Legends, Lore and Secrets of New England by Thomas D'Agostino

Author:Thomas D'Agostino
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

THE DEVIL IN NEW ENGLAND

The devil has certainly left his impression on New England in more ways than one. Between pacts, places bearing his moniker and scores of marks left etched in rocks, the dark one has been very busy over the centuries trying to recruit the folks of the region to his side. The following stories are but a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of influence the devil has had on New England and its people. Some will be familiar, while others will be more obscure. They are in no particular order, so there is not one favorite tale or specific length that will be especially addressed. Enjoy.

There are two Purgatory Chasms in southern New England. One is located in Sutton, Massachusetts, while the other can be seen in Middletown, Rhode Island. People often get them confused and tend to mix up the legends as well. The Sutton chasm is a quarter-mile crevice, with cliffs towering seventy feet above the floor. There are several trails that run around and through the notch where places like Devil’s Pulpit, Devil’s Coffin and Devil’s Corncrib entice the more daring to either climb or crawl through these natural crevices and creations.

According to the legend I heard, a brave Indian sought the hand of a beautiful Indian woman. They courted for a short time, and being head over heels for her, he told her he would do anything for her hand in marriage. The woman, being selfish and vain as well as beautiful, told the brave that she would have him if he could jump the width of the crevice, landing safely on the other side. The brave then realized his foolishness in wanting such a selfish woman for beauty alone. He summoned all his strength and, with a great bounding leap, cleared the giant hole and kept on running, leaving the woman by herself. Hobomocko, the Indian version of the devil, then appeared and took her away as punishment for requesting such a deed. I have also heard this for the next chasm as well.

Purgatory Chasm in Middletown, Rhode Island, is a fifty-foot crevice dropping 160 feet into the ocean. Legend has it that an Indian woman murdered a white man, and Hobomocko whisked her to the chasm, where he tried to make his move on her. When she resisted, he banged her head against the rocks, creating the bowl-like impressions in the boulder. He then swung his great hatchet at her. Missing her, he cracked the ledge in two, creating the great chasm. He then grabbed her and, with the fury of hell, ran with her toward the edge of the cliff, burning his footprints into the stone. At the edge, he lopped off her head and threw her into the sea. Another version has Hobomocko also cursing her headless ghost to wander the nearby beach, eternally searching for her head.

While we are on the subject of Purgatory Chasm in Middletown, there is a story concerning Devil’s Foot Rock in nearby North Kingstown.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.