Spring Heeled Jack: The Demon Terror of London (Victorian Folklore Explained)

the year is 1837 the streets of London are cramped and overcrowded disease and sickness runs rampant as both human and vermin fight for the space just to exist the sky is covered by thick layers of small the air is hard to breathe and everywhere you turn there are new factories being built filled with new machinery to drive us forward into this new Victorian era an era that will improve the lives of everyone both rich and poor but such a transformation does not come without a cost if you somehow manage to survive the long hours hazardous work environments and polluted air there are tales of something else to be wary of something that clamors from rooftop to rooftop under the cover of darkness those unfortunate enough to have seen him describe a man who can leap across buildings and over walls a monster with metal claws glowing red eyes and the ability to breathe fire some called him the devil but even the devil has a name and in this case that name is spring-heeled jack [Music] [Music] the Industrial Revolution marks one of the biggest changes in British and modern world history processes that were once done by hand were now done by machine the rise of a mechanized factory system along with water and steam power led to Britain becoming the world's leading commercial nation in the 18th century this however changed the entire landscape of the country the population had more than tripled railroads and steam-powered locomotives now connected the country like never before allowing more and more people to flock to these industrialized cities in search of a better life this created new larger communities that consisted of people from all over the country when you bring so many new people together with a different set of beliefs experiences and superstitions you end up with new stories new traditions and new tales of folklore one of the most recognized stories to emerge from this Victorian era is the tale of spring-heeled Jack the terror of London there is some debate as to when this mysterious figure first appeared unofficially the first alleged encounter occurred in October 1837 the account comes from a servant girl named Mary Stevens [Music] [Music] one evening on her way home after visiting her parents Mary passed through a park known as Clapham Common located in South London all of a sudden a shadowy figure let town of a dark alley and grabbed hold of Mary he tore her clothing with his metal claws and began to touch her exposed flesh she described his touch as cold and clammy similar to that of a corpse as he began to kiss her face she screamed out for help the attacker soon fled the scene as the locals came to examine the commotion they searched the park in the surrounding streets for hours but the man in question was nowhere to be found and Mary's claims could never be substantiated the very next day a similar figure was reported once again near the home of Mary Stevens but this time there was a new victim the shadowy figure left out in front of an oncoming carriage causing the driver to swerve and lose control resulting in him crashing and being severely injured those who claimed to have witnessed the event say they saw the man escape by jumping over a nine-foot wall laughing and babbling to himself as he fled the scene less than four months after the first sightings the Lord Mayor of London officially recognized a complaint letter in January of 1838 regarding this unnamed troublemaker the letter came from a resident of Peckham and warned of a man visiting villages near London dressed in several different disguises it describes him as going from door to door preying on women when no men were home this concerned resident also stated that it was rather strange the newspapers had ignored these stories and that it may have been because they were coerced into silence to cover up these strange occurrences as expected the mayor remained fairly skeptical but members of this meeting confirmed that servant girls from kensington hammer Smith and other boroughs situated around London also told stories of this demon the next day as a crowds gathered demanding to know what was going on the mayor showed them a stack of letters from all around London claiming similar vile pranks had taken place now unsure what to make from these varying accounts he ordered the police to search for a man in bare skin hoping that the reward offered would be enough to catch whoever was responsible these stories spread quickly and both the media and the people needed a name for this individual some say the first name given was steel jack which referred to his claws and armoured attire but the name more commonly used was spring he would Jack he quickly became associated with jumping out in front of carriages and attacking women just as described in the first two stories it didn't take long before Jack became an urban legend the leaping boogey man who could be anywhere at any time nobody was safe at a time when many simply couldn't read or write oral storytelling still played a large part and the simplicity of spring-heeled Jack's story only made him more terrifying there were very few backstories offered and his motivations were unknown children were told not to misbehave otherwise Jack would leap into their window and take them away there is a part of many of us that just loves a good scare and what could be scarier than a monster that could be waiting around every corner hiding in every dark crevice the original Victorian jump-scare if you were lucky enough to be able to read Jack made numerous appearances in the penny dreadful for those unfamiliar the penny dreadful were short stories that often featured works of horror or the supernatural which were published every week and only cost a penny hence the name the price and short nature of these stories meant they could easily be produced in mass helping spread this popular culture and capture the imaginations of the youth less than three weeks after the Mayor of London acknowledged these stories the 19th and 28th of February saw the two highest profile encounters with good old Jack the Otto case and the scales case Jane also gave one of the most harrowing accounts of spring-heeled Jack's a date on the night of February 19th 1838 Jane answered the door of her father's house she was greeted by a man dressed