What happened
From the autumn of 1837 stories spread in the suburbs of London about a strange figure who sprang out of the darkness at lone passers-by, especially young women, tore their clothes with claws and escaped by leaping over high walls. In January 1838 the Lord Mayor of London read out a letter about a “prankster” disguised as a ghost, a bear and a devil, and more complaints poured into the Mansion House. On 19 February 1838, 18-year-old Jane Alsop opened the door of her father's house in Old Ford to a man claiming to be a policeman, who asked for a light because “we have caught Spring-heeled Jack.” When she handed him a candle, he threw off his cloak: he wore a helmet and a tight white costume, his eyes were “like red balls of fire,” and he spat blue flame. A few days later a similar attacker in Limehouse blinded Lucy Scales with a burst of flame. Reports later came from all over England – as late as Liverpool in 1904.
Witnesses
Jane Alsop and her sisters, Lucy Scales and her sister, the many people who wrote to the Mansion House and, in 1877, sentries at the Aldershot army camp; the cases were reported by “The Times” and other papers.
Explanations and hypotheses
No one was ever caught. Researchers think one or more pranksters may have been behind the first attacks – as early as the 19th century suspicion fell on the eccentric Marquess of Waterford, but without proof – followed by imitators. Rumour, sensational newspapers and penny dreadfuls did the rest, turning Jack into a legend. Abilities such as leaping over houses or breathing fire are put down to mass hysteria and exaggeration.
Disputed A likely explanation exists, but some of the facts are still disputed.
Sources
- The Times – The Late Outrage at Old Ford (2 March 1838)
- Skeptoid – The Attack of Spring Heeled Jack
- BBC Legacies – Myths and Legends: Spring-Heeled Jack
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