Spring- Heeled Jack

Spring- Heeled Jack

   

   Without a doubt the myth of Spring-heeled Jack enthralled and captivated the Victorians. The records of the time show his first ‘appearance’ occurred in 1837 and the last being reported in Liverpool as late as 1904, with his legend gaining momentum people from all over Great Britain claimed to have seen him- albeit most of these were from London and accordingly, with such a furore becoming so prevalent he became the subject of so many of the ‘penny dreadfuls’ of the time,  and even now theories abound as to what, or who, Spring-heeled Jack, if he ever actually existed, was.

     Descriptions of him as varied wildly – ranging from having a ‘terrifying and frightful appearance, with diabolical physiognomy, clawed hands, and eyes that "resembled red balls of fire’, or that’ beneath his black cloak, he wore a helmet and a tight-fitting white garment like an oilskin’, whilst others claimed that he’ was tall and thin, dressed like a gentleman’. More outlandish ones included tales of him breathing out blue and white flames and having sharp metallic claws.

    An account from October 1837 gives details of a girl by the name of Mary Stevens who, after visiting her parents in Battersea, was walking to Lavender Hill, where she was working as a servant. As she passed through Clapham Common a dark figure leapt at her from a shadowy alley and grasped her tightly whilst trying to kiss her face, ripping her clothes, and touching her flesh with his claws, which she spoke of as being as "cold and clammy as those of a corpse".  Her screams brought nearby residents rushing to her aid and her assailant fled the scene leaving no trace.

   

    Following close upon the heels of Mary’s ordeal, pun intended, the next day saw another incident occur- one that was quite close to her home and which started a trend in those reports that followed in the years to come.  The ‘fiend’ jumped in front of a passing carriage, causing the coachman to crash and injure himself. Eyewitness accounts stated that he escaped by jumping over a 9 foot high wall with a burst of ‘high-pitched’ laughter, thereby earning himself the appellation given to him both by the press as well as the pubic of ‘Spring-Heeled Jack’

      Sir John Cowan, the then Lord Mayor of London revealed at a public session held in the Mansion House on 9 January 1838 that he had been sent ‘anonymous letter’ signed by "a resident of Peckham" wherein the writer claimed that some members of society’s highest ranks had wagered with one of their number to visit the villages near London in three different disguises- namely a ghost, a bear, and a devil with the purpose of causing alarm. The wager had been accepted, and the villain had succeeded in ‘depriving seven ladies of their senses, two of whom are not likely to recover, but to become burdens to their families’.

    When a member of the audience informed those attending the meeting that, "servant girls about Kensington, Hammersmith and Ealing, tell tales of this devil", the sceptics amongst them began to be swayed and when the matter was reported in The Times on 9 January, with other national papers picking up on the story over the next few days , Cowan then displayed to a crowded gathering a pile of letters from various places in and around London all claiming to be victims of , or of hearing tales of , similar "wicked pranks".

    Cowan was still sceptical about the affair which he thought to be full of falsehoods, exaggerations, and those seeking attention, saying that it was impossible "that the ghost performs the feats of a devil upon earth". However, when a trusted confidante told him of a servant girl from Forest Hill who had been scared into fits by a figure in a bear's skin he was certain that the person or persons involved in this "pantomime display" would be caught and instructed the police to search for those responsible.

     Illustrating how the trend had captured the public eye an article, first featured in The Brighton Gazette, found its way into the 14 April 1838 edition of The Times and told of how a gardener in Rosehill, Sussex, had been ‘terrified by a creature of unknown nature’- albeit it then came about that it had been described as ‘some large, four footed beast’. Despite the report bearing no real similarities to others The Times declared that ‘’Spring-heeled Jack has, it seems, found his way to Sussex’’.

   Possibly the most famous incidents involving Spring-heeled Jack were the claims of having been attacked by Lucy Scales and Jane Alsop, both of whom were teenage girls at the time-

    Jane claimed that on the night of 19 February 1838, upon answering the door of her father's house a man claiming to be a police officer told her to bring a light claiming that ‘Spring-Heeled Jack had been captured; and asked her to bring some form of lighting to help. After fetching a candle and handing it to him he immediately removed his cloak and had a ‘most hideous and frightful appearance’, with blue and white flames bursting from his mouth, eyes that were red balls of fire, whilst wearing a helmet and a suit of white oilskin. As he shredded her clothes with claws ‘of some metallic substance’ she screamed for help which led to her being rescued by one of her sisters at which point the creature fled.

