#Northeast England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

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Ships that stopped at Whitby Harbor (Seen here circa 1880) inspired Bram Stoker as he wrote Dracula. Photograph By Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, The Royal Photographic Society Collection/Victoria and Albert Museum, London/Getty Images

The Little-Known Shipwreck That Inspired Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’

Stoker was moved by grim details from the world around him while penning his horror masterpiece. The real fate of a ship called the Dmitry played an outsized role in his imaginings.

— By Melissa Sartore | August 18, 2023

The arrival of the Demeter in Bram Stoker's Dracula serves as a fundamental part of the titular character's story: the ship brings death himself to England.

Stoker drew inspiration for his genre-defining horror novel from his time in Whitby, and the dark 1885 fate of the real ship Dmitry on the town’s shore.

The death and tragedy around Stoker ultimately shaped the story that became one of the most famous pieces of English literature and set the stage for the next century of vampire lore.

The wreck of the Dmitry from Narva, now Estonia, aground on Tate Hill Beach in 1885, Whitby, Yorkshire, UK. Photograph By Frank Meadow Sutcliffe, Colin Waters/Alamy Stock Photo

The Dmitry Becomes the Demeter

During the summer of 1890, Irish novelist Bram Stoker vacationed at the seaside town of Whitby in northeast England. Despite spending only a month in the town, Stoker was enthralled by his surroundings: Grand Mansions and Hotels lined the West Cliff while remains of the seventh century Whitby Abbey towered over the East Cliff. Nearby, the cemetery at the Parish Church also served as inspiration as the story of Dracula came to life.

Stoker was also enchanted by the many ships making harbor here. He reportedly visited the Whitby Museum to explore the history of these vessels, as well as a local library, where he came upon William Wilkinson’s book The Accounts of Principalities of Wallachia and Moldova. Stoker marked in his notes:

DRACULA in the Wallachian language means DEVIL. The Wallachians were, at that time, as they are at present, used to give this as a surname to any person who rendered himself conspicuous either by courage, cruel actions, or cunning.

Stoker reportedly asked around the shore about shipwrecks in Whitby, notably the Dmitry, a ship that had wrecked five years earlier.

The cargo vessel Dmitry had set sail from Narva in Russia (modern-day Estonia) in 1885. On October 24, the Dmitry was one of two ships run ashore at Whitby by “a storm of great violence,” according to contemporary newspaper accounts. The other vessel, the Mary and Agnes, was stranded in the raging sea and a lifeboat was sent to rescue its crew. When the crew of the Mary and Agnes was ferried to the shore, per the Leeds Mercury, “their safe landing [was] the signal for loud huzzas by the thousands of people assembled on shore.”

Those same onlookers watched on to see what would happen with the Dmitry. As reported by the North-Eastern Daily Gazette, the crew remained on board in the hopes they would be able to dock, but “the sea beat savagely against the vessel. Her masts gave way and fell with a crash over her side, and the vessel herself began to break up.”

Though unclear exactly how they were rescued, in the end, all seven members of the Dmitry’s crew were safely brought to shore.

There were several unique aspects to the last voyage of the Dmitry that appear to have stood out to Stoker. The Demeter originated in Varna (an anagram for Narva, where the Dmitry originated), and similarly carried “ballast of silver sand, with only a small amount of cargo—a number of great wooden boxes filled with mould.”

Through conversations with fishermen in Whitby, Stoker learned of an untold number of local deaths at sea. Stoker reportedly made note of some 90 names from gravestones in Whitby for future use in his story, including the surname “Swales.” Soon after the arrival of the Demeter in Dracula, he wrote “Mr. Swales was found dead… his neck being broken.”

What Inspired Dracula’s Canine Form?

In Stoker’s novel, Dracula himself took the form of a dog to make his way from the Demeter to dry land, but there was no dog reported to have been on the Dmitry. According to Mel Ni Mhaolanfaidh and Marlon McGarry in 2021, the dog in Dracula may be an homage to the wreck of the Greyhound in 1770.

The Greyhound sailed from Whitby and sank off the coast of Ireland on December 12, 1770 (120 years prior to Stoker’s arrival in the town). Stoker’s mother, Charlotte, was from Sligo, a town in close proximity to the wreck. When the storm that sank the ship surged again, a young cabin boy was left stranded. The rescue effort failed, with only one out of the some 20 men sent to save him tragically dying in the process.

Stoker made no reference to a dog in his notes until two months after he’d departed from Whitby. On October 15, 1890, Stoker wrote, “When ship ran in to Collier's Hope, big dog jumped off bow & ran over pier - up Kiln Yard & church steps & into churchyard…Local dog found ripped open & graves torn up…” It’s not clear if Stoker learned of these details from the Dmitry wreck, another Whitby wreck, or was his own creation.

