Scott Town Monster
Posted by: Craig Woolheater on February 5th, 2007
I’m not sure what to make of this article from the Jamaica Gleaner about a mysterious creature that has locals there in fear.
Maas Helton (centre) describes the mysterious creature to his neighbours. – Ian Allen/Staff Photographer
There’s something strange lurking in the bushes in Scott Town, Manchester and it has the whole town abuzz. It’s unlike anything anyone there has ever seen before. The creature has been spotted in Maas Helton’s banana field more than once and now the shaken man is afraid to leave his bed at night.
“Di first time me see di sinting, mi just took off! Mi nah go lay lay and mek it nyam mi raw!” Mass Helton said.
He’s a short fellow with graying hair and he has noticeable trouble pronouncing the letter ‘v’, but his memory of the first time he encountered the mysterious beast is impeccable.
“It was around 3 o’clock inna di morning. Mi decide fi get up early and go inna mi field. Mi and mi dog go round a di back and mi only see when the dog walk off. So mi stand up one side fi see where him a go. Den mi hear one digging noise and mi look and see something a dig up di banana tree. Mi frighten now and bend down behind one bush and a watch. Mi see di dog walk up to di creature and den mi just hear whoo, whoo! When mi hear dat mi gallop weh left all di dog! Dem bwoy out a road say mi too fraid, but mi nuh care!” Maas Helton shouted.
Twice the size of a dog
He said the creature had four long and narrow legs like a goat and a long face with an obvious snout. It was furry and about twice the size of a large dog.
“It front foot hab on four claw and it move very fast. If you quint too fast then you miss it,” he said.
Now news of the strange animal spread across the community like wildfire and soon, plans for a public execution were put in place.
At the crack of dawn the next day, almost everyone from the community turned up at Maas Helton’s home, wielding machetes and carrying torches. “Dem come say dem ready fi kill di brute. Everybody ready fi chop him up. Anyhow dem did ketch him, a murder,” Maas Helton said.
But they didn’t catch the creature and Miss Eva, who walked up to join Maas Helton, knows why.
“Him nuh love noise. Di creature only come out a night time. My cousin see it down by Miss Mama garden. Anyhow him hear noise, him dig off,” she said.
Miss Eva is a strapping woman who had a bunch of clothes pegs attached to the bottom of her blouse. She said she was washing clothes at the back of her house when she heard us talking about the beast.
“People say dem afraid since the beast deh bout. But I not afraid. I not locking up myself inside the house. I must go church and no devil will stop me from go church! Mi nuh fear no foe! Him haffi go nyam mi!” she said adamantly.
Afraid to work in fields
Now most people who live in the community are farmers and are more than a bit agitated that this beast has been running around in their fields and stealing pumpkins and melons. So now the men of Scott Town have devised what they think is an ingenious plan to catch the strange creature. Their plan is to make some giant traps and place them on everyone’s property. If that doesn’t work, then they plan to all spend the night in the bushes and wait for the first sign of the beast. “We going to use some melon and catch him. Him always a trouble people melon and plantain. We going to put out some melon and wait pon him. We haffi ketch him!” Maas Helton said.
By now a crowd had gathered and everyone was talking about how they could possibly catch the beast. I asked Maas Helton what kind of creature he thought it was.
“Well mi see it and mi really nuh know. A man tell mi dat it could be a kangaroo. Another man tell mi dat is a duppy. Right yah now mi nuh really certain. All mi know is that any day mi spot it again, mi a go dig off,” he said.
Miss Jane, an elderly woman wearing a cap, spectacles and a pair of running shoes, walked up to join us. She too had her fair share to say on the matter. “These are the last days! That is why all a dem creature yah leggo pan di earth. God is calling his people! Repent!” she said to nobody in particular.
This silenced the others for a few seconds and then Maas Helton spoke up again.
“Di creature look like him have relation with the dog dem, for when him come round, the dog dem nuh mek nuh noise. Mi have four big dog and none a dem ever make noise when di creature come around. Is like him hypnotise dem wid him eye dem,” he said.
The others seemed to agree. Dwayne, Maas Helton’s son, chimed in. “Yes! Is like him have some kinda magic. More time him look like him can disappear. Mi nuh know what it is, but it must be evil!” he said.
As evening approached in the rural town, everyone scattered, each heading to his own home. It was to be another night of waiting in fear. Waiting for another sign of the Scott Town monster.Robert Lalah
About Craig Woolheater
Co-founder of Cryptomundo in 2005.
I have appeared in or contributed to the following TV programs, documentaries and films:
OLN's Mysterious Encounters: "Caddo Critter", Southern Fried Bigfoot, Travel Channel's Weird Travels: "Bigfoot", History Channel's MonsterQuest: "Swamp Stalker", The Wild Man of the Navidad, Destination America's Monsters and Mysteries in America: Texas Terror - Lake Worth Monster, Animal Planet's Finding Bigfoot: Return to Boggy Creek and Beast of the Bayou.
Did the creature actually dig up the banana tree or did it just dig under the banana tree? Unless there is something more for a description, it sounds like a large dog to me.
Another strange creature surfacing in Jamaica, eh? Wonder what’s going on there!
Can only understand about half of what’s reported and the other half gave me a headache trying to decipher.
Wild hog?
I believe these folks have been enjoying some Rasta-weed, mon.
A few more details would help, such as walked on two legs or four? Reptile or mammal?
No one has said anything in what is presented to give any hint of any supernatural traits, so why is the guy so scared?
I hope nobody comes after him if they discover it’s all just a story.
Mi think him be smoking da ganja.
Yeah, I’m not about to accuse anybody of being dumb just because they speak a little differently, and I’m sure most of them have forgotton more than I could ever hope to learn about farming, but I am a bit baffled when they assume that it must be evil because it’s eating their melons and plantains.
Is it normal for Jamaican reporters to write in English but report what’s told to them in Pidjin by quoting word-for-word? I know that if I had written this article, I would have paraphrased most of what these people had told me, unless I knew my audience were very well-versed and comfortable in their dialect. Perhaps it’s a cultural difference, but it almost appears as if the reporter is trying to make light of the account by quoting everyone so word-for-word…
I agree there are too few details in the testimony.
Was there any aggression?
Was it even mammal?
Did it ever walk upright?
How the dogs behaved around “it” is an important clue.
The rest gave me a headache as well, which is something I’ll have to get used to.
I agree with Mnynames in that it is a bit odd that everything was recounted word for word in what might be a difficult to understand way of speaking for the common layman. It is actually a bit hard for me to understand what he is talking about at times. It makes it difficult to glean details about the case. It would be helpful if this was not only paraphrased, but had a bit more in the way of detail. First off, does anyone know the fauna of Jamaica well enough to know what this could possibly be besides a mysterious monster? That is as good a place as any to start. Eliminate the more mundane possibilities and see where the evidence leads.
You heard the woman…repent!
When Roberto Clemente first played in the Major Leagues of American baseball, the sportswriters used to spell out his quotes phonetically to make him appear foolish. After he died during a noble humanitarian mission and got elected to the Hall of Fame, the writers only wrote respectfully about him. I’m more curious about the background of the writer of this article than the “monster,” haha.