# Historic Legends and their Cultural Importance



## moura

_Hi _
_Olá _

_There is__ a legend in Portugal known as “The Legend of El-Rei D. Sebastião” (King Sebastian). The true part of the story is that this king did exist. He rulled the country since the age of fourteen years and when he was 24 years old, still unmarried, decided to launch an expedition against the Moors of North Africa. __He was killed there, during the battle of Alcácer Quibir, and the same happened to those who went with him. Without an heir, the Portuguese throne passed to the Spanish crown for a period of 60 years. The Portuguese people refused to accept the death of their king, and a legend was born saying that in a foggy morning, King Sebastian would return._

_This is the most famous Portuguese legend, remembered still in our days, inspiring songs, literature and art. _
_When our country is in a bad situation and it seems no one does something to solve it, it is common to say that the Portuguese are still "waiting for the return of D. Sebastião in a foggy morning."_

_Is there also a most famous legend or legends, or fairy tail, in your country? __Did it inspire art or other forms of cultural expression? _
_It would be most interesting to hear about it._


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## pacificblue

Hi Moura

The most common legend in New Zealand is the legend of Maui and the magic fishhook. It's the story of how Aotearoa (New Zealand) came to be. 

Maui was a demi-god, who lived in Hawaiiki. He possessed magic powers that not all of his family knew about.​ 
One day when he was very young, he hid in the bottom of his brothers' boat in order to go out fishing with them. Once out at sea, Maui was discovered by his brothers, but they were not able to take him back to shore as Maui made use of his magic powers, making the shoreline seem much further away than it was in reality.​ 
So the brothers continued rowing, and once they were far out into the ocean Maui dropped his magic fishhook over the side of the waka (boat). After a while he felt a strong tug on the line. This seemed to be too strong a tug to be any ordinary fish, so Maui called to his brothers for assistance.​ 
After much straining and pulling, up suddenly surfaced Te Ika a Maui (the fish of Maui), known today as the North Island of New Zealand. Maui told his brothers that the Gods might be angry about this, and he asked his brothers to wait while he went to make peace with the Gods.​ 
However, once Maui had gone his brothers began to argue among themselves about the possession of this new land. They took out their weapons and started pounding away at the catch. The blows on the land created the many mountains and valleys of the North Island today.​ 
The South Island is known as Te Waka a Maui (the waka of Maui). Stewart Island, which lies at the very bottom of New Zealand, is known as Te Punga a Maui (Maui's anchor), as it was the anchor holding Maui's waka as he pulled in the giant fish.​


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## moura

Pacificblue,

What a lovely, lovely legend!!!
Is there some link to see the images of Maui?
Thanks
regards 
moura


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## pacificblue

Hmmm, you can go here http://fraktali.849pm.com/text/archive/myth/maui.htm to read more about the legends but as far as images go, I would just google it. 

Now that I say that, I don't think you will find much considering Maui is part of a myth, I don't think there will be many photos of him ...  

This is the best I can do : http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/mythology/maui_sun.html

OR if you are asking to see the pictures of Maui as in Hawaii, you can google that too.


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## moura

Thanks Pacificblue

I also just found this one too , with a beautiful image.


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## maxiogee

moura said:
			
		

> There is a legend in Portugal known as “The Legend of El-Rei D. Sebastião” (King Sebastian). The true part of the story is that this king did exist. He rulled the country since the age of fourteen years and when he was 24 years old, still unmarried, decided to launch an expedition against the Moors of North Africa.
> He was killed there, during the battle of Alcácer Quibir, and the same happened to those who went with him. Without an heir, the Portuguese throne passed to the Spanish crown for a period of 60 years. The Portuguese people refused to accept the death of their king, and a legend was born saying that in a foggy morning, King Sebastian would return.
> 
> This is the most famous Portuguese legend, remembered still in our days, inspiring songs, literature and art.
> When our country is in a bad situation and it seems no one does something to solve it, it is common to say that the Portuguese are still "waiting for the return of D. Sebastião in a foggy morning."
> 
> Is there also a most famous legend or legends, or fairy tail, in your country? Did it inspire art or other forms of cultural expression?
> It would be most interesting to hear about it.



