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'''Spring Heeled Jack''' (also ''Springheel Jack'', ''Spring-heel Jack'', etc), is a character from [[English folklore]] said to have existed during the [[Victorian era]] and able to jump extraordinarily high. The first recorded claimed sighting of Spring Heeled Jack occurred in 1837.<sup id="fn_1_back">[[#fn 1|1]]</sup> Later alleged sightings were reported from all over [[England]], from [[London]] up to [[Sheffield]] and [[Liverpool]], but they were especially prevalent in [[suburban]] London and later in the [[Midlands]] and [[Scotland]].<sup id="fn_2_back">[[#fn 2|2]]</sup> |
'''Spring Heeled Jack''' (also ''Springheel Jack'', ''Spring-heel Jack'', etc), is a character from [[English folklore]] said to have existed during the [[Victorian era]] and able to jump extraordinarily high. The first recorded claimed sighting of Spring Heeled Jack occurred in 1837.<sup id="fn_1_back">[[#fn 1|1]]</sup> Later alleged sightings were reported from all over [[England]], from [[London]] up to [[Sheffield]] and [[Liverpool]], but they were especially prevalent in [[suburban]] London and later in the [[Midlands]] and [[Scotland]].<sup id="fn_2_back">[[#fn 2|2]]</sup> |
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Many theories have been proposed to ascertain his [[human nature|nature]] and [[psychological identity|identity]], none of which have |
Many theories have been proposed to ascertain his [[human nature|nature]] and [[psychological identity|identity]], none of which have completely explained the [[Anomalous phenomenon|phenomenon]]. The [[urban legend]] of Spring Heeled Jack gained immense popularity in its time due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and his capacity to perform extraordinary leaps, to the point that it became the topic of several works of [[fiction]] and much speculation about possible [[paranormal phenomena|paranormal]] origins. |
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Spring Heeled Jack was described by alleged witnesses as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with [[devil|diabolical]] [[physiognomy]] that included clawed hands and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One |
Spring Heeled Jack was described by alleged witnesses as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with [[devil|diabolical]] [[physiognomy]] that included clawed hands and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a [[helmet]] and a tight fitting white garment like an "[[Wiktionary:oilskin|oilskin]]". Many stories also mention a "[[Devil]]-like" aspect. Spring Heeled Jack was said to be tall and thin, with the appearance of a gentleman, and capable of making great leaps. Several reports mention that he could breathe blue and white flames from his mouth and that he wore sharp metallic [[claw]]s at his fingertips. At least two individuals claimed that he was able to speak in comprehensible [[English language|English]]. |
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== History == |
== History == |
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=== Early reports === |
=== Early reports === |
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[[Image:Springheel_Jack.png|thumb|left|Picture from a [[penny dreadful]] of Spring Heeled Jack jumping over a gate.]] |
[[Image:Springheel_Jack.png|thumb|left|Picture from a [[penny dreadful]] of Spring Heeled Jack jumping over a gate.]] |
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According to newspaper articles dating to December [[1837]], the first reports of Jack's activities were made in September of that year in [[London]]. A businessman returning home late one night from work told of being suddenly shocked as a mysterious figure jumped with ease over the |
According to newspaper articles dating to December [[1837]], the first reports of Jack's activities were made in September of that year in [[London]]. A businessman returning home late one night from work told of being suddenly shocked as a mysterious figure jumped with ease over the high railings of a cemetery, landing right in his path. No attack was reported, but the submitted description was disturbing: a muscular human male with devilish features including large and pointed ears and nose, and protruding, glowing eyes. |
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Later, in October 1837, a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to [[Lavender Hill]], where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in [[Battersea]]. On her way through [[Clapham Common]], according to her later statements, a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, ''"cold and clammy as those of a corpse"''. In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene |
Later, in October 1837, a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to [[Lavender Hill]], where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in [[Battersea]]. On her way through [[Clapham Common]], according to her later statements, a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, ''"cold and clammy as those of a corpse"''. In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents who launched an immediate search for the aggressor, who could not be found. |
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The next day, the leaping character allegedly chose a very different victim near Mary Stevens' home, inaugurating a [[modus operandi]] that would |
The next day, the leaping character allegedly chose a very different victim near Mary Stevens' home, inaugurating a [[modus operandi]] that would reappear in later reports: he jumped in the way of a passing [[carriage]], causing the coachman to lose control and crash, injuring him seriously. Several witnesses claimed that he escaped by jumping over a nine foot-high wall while babbling with a high-pitched and ringing laughter.<!-- Babbling? Ringing? --> |
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Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the [[Mass media|press]] and the public gave him a name: '''Spring Heeled Jack'''.<sup id="fn_3_back">[[#fn 3|3]]</sup> |
Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the [[Mass media|press]] and the public gave him a name: '''Spring Heeled Jack'''.<sup id="fn_3_back">[[#fn 3|3]]</sup> |
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=== Official recognition === |
=== Official recognition === |
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[[Image:Mansion_House-Public_Session.jpg|220px|thumb|right|A public session at the Mansion House, London (c. 1840).]] A few months |
[[Image:Mansion_House-Public_Session.jpg|220px|thumb|right|A public session at the Mansion House, London (c. 1840).]] A few months after these first sightings, on [[January 9]] [[1838]], the [[Lord Mayor of London]], Sir John Cowan, revealed at a public session held in the [[Mansion House, London|Mansion House]] an anonymous complaint that he had received several days earlier, which he had withheld in the hope of obtaining further information. The correspondent, who signed the letter "a resident of [[Peckham]]", wrote: |
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:'' |
:''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, 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, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families. |
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:''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 consequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her 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 consequence was that the poor girl immediately swooned, and has never from that moment been in her senses.'' |
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:''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. |
:''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.''<sup id="fn_4_back">[[#fn 4|4]]</sup> |
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Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly sceptical, 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 the next day, and the day after that ([[January 11]]) the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar "wicked pranks". The quantity of letters that poured into the Mansion House suggests that the activities of Spring Heeled Jack were common knowledge in suburban London by that time. 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 correspondent affirmed that in [[Stockwell]], [[Brixton]], [[Camberwell]] and [[Vauxhall]] several people had died of fright, and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in [[Lewisham]] and [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], but the police were too frightened of him to act. |
Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly sceptical, 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 the next day, and the day after that ([[January 11]]) the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar "wicked pranks". The quantity of letters that poured into the Mansion House suggests that the activities of Spring Heeled Jack were common knowledge in suburban London by that time. 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 correspondent affirmed that in [[Stockwell]], [[Brixton]], [[Camberwell]] and [[Vauxhall]] several people had died of fright, and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in [[Lewisham]] and [[Blackheath, London|Blackheath]], but that the police were too frightened of him to act. |
