In
American folklore
American folklore encompasses the folklores that have evolved in the present-day United States since Europeans arrived in the 16th century. While it contains much in the way of Native American tradition, it is not wholly identical to the tribal ...
, the snallygaster is a bird-reptile
chimera originating in the superstitions of early German immigrants later combined with
sensationalistic newspaper reports of the monster. Early sightings associate the snallygaster with
Frederick County, Maryland, especially the areas of
South Mountain and the
Middletown Valley. Later reports would expand on sightings encompassing an area to include
Central Maryland and the
Washington, DC, metro area.
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History
18th century
The area of Frederick County was settled by
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
immigrants beginning in the 1730s.
[
] Early accounts describe the community being terrorized by a monster called a ''Schneller Geist'', meaning "quick ghost" in German. The earliest incarnations of the creature mixed the half-
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweig ...
features of a
siren
Siren or sirens may refer to:
Common meanings
* Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies
* Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology
Places
* Siren (town), Wisconsin
* Siren, Wisc ...
with the nightmarish features of
demons and
ghouls
A ghoul ( ar, غول, ') is a demon-like being or monstrous humanoid. The concept originated in pre-Islamic Arabian religion, associated with graveyards and the consumption of human flesh. Modern fiction often uses the term to label a cert ...
. The snallygaster was described as half-
reptile, half-bird having a
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...
lic
beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for foo ...
lined with razor-sharp
teeth
A tooth ( : teeth) is a hard, calcified structure found in the jaws (or mouths) of many vertebrates and used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores and omnivores, also use teeth to help with capturing or wounding prey, t ...
, occasionally alongside octopus-like tentacles. The snallygaster was rumored to swoop silently from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the
blood
Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the cir ...
of its victims.
Seven-pointed stars, which reputedly kept the snallygaster at bay, can still be seen painted on local barns.
19th century
It has been suggested the legend was resurrected in the 19th century to frighten freed slaves.
20th century
Newspaper accounts throughout February and March 1909 describe encounters between local residents and a beast with "enormous wings, a long pointed bill, claws like steel hooks, and an eye in the center of its forehead." It was described as making screeches "like a locomotive whistle." A great deal of publicity surrounded this string of appearances, with the
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...
offering a reward for the
hide.
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
reportedly considered postponing an African
safari to personally hunt the beast. It was later revealed that these reports were part of a hoax perpetrated by ''Middletown Valley Register'' editor George C. Rhoderick and reporter Ralph S. Wolfe in an attempt to increase readership. The descriptions they invented borrowed themes from existing German
folklore
Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
, including dragon-like creatures who snatched children and livestock, and also appeared to invoke descriptions of the
Jersey Devil
In South Jersey and Philadelphia folklore in the United States, the Jersey Devil (also known as the Leeds Devil) is a legendary creature said to inhabit the forest of Pine Barrens in South Jersey. The creature is often described as a flying ...
, which had been spotted mere weeks earlier.
On June 22, 1953,
Whittaker Chambers
Whittaker Chambers (born Jay Vivian Chambers; April 1, 1901 – July 9, 1961) was an American writer-editor, who, after early years as a Communist Party member (1925) and Soviet spy (1932–1938), defected from the Soviet underground (1938) ...
(whose
home lies in
Carroll County, Maryland) used the snallygaster to examine U.S. Senator
Joseph McCarthy in his essay "Is Academic Freedom in Danger?" (''
Life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' ):
It was a trick of fate in a low comedy mood that Senator McCarthy should first have bounded into public view dragging the unlikely and protesting person of Mr. Lattimore to share with him a historic spotlight so grateful to the one and so acutely unwanted by the other. It was a trick of fate that, in the case of each, has led to some serious confusions. For it led to the translation of Senator McCarthy into the symbol of a national snallygaster (a winged hobgoblin used to frighten naughty children in parts of rural Maryland), instead of one of the two things that he obviously is: an instinctive politician of a kind fairly common in our history, in which case the uproar he inspires is a phenomenon much more arresting than the senator; or a politician of a kind wholly new in our history, in which case he merits the most cautious and coldblooded appraisal.
21st century
In 2008, author Patrick Boyton published a history of the snallygaster, entitled ''Snallygaster: the Lost Legend of Frederick County''.
In 2011, an annual beer festival (a "beastly beer jamboree") called "Snallygaster" started in Washington, DC.
The 2017 edition of
J. K. Rowling
Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to 2007. The ser ...
's ''
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'' incorporated the Snallygaster into her
''Harry Potter'' universe. It is described as a part-bird, part-reptile relative of the Occamy, with serrated steel fangs, a bulletproof hide, and a natural sense of curiosity.
The Snallygaster appears in the 2018 Bethesda game ''
Fallout 76
''Fallout 76'' is a 2018 online action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It is an installment in the ''Fallout'' series and a prequel to previous entries. ''Fallout 76'' is Bethesda ...
''.
The Snallygaster is a Blended Whiskey produced by Dragon Distillery of Frederick, MD and released in 2018.
South Mountain Creamery, a dairy farm located in Frederick County, Maryland, produces an ice cream flavor named Snallygaster. It consists of peanut butter flavored ice cream with caramel swirl, peanut butter cups, and pretzels.
A Snallygaster hunt features prominently in season 5, episode 4 of the Hallmark Channel show ''
Chesapeake Shores
''Chesapeake Shores'' is a drama television series, based on the novel series of the same name by Sherryl Woods, produced by Chesapeake Shores Productions Inc in association with Borderline Distribution. The series had a two-hour premiere on the ...
''.
In 2021, Sarah Cooper, a cryptozoologist in Maryland, opened The American Snallygaster Museum in Libertytown, MD.
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See also
*
Fearsome critters
In North American folklore, fearsome critters were tall tale animals jokingly said to inhabit the wilderness in or around logging camps,Dorson, Richard M. ''Man and Beast in American Comic Legend.'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana Univ. Press, 1982.) ...
*
Goatman (urban legend)
According to urban legend, Goatman is a creature resembling a goat-human hybrid often credited with canine deaths and purported to take refuge in the woods of Prince George's County, Maryland, United States.
History
In May of 1971, University ...
References
{{American tall tales
American legendary creatures
Fearsome critters
Dragons
Frederick County, Maryland
Maryland folklore
Theodore Roosevelt