The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1885-06-27
PHANTOM SHIPS.
Some Odd Stories Showing the Hold the
Imagination Had on Ancient Mariners.


Imagination Had on Ancient Mariners.
We are not surprised that the ancient
mariners peopled the sea, in their
quaint mythology, with imaginary crea-
lures, or invested the most common
things and occurrences with prognostic
influences. Following them with their
sea-faring decisions, came the monks
of the Middle Ages, pretending to
chronicle, with scrupulous accuracy,
saintly interpretations at sea, etc, etc.
The sailors were excusable, on account
of their ignorance and credulity, but
the same apology can not be offered in
behalf of the monks. 1t is not our pur-
pose. in this article, to enumerate the
superst tious, and still less to speak of
the curious legends. only in SO far as
they may be directly connected with
the title of our article.
In very rare book entitled Gotta
Imperialia, written by Gervase of Til
bury, in 1911, is very odd story, re-
lated with all the soberness of fact. In
substance it is as follows:
AS the people were coming out of a
church in England, on dark. cloudy
day. they saw cable dangling from
the clouds, and, upon examination,
found it attached to ships anchor
VIII oh had caught in heap of stones.
Suddenly the cable became taut, as if
an unseen crew were trying to haul it
up, while clamorous orders issued from
the clouds overhead. To Their surprise
dot l,a
and was suflocated by the thick atmos-
phere in the presence of the gaping
crowd. His shipmates cut the cable
and sailed away. The anchor which
they left behind them was made into
fastenings and ornaments for the door
of the nearest church. Whether they
still exist, IN commemoration of the
wonderful event, we are not prepared
to say.
The phantom ship was an object of
firm belief to the Norman fishermen,
and would be driven INTO port when
ever the prayers for the souls of Their
lost kinsmen had failed to be effica-
cious. In "Credul ties Past and Pres
ent." is an account of whatfollow such
a mysterious visitation. The widows
and children and friends of the seamen
who were supposed to have been
drowned, would rush to the quay.
Cries of recognition would arise. but
no returning cry would be heard from
the crew. The bells would sound the
hour of m dnight, and a fog would
steal over the sea, am VIII oh the YES
sci would disappear. Amidst the sobs
and or es of the spectators of the phan-
tom ship the warning voice of the
priest would be heard: Pay your
debts! Pray for the lost souls in Purga-
tory"
There is a legend of Herr Won
Falkenbeg who was compelled to beat
about the ocean till the Day of Judg-
ment, on board ship without helm
or steersman, playing at dice for his
soul with the devil. 1t was common
for seamen who traversed the German
Ocean to declare that they had met the
phantom ship. Some legend of the
kind suggested to Coleridge his "Rime
of the Ancient Mariner. There is a
spectre ship in it. and dice are thrown
for the souls of the crew.
"Her lips were red, her looks were free
Her locks were yellow as gold;
ftef SKIN was WHITE as leprOSy,
The night-m Life in death was she,
Who thicks mans blood with cold"
The Flying Dutcbman was name
given to one of these phantom ships.
1t scudded before the wind under a
heavy press of sail when other ships
were afraid to show an inch of canvas.
She was generally declared to have
been seen in the vicinity of the Cape of
Good Hope, and was always regarded
as the worst of all possible omens. Her
crew committed some atrocious crime;
the plague broke out among them; no
harbor would consent to shelter them;
the apparition OF the ship still haunts
the seas in which the crimes were per-
petrated, etc. The superstition orig
mated with the Dutch, though the En-
glish sailors put the most faith in the
legend. Sir Walter Scott alluded to the
ship as harbinger of wo:
"or, of that phantom ship whose form
Shoots like meteor through the storm.
Full spread and crowded every sail
The demon, frigate braves the gale.
And well the doomed spectators know
The harbinger of wreck and wo."
1t was probably no uncommon occur
fall in with ships abandoned to the
winds and waves, with corpses on
board. Such instances NAV have sug-
gested the legends. On the other
hand they may have had their origin
in the looming up, or apparent suspen-
sion in the air, of some ship out of
sight-a phenomenon sometimes wit
messed at sea, and caused by unequal
refraction in the lower strata of the at
We close our article with Cornish
tradition of a phantom ship as related
by Mr.. Hunt:
One night gigs crew was called to
go to the westward of St. Ives Head.
No sooner was one boat launched, than
several others put off from the shore.
and a stiff chase was maintained, each
one being eager to get to the ship, as
she had the appearance of foreign
trader. The hull was clearly visible;
she was schooner gged vessel with
a light over her bows. Away they
first launched still kept ahead by dnt
of mechanical power and skill. All the
men had thrown off their jackets to row
with more freedom. At length the
helmsman cried out, "Stand ready
to board her!' The sailor rowing
the bow-oar slipped t out of the row.
lock and stood on the forethwart, TAX
ing his jacket on his arm, ready to
spring aboard. The vessel came so
close to the boat that they could see
the men, and the bow-oar man made
grasp at the bulwarks. His hand found
solid, and he fell, being caught
by one of his mates, back into the boat,
instead of into the water. Then ship
and lights disappeared. The next
morning the Neptune, of London, Cap
tain Richard Grant, was wrecked at
Gwithian, and all on board perished.-l
Frank H. Stamfer, in Current.
HENS ON THE FARM.
They Do Their Best When They Are Most