Irish mythology is littered with heroes and sleeping giants who will come to Ireland's aid in time of need. Your story reminds me of the legend of King Arthur who sailed off - alive - to Avalon, and to many Celtic mythological references to *Tír na nÓg* (The Land of Youth, _or even_ The Land of Eternal Youth) in Ireland and *The Isles of the Blest* in Welsh mythology.

The races which inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts are reputed to be living still in some altered state - the fairies, lephrchauns etc. and I think it is a common thread in mythology. Sometimes the incoming horde defeat the residents in battles, other times they drive them off - but the point is always that they are gone, and are not likely to be coming back, except in unnatural circumstances.


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## moura

I went to the web to see Tir Nan Ok , and found this page with a most beautiful picture
tp://www.geocities.com/Area51/Vault/6990/faerie.html


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## ireney

Up the wazoo in fairy tales and legends and so on and so forth.

One involving a historical figure and reminiscent ot moura's storyis that of the "marble king".

The last king of the Byzantine Empire (by then consisting only  of what was -for a brief time- still called Constantinople and is now called Instanbul) was called Constantine Palaiologos.
To make the long story short, the Turks leaid siege to Constantinople and eventually broke through the defences (according to the legend a traitor opened a secret door and let them in; in truth they didn't need such help).
Emperor Constantine died in the battle.

According to the myth though, an angel touched him with his wing and turned him into a marble statue (I think hidding him somewhere in Hagia Sofia). The legend says that when the time comes for the Greeks to reclaim Constantinople (you can't expect such a legend to call it Instanbul eh?) the king will come back to life.

It was a 'helpful' legend while Greeks were part of the Ottoman Empire and that's why it has survived to this day.


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## se16teddy

To add to Maxi's remarks about King Arthur, I think that the stories about him have been retold in just about every cultural medium imaginable, or at least those media that have flourished in Britain, Ireland and France during the last millennium.  
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur_in_various_media
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_books_about_King_Arthur


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## french4beth

Here and here are some links for some North American mythological tales. Here is another site about North American mythology, as well as another site here.

Just found another local legend here.


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## Outsider

se16teddy said:
			
		

> To add to Maxi's remarks about King Arthur, I think that the stories about him have been retold in just about every cultural medium imaginable, or at least those media that have flourished in Britain, Ireland and France during the last millennium.


I thought the ending of _Lord of the Rings_ was a little reminiscent of the Arthurian legends, too.


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## maxiogee

Outsider said:
			
		

> I thought the ending of _Lord of the Rings_ was a little reminiscent of the Arthurian legends, too.


… or an author leaving wriggle-room for a sequel?


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## Outsider

If memory serves me, those who left at the end traveled by boat to faraway lands (islands?) across the ocean. That seems pretty Arthurian...


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## Poetic Device

One of the most popular stories in my area is _The Legend of Sleepy Hollow_.  The story is set in the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town, New York in a sequestered glen called Sleepy Hollow, around the year 1790. It tells the story of Ichabod Crane, a priggish schoolmaster from Connecticut who is scared away from town by Abraham "Brom Bones" Van Brunt, his rival in love for the hand of eighteen-year-old Katrina Van Tassel, daughter of Baltus Van Tassel and a fifth-generation Dutch immigrant herself. The legend featured in the story is that of the Headless Horseman, the ghost of a Hessian trooper who lost his head to a cannon-ball during "some nameless battle" of the American Revolutionary War and who "rides forth to the scene of battle in nightly quest of his head."

The denouement of the fictional tale is set at the bridge in the real location of the Old Dutch Burying Ground in Sleepy Hollow (formerly North Tarrytown), adjacent to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The characters of Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel may have been based on local residents known to the author. The character of Katrina is thought to have been based upon Eleanor Van Tassel Brush and her name comes from Eleanor's aunt Catriena Ecker Van Tassel.


