Devilish delight, bump in night still thrilling
Have you seen Mother Leeds' 13th child?
His presence has supposedly sent cats screeching in terror. He's been
known to spoil milk with a mere glance and murder people walking alone in
the woods at night.
So beware of the sudden snap of a twig behind you. Beware of the Jersey
Devil.
That's what folklorists, such as Angus Kress Gillespie, a Rutgers
University professor of American studies, will tell you. On Saturday
afternoon, Gillespie lectured at the Louis Bay 2nd Library. His topic: the
Jersey Devil.
For 270 years, people in South Jersey have reported seeing the beast with
a horse's head, goat's feet, giant bat-like wings and long serpentine
tail. And like the children's telephone game, the tale has changed as it
has passed through generations.
"It's not written down in books and it's anonymous. We don't know who the
original author is," Gillespie told a group of about 20 people. "There is
no one official version of the story, which should come as no surprise."
And those who claim to have seen him have never had camera in hand. Nor
has he ever been captured, though one Philadelphia man painted green
stripes on a kangaroo, attached fake wings and put the animal in a cage,
charging admission. The ruse went on for 20 years before the hoax was
revealed, Gillespie said. By then, the fellow had made a ton of money and
no longer cared.
One version of the legend has it that in the months before Jane Leeds gave
birth to her 13th child in 1735, she dropped to her knees one night and
prayed that the baby would be the devil's child and not another fathered
by her drunkard husband, Daniel.
On a stormy night in February, Leeds is said to have delivered a chubby,
blonde-haired, blue-eyed baby boy. Within minutes, it evolved before her
eyes into a gigantic, horrid creature with razor-sharp nails that slashed
the midwife's throat and escaped through the chimney into the
1,164,000-acre Pine Barrens in Burlington and Atlantic counties.
Or so the story goes.
"You hear about it and you just want to know a little bit about the
history," said Michelle Strasevicz, a 19-year-old borough resident who
attended the lecture and first learned about the Jersey Devil from Weird
NJ magazine.
The devil is also featured on the magazine's Web site, weirdnj.com.
Curiosity struck Sarah Huelster after a hockey game. She asked her father
how the New Jersey team got its name and then jumped at the chance to
attend the lecture.
Images kept going fuzzy at one point during a slide presentation, even
after Gillespie repeatedly fiddled with the projector. "Oooooooh. It's the
devil," audience members joked.
As Gillespie pointed out, "The power of belief is very strong."
http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk1JmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2NzMxNzI5JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mw==
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| User: "Veszpertin" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
24 Jul 2005 02:51:53 PM |
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I think he had a stroke and died.
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| User: "Su Zanadu" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
24 Jul 2005 07:13:42 PM |
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tadapope wrote:
I think he had a stroke and died.
You mean he stroked himself to death?
<snort>
Apologies!
A little devilish entity sitting on my right shoulder made me post this!
(Hey! - If Kim Miller can get away with that then so can I !!!)
}:-)
SuZu
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| User: "Werewolfy" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
25 Jul 2005 12:23:47 AM |
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"tadapope wrote:
I think he had a stroke and died"
I have been in France all the time. Not guilty!
;)
Ricky
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| User: "Veszpertin" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
25 Jul 2005 10:22:39 AM |
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When in France do as the French do.
But, remember the classic custom and be sure
to clean your ***** bucket well - after you empty
it over your balcony edge into the street below.
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| User: "Werewolfy" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
25 Jul 2005 04:40:20 PM |
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The idiot Veszpertin stupidly said;-
"But, remember the classic custom and be sure
to clean your ***** bucket well - after you empty
it over your balcony edge into the street below."
Sanitation and other modern hygene systems are available widely in
France.
Are you trying in a pathetic way to make some sort of joke, to make
your stupid and insular American insignificance of some importance,
through this mis-guided attempt at humour?
You have failed. I expect you are quite used to failure.
Werewolfy
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
25 Jul 2005 07:27:46 PM |
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Werewolfy wrote:
The idiot Veszpertin stupidly said;-
"But, remember the classic custom and be sure
to clean your ***** bucket well - after you empty
it over your balcony edge into the street below."
Sanitation and other modern hygene systems are available widely in
France.
I'm pretty sure he knows that.
Are you trying in a pathetic way to make some sort of joke, to make
your stupid and insular American insignificance of some importance,
through this mis-guided attempt at humour?
You have failed. I expect you are quite used to failure.
You did know that the US had the same practices as Europe before the
advent of indoor plumbing, didn't you? Was supposedly worse for longer
in the Old West, due to it being undeveloped and arid.
Woods
Werewolfy
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| User: "Werewolfy" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
26 Jul 2005 01:50:01 AM |
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Woods added;-
"I'm pretty sure he knows that."
I am too Woods. Yes, I knew about sanitation problems in developing
America too.
I don't know who, or why Vespertin has decided to 'flame'. As always, I
just respond to those who I find tedious. Should a message contain
humour, then I will laugh along with the rest. Should it be directed in
a less than friendly way, I cannot but help by reacting accordingly.
Ricky
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
26 Jul 2005 05:04:18 PM |
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Werewolfy wrote:
Woods added;-
"I'm pretty sure he knows that."
I am too Woods. Yes, I knew about sanitation problems in developing
America too.
I don't know who, or why Vespertin has decided to 'flame'. As always, I
just respond to those who I find tedious. Should a message contain
humour, then I will laugh along with the rest. Should it be directed in
a less than friendly way, I cannot but help by reacting accordingly.
I don't think it was intended as a flame - I think you didn't recognize
him as the Pope (changed his handle again).
Woods
Ricky
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| User: "Tugboat Captain" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
24 Jul 2005 05:48:10 PM |
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Veszpertin wrote / skrev:
I think he had a stroke and died.
What do you want? Aren't you all glad he's not here?
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| User: "~..~ Veszpertin ~..~" |
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| Title: Re: TONY ??? |
24 Jul 2005 06:25:58 PM |
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I want him back. I miss all the news he used to splatter
us with.
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