The snallygaster is a mythical
dragon-like beast said to inhabit the Blue Ridge Mountainsnear Braddock Heights, Maryland.
The area was settled by German immigrants beginning in the 1730s. Early accounts describe the community being terrorized by a monster called a Schneller Geist, meaning "quick spirit" in German. The earliest incarnations mixed the half-
birdfeatures of a sirenwith the nightmarish features of demonsand ghouls. The Snallygaster was described as half- reptile, half-bird with a metallic beaklined with razor-sharp teeth, occasionally with octopus-like tentacles. It swoops silently from the sky to pick up and carry off its victims. The earliest stories claim that this monster sucked the bloodof its victims. Seven-pointed stars, which reputedly kept the snallygaster at bay, can still be seen painted on local barns.
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."ref|ValleyRegister A great deal of publicity surrounded this string of appearances, with the
Smithsonian Institutionoffering a reward for the hide. U.S. President Theodore Rooseveltreportedly considered postponing an African safarito personally hunt the beast.ref|BraddockHeightsBook
In 2008, author Patrick Boyton published a book about the history of the Snallygaster entitled "Snallygaster: the Lost Legend of Frederick County".
A "snallygaster" is also a beverage composed of
Mountain Dewand vanilla ice cream, created to promote Mountain Dew in the 1960s.
#"The Valley Register", February 12—March 5, 1909.
#Hooper, Anne B. (1974). "Braddock Heights: A Glance Backward". Great Southern Printing Co. p. 71-72. ASIN: B0006CEDUA.
* [http://www.baltimoremd.com/remember/snallygast.html Beware the Snallygaster]
* [http://www.hollowhill.com/misc/blair1.htm The Real 'Blair Witch' Ghosts]
* [http://wesclark.com/jw/snallygaster.html The Snallygaster] , from "Ghosts and Legends of Frederick County" by Timothy L. Cannon and Nancy F. Whitmore
* [http://www.marylandmonster.com Snallygaster: the Lost Legend of Frederick County]
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snallygaster — snal·ly·gas·ter … English syllables
snallygaster — ˈsnälēˌgästə(r) noun ( s) Etymology: perhaps modification of Pennsylvania German schnelle geeschter, literally, quick spirits : a mythical nocturnal creature that is reported chiefly from rural Maryland, is reputed to be part reptile and part… … Useful english dictionary
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