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## french4beth

I just remembered two more local legends:

1. The Charter Oak (I remember learning about this in school):


> In 1662, Connecticut received its Royal Charter from England's Charles II. A quarter century later, James II's royal representatives attempted to seize the charter... one passionate Nutmegger, Captain Joseph Wadsworth... found himself in possession of the Charter during the ensuing chaos in the darkness... took it upon himself to hide the charter safely inside a majestic white oak tree on the Wyllys estate in Hartford. The stately tree was already more than 500 years old when it served its spectacular role as a hiding spot for the precious document. Wadsworth's bold move served to preserve not only the document but the rights of the colonists.


2). The Leatherman was a "wandering vagrant" who traveled around Connecticut and New York wearing a tattered leather outfit. He never spoke, only grunted. It was said that you would know exactly what day of the year it was by the timing of his travels; he "would arrive in the exact same location every 34 days." 

Supposedly, he was a Frenchman named Jules Bourglay who fell in love with the daughter of a wealthy man - the father refused to allow him to marry his daughter due to his lower social status. However, the father agreed to allow Bourglay to learn the family trade, leather-making, and if he was successful, he would be allowed to marry the daughter. Unfortunately, Jules didn't keep up with the industry & a missed out on a major innovation, which caused the family's company to go out of business. Bourglay never recovered, and disappeared a few years later, appearing in Connecticut a few years later.

He started his monthly treks, and continued to do so for the next thirty years or so. He always slept outside, and made sure to collect enough firewood for his next trip thru the area.

There is a cave in Watertown, Connecticut, called the "Leatherman's Cave" that you can visit today.


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## Blackleaf

We've got loads.

King Arthur, Merlin the Magician, Uther Pendragon, Robin Hood.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/Robin_Hood_Memorial.jpg/200px-Robin_Hood_Memorial.jpg
Robin Hood's statue in Nottingham, Nottinghamshire. Nottinghamshire's cricket team is called Nottinghamshire Outlaws.


*Robin Hood* is the archetypal English folk hero; a courteous, pious and swashbuckling outlaw of the medieval era who, in modern versions of the legend, is famous for his robbing the rich to feed the poor and fighting against injustice and tyranny. He operates with his "seven score" (140 strong) group of fellow outlawed yeomen – named the *Merry Men*, meaning "companion or follower of [an]... outlaw",[1] who were based in hideouts in Sherwood Forest and Barnsdale Forest near the city of Nottingham.

The chief nemesis of the Merry Men, in many of the stories surrounding the band, is the villainous Sheriff of Nottingham who is overtaxing the people into poverty, and in some tales the villain is Prince John, based on John of England. In some versions Robin Hood is said to have been a nobleman, the lord of Loxley, or Locksley (then the seat of Hallamshire, now in South Yorkshire) in the early medieval period who was deprived of his lands by corrupt churchmen and greedy law officials. Sometimes he is returning from the crusades to find the land pillaged by the sheriff. Historical records suggest Robin Hood was in fact born in Wakefield Yorkshire.

The people of present day Nottinghamshire have a great affinity with Robin Hood as their folklore hero; he is a symbol of the county. For example, major road signs entering the county show Robin Hood sporting his bow and arrow, welcoming people to 'Robin Hood County.' BBC Radio Nottingham also uses the phrase 'Robin Hood County' on its regular programmes.

In many tales, Robin Hood was said to have been Anglo Saxon and his enemies in authority were often said to be Norman; it is a historical fact that bitterness and conflict was still common amongst these communities over a century after the Norman Conquest (the former having been settled in England for far longer).

