Saturday, April 28, 2007
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
The Young Teazer
Mahone Bay
from Will R Bird, 1950 "This is Nova Scotia" p 180- 189"
The biggest story is about an American privateer, the Young Teazer, which entered the Bay during the war of 1812-1814, pursued by a British man -of - war. An English deserter was serving on the American vessel, and to his dismay daw that capture was inevitable. he began to think of what would happen when his identity was made known and, desperate with fear, ran below and hurled a torch into a barrel of gunpowder. the explosion resulting blew the vessel to fragments and all the crew was killed. Next year, on that date, June 27th, people of Mahone Bay were startled to see an apparition sailing into the same water where the Young Teazer had been destroyed. As it came nearer they recognized it as the privateer, and then it vanished in a huge puff of flame and smoke. The story spread through the country, and on the next anniversary many more were on hand, watching for "the fire ship." Sure enough, it appeared again, and it is legend to this day that many persons now living have witnessed the appearance of the ghost ship, and have seen it disappear in flame."
from Will R Bird, 1950 "This is Nova Scotia" p 180- 189"
The biggest story is about an American privateer, the Young Teazer, which entered the Bay during the war of 1812-1814, pursued by a British man -of - war. An English deserter was serving on the American vessel, and to his dismay daw that capture was inevitable. he began to think of what would happen when his identity was made known and, desperate with fear, ran below and hurled a torch into a barrel of gunpowder. the explosion resulting blew the vessel to fragments and all the crew was killed. Next year, on that date, June 27th, people of Mahone Bay were startled to see an apparition sailing into the same water where the Young Teazer had been destroyed. As it came nearer they recognized it as the privateer, and then it vanished in a huge puff of flame and smoke. The story spread through the country, and on the next anniversary many more were on hand, watching for "the fire ship." Sure enough, it appeared again, and it is legend to this day that many persons now living have witnessed the appearance of the ghost ship, and have seen it disappear in flame."
Canada's Mysterious Maritimes.
Phantom Ship
At Nova Scotia's Mahone Bay, I investigated the twin riddles of the Teazer Light and the Oak Island "Money Pit." (The latter, one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries, will be treated in a later column.)
The Teazer Light is an example of "ghost lights" or "luminous phenomena" (see Corliss 1995), in this case the reputed appearance of a phantom ship in flames. On June 26, 1813, the Young Teazer, a privateer's vessel, was cornered in the bay by British warships. Realizing they were doomed to capture and hanging, the pirates' commander had the ship set ablaze, whereupon--at least according to legend--all perished (Blackman 1998). Soon after, however, came eyewitness reports that the craft had returned as a fiery spectral ship. It has almost always been observed on foggy nights, according to marina operator (and private investigator) Jim Harvey (1999), especially when such nights occur "within three days of a full moon" (Colombo 1988, 32).
In the late evening of July 1 (approximately three days after the full moon) I began a vigil for the Teazer Light, lasting from about 11:00 P.M. until 1:00 A.M. Unfortunately the phantom ship did not appear, although that was not surprising given that one of the last reported sightings was in 1935 (Colombo 1988). I wondered if the diminishing of apparition reports might be due, at least in part, to encroaching civilization, with its accompanying increase in light pollution (from homes, marinas, etc.) obscuring the phenomenon.
In researching the Teazer Light I came across the revealing account of a local man who had seen the fiery ship with some friends. They shook their heads in wonderment, then went indoors for about fifteen minutes. When they came out again, ". . . [T]here, in exactly the same place, the moon was coming up. It was at the full, and they knew its location by its relation to Tancook Island." The man appreciated the sequence of events: "It struck him then that there must have been a bank of fog in front of the moon as it first came over the horizon that caused it to appear like a ship on fire, and he now thinks this is what the Mahone Bay people have been seeing all these years. If the fog had not cleared away that night he would always have thought, like all the other people, that he had seen the Teazer" (Creighton 1957).
