“And then, with ghastly shimmer and shine
Over the rocks and the seething brine,
They burned the wreck of the Palatine.”
– from “The Palatine Light,” John Greenleaf Whittier
Just after Christmas each year, a spectral glow appears off the northern shores of Brock Island, Rhode Island. To the island’s residents, this spectral light is unmistakable: the doomed Palatine Ship returning to exact its revenge.
According to the legend, In August of 1738, the British ship Princess Augusta set sail from Rotterdam, bound for Philadelphia, carrying 240 German immigrants from the Palatine region. The ship was cursed from the start. A fatal mistake in provisioning tainted the water supply, and disease spread quickly. By the time the ship neared the New England coast in late December, over half of the passengers and crew had perished—including Captain George Long. The first mate, Andrew Brook, took command, exacerbating an already dire situation by extorting the remaining passengers for food and clean water.
History records that on December 26, the Princess Augusta ran aground on the rocks off Brock Island. Whether the wreck was caused by the brutal winter storms or something darker remains shrouded in mystery.
Survivors’ accounts suggest that Brook attempted to reach the mainland but was blown off course. After abandoning the ship, the crew rowed to Brock Island, where the locals pressured them to return and rescue the passengers. Most were nursed back to health, except for Mary Van Der Line, a passenger who, driven mad, refused to leave her belongings on the burning ship. Her tortured screams were audible from the shore as perished in the flames.
Yet darker rumors persist. Some say that the islanders, notorious for piracy, used a false beacon to lure the ship into the rocks. They reportedly murdered the remaining passengers, stole their possessions, and set the ship ablaze. According to this version, Mary Van Der Line’s screams were heard from the burning wreck as it sank. However, her motive for remaining suggests fear of the raiders rather than madness.
The legend of the Palatine Light has endured for centuries, retold by generations of islanders. One resident, Benjamin Congdon, made this statement circa 1810:
“About the burning Palatine ship… I may say that I have seen her eight or ten times or more. In those early days nobody doubted her being sent by an Almighty Power to punish those wicked men who murdered her passengers and crew.”
Although sightings have become less frequent, the faithful still gather at the rocky shore on those cold winter nights just after Christmas. If you’re lucky, they say, you can still catch a glimpse of Princess Augusta’s ghostly flames flickering in the mist. Or maybe hear the echoes of Mary Van Der Line’s anguished screams drifting on the wind.
Jason Roberts is a Seattle-based author noted for his acclaimed Western Horror series The Dead Wind Trilogy and other works of cosmic horror infused with historical fiction. His web-based series, Dark Distractions, examines paranormal mysteries, unexplained phenomena, and all things strange.
