The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-11-25

old seamen VINO Claim That They Have
seen the Phantom vessels.

hf0n ~ 4 -
sra stii living in Harpswell, Me-.
.oed men who believe in the dead shlp"-s
nicturesaue tradition familiar 10 them from
childhood and readily accepted as truth
Inv these old men Of the sea, who share the
supersttions of all sailors ana whose lah0iee
lean to the romantic and picturesque,
HArpswell Ia not the only locality tnat
p,,mbers a phantom ship among her tradl-
tional and misty belongings. but her PHANTOM
has been immortalized in the verse OF Long
fellow and is thus distinguished from tne
common sort of ghost ships that are told OF IN
shin ~chandIeries oil along shore from Last
port to Kittery. Longfellow had the story
Of the Harpswell apparition from old sailors
of Harpswell Neck, who were full OF super
stitious lore and believed in their romances
of the sea as much as they did in the stories OF
,Jobn Paul Jones or the fight of Monhegan
between the Enterprise and the Boxer.
The Harpswell people declared that the
dead ship came often to their shores al
though abe never reached the harbor, she
came always at dusk and generally in stormy
weather. appearing in the offing and coming
straight on, with all sail set. only to iade
away like a mist when close in. Not only the
Harpswell folk, but the fishermen OF the
islands Of Casco Bay. believed in the phan-
| tom. and in the i'll omen Of her comlng-that
her appearance on shore was a sure sign thaC
within a month Grape would hang upon the
door of one of those who had seen her. Long
| fellow who had spent much time in the COM
pany of these sailor-hshermcn, heard and
was familiar with all their tales, and selecting
the most picturesque of these he wove them
! into the poem that is 80 familiar to readers OF
his works.
The H~arpswell tars told the poet all the
details of the ghost ships Appearance
how she seemed always to come In a log
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 veritsble spirit
ship. She was much like the celebrated
Flying Dutchman or the phantom vessel OF
| Coleridge's Ancient Mariner"
In the days when Longfellow formed his
friendship at HArpswell there were still
living upon the Neck old men who knew
the name that was borne by the phantom
shin 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 cap
| tain and with members OF her crew, all Of
whom were lost when the ship went down
on the reefs on the Neck ana thus became
/ a phantom and the poet tells us that in his
day there sat in the shlpyaEds oil Frteport
ttimbers that made her frame. From all this
he be lief OF early Harpswell men in the
! phantom ship seems natura! epough and
their belief has been handed down 10 the
to have seen the phantom in recent years.
Her last appea rnncP, II Is said, was about
| The wear 1878. at which time she was seen
by four or Ave persons, some OF whom are
az to The APART ion looming up OF HaTps-
well Neck in the November dusk.