The Legend of Stingy Jack
SEASON 3 : BONUS 1
OCTOBER 31, 2024
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INTRO
Hello and Happy Halloween everyone
Welcome to A Good Night for a Murder, a Victorian true crime podcast.
My name is Kim, and this is a special bonus episode to celebrate the best night of the year, Halloween!
This is the legend of Stingy Jack…
CONTENT WARNING
A Good Night for a Murder is a true crime podcast that does cover stories including death, violence, sexual assault, and other adult themes.
Please take care while listening.
EPISODE
The legend of Stingy Jack is an old Celtic tale passed down through generations
The most common telling of the tale introduces us to a character known as “Stingy Jack,” who was an all around rotten guy
He was a drunk, a liar, and a cheat
He was so disliked and vile, in fact, the Devil his self caught wind of Stingy Jack and he decided, “There’s no point in waiting, his soul definitely belongs to me.”
So he headed up to the land of the living to find Stingy Jack.
The Devil finds Jack wandering home at midnight after a night of drinking, and he said, “Well, hello Jack, I’m the Devil, and I’m here for your soul - you’re coming with me…”
Jack, who seems like he was expecting this to happen one day, does not seem phased and replied to the Devil, “Well, if this is the end, will you allow me one last round of drinks at the pub?”
To which the the Devil said, “Sure, sounds like my scene.”
And they head off together to the pub
Jack and the Devil actually enjoy several rounds of drinks together, but eventually the Devil said, “Enough is enough, it’s time to go.”
But Jack didn’t have money to pay their bill, and he argued that the staff wouldn’t just let them walk out of there…
So, he told the Devil to turn his self in to a coin that Jack will use to pay their tab,
Then, when the bartender isn’t looking, just turn his self back, and they’ll sneak out of there
The Devil finds this plan of deception somewhat admirable, so he agreed - he turned his self in to a coin
Except, Jack didn’t hand the coin over to the bartender, he put the coin right in his pocket, in which he was also carrying a crucifix!
Now, the Devil was stuck as the coin!
He couldn’t change back because he was trapped next to that crucifix!
The Devil was hopping mad, but, Jack told him if he’d agreed to let Jack live for 10 more years, he’d let him out of his pocket
The Devil was pretty pissed he’d been outsmarted, but, he said, “Fine, you get 10 more years…”
In 10 years time, Jack carried on as he had before - drinking, lying, and cheating…
Until exactly 10 years to the date that he last met the Devil, on his way home again at midnight, he met the Devil again
And this time, the Devil was like, “Okay, no tricks this time, you’re coming with me.”
To which Jack replied, “Alright, alright, I’ll go with you… But let me get one last taste of an apple from this tree here, it’s my last wish.”
The Devil, as it turns out, is a pretty reasonable guy and he decides, “Okay, I’ll grant you your last wish. Go ahead, grab an apple.”
But Jack said, “It’s been 10 years since I last met you Devil! I’m not as young as I used to be! But you’re fit as a fiddle! Will you jump up that tree for me and get me a red, juicy apple from the top branches?”
The Devil was very flattered by this, and he obliged Jack
But once he got up the tree, he realized he was unable to climb down!
Jack has drawn crucifixes in the dirt all around the tree, and now the Devil was trapped again!
The Devil is pretty mad, and pretty fed up with Stingy Jack at this point
He said to Jack, “What do you want to let me go free this time?!”
And Jack said, “I want you to promise me that you’ll never take my soul.”
And, the Devil agreed, he said, “Jack, you’ve won! I won’t take your soul. Now let me out of this tree and we’ll be done with one another.”
Jack, who was feeling pretty pleased with his self at this point, erased all the crucifixes he’d drawn around the tree and the Devil was free to go
And true to his word, Jack never saw him again.
Until, one day, Jack’s time on earth did finally come to an end, as it always has and will come for all of us.
Jack knew the Devil wouldn’t take his soul, so he headed for the pearly gates of Heaven
But, as he approached St. Peter met him, and told him, “No - he can’t get in to Heaven, he spent his whole life lying, cheating and sinning!”