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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, London|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.<sup id="fn_5_back">[[#fn 5|5]]</sup> The police were instructed to search for the individual responsible |
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, London|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.<sup id="fn_5_back">[[#fn 5|5]]</sup> The police were instructed to search for the individual responsible, and rewards were offered. Many people, including Admiral Sir [[Edward Codrington]] decided to join the search, but he was never caught. Furthermore, he seemed to have grown bolder, and his attacks multiplied. |
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=== The Scales and Alsop incidents === |
=== The Scales and Alsop incidents === |
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[[Image:Spring_Heeled_Jack-penny_dreadful.gif|left|thumbnail|Spring Heeled Jack as depicted on an early [[penny dreadful]].]] Perhaps the best known incidents involving Spring Heeled Jack were the alleged attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales<sup id="fn_6_back">[[#fn 6|6]]</sup> and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, while a single paper covered the Scales |
[[Image:Spring_Heeled_Jack-penny_dreadful.gif|left|thumbnail|Spring Heeled Jack as depicted on an early [[penny dreadful]].]] Perhaps the best known incidents involving Spring Heeled Jack were the alleged attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales<sup id="fn_6_back">[[#fn 6|6]]</sup> and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, while a single paper covered the Scales report, presumably because Alsop came from a comfortably well-off family and Scales from a family of tradesmen. This coverage by newspapers fuelled the [[collective hysteria]] surrounding the case. |
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It was reported that, on [[February 20]], 18-year-old Jane Alsop opened the door of her father's house in the district of [[Bow, London|Bow]] to a man claiming to be a police officer, who asked her to bring a light because he and other policemen had ''"caught Spring Heeled Jack here 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 the [[Lambeth]] police investigators that ''"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 claws of some metallic substance, and he vomited blue and white flames."'' |
It was reported that, on [[February 20]], 18-year-old Jane Alsop opened the door of her father's house in the district of [[Bow, London|Bow]] to a man claiming to be a police officer, who asked her to bring a light because he and other policemen had ''"caught Spring Heeled Jack here 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 the [[Lambeth]] police investigators that ''"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 claws of some metallic substance, and he vomited blue and white flames."'' |
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A second story comes from [[February 23]]. Once again a black-cloaked figure allegedly knocked on the door of a house, this time in Turner Street, off [[Commercial Road]]. When a servant boy answered the call, the visitor asked to speak to the master of the house, a Mr. Ashworth. The boy turned to call his master when he noticed that the man standing at the doorway had glowing red eyes. In a state of panic, he screamed, attracting the attention of the neighbours. |
A second story comes from [[February 23]]. Once again a black-cloaked figure allegedly knocked on the door of a house, this time in Turner Street, off [[Commercial Road]]. When a servant boy answered the call, the visitor asked to speak to the master of the house, a Mr. Ashworth. The boy turned to call his master when he noticed that the man standing at the doorway had glowing red eyes. In a state of panic, he screamed, attracting the attention of the neighbours. |
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The Scales report is as follows: Five days later [[February 28]], [[1838]],<sup id="fn_7_back">[[#fn 7|7]]</sup> |
The Scales report is as follows: Five days later [[February 28]], [[1838]],<sup id="fn_7_back">[[#fn 7|7]]</sup> 18-year-old Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher who lived in a respectable part of [[Limehouse]]. Slightly ahead of her sister, Lucy was halfway along Green Dragon Alley when a character who had been waiting at an angle in the passage appeared and attacked her. The figure breathed fire into Lucy's face and then walked away as the girl fell to the ground, seized by violent spasms which lasted for several hours. A few days later, on [[March 6]], Lucy and her sister made their deposition at Lambeth Street police court in the company of their brother, William.<sup id="fn_8_back">[[#fn 8|8]]</sup> |
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=== The legend spreads === |
=== The legend spreads === |
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''The Times'' reported under the heading "Outrage at Old Ford" |
''The Times'' reported the alleged attack on Jane Alsop under the heading "Outrage at Old Ford". This was followed up (see Palmer's index to ''The Times''<!-- Why? -->) with the account of the trial of one Thomas Millbank, who, immediately after the reported attack on Jane Alsop, had boasted in the Morgan's Arms that he was Spring Heeled Jack. He was arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer was James Lea, who had earlier arrested William Corder, the [[Red Barn murderer]]. Millbank had been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat, which he dropped outside the house, and the candle he dropped was also found. He escaped conviction only because Jane Alsop insisted her attacker had breathed fire, and Millbank admitted he could do no such thing. Most of the other accounts were written long after the date; contemporary newspapers do not mention them. |
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[[Image:Jack4.jpg|thumb|right|Ad for a Spring Heeled Jack [[penny dreadful]] (1886)]] |
[[Image:Jack4.jpg|thumb|right|Ad for a Spring Heeled Jack [[penny dreadful]] (1886)]] |
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After these incidents, Spring Heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the moment. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became the subject of several [[penny dreadful]]s and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. But, as his fame was growing, reports of his appearances became less frequent |
After these incidents, Spring Heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the moment. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became the subject of several [[penny dreadful]]s and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. But, as his fame was growing, reports of his appearances became less frequent if more widespread. In 1843, however, a wave of sightings swept the country again. A report from [[Northamptonshire]], in [[Hampshire]], described him as ''"the very image of the [[Devil]] himself, with horns and eyes of flame"'', and in [[East Anglia]], where reports of attacks on drivers of mail coaches became common. |
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=== The last reports === |
=== The last reports === |
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In the beginning of the 1870s, Spring Heeled Jack was reported again in several places distant from each other. In November 1872, the ''[[News of the World]]'' reported that Peckham was ''"in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the "[[Peckham Ghost]]", a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance"''. The editorial pointed out that it was none other than ''"Spring Heeled Jack, who terrified a past generation"''. Similar stories were published in the ''Illustrated Police News''. In April and May of 1873, there were numerous sightings of the "[[Park Ghost]]" in [[Sheffield]], which locals came to identify as Spring Heeled Jack. These incidents culminated with thousands of people gathering each night to hunt the ghost. |
In the beginning of the 1870s, Spring Heeled Jack was reported again in several places distant from each other. In November 1872, the ''[[News of the World]]'' reported that Peckham was ''"in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the "[[Peckham Ghost]]", a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance"''. The editorial pointed out that it was none other than ''"Spring Heeled Jack, who terrified a past generation"''. Similar stories were published in the ''Illustrated Police News''. In April and May of 1873, there were numerous sightings of the "[[Park Ghost]]" in [[Sheffield]], which locals came to identify as Spring Heeled Jack. These incidents culminated with thousands of people gathering each night to hunt the ghost. |
