Post by WitchBoy on May 7, 2002 14:21:39 GMT -5
On the morning of 8th February 1855, the inhabitants of the rural county of Devon in the UK awoke to find a thick blanket of snow covering the area. A violent snowstorm the previous night had coated the towns of Topsham, Lympstone, Exmouth, Teignmouth and Dawlish. The power of the freak storm was remarkable enough in itself, but the sight that met the townspeople when they ventured outside could only be described as extraordinary.
Stretching across the wintry landscape were hundreds of odd-looking 'footprints' impressed into the snow. At first glance, the tracks appeared to belong to some mysterious animal, but there was something even more strange about them. Not only were they found in the streets and across the open hills and valleys, but residents also reported finding them in all sorts of places that would surely have been inaccessible to an animal.
Locals claimed to have discovered the strange tracks on the roofs of houses and along the tops of narrow walls. They were also found in gardens and courtyards that were enclosed by high walls and railings. Moreover, the number of prints was so great that it seemed that whoever, or whatever, made them must have brought an army into the county overnight. As the London Times newspaper reported at the time: ' There was hardly a garden in Lympstone where the footprints were not observed.'
But it wasn't just the sheer number of prints, nor their unlikely locations, that fuelled the wild speculation that followed their discovery. All those who saw them agreed that the prints were of such a curious shape and pattern that it was impossible to determine who, or what, had made them.
Initial investigations suggested that the prints, which measured between 4 and 6.5 cm across, belonged to a biped. Some felt that they closely resembled those of a donkey's shoe, but who had ever heard of a donkey strolling around at night on it's hind legs, let alone doing so on roof tops and narrow walls.
The creature also appeared to have approached the doors of several houses and then to have retreated, yet there was no sign of a standing or resting point in the snow. Perplexed locals were naturally bemused by how this could be and, before long; many had become convinced that there could only be one explanation for the bizarre phenomenon – that the devil himself had walked abroad in Devon on that bitter February night.
Stretching across the wintry landscape were hundreds of odd-looking 'footprints' impressed into the snow. At first glance, the tracks appeared to belong to some mysterious animal, but there was something even more strange about them. Not only were they found in the streets and across the open hills and valleys, but residents also reported finding them in all sorts of places that would surely have been inaccessible to an animal.
Locals claimed to have discovered the strange tracks on the roofs of houses and along the tops of narrow walls. They were also found in gardens and courtyards that were enclosed by high walls and railings. Moreover, the number of prints was so great that it seemed that whoever, or whatever, made them must have brought an army into the county overnight. As the London Times newspaper reported at the time: ' There was hardly a garden in Lympstone where the footprints were not observed.'
But it wasn't just the sheer number of prints, nor their unlikely locations, that fuelled the wild speculation that followed their discovery. All those who saw them agreed that the prints were of such a curious shape and pattern that it was impossible to determine who, or what, had made them.
Initial investigations suggested that the prints, which measured between 4 and 6.5 cm across, belonged to a biped. Some felt that they closely resembled those of a donkey's shoe, but who had ever heard of a donkey strolling around at night on it's hind legs, let alone doing so on roof tops and narrow walls.
The creature also appeared to have approached the doors of several houses and then to have retreated, yet there was no sign of a standing or resting point in the snow. Perplexed locals were naturally bemused by how this could be and, before long; many had become convinced that there could only be one explanation for the bizarre phenomenon – that the devil himself had walked abroad in Devon on that bitter February night.
I always think it would be cool to live in those times as well. It sounds like a cool time to live 8)
