Two from the general area of Chickies Rock and one from just outside of Red Lion, Pennsylvania in York County. I go on to present three modern albatwitch encounters in the book. Picnickers at Chickies Rock have reported their apples stolen and sometimes even thrown back at them. Preferring to keep to the shadows, they made their presence known by a sound like a cracking whip (perhaps this is aggressive branch-breaking, a well known bigfoot trait?). The albatwitches were said to live mostly in the trees. Here again we have the recurring idea of a creature (or other phenomenon) either luring people into the woods, or else taking people already in the woods, with the people in either case never being seen again. Bewitched by the sound of the creatures’ flutes, many who heard and followed the flute songs disappeared. Like the Celtic fairies, Megumoowesoos were said to lure people into the woods with wonderful music. The Algonquin also told of small hairy hominid creatures known as Megumoowesoos. ![]() The Susquehannock Indians knew well of the albatwitch, and painted images of the creatures on their war shields. Keeping the entire word German, ALBWITSCHEN or ALBENTWISHEN seem far more likely a root for “albatwitch” than either my “alb-snitz” and “alb-witch” guesses above OR the commonly reported “apple-snitch” you will find elsewhere. Alb-witschen or Alb-entwishen would give us a agile, quick or escaping elf/spirit. (Interesting to note how bigfoot locomotion is often described as “gliding” – people describe them moving somewhat like cross-country skiers.) Probably related to witschen is the more common German verb entwishen – “to escape”. Since publishing, Moritz has turned up some more information for me: there is an obscure German verb witschen which describes an agile, quick, gliding type movement. This would give the word the sense of ‘apple-elf’ or ‘apple-spirit’. Another possibility is that the word is derived from a combination of German ‘alb’ with Pennsylvania Dutch snitz – ‘snitz’ being a Pennsylvania Dutch term for apples. ![]() Given the nature of the creatures, it seems at least as likely that albatwitch might be a mixed compound word, combining German ‘alb’ + English ‘witch’, i.e. However, alb is a German word for an ‘elf’ or spirit. The name, albatwitch, is commonly reported to be a Pennsylvania Dutchified compound word derived ultimately from English ‘applesnitch’, i.e. So, with help again from my German friend Moritz Maier, let’s look at some other possibilities… taking a passage from my book, Beyond the Seventh Gate: Of course, the Pennsylvania Dutch are not Dutch in origin, but German – and German is still spoken by many people in the area. ![]() One must make some tremendous verbal leaps to get from “apple-snitch” all the way to albatwitch! That is, if you are thinking of “albatwitch” as an English word. You will also read that “albatwitch” is some kind of Pennsylvania Dutch-ified English compound word for “apple-snitch” or apple-stealer. ![]() Albatwitch proportions are different as well – they are reported as thinner creatures, with arms and legs proportionately like humans and with round heads that sit atop their shoulders (bigfoot are often reported as having “no neck” or a head that protrudes from the shoulders as opposed to sitting atop their shoulders like humans). Whatever these creatures are, they are not simply juvenile bigfoot – for they are never seen in conjunction with adult bigfoot. So, what are the albatwitch? A quick search of the web will turn up some slight information: 3-5 foot tall, hairy ape-men who seem to be fond of apples and live around the Susquehanna River (most notably the Chickies Rock area – though albatwitches have been reported on the York County side of the river as well). I guess this must have struck a chord because I have been contacted by other researchers, a TV show and several individuals wanting to discuss the creatures … while I see Wes (Sasquatch Chronicles) is planning an upcoming show on the “little people” – which is what the albatwitch seem to be known as further abroad. Very interesting article from Tim writes”During my recent appearance on Sasquatch Chronicles podcast I mentioned my research on the albatwitch creatures of South Central Pennsylvania.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |