{ . . . and in the history of the Isle of Man, we come across a reference to a strange King, who was banished from his kingdom, and after foretelling of a great curse, was returned in the form of a giant sea serpent. I have been unable to uncover no name of this King, for his name, along with all his deeds, have been banished from official records, leaving nothing behind with which to corroborate this extraordinary tale. But I was able to uncover this single reference from an old periodical dated in 1836, from a obscure London periodical, [Time], 3rd Edition, Volume 1. It is itself, only a small fragment, which is to say, nothing more than a quote from a frightened Manxman which was recorded and preserved. I site it in its entirety.} Hoffman, [The folklore of the British Isles,] J. A. Kraus & Son, 1934
" . . . it was a monster. The serpent . . . twas the Red King returned, just as the legend did say[that I knows]. The Red King . . .[chewed them and tore them asunder . . .] took six of my men, drown them in the wake of his fiery red spume and carried them away to hell. I survived by clinging to the wreckage of the boat and prayed the Red King was satisfied with his terrible toll."
Oddly, there is no more information about this witness, and even his name has been lost. This I was able to copy down from a worn and faded piece of microfilm in the collection of European folklore from the University of Arkham, by the kind curator W. F. Mattheson. Originally, I was not even looking for this, but instead, information on Melanthros. So, indeed my early exploration has met with some success.
—K
