Meerkat Prompts: Spring-heeled Jack

Time for something of a unique Victorian legend. Everyone has heard of Jack the Ripper, but I am willing to bet that not as many of you are aware of Spring-heeled Jack. The origins date to 1803, and sightings of the Hammersmith Ghost (which in itself triggered important legal consequences regarding self-defense laws, but that’s a story for a different time), whereby people believed they had seen a spirit that jumped over houses. Sightings of Jack were first reported in London, in 1837, though the very first report reads more like a case of an assault. A servant girl called Mary Stevens was heading home one evening, when she was accosted by a strange figure in Clapham Common. This figure held her in a tight grip, kissed her, and ripped at her clothes, allegedly with claws. According to Miss Stevens, his hands were as cold as a corpse. Mary screamed, which scared the figure off, but search parties could find no sign of him.
The next day, a figure more befitting the legend leapt in front of a carriage, causing it to lose control, severely injuring the coachman. Witnesses reported the figure leapt over a 9 foot tall wall, whilst cackling with high-pitched laughter. Word of this strange individual spread, and the term Spring-heeled Jack was coined in the media. Before long, reports were coming in from across London, with stories of a ghost or devil terrifying servant girls, and stories also came in from the south coast, all the way down in Brighton, though there were some substantial differences to the London cases. The authorities were unconvinced that anything supernatural was going on, but were equally unable to locate and apprehend Spring-Heeled Jack.
Two of the highest-profile cases both happened in February 1938. The case of Jane Alsop, in the 19th, invoked many frightening elements. A figure masquerading as a police officer knocked on the door of her father’s house, lured her outside under the pretense of being an officer, and upon being revealed by candlelight, reportedly threw off his cloak, and belched blue and white flame, whilst his eyes burned red. Jack was also said to wear some form of helmet, and he tore at Jane’s clothes with metallic claws. Jack was scared off by one of Jane’s sisters.
The case of Lucy Scales also involved a figure that spat fire. She had been walking home through Limehouse with her sister when they spotted someone wearing a cloak, stood in the angle of a passage. This individual belched fire into Lucy’s face, and she dropped to the ground, gripped by a violent fit that lasted for hours. Police investigated, and there was even an arrest, but it proved to be a dead end.
Cases were reported in other parts of the country. There were sightings of Jack in 1843 in Northamptonshire. There were some in East Anglia. These sightings ebbed away for a time, but reports of Jack surged in the early 1870s, and there was even a report from a soldier at a base in Aldershot, which included an account of the soldier shooting at a peculiar figure who had refused to halt when he approached the soldier. This apparition reportedly bounded away at astonishing speed. In 1877 he was seen in Lincolnshire, where he was once again fired upon without any effect, and once again leapt away. Towards the end of the 19th Century he was spotted in Liverpool. It seems his final appearance was in the region, in 1904.
There have been many theories about who – or what – Spring-heeled Jack really was. It has been suggested he was actually a collection of individuals bent on causing trouble. Some have theorised he was an Irish nobleman, with malignant intent towards women and police, owing to past experiences. The persistence of the stories implies copycats, especially considering the reports lasted for more than half a century and across England. It has also been said that mass hysteria might have played a role in sensationalising accounts of Jack.
Other, more outlandish ideas include the possibility that Jack was a demon, or even an alien! Of course, seeing that evidence for Jack’s true nature is virtually impossible to come by, can we rule out the idea of an extraterrestrial visitor?! The case remains a unique mystery, and will likely forever remain a mystery.