NEIL ARNOLD'S NEW BOOK

NEIL ARNOLD: Big Cat Evidence

BIG CAT EVIDENCE - Over the last couple of weeks it's been interesting to note how many newspapers across England - some less reliable than others (if there is such a thing in the world of tabloids!) - have published news of an alleged 'big cat' kill in Gloucestershire. It's always positive news when a 'kill' makes the papers in some sense as it makes the public - and certainly sceptics - aware that there is evidence to suggest that large, exotic cats roam the UK.

However, this sort of evidence is hardly headline news; in fact it's extremely common. Every week evidence comes to light regarding 'big cat' activity in the southeast of England such as kills, scat etc. See images:

1) fox killed by black leopard,

2) fox stripped by female black leopard,

3) deer carcass found in a tree,

4) deer killed by black leopard,

5) leopard scat full of deer fur,
6) sheep kill.

Hardly ground-breaking news. If the evidence proves that such prey have been taken by a large cat, I don't really see this making a great impact, sadly, as previously hair samples, some excellent photos, kills and even felid bodies have turned up, but it generally dies down after a while. Here's hoping that the abundant evidence proves without a shadow of a doubt that leopard, puma and lynx are roaming Britain, but sadly there will always be those who do not believe such reports. Even if a 'big cat' body turns up - which I hope it doesn't to some extent - I'm sure the sceptical view will be that it's a hoax or a zoo escapee.

NEIL ON THE SUBJECT OF HIS NEW BOOK

MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: LONDON
A Book By Neil Arnold

PRESS RELEASE

Roll up, roll up! For the monster mystery tour, step right this way. Read all about it, read all about it, panic on the streets of London!

For many centuries the streets, sewer systems, skies, waters, and darkest corners of the capital have been inhabited by strange creatures. Some folklore, some fact.

MYSTERY ANIMALS OF…LONDON, a new, richly illustrated, fully indexed 385-page volume written by full-time monster hunter Neil Arnold, published by CFZ Press, is a unique surreal safari through the concrete jungle of London, which explores a menagerie of the strange, creatures cast from the Ark, half-hinted and yet persistent in their presence.

Recoil in horror at tales concerning elusive ‘big cats’ on the prowl through London’s leafy suburbs, with yarns pertaining to the ‘beast of Sydenham’, the lioness of Winchmore Hill, the Edgware tiger, and the classic Surrey puma - a long-lasting mystery which Neil proves may well have its origins centuries previous to the 1960s flap which made national headlines.

And then there are the abominable animals said to lurk in the depths of the River Thames and other London rivers, ponds and lakes, from tales of alligators, crocodiles, piranha, snapping turtles and even sharks, to grim legends of monster rats, slithering snakes and serpents.

And don’t forget the aerial oddities, with weird tales of giant birds in the skies over London – eagles, parakeets and monstrous griffins and dragons.

MYSTERY ANIMALS OF…LONDON looks at creaky old tales of animals escaping from private menageries, zoo parks and circuses. And then there are the monsters of the mind, for instance, the case of Hampstead’s phantom ape, the spectral bears of Chelsea, frothing hellhounds at Newgate, a ghostly chicken…yes, you read it correct! And who could forget the ripping yarns pertaining to mermaids, Spring-Heeled Jack, glowing lions, flying jellyfish, birds of death, the London Underground man-beast, the Stratford Goatman, fairies, hellish horses and the case of the Highgate ‘vampire’.

An essential read on a foggy night for any monster-hunter, historian, paranormal enthusiast or general fan of the macabre and the mysterious.

---

Priced £15.00 from Amazon and all good book shops, MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: LONDON, where the wild things are…dare you venture forth on this expedition of the extraordinary and lift the lid on London’s ludicrous and most devilish denizens ?

ISBN 978-1-905723-71-3

NEIL ARNOLD: BLACK CAT WHITE HOUSE

‘Spooks In White House Recall Green-Eyed Kitty’, ‘Ghost Sounds Had Margaret Worried; Not So Ike, Mamie’. Just two confusing headlines pertaining (would you believe it?) to the same strange ghost story in connection to a phantom cat at Washington’s White house.

Several newspapers; such as the Spokane Daily Chronicle, the Eugene Register Guard and the Williamson Daily News; all reported on the ghost story. The Williamson Daily News was the first to report on the tale on June 13th 1955 under the headline, ‘Nichols Says: Black Cat Or Some Ghost Definitely Was On The Prowl In Statuary Hall’. The article, by Harman W. Nichols, a United Press Staff Correspondent, stated: ‘Washington – Margaret Truman claims that she heard ghost sounds around the White House when her pappy was president. Our present leader, Mr Eisenhower, claims she’s a sound sleeper and that he and Mamie don’t pay any attention to noises in the dark of night.

All of that sent me to the library to look up the business of spook's around the nation’s capital. Seems that back here in the 1920s, a ghost or something, showed up and scared the wits out of a Capitol floor-scrubber. This fellow finally got so worked up that he threw in his broom, disappeared and hasn’t been seen since. According to some fine research done by an unknown reporter for the National Tribune, on Sept. 8, 1927, a black cat, or some other form of ghost was on the prowl nightly in Statuary Hall – where live the marble and bronze likenesses of the great in our history. According to the reporter, who made a thorough study of the problem, the cat was black, as, indeed, all cats are in the dark of night. The fellow who wrote the story said that the cat was all over the place every night. Frightening the daylights, or nightlights, out of night caretakers. Before the floor-washer disappeared, the reporter got hold of the man. The cat, although he never saw her, must have been “big as a big tiger” on account of she flashed green eyes “as big as saucers” when she went running around statues of the likes of Uriah M. Rose of Alabama, the jurist, writer and world traveller. Not to mention Gen. James Shields, the only man who ever served in the Senate from three states.

