Creature record / 1838
February 19, 1838. About a quarter to 9 in the evening. A violent ringing at the gate of Bear-bind Cottage, a lonely spot between Bow and Old Ford. A cloaked man says he is a policeman. "For God's sake, bring me a light, for we have caught Spring-heeled Jack here in the lane." Jane Alsop, 18, brings a candle. He throws off his cloak. Blue and white flame pours from his mouth. His eyes are like red balls of fire. Then he darts at her, tearing her gown with claws she was sure were metal. Her sisters saw it. Three days later, The Times printed their testimony.
Winter 1838. On 9 January the Lord Mayor, Sir John Cowan, read out an anonymous letter at a Mansion House public session. It claimed young aristocrats had bet that one of them would frighten the villages around London disguised as "a ghost, a bear, and a devil". Complaint letters poured in from the suburbs. The phantom had a name: Spring-heeled Jack.