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On My Own · Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of
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  Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of
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  Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all
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  Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just
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  Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities.
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  Speaker 1: Gardening can be a relaxing and fulfilling hobby. From planting
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  Speaker 1: flowers and vegetables to trimming and weeding, the end result
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  Speaker 1: is something beautiful and sometimes delicious. My oldest daughter likes
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  Speaker 1: to propagate succulents, while I am on the national do
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  Speaker 1: not sell list for all Bonziye tree vendors thanks to
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  Speaker 1: my black thumb. But to make our gardens even more inviting,
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  Speaker 1: sometimes we hang wind chimes or place decorative fountain in
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  Speaker 1: the middle, something that's pleasing to the senses. But while
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  Speaker 1: back in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, another kind of
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  Speaker 1: garden garnish became popular, one that required a bit more
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  Speaker 1: care and maintenance than a set of wind chimes. Dublin
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  Speaker 1: born Charles Hamilton was a man of Irish nobility and aristocracy.
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  Speaker 1: He went to the finest schools traveled Europe after graduation
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  Speaker 1: until finally becoming a member of Parliament in seventeen twenty seven.
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  Speaker 1: He eventually moved to England, where he spent much of
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  Speaker 1: his time, despite serving constituents back in Ireland. But in
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  Speaker 1: seventeen thirty seven Hamilton acquired a parcel of land at
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  Speaker 1: Haineshill in Cobbham, England, which he continued to grow to
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  Speaker 1: over two hundred acres in size. His time touring Europe
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  Speaker 1: had left a lasting impression on him, and he hoped
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  Speaker 1: that one day he could recreate the sprawling natural gardens
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  Speaker 1: that he had seen during his travels. But he chose
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  Speaker 1: to abandon the standard gardening principles of the time, such
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  Speaker 1: as geometric patterns and rigid layouts. Hamilton instead embraced the
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  Speaker 1: landscape movement, which had begun in England a handful of
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  Speaker 1: years early. This trend was more natural in practice, and
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  Speaker 1: it led to a lush and vibrant ecosystem of plants
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  Speaker 1: and animals cohabitating on the property. But there was something missing,
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  Speaker 1: something unique. Hamilton was one of a relative few who
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  Speaker 1: had the money to populate his garden with a different
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  Speaker 1: kind of creature. In short, he wanted a living recluse,
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  Speaker 1: a living, breathing human being to dwell within the confines
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  Speaker 1: of his garden. His conditions were firm, but for the
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  Speaker 1: individual who could adhere to the fully, there was a
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  Speaker 1: hefty reward waiting for them. At the end, all a
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  Speaker 1: person had to do was live alone on Hamilton's Painsill
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  Speaker 1: estate for seven years. They had to remain silent and
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  Speaker 1: not speak to the servants bringing them their meals each day,
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  Speaker 1: not even a please or a thank you. They also
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  Speaker 1: had to wear a robe made of goat's hair and
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  Speaker 1: refrain from any kind of grooming such as haircuts, clipping
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  Speaker 1: their nails, or trimming their beards. And they could not
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  Speaker 1: wear any shoes. But above all else they could not
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  Speaker 1: wander beyond the Painsill property line. If they were able
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  Speaker 1: to live this way for a period of sar seven years,
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  Speaker 1: they would earn a payout of anywhere from five hundred
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  Speaker 1: to seven hundred pounds, roughly the equivalent of ninety five
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  Speaker 1: thousand to one hundred and thirty thousand dollars today. These
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  Speaker 1: people were known as ornamental hermits, and they were meant
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  Speaker 1: to live a life of introspection, a virtue held in
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  Speaker 1: high regard by the British elite. A man named Remington
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  Speaker 1: was the first to answer Hamilton's request, although despite the
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  Speaker 1: short list of rules given, they were apparently too much
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  Speaker 1: for him to bear. He was eventually disqualified after being
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  Speaker 1: found at a nearby pub getting drunk. Some historians believe
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  Speaker 1: ornamental hermits represented the simple life, devoid of problems like
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  Speaker 1: day jobs, bills, and national politics faced by their rich benefactors.
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  Speaker 1: They might have been living reminders of what was truly
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  Speaker 1: important in life, the kinds of things property owners could
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  Speaker 1: not pursue for fear of losing their own fortunes. The
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  Speaker 1: homes of ornamental hermits varied in size and shape depending
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  Speaker 1: on the property they were constructed upon, and could be
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  Speaker 1: anything from a treehouse to a ship. The first garden
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  Speaker 1: hermitage had been built by English antiquarian and physician William
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  Speaker 1: Stukeley in seventeen twenty seven. His version was small and humble,
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  Speaker 1: nested into the landscape, like, as he put it, a
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  Speaker 1: cell or grotto. Another hermitage, built for King George the
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  Speaker 1: Second's wife Caroline of Ansbach, was nothing more than a
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  Speaker 1: pile of stones arranged in an octagonal shape, with some
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  Speaker 1: moss and bushes strewn about. The practice of hiring strangers
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  Speaker 1: to live on rich people's properties for years at a
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  Speaker 1: time died out in the early eighteen hundreds. What had
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  Speaker 1: started as a way to convey wealth and status dissolved
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  Speaker 1: as abolitionists learned of the questionable living conditions of these hermits.