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[[Image:Aldershot Barracks-1866.jpg|220px|thumb|left|Aldershot Barracks – North Camp, Central Road as it looked in 1866.]]This news was followed by more reported sightings, until in August 1877; one of the most notable reports about Spring Heeled Jack came from a group of soldiers in [[Aldershot]]'s barracks. This story went as follows: A [[sentry]] on duty at the North Camp peered into the darkness, his attention attracted by a peculiar figure bounding across the road towards him. The soldier issued a challenge, which went unheeded, and the figure vanished from sight for a few moments. As the soldier turned back to his post, the figure reappeared beside him and delivered several slaps to his face with ''"a hand as cold as that of a corpse"''. One of the guards shot at him, with no visible effect; some sources {{Fact|date=February 2007}} claim that the soldier may have fired [[blank (cartridge)|blank]]s at him, merely used to make warning shots. |
[[Image:Aldershot Barracks-1866.jpg|220px|thumb|left|Aldershot Barracks – North Camp, Central Road as it looked in 1866.]]This news was followed by more reported sightings, until in August 1877<!-- What happened then? -->; one of the most notable reports about Spring Heeled Jack came from a group of soldiers in [[Aldershot]]'s barracks<!-- When? -->. This story went as follows: A [[sentry]] on duty at the North Camp peered into the darkness, his attention attracted by a peculiar figure bounding across the road towards him. The soldier issued a challenge, which went unheeded, and the figure vanished from sight for a few moments. As the soldier turned back to his post, the figure reappeared beside him and delivered several slaps to his face with ''"a hand as cold as that of a corpse"''. One of the guards shot at him, with no visible effect; some sources {{Fact|date=February 2007}} claim that the soldier may have fired [[blank (cartridge)|blank]]s at him, merely used to make warning shots. |
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In the autumn of the same year, Spring Heeled Jack was reportedly seen at Newport Arch, in [[Lincolnshire]], wearing a sheep skin. An angry mob supposedly chased him and cornered him, and just |
In the autumn of the same year, Spring Heeled Jack was reportedly seen at Newport Arch, in [[Lincolnshire]], wearing a sheep skin. An angry mob supposedly chased him and cornered him, and just as in Aldershot a while before<!-- Yes, a paragraph before; but when? -->, residents fired at him to no effect. Many witnesses claimed that the shots did hit him, sounding as though they were hitting a hollow metallic object like an "empty bucket". As usual, he was said to have made use of his leaping abilities to lose the crowd and disappear once again. |
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[[Image:StFrancisXavier3.JPG|thumb|right|Modern view of Saint Francis Xavier's Church, Liverpool.]]By the end of the 19th century, the reported sightings of Spring Heeled Jack were moving towards western England. In September 1904, in [[Everton, Liverpool|Everton]], in north [[Liverpool]], Spring Heeled Jack allegedly appeared on the rooftop of [[Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Liverpool|Saint Francis Xavier's Church]], in Salisbury Street. Witnesses reported that he suddenly jumped and fell to the ground, landing behind a nearby house. When they rushed to the point, so the story goes, they faced there a tall and muscular man, fully dressed in white and wearing an "egg shaped" helmet, standing there waiting. He laughed hysterically at the crowd and rushed towards them, making several women gasp in dismay. Clearing them all with a gigantic leap, he disappeared behind the neighbouring houses. |
[[Image:StFrancisXavier3.JPG|thumb|right|Modern view of Saint Francis Xavier's Church, Liverpool.]]By the end of the 19th century, the reported sightings of Spring Heeled Jack were moving towards western England. In September 1904, in [[Everton, Liverpool|Everton]], in north [[Liverpool]], Spring Heeled Jack allegedly appeared on the rooftop of [[Church of Saint Francis Xavier, Liverpool|Saint Francis Xavier's Church]], in Salisbury Street. Witnesses reported that he suddenly jumped and fell to the ground, landing behind a nearby house. When they rushed to the point, so the story goes, they faced there a tall and muscular man, fully dressed in white and wearing an "egg shaped" helmet, standing there waiting. He laughed hysterically at the crowd and rushed towards them, making several women gasp in dismay. Clearing them all with a gigantic leap, he disappeared behind the neighbouring houses. |
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On [[June 18]], [[1953]], a figure in part resembling some descriptions of Spring Heeled Jack was sighted in a [[pecan]] tree in the yard of an apartment building in [[Houston, Texas]]. Mrs. Hilda Walker, Judy Meyers, and Howard Phillips described a man in a "black cape, skin-tight pants, and quarter-length boots, and "grey or black tight-fitting clothes." They thought that he might have had wings, but acknowledged this may have been an optical illusion caused by the cape. In [[South Herefordshire]], not |
On [[June 18]], [[1953]], a figure in part resembling some descriptions of Spring Heeled Jack was sighted in a [[pecan]] tree in the yard of an apartment building in [[Houston, Texas]]. Mrs. Hilda Walker, Judy Meyers, and Howard Phillips described a man in a "black cape, skin-tight pants, and quarter-length boots, and "grey or black tight-fitting clothes." They thought that he might have had wings, but acknowledged this may have been an optical illusion caused by the cape. In [[South Herefordshire]], not far from the Welsh border, a travelling salesman named Marshall claimed to have had an encounter with a Spring Heeled Jack–like entity in [[1986]]. The man leaped in enormous, inhuman bounds, passed Marshall on the road, and slapped his cheek. He wore what the salesman described as a black ski-suit, and Marshall noted that he had an elongated chin.<ref>http://www.highlanderweb.co.uk/haunted/haunt1.htm</ref> |
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In [[Linby]] village, just outside |
In the centre of [[Linby]] village, just outside [[Nottingham]], Spring Heeled Jack is referenced on a Linby public service map printed by Ordnance Survey, opposite the Horse and Groom public house. A map <!-- The man? Or a different one? --> describes the local area and the many stories and myths surrounding the village. The exact comment regarding Spring Heeled Jack is: "Spring Heeled Jack, in the months of winter, Spring Heeled Jacks <!-- No apostrophe? --> footprints are left in the snow along the route of Quarry Lane." Quarry Lane runs for about 3 quarters of a mile until <!-- Until what? --> on the map stated as only "[a] site of scientific interest": a large enclosed forested area bordering the grounds of Newstead Abbey, known locally as "Devils wood." |
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==Theories== |
==Theories== |
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No one was ever caught and identified as Spring Heeled Jack; combined with the extraordinary abilities attributed to him and the very long period |
No one was ever caught and identified as Spring Heeled Jack; this combined with the extraordinary abilities attributed to him and the very long period during which he was reportedly at large has led to all sorts of theories of his nature and identity. While several researchers seek a [[rationality|rational]] explanation to the events, other authors explore the more fantastic details of the story to propose different kinds of [[paranormal]] speculations. |
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===Sceptical positions=== |
===Sceptical positions=== |
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[[Image:Marquess_of_Waterford.jpg|117px|thumb|left|Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford (1840)]] [[Scepticism|Sceptical]] investigators have dismissed the stories of Spring Heeled Jack. The simplest of explanations offered is that the reports were nothing but [[mass hysteria]] that developed around various [[legend]]s of a [[ |
[[Image:Marquess_of_Waterford.jpg|117px|thumb|left|Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford (1840)]] [[Scepticism|Sceptical]] investigators have dismissed the stories of Spring Heeled Jack. The simplest of explanations offered is that the reports were nothing but [[mass hysteria]] that developed around various [[legend]]s of a [[bogeyman]] or [[devil]] that had been around for centuries. Some sceptics maintain that it is a mere exaggeration of the tale of a certain mentally ill [[zealotry|zealot]] who danced and leapt over rooftops claiming that the [[Devil]] was chasing him.<sup id="fn_9_back">[[#fn 9|9]]</sup> |
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Other researchers believe that some individual(s) may have been behind its origins, being followed by imitators later on.<sup id="fn_10_back">[[#fn 10|10]]</sup> |
