In the summer of 1815, London was abuzz with excitement following the British victory over Napoleon. Piccadilly Street was thronged with celebrants, causing traffic to slow to a crawl. Amidst the festive chaos, a particularly unusual sight caught the public’s eye. According to memoirist Rees Howell Gronow, a carriage drew significant attention due to rumors of a pig-faced lady inside. Observers claimed they saw a pig-like snout peeking out from under a bonnet. The commotion was so intense that the carriage driver had to hastily flee the scene.
This bizarre episode exemplifies how wild rumors can escalate into a full-blown frenzy. By the early 19th century, London’s burgeoning news industry had transformed the legend of the pig-faced lady into a sensation.
Origins of the Pig-Faced Lady Legend
The tale of the pig-faced lady has roots dating back to the 17th century. One of the earliest stories involves Jacamijntjen Jacobs, a Dutch housewife who reportedly turned away a beggar. According to Dutch doctor Jan Bondeson in his book The Two-Headed Boy and Other Medical Marvels, the beggar cursed Jacobs’ unborn child, resulting in her daughter being born with a pig’s face.
Similarly, the legend of Tannakin Skinker, a wealthy Dutch woman, tells of a beggar’s curse leading to a pig-like appearance. Skinker became the subject of multiple 17th-century ballads and chapbooks. Author Robert Chambers later noted that even 18th-century Dubliners speculated that philanthropist Griselda Steevens might have been a pig-faced lady, although this was widely dismissed as a baseless rumor. Notably, these legends primarily involve women, perhaps reflecting societal preoccupations with female beauty, which seldom extended to stories about pig-faced men.
The Pig-Faced Lady in 19th Century London
By the 19th century, the pig-faced lady had become a well-known figure among London’s monstrous legends. Unlike ghosts or werewolves, she symbolized an unsettling intersection between humanity and barnyard animals, exacerbated by her purported upper-class status.
The fascination with monstrous births also played into the legend. Such tales often attributed physical abnormalities to divine punishment or, as Enlightenment thinking progressed, to a mother’s emotional distress or hereditary flaws. The pig-faced lady represented a blend of old superstitions and emerging scientific explanations, embodying societal anxieties about physical differences and class.
Media Frenzy and Public Reaction
The legend of the pig-faced lady gained substantial traction thanks to the media. Early in 1815, newspapers like The Times fueled the sensation. On February 9, 1815, an advertisement appeared, expressing a desire to care for a lady with facial afflictions, which sparked ridicule. Despite this, The Times continued to report on the legend, detailing the pig-faced lady’s supposed residence in affluent neighborhoods like Manchester or Grosvenor Square.
The media frenzy intensified with marriage proposals published in The Times and The Morning Chronicle. These proposals, alongside other sensational stories, cemented the pig-faced lady’s status as a curious media phenomenon, even if many viewed her as a mere fiction.
Legacy of the Pig-Faced Lady
By the summer of 1815, interest in the pig-faced lady had waned, but the legend persisted. In 1861, an anonymous inquiry in Notes and Queries sought information about her, and Charles Dickens referenced the tale in All the Year Round, suggesting that such legends have always intrigued people. Sideshows featuring supposed pig-faced ladies, often revealed to be a bear in disguise, faded with the enactment of the Protection of Animals Act in 1911.
The enduring fascination with the pig-faced lady highlights societal tensions between class and physical difference. The legend reflects deep-seated anxieties about identity, appearance, and how societal norms can be disrupted by those who deviate from the norm.
Reflection on Societal Fascinations
Historian Michael Egan notes, “Monsters are one of the great universals in human history. Every society has them. They create them.” The legend of the pig-faced lady exemplifies how societal fears and curiosities shape and are shaped by such myths. As art historian Candace Livingston observes, these stories reveal much about how societies handle physical differences and how we view those who defy conventional norms.
Ultimately, the tale of the pig-faced lady serves as a mirror reflecting our fascination with the extraordinary and our responses to those who challenge societal expectations.
