[This next section of Sarah Hewett's book is entitled "peculiar and eccentric Devoninans. I couldnt deside whether this constituted folklore or not. While they are of real histories I think they are linked to places and retold in relation to those places (I have told of this story in Bristol to a friend!). The people are often 'folk' - their fame coming from legend rather than importance to the aristocratic orientated history books. Therefore I will include them, but rather than brake each one up into parts and keyword it all I have posted them all as one so as to take up minimal space.]
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| Princess Javasu, Cariboo, Mary Willcocks... By The book's text by JF Nicholls (d. 1883) and John Taylor (d. 1893). Death dates citation: doi:10.1093/library/s1-V.1.86. Images by unknown engravers, and thus are PD due to age, per the relevant British legislation [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
"THIS clever unscrupulous woman was born of poor but respectable parents at Witheridge, North Devon, on November 11th, 1792. Her father, Thomas Willcocks, was a shoemaker. His daughter Mary, being of a wild disposition, objected to the restrictions of school life, hence she received little or no education, and at eight years of age was employed in spinning wool. The manufacture of woollen yarns was at this time the staple industry of the district. Athletics had a strong attraction for Mary, who, before she was eighteen years of age, excelled all the village youths in cricket, playing at bowls, swimming, and fishing. As a domestic servant she was invaluable, and this must be said to her credit, that whatever she undertook she did well and intelligently, giving undivided attention to the minutest details. From her sixteenth to twenty-second year she lived in service at Witheridge, Exeter, Taunton, and in the neighbourhood of London. Fond of finery she applied all her wages to the purchase of smart attire, and when on a visit to her parents she made great display of it, to the disgust of her father who said, "'twadden vitty vor the likes o' she to be fettled up in such fal-lals and fantisheeny clothes." When he insisted that a certain smart white frock should be taken off, Mary refused to obey him, whereupon a quarrel arose which ended in her father taking the matter up in a furious temper, and beating her severely with a leathern strap. After this she decamped and was never seen again at Witheridge. While living with Mrs. Hillier, a fishmonger at Billingsgate, she met a man called Bakerstendt or Bickerstein, whom she is supposed to have married after only two months' acquaintance.
Whether she was married to this foreigner, or whether he seduced and afterwards deserted her, has not been clearly ascertained. There is little doubt, but that it was from him, who had probably associated with Malays or was acquainted with their language, that she picked up the Eastern words and idioms she used, as well as that knowledge of some Asiatic customs which so effectually enabled her to effect her imposition.
A year after her marriage (?) we find her living at Bristol with Eleanor Josephs. At first she did not pretend to be a foreigner, until one day she dressed herself in a turban, and went into the streets shouting at the top of her voice an unknown lingo. This was her first attempt to palm herself off as a stranger in a strange land.
On Thursday evening, the 3rd of April, 1817, the overseer of the parish of Almondsbury, near Bristol, called at the residence of Mr. Samuel Warrall, a magistrate, to inform him that a young woman, speaking a foreign language, had entered a cottage in the village, and made signs that she wished to sleep under its roof. A manservant in the house knew several languages, therefore the woman was brought before him, but appeared not to understand a word he said. Her dress consisted of a black stuff gown, with a white muslin frill around the neck, a black cotton shawl fantastically arranged about her head, and a red checked shawl loosely and tastefully put on her shoulders in imitation of Asiatic costume.
The general impression from her manners and person was attractive and prepossessing. In height about 5ft. 2in., she had a small head, low forehead, black hair and eyes, short nose, pink cheeks, wide mouth, white gleaming teeth, lips large and full, a small round chin, and an olive complexion. Her hands were well formed, and so white that one would suppose they were unaccustomed to labour. Age about twenty-five years.
When offered food she covered her face with her hands, and appeared to repeat a prayer, bowing her head at the conclusion.
Mrs. Warrall took compassion on her loneliness and received her into her house as a guest. Upon being shewn books of travel, she intimated that the one descriptive of China was the country from which she came. Mrs. Warrall began to have suspicions that the woman was an impostor, and talked very seriously to her, begging her to speak the truth of herself. She pretended not to understand a word, and addressed Mrs. Warrall in her own tongue. Mrs. Warrall wrote her name upon paper, pronouncing it several times as she placed it before her, hoping that the woman would reveal her own, which she did by crying out "Caraboo ! Caraboo !" pointing to herself.