The cat, and her offspring, according to the latest reports, also became quite fond of Gen. Lew Wallace, the soldier, statesman, and lawyer. Maybe the pussy had read, or heard about the wonderful tribute paid to the general Jan 11, 1910, be Sen. Albert J. Beveridge, of Indiana, from whence the general sprang. “General Lew Wallace loved liberty for all men and fought for it.”
Mayhap the cat, dearly loved liberty too, and was looking for a way out of the gloomy hall of the immortals which looks so eerie in the after hours. Samuel Adams, according to the old-time chroniclers, also was a favourite haunt of the kitty and her tribe. How could she and her young help but be impressed by the likeness of a man who signed the Declaration, and was the press agent, you might say, for what happened at the Boston Tea Party ? After all, Sam was known as the “father of the American Revolution”, and it says so right there under his statue.

Any smart cat also couldn’t help but cuddle to the likeness of Daniel Webster, “an expounder of the Constitution.” It is said that old Dan had a bunch of cats in his back yard and fed them catnip and other feline delicacies by the hour.

But, cats or ghosts I’ll go along with old Charles Anderson Dana, who once said: “I don’t believe in ghosts, but I’ve been afraid of them all my life.”

CFZ PEOPLE: Neil Arnold

Happy Birthday mate!

NEIL REVIEWS NICK REDFERN'S NEW BOOK

Some of you may wonder why on earth I'm reviewing a book about MIBs - those mysterious, UFO-related Men In Black, on this website. Well, for one, the author, Nick Redfern, is a good friend of mine, and secondly, a new book by Mr Redfern, is ALWAYS something to look forward to. However, there is also a third reason for mentioning this book - because although Nick is a dab hand at shedding new light on the classic encounters with the mysterious men, he even manages to find reports of bizarre monsters and their sinister relations to those black-suited gents.

Read on..

NEIL ARNOLD: Is this an exotic cat caught on film?

Here's a blog post taken from my website, http://kentbigcats.blogspot.com/2011/06/kent-messenger-article-on-big-cat.html

I have been investigating the sighting of a large black cat in rural Maidstone. The witness captured a large cat on film after setting up a trigger camera in her back garden this year. She went to a few 'researchers' with the photo and her photo was ridiculed. However, the cat in the photo (which the newspaper have used - I have a better quality image of it) is not what it seems! Some believe it is a feral cat, possibly. Some have stated it's a sub-adult black leopard. Others just believe it's a domestic cat but basically, the fence is three feet in height, and although the animal appears to be sitting on its haunches, it isn't, because there is nothing there for it to sit on - no undergrowth, no flower pot etc. I believe the animal is stretching up the fence and has its eye on the pet bird of the witness, which is in a cage on the right (out of picture). The tulip fence suggests that the animal is three feet in length.



I'd be inetrested to see what people think.
Cheers
Neil

NEIL ARNOLD ON A KENTISH NARWHAL

The day a narwhal washed up in Kent

http://kentmonsters.blogspot.com/2011/06/day-narwhal-washed-up-in-kent.html

NEIL ARNOLD: O’Donnell’s Demons

One of my favourite authors on the paranormal is Elliot O’Donnell. His fantastic books include Dangerous Ghosts, Haunted Britain, and Ghosts With A Purpose. O’Donnell wrote with creepy atmosphere, speaking of old, unique cases, some concerning himself. From haunted pools and ghostly heads to malevolent spooks, O’Donnell has always had a way of captivating the reader, and some of his strangest tales have concerned stories of alleged encounters with what appear to be monsters. Such monsters, of a clearly spectral nature, have been dubbed by researcher Jonathan Downes as ‘zooform phenomena.' Such beasts are clearly not cryptids – i.e. undiscovered creatures that could exist – but are of a more complex nature, either as demonic critters or manifestations connected to the human psyche in some obscure, as yet to be investigated way.

For example, in his excellent Dangerous Ghosts volume, O’Donnell, under the segment ‘Homicidal Ghosts’ mentions a story concerning a Mr John Luck. O’Donnell takes the story from two old works, being A Strange And True Relation Of One Mr John Luck and Legends & Traditions Of Huntingdonshire, both I assume by W.H.B. Saunders in 1662. O’Donnell goes on to mention the following: ‘(Mr John Luck), a farmer from Raveley, set out on horseback one morning to the annual fair at Whittlesea. On the way he met a friend, with whom he had a drink at a wayside inn. After drinking somewhat heavily Mr Luck became very merry, and perceiving that his friend was getting restless and desirous of continuing on his way to the fair, he said, “Let the devil take him who goeth out of this house today.”

The more he drank, the merrier he grew. Forgetful of his rash saying, he called for his horse and set out for the fair. The fresh air seemed to have a sobering effect, for he had not travelled very far before he remembered what he had said. He was naturally superstitious and became so perturbed that he lost his bearings. He was endeavouring to find the way home – it was getting dusk and far too late to go to the fair – when he espied “two grim creatures before him in the likeness of griffins”.