In the novel, the arrival of the Demeter was paired with a similarly remarkable incident: “The very instant the shore was touched, an immense dog sprang up on deck from below, as if shot up by the concussion, and running forward, jumped from the bow on the sand.”

The dog, a disguised Dracula, wrought bloodshed and death from that point forward. This dog resembled the barghest, a mythical monster often associated with Yorkshire. Spellings and specific forms of barghest vary but the dog-like being foretold of pain, disaster, or even death to all who saw it. The barghest also elicited howling from dogs in its vicinity, something Dracula protagonist Mina Murray reported took place soon after the arrival of the Demeter.

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The British World. MIGRATION Britons Displaced and Britain Transformed. ‘The face of power’ A #seventhcentury #anglosaxon helmet from the #suttonhoo ship-burial site in Suffolk, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 2) Last redoubt. Bamburgh Castle, on England’s wild northeast coast. The fortress occupies a site that was prob. once the citadel and capital of Bryneich, a British kingdom forged after the departure of the Romans from Briton in 410-411 A.D. #britishhistory #history https://www.instagram.com/p/B-K_9JKFqOE/?igshid=1p4o7pklwlh5k

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The Buck Supermoon From Around The World – In Pictures

July’s supermoon has lit up skies from Britain to Argentina. Its proximity to Earth means it appears 5.8% bigger and 12.8% brighter than an ordinary full moon. This month’s full moon is also known as a buck moon – its Native American name – as male deer begin to regrow their antlers in July

— Tuesday 4 July 2023

The Buck Supermoon rises through a haze behind the Statue of Liberty in New Jersey, NJ, USA 🇺🇸. Photograph: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

The Temple of Poseidon near Athens, Greece 🇬🇷, in front of the Buck Supermoon. Photograph: Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters

The Supermoon behind a Soviet-era Monument in St. Petersburg, Russia 🇷🇺! Photograph: Dmitri Lovetsky/AP

A plane flies across the Supermoon above Paris, France 🇫🇷! Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

The Supermoon peeks out from behind the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt 🇪🇬! Photograph: Xinhua/Shutterstock

The Buck Supermoon above St Mary’s Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, on the Northeast Coast of England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿! Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PA

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Famous 'Sycamore Gap Tree' In Northern England Found Cut Down Overnight; 16-Year-Old Arrested

The Tree Was Featured in the Film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."

— By Mark Osborne | September 28, 2023

A Picture Taken on June 4, 2023, shows the Sycamore Gap Tree along Hadrian's Wall near Hexham, Northern England. One of the UK's Most Photographed Trees, located next to the Roman-era Hadrian's Wall in Northeast England, has been "deliberately felled," the authority responsible for the local National Park said on Sept. 28, 2023. Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images

Famous 'Sycamore Gap tree' in northern England found cut down overnight. The tree was featured in the film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."

Authorities in England have arrested a 16-year-old boy after one of the most famous trees in the world was cut down overnight Thursday.

The "Sycamore Gap tree," also sometimes known as the "Robin Hood tree," was found deliberately cut down early Thursday, according to officials.

"Northumberland National Park Authority can confirm that sadly, the famous tree at Sycamore Gap has come down over night," the park wrote in a statement. "We have reason to believe it has been deliberately felled."

A rose lies near Sycamore Gap Tree that was felled, in Northumberland, Britain, Sept. 28, 2023. Lee Smith/Reuters

A 16-year-old boy was arrested "in connection with the incident," according to Northumbria police.

"He remains in police custody at this time and is assisting officers with their enquiries," Northumbria police wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Given our investigation remains at a very early stage, we are keeping an open mind."

The statement continued, "We are working with the relevant agencies and partners with an interest in this iconic North East landmark and will issue more details once they are known."

The tree, which is about 300 years old, was located next to Hadrian's Wall, built by the Romans beginning in 122 A.D. to mark the northern limits of Roman Britannia.

General view of the Sycamore Gap Tree that was felled, in Northumberland, Britain, Sept. 28, 2023. Lee Smith/Reuters

The tree is sometimes called the "Robin Hood tree" because it was featured prominently in the Kevin Costner-led film "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves," released in 1991.

"I can’t express how angry I am at the vandalism of the tree at #SycamoreGap," North of Tyne Mayor Jamie Driscoll wrote on X, prior to the arrest. "People have had their ashes scattered there. People have proposed there. I’ve picnicked there with my wife and kids. It’s part of our collective soul."

The tree was voted the English Tree of the Year in 2016.

Northumberland, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿! The felled Sycamore Gap Tree in Northumberland National Park. A 16-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage in connection with the felling of the 300-year-old tree. Photograph: Lee Smith/Reuters