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).
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