They handled him roughly, took him up in the air, stripped him, and then dropped him, a sad spectacle, all gory, in a farm yard just outside the town of Doddington. There he was found lying upon some harrows. He was picked up and carried to a house, which belonged to a neighbouring gentleman. When he had recovered sufficiently to talk, he related what had happened to him. Before long he “grew into a frenzy”, so desperate that the inmates of the house were afraid to stay in the room with him. Convinced that Luck was under evil influences, they sent for the clergyman of the town. No sooner had the clergyman entered the house than Luck, howling like a demon, rushed at him and would have torn him to pieces, had not the servants of the house come to his rescue. They succeeded with great difficulty in overcoming Luck and tying him to the bed. No one was allowed to enter his room, the door of which was locked.’

O’ Donnell goes on to describe how Mr Luck, the next morning, was found dead in his bed. His body a crooked, broken mess, black with bruises, neck snapped, and tongue hanging from his chasm of a mouth. His face an expression of utmost dread. Many believed that the griffin monsters were sent by Satan and had succeeded in their quest.

In the same segment of the book O’Donnell mentions a case in the 1800s concerning an American chap who, whilst asleep in a boarding house, awoke to find strange puncture marks on his body, believed to have been made by a vampyric wraith, and also spoke of a tall, green, luminous being with long limbs and no face but two glittering eyes. This was seen by his friend Trench who lived in a remote cabin in forest in the Far West of the country. Another bizarre entity Elliot mentions also comes from the United States in the area of what is known as Crater Lake. This area was often, according to O’Donnell, frequented by the Indians but hardly anyone else. One night, Elliot mentions, he was on horseback in the area when he came to a solitary tree. Upon seeing the tree the horse began to rear up. ‘There was something very sinister in the appearance of the tree. It was quite naked and looked as if it had been blasted.’

Upon speaking to his friend Trench, O’Donnell heard of a curious story concerning the tree. “I know the tree”, Trench said. “No animal will go near it. It is called the Tree of Death because so many people have been found dead under it. The Indians say it is haunted by a spirit with the trunk of a woman and the head of a coyote, that lures people to the tree and either induces them to commit suicide or murders them.”

Another bizarre zooform creature O’Donnell writes of is mentioned in the section ‘Very Unusual Haunting’ and mentions an old book called Popular Superstitions by H. Mayo concerning the case of a man who one night was confronted by the spirit of a young boy in his room. Realising the boy was a spectre the man struck at the figure but to no effect. The phantom then attacked the man, twisting his arm violently. For the next four months the ghost would visit the man but on the last night of its eerie visitation appeared not as a young boy but as a tall, brown figure with the head of an owl. A ghastly set of ghosts indeed!

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NEIL ARNOLD: Encounter With The Jabberwocky Of Maryland

Old newspaper archives offer up some of the most intriguing articles. Discovering obscure snippets and esoteric articles can be something akin to digging up the old bones of a long forgotten dinosaur. For several centuries the remote Pine Barrens of New Jersey in the United States have harboured a monstrous legend known to thousands as the Jersey Devil. This beast has evaded capture and become potent in folklore. Many have described this monster has being similar to a small dragon, with the body of a deer, the head of a horse and small leathery wings. The critter is said to mark its presence by a series of shrieks and has been blamed for attacks on livestock. Interestingly, a similar monster was said to have roamed Maryland during the nineteenth century. The following article I have reproduced in full so that it can be fully appreciated for drama and atmosphere. (The article was also accompanied by two rough sketches of the beast, which have not been included here)

The Morning Herald of April 29th 1887: ‘St Mary’s Jabberwock – The Terrible Monster That Inhabits Southern Maryland – Havoc Follows His Track.

Leonardtown, Md, April 23 – A number of citizens of this country have had posters printed and nailed on fences and trees along the county roads offering a reward of $50 for the capture or killing of the Jabberwock, and giving the picture of the monster, which was furnished them by drawings made by your correspondent.

PERSONS WHO SAW THE JABBERWOCK

The depredations of the monster, since my last letter, in the neighbourhood of Piney Point Chaptico Run still keep up the excitement among our citizens. Thomas Fenwick, Peter Rankin, Ralph Faxwell, Arthur Coombs and your correspondent have all seen it. Accounts continue to come in of the monsters’ visits to our citizen’s farms in the neighbourhood of St Clement’s Bay and Meadey’s Neck, but as the reports are not confirmed I will not mention them. After the failure of the party headed by Chris Wallace to kill the Jabberwock in the timber on the Lawrence farm your correspondent organised a party to hunt the monster down. The party consisted of Samuel Shanks, Peter Blackstone, Peter Rankin, Alvord Thomas, Ralph Faxwell, Cyrus Loker, and Colonel McCauley Herbert – all well known and determined men.

Early on Saturday morning, after failing for a day and night to come up with the beast, we trailed it to the farm of Tom Fenwick, near Piney Point. Mr Fenwick told us he had seen it about sundown the day before and caught it in the act of tearing down his hen-house, which is within short distance of his dwelling. Mr Fenwick was alone with his little daughter, a child of about four years, and he was so alarmed at the sight of the monster he was afraid to leave the little one in the house and attack it. He had a good look at it and described the Jabberwock as having a pair of flappers or wings. He also said its tail was long and armed at the end with a solid substance. He spoke of its big head and horns, of its claws and of its hind feet, which are cloven.

After destroying the hen-house and killing more than a dozen chickens the Jabberwock tried to climb the trees on which the turkeys were roosting. It would rear up on its hind legs and hang by its claws like a cat, keeping up a terrible bellowing that drove the stock at a dead run all over the farm. In their flight the horses jumped fences and even the cows leaped over obstacles that under other circumstances they could not have passed. The turkeys did not fly, but sat on the limbs as if frozen with fear. The sheep ran bleating to the house and took shelter on the back porch. The Jabberwock then turned and ran after the cows, Mr Fenwick says, if it were lame, or as if its fore legs were shorter than the hind ones, which is a fact. He did not follow it for the reason stated, but heard it bellowing through the night. Our party drove into the barn what was left of Mr Fenwick’s stock. A lamb, two calves a cow and yearling colt had been killed and partially devoured. They were scattered all over the farm, and in every case had been killed by a kick or blow to the head. The bodies were terribly mutilated and the hides of several had been ripped and torn away, showing the marks of teeth and claws in the flesh. There were many tracks through the fields and the lane, and it was the opinion of a majority of those who saw them that the Jabberwock chased and ran down the stock before killing them. Our party separated at Fenwick’s farm, Colonel Herbert and the other hunters going in the direction of St Clement’s Bay, and your correspondent, with Rankin and Faxwell, continuing to search in the neighbourhood of the Fenwick’s.

ON THE TRAIL

About 2 o’clock in the afternoon we struck a fresh trail that led us to a big swamp or marshy place about eight miles east of Fenwick’s. When the road, which is an abandoned one, nears the swamp it becomes very muddy and is grown over with reeds and thick, tall swamp grass, which irritate and make a horse restive if they brush his sides. We got off our horses and tied them and then followed the trail on foot. We could easily trace the course taken by the Jabberwock, for it had beat down the grass in its flight, and several times we noticed where it had made a bed or a resting place. As we neared the swamp our hounds refused to follow the trail, although they are considered well-trained dogs and used to tracking large game. They finally stopped, and when we scolded them turned and slinked off to the place where we had tied our horses, and where we afterward found them in fear.

Your correspondent wore a pair of gum boots, and when the mire and water of the swamp became so deep as to make travelling hard he was able to push ahead of Faxwell and Rankin and to make a sort of path for them to follow. In this way we walked to an opening in the swamp where we came upon the monster. It was half buried in the water, but when it saw us reared upon its hind feet and pawed the air. The Jabberwock was, I judge, fully 100 yards from us, but did not advance until we gave it a volley fro our guns. The fur flew from its sides , and with a great bellow it sprang into the air, and came toward us making great leaps. We waited until it got to within 75 yards of us, when Rankin, who was excited, fired again. The shot struck the Jabberwock on the head, for, with a scream like that of a panther or a mountain lion, it sank its head in the water, kicking out meantime with its hind legs. So long did it stay in that position Faxwell and I gave it another volley. I do not know if it were hit, but it arose again and began to lash the water with its tail and began foaming at the mouth. It bellowed terrifically, and I never saw anything in such a rage.

THE JABBERWOCK RETREATS

As we were on the point of firing again it wheeled and rushed from us through the swamp in a zigzag course, using its tail, which was rolled up to within two or three feet of its rump, as a sort of rudder, although when it was stretched out the tail must have been 12 feet long. I also noticed that when we first saw it the Jabberwock had its tail curled up and laying on its back like the hump of a camel. The water was too deep to continue our search that evening, and on going back for our horses we found that they had broken their halters and ran away, but the dogs were there. It was late when we reached Mr Fenwick’s, and Colonel Herbert’s party not having got back, and important business calling me to this place, I returned on one of Mr Fenwick’s mules. Our horses, so far as I know, have not been heard from, and no news of Colonel Herbert’s search has come to hand.

AS SEEN BY CORRESPONDENT

Its head, horns, fur, claws, hoofs and immense tail are somewhat as they have been before described, but I am in doubt as to whether its wings are pennate (sic) like a bird’s or membranous like a bat’s. They were moved so rapidly during the flight of the Jabberwock I could not see them very plainly.

Arthur Coombs, a young man of respectable connections in this country, was on his way home last Sunday afternoon from a visit to James Gough’s house on Chaptico Run. As he was riding along the road he heard a loud bellowing ahead of him and when he reached Cawood’s pasture on the right hand side of the road he saw the Jabberwock. The monster was lying on its side with its head up, and looking at a young stallion of Mr Cawood that stood in fear before it. The colt was so frightened it could not move, and it was all Arthur could do to hold his own horse.

A JABBERWOCK-STALLION FIGHT

The Jabberwock arose to its feet and walked, or hopped, around the stallion in a circle, the colt turning and following it with his eyes. Sometimes the Jabberwock would dart toward the stallion and then jump back again, but all the time it kept narrowing the circle. When it came within about 35 feet of the stallion the colt seemed to take a new courage, for it raised its head and reared up. The Jabberwock turned and struck with its tail but missed, and then the colt wheeled and kicked at the monster. Then they both started at each other, but when about 20 feet from the colt the Jabberwock turned about and struck the stallion square in the forehead with its tail, and the colt fell to the ground. Then the monster ran up to it and began to gore and tear at it, and the screams of the colt were so fearful, Arthur Coombs says, they could have been heard for miles. The Jabberwock, when it had killed the colt, ran off to the timber, waving its tail, jumping up and down and swinging its head and horns from side to side. Mr Cawood came to town with young Coombs and confirms his story. The colt was valued at $300.

The return of Colonel Herbert’s party is looked for with considerable interest, as that gentleman is a hunter of great experience, having killed game and deadly animals all over the world.’

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NEIL ARNOLD: The Mothman of Hertfordshire

http://zooform.blogspot.com/2011/04/mothman-of-hertfordshire.html

NEIL ARNOLD: Monsters You’ve Never Heard Of (1)

Although classic zooform monsters such as the Jersey Devil and Mothman have embedded themselves deeply in folklore, history suggests that equally absurd critters have, albeit briefly, prowled the globe, yet without recognition.