Upon some furniture being shewn to her, inlaid with Chinese figures, Caraboo made signs that they belonged to her country. She then drew the following chart of her voyage to Europe :
Her father's country was Congee (China), her mother's was Batavia, her own, Javasu, of which she was the princess. Hereafter she was known as Caraboo, or the Princess Javasu. For several months she lived this picturesque lie. One gentleman who had made several voyages to the East Indies took great interest in her, and in the warmth of his anxiety to discover her history probably assisted her to emphasise more distinctly the imposture on the good people of Bristol and Bath.
She marked time by tying knots on a string in a peculiar manner, and by this means pointed out the periods and distances of her voyage. She said that in Congee they wrote with a camel's hair brush or pencil and Indian ink. Here are a few of the signs she employed, which are simply Arabic characters which she might have found among Beckerstein's papers.
The gibberish language in which she made herself understood, was aided by gestures and animation of countenance which it is impossible to describe. It is singular that during her residence at Knowle, Bath, and Bristol she was never heard to pronounce a word of English. She had an astonishing command of countenance and complete self-possession. A gentleman tried to move her by flattery : he drew his chair close to hers, looked steadily and smilingly in her face, and said : "You are the most beautiful creature I ever beheld. You are an angel." Not a muscle of her face moved, no blush suffused her cheek, and her countenance was a blank.
The gibberish language in which she made herself understood, was aided by gestures and animation of countenance which it is impossible to describe. It is singular that during her residence at Knowle, Bath, and Bristol she was never heard to pronounce a word of English. She had an astonishing command of countenance and complete self-possession. A gentleman tried to move her by flattery : he drew his chair close to hers, looked steadily and smilingly in her face, and said : "You are the most beautiful creature I ever beheld. You are an angel." Not a muscle of her face moved, no blush suffused her cheek, and her countenance was a blank.
The bubble, however, was on the eve of bursting.
Dr. Wilkinson, of Bath, determined to probe the mystery, and after making exhaustive enquiries about her, of persons with whom she was known to have lodged previous to her arrival at Almondsbury, discovered that she was none other than the veritable daughter of Thomas Wilcocks, the Witheridge shoemaker.
After this, the exposure of the deception practised on Mrs. Warrall was speedy and decisive. Mrs. Warrall went alone into a room with Caraboo, and told her of the damning proofs she had obtained of her being an impostor. She again tried in her gibberish to interest her benevolent friend by saying, "Caraboo, Toddy Noddy," etc., but could not succeed.
Hereupon she acknowledged the cheat and begged that her parents should not be sent for. This was promised on condition that she would make a clean breast of the whole imposture and give details of her former life, to which she readily acceded.
A passage in the " Robert and Ann," under the care of Captain Robertson, was at once procured for her, and taking the name of Mrs. Mary Burgess, she sailed for, and lived many years at, Philadelphia. The day before leaving Bristol she wrote the following letter to Mrs. Warrall, which shewed that Caraboo was not insensible of the great kindness and attention to her comfort and happiness which Mrs. Warrall unweariedly gave her.
This is a verbatim copy :
" HON. MADAM,
Friendship thou charmer of the mind thou sweet deluding ill the brightest moments mortals find and sharpest pains can feel fate has divided all our shares of pleasure and of pain in love the friendship and the cares are mixed and join again the same ingenious author in another place says tis dangerous to let loose our love between the eternal fair for pride that busy sin spoils all that we perform.
Friendship thou charmer of the mind thou sweet deluding ill the brightest moments mortals find and sharpest pains can feel fate has divided all our shares of pleasure and of pain in love the friendship and the cares are mixed and join again the same ingenious author in another place says tis dangerous to let loose our love between the eternal fair for pride that busy sin spoils all that we perform.
MARY BAKER."
After several years residence in America she returned to England, and settled at Bristol, about the year 1849, where she and her daughter earned a precarious living by selling and applying leeches, still retaining the assumed name of Mary Burgess, alias Baker. She died at Bristol in 1864.