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  Speaker 1: It became uncouth to pay someone to live in squalor
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  Speaker 1: in your garden. Today, though anyone with a little bit
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  Speaker 1: of money can't rent a cabin in the middle of
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  Speaker 1: nowhere and commune with nature. The whole industry has been
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  Speaker 1: built around the concept. They just don't call you an
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  Speaker 1: ornamental hermit for partaking in it anymore. They call you
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  Speaker 1: an Airbnb customer. Life can seem overwhelming these days. The
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  Speaker 1: climate is changing, the world is constantly at war, and
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  Speaker 1: the politicians we elected to represent our best interests aren't
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  Speaker 1: doing much to earn their votes. It's enough to make
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  Speaker 1: someone want to pack up and move away from civilization,
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  Speaker 1: but it's so much less feasible today, given our dependence
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  Speaker 1: on electronics and well indoor plumbing. But in the late
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  Speaker 1: eighteen thirties, one man found a way to live off
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  Speaker 1: the grid in one of the most beautiful places on Earth,
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  Speaker 1: a location that is both serene and a little bit dangerous.
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  Speaker 1: His name was Francis Abbott, and he had come to
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  Speaker 1: Niagara Falls, New York, from his home country of England
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  Speaker 1: in June of eighteen twenty nine. Abbot was a worldly fellow,
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  Speaker 1: having been to a number of different countries, including Greece, Spain,
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  Speaker 1: and Asia, but he was also a bit of an eccentric.
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  Speaker 1: He didn't talk much. In fact, he carried with him
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  Speaker 1: a slate which he would write upon to convey his
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  Speaker 1: thoughts rather than verbalize them with others. He also had
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  Speaker 1: little to his name. When he arrived in New York.
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  Speaker 1: He was wearing a long brown robe and was carrying
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  Speaker 1: books that he borrowed from the library, along with the
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  Speaker 1: flute and some blankets. He was gaunt in his appearance,
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  Speaker 1: looking in need of rest and perhaps a few decent meals,
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  Speaker 1: and he found those exact things in the home of
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  Speaker 1: a nearby family. They rented him a room, but he
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  Speaker 1: asked for several considerations beforehand. For one, no one else
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  Speaker 1: was to share the room with him, and second, only
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  Speaker 1: a portion of the food he consumed was to be
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  Speaker 1: made by his host family. He stayed for a week,
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  Speaker 1: during which time he purchased a violin. When his stay
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  Speaker 1: was over, he returned his books to the library. But
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  Speaker 1: he wasn't ready to leave Niagara just yet. You see,
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  Speaker 1: he had fallen in love with the place he wanted
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  Speaker 1: to stay, but in a home of his own, so
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  Speaker 1: he asked the owner of nearby island if he could
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  Speaker 1: build a cabin for himself, but was quickly rejected. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: he inhabited a log cabin at the head of Goat
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  Speaker 1: Island with only his dog and his meager belongings. His
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  Speaker 1: time there was simple. He would wander the island at
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  Speaker 1: night near an eight foot long piece of timber extending
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  Speaker 1: out over the falls. On some occasions he would crawl
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  Speaker 1: out to the edge of the limb and just sit there,
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  Speaker 1: his feet dangling over the churning waters. Other times he
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  Speaker 1: would hang from the timber like a leaf in the wind.
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  Speaker 1: Abbot lived on Goat Island in solitude for two years
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  Speaker 1: until he decided to build himself another cabin closer to civilization.
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  Speaker 1: He was spending more time near the other villagers now,
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  Speaker 1: but he didn't interact with them much. He almost never
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  Speaker 1: spoke to any of them, but he wasn't rude either.
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  Speaker 1: He was rather affable, and once drawn into a conversation,
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  Speaker 1: he could be quite charming. One of the few people
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  Speaker 1: that he ever spoke to was George de Vaux, who
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  Speaker 1: he would get into debates and arguments with on all
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  Speaker 1: kinds of topics, most often theology. Abbot would also regale
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  Speaker 1: him with tales of his travels over or play music
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  Speaker 1: he had composed himself, and if any tourists came to
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  Speaker 1: visit the falls, he would perform a balancing act on
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  Speaker 1: that pier to entertain them. He had ingratiated himself within
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  Speaker 1: the community, and he was known by almost all of
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  Speaker 1: his neighbors, who also had come to learn of his
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  Speaker 1: daily habits. For example, he was often seen scribbling away
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  Speaker 1: in various books in his possession, enough to fill a library.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, he would also bathe in the river a
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  Speaker 1: little ways up from Horseshoe Falls. Now it's not clear
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  Speaker 1: exactly how it transpired, but on the afternoon of June
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  Speaker 1: tenth of eighteen thirty one, Abbot waded into the river,
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  Speaker 1: where he drowned. His body was recovered eleven days later
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  Speaker 1: by the townsfolk, who carried him back to the village
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  Speaker 1: to give him a proper burial among the trees and
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  Speaker 1: wildlife he loved so much. In his cabin they found
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  Speaker 1: his flute, his violin, pages of music scattered all over
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  Speaker 1: the floor, and his dog. What they didn't find was
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  Speaker 1: his writing. Apparently he only ever wrote in Latin, and
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  Speaker 1: when he was finished, he would cast the pages into
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  Speaker 1: a fire to be destroyed. Francis Abbott, the Hermit of Niagara,
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  Speaker 1: didn't live there long, but he made a lasting impression
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  Speaker 1: on the locals, so much so that they named the
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  Speaker 1: cascade where he usually bathed Hermit's Cascade in his honor.
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  Speaker 1: Francis may have lived by himself, but he was certainly
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  Speaker 1: never alone. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of
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  Speaker 1: the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts,
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  Speaker 1: or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast
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  Speaker 1: dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey
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  Speaker 1: in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award
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  Speaker 1: winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series,
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  Speaker 1: and television show, and you can learn all about it
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  Speaker 1: over at the Worldolore dot com. And until next time,
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  Speaker 1: stay curious.