Bear ? Gorilla ? Horse ?
The Milwaukee Sentinel of 7th August 1949 ran a bizarre story concerning an unfathomable monster said to be prowling East Granby, Connecticut. Under the headline: ‘Galloping Ghost Animal With Claws Has Town Sweating’, the paper stated, ‘Bear ? Gorilla ? Horse ? – Or is it some weird, mysterious animal ? Uneasy residents in the Lake Basile section here asked those questions today after reports got around that there was a strange animal in the neighbourhood. The best description they could give was that it gallops like a horse and has the claws of a bear. No one has seen it. Some have heard it. But there for all to see were its claw-prints on the soft dirt road. Morgan J. Horne was among those who reported hearing it – at 10 minutes past midnight.
“It was nothing like I have ever heard before,” he said. “My wife had a horrified look on her face.”

The animal’s breathing, he reported, was “terrific, almost unbelievable” and a lot heavier than that of a horse.
“When we heard this galloping noise and the heavy breathing, our English sheepdog, Buddy, went crazy,” said Horne. “He almost went through the screen.”

Maybe the animal was two animals. An examination of the prints by Detective Anton M. Nelson of the State police suggested that. He said there were two sets of prints side by side, one large and one small. Sportsman Ronald I. Miller opined: “Must be either a bear or gorilla.”

Green Eyed Devil
Ten years later on March 12th 1959 the Calgary Herald reported ‘Ghost Animals Haunts Suburb Of Montreal’ after a creature with green eyes, ‘…waited silently at a lonely wayside railway station, frightened children, set housewives gossiping, husbands hunting and dogs howling.’

Some believed the animal was a wolf, others a ‘panther’, the less dramatic reports suggested a deer or a dog. The paper commented, ‘A week ago, Mrs George Sloan said she saw a large cat-like animal near a shed in suburban Ste. Anne de Bellevue, on the west end of Montreal Island. That started it.’

Tracks, showing a main pad and four toes were discovered by a posse of hunters and museum creator and zoologist D.J. Cleghorn remarked that the prints were made by a ‘panther’ – in this case a mountain lion. Game warden Edward Kent stated that the animal was simply a deer and that he had “investigated that carefully” despite the fact prints left by a deer are completely unlike those made by a cat. Due to their elusive nature, the cougar (puma, mountain lion) has been given the name ‘ghost cat’ and ‘shadow cat’. During the nineteenth century the animal was dubbed ‘Indian devil’. The cougar, driven out of some parts of the United States is slowly making a comeback, but scepticism is still rife towards their existence hence the fact such animals have become relegated to folklore.

No Longer Ghouls On Horses!
Under the heading, ‘A Recent Ghost’, the New York Times reported on December 8th 1884 a bizarre animal ghost story stating: ‘There is a ghost in Cleveland, Ohio, who rides furiously up and down the street at night clad in appropriate white and mounted on a cow. We need ask for no further information as to the moral character of this particular ghost. It is clear that this ghost resides in a locality where there are no horses or where his local reputation is such that he cannot be trusted with a horse. The number of ghostly horses must be almost incalculable, judging from the number of horses that leave this world every year. That in the other world horses are made happy, as some slight recompense for their sufferings here, no charitable man will doubt. Obviously, then, ghostly horses must occupy a division of Paradise, where, of course, they can meet only with respectable ghosts. Wicked ghosts doubtless go where there are no horses, and hence must either give up riding or mount some disreputable animal – a ghostly cow for example. Te ghost who parades in Cleveland mounted on a cow has, in the language of our city statesmen, given himself away. He has advertised the fact that he belongs to a gang of ghosts who are unable to obtain horses, and that fact proves that he is a disreputable ghost who deserves nothing but arrest and punishment.’

HAUNTED ROCHESTER – A NEW BOOK BY NEIL ARNOLD

The great author Charles Dickens spent many days strolling through the historic Kent town – and former city – of Rochester. Dickens was known for such classic works as Great Expectations but many do not realise that some of his more atmospheric musings were his ghost stories – A Christmas Carol being his most atmospheric, although The Signalman was his best.

Not since Dickens’ days have the eerie avenues, cobbled streets, and dark corners of Rochester been spoken of – until now. Neil Arnold’s new book Haunted Rochester (co-authored with Kevin Payne) sheds light on many ghostly tales and eerie encounters never before published. From phantom monks, to white ladies at the famous castle, from haunted shops, restaurants and pubs, to ghostly children, a haunted hospital and even spectral sheep! Haunted Rochester takes the reader not only back in time but presents a dazzling array of modern ghost stories. Whilst the village of Pluckley, in Kent, is often considered one of England’s most haunted areas, Rochester is clearly are far more ghost-infested location steeped in a dark history which speaks of witches, sieges, and murder.

Haunted Rochester is Neil’s first book of the year, to be followed by Mystery Animals Of The British Isles: London, Haunted Maidstone, and Haunted Ashford.

So, grab a candle and gather round and prepare to be chilled.
Haunted Rochester is available from all good book stores priced £9.99

NEIL ARNOLD: Tin Foil Man!

During June 2003, at 10 pm in West Sussex, two friends were travelling by car from a friend's house back home along a dark country road. They’d travelled this route many times but on this occasion got the shock of their life. As they came round a tight bend they both saw a movement in the trees ahead. Travelling at only 20 mph, both occupants could clearly, although for a brief time, see a bizarre humanoid ‘monster.’


