a ringing laugh who “looked like a nobleman” pulled he shawl off; later, on her way home, a huge figure leapt out at her from a clump of trees, bounding in great strides, and began ripping her clothes with what felt like iron claws. It had fiery eyes, spat blue flames, and smelt of sulphur, but its laugh was that of a man at the fair. Naturally, she fainted. Peter Haining (1977) says that by mid-October similar reports had come from many districts in or near London: East Sheen, Richmond, Ham, Kingston, Hampton, Teddington, Twickenham, Hounslow, Uxbridge, Camberwell, and Tooting Common. They consistently described a tall, athletic figure in a long cloak and high-heeled boots, with fiery eyes, fingers as hard as claws, and sometimes pointed ears; women’s clothes were torn, but they were never raped or wounded. Presumably these are local press items, but Haining does not give the references (Haining 1977, 39-41).
On 9 January 1838 the Lord Mayor of London made public the complaint of an anonymous “Resident of Peckham” that:
It appears that some individuals (of, as the writer believes, the highest ranks of life) have laid a wager with a mischievous and foolhardy companion (name as yet unknown), that he durst not take upon himself the task of visiting many of the villages near London in three different disguises – a ghost, a bear, and a devil; and moreover, that he will not enter a gentleman’s gardens for the purpose of alarming the inmates of the house. The wager has, however, been accepted, and the unmanly villain has succeeded in depriving seven ladies of their senses.
At one house the man rang the bell, and on the servant coming to open door, this worse than brute stood in no less dreadful figure than a spectre clad most perfectly. The con sequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her senses. …
The affair has now been going on for some time, and, strange to say, the papers are still silent on the subject. The writer … has reason to believe that they have the whole history at their finger ends, but, through interested motives, are induced to remain silent.
Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly skeptical, a member of the audience confirmed, “servant girls about Kensington, Hammersmith and Ealing tell dreadful stories of this ghost or devil”. The matter was reported in The Times and other national papers next day, and the day after that (11 January) the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar “wicked pranks”. One writer said he had ascertained that several young women in Hammersmith had been frightened into “dangerous fits”; and some “severely wounded by a sort of claws the miscreant wore on his hands”; another, that in Stockwell, Brixton, Camberwell and Vauxhall several people had died of fright, and others had had fits; another, that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in Lewisham and Blackheath, but the police were too frightened of him to act. Another, writing from St. John’s Wood, where the “monster” had been seen “clad in mail and as a bear”, gave a sinister twist to the previous day’s story of a wager among young upper-class men;
The bet is, understood to be of an even more grave nature than is there stated, and, if it be true, amounts to murder. As far as the writer has been informed, the bet is, that the monster shall kill six women in some given time.
The Lord Mayor himself was in two minds about the affair: he thought “the greatest exaggerations” had been made, and that it was quite impossible “that the ghost performs the feats of a devil upon earth”, but on the other hand someone he trusted had told him of a servant girl at Forest Hill who had been scared into fits by a figure in a bear’s skin; he was confident the person or persons involved in this “pantomime display” would be caught and punished (Haining 1977, 22-34, based on reports in The Times of 10 and 12 January 1838).
Next day, the Lord Mayor formed a vigilante committee of magistrates and army officers to track down the villain; police patrols were set up; rewards were offered; the elderly Duke of Wellington himself joined a posse. In vain; nobody was caught, and panic continued to spread. By the end of January, the press had given the mystery assailant a name, “Spring-Heeled Jack”.
Whether or not this name was derived from the archaic or literary word “springald” meaning “youngster”, as Peter Haining things, it fits a human prankster in disguise better than a supernatural being. Never the less, those who described him often made him sound like a demon. Thus, on 18 February 1838, a girl called Lucy Scales, living in Limehouse, said a tall cloaked man who spat blue flames at her had pounced on her. Two days later another girl, Jane Alsop, opened the door of her father’s house in Bow to a man claming to be a police officer, who asked her to bring a light because he had “caught Spring-Heeled Jack in the lane”, but this man then attacked her, tearing at her dress and hair until other members of her family ran to help her. She told magistrates: “He was wearing a kind of helmet, and a tight-fitting white costume like an oilskin. His face was hideous, his eyes were like balls of fire. His hands had great claws, and he vomited blue and white flames.”
The London panic gradually died down, but sightings of a figure that leapt out oat people or vehicles were reported sporadically from many parts of the country over the next 30 or 40 years. The press did not endorse the supernatural interpretation given by some victims, but blamed a human trickster disguised as something demonic. There were occasional acts of violence: in Yarmouth in 1845 a delirious man who was wandering about in his nightshirt was beaten up by someone who mistook him for Spring-Heeled Jack, and died next day (Illustrated London News, 27 September 1845). The last major incident was in August 1877, when sentries at the army barracks at Aldershot were repeatedly scared by a fire-spitting masked figure in a tight-fitting oilskin suit which leapt down on them from walls and roofs.