Other researchers believe that some individual(s) may have been behind its origins, being followed by imitators later on.<sup id="fn_10_back">[[#fn 10|10]]</sup> For the years following his first reported appearance, the press, the authorities and most of the general public considered Spring Heeled Jack to be not a [[supernatural]] creature but rather one or more persons with a macabre sense of humour who delighted in scaring and molesting women. This idea matches the contents of the letter to the Lord Mayor, which accused a group of young aristocrats as the culprits, after an irresponsible wager. A popular rumour circulating as early as 1840 pointed to an Irish nobleman, [[Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford|the Marquess of Waterford]], as the main suspect. Several modern authors <!-- Who? -->subscribe to this and suggest that a humiliating experience with a woman and a police officer could have given him the idea of creating the character as a way of "getting even" with police and women in general.<sup id="fn_11_back">[[#fn 11|11]]</sup> These authors <!-- Who we're not going to name? --> speculate that he could have designed (with the help of friends <!-- Namely? --> who were experts in applied mechanics) some sort of spring-heeled boots, and that he may have practised fire-spitting techniques in order to increase his unnatural appearance. |
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Indeed, the Marquess 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; his irregular behaviour and his contempt for women earned him the moniker ''"the Mad Marquis'''', and it is also known that he was |
Indeed, the Marquess 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; his irregular behaviour and his contempt for women earned him the moniker ''"the Mad Marquis'''', and it is also known that he was in the London area by the time the first incidents took place. But ''The Waterford Chronicle'' was able to report his presence at the St Valentine's Day Ball at Waterford Castle, giving him an alibi for the attacks on Jane Allsop and Lucy Scales that are central to Jack's authenticated history. But he was, nevertheless, pointed as the perpetrator by the Rev. E. C. Brewer in 1880, who attested that the Marquess ''"used to amuse himself by springing on travellers unawares, to frighten them, and from time to time others have followed his silly example"''.<sup id="fn_12_back">[[#fn 12|12]]</sup> In 1842, [[Henry de La Poer Beresford, 3rd Marquess of Waterford|the Marquess of Waterford]] married and settled in Curraghmore House, [[Ireland]], and reportedly led an exemplary life, until he died in a riding accident in 1859. Spring Heeled Jack remained active for decades after, which leads the aforementioned modern researchers <!-- Still unnamed! --> to the same conclusion as Brewer's: the Marquess may well have been responsible for the first attacks, and other pranksters occasionally imitated him thereafter. |
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Sceptical investigators are unanimous in asserting that the story of Spring Heeled Jack was exaggerated and altered through [[mass hysteria]], a process in which many [[sociology|sociological]] issues may have contributed. These include unsupported rumours, [[superstition]], [[oral tradition]], [[sensationalism| |
Sceptical investigators are unanimous in asserting that the story of Spring Heeled Jack was exaggerated and altered through [[mass hysteria]], a process in which many [[sociology|sociological]] issues may have contributed. These include unsupported rumours, [[superstition]], [[oral tradition]], [[sensationalism|sensationalist]] publications, and a [[folklore]] rich in tales of [[fairy|fairies]] and strange roguish creatures. Gossip of alleged leaping and fire-spitting powers, his alleged extraordinary features and his reputed skill in evading apprehension captured the mind of the superstitious public — increasingly so with the passing of time, which gave the impression that Spring Heeled Jack had suffered no effects from aging. As a result, a whole [[urban legend]] had been built around the character, being reflected by contemporary publications, which in turn fuelled this popular perception.<sup id="fn_13_back">[[#fn 13|13]]</sup> |
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===Paranormal conjectures=== |
===Paranormal conjectures=== |
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A wide variety of explanations have been proposed by authors who support the [[paranormal]] origin of Spring Heeled Jack. |
A wide variety of explanations have been proposed by authors who support the [[paranormal]] origin of Spring Heeled Jack. Owing to the nature of the phenomenon, such theories are speculative and lack evidence. The following are just a few: |
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* A common hypothesis proposes Spring Heeled Jack as an [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] entity, somehow stranded on [[Earth]]. Supporters of this theory believe this would explain his non-human appearance and features, (e.g., [[retroreflector|retro-reflective]] red eyes, or [[phosphorous]] breath), his jumping ability (by suggesting that he may have been native of a planet with greater gravitational pull |
* A common hypothesis proposes Spring Heeled Jack as an [[extraterrestrial life|extraterrestrial]] entity, somehow stranded on [[Earth]]. Supporters of this theory believe this would explain his non-human appearance and features, (e.g., [[retroreflector|retro-reflective]] red eyes, or [[phosphorous]] breath), his jumping ability (by suggesting that he may have been native of a planet with greater gravitational pull), strange behaviour (which could have been altered through [[Solipsism Syndrome]] or as a result of breathing the gases present at the [[Earth's atmosphere]]), and his longevity.<sup id="fn_14_back">[[#fn 14|14]]</sup> |
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* A visitor from another [[Multiverse (science)|dimension]], who could have entered into this [[Plane (cosmology)|plane]] through a [[wormhole]] or dimensional gate.<sup id="fn_15_back">[[#fn 15|15]]</sup> |
* A visitor from another [[Multiverse (science)|dimension]], who could have entered into this [[Plane (cosmology)|plane]] through a [[wormhole]] or dimensional gate.<sup id="fn_15_back">[[#fn 15|15]]</sup> |
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* A [[demon]], accidentally or purposefully summoned into this world by practitioners of the [[occult]] (a theory that has been incorporated into the [[role playing game|RPG]] ''Feng Shui'') <sup id="fn_16_back">[[#fn 16|16]]</sup>, or who made himself manifest simply to create spiritual turmoil.<sup id="fn_17_back">[[#fn 17|17]]</sup> |
* A [[demon]], accidentally or purposefully summoned into this world by practitioners of the [[occult]] (a theory that has been incorporated into the [[role playing game|RPG]] ''Feng Shui'') <sup id="fn_16_back">[[#fn 16|16]]</sup>, or who made himself manifest simply to create spiritual turmoil.<sup id="fn_17_back">[[#fn 17|17]]</sup> |
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The supporters of the paranormal explanations usually refer as proof of their claims that no human could have ever used a [[gadget]] to leap the way Spring Heeled Jack was said to, by pointing out that in the 20th century, the [[German Army]] experimented on the subject with disastrous effects. Allegedly, such experiments gave an estimated 85% rate of failure, with broken legs and ankles on the testers. They conclude that there was no possibility for an individual to succeed where an official warfare project failed, especially considering that the former had preceded it by many decades.<sup id="fn_18_back">[[#fn 18|18]]</sup> |
The supporters of the paranormal explanations usually refer as proof of their claims that no human could have ever used a [[gadget]] to leap the way Spring Heeled Jack was said to, by pointing out that in the 20th century, the [[German Army]] experimented on the subject with disastrous effects. Allegedly, such experiments gave an estimated 85% rate of failure, with broken legs and ankles on the testers. They conclude that there was no possibility for an individual to succeed where an official warfare project failed, especially considering that the former had preceded it by many decades.<sup id="fn_18_back">[[#fn 18|18]]</sup> (There is currently a comparable device being marketed, <sup id="fn_19_back">[[#fn 19|19]]</sup> but this requires modern [[carbon fibre]] springs.) |
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==In popular culture== |
==In popular culture== |
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[[Image:jack2.jpg|right|thumbnail|Spring Heeled Jack on a [[penny dreadful]] cover page (c. 1904)]]The vast urban legend built around Spring Heeled Jack influenced many aspects of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] life, especially in contemporary [[popular culture]]. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' recounts 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 as an 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"''.<sup id="fn_20_back">[[#fn 20|20]]</sup> For decades, especially in London, his name was equated with [[bogeyman|bogeymen]], as a means of scaring children into behaving by telling them that if they were not good, Spring Heeled Jack would leap up and peer in at them through their bedroom windows, by night. |
