The Washington herald., 1906-11-18
DEAD SHIPS" OF MAINE.
Phantom Craft that Cruise the Mists
and Bring BOdIngs of Good or Ill.

| The approaching LOngfe!lOW anniyeT-
| sary recalls some OF the dead ships" OF
Maine which always interested him. Says
the Thomaston (Me) Herald: There are
/ stilI living IN HarpsweU, Ne, aged men
who believe in her dead ship"-a pic
turesque tradition familiar 10 them from
childhood and readily accepted as truth
by these old men OF the sea, who share
/ the superstitions OF all sailors and whose
/ fancies lean to the romantic and pic
turesQue.
Harpsweu IS not the only locality that
numbers a phantom ship among her tTadi-
tional and misty belongings, but her
phantom has been immortalized in the
verse OF Longfellow and Is thus distin-
guished from the common sort OF ghost
ships that are told OF In ship chandIeries
all along shore from EastpOrt 10 KitteTy.
Longfellow had the story Of the Harps-
well apparition from old sailors of Harps-
well Neck, who were full OF superstitious
lore and believed IN their romances Of the
sea as much as they did In the stories of
John Paul Jones OF the fight of Monhe-
gan between the Enterprise and the
Boxer
The HarpsweIl people declared that the
dead ship came often 10 their shores, al
Z
came always al dusk and generally in
stormy weather, appearing in the ofhng
and coming straight on. with all sail set
only TO fade away Ike a mist when close
IN Not only the Harpswel folk. but the
fishermen Of the Islands OF Casco Bay,
| believed in the phantom. and In the I'll
omen Of her coming-that her appearance
off shore was a sure sign that within
month Grape would hang upon the door
Of one OF those who had seen her Long
fellow, who had spent much time IN the
company Of these sailor-fshermen. heard
and was familiar with all their tales
and selecting the most picturesque Of
these he wove them into the poem that
IS so familiar to readers OF his works.
The Harpswell tars told the poet all
the details Of the ghost ships appear
ance-how she seemed always TO come In
4 fog or mist although the weather at
the time might be perfectly clear No
crew was to be seen upon her decks,
no hand at her helm and she came on
with neither flap OF sail nor creak Of
block. like a veritable spirit ship She
was much like the celebrated Flying
Dutehman. or the phantom vessel OF Cole
ridges Ancient Mariner"
In the days when LongfeIlow formed his
living upon the Neck old men who knew
the name that was borne by the phantom
ship when she was a reality of oak and
iron and sailed the seas with a sturdy
Yankee crew. The fishermen affirmed that
they had been personally acquainted with
her captain. and with members of her
crew, all Of whom were lost when the ship
went down on the reefs of the Neck. and
thus became a phantom. and the poet
tells US that in his day there sat in the
shipyards of FreepOTt aged men who had
hewed the heavy oaken tinnbers that made
her frame. From all this the belief OF
early HarpswelI men in the phantom ship
seems natural enough, and their belief
has been handed down 10 the present
generation. although no one claims TO
have seen the phantom !n recent years
Her last appearance it is said, was about
the year 1915, at which time she was seen
by four OF i've persons. some OF whom
are yet living, and all of whom were posi-
tive as to the apparition looming UP of
Harpswell Neck in the dusk Of a No
venber evening.