At Nova Scotia's Mahone Bay, I investigated the twin riddles of the Teazer Light and the Oak Island "Money Pit." (The latter, one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries, will be treated in a later column.)
The Teazer Light is an example of "ghost lights" or "luminous phenomena" (see Corliss 1995), in this case the reputed appearance of a phantom ship in flames. On June 26, 1813, the Young Teazer, a privateer's vessel, was cornered in the bay by British warships. Realizing they were doomed to capture and hanging, the pirates' commander had the ship set ablaze, whereupon--at least according to legend--all perished (Blackman 1998). Soon after, however, came eyewitness reports that the craft had returned as a fiery spectral ship. It has almost always been observed on foggy nights, according to marina operator (and private investigator) Jim Harvey (1999), especially when such nights occur "within three days of a full moon" (Colombo 1988, 32).
In the late evening of July 1 (approximately three days after the full moon) I began a vigil for the Teazer Light, lasting from about 11:00 P.M. until 1:00 A.M. Unfortunately the phantom ship did not appear, although that was not surprising given that one of the last reported sightings was in 1935 (Colombo 1988). I wondered if the diminishing of apparition reports might be due, at least in part, to encroaching civilization, with its accompanying increase in light pollution (from homes, marinas, etc.) obscuring the phenomenon.
In researching the Teazer Light I came across the revealing account of a local man who had seen the fiery ship with some friends. They shook their heads in wonderment, then went indoors for about fifteen minutes. When they came out again, ". . . [T]here, in exactly the same place, the moon was coming up. It was at the full, and they knew its location by its relation to Tancook Island." The man appreciated the sequence of events: "It struck him then that there must have been a bank of fog in front of the moon as it first came over the horizon that caused it to appear like a ship on fire, and he now thinks this is what the Mahone Bay people have been seeing all these years. If the fog had not cleared away that night he would always have thought, like all the other people, that he had seen the Teazer" (Creighton 1957).
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Ghosts in the Rigging,Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia
Excerpt from HAUNTED CANADAby Pat Hancock
Ghosts in the RiggingMahone Bay, Nova Scotia
Privateering was a dangerous way to make a living, but it could also be a quick way to make a fortune. When countries were at war, their governments would give permission to some private ship owners to attack enemy merchant ships and claim any loot they found for themselves. Doing this allowed the navy to spend more time fighting sea battles, and it robbed the enemy of needed supplies carried by the merchant ships.
During the War of 1812 several American privateers chased down British ships sailing along the southeastern coast of Nova Scotia. But on June 27, 1813, one of those American ships, the Young Teazer, became the hunted instead of the hunter.
A British navy warship chased the Young Teazer into Mahone Bay west of Halifax. A British deserter aboard the Young Teazer, realizing that his ship was trapped and about to be boarded by British officers, made a desperate move. Knowing that if they found him he'd be hanged, he threw a lit torch into the ship's supply of gunpowder.
The fiery explosion that followed blew apart the Young Teazer and killed many of the crew. Some of the sailors were buried in the nearby town of Chester, and parts of the ship not destroyed by fire were hauled ashore to be used as building materials.
About a year later, a ghost ship made its first of many appearances near Chester in Mahone Bay. Ever since then, hundreds of people have seen a burning ship out on the bay. Some of them were in their own boats when the ship appeared out of nowhere. At times it seemed to be heading right for them, and they were terrified that it was going to run them down. At the last second, it vanished into thin air. Sometimes it passes so close to the shore that people on the beach can see the sailors up in the rigging. In most cases the ship appears to be on fire, which is why so many people believe it is the ghost of the Young Teazer. Over the years, some people have even reported hearing the tortured cries of the men who have been trying to escape the burning ship for more than a century. From Haunted Canada, copyright © 2003 by Pat Hancock. All rights reserved.
