Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/51

 A Tradition of Shelter Island. 43

��A TRADITION OF SHELTER ISLAND, N. Y. 1

The eastern end of Long Island, New York, is divided into two long points which partially inclose a bay. The northern point is named Orient, and the southern, which is longer, is named Mon- tauk. Between these points lies Gardiner's Island, and within the bay thus sheltered from the ocean is Shelter Island.

One of the natural curiosities of Shelter Island is what appears to be a footprint in a rock. This footprint is that of a right foot. The impression of the heel and instep is deep and well formed, but the toe-prints are lost where the rock slopes suddenly away. The tradition about this is that when the Evil Spirit left the island he took three long strides, the first on Shelter Island, the second on Orient Point, and the third on Montauk, whence he plunged into the sea. The rock on which there was a corresponding footprint at Orient Point has been removed to the rooms of the Long Island Historical Society in Brooklyn.

It is said on Shelter Island that if any one makes a wish when he places his foot into this footprint for the first time, he will certainly get it. This unfortunately is not true ; but another saying, that the footprint will fit the right foot of any one from a little child to the largest man, is a striking fact ; for as the bottom is narrow and the top wide, and there is no limit in length, it supports comfortably any foot that is placed in it. Finally it is said that no horse will pass this stone without being seized with terror on drawing near it, snorting, rearing, and trembling in every limb. A similar story is told about another rock on Shelter Island, where the notorious pirate, Captain Kidd, is supposed to have murdered and buried a young woman. This rock is also said to be an object of terror to horses, who, so the story says, cannot be safely ridden near enough to see it.

It is these sayings about fear in horses to which I wish to draw your attention. Why should a horse be supposed to dread the scene of a crime, or the footprint of Satan ?

These traditions are evidently Old World stories transferred to a new and suitable scene. The opportunity to secure a wish, the foot- print of the Devil, and the three long leaps are all familiar to us in English folk-lore.

If we look for a more serious cause for some of these traditions than that of the gossip of the countryside in England, we must pass beyond the limits of what can be proved at present.

1 Paper read before the Tenth Annual Meeting of the American Folk-Lore Society, at Columbia University, New York, December 29, 1898.

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