A vocabulary of a few words with their meanings made use of by Caraboo :
Alia Tulla
Samen
Tarsa
Manjintoo
Larger
Juxto
Kala
Anna
Mono
Vellee
Apa
Savee
Ake Brasidoo
Ake Dosi
Ake Sacco
Pakey
Savoo
Fosi
Toose
Mosha
Raglish
Noutee
Zee
Archee
Mo
Samen
Tarsa
Manjintoo
Larger
Juxto
Kala
Anna
Mono
Vellee
Apa
Savee
Ake Brasidoo
Ake Dosi
Ake Sacco
Pakey
Savoo
Fosi
Toose
Mosha
Raglish
Noutee
Zee
Archee
Mo
Meaning -
God
Heaven
Earth
Gentlemen
Ladies
Doctor
Time
Night
Morning
Bed
Fire
Rain
Come to breakfast
Come to dinner
Come to supper
Child
Knife
Fork
To swim
A man
A woman
An orange
Tea
Potato
Milk
Suso Sugar
Smachi Cayenne
Tamah Fowl
Rampue Pigeon
Heaven
Earth
Gentlemen
Ladies
Doctor
Time
Night
Morning
Bed
Fire
Rain
Come to breakfast
Come to dinner
Come to supper
Child
Knife
Fork
To swim
A man
A woman
An orange
Tea
Potato
Milk
Suso Sugar
Smachi Cayenne
Tamah Fowl
Rampue Pigeon
ODE TO MOLLY BAKER alias PRINCESS CARABOO.
THE two following Jeu d'esprits appeared during the period when this imposture formed the topic of general conversation at Bath and Bristol.
Oh Molly, what a wag thou art
So effectually to play the part
Of wandering, friendless Caraboo,
Bespeaks a talent few could boast
Even from juggling India's coast
But prythee tell me can it all be true ?
If thou when heathen Greek inditing,
Didst rival Rapier in his writing
(So versatile thy nature,
And sweetly plastic every limb)
Like Roland fence, like Dolphin swim,
Thou art indeed an interesting creature.
Wert thou with all the men so shy,
As ev'n thy beauteous hand deny
In common salutation ?
Was there no tender tete-a-tete,
Thy admirers thus to fascinate,
Who puffed thy beauty through the nation ?.
Thy sloe-black eyes, and teeth so white,
(By Nature formed to charm or bite ?)
With lady-airs in plenty
Like opiates all the senses lull'd,
Of reason and of vision gulled,
Th' all-knowing Cognoscenti.
When to the house-top prone to stray,
And would'st to Alla-Tullah pray,
Had'st thou no high priest near thee ?
1 mean not that imperious sun
Of reckless Juggernaut ; but one
Well pleased to assist, and hear thee ?
But where did'st learn (for Heaven's sake)
To swim or dive, like duck or drake
When water-dogs pursue ?
And when for pure ablution quipp'd,
Lurk'd there (as when Godiva stripped)
No peeping Tom or wanton Makratoo ?
Plague on that meddling tell-tale Neale,
Eager thy history to reveal,
And mar the pleasing fable :
Too sudden came the denouement
Which proved thou art from down-along,
Where dumplings grace each table.
" Drat her pug-nose, and treacherous eyes,
Deceitful wretch ;"
the doctor cries,
So effectually to play the part
Of wandering, friendless Caraboo,
Bespeaks a talent few could boast
Even from juggling India's coast
But prythee tell me can it all be true ?
If thou when heathen Greek inditing,
Didst rival Rapier in his writing
(So versatile thy nature,
And sweetly plastic every limb)
Like Roland fence, like Dolphin swim,
Thou art indeed an interesting creature.
Wert thou with all the men so shy,
As ev'n thy beauteous hand deny
In common salutation ?
Was there no tender tete-a-tete,
Thy admirers thus to fascinate,
Who puffed thy beauty through the nation ?.
Thy sloe-black eyes, and teeth so white,
(By Nature formed to charm or bite ?)
With lady-airs in plenty
Like opiates all the senses lull'd,
Of reason and of vision gulled,
Th' all-knowing Cognoscenti.
When to the house-top prone to stray,
And would'st to Alla-Tullah pray,
Had'st thou no high priest near thee ?
