Purported to be the thirteenth child of witchy Mother Leeds, the Jersey Devil emerged as a bouncing kangaroo-shaped, bat-winged baby in 1735 in the in the Leeds Point section of what is now Atlantic County in New Jersey. Before flying up the chimney, the critter killed the midwife. Then it flew circles around the town and finally disappeared into the forest.
That’s one version of the legend.
Sightings have been reported since then with a lull after a clergyman exorcised the beast in 1740. Reports of misshapen flying beasts come from a variety of people including Joseph Bonaparte (Napoleon’s brother) who claimed to see the beastie around 1820.
Witnesses describe the thing as covered in fur, having two legs, bat wings, and a dog-shaped head. It emits ear-splitting shrieks as it flys . Dragon-like is another way it is described.
a face like a horse. It had a long neck, wings about two feet long, and
its back legs were like those of a crane, and it had horse’s hooves.
It walked on its back legs and held up two short front legs with paws
on them. It didn’t use the front legs at all while we were watching.
My wife and I were scared, I tell you, but I managed to open the
window and say, ‘Shoo’, and it turned around barked at me, and flew away.”
James F Mcgloy and Ray Miller, The Jersey Devil (wallingford, PA:The Middle
Atlantic Press,1976), p.45. Retrieved from http://theshadowlands.net/jd.htm
Nineteen hundred and nine was a busy year for the creature when reports rolled in from Pennsylvania, Delaware, as well as New Jersey. It attacked a trolley car, a social club, and various farmers. Police fired shots at a strange flying beast with no effect. All the sightings at this time actually prompted school closings (Where was the Jersey Devil mumblety—five years ago when I could have used a day off?)
(Rosemary Ellen Guiley)
http://www.prairieghosts.com/jerseydevil.html
Now this all sounds like a nice Colonial ghost story, possibly brought on by ergot poisoning, ale flagons made of lead, inbreeding, or any of a thousand other bad choices made by colonials in the 18th century. A certain number of sightings in later years turned out to be hoaxes.
BUT. . . .
The Native American name for the area is Popuessing which means place of the dragon. Swedish explorers called the place Drake Kill—with drake being a word for dragon and kill referring to a channel or river.
Sporadic sightings continue with over 2000 reported encounters with the Jersey Devil.
6 thoughts on “Things That Go Bump in the Night–Jersey Devil”
I remember reading about the Jersey Devil as a kid. Great stuff.
—
Tim Brannan, The Other Side Blog
2015 A to Z of Adventure!
http://theotherside.timsbrannan.com/
Interesting bit about the Indian name for the place. It makes you wonder!
I’m blogging about productivity for creative people this month. Happy A to Zing!
Yvonne
Who doesn’t love reading about things that go bump in the night? Great series! I’m really enjoying these posts!
Thank you so much, C R. Glad you like them.
The question is, did the legend evolve from the older legends since the area was clearly associated with dragons, or had everyone just realised that soon or later the place attracts a dragon? 🙂
Tasha
Tasha’s Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
That’s my question, too, Tasha.