Today, Robin Hood is sometimes presented as the champion of people against taxers, sometimes as an egalitarian. In the stories Robin Hood also pursues other types of social justice. However, as mentioned below, Robin Hood was not quite so generous in the original medieval ballads, in which he is often seen as an arrogant and headstrong rebel who isn't adverse to blood-letting, and was more than a little fearsome an opponent for his enemies. Furthermore, even within the band, equality was not even looked for; Robin's men, in ballads, kneel before him, and in _A Gest of Robyn Hode_, the king observed, "His men are more at his byddynge/Then my men be at myn." In the end, since most events in the various Robin Hood stories are folklore, arguments over the "real" or "true" Robin Hood are unlikely to reach any conclusion. Even if a historical Robin Hood or a similar person did indeed exist, finding concrete evidence about his life is highly improbable.

wikipedia.org


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## moura

In Portugal there is the historical story of Zé do Telhado, who many call the Portuguese Robin Hood. He lived during the 19th. century and was the leader of a group of robbers which, like Robin Hood's band, stole from the rich to give to the poor.
This groups, and others, were formed spontaneously in Portugal, during the French invasions, as an answer to the absence of reaction by the Portuguese army to the incursion of the Napolenic forces. 
Although he was a real person, Zé do Telhado has already entered  into the realm of the Portuguese legend.


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## maxiogee

Victoria32 said:
			
		

> Er, as Rove McManus would say (Aussie TV star) What the....?



Could Tolkien, in sending the heroes off overseas, have been leaving himself the option of bringing them back in a sequel? One cannot do that if heroes die, or grow old gracefully.
The Lord of the Rings was itself a sequel to a much lesser work.
======



			
				moura said:
			
		

> In Portugal there is the historical story of Zé do Telhado, who many call the Portuguese Robin *H*ood. He lived during the 19th. century and was the leader of a group of robbers which, like Robin *Hood's band, stole from* the rich to give to the poor.
> *This group, and others*, were *formed* spontaneously in Portugal, during the French invasions, as an answer to the absence of reaction *by* the Portuguese army to the *incursion* of the *Napoleonic* forces.
> Although he *was* a *real person*, Zé do Telhado *has already entered into the realm* of *Portuguese legend*.


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## moura

Thank you, Maxi for editing my various mistakes


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## moura

Poetic Device,

What a fantastic legend and how vividly described!!! I read it in few seconds and kept imagining the scenes. Don't you have images of Coyote and this monster Wishpoosh? I'd love to see them.


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## coconutpalm

http://weber.ucsd.edu/~dkjordan/chin/hboperaplots.html#myths
China has a long long history. Our recorded history began 6000 years ago, but our mythology has it that our ancestors lived long long before that. 
This website may give you some general idea about our mythology. Look at the part titled Chinese Myths.


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## Pivra

In Thailand we have the Hindu Epic, Ramayana, or Ramakien (-kirti) as our national legend. Although Thailand is not a Hindu country but Hindu culture echoes in our history and it has left an unerasable mark on our culture. Our culture has grown from this epic and it is the very foundation of our arts, literatures, government, religion(exception, Thai Theravada is influenced by Hinduism), rituals, language, and even food. We owe this epic greatly for this contribution.


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## Poetic Device

Oh!, my husband just reminded me of a more local legend. This one is the New Jersey devil. (It was a fave of his when he was a youth.) Basically, here is the short version.

In 1735, there was a really bad storm one night. A woman named Mother Leeds was lying in bed about to give birth. The room was full of women that gathered to help her, more out of curiosity than good will. They all heard rumors that Mother Leeds was involved in witchcraft, and had sworn she would give birth to a devil. 

when the baby finally arrived, it aws a relief and somewhat disappointment that the baby was born completely normal. however, a few moments later, the child began to change. He began to grow very rapidly and changed into a hideous monster that looked like a fierocious dragon. As soon as it was full-grown, the monster began beating all the woman (including his mother) with its tail amd then with a sream flew away into the storm. As the story goes, the New Jersey devil still haunts the farms of New Jersy and causes much havoc upon the crops and livestock. He also supposedly appears on the New Jersey shore right before a shipwreak. I am going to see if I can find a site that will give the story in better detail.


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## Poetic Device

Here is a website that gives a little bit more of a realistic air to the story, yet is true to the legend.  http://www.strangemag.com/jerseydevil1.html


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## Blackleaf

*Here's a folktale from Cheshire, England. It is a very old tale, about a very famous wizard. *

Once upon a time a farmer was travelling from Mobberley to Macclesfield market to sell a horse. He was hopeful of getting a good price for the horse, because it was the finest he had seen - pure milk white in colour and a beauty. As he was crossing the sandstone cliff called Alderley Edge he was surprised to see an old man with a long white beard and strange clothes. 