Almost from the first, the figure of Spring-Heeled Jack was appropriated for fictional entertainment. A play by John Thomas Haines, in 1840, Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London, shows him as a blackguard who attacks women because his own sweetheart jilted him; it was soon followed by W. G. Willis’s play The Curse of the Wraydons, where Jack is a traitor who spies for Napoleon, and stages murderous stunts as a cover. Later in the 1840s came an anonymous “Penny Dreadful” version, also entitled Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London, which appears in weekly episodes; it too made Jack a villain.
There was another “Penny Dreadful” which appeared in 48 weekly installments in the 1870s, printed by the Newsagents Publishing Company and probably written by George A. Sala. It kept the same title, but was very different in theme. Sala’s Jack is no villain; he uses his power for good, saving the innocent from the wicked; he is in fact a nobleman by birth, though cheated of his inheritance, and his amazing leaps are due to compressed springs in the heels of his boots. He is dressed in a skin-tight glossy crimson suit, with bat’s wings, a lion’s mane, horns, talons, massive cloven hoofs, and a sulphurous breath; he moves in gigantic leaps, easily jumping over rooftops or rivers, and is immensely strong. Various boys’ comics took up the theme; a series produced by the Aldine Publishing Company toward the end of the 19th century lasted till 1904, similarly presenting Jack as a masked avenger who thwarts evil-doers.
Thus Spring-Heel Jack entered popular mythology. As presented in the later boys’ literature, he has an obvious similarly to more modern heroes, Superman, Batman, Spiderman and so on; like them, he appears threatening, but is a force for good; his seemingly supernatural powers are based on technology and physical strength, not magic; he has suffered an injustice which claims the reader’s sympathy; he has a dual life, in which the “marvelous” aspect is signaled by donning a costume which defines his powers. But in “real-life” contexts his original role as a mugger was by no means forgotten; indeed, it appears from the OED that in late Victorian times his name had become a general term for a street criminal who leapt upon people to rob or frighten them, and then relied on his speed in running to make his escape; it cites a Cheshire source from 1887, for example, where maids who had just been paid their yearly wage were said to be afraid to go out carrying much money, since “there are so many of these spring-heeled Jacks about”.
In 1907 contributors to Notes & Queries debated whether there had ever been a real Jack. One had heard of “a lively officer” at Aldershot in the 1870s who scared sentries by vaulting across a canal and pouncing on their shoulders; another, of a coal-merchant’s son in rural Warwickshire in the 1880s, “a youth not overburdened with common sense”, who leapt out at people as a prank, using shoes fitted with powerful and silent springs; another, of a hoaxer in the Midlands in the 1850s; another had been told by his grandmother, as early as the 1840s, that the “monster” was really the notorious young Marquis of Waterford [10th series Vol. 7 (1907), pp. 206, 256, 394-5, 496; Vol. 8 (1907), pp. 251, 455].
This latter identification echoes the hints about young aristocrats and their callous wagers made in January 1838; the Marquis was frequently in the news in the late 1830s for drunken brawling, brutal jokes, and vandalism, and was said to do anything for a bet. He was also named as Jack by the Revd. E. C. Brewer in 1880, who stated confidently that the Marquis “used to amuse himself by springing on travelers unawares, to frighten them, and from time to time others have followed his silly example.” Peter Haining accepts this as the true explanation for the incidents between September 1837 and February 1838, when the Marquis was in London and is known to have visited Blackheath Fair; later ones would be imitations (Haining 1977, 54-73). But the sheer number of reports at this time, and their wide scatter in and around London, must cast doubt on any theory which makes a single man responsible, while modern experience of panics and flaps can only increase one’s skepticism as to their having any factual basis.' |
julian scutts
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, September 07, 2005 - 1:31 pm: |
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SPRING-HEELED JACK
Spring-Heeled Jack was a very odd chap,
And a very odd chap was he.
His eyes glowed like a pyre,
He wore batman’s attire.
He was frightful not least
Because from the mouth of this beast
Spewed forth a tongue of blue fire.
Spring-Heeled Jack had a very strange knack,
And a very strange knack had he.
By way of a spoof
He jumped roof to roof,
And a ten-foot wall
Presented no trouble at all
To this Jack of the cloven hoof.
Spring-heeled Jack had a very tough mack,
And a very tough mack had he.
The soldiers might fire
But unscathed he’d retire.
He sure was no pullet,
Distaining each bullet,
And mocking the military’s ire.