[[Image:jack2.jpg|right|thumbnail|Spring Heeled Jack on a [[penny dreadful]] cover page (c. 1904)]]The vast urban legend built around Spring Heeled Jack influenced many aspects of [[Victorian era|Victorian]] life, especially in contemporary [[popular culture]]. The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' recounts 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 as an 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"''.<sup id="fn_20_back">[[#fn 20|20]]</sup> For decades, especially in London, his name was equated with [[bogeyman|bogeymen]], as a means of scaring children into behaving by telling them that if they were not good, Spring Heeled Jack would leap up and peer in at them through their bedroom windows, by night. |
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However, it was in |
However, it was in fictional entertainment where the legend of Spring Heeled Jack exerted the most extensive influence, owing to his allegedly extraordinary nature. Almost from the moment the first incidents gained public knowledge, he turned into a successful [[fictional character]], becoming the protagonist of many [[penny dreadful]]s from 1840 to 1904. Several plays where he assumed the main role were staged as well. |
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The most notable fictional Spring Heeled Jacks of the 19th and early 20th centuries were: |
The most notable fictional Spring Heeled Jacks of the 19th and early 20th centuries were: |
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*A play by John Thomas Haines, in 1840, ''Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London'', which shows him as a [[Outlaw|brigand]] who attacks women because his own sweetheart betrayed him. |
*A play by John Thomas Haines, in 1840, ''Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London'', which shows him as a [[Outlaw|brigand]] who attacks women because his own sweetheart betrayed him. |
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*Later that decade, Spring Heeled Jack's first penny dreadful appearance came in the anonymously written ''Spring-Heeled Jack, The Terror of London'', which appeared in weekly episodes. |
*Later that decade, Spring Heeled Jack's first penny dreadful appearance came in the anonymously written ''Spring-Heeled Jack, The Terror of London'', which appeared in weekly episodes. |
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*W. G. Willis' 1849 play, ''The Curse of the Wraydons'', where Spring Heeled Jack is a traitor who spies for [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], and stages murderous stunts as a cover. |
*W. G. Willis's 1849 play, ''The Curse of the Wraydons'', where Spring Heeled Jack is a traitor who spies for [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], and stages murderous stunts as a cover. |
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*An 1863 play, ''Spring-Heel'd Jack: or, The Felon's Wrongs'', written by Frederick Hazleton. |
*An 1863 play, ''Spring-Heel'd Jack: or, The Felon's Wrongs'', written by Frederick Hazleton. |
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*''Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London'', a [[penny dreadful]] published by the Newsagents’ Publishing Company c. 1864–1867. |
*''Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London'', a [[penny dreadful]] published by the Newsagents’ Publishing Company c. 1864–1867. |
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*''Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London'', a 48-part penny weekly serial published c. 1878–1879 in ''The Boys' Standard'', written either by veteran dreadful author George Sala or by Alfred Burrage |
*''Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London'', a 48-part penny weekly serial published c. 1878–1879 in ''The Boys' Standard'', written either by veteran dreadful author George Sala or by Alfred Burrage (as "Charlton Lea"). |
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*''Spring-Heel Jack; or, The Masked Mystery of the Tower'', appearing in ''Beadle's New York Dime Library #332'', [[4 March]] [[1885]], and written by Col. Thomas Monstery. |
*''Spring-Heel Jack; or, The Masked Mystery of the Tower'', appearing in ''Beadle's New York Dime Library #332'', [[4 March]] [[1885]], and written by Col. Thomas Monstery. |
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*an 1889–1890 48-part serial published by Charles Fox and written by Alfred Burrage |
*an 1889–1890 48-part serial published by Charles Fox and written by Alfred Burrage (as "Charlton Lea"). |
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*a 1904 version by Alfred Burrage. <sup id="fn_21_back">[[#fn 21|21]]</sup> |
*a 1904 version by Alfred Burrage. <sup id="fn_21_back">[[#fn 21|21]]</sup> |
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*a remake of the Willis play ''The Curse of the Wraydons'', written in 1928 by [[surrealism|surrealist]] Swiss author Maurice Sandoz. |
*a remake of the Willis play ''The Curse of the Wraydons'', written in 1928 by [[surrealism|surrealist]] Swiss author Maurice Sandoz. |
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*a [[1946 in film|1946]] film ''[[The Curse of the Wraydons]]'', starring [[Tod Slaughter]] in the lead role, based on the play by Maurice Sandoz.<sup id="fn_22_back">[[#fn 22|22]]</sup> |
*a [[1946 in film|1946]] film ''[[The Curse of the Wraydons]]'', starring [[Tod Slaughter]] in the lead role, based on the play by Maurice Sandoz.<sup id="fn_22_back">[[#fn 22|22]]</sup> |
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The early works invariably presented Spring Heeled Jack as an arch-villain, but his figure experienced a metamorphosis throughout the years, and he became a hero. The first [[penny dreadful]] to introduce such a change was the 1860s edition, and this |
The early works invariably presented Spring Heeled Jack as an arch-villain, but his figure experienced a metamorphosis throughout the years, and he became a hero. The first [[penny dreadful]] to introduce such a change was the 1860s edition, and this was adopted by all the publications that followed, peaking in Burrage's 1904 version.[[Image:jack1.JPG|left|thumbnail|Spring Heeled Jack, depicted on a modern comic (2003)]] |
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Although lacking durable literary value, the Spring Heeled Jack series exerted an important influence as a predecessor of modern day pulp magazine and comic [[superheroes]] |
Although lacking durable literary value, the Spring Heeled Jack series exerted an important influence <!-- What influence? --> as a predecessor of modern day pulp magazine and comic [[superheroes]]. (They were written as many as fifty years before the first [[Zorro]] adventure and almost eighty years before other fictional characters like [[Batman]] or the [[Lone Ranger]] were created.)<!-- Does predating necessarily imply influence? --> Such lasting influence and its consequent cultural importance were, for most part of the 20th century, practically forgotten. |
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Revision as of 10:27, 28 May 2007
Grouping | Hoax/Mass hysteria/Demon/Alien |
---|---|
Country | UK |
Region | London |
Habitat | Urban |
Spring Heeled Jack (also Springheel Jack, Spring-heel Jack, etc), is a character from English folklore said to have existed during the Victorian era and able to jump extraordinarily high. The first recorded claimed sighting of Spring Heeled Jack occurred in 1837.1 Later alleged sightings were reported from all over England, from London up to Sheffield and Liverpool, but they were especially prevalent in suburban London and later in the Midlands and Scotland.2
Many theories have been proposed to ascertain his nature and identity, none of which have completely explained the phenomenon. The urban legend of Spring Heeled Jack gained immense popularity in its time due to the tales of his bizarre appearance and his capacity to perform extraordinary leaps, to the point that it became the topic of several works of fiction and much speculation about possible paranormal origins.
Spring Heeled Jack was described by alleged witnesses as having a terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy that included clawed hands and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire". One report claimed that, beneath a black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight fitting white garment like an "oilskin". Many stories also mention a "Devil-like" aspect. Spring Heeled Jack was said to be tall and thin, with the appearance of a gentleman, and capable of making great leaps. Several reports mention that he could breathe blue and white flames from his mouth and that he wore sharp metallic claws at his fingertips. At least two individuals claimed that he was able to speak in comprehensible English.