The old man greeted him and asked to buy the horse. The farmer refused thinking he might get more money at the market. The old man smiled and said, "Do as you please. Go to Macclesfield, but you won't sell the horse and this evening you will sell the horse to me." 

The farmer laughed and went on his way. At the market the horse was much admired, but no one would buy the fine creature. The farmer had to turn around and go home with the horse. As he was returning over the Edge, suddenly the old man appeared. "Follow me," said the old man and led the farmer to a great rock. 

Just as the farmer was wondering where he was being taken, the old man touched the rock with his staff and two large iron gates appeared. With a loud crash the gates opened, the horse reared at the sound and sent the farmer tumbling on to the ground. "Don't be afraid," said the old man and led the farmer and horse into the cave beyond the gates.

Inside the cave, the farmer looked from side to side. All around lay sleeping knights and their horses. All the horses were milk white. On and on the old man led the farmer through countless caverns all filled with sleeping men and horses - a huge army sleeping and waiting to rise. In the innermost cave the old man stopped and pointed at a huge pile of gold and jewels, telling the farmer to take his payment for the horse. The old man explained that one day when England was in great danger the army would wake and ride out onto the Cheshire plain to save the country. One soldier didn't have a horse, which is why the old man wanted the farmer's.

The farmer grabbed some gold, stuffed it into his pocket and staggered out of the cave. The great doors clanged behind him. The farmer ran on. When he had gone a little distance he turned around, but all he saw was the rock. No one has found the door since. On Alderley Edge you can see the Wizard's Well and on it you can read these words:

Drink of this and take thy fill, 
For the water falls by the wizard's will.

Is it the same wizard, who met with the farmer? What is his name? And what is the name of the leader of the army who sleeps under the hill, waiting for the time when England needs him? The local people think they know the answer - they think the wizard is Merlin and the sleeping king is Arthur. The legend has it that King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table will one day return in England's hour of greatest need.



*FURTHER READING* 

If you liked this folktale you might like to read _The Weirdstone of Brisingamen_ and _The Moon of Gomrath_ by Alan Garner. Both are brilliant novels for children, and were inspired by the tale of the Wizard of Alderley Edge.

http://web.ukonline.co.uk/conker/conkers-and-ghosts/alderley-edge.htm


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## Blackleaf

*Spring Heeled Jack* 


Polly Adams, a pub wench best described as comely, was attacked by a strange creature in 1837. Rumors of a humanoid that could leap great heights sprouted up in south-west London. The descriptions varied, from a muscular man in a shiny suit and cloak who could breathe fire, to a winged monster with horns. But all Adams would say is the thing was "Devil-like". Another woman who was attacked in the Clapham churchyard gave the same description, but police did little to warn the populace. 
 
In January 1838 Lord Mayor Sir John Cowan made public a letter he had received from a resident in Peckham, who gave the details of an attack by a man, or creature, he called "Spring-Heeled Jack". By going public, Mayor Cowan opened a floodgate of letters from people who were too embarrassed to report their own brush-ins with ‘Jack earlier. 
 
*A Terrifying Encounter*In February a woman by the name of Jane Alsop, who lived with her father and two sisters, heard a loud knocking at her front door. Looking out into the dark London night she saw a man shrouded in shadows, standing by the front gate. He identified himself as a police officer and asked her to bring a light, saying he had captured Spring-Heeled Jack. Jane grabbed a candle and ran out to the gate; excited that London's favourite monster had been caught. 
 
When Jane handed the light to the officer, he grabbed her neck and pinned her head under his arm, then started to tear off her dress. Screaming, she broke free and ran, only to be caught again. Holding her by the hair, the thing started clawing her face and neck. Luckily, one of Jane's sisters was heard the struggle, and ran into the street calling for help. But before anyone could subdue him, Spring-Heeled jack leaped away into the darkness. 
 
