Of Evill Sorceries done in New England, of Daemons in No Humane Shape
(Fragment)
By H. P. Lovecraft
(mid-1930s)
But, not to speak at too great Length upon so horrid a Matter, I will add onlie what is commonly reported concerning an Happening in New Plymouth, fifty Years since, when Mr. Bradford was Governour. ’Tis said, one Richard Billington, being instructed partly by evill Books, and partly by an antient Wonder-Worker amongst ye Indian Salvages, so fell away from good Christian Practice that he not only lay’d claim to Immortality in the Flesh, but sett up in the Woods a Place of Dagon, namely great Ring of Stones, inside which he say’d Prayers to ye Divell, and sung certain Rites of Magick abominable by Scripture. This being brought to the Notice of ye Magistrates, he deny’d all blasphemous Dealings; but not long after he privately shew’d great Fear about some Thing he had call’d out of the Sky at Night. There were in that year seven slayings in ye Woods near to Richard Billington’s Stones, those slain being crushed and half-melted in a Fashion outside all Experience. Upon Talk of a Tryall, Billington dropt out of Sight, nor was any clear Word of him ever after heard.
Two months from then, by Night, there was heard a Band of Wampanaug Salvages howling and singing in the Woods; and it appeared, they took down the Ring of Stones and did much besides. For their head Man Misquamacus, that same antient Wonder-Worker of whom Billington had learnt some of his Sorceries, came shortly into the town and told Mr. Bradford some strange Things; namely, that Billington had done worse Evill than cou’d be well repair’d, and that he was no doubt eat up by what he had call’d out of the Sky. That there was no Way to send back that Thing he had summon’d, so the Wampanaug wise Men had caught and prison’d it where the Ring of Stones had been.
They had digg’d a Hole three Ells deep and two across, and had thither charmed ye Daemon with Spells that they knew; covering it over with Great Rocks and setting on Top a flat Stone carved with what they call’d ye Elder Sign. On this they made a Mound of the
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Earth digg’d from the Pit, sticking on it a tall Stone carv’d with a Warning. The old Salvage affirm’d, this Mound must on no Account be disturb’d, lest the Daemon come loose again which it wou’d if the bury’d flatt Stone with the Elder Sign shou’d get out of Place. On being ask’d what ye Daemon look’d like, he gave a very curious and circumstantiall Relation, saying it was sometimes small and solid, like a great Toad the Bigness of a Ground-Hog, but sometimes big and cloudy, without any Shape at all.
It had ye Name Ossadagowah, which signifys the child of Sadogowah; the last a frightful Spirit spoke of by old Men as coming down from the Stars and being formerly worshipt in Lands of the North. The Wampanaugs, and Nansets and Nahiggansets, knew how to draw it out of the Sky, but never did so because of the exceeding great Evilness of it. They knew also how to catch and prison it, tho’ they cou’d not send it back whence it came. It was however declar’d, that the old Tribes of Lamah, who dwelt under the Great Bear and were antiently destroy’d for their Wickedness, knew how to manage it in all Ways. Many upstart Men pretended to a Knowledge of such antient Secrets, but none in these Parts cou’d give any Proof of truly having it. It was say’d by some, that Ossadogowah often went back to ye Sky from choice without any sending, but that he cou’d not come back unless summon’d.
This much ye antient Wizard Misquamacus told to Mr. Bradford, and ever after a great Mound in the Woods near the Pond southwest of New-Plymouth hath been straitly lett alone. The Tall Stone is these Twenty years gone, but the Mound is mark’d by the Circumstance, that nothing, neither Grass nor Brush, will grow upon it. Grave Men doubt that ye evill Billington was eat up, as ye Salvages believe, by what he call’d out of the Sky; notwithstanding certain Reports of the Idle, of his being since seen in divers places, and that no longer ago than the late monstrous Witchcraft in Essex-County, in the Year 1692.
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But in respect of generall Infamy, no Report more terrible hath come to Notice, than of what Goodwife Doten, Relict of John Doten of Duxbury in the Old Colonie, brought out of the Woods near Candlemas of 1683. She affirm’d, and her good Neighbours likewise, that it had been borne that which was neither Beast nor Man, but like to a monstrous Bat with humane Face. The which was burnt by Order of the High-Sheriff on the 5th of June in the Year 1654.
Thaumaturgicall Prodigies in the New-English Canaan: By the Rev. Ward Phillips, Pastor of the Second Church in Arkham, in the Massachusetts-Bay. Boston, 1697.
Textual Notes
A scan of the original manuscript is available in the Brown Digital Repository. S. T. Joshi has published his reading of the text in H. P. Lovecraft, Collected Fiction Volume 3 (1931-1936): A Variorum Edition.
The title Of Evill Sorceries done in New England, of Daemons in No Humane Shape occurs at the beginning of the first page, and the publishing information for Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan occurs on the final page. Joshi interprets Of Evill Sorceries as being an extract from the longer work Thaumaturgical Prodigies.
When August Derleth adapted this fragment for use in his novel The Lurker at the Threshold, he broke the text into two pieces. He labeled the first section as Of Evill Sorceries done in New England, of Daemons in No Humane Shape. However, he treated the final page as an extract from a separate work, Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New-English Canaan. This is a conceivable interpretation since the title Thaumaturgical Prodigies appears only on the final page of the manuscript.
When Derleth used the fragment, he also made significant textual changes to make it better fit the plot of his novel; notably, (1) moving the setting from New Plymouth to New Dunnich (Dunwich), (2) partially obscuring the description of Ossadagowah's imprisonment under a mound, because Derleth decided to have him imprisoned under a tower mentioned in another Lovecraft fragment, (3) implying that Richard Billington might have survived someplace away from Earth, (4) elaborating on the description of Ossadagowah by adding eyes and tentacles, and (5) redating the portion about Goodwife Doten from the late 1600s to the late 1700s.
Joshi's edition of Lovecraft's fragment includes the following phrase in the final paragraph: "She affirm’d, and her good Neighbours likewise, that it had been..." This phrase also appears in Derleth's rendition of the paragraph. However, I have been unable to find this phrase in the Brown Digital Repository scan. HPL's handwriting is challenging, so I'm not sure if the phrase is lurking somewhere amidst his interlinear corrections.
The date when the monster baby was burned was given as 1684 in one of Joshi's earlier editions (Collected Essays: Volume 5: Philosophy, Autobiography, and Miscellany), but changed to 1654 in his Variorum edition. The 1684 date initially appears more plausible, since the date needs to be the same or later than the date of 1683 mentioned earlier in the paragraph. However, the scan at Brown appears to show that HPL really did write 1654, so this appears to be a continuity error on his part.
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