History
Early reports
According to newspaper articles dating to December 1837, the first reports of Jack's activities were made in September of that year in London. A businessman returning home late one night from work told of being suddenly shocked as a mysterious figure jumped with ease over the high railings of a cemetery, landing right in his path. No attack was reported, but the submitted description was disturbing: a muscular human male with devilish features including large and pointed ears and nose, and protruding, glowing eyes.
Later, in October 1837, a girl by the name of Mary Stevens was walking to Lavender Hill, where she was working as a servant, after visiting her parents in Battersea. On her way through Clapham Common, according to her later statements, a strange figure leapt at her from a dark alley. After immobilising her with a tight grip of his arms, he began to kiss her face, while ripping her clothes and touching her flesh with his claws, which were, according to her deposition, "cold and clammy as those of a corpse". In panic, the girl screamed, making the attacker quickly flee from the scene. The commotion brought several residents who launched an immediate search for the aggressor, who could not be found.
The next day, the leaping character allegedly chose a very different victim near Mary Stevens' home, inaugurating a modus operandi that would reappear in later reports: he jumped in the way of a passing carriage, causing the coachman to lose control and crash, injuring him seriously. Several witnesses claimed that he escaped by jumping over a nine foot-high wall while babbling with a high-pitched and ringing laughter.
Gradually, the news of the strange character spread, and soon the press and the public gave him a name: Spring Heeled Jack.3
Official recognition
A few months after these first sightings, on January 9 1838, the Lord Mayor of London, Sir John Cowan, revealed at a public session held in the Mansion House an anonymous complaint that he had received several days earlier, which he had withheld in the hope of obtaining further information. The correspondent, who signed the letter "a resident of Peckham", wrote:
- 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, 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, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families.
- 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 consequence 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.4
Though the Lord Mayor seemed fairly sceptical, 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 the next day, and the day after that (January 11) the Lord Mayor showed a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London complaining of similar "wicked pranks". The quantity of letters that poured into the Mansion House suggests that the activities of Spring Heeled Jack were common knowledge in suburban London by that time. 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 correspondent affirmed that in Stockwell, Brixton, Camberwell and Vauxhall several people had died of fright, and others had had fits; meanwhile, another reported that the trickster had been repeatedly seen in Lewisham and Blackheath, but that the police were too frightened of him to act.
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.5 The police were instructed to search for the individual responsible, and rewards were offered. Many people, including Admiral Sir Edward Codrington decided to join the search, but he was never caught. Furthermore, he seemed to have grown bolder, and his attacks multiplied.
The Scales and Alsop incidents
Perhaps the best known incidents involving Spring Heeled Jack were the alleged attacks on two teenage girls, Lucy Scales6 and Jane Alsop. The Alsop report was widely covered by the newspapers, while a single paper covered the Scales report, presumably because Alsop came from a comfortably well-off family and Scales from a family of tradesmen. This coverage by newspapers fuelled the collective hysteria surrounding the case.
It was reported that, on February 20, 18-year-old Jane Alsop opened the door of her father's house in the district of Bow to a man claiming to be a police officer, who asked her to bring a light because he and other policemen had "caught Spring Heeled Jack here 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 the Lambeth police investigators that "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 claws of some metallic substance, and he vomited blue and white flames."
A second story comes from February 23. Once again a black-cloaked figure allegedly knocked on the door of a house, this time in Turner Street, off Commercial Road. When a servant boy answered the call, the visitor asked to speak to the master of the house, a Mr. Ashworth. The boy turned to call his master when he noticed that the man standing at the doorway had glowing red eyes. In a state of panic, he screamed, attracting the attention of the neighbours.
The Scales report is as follows: Five days later February 28, 1838,7 18-year-old Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home after visiting their brother, a butcher who lived in a respectable part of Limehouse. Slightly ahead of her sister, Lucy was halfway along Green Dragon Alley when a character who had been waiting at an angle in the passage appeared and attacked her. The figure breathed fire into Lucy's face and then walked away as the girl fell to the ground, seized by violent spasms which lasted for several hours. A few days later, on March 6, Lucy and her sister made their deposition at Lambeth Street police court in the company of their brother, William.8
The legend spreads
The Times reported the alleged attack on Jane Alsop under the heading "Outrage at Old Ford". This was followed up (see Palmer's index to The Times) with the account of the trial of one Thomas Millbank, who, immediately after the reported attack on Jane Alsop, had boasted in the Morgan's Arms that he was Spring Heeled Jack. He was arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court. The arresting officer was James Lea, who had earlier arrested William Corder, the Red Barn murderer. Millbank had been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat, which he dropped outside the house, and the candle he dropped was also found. He escaped conviction only because Jane Alsop insisted her attacker had breathed fire, and Millbank admitted he could do no such thing. Most of the other accounts were written long after the date; contemporary newspapers do not mention them.
After these incidents, Spring Heeled Jack became one of the most popular characters of the moment. His alleged exploits were reported in the newspapers and became the subject of several penny dreadfuls and plays performed in the cheap theatres that abounded at the time. But, as his fame was growing, reports of his appearances became less frequent if more widespread. In 1843, however, a wave of sightings swept the country again. A report from Northamptonshire, in Hampshire, described him as "the very image of the Devil himself, with horns and eyes of flame", and in East Anglia, where reports of attacks on drivers of mail coaches became common.
The last reports
In the beginning of the 1870s, Spring Heeled Jack was reported again in several places distant from each other. In November 1872, the News of the World reported that Peckham was "in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the "Peckham Ghost", a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance". The editorial pointed out that it was none other than "Spring Heeled Jack, who terrified a past generation". Similar stories were published in the Illustrated Police News. In April and May of 1873, there were numerous sightings of the "Park Ghost" in Sheffield, which locals came to identify as Spring Heeled Jack. These incidents culminated with thousands of people gathering each night to hunt the ghost.
This news was followed by more reported sightings, until in August 1877; one of the most notable reports about Spring Heeled Jack came from a group of soldiers in Aldershot's barracks. This story went as follows: A sentry on duty at the North Camp peered into the darkness, his attention attracted by a peculiar figure bounding across the road towards him. The soldier issued a challenge, which went unheeded, and the figure vanished from sight for a few moments. As the soldier turned back to his post, the figure reappeared beside him and delivered several slaps to his face with "a hand as cold as that of a corpse". One of the guards shot at him, with no visible effect; some sources [citation needed] claim that the soldier may have fired blanks at him, merely used to make warning shots.
In the autumn of the same year, Spring Heeled Jack was reportedly seen at Newport Arch, in Lincolnshire, wearing a sheep skin. An angry mob supposedly chased him and cornered him, and just as in Aldershot a while before, residents fired at him to no effect. Many witnesses claimed that the shots did hit him, sounding as though they were hitting a hollow metallic object like an "empty bucket". As usual, he was said to have made use of his leaping abilities to lose the crowd and disappear once again.
By the end of the 19th century, the reported sightings of Spring Heeled Jack were moving towards western England. In September 1904, in Everton, in north Liverpool, Spring Heeled Jack allegedly appeared on the rooftop of Saint Francis Xavier's Church, in Salisbury Street. Witnesses reported that he suddenly jumped and fell to the ground, landing behind a nearby house. When they rushed to the point, so the story goes, they faced there a tall and muscular man, fully dressed in white and wearing an "egg shaped" helmet, standing there waiting. He laughed hysterically at the crowd and rushed towards them, making several women gasp in dismay. Clearing them all with a gigantic leap, he disappeared behind the neighbouring houses.