Jane described Spring-Heeled Jack as hideous, wearing a helmet and a tight fitting costume, "like an oilskin", under a black cloak. His face was monstrous, with balls of fire for eyes, and claws on his fingers. She even said he vomited blue-white flames! 
 
Around that time, Lucy Scales had just left her brother's house and was walking home with her sister. As they entered the Green Dragon Alley in Limestone, a tall cloaked figure leapt from the shadows and breathed blue-white fire in the face of Lucy, blinding her. As she lay screaming on the ground, Jack calmly turned around and melted back into the shadows. 
 
Jack wasn't sighted again until a strange figure was seen on the London Church, climbing a Spire. After showing its face, it leapt into the darkness. Rumours of the same creature also visiting the Tower of London also spread. 
 

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/images/articles/jack2.jpg
 
Spring-Heeled Jack was sighted again and again, especially between 1850 and 1860, when sightings surged. According to one report, in 1860 the monster had been cornered by a mob, only to escape by jumping over a hedge to safety. In 1870, the army set traps for Jack after he slapped sentries with his icy hands, and jumped atop the guard boxes. Parents were starting to keep their children inside, fearing an attack from the bouncing villain, especially in the Midlands where his sightings were more frequent. 
 

Finally, one night in 1877, angry townspeople tried to shoot Spring-Heeled Jack, but to no avail. The last time jack was officially seen was a dark night in Liverpool, in September 1904. Jack was last spotted in William Henry Street, jumping from the street to rooftops, and back again. When townspeople tried to corner him, he once again leapt away into the darkness, his eerie laugh echoing through the streets of London. 
 
 
*Who was Spring Heeled Jack ?*After years of research (hours, actually) I've come to suspect that Jack was really the Irish nobleman Marquis of Waterford, who was infamous for his hatred of women and his sadistic taste in practical jokes. In the book _The Legend and Bizarre Crimes of Spring-Heeled Jack_ author Peter Haining suggests Waterford's inspiration for the creature was brought about by a humiliating experience with a police officer while travelling abroad. Haining believed that the prank was Waterford's twisted way of getting back at women and police in general. 
 
Waterford had friends who were well versed in applied mathematics, and they might well have helped him design boots with strong springs in the heels. As for the fire, he might have learned the technique of the Fire Eater (or spitter), or even designed some sort of device that spouted fire. Waterford was often in the area where crimes occurred, and we all know how fun it is to watch the results of a prank. 
As one final piece of evidence, we look back into 1938 at one of Spring-Heeled Jack's lesser known attacks. After his attack on Jane Alsop, Jack tried the same trick a few nights later on another house. A servant boy realized who the "police officer" was, and started to scream for help. Spring-Heeled Jack escaped again, but not before the boy spotted a crest with the letter "W" on the man's cloak. 
On the surface that would be the ideal solution, however if Waterford was spring heeled jack, he must have had someone to continue his reign of terror because sightings of ‘Jack continued after the Marquis was killed after falling from his horse in 1859.
 
In August 1877, Jack turned up at Aldershot north army camp where he taunted some sentries. The sentries shot at Jack, however they used blank ammunition and when they hit Jack it made the sound of metal hitting metal. Jack vomited his blue flames at them and vanished. In 1879 Jack appeared again, leaping out of a tree and seizing a mans horse, which was pulling a carriage. Jack withstood being whipped on the back by the man in the cart before Jack leaped up into a tree.
 
In 1904, Jack got a new outfit and gave a typical performance in Everton. He was seen swinging from the steeple of St Francis Xaviers. The man then suicidally jumped from the steeple landing behind some nearby bushes. The spectators ran to see where the man had landed but they found no trace of him. Suddenly an “egg headed” man dressed in white ran down the road towards them before lifting his arms and apparently flying over their heads.
 
The last recorded sighting of Spring heeled Jack came in 1948 when the people of Monmouth in Wales saw a strange white clad man jumping back and forth between the banks of a river.
 

_Written by Thor Antrim with additional material by Andy Thorley._


http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/articlejack.shtml


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