as a police officer instructed her to bring a light and follow him as they had just gone Spring Hill Jack near Bonnie Jane did as she was instructed and followed the man outside with a candle however when she handed him the light he threw his cloak to the ground and revealed himself Jane described it as a most hideous and frightful appearance his eyes resembled balls of fire and he was vomiting white and blue flames from his mouth he also wore a large helmet and his clothing was tight-fitting which Jane described as resembling white oil skin or skin being a waterproof garment commonly worn by sailors and fishermen Jane shocked by the man's appearance stood there powerlessly as he grabbed hold of her and began to tear her gown with his metallic claws after a brief tussle she was able to break free and make her way back to the house screaming for help along the way before reaching the steps of her front door the man once again grabbed a hold of her this time chlorine and tearing at her arms and neck one of her sisters hearing the screams came to Jane's rescue and the man fled upon seeing her a few weeks after this attack a man by the name of Thomas Milbank came forward claiming that he was in fact spring-heeled Jack in a local pub the man was never convicted because Jane was adamant her attacker could breathe fire and to no one's surprise mr. Milbank was pretty clear that he could do no such thing it's quite difficult to take Thomas Milbank's confessions seriously because if he wasn't crazy or seeking Fame he did confess in a pub most likely whilst very intoxicated just nine days after the attack on Jane or Saab a Miss Lucy scales and her sister were walking home one evening when they came across a man dressed in a cloak in a dark alley when passing by the man turned to Lucy opening his mouth and unleashing a violent spurt of blue flames into her face losing her sight she fell to the ground and woke up later in her home where she would continue to have violent fits as a result of the attack it was Lucy's brother who had heard his sister screams just after they left his home when he arrived in the alley he saw his sister holding Lucy down as she violently convulsed when describing this attacker to the police both miss scales and her sister described him as tall thin and gentlemanlike unlike the case of Jane also the man said nothing and never tried to lay his hands on her he also never escaped by jumping over any walls or fences he merely walked away despite several rounds of questioning and numerous suspects the man was never apprehended after these alleged encounters spring-heeled jack appeared in countless newspapers and had established himself as one of the most prominent figures of folklore from the Victorian era the question everyone had on their mind was who or what was this mysterious man or entity he became a popular figure for the penny dreadful and his story spread quickly he could even be seen in more common Street Theatre becoming a substitute for the devil in Punch and Judy shows now trying to nail down Jack's appearance with so many conflicting accounts isn't easy the earliest accounts described him as a shadowy ghost it's likely Jack himself emerge from the ghost stories of the early 19th century even in his final sightings which ventured outside of London two cities further north such as Sheffield and Liverpool he was referred to as a ghost just before the end of the 19th century you also have accounts that say he was a man dressed in bearskin along with the popular notion that he was in fact the devil another popular description that later emerged is that of a cloaked gentleman dressed rather oddly whether that was in a skin-tight wetsuit metallic armor or even just the fancy dress that looks like a weird Victorian Batman who you certainly wouldn't want around children is up to you with all the history around the legend of spring-heeled Jack there were many skeptics who tried to explain how this story may have started one explanation given is that of a crazy man who used to run across rooftops claiming he was being chased by the devil laughing to himself and spouting incoherent nonsense others thought Jack was more than just one man and the entire thing was an elaborate prank although the people who described their encounters didn't sound like they were having a fun time the journalist Peter Haining wrote a piece about Jack possibly being an irish nobleman by the name of Lord Henry Beresford he believed the Lord's drunken disorderly behavior coupled with his previous negative experiences with women were the main reasons they were his primary victims this however remained an unsubstantiated rumor I think the most reasonable explanation comes back to every period of time needing some kind of boogeyman and Springhill Jack was a manifestation of the fears many felt during the Industrial Revolution it was a time of rapid change and uncertainty we see this in Jack's mysterious nature no one truly knows what he looks like and there is always the constant fear of not knowing if you were next his metal claws represented the rise of mechanized factories and his fire-breathing mouth mirrored the everburn in furnaces it's also not a stretch to say Jack may have represented some of the fears that women felt during this period those who came from small quaint villages may have had quite the culture shock in the bustling streets of London especially in those more unsavory areas where the treatment of women was even worse like many tales of folklore and fiction sometimes they're created to allow us to escape reality as dark as it may seem may be tales of a shadowy gentleman with metal claws and the furnace mouth who could leap across buildings and avoid the authorities were just less awful than the reality of working in a factory under terrible conditions maybe that sense of mystery fantasy and fear offered some excitement at a time which would have been quite bleak from anyone who wasn't part of the ruling class he may not have been a real monster or ghost but maybe spring-heeled Jack was the boogeyman the Victorians needed either way it makes for an interesting story let me know what you think if you have enjoyed this video and you'd like to see me continue making content with animations original soundtracks and artwork then you can support 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