   Reported as "The Late Outrage At Old Ford" by The Times the article was accompanied by details of the trial of Thomas Millbank, who, after hearing of Alsop’s ordeal, had loudly proclaimed in the Morgan's Arms that he was Spring-heeled Jack. Arrested and tried at Lambeth Street court it came about that Millbank had been wearing white overalls and a greatcoat, which he had abandoned outside the house yet, incredibly, he was acquitted because Jane Alsop insisted her attacker had breathed fire, which he admitted was not something within his powers to manage.

    A week later, Lucy Scales and her sister were returning home from Limehouse after visiting their brother. Their route took them via Green Dragon Alley, where they noticed a figure wearing a cloak loitering within the shadows, who as they drew nearer, shot blue flames towards her face, causing her to lose her sight and collapse in shock. Her brother, as they were being interviewed by the police afterwards, claimed he had heard his sisters screaming within seconds of leaving his house and, on running up Green Dragon Alley to investigate, he discovered Lucy writhing in the grip of some fit, which lasted for several hours, with her sister trying to aid her.  As she recovered once back at his home, his other sister explained what had happened. Her description of Lucy's assailant to the officers attending was of someone tall, thin, and gentlemanly, hidden within the confines of a large cloak, and carrying a small lamp much like those used by the police. By this time reports of Spring-heeled Jack cropped up almost on a regular basis in the newspapers and his notorious behaviour led to him appearing as the subject of various 'penny dreadfuls' and even plays performed in the more dire theatres that abounded at the time.

   Perversely reports of Spring-heeled Jack's appearances became rarer as either the public’s imagination, or interest in him waned, until suddenly in 1843 when a host of sightings raced across the country once more with on such report, originating from Northamptonshire, proclaimed that he had ‘the very image of the Devil himself, with horns and eyes of flame’, whereas notices of attacks on drivers of mail coaches in East Anglia became common. In Teignmouth, Devon one investigation held during the month of July 1847 actually resulted in the arrest and conviction of a Captain Finch on two charges of assault against women - he is said to disguised himself in a bullock's hide, skullcap, horns and mask which may have led to the tales of the "Devil's Footprints" which appeared in Devon in February 1855.

   

‘This here is Satan,-we might say the devil, but that ain't right, and gennel folks don't like such words. He is now commonly called 'Spring-heeled Jack;' or the 'Rossian Bear,' – that's since the war’

— Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, 

     During the first few years of the 1870’s Spring-heeled Jack seemed to enjoy a rebirth with reports surfacing once more from all over England.  November 1872 saw the News of the World announcing that Peckham was "in a state of commotion owing to what is known as the "Peckham Ghost", a mysterious figure, quite alarming in appearance". Further, they stated that it was "Spring-heeled Jack resurfacing to continue his reign of terror that had caused such uproar in years gone by- even The Illustrated Police News followed suit including several articles detailing his latest incarnation. The months of April and May, 1873, witnessed even more sightings of the "Park Ghost" in Sheffield, which were also claimed to be Spring-heeled Jack.

    By the autumn of 1877 reports seemed to be once again dying out, although one notable incident was the reputed appearance of Spring-heeled Jack at Newport Arch, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire- this time supposedly wearing a sheep skin. Pursued by a mob him, and eventually cornered, whereupon some members of the mob opened fire on him with no visible effect.  Following the legend, it was stated that he leaped from roof to roof before disappearing from sight.

    With the last claims of his appearing occurred sometime during 1888, in Everton with a display of his famed agility on the rooftop of Saint Francis Xavier's Church in Salisbury Street and then again in 1904 when he reputedly made his final appearances in nearby William Henry Street, after which he seemed to have quietly gone into retirement.

   

     Spring-heeled Jack for all his amazing abilities, the amount of attacks attributed to him, and the number of years that his activities supposedly took place, has never actually been identified. Theories abound as to who he could have been, much in the same way as Jack the Ripper, but none offer any real evidence which begs the question- if he wasn’t a person, and more than just a collective hysteria, the what was he?

D W Storer 2018/2019