Cape Cod has a rich tradition of local lore, stretching back to a time before the Pilgrims arrived. Ancient Wampanoag legends like Granny Squannit and Princess Scargo are as familiar as tales of pirates and explorers, including "Black Sam" Bellamy and Donald Baxter Macmillan. Felines often blocked "Cat's Alley" in pursuit of food from fishermen's boats. The remnants of Billingsgate Island can be seen at low tide, and visits from Jenny Lind and Helen Keller contrast with the mysterious stories of the "Lady of the Dunes" and New England's Dark Day. Author Robin Smith-Johnson shares historic tales of shipwrecks, murders, hauntings and more from the Cape.
Witches and Warlocks of Massachusetts is a collection of legends and historical accounts about witches and warlocks from the Bay State. Organized by region, city and town, the book's dozens of stories include the earliest Puritan accounts of 17th century witches, urban legends about desolate locations haunted by ghostly witch hunt victims, tales of Cape Cod sailors battling witches, and other stories of sinister (and sometimes sympathetic) spellcasters. Massachusetts has a rich history of witchcraft that spans nearly four centuries. Most people are aware of the Salem witch trials but fewer know about the Dogtown witches, the Pepperell farmer who hired a hypnotist to save his bewitched daughter, or Half-Hanged Mary, the witch who died twice and inspired The Handmaid's Tale. These stories are known locally in the towns where they occurred but have never been collected into one book before.
"From the Barnstable sea captain who kept Siamese twins in his woodshed and the Sandwich man who taught dancing to King George V and Queen Mary of England, to the well-heeled Falmouth family that made a practice of weighing their guests before feeding them, Cape Cod, as you will find, is a never ending source of strange and unusual tales." -- P. [4] of cover.
Historic Cape Cod has 15 towns, stretching from Bourne to Provincetown. Each town and village has ghosts and many stories to tell about them. In this book, the author has chosen some of the lesser known, but fascinating apparitions, such The Ghost of the 13 Churches - Dr. Abner Hersey: Ahsoo, the Native American girl who sings with a voice of gold but has a face like a fallen log: and the 300 year old parson who sneaks into people's yards to snatch posies from their flower boats. These and many other legends are included by the author, who visited many of the sites himself and not only wrote the stories, but also took a number of the more than two dozens photos that are included in the E-book version. The photos are not included in the print edition. In one of the most fascinating parts of the book, the author describes in narrative and with pictures, the eerie, secluded burial ground of the tribe of Princess Scargo. Because this graveyard is virtually unknown, and hard to find, the author has given specific directions to the compelling site, that overlooks Scargo Lake. Stories from all four parts of Cape Cod are included in this 'must read' collection.
Venture back to 1715, when a fifteen-year-old Cape Cod girl named Maria Hallett was seduced by a twenty-six-year-old Englishman named Samuel Bellamy. Bellamy soon left her to become one of the most infamous pirates of his day--Black Sam Bellamy. Maria remained on the Cape but was forced to live in solitude after giving birth to Bellamy's child. Two years later, Bellamy returned to his love, and Maria watched from the dunes as his flagship, the Whydah, sank in the worst nor'easter in the history of the Cape. The legend of Maria Hallett has been passed down for over two hundred years, and Cape Cod writer Kathleen Brunelle brings a fresh breath of sea air to this epic tale in her search for Bellamy's bride.
Winner of the IPPY North-East Best Regional Nonfiction Bronze Medal. Tiggie: The Lure and Lore of Commercial Fishing in New England begins more than 30 years ago in a remote cove on Cape Cods Pleasant Bay. Macfarlane, a young marine biologist newly deputized by the Orleans shellfish warden, gathers up her courage to confront one of the Capes crustiest, crankiest commercial fishermen, a local legend named Tiggie Peluso. Its more than a contest between youth and age, or rules and reason, or book knowledge and hard-earned practical experience. Its a clash of two strong wills and two warring cultures a bucolic, rustic Cape Cod that is in the process of changing beyond recognition, and an industry that is losing its past under a tsunami of foreign competition, legalisms and new technology. In Tiggie we hear both their voices. Tiggies personal stories about fishing in the 40s, 50s and 60s are at once poignant, matter-of-fact and haunting in his appreciation of the beauty around him, and reverence for all life, especially in the sea. We meet his crew mates and friends, learn about their idiosyncrasies and their humanness, their struggles to make ends meet, their financial binges in good times. We come to understand their disdain for those who try to regulate what they do, their less-than-perfect relationships with women and, above all, their love of the life they have chosen. Sandy Macfarlane is the author of Rowing Forward, Looking Back, a chronicle of life in a small coastal community bombarded by development pressures. She and Tiggie, now both retired, met regularly at the local coffee shop over several years. Their breakfast conversations and Tiggies stories interweave past and present and the threads of their very different lives. Tiggie is more than a memoir or a how-to book, but it combines the virtues of each. With detailed insights into the catching of fish and moving reflections on the beauty of the rituals, the surroundings, the characters, it captures the moments and the moods of a vanishing way of life.
These reflections on herbs, gardens, and nature by naturalist/writer Beston (best known for The Outermost house, a record of a year spent on Cape Cod's beach) were first published in 1935 and are here lovingly reprinted letterpress with woodcuts by John Howard Benson and an introduction by Horticulture magazine editor Roger Swain. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Gives voice to the many divergent--and equally passionate--points of view that surround ghosts. After a decade of research, the authors have produced a work of surprising substance and depth. Enter Cape Cod's historic, soulful homes--such as the nationally-renowned cover image of Wendell Minor--and discover a world in which the past is very much alive. Original.
The author of Legends & Lore of Cape Cod delves deeper into the colorful local history of Massachusetts’s quaint seaside region. Cape Cod may be a popular tourist destination, but it has a strange and distinctive history. The Pukwudgies were two- to three-foot beings with smooth gray skin, hairy faces and horns. These shape-shifting, mischievous “little people” are connected to Wampanoag Indian mythology. Edward Rowe Snow, a New England historian who was also known as “the Flying Santa,” delivered Christmas presents to lighthouse keepers and their families. Jeremiah’s Gutter was a canal in Orleans and the first Cape Cod Canal. Join author Robin Smith-Johnson as she uncovers the secrets behind many unique places, remarkable events and fascinating people. Includes photos!