Spring-Heeled Jack had a very sad lack,
And a very sad lack had he.
With a talent like his
He could have been king of show biz
And regarding high jumps
Jack would have been trumps.
What a deplorable waste of his whizz!
Spring-Heeled Jack had a very long whack,
And a very long whack had he.
Despite many a try
No catcher came nigh,
So through Victoria’s long age
It was Jack who held stage.
Though now, it appears, he’s more shy.
By Julian Scutts
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Alan Friend
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 09, 2005 - 5:28 pm: |
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On the subject of this Springheel Jack business,I would hope that people realise just how far back some of these events supposedly hail from.I tend to think that it's one hell of a long time ago to the birth of my grandparents,around the turn of the last century.Yet you have to go back about seventy or so years before that even,to when all this Springheel Jack stuff first allegedly kicked off.Just how sure can anyone be,at the remove of 2005,of the veracity of any of these fantastic yarns about a guy who leapt like Batman,had glowing eyes and blew fire from his mouth like some sort of devil,and got his kicks from leaping out on unsuspecting females to assault them,like your typical crazy pervert.I tend to hold the rationalist view that these tales,and much else in folklore,are not to be taken literally in any way,shape or form.Rather,there may be some seed of truth behind the Springheel Jack stories,but even then,not necessarily a supernatural one.Sorry if I have bust anyone's bubble,but I believe that there are a tremendous number of people out there who could use a hearty dose of scepticism. |
Dan Norder
Chief Inspector
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 996
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Thursday, November 10, 2005 - 8:43 am: |
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Hi Alan,
I agree with you 100%. The Springheeled Jack legend is directly based upon earlier folklore and hysteria that existed a long time before the events that have been presented as historical were ever publicized. It's a story of fear and panic, boogeymen and devils.
Dan Norder, Editor
Ripper Notes: The International Journal for Ripper Studies
 Profile  Email  Dissertations  Website
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Monty
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Monty
Post Number: 2010
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 11:39 am: |
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Alan,
Whilst the common view of Springheeled Jack, a fire breathing, flying devil does indeed seem far fetched and totally illogical, the actual attacks on women during the late 1830's were real enough.
So real that the Lord Mayor of London set up a vigilance commitee to tackle the problem.
I agree with your views regarding the supposed 'supernatural' aspect.
Monty
(Message edited by monty on November 16, 2005)
It begins.....
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Dan Norder
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Dannorder
Post Number: 1002
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 1:29 pm: |
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Hi Monty,
Yes, but vigilance committees, police actions and so forth have also been set up to try to capture attackers who turned out to be completely mythical. See the Halifax Slasher, Monkey Man, Muhnochwa, the Malawi Vampires, the Mad Gasser of Mattoon, and so forth and so on. The fact that some officials took the reports seriously does not in itself mean that the attacks were real.
Dan Norder, Editor
Ripper Notes: The International Journal for Ripper Studies
Profile Email Dissertations Website
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Monty
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Monty
Post Number: 2011
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 3:38 am: |
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Dan,
That your personal view or is there evidence that the reported attacks were indeed fictional?
Cheers,
Monty
It begins.....
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David O'Flaherty
Assistant Commissioner
Username: Oberlin
Post Number: 1134
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, November 17, 2005 - 8:31 am: |
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Hi everyone,
I used to have a girlfriend who could spit fire, had red eyes of fire, claws, etc.
If of interest,
The Times
February 22 1838
OUTRAGE ON A YOUNG LADY.
__________
Many among the public have hitherto been incredulous as to the truth of various representations made to the Lord Mayor of the gambols of “Spring-heeled Jack,” the suburban ghost, and believed, from there being no positive proof of the miscreant carrying his pranks beyond the mere act of alarming unprotected females, that those statements were more the effect of imagination than reality. The following authentic particulars, however, of a gross and violent outrage committed on a respectable young lady, and which might not only have caused her death, but that of both her sisters, by the unmanly brute, will remove all doubt on the subject.
