The Legend of the Snallygaster
Mood:  mischievious
About a month ago Marie pointed me to myspce blog or a gentleman living in Ireland. He goes by Tuathal and a few days ago he wrote a really great blog about the legend of the Banshee. Last night before LOST came on Tanya, her brother Andy and I got to talking about Halloween costume ideas and Tanya mentioned she would like to go as some sort of mythological creature and the banshee was brought up. I showed her Tuathal's blog post and she was amazed by what she read. Thanks to Hollywood the Banshee has gotten a bad rap. Anyway...Tanya then stated that America doesn't have cool figures such the Banshee or Leprechaun. It is true that the Emerald Isle may have some cool mythological creatures but there are some pretty cool legends close to home. I then brought up the tale of the Snallygaster.

When I lived in Thurmont, MD a lot of the older people used to tell the story of the Snallygaster I am guessing to scare children. I have always been amazed and slightly amused by the story. I comprised information taken from Wikipedia and Ghosts and Legends of Frederick County by Timothy L. Cannon and Nancy F. Whitmore to give you the following story of....The Snallygaster.

According to legends repeated in the Middletown Valley Register in the early 20th century, the community was terrorized by a monster called a Schnellegeister. The word means "fast spirit or ghost" in German, but neighbors nicknamed it the "Snallygaster." The Snallygaster was described as half-reptile with octopus limbs, and half-bird with a metallic beak lined with razor-sharp teeth. It can fly. It can pick up its victims and carry them off. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the blood of its victims. The beast was spotted in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey before finally arriving in Frederick County, MD. It has been suggested the legend was resurrected in the 19th century to frighten freed slaves.
In February and March of 1909, newspaper accounts 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."

Sightings of the Snallygaster were creating such a commotion that at one point it was reported that President Theodore Roosevelt might postpone a trip to Europe so that he could lead an expedition to capture it. Apparently the Smithsonian Institute was also interested in the beast. From the description provided by engineer 83, in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, they determined the strange beast was either a bovalopus or a Snallygaster, since it had the characteristics of both. Further, its hide was so rare that it was worth $100,000 a square foot, as it was the only substance known to man that could polish punkle shells.(Punkle shells, for those of you who don’t know, are used by the African tribes of Umbopeland for ornamentation.)

The last sighting in Frederick County in 1909 occurred near Emmitsburg in early March. Three men fought the terrible creature outside a railroad station for nearly an hour and a half before chasing it into the woods of Carroll County.


Twenty-three years passed before the Snallygaster appeared again in Frederick County. First reports were received from just below South Mountain in Washington County. Eyewitness accounts claimed that it flew toward them from the Middletown Valley.

The beast was often seen floating back and forth over the area and was described as being as large as a dirigible, with arms resembling the tentacles of an octopus. The creature appeared to be able to change its size, shape, and color at will.

Although the creature made no attempt to harm any of the residents of the Valley, most people sought the safety of their homes as it flew overhead.

The Snallygaster finally met his end in a way some might envy. The creature was flying near Frog Hollow in Washington County when it was attracted by the aroma of a 2500-gallon vat of moonshine. As the beast flew overhead, it was overcome by the fumes and dropped into the boiling mash. A short time later, revenue agents George Dansforth and Charles Cushwa arrived on the scene. They had received information about the still, but were rather startled at the sight of the dead monster in the vat.

The two agents exploded five hundred pounds of dynamite under the still, destroying the remains of the Snallygaster and John Barleycorn’s workshop.

A great deal has been written about the Snallygaster since 1909. It has appeared in countless articles in the Middletown Valley Register, Frederick News Post, and other area newspapers. Is has also appeared in the Baltimore Sun, National Geographic, and Time Magazine.

In 1976, the Washington Post sponsored an unsuccessful search for the Snallygaster, as well as other strange Maryland creatures.

Frederick County is known for a great many things, but most will agree that none is as imaginative as the Snallygaster.