A creature, standing over eight-feet in height stood in the woods and the car headlights reflected off what appeared to be a foil-like skin or clothing. The beast stepped upwards through the trees; its features were not discernible in the darkness and it moved away quickly uphill into the undergrowth, consumed by the shadows of night.


The witnesses were stunned by this peculiar entity and so the driver bravely reversed the car back to the spot.


There was no sign of the weird figure and no sound in the night air.

The passenger commented many years later, “I don’t personally believe in extraterrestrials, so for my own part I’ve ruled out anything like that, and being a fairly practically-minded person I’ve come up with various explanations, such as kids mucking about. But the problem of size keeps coming back – I even checked the Internet the following week to see if 8-ft plus people were more common than I’d thought, rationalising that it was some weirdo in a foil suit. It certainly wasn’t any kind of model, because it was definitely animated. I’m still puzzling over it.”

It’s difficult to comprehend some of the bizarre encounters that people report, and some of these perplexing mysteries are experienced by seemingly level-headed people. From zombies to hellhounds, from aliens to hairy humanoids, Sussex folklore is peppered with such accounts, leaving us to wonder just what kind of ‘spirits’ are lurking in the woods and darkest corners of this ancient county.

Neil Arnold is currently writing MYSTERY ANIMALS OF THE BRITISH ISLES: SUSSEX

NEIL ARNOLD: A Load Of Old Bull?

There appear to be a handful of tales pertaining to the materialisation of hellhounds (phantom black dogs) on dark and stormy nights. Some of these cases are attached to churches in the sense that, as the legend goes in varying yarns, the congregation gathered is terrorised by an abominable creature that appears amidst the thunder claps, lightning bolts and pounding rain. In the case of Black Shuck, the hellhound of Suffolk/Norfolk, such a legend has remained potent for centuries. This year my book Haunted Ashford will be published, and in it I’ve included a weird tale concerning an old church in this large Kentish town, which according to legend, was visited by a horrifying monster centuries ago, but such an apparition was far from being a spectral black dog.

‘Monsters, ghosts and ghouls, are often said to appear during terrible thunderstorms, but the apparition which visited the Church of St Mary at Great Chart in 1613, chose a summery day to make its awful mark. As vicar Hadrian Savaria began his sermon a fearsome creature materialised before the congregation. The beast appeared in the form of a great black bull which petrified those in attendance and were keen to flee the church. The entity stamped its feet, snorted, and its fiery eyes were glowing for all to see. The monster built up its aggression and then stormed through the rows, battering those who were unable to escape in time. Some folk were badly injured and three people were killed as the spectre charged into the North Wall and exploded into a ball of furious flame. The wall was demolished and a powerful, nauseating odour permeated the air. The vicar escaped with minor burn marks to his garments.
Some theories have since been put forward to explain the manifestation. There are those who argue that the monster was not a supernatural beast but in fact a phenomenon known as ball lightning, said to usually occur during raging storms. Ball lightning, although dismissed by some experts, is said to occur when, according to the Wisegeek website, ‘…large clouds of charged water molecules are put into an excited state by electrical activity, briefly causing light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation, or the laser effect.’ This usually results in a small, spherical, fiery object which materialises for a few seconds. This phenomenon occurs infrequently and has never been understood. However, could such a phenomenon explain what took place in Great Chart in 1613 ? Probably not, when you consider that the service was not conducted in the middle of stormy weather. Sceptics argue that similar events have occurred nationwide over the years, usually during thunderstorms, and such monsters are believed to be nothing more than forms created by terrified, and often naïve witnesses keen to explain the apparition away as something unholy. Oddly, in 1983 another terrifying beast was seen in the village and observed by four witnesses who described the monster as resembling a shaggy, black dog with burning red eyes. The spectral hound was seen to pad up a country lane and head towards the church. The witnesses were in a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction to the creature. Rather coincidentally, Charles Igglesden, in his third volume of A Saunter Through Kent With Pen And Pencil, from 1902, writes of a sign board of a Black Dog hanging over the front door of a house in Great Chart.’

NEIL ARNOLD: Historical Taxonomy Fail

Whilst visiting my local museum (Rochester) I took some photos of an old poster and a connecting sculpture, pertaining to a poor woman, dubbed the 'Lion Queen' who many years ago during a show in Chatham was attacked and killed by two captive big cats. The taxonomy fail is blatantly obvious and I'm hoping to enquire at the museum as to who made the cock-up!

NEIL ARNOLD: Notes From The Field Magazine Part One

Over the next few months I’ll be posting a few interesting snippets from old volumes of The Field magazine. Here are the first few:

A WHITE JACKDAW - 21st July 1855 – A specimen of this rare variety – one almost wholly of white colour, the only exception being a little black on the wings – was shot on Monday, last week, by Me. Allan Mains, of Glassaugh, Scotland. The bird, we believe, had been seen in the neighbourhood for some time previous, and being a rather conspicuous looking object, it became, as a matter of course, a marked curiosity – Banff Journal

A REMARKABLE LARGE OTTER – 27th October 1855 - Was taken last week in the river Dee, between Llangollen and Corwen. It measured four-feet nine-and-a-half inches from the snout to the end of the tail, and the body was singularly marked with white spots.

STRANGE FISH – 23rd May 1847 - Last week, a most extraordinary fish was caught alive in Holyhead bay. It was nine inches long, an inch and three quarters its greatest breadth, and conically shaped. It had no fins or scales; large eyes, which covered the whole upper part of its head, and “feelers” or prongs, the length of its body. It neither resembled a lobster, crab, nor any kind of shell fish seen on the coast. It is quite a curiosity.