1 mean not that imperious sun
Of reckless Juggernaut ; but one
Well pleased to assist, and hear thee ?
But where did'st learn (for Heaven's sake)
To swim or dive, like duck or drake
When water-dogs pursue ?
And when for pure ablution quipp'd,
Lurk'd there (as when Godiva stripped)
No peeping Tom or wanton Makratoo ?
Plague on that meddling tell-tale Neale,
Eager thy history to reveal,
And mar the pleasing fable :
Too sudden came the denouement
Which proved thou art from down-along,
Where dumplings grace each table.
" Drat her pug-nose, and treacherous eyes,
Deceitful wretch ;"
the doctor cries,
(No more inclined to flattery)
" When next I meet her (spite of groans)
I'll rive her muscles, split her bones
With my galvanic battery."
But heed him not for on my soul
Whether at Bristol, Bath or Knole,
I admired thy Caraboo.
Such self-possession at command,
The by-play great the illusion grand :
In truth 'twas everything but true.
Then Molly take a friend's advice
(To make thy fortune in a trice),
All wand'ring gypsy tricks resign
Fly to thy proper forte the stage :
Where thou in this half mimic age
Princess of actors would'st unrivall'd shine.
" When next I meet her (spite of groans)
I'll rive her muscles, split her bones
With my galvanic battery."
But heed him not for on my soul
Whether at Bristol, Bath or Knole,
I admired thy Caraboo.
Such self-possession at command,
The by-play great the illusion grand :
In truth 'twas everything but true.
Then Molly take a friend's advice
(To make thy fortune in a trice),
All wand'ring gypsy tricks resign
Fly to thy proper forte the stage :
Where thou in this half mimic age
Princess of actors would'st unrivall'd shine.
From the Bristol Mirror, June 2ist, 1817.
THE following squib was circulated after the exposure of this arch-impostor's deceptions, throughout Devon and Somerset.
CARABOO.
OH ! young Caraboo is come out of the west,
In Frenchified tatters the damsel is dressed
And, save one pair of worsted, she stockings had none,
She tramped half unshod, and she walked all alone :
But how to bamboozle the doxy well knew ;
You ne'er heard of gipsy like young Caraboo.
She staid not for river, she stopt not for stone,
She swam in the Avon where ford there was none :
But when she alighted at W gate,
The dame and the doctor received her in state.
No longer a gipsy, the club of bas-bleu
To a princess converted the young Caraboo.
So boldly she entered the W hall,
Amongst linguists, skull-feelers, bluestockings and all.
Sure never a hall such a galliard did grace,
When she fenced with the doctor, so queer her grimace.
But her host seemed to fret though the doctor did fume
Should any to question her titles presume.
And 'twas currently whispered the best they could do,
Was to send up to London the young Caraboo.
The hint was enough ; as it dropt on her ear
It ruined her hopes ; it awakened her fear.
So swift to the quay the fair damsel she ran ;
" Oh ! take me, dear captain, away if you can."
She's aboard they are off; "Farewell, Dr. Rampoo,
They'll have swift ships that follow," quoth young Caraboo.
There was bustling 'mong dames of the W clan,
The blue-stocking junto they rode and they ran,
There was racing and chasing from Bath to the sea,
But the bright Queen of Javasoo ne'er could they see,
What a hoax on the doctor and club of bas-bleu,
Did you e'er hear of gipsy like young Caraboo ?
Then spake the sage doctor, profoundly absurd,
While the sly Caraboo answered never a word :
" Art thou sprung from the moon, or from far Javasoo,
Or a mermaid just landed, thou bright Caraboo ?"
To these questions sagacious she answer denied,
Though hard was her struggle the laughter to hide,
But since they decree me these titles so fine
I'll be silent, eat curry, and taste not their wine ;
With this imposition I've nothing to do,
These are fools ready made, said the young Caraboo.
She looked at a pigeon the dame caught it up ;
Caraboo had a mind on a pigeon to sup ;
She looked down to titter she looked up so sly
With the bird in her hand, and the spit in her eye :
She dressed it she ate it she called it Rampoo.
This proves, swore the doctor, she's Queen Caraboo.
H. C. S.
Notes and Queries, June 3rd, 1865."
Hewett, 1900
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