Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1904-11-12
LEGENDS OF THE SEA
WEIRD SPECTRAL SHIPS DOOMED TO
ENDLESS VOYAGES.

ENDLESS NOfA6Go.
The Flying Dutchman of EVIL Fame
Appears In Many Kinds of Sc" Lore.
Mock Islands Fiery Reminder OF
the Wreckers of Colonial Days
Among the multitude of supersu-
lions to which the sea has given pirtn
not the least interesting are those con-
corning weird spectral ships doomed
by some irrevocable decree OF rate 10
sail the wide seas over till eternity
without hope Of ever once entering
barbor of safety. Conspicuous among
these is the Flying Dutchman. or rath-
or Flving Dutchmen, for there are In
Vulnerable versions Of this legeno,
which have been colored and designed
n concur with the various fancies ana
ideas of different nationalities.
IT Is not improbable that the original
Flying Dutchman was that described
IN the old Morse tradition OF viking
who had sacrilegiously stolen rins
from the gods, and whose skeleton was
ever afterward seen seated on the
n,ainmast of a black spectral ship en-
yeloped In fire, to behold which iore-
hooded wreck and disaster A later IAN
,sh variation of this story no doubt IN
spired Longfellow's lines describing
A ship Of the dead that sails the sea
And is called the CarInilhan.
In tempests she appears
without a helmsman steers
Tradition says Of this ship that hid
cons faced goblin invariably sat on tne
howsnrit smoking q horrid pipe nlieu
with a more pernicious weed than 10,
hacco. and Ill betide the luckiess vessei
that encountered her, for
Over her decks the seas will leap
Shs must 60 down into the deep
And perish mouse and man.
The most generally accepted version
of the Flying Dutchman, however is
that Of the pigheaded Dutch captain
who swore he would round the Cape Oh
Storms In the teeth of terrific hur'
r,cane His fatuous determination
scared the crew out Of their WIS anu
eliminated in threats OF mutiny
Eventually they became oostreperous
hut the bold skipper, not daunteu
cl,nched matters by throwing few o.
them overheard and. terrifying the re
mainder. reiterated his oath VIII
treble violence. Then an appariuoi
endeayored to turn him from his pur
nose TO receive most impolite, not Z
say trreyerent, reception. 1t doggedi'
persisted and so enraged the captain
that he fred at it with his revolver
Rut instead of hurting the ghost tn
ball lodged in his own arm, at wnlcl
misfortune he, not unnaturally Ior
sailor and a Dutchman, became eVel
more sacrilegious in his expressions
He was forthwith condemned TO nav
gate his vessel forever and ever VIII
gall TO assuage his thirst, redhot lro
for his hunger, forever sleepless an
without hope of arriving at port. d
the aid of his friend Satan he was aoi
70 bring about disasters and tempest'
and his ship was 1.-The harbinger Q
wreck and woe" alluded to by Scott
"Rokeby."
The French equivalent of this shl
was the Courier Hollendais. which wa
said to sail around the world in twelV
hours. with terrible disasters follow
ing In her wake.
German tradition is rich in phantol
ships and tells Of one on board
which was q nobleman who had Dee
forced TO leave his fatherland becaus
of a great crime and who was allege
to toss dice with the devil for his ow
soul while another Teutonic creatio
was a death ship which was suppose
to be chock full OF murderers and crln
inals of the lowest order. A skeleto
holding an hourglass stood In q CO..
spicuous position, and
...The ship was black. her masts wei
black.
And her sails coal black as death.
And the evil one steered at the helm al
laughed
And Knocked at their falling oreatn'
which undoubtedly must have been
most grewsome spectacle to RI
against and something akin to the a
pearance on All Saints day Of the sou
of sailors drowned during the year,
belief which was prevalent in tn
country. 1t was said that in the dar
ness of the night the watchmen on Il
wharfs would observe a boat Win
hail. and, Fastening to cast 1t q line.
would disappear, and simultaneous
frightful shrieks would rend the air.
Block island, on the Atlantic Goa
Of the United States, was alleged
have its ghostly ship, which, rising
three pyramidal flames into the repr
sentation Of a ship, was supposed
be a perpetual reminder Of the wicke
ness Of its former inhabitants, who
the colonial days cruelty lured an II
migrant ship on to the rocks, WI
great loss of life, and then looted al
burned it.
Another phantom ship, so the sto
goes, appears occasionally OH Cal
d'Espoir, in the bay Of Gaspe, In Il
gulf Of st. Lawrence She is crowd'
with soldiers, conspicuous amor
whom is an officer pointing shorewa
with one hand and supporting a VOL
an with the other. Suddenly the ligh
20 out, there is shrill cry. and t
ship sinks. This is supposed to be t
ghost of British transport which w
lost at the time of the Anglo-Fren
wars In Canada.-London Globe.