On June 18, 1953, a figure in part resembling some descriptions of Spring Heeled Jack was sighted in a pecan tree in the yard of an apartment building in Houston, Texas. Mrs. Hilda Walker, Judy Meyers, and Howard Phillips described a man in a "black cape, skin-tight pants, and quarter-length boots, and "grey or black tight-fitting clothes." They thought that he might have had wings, but acknowledged this may have been an optical illusion caused by the cape. In South Herefordshire, not far from the Welsh border, a travelling salesman named Marshall claimed to have had an encounter with a Spring Heeled Jack–like entity in 1986. The man leaped in enormous, inhuman bounds, passed Marshall on the road, and slapped his cheek. He wore what the salesman described as a black ski-suit, and Marshall noted that he had an elongated chin.[1]
In the centre of Linby village, just outside Nottingham, Spring Heeled Jack is referenced on a Linby public service map printed by Ordnance Survey, opposite the Horse and Groom public house. A map describes the local area and the many stories and myths surrounding the village. The exact comment regarding Spring Heeled Jack is: "Spring Heeled Jack, in the months of winter, Spring Heeled Jacks footprints are left in the snow along the route of Quarry Lane." Quarry Lane runs for about 3 quarters of a mile until on the map stated as only "[a] site of scientific interest": a large enclosed forested area bordering the grounds of Newstead Abbey, known locally as "Devils wood."
Theories
No one was ever caught and identified as Spring Heeled Jack; this combined with the extraordinary abilities attributed to him and the very long period during which he was reportedly at large has led to all sorts of theories of his nature and identity. While several researchers seek a rational explanation to the events, other authors explore the more fantastic details of the story to propose different kinds of paranormal speculations.
Sceptical positions
Sceptical investigators have dismissed the stories of Spring Heeled Jack. The simplest of explanations offered is that the reports were nothing but mass hysteria that developed around various legends of a bogeyman or devil that had been around for centuries. Some sceptics maintain that it is a mere exaggeration of the tale of a certain mentally ill zealot who danced and leapt over rooftops claiming that the Devil was chasing him.9
Other researchers believe that some individual(s) may have been behind its origins, being followed by imitators later on.10 For the years following his first reported appearance, the press, the authorities and most of the general public considered Spring Heeled Jack to be not a supernatural creature but rather one or more persons with a macabre sense of humour who delighted in scaring and molesting women. This idea matches the contents of the letter to the Lord Mayor, which accused a group of young aristocrats as the culprits, after an irresponsible wager. A popular rumour circulating as early as 1840 pointed to an Irish nobleman, the Marquess of Waterford, as the main suspect. Several modern authors subscribe to this and suggest that a humiliating experience with a woman and a police officer could have given him the idea of creating the character as a way of "getting even" with police and women in general.11 These authors speculate that he could have designed (with the help of friends who were experts in applied mechanics) some sort of spring-heeled boots, and that he may have practised fire-spitting techniques in order to increase his unnatural appearance.
Indeed, the Marquess 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; his irregular behaviour and his contempt for women earned him the moniker "the Mad Marquis'', and it is also known that he was in the London area by the time the first incidents took place. But The Waterford Chronicle was able to report his presence at the St Valentine's Day Ball at Waterford Castle, giving him an alibi for the attacks on Jane Allsop and Lucy Scales that are central to Jack's authenticated history. But he was, nevertheless, pointed as the perpetrator by the Rev. E. C. Brewer in 1880, who attested that the Marquess "used to amuse himself by springing on travellers unawares, to frighten them, and from time to time others have followed his silly example".12 In 1842, the Marquess of Waterford married and settled in Curraghmore House, Ireland, and reportedly led an exemplary life, until he died in a riding accident in 1859. Spring Heeled Jack remained active for decades after, which leads the aforementioned modern researchers to the same conclusion as Brewer's: the Marquess may well have been responsible for the first attacks, and other pranksters occasionally imitated him thereafter.
Sceptical investigators are unanimous in asserting that the story of Spring Heeled Jack was exaggerated and altered through mass hysteria, a process in which many sociological issues may have contributed. These include unsupported rumours, superstition, oral tradition, sensationalist publications, and a folklore rich in tales of fairies and strange roguish creatures. Gossip of alleged leaping and fire-spitting powers, his alleged extraordinary features and his reputed skill in evading apprehension captured the mind of the superstitious public — increasingly so with the passing of time, which gave the impression that Spring Heeled Jack had suffered no effects from aging. As a result, a whole urban legend had been built around the character, being reflected by contemporary publications, which in turn fuelled this popular perception.13
Paranormal conjectures
A wide variety of explanations have been proposed by authors who support the paranormal origin of Spring Heeled Jack. Owing to the nature of the phenomenon, such theories are speculative and lack evidence. The following are just a few:
- A common hypothesis proposes Spring Heeled Jack as an extraterrestrial entity, somehow stranded on Earth. Supporters of this theory believe this would explain his non-human appearance and features, (e.g., retro-reflective red eyes, or phosphorous breath), his jumping ability (by suggesting that he may have been native of a planet with greater gravitational pull), strange behaviour (which could have been altered through Solipsism Syndrome or as a result of breathing the gases present at the Earth's atmosphere), and his longevity.14
- A visitor from another dimension, who could have entered into this plane through a wormhole or dimensional gate.15
- A demon, accidentally or purposefully summoned into this world by practitioners of the occult (a theory that has been incorporated into the RPG Feng Shui) 16, or who made himself manifest simply to create spiritual turmoil.17
The supporters of the paranormal explanations usually refer as proof of their claims that no human could have ever used a gadget to leap the way Spring Heeled Jack was said to, by pointing out that in the 20th century, the German Army experimented on the subject with disastrous effects. Allegedly, such experiments gave an estimated 85% rate of failure, with broken legs and ankles on the testers. They conclude that there was no possibility for an individual to succeed where an official warfare project failed, especially considering that the former had preceded it by many decades.18 (There is currently a comparable device being marketed, 19 but this requires modern carbon fibre springs.)
In popular culture
The vast urban legend built around Spring Heeled Jack influenced many aspects of Victorian life, especially in contemporary popular culture. The Oxford English Dictionary recounts 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 as an 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".20 For decades, especially in London, his name was equated with bogeymen, as a means of scaring children into behaving by telling them that if they were not good, Spring Heeled Jack would leap up and peer in at them through their bedroom windows, by night.
However, it was in fictional entertainment where the legend of Spring Heeled Jack exerted the most extensive influence, owing to his allegedly extraordinary nature. Almost from the moment the first incidents gained public knowledge, he turned into a successful fictional character, becoming the protagonist of many penny dreadfuls from 1840 to 1904. Several plays where he assumed the main role were staged as well.
The most notable fictional Spring Heeled Jacks of the 19th and early 20th centuries were:
- A play by John Thomas Haines, in 1840, Spring-Heeled Jack, the Terror of London, which shows him as a brigand who attacks women because his own sweetheart betrayed him.
- Later that decade, Spring Heeled Jack's first penny dreadful appearance came in the anonymously written Spring-Heeled Jack, The Terror of London, which appeared in weekly episodes.
- W. G. Willis's 1849 play, The Curse of the Wraydons, where Spring Heeled Jack is a traitor who spies for Napoleon Bonaparte, and stages murderous stunts as a cover.