Ghosts in the RiggingMahone Bay, Nova Scotia
Privateering was a dangerous way to make a living, but it could also be a quick way to make a fortune. When countries were at war, their governments would give permission to some private ship owners to attack enemy merchant ships and claim any loot they found for themselves. Doing this allowed the navy to spend more time fighting sea battles, and it robbed the enemy of needed supplies carried by the merchant ships.
During the War of 1812 several American privateers chased down British ships sailing along the southeastern coast of Nova Scotia. But on June 27, 1813, one of those American ships, the Young Teazer, became the hunted instead of the hunter.
A British navy warship chased the Young Teazer into Mahone Bay west of Halifax. A British deserter aboard the Young Teazer, realizing that his ship was trapped and about to be boarded by British officers, made a desperate move. Knowing that if they found him he'd be hanged, he threw a lit torch into the ship's supply of gunpowder.
The fiery explosion that followed blew apart the Young Teazer and killed many of the crew. Some of the sailors were buried in the nearby town of Chester, and parts of the ship not destroyed by fire were hauled ashore to be used as building materials.
About a year later, a ghost ship made its first of many appearances near Chester in Mahone Bay. Ever since then, hundreds of people have seen a burning ship out on the bay. Some of them were in their own boats when the ship appeared out of nowhere. At times it seemed to be heading right for them, and they were terrified that it was going to run them down. At the last second, it vanished into thin air. Sometimes it passes so close to the shore that people on the beach can see the sailors up in the rigging. In most cases the ship appears to be on fire, which is why so many people believe it is the ghost of the Young Teazer. Over the years, some people have even reported hearing the tortured cries of the men who have been trying to escape the burning ship for more than a century. From Haunted Canada, copyright © 2003 by Pat Hancock. All rights reserved.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
The Young Teazer
"The Young Teazer was a specially-built privateer, hailing from New York; schooner-rigged, sharp, and seaworthy; black-hulled, coppered43 to the bends to keep her clean of sea-growths and barnacles and make her slip through the water. She had a carved alligator, with gaping jaws, for a figurehead. She was large, for her class -- 124 tons measurement, and about seventy-five feet in length; but she was so fine lined that her crew could drive her at a rate of five knots in smooth water, when there was no wind, with her sixteen long sweeps. It was this uncanny ability to move about while other vessels stood stock still or drifted astern in the calms which accounted for her success."44 On June 27th, 1813, the Sir John Sherbrooke, a privateer which we dealt with earlier, was pursuing the Young Teazer not far from the mouth of Halifax Harbour. During the chase, the Teazer had the misfortune to fall in with a British naval ship and was chased into Mahone Bay. The British warship was the 74-gun La Hogue. The wind dropped and the Teazer was obliged to get out her sweeps. La Hogue got her small boats over her sides and they pulled her, in shifts, ever closer to the Teazer. There then occurred a violent explosion which blew the Young Teazer out of the water. Of her thirty-six crew, only seven lived.45 It seems that one of the crew thought that instant death was better than being captured by the British. He threw a burning coal into the powder magazine.46
"At length the stern settled on the bottom, in water twenty five feet deep, but the alligator jaws still gaped defiantly above the tide."47 The Teazer, though in pieces throughout, can yet be found in the picturesque village of Chester.
"The remains of the Teazer was [were] towed into Chester Bay the next day and beached on what is now Meisner's Island. The hull was sold and was used for the foundation of what is now the Rope Loft Restaurant. Part of her keelson was used to make the wooden cross that can be found in St. Stephen's Church, Chester."
"At length the stern settled on the bottom, in water twenty five feet deep, but the alligator jaws still gaped defiantly above the tide."47 The Teazer, though in pieces throughout, can yet be found in the picturesque village of Chester.
"The remains of the Teazer was [were] towed into Chester Bay the next day and beached on what is now Meisner's Island. The hull was sold and was used for the foundation of what is now the Rope Loft Restaurant. Part of her keelson was used to make the wooden cross that can be found in St. Stephen's Church, Chester."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)