New England Oddities

In Search Of Puckwudgies

Recently, we journeyed to Freetown, Massachusetts, a small community located in a portion of the state known as The Bridgewater Triangle.  The triangle has gained notoriety as a hot spot to paranormal investigators, UFO hunters and crypto-zoologists across the country.  And apparently this area has been a locale for strange phenomena before the first European settlers arrived.

The Wampanoag tribe has a long oral history of this area going back some ten thousand years.  Among the lore is an interesting tale of a creative giant named Maushop, who, according to legend, was responsible for creating Cape Cod and performing other great deeds for the Native Americans of Massachusetts.  But in all of this joy and happiness lies a hidden malevolence: a pint-sized model of rottenness driven by jealousy and revenge known as the Puckwudgie.

Puckwudgies are described as two to three feet tall and resemble a troll in appearance.  One interesting plot twist to the lore is that Puckwudgies did not start out as malevolent beings.  At first, their role was beneficial and helpful to the Indians.  But at some point the Puckwudgies became jealous of Maushop, his wife Quant and the favor the Wampanoag showed them.  Soon the little helpers became a dangerous nuisance, burning homes, kidnapping and killing Native Americans.  The legend goes on to reveal that Native Americans asked Quant for assistance with the Puckwudgies.  She then told Maushop of the troubles, and he helped by shaking and scattering the little meanies all over New England.  Some perished as a result, but the ones that survived returned to seek revenge.  With a escalated voracity, the Puckwudgies attacked Native American villages.

Once again natives went to Quant for help, and again she spoke to her husband.  This time Mashaup, being lazy, sent his three sons to deal with the situation.  But the Puckwudgies were ready; they lured the three wariors into a tall grass and shot them dead with poisoned arrows.  Maushop and his wife Quant, in a rage, went about destroying every Puckwudgie they could find.  Unfortunately for us, the legend states that some escaped and they are rumored to inhabit the woods of New England.

In the last twenty years alone, there have been numerous claimed sightings of Puckwudgies.  The physical descriptions from each witness bear striking similarities.  Three of theses sightings were reported to happen in the Bridgewater State Forest.  And the last, and most recent was in a cemetery in New Hampshire.

Unfortunately, during our visit to the Bridgewater Triangle, we were unable to establish whether or not Puckwudgies are mean, misunderstood or even exist.  Our visit to the state park lasted for several hours in one of the areas where a Puckwudgie was reportedly sighted.  We even wandered around the woods along many of the marked trails.  However nothing out of the ordinary ever materialized.

Have individuals witnessed these small but dangerous characters from North America’s past?  And if by some chance, they misidentified another living thing for a Puckwudgie, what was it? These questions still remain.