Sussex serpents
What on earth was it that so frightened people in Sussex four centuries ago? Was it a case of mass hysteria recorded in the Harleian Manuscript of 1614? The monster caused terror and mayhem in an area two miles from Horsham, which in those days was spelt Horsam by some writers.
'True and Wonderful' the report was headed. "A Discourse relating a strange and monstrous serpent lately discovered, and yet living, to the great Annoyance and Slaughters both of Man and Cattel, but this strong and violent Pysonn."
The serpent was apparently nine feet long, and could throw its venom 'four rodde' (22 yards). It also had small wings which seems to make it more of a dragon than a snake. The recorder of these amazing facts or fancies did possibly excuse himself by adding that: "I speak of no nearer description than of a reasonable ocular distance."
All the Sussex serpents I have seen have been no more than four feet in length – four feet for grass snakes, and two feet for adders. Walking almost every day in summer through long grass and adder country makes me wonder how long it can be before I am bitten.
Serpents would be easy to see, but snakes in the grass are difficult. Many times I have almost trodden on one, when a hot sense of danger runs through my body as I see the coils, plaited like a whip, before my foot. This year I again saw the adders mating in their den among the dense bramble bushes. Their hibernaculum is in the ruins of an old Roman temple on the downs above Chichester which is today nought but piles of flints. Was the Horsham serpent a mere distant echo of those seismic disturbances which troubled the minds of our ancestors?
Pagan Slavs around Kiev remembered a dragon which Potok Ivanovitch slew. Mayas and Aztecs worshipped Cukulcan the plumed serpent, the great God who insinuated himself into every part of their lives. The Great Serpent of the Hittites was a foe of terrible proportions which could strike the Gods of clouds and cause drought and therefore famine.
Teutonic myths told of the serpent of Midgard whose powerful coils caused such storms in the ocean where it lived that normal sea-going life was badly disrupted. Thor, together with his chum Loki eventually managed to destroy said serpent. You can actually see an early depiction of this scene on the 950AD sandstone Gosforth Cross in Cumberland.
For our ancestors, these were the equivalent of Harry Potter stories. They would be well-known folk-lore told and retold to audience gatherings by camp fire. Some years ago I watched several story-tellers recounting ancient yarns to spellbound crowds in the parks of Kabul city in Afghanistan. Old charms against serpent bites were common in England. You could carry a parsnip around your neck for instance. If bitten, you should spread the wound with theriaca. This was the Greek for viper. It is actually only treacle, from which the modern word derives.
Years ago every county had its local snake catcher, who would patrol the heaths and with a forked hazel wand, pin the adder at the back of the neck, then pick it up by the tail and pop it into a sack. These would then be boiled to make viper-broth, which if drunk in small doses would cure ulcers, or 'any corruption of the system'.
Adders were thought to drink cows' milk from pails. This was perhaps because they were often found sheltering in dry cow-sheds. No sensible person in the Middle Ages would eat venison in summer, because deer were known to eat snakes...a lot of old nonsense? No more than you see today in tabloids, on TV, and across the internet. Long live the Horsham serpent.
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Weather for Chichester
Monday 13 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 3 C to 7 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: North west
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Temperature: 6 C to 8 C
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