Yesterday Mr. Alsop, a gentleman of considerable property residing at Bear-bind Cottage, in Bear-bind-lane, a very lonely spot between the villages of Bow and Old Ford, accompanied by his three daughters, waited upon Mar HARDWICK at Lambeth-street Police-office, and gave the following particulars of an outrage committed on one of the latter:—
Miss Jane Alsop, a young lady 18 years of age, stated, that at about a quarter to 9 o’clock on the preceding night she heard a violent ringing at the gate in front of the house, and on going to the door to see what was the matter she saw a man standing outside, of whom she inquired what was the matter, and requested he would not ring so loud. The person instantly replied that he was a policeman, and said “For God’s sake, bring me a light, for we have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane.” She returned into the house and brought a candle, and handed it to the person, who appeared enveloped in a large cloak, and whom she at first really believed to be a policeman. The instant she had done so, however, he threw off his outer garment, and applying the lighted candle to his breast, presented a most hideous and frightful appearance, and vomited forth a quantity of blue and white flame from his mouth, and his eyes resembled red balls of fire. From the hasty glance which her fright enabled her to get at his person she observed that he wore a large helmet, and his dress, which appeared to fit him very tight, seemed to her to resemble white oil skin. Without uttering a sentence he darted at her, and catching her partly by her dress and the back part of her neck, placed her head under one of his arms, and commenced tearing her gown with his claws, which she was certain were of some metallic substance. She screamed out as loud as she could for assistance, and by considerable exertion got away from him and ran towards the house to get in. Her assailant, however, followed her, and caught her on the steps leading to the hall-door, when he again used considerable violence, tore her neck and arms with his claws, as well as a quantity of hair from her head; but she was at length rescued from his grasp by one of her sisters. Miss Alsop added, that she had suffered considerably all night from the shock she had sustained, and was then in extreme pain, both from the injury done to her arm, and the wounds and scratches inflicted by the miscreant about her shoulders and back with his claws or hands.
Miss Mary Alsop, a younger sister, said, that on hearing the screams of her sister Jane, she went to the door, and saw a figure as above described ill-using her sister. She was so alarmed at his appearance, that she was afraid to approach or render any assistance.
Mrs. Harrison said, that hearing the screams of both her sisters, first of Jane, and then of Mary, she ran to the door, and found the person before described in the act of dragging her sister Jane down the stone steps front the door with considerable violence. She (Mrs. Harrison) got hold of her sister, and by some means or other, which she could scarcely describe, succeeded in getting her inside the door, and closing it. At this time her sister’s dress was nearly torn off her; both her combs dragged out of her head, as well as a quantity of her hair torn away. The fellow, notwithstanding the outrage he had committed, knocked loudly two or three times at the door, and it was only on their calling loudly for the police from the upper windows that he left the place.
Mr. Alsop, who appears very feeble, said that he and Mrs. Alsop have been laid up for several weeks past with a rheumatic affection, so as to be scarcely able to get out of bed, but such was the alarm on the night before, that they both got out of bed, and he managed to get down stairs, and found his daughter Susan with her clothes torn, and having all the appearance of receiving the most serious personal violence. Mr. Alsop also said, it was perfectly clear that there was more than one ruffian connected with the outrage, as the fellow who committed the violence did not return for his cloak, but scampered across the fields, so that there must have been some person with him to pick it up. In conclusion, Mr. Alsop said, he would most willingly give a reward of 10 guineas for the apprehension of the miscreant.
Mr. HARDWICK expressed his surprise and abhorrence at the outrage, and said that no pains should be spared to bring its miscreant perpetrator to justice.
Dave |
SarahJGreenway
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 9:34 am: |
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Hi all,
Fantastic to see the debate about this interesting chap still continues! 
I have been fascinated by him ever since I first heard a friend mention him a couple of years ago.
Has anyone noticed any similarities between the descriptions of some of the mysterious 'men' who were sighted around the time of the Mothman episodes in Point Pleasant in the 60's? Particularly the 'white oilskin' type suits and the 'helmet' like heads. They were also sighted jumping over buildings.
It just seems to be an interesting parallel and one that I feel warrants further investigation.
What does everyone think of the Marquis of Waterford theory? Why did the sightings/occurances continue after his death (I believe he fell from his horse whilst riding)? Was it a friend/cohort carrying on the work to win the wager or was it simply a copy-cat admirer, living his hero's life? |
Stephen Leece
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Friday, November 18, 2005 - 12:02 am: |
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Hi
According to the Wikipedia article on SHJ there have been uncomfirmed sightings/ attacks of SHJ in Britain right up until the 1980s. However the author of the article does not go into details on these recent alleged attacks.
As for the supernatural aspect of it, the only thing about the incidents that is difficult to credit is the guff about Jack's eyes being like balls of fire and vomiting blue flames (night on the blue aftershock perhaps?). All the other stuff about claws and helmets could be knocked up by in any half decent workshop. SHJ in all liklihood may simply have been a very athletic, flamboyantly dressed pervert.
Regards,
Stephen |
Stephen Leece
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Saturday, November 19, 2005 - 11:01 pm: |
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Sarah,
I believe the Mothman was meant to be some rare species of owl that stood at around 5' tall (height of a small child). I'm afraid that the book and movie ignored this conclusion. The mothman was just an example of mass hysteria and media manipulation (as was Roswell, Loch Ness monster etc.).
Regards,
Stephen |
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