SHARKS ON THE COAST OF IRELAND – 13th October 1855 - The fishermen of the coast declare that they have seen several of these monsters of the deep on the coast of Achil Head and Clare Island. Last week a boat proceeding from Achil towards Newport laden with turf, and having a crew of two men and one woman, was suddenly capsized, and the woman was drowned, the men having held on by the boat; the peasantry declare that the boat was upset by one of those leviathans of the deep, and that the woman was carried off.

KITTEN SWALLOWED BY A COD – 8th September 1855 – A correspondent in Kirkwell alludes to a recent notice in our Stromness news of a rabbit’s leg being found in a ling’s stomach, and adds of his own knowledge something more wonderful, being nothing less than the discovery of an entire kitten in the stomach of a cod caught not long ago in Kirkwell Bay. These facts show that fish in general are not particularly fastidious in the selection of their food – John O’ Groat Journal

A SNAKE IN THE RAGS – 8th December 1855 - In July last Messrs G. and J. Bush, merchants of Bristol, warehoused a quantity of rags, ex the Seringapatam, from Melbourne. As some of these rags were being removed, the men engaged were somewhat alarmed by the appearance of a large snake upwards of four-feet in length, which, however quickly among the rags again, and is at present concealed in the loft. The Seringapatam was upwards of 100 days on her passage from Melbourne, so that the snake must have been about eight months ensconced in the rags. The creature when disturbed appeared quite lively, but it is not known whether it is a venomous reptile or not – Times
FOSSIL DOG – 14th February 1857 - At the meeting of the West Riding Geological Society, Mr Denny read a paper, entitled ‘Notice of the skull of a dog exhumed from the Alluvian Gravel in Norwich, in 1851’. The skull, which is regarded as unique, was obtained from the discoverers by P. O’Callaghan, Esq, and recently presented to the museum of this society, by that gentleman. The question appeared to be, whether the skull was that of a dog or of a wolf; and Mr Denny, after going carefully through the distinctive features of the skull, and comparing it in detail with the characteristics of the skull of a young wolf in the museum, came to the conclusion that it was the skull of a dog, of a greyhound species. He had no doubt of its being a fossil, from its weight, which was 17 ½ oz, whilst the skull of the wolf weighed only 7 ozs. Although there was no record of the discovery of the fossil remains of dogs in the superficial deposits, yet there was no reason why such remains should not be found, as well as those of the wolf and the hyena – the dog being, in all probability, as old an animal as either the hyena or the wolf.

LARGE SALMON – 4th April 1857 - On Wednesday we had an opportunity of examining one of the largest fish we have ever seen, which was caught in the Tweed at Horncliffe, and was exhibited in Mr Young’s window in Bridge Street. In a kelt state it weighed 37 lb and measured 50 inches in length, and 25 inches in girth. When in a clean state it must have weighed close upon 50 lb – Berwick Advertiser

LARGE PIKE AT KILCONQUHAR – 4th April 857 - A pike of a very large size was caught in the loch on Wednesday last week, by Mr Farnie. Its length was 3 ½ feet, girth in the middle 18 inches, and its weight nearly 19 lb. There are great numbers of pike in the loch, but the one at present taken by Mr Farnie is the largest that has ever been found.

MONSTER GOSLING – 25th April 1857 - Sir, a strange brute was brought to me this morning. It is a gosling with four perfect legs, the front ones being set on in front of the wings, and the others set further back than natural. It had no upper part to its beak, and is a female bird; and was, I believe, born alive, but was dead when it came to me. Thinking it might interest some of your numerous subscribers, I made a rough pen and ink drawing of it – T.P.D. – A sketch of this gosling can be seen at the Field office – Ed.

PORPOISES IN THE NITH – 23rd May 1857 - On Monday last, upwards of a dozen large porpoises were seen tumbling in the tide, a little below the New Quay. The appearance of this fish in our waters being very rare, a considerable number of people turned out to witness the unusual spectacle. As the porpoise feeds in a great measure on young herring, their appearance at this season in the Nith leads to the inference that herrings are not far off – Dumfries Courier

WILD CATS – 2nd May 1857 - Among the livestock carried south from Thurso by the Sovereign steamer on Thursday last, were two wild cats, which were lately caught in a trap in Sutherland. Both animals were of considerable size, and in fine healthy condition, notwithstanding a long journey by the road. They were sent south in a well-bound cage, under charge of a keeper, and are intended, we believe, for one of the metropolitan zoological gardens.

NEIL ARNOLD: The bizarre big cat story of the month

http://kentbigcats.blogspot.com/2011/01/bizarre-big-cat-story-of-month.html

NEIL ARNOLD: Mystery Animals Of London…A Sneak Preview

In 2011 my book Mystery Animals Of The British Isles: London will be published by CFZ Press. As a teaser for what I can only describe as the best book I’ve ever written, here are a few weird accounts of unusual animals in the River Thames.

