A Cotuit Treasure Hunt

I went kayaking this weekend for the first time this season. Some friends invited me out to Sampson's Island, also known as Dead Neck, in Cotuit. I took two of my sons and we met up with our guides in the small but affluent cape village. It was a very beautiful day, aside from a fairly strong wind coming in from the north. I was intrigued by the island, which is a long, sandbar-like mass which shelters Oyster Harbor from Vineyard Sound. Today the island is a bird sanctuary, and at times it has areas roped off to protect the piping plovers who nest there. The island was inhabited at one point in its colonial history by Hannah Screecham, an old woman said to be a witch. Hannah purportedly consorted with pirates who would visit the place, and is rumored to have hidden treasure for William Kidd and Blackbeard. One Kidd legend says that she was killed and buried with the treasure and today haunts those who come looking for it.

We came looking with a JW Fishers Pulse 8x metal detector, but it didn't take old Hannah to convince us that hunting for fiddler crabs (which infest the place) and horseshoe crabs would be more fruitful- and fun. In our exploration we met up with a local artist who knew one of our guides. In the ensuing conversation it turns out that the artist went to school with Barry Clifford, the treasure hunter who discovered the sunken pirate wreck Whydah off of Wellfleet. We got the inside scoop on Clifford's youthful days. It sounded like he may have a bit of pirate blood in him, as well.

With no treasure to show we turned around and headed back. The wind had picked up considerably and I struggled to keep on course. Midway back I realized that I would have to steer nearly head-on into the wind. By keeping the bow angled just slightly to the northwest I was able to let the combination of the wind and tide ferry us west, across to the public access beach where we put in. The water was warm and it was refreshing to get out and pull my two passengers across one stubborn sandbar. I hated to get back in and go back to paddling against the wind, but my crew was getting anxious and there really was no choice. We made it back safe and sound, a little wiser about the ways of fiddler crabs and a little sore in the shoulder. It was a great little adventure, though, and I look forward to going back sometime.

The Hannah Screecham legend sounds interesting, and worthy of more study. The Kidd connection is certainly incorrect, even without the fantastic ghost story. Most old tales do have a grain of truth in them, however, and I'm eager to learn more. There is a short publication on Hannah at the Cotuit Library, which I may try to get a hold of. If I do, I'll publish more details regarding the witch of Dead Neck and the tales of pirate treasure that surround her. In the meantime, if anyone out there knows more about the story I would love to hear from you.