The sea serpent at home, 1817
The sea serpent visiting the harbor at Gloucester, Massachusetts, in 1817 was a boon for newspaper editors all down the coast. It could be described; it could be set in context; it could fill a few inches of print.
The Boston Daily Advertiser provides us with a detailed look at the critter and its movements, as it undulates like a caterpillar toward the shore on warm days and rests quietly at night. Appropriately for a creature of the sea, the sea serpent was amazingly protean, appearing to change shape as often and as quickly as the sea god, Proteus. Originally horsey of head, it’s become more doggy; it’s developed scales which can be flattened to the extent that the beast appears completely smooth; it now has a jaw and teeth like a shark; and in some descriptions it’s grown ”protuberances“ which are here dismissed. And, yes, from 40 feet, the serpent has lengthened to at least 80 feet, and more probably 100 feet. The Advertiser gives us a monster that’s a real pleasure to imagine.
And what an education in early 19th-century American spelling, grammar, and word use! “Shew” for “show”; “harbour” for “harbor”; “inclose” where we might use “enclose”; “an hundred” for “a hundred.” A ”staple“ was an iron hoop.
A couple notes: Sunday would have been August 17. The poetry quoted is by George Gordon, Lord Byron (from ”Manfred,“ freshly published in 1817) and won’t be the last bit of poetry associated with the creature. Captain Beach’s drawing may have been printed, but it certainly wasn’t the only portrait of the beast to appear before the public. (Stay tuned!)
”Sea Serpent.“ Boston Daily Advertiser [Boston, Massachusetts] 21 August 1817 [Thursday]; p. 2.
Sea Serpent.—A gentleman who has been in Gloucester has given us the following account of this animal.
It was still seen in the harbour of Gloucester on Sunday afternoon, and Monday afternoon. On Tuesday the weather was rough, and he did not make his appearance. From what has been observed of his habits, it seems he approaches the shore, and shews himself above the surface, when the water is smooth and the weather warm.*
On Sunday and Monday very distinct views were had of him by various persons. Gentlemen who have been at Gloucester, and attended to the accounts of those who have seen him at different times, and in different situations, think there can be no doubt that the animal is a serpent, in kind; that he is at least eighty, and more probably an hundred feet long, and nearly of the size of a flour barrel, at the largest place. As to the bunches, or protuberances, which have been mentioned, these are thought to be nothing more than the appearances occasioned by his manner of motion. He does not wind laterally along, as serpents commonly do, but his motion is undulatory, or consisting in alternate rising and depression, somewhat like the motion of a caterpillar. Mr. Johnson, a young man, who went in a boat to visit a vessel in the harbour, on Sunday, in the dusk of evening, came very near to him, before he discovered him, so that he might have reached him with his oar. He was quite still, and appeared to be reposing. He was round and smooth, and had nothing like bunches. His head, though in its front it is circular, is not flat, like a common serpent’s, but the top is elevated, prominent, and round; and owing to this latter circumstance a side view of his head a little resembles that of a dog’s. Capt. Beach, who appears to have examined him very often, and sometimes in favourable situations, says his head is the size of a common bucket.—He has seen him with his mouth open, his under jaw and teeth like a shark’s, his head ro[u]nd, with apparently very thick scales, and its whole appearance very terrific. Credible persons aver, that they have seen him swimming into the harbour, with great speed, holding his head eight feet above the water. More often he moves along, with his head under water, shewing the line of his back, or with his head immediately above the surface. He appears to be round with large scales, which, when he contracts his folds, gives a rigid appearance to his back, but when he extends himself the scales inclose, and do not prevent his appearing smooth. His general colour is dark brown; his head dark brown, intermixed with white. He often turns very quick, bringing his head near his tail, and putting himself into the form of a staple. Capt. John Beach, jr. has completed a drawing of him, which is to be engraved. As he has seen him several times, it is probable his likeness will be tolerably just. The people of Gloucester however intend to be able to give a better account of him, if he should stay longer in their harbour. Shark hooks, variously baited and attached to buoys, have been set afloat in the harbour, and several boats, well manned and armed, were destined to attack him yesterday, if he shewed himself.
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*“In the blue depth of the waters,
Where the wave hath no strife,
Where the wind is a stranger,
And the Sea Snake hath life.”
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