From The Kentish Notebook by G. Howell of 1891 in reference to an appeal for whale sightings in the stretch of river, a chap named ‘Bookworm’ responds, ‘’Whales In The Thames (Sept. 12th 1891) – I can assure “T.C.U.” that the whale is no uncommon visitor to our River, for numerous records, both ancient and modern, testify to the fact of its appearance at different times. I have made a brief compilation, from various sources, of the discovery of whales and other monsters in the Thames, which may interest “T.C.U.”:

1457 – In this year a considerable commotion took place, caused by several whales in the river. After considerable trouble two of them were caught off Erith, together with a sword-fish, and a fish called a Mors Marina.
1642 – On July of this year a “terrible monster” was caught by “a fisherman near Wollage (Woolwich”, and afterwards exhibited at Westminster. A tract published at the time informs us that the monster “is like a toad, and may be called a Toad-Fish; but that which makes it a monster is, that it hath hands with fingers like a man, being neere five-foot long and three-feet over, the thicknesse of an ordinary man.”
1699 – On the twenty-sixth of March, after an extraordinary storm, there came up the Thames a whale 56-feet long.
1718 – On August 30, great excitement occurred among the waterside inhabitants of Gravesend, in consequence of a whale forty-feet long being captured just below the town.
1746 – On the 25th of July a young whale came up the river and was killed near Execution Dock, after having sunk three boats; it measured 18 feet in length.
1762 – In February a whale was caught in the Hope and after being chased by the boats, some time it was secured and killed by digging holes in it. It was fifty-four feet long and 14-feet broad, and was landed on the shore by Greendland Dock, near Deptford. No doubt the Watermen found plenty of employment, as an immense number of people visited it by land and water. It was computed that on the first day, Sunday, upwards of fifty thousand visitors inspected it.
1809 – “On the 25th March, a whale 75-feet long and 25-feet in circumference, was wounded and driven on shore off the Bligh Sands below Gravesend, by a pilot named Barnes. It weighed upwards of thirty tons. The Lord Mayor ordered it to be removed in a barge above the bridge, when it was exhibited at one shilling per head, until the officers of the admiralty claimed it as a droit, and forcibly took possession. The blubber was valued at one hundred and fifty pounds.”
1842 – In November a whale was caught off Deptford pier, 16 feet long weighting two tons. It was purchased by three individuals, and exhibited there for some time. It was afterwards shewn at the half Moon Inn, Boro’, where 2,000 persons paid for admission in one day. On being dissected, the skeleton was taken to the British Museum.
1849 – A whale 21-feet long, was taken in this year off Grays, in Essex.

A chap named Gravesender notes the following week several other monster sightings, stating, ‘I send an extract from p.159 of Pocock’s History & Antiquities of Gravesend & Milton, relating to the capture of some extraordinary monsters off the Kentish coast:-

‘At Gravesend on the 7th October 1552 three great Fishes called Whirlepooles were taken and drawn up to Westminster Bridge.
In 1786 a Fish of the Grampus kind was brought here by a fishing vessel, who found it at sea, floating on the water almost dead, its mouth was full of thready bones – and the like before the oldest fisherman at this place (Gravesend) had never seen. But neither of the above Fishes were any comparison to one that was taken at St. Peter’s in the isle of Thanet on July 9th 1574, and which Mr Kilburne says, “shot himself on shore on a little sand called Fishness, where for want of water he died the next day; before which time his roaring was heard above a mile. His length was 22 yards, the nether jaw opening 12 feet; one of his eyes was more than a cart and six horses cold draw, a man stood upright in the place from whence his eye was taken, the thickness from his back to the top of his belly (which lay upward) was 14 feet; his tail of the same breadth; the distance between his eyes was 12 feet, three men stood upright in his mouth; some of the ribs were 16 feet long; his liver was two cart loads; and a man might creep into his nostrils.”

Pocock adds, “Whatever absurdities there are in this account, the Rev. Mr Lewis has transcribed it into his History of the Isle of Thanet. I therefore give it my readers, but without desiring to vouch for the truth of any of the extraordinary circumstances of this monster”

NEIL ARNOLD: A Battle With A Sea Serpent In Kent & Sussex

The counties of Kent and (particularly) Sussex have many folkloric legends of great dragon-like monsters said to inhabit the ancient woodlands and forests. Sceptics often discount such beasts as superstition and instead blame possible encounters with adders or escaped reptiles. However, the following accounts suggest that something far bigger than your average snake once lurked in the foamy waters off the coastline of Kent and Sussex.

From Bygone Kent magazine, Vol 6, No. 9, 1985, featured in an article named ‘Submarines, A Ghost And A Sea Monster’ by W.H. Lapthorne, ‘Each year during the silly season the media revel in fresh sightings of Nessie, the legendary Loch Ness Monster. Yet the sea monster encountered off the North Foreland in 1917 was far from legendary and more than just a product of a “wee dram”. In July 1917 the ‘Paramount’, an armed drifter from Ramsgate attached to the famed Dover Patrol, was cruising a mile from the Long Nose Spit, between the North Foreland and Margate. Suddenly the sharp eyes of the look-out sighted a large snake-like creature rearing out of the sea ahead of them “hard on the port bow”, a creature which the startled man later described as being “like some gigantic conger eel about fifty-feet in length, with a long scaly body, a large spiny dorsal fin and dark olive green in colour”. At the approach of the oncoming vessel the creature inquisitively raised its head, as the craft steamed past at a steady eight knots. At a distance of 300 yards the skipper gave the order to open fire on the curious but seemingly inoffensive beast. Six shells were fired, the last of which struck the creature in the dorsal fin. After thrashing violently on the surface for a few seconds it sank from sight in a welter of blood. Years later in 1957 a sequel to this narrative came some miles down Channel at Seaford in Sussex, when local fishermen reported having their nets ripped to pieces by a strange sea serpent some fifty-feet in length, with a long scaly body bearing traces of a deep seven-foot scar. The same thing happened again in 1968, when the incident was reported in a national daily and described as the Martello Monster, as it took place off Martello Tower No. 74 at Seaford, but this time the assailant remained unseen below the surface.’