Middlesex County CT Archives History - Books .....Moodus Noises 1887

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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com May 19, 2005, 9:52 pm

Book Title: The Old Chimney Stacks Of East Haddam

CHAPTER V. 
MOODUS NOISES.

  The Indians which inhabited the place were numerous, of a fierce and warlike
character, and were remarkable for the worship of evil spirits. They called the
town Machimoodus, which means, in English "the place of noises." A very suitable
name, because of the noises or quakings which were familiarly called "Moodus
Noises." The noises sometimes resemble the slow thunder, at others the rattling
of musketry or the discharge of cannon. They have been the subject of much
discussion, and many theories have been advanced about their origin. An old
Indian's reason was that "the Indian's God was very angry because the
Englishman's God came here. Many persons credit the report of a transient person
named Doctor Steele, from Great Britain, who, hearing about these noises, came
here and dug up two pearls, which he called carbuncles. He told the people" the
noises would be discontinued for many years, as he had taken away their cause,
but as he had discovered other smaller ones, they would be heard again in the
process of time. Notwithstanding the absurdity of this prophecy, it seemed to
prove itself correct, for the noises did cease for many years, but finally
returned. The Doctor was a mysterious sort of a person, and in order to allay
the fears of the simple and terrified inhabitants, arising by reason of the
noises, attempted many magical operations, and for this purpose took possession
of a blacksmith's shop, which stood on the hill northwest of the Atlantic Duck
Mill, in which he worked night and day, excluding all light so as to prevent any
prying curiosity from interfering with his occult operations. He claimed that
the carbuncle had grown to a great size in the bowels of the rocks and must be
removed. The Doctor finally departed, and has never been heard of since. From
this circumstance arose this ballad, by John G. C. Brainard, editor of the
Hartford Mirror:

MACHIT-MOODUS.
See you, upon the lonely moor,
    A crazy building rise? 
No hand dares venture to open the door— 
No footstep treads its dangerous floor—
    No eye in its secret pries.

Now why is each crevice stopped so tight?
    Say, why the bolted door? 
Why glimmers at midnight the forge's light? 
All day is the anvil at rest, but at night
    The flames of the furnace roar.

Is it to arm the horses' heel,
    That the midnight anvil rings? 
Is it to mould the ploughshare's steel, 
Or is it to guard the wagon's wheel,
    That the smith's sledge hammer swings?

The iron is bent, and the crucible stands
    With alchymy boiling up; 
Its contents are mixed by unknown hands, 
And no mortal fire e'er kindled the brands
    That heated that cornered cup.

O'er Moodus river a light has glanced,
    On Moodus hills it shone; 
On the granite rocks the rays have danced, 
And upwards those creeping lights advanced
    Till they met on the highest stone.

Oh! that is the very wizard place,
    And now is the wizard hour, 
By the light that was conjured up to trace, 
E'er the star that falls can run its race,
    The seat of the earthquake's power.

By that unearthly light, I see
    A figure strange, alone, 
With magic circlet on his knee, 
And, decked with Satan's symbols, he
    Seeks for the hidden stone.

Now upward goes that gray old man,
    With mattock, bar and spade— 
The summit is gained and the toil begun, 
And deep by the rock where the wild lights run,
    The magic trench is made.

Loud, and yet louder was the groan,
    That sounded wide and far; 
And deep and hollow was the moan 
That rolled around the bedded stone,
    Where the workman plied his bar.

Then upward streamed the brilliant light—
    It streamed o'er crag and stone; 
Dim looked the stars and the moon that night, 
But when morning came in her glory bright,
    The man and the jewel were gone.

But woe to the bark in which he flew
    From Moodus rocky shore— 
Woe to the captain and woe to the crew, 
That ever the breath of life they drew.
    When that dreadful freight they bore.

Where is that crew and vessel now?
    Tell me their state who can, 
The wild waves dashed o'er the sinking bow— 
Down, down to the fathomless depths they go—
    To sleep with a sinful man.

The carbuncle lies in the deep sea,
    Beneath the mighty wave; 
But the light shines up so gloriously 
That the sailor looks pale and forgets his glee,
    When he crosses the wizard's grave.

  Many theories have been advanced as to the cause of these noises. One is that
there is a subterranean passage leading from a large cave near Mt. Tom to the
sea, and that the noises are produced by certain delicate combinations of wind
and tide. A more reasonable explanation of their cause is, that there exist
mineral or chemical combinations, which explode many feet below the earth's
surface. The jar produced by the noises is like that of exploded gunpowder.


Additional Comments:
Transcribed from:

THE OLD CHIMNEY STACKS OF EAST HADDAM, MIDDLESEX COUNTY, CONNECTICUT,
BY
HOSFORD B. NILES,
Author of Genealogy of THE NILES FAMILY.
NEW YORK: LOWE & CO., Book and Job Printers No. 210 Fulton Street.
1887


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