- An 1863 play, Spring-Heel'd Jack: or, The Felon's Wrongs, written by Frederick Hazleton.
- Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London, a penny dreadful published by the Newsagents’ Publishing Company c. 1864–1867.
- Spring-heel'd Jack: The Terror of London, a 48-part penny weekly serial published c. 1878–1879 in The Boys' Standard, written either by veteran dreadful author George Sala or by Alfred Burrage (as "Charlton Lea").
- Spring-Heel Jack; or, The Masked Mystery of the Tower, appearing in Beadle's New York Dime Library #332, 4 March 1885, and written by Col. Thomas Monstery.
- an 1889–1890 48-part serial published by Charles Fox and written by Alfred Burrage (as "Charlton Lea").
- a 1904 version by Alfred Burrage. 21
- a remake of the Willis play The Curse of the Wraydons, written in 1928 by surrealist Swiss author Maurice Sandoz.
- a 1946 film The Curse of the Wraydons, starring Tod Slaughter in the lead role, based on the play by Maurice Sandoz.22
The early works invariably presented Spring Heeled Jack as an arch-villain, but his figure experienced a metamorphosis throughout the years, and he became a hero. The first penny dreadful to introduce such a change was the 1860s edition, and this was adopted by all the publications that followed, peaking in Burrage's 1904 version.
Although lacking durable literary value, the Spring Heeled Jack series exerted an important influence as a predecessor of modern day pulp magazine and comic superheroes. (They were written as many as fifty years before the first Zorro adventure and almost eighty years before other fictional characters like Batman or the Lone Ranger were created.) Such lasting influence and its consequent cultural importance were, for most part of the 20th century, practically forgotten.
Footnotes
- Note 1: A few sources go beyond that date, citing alleged apparitions of Spring Heeled Jack in 1808 in Sheffield. "The Cobra's Ghost." The Legend of Spring Heeled Jack by Sharon McGovern. Accessed on March 22, 2005.
- Note 2: For an account from Edinburgh, see The Weekly Scotsman, 16 January 1897.
- Note 3: Jerome Clark, Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena (1993), mentions that the press referred variously as "Spring-Heeled Jack", "Springheel Jack" or "Springald". This later name probably derives from a Scottish term for an "active or springy young man". Peter Haining, op. cit., asserts that the term "springald" was rather the origin of the name Spring Heeled Jack, to which it evolved later; alas, there is no proof to support this claim, according to Clark. Dash, op. cit., reveals that there is no contemporary evidence that this term was used in the 1830s, and establishes that the first original name was "Steel Jack", a possible reference to his supposed appearances clad in armour.
- Note 4: As quoted by Jacqueline Simpson, Spring-Heeled Jack (2001).
- Note 5: Peter Haining, op. cit., based on reports from The Times of 10th and 12 January 1838.
- Note 6: This name differs according to the source. "Scales" is the name used by Peter Haining, op. cit., and the usually accepted version, while Charles Berlitz in Charles Berlitz 's World of Strange Phenomena (1989), provides the variation "Sales" and Daniel Cohen, The Encyclopedia of Monsters (1982) mentions it as "Squires" (See Note 8).
- Note 7: Peter Haining, op. cit., based on reports from The Times of 20 February 1838 and 22 February 1838. Most sources agree on these dates with the exception of Charles Berlitz, op. cit., who assigns them two days later each.
- Note 8: Daniel Cohen, op. cit., based on Limehouse police's records, where the name is registered as "Squires".
- Note 9: Jenny Randles, Strange & Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century (1994).
- Note 10: Mike Dash, Spring Heeled Jack, from Fortean Studies (1995), compiled by Steve Moore.
- Note 11: Peter Haining, op. cit.
- Note 12: Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit.
- Note 13: Massimo Polidoro, "Skeptical Enquirer, July 2002." Monkey Man, Spring Heeled Jack; Notes on a Strange World. Accessed on March 24 2005.
- Note 14: Charles Berlitz, op. cit.
- Note 15: "Cassiopaea." The Beast of Gévaudan, Spring-Heeled Jack, Mothman and other dimensional Window Fallers. Accessed on March 25 2005.
- Note 16: "Feng-Shui." Spring-Heeled Jack. Accessed on March 29 2005.
- Note 17: Supporters of this theory include John Keel (author of the best-seller book The Mothman Prophecies) and Jacques Vallee.
- Note 18: "The Triangle - Sci-Fi." Spring Heeled Jack: profitable, unbelievable. Accessed on March 25 2005.
- Note 19: "Xpowergen." Seven Miles boots (commercial website). Accessed on June 2 2005.
- Note 20: Jacqueline Simpson, op. cit.
- Note 21: Jess Nevins, The Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Victoriana (2005), and Jacqueline Simpson, ibid.
- Note 22: "Internet Movie Database." Internet Movie Database entry for "The Curse of the Wraydons". Accessed on March 23, 2005.
- Note 23: "International Superheroes." UK Superheroes. Accessed on March 23 2005.
- Note 24: "Art Nocturne." The Art of Ver Curtiss. Accessed on March 23 2005.
- Note 25 "Black Boar Press." The Works of David Hitchcock. Accessed on March 23 2005.
- Note 26 " World Of Morrissey." Rolling Stone. Accessed on May 26 2006.
- Note 27 "Jackie Chan Adventures:"The Return of the Pussycat"." Internet Movie Database. Accessed on September 26 2006.
References
- Mike Dash. 'Spring-Heeled Jack', Fortean Studies3 (1996), 7–125.
- Jacqueline Simpson. Spring-Heeled Jack (leaflet, January 2001). International Society for Contemporary Legend Research
- Jenny Randles (1994). Strange & Unexplained Mysteries of the 20th Century. Sterling Publishing Co. Inc. ISBN 0-8069-0768-1.
- Jerome Clark (1993). Unexplained!: Strange Sightings, Incredible Occurrences & Puzzling Physical Phenomena. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 1-57859-070-1.
- Daniel Cohen (1982). The Encyclopedia of Monsters. Dodd Mead. ISBN 0-396-09051-6.
- Jess Nevins (2005). The Encyclopaedia of Fantastic Victoriana. MonkeyBrain Inc. ISBN 1-932265-08-2.
- Peter Haining (1977). The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring Heeled Jack. Muller. ISBN 0-584-10276-3.
- Charles Berlitz (1989). Charles Berlitz 's World of Strange Phenomena. Fawcett. ISBN 0-449-21825-2.
- Steve Moore (1995). Fortean Studies. John Brown Publishing. ISBN 1-870870-55-7.
- Joyce Robbins (1991). Borderlands: The World's Greatest Mysteries. Bounty Books. ISBN 1-85051-698-7.
- David Clarke (1994). Strange South Yorkshire: Myth, Magic and Memory in the Don Valley. Sigma Press. ISBN 1-85058-404-4.
External links
- Mike Dash's Spring-heeled Jack paper—Long paper on Spring-heeled Jack based on extensive research in contemporary newspapers.
- Justin Gilbert's Penny Dreadful Page—Includes an example of a Spring Heeled Jack-based penny dreadful.
- BBC - Legacies - Myths and Legends - England - Black Country— Spring Heeled Jack
- Paranormal Phenomena— The Top Ten Most Mysterious Creatures of Modern Times