332-Princess Caraboo
Futility Closet
Greg Ross
4.8 • 748 Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2021
⏱️ 30 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1817 a young woman appeared in the English village of Almondsbury, speaking a strange language and seeking food and shelter. She revealed herself to be an Eastern princess, kidnapped by pirates from an exotic island. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll tell the story of Princess Caraboo, who was both more and less than she seemed.
We'll also discover a June Christmas and puzzle over some monster soup.
Intro:
In 1988, Martine Tischer proposed wrapping gifts in uncut U.S. currency.
In 1948, Ralph Alpher, Hans Bethe, and George Gamow seized the chance of an immortal byline.
Sources for our feature on Princess Caraboo:
John Matthew Gutch, Caraboo: A Narrative of a Singular Imposition, 1817.
Sabine Baring-Gould, Devonshire Characters and Strange Events, 1908.
Anonymous, Carraboo, Carraboo: The Singular Adventures of Mary Baker, Alias Princess of Javasu, 1817.
John Timbs, English Eccentrics and Eccentricities, 1877.
C.L. McCluer Stevens, Famous Crimes and Criminals, 1924.
J.P. Jewett, Remarkable Women of Different Nations and Ages, 1858.
The Lives and Portraits of Curious and Odd Characters, 1852.
Mrs. John Farrar, Recollections of Seventy Years, 1869.
Margaret Russett, "The 'Caraboo' Hoax: Romantic Woman as Mirror and Mirage," Discourse 17:2 (Winter 1994-1995), 26-47.
Michael Keevak, "A World of Impostures," Eighteenth Century 53:2 (Summer 2012), 233-235.
Shompa Lahiri, "Performing Identity: Colonial Migrants, Passing and Mimicry Between the Wars," Cultural Geographies 10:4 (October 2003), 408-423.
"Top 10 Imposters," Time, May 26, 2009.
"Local Legends: Bristol's Princess Caraboo," BBC (accessed Jan. 31, 2021).
Corrie Bond-French, "The Tale of a Mysterious Princess," Gloucestershire Echo, June 7, 2018.
"Story of Exotic Beauty Still Fascinates Us Today," Mid-Devon Gazette, May 3, 2016, 21.
Nazar Iene Daan Kannibelle, "Servant Girl Hoaxed All Great Britain by Pose as Princess," Washington Times, November 6, 1921.
"A Singular Imposture," Strand 9:52 (April 1895), 451-456.
"The Pretended Princess Caraboo," Gloucestershire Notes and Queries 35 (July 1887), 627-629.
"The Princess Caraboo," Curiosities of Bristol and Its Neighbourhood 7 (March 1884), 48.
"Caraboo," Notes and Queries, June 3, 1865, 447.
F.W. Fairholt, "The Curiosities of Eccentric Biography," Bentley's Miscellany 69 (Jan. 1, 1851), 180-193.
"Princess Caraboo," Museum of Hoaxes (accessed Jan. 31, 2021).
John Wells, "Baker [née Willcocks], Mary [alias Princess Caraboo]," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Sept. 1, 2017.
Listener mail:
Wills Robinson, "For Once, a Good Excuse for Bad Handwriting: One of Admiral Nelson's First Letters Written Left-Handed After He Lost His Right Arm in Battle Is Unearthed," Daily Mail, Feb. 16, 2014.
"Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson," Wikipedia (accessed Feb. 5, 2021).
Maev Kennedy, "Nelson's Right and Left Hand: Wellcome Exhibit Reveals How Past Leaves Its Mark," Guardian, Nov. 24, 2010.
"Peter Butterworth," Wikipedia (accessed Feb. 6, 2021).
Lucy Thornton and Mark Branagan, "Carry On's Peter Butterworth Rejected to Play Himself in Role Because He Was 'Too Fat'," Mirror, Aug. 16, 2020.
"Stray Cat With Shocking Facial Growth Rescued," Catcuddles, Aug. 10, 2020.
Rae Gellel, "Catcuddles Cat Hodge to Follow in Doorkins Magnificat's Paw Prints," Catcuddles, Dec. 6, 2020.
Andrew Nunn, "Welcome to Hodge by the Dean of Southwark," Southwark Cathedral (accessed Feb. 6, 2021).
Jane Steen, "Southwark and Hodge and Dr Johnson," Southwark Cathedral (accessed Feb. 6, 2021).
This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Lucie. Here's a corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle).
You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on Google Podcasts, on Apple Podcasts, or via the RSS feed at https://futilitycloset.libsyn.com/rss.
Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- you can choose the amount you want to pledge, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website.
Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode.
If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at [email protected]. Thanks for listening!
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Futility Closet Podcast, forgotten stories from the pages of history. |
| 0:15.1 | Visit us online to sample more than 11,000 quirky curiosities from monetary gift wrap to an alphabetic byline. This is |
| 0:22.9 | episode 332. I'm Greg Ross. And I'm Sharon Ross. In 1817, a young woman appeared in the |
| 0:30.0 | English village of Amundsbury, speaking a strange language and seeking food and shelter. |
| 0:35.5 | She reveals herself to be an Eastern princess, kidnapped by pirates from an exotic island. |
| 0:41.1 | In today's show, we'll tell the story of Princess Caribou, who was both more and less than she seemed. |
| 0:47.6 | We'll also discover a June Christmas and puzzle over some monster soup. |
| 1:05.7 | On the evening of Thursday, April 3, 1817, a young woman appeared in Amundsbury, Gloucestershire, |
| 1:07.3 | eight miles north of Bristol. |
| 1:12.9 | She wore a black gown with a muslin frill at the neck, a red and black shawl around her shoulders, and a black cotton shawl on her head in the fashion of a turban. She knocked at the |
| 1:18.4 | door of the village cobbler and spoke to the owners in a language that no one could understand. |
| 1:23.3 | By her signs, they understood that she was asking for food and shelter. They gave her some bread and milk, but the cobbler's wife did not feel comfortable admitting |
| 1:31.4 | her to the house, so they consulted the overseer of the poor. |
| 1:35.3 | He decided to take her to Samuel Worrell, a county magistrate, to ask his advice. |
| 1:40.2 | Worrell also had a Greek servant who knew several foreign languages and might help to divine the woman's identity, or at least her nationality. |
| 1:47.6 | At Noel Park, the magistrate's residence, the woman was presented to Warrell and his wife, Elizabeth. |
| 1:52.7 | It turned out that neither they nor their servant could understand her. |
| 1:56.4 | They inquired by signs whether she had any papers, and she took from her pocket a few half-pence |
| 2:01.2 | and a counterfeit sixpence, and indicated that she had nothing else. Her appearance offered few |
| 2:06.1 | clues. The arrangement of her shawls suggested that she might be from Asia. She stood about |
| 2:11.1 | five foot two. Her hands were clean, and while she wore no earrings, she showed the marks of having |
| 2:16.6 | worn them. |
... |
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