So, Jack turned away and headed the only other direction there was, which was down…
Until he reached the gates of Hell
And there, he finally met the Devil again, but the Devil wouldn’t open the gates of Hell to him either - they had a deal - he would not take Jack’s soul…
Jack said, “But what do I do now? I can’t get in to Heaven and it’s dark here between worlds…”
The Devil laughed and laughed, then flung him a bit of hellfire from inside the gates and told Jack, “There, use that to light your way and be gone, now I truly never want to see you again.”
Jack had no choice but to carve out the inside of a turnip he’d been carrying with him and use it as a basket to hold the hellfire
Then he walked off from the gates of Hell to wander purgatory forever more with only his lantern to light his way, and come to be known as Jack O’ the Lantern
And that is the legend of Stingy Jack.
Another common telling appeared in the Dublin Penny Journal in 1836 where Jack, who was apparently not all bad in this version, helped an old man who would be revealed to actually be an angel in disguise
As a reward the angel agreed to grant Jack 3 wishes
Despite his recent good deed though, Jack would prove to be stingy to his core and wished for the following:
Should anyone ever take seat that was his, they’d be stuck to the seat and the ground, until Jack let them go
Or, should anyone touch Jack’s tools, they’d also be stuck to the ground in that exact spot, until Jack let them go
Or, should anyone take wood from his trees, they’d be stuck to the tree, until Jack let them go…
Now the angel had made a promise, so he was forced to grant Jack these 3 wishes, but Jack’s selfishness had lost him his spot in Heaven
So, years went by, and finally it came time for Jack to move on to the afterlife
So, the Devil sent one of his messengers to come haul Jack in
Jack recognized what was going on here and tricked the Devil’s messenger to sit in one of his seats, which the messenger did
In accordance with Jack’s wish the messenger got stuck to the seat and told Jack if he let him go, he’ll never see the likes of him again
So Jack let him go
But the Devil sent another messenger, who Jack also tricked in to touching his tools
After which he also got stuck and made the same deal with Jack that the first messenger did to be set free
After the second messenger returned to Hell empty handed, the Devil said, “You know what, I’m going up there myself.”
And he did.
The Devil his self had come to collect Jack’s soul, but somehow, Jack also tricked him in to taking a stick out of one of Jack’s trees, and the Devil found his self stuck to the tree!
He makes the same deal with Jack as his two messengers before him that if Jack let the Devil go, he’d never bother Jack again, and he can keep his soul.
And the Jack agreed
However, Jack’s time on earth is up, and he has to go somewhere
It’s at this point this version and the original converge to where Jack is rejected from both Heaven and Hell, forcing him to wander the earth for the rest of eternity with his carved lantern.
This version of the story was also made in to a poem by Hercules Ellis and published in 1851 in a book titled The Rhyme Book
Now, Jack O’ The Lantern is one personification of a phenomenon common in European folklore called “will-o'-the-wisp”
A will-o'-the-wisp refers to atmospheric ghost lights, meaning lights (or fires) that appear in the atmosphere without an obvious cause, that are seen by travelers at night,
Will-o'-the-wisps specifically are usually seen over bogs, swamps or marshes, and resemble a flickering lamp light, misleading travelers in to the swamps, often never to be seen again…
The strange occurrence does have a scientific explanation, which is that gases from decaying plants in swampy areas will cause flame-like phosphorescence to appear that look like flickering lamp light - or the light given off by lighting a “wisp,” an old word for a bundle of sticks or paper sometimes used as a torch
Like Jack O’ The Lantern, an 18th-century fairy tale featured one character, Will, as one who - quote - “bears the wispy fire to trail the swains among the mire."
On Halloween in particular though, Jack o lanterns can be used to confuse wandering spirits
Akin to the legend, In 19th century Ireland it was common to hollow out turnips, rutabagas and large beets and carve faces in them for this exact purpose
This was most popular during the Celtic festival of Samhain, which we now celebrate as Halloween, as this is the date that the veil between the spirit and living worlds is the thinnest
When the Irish brought this tradition to North America, pumpkins were already associated with harvest season, and the practices all blended together until carving pumpkins for Halloween became the beloved tradition it is today.
My friends, I hope you have a safe and happy Halloween!
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Thank you for listening,
And I will talk to you again soon