Historical oddity: the Dark Day of 1780

Nineteenth of May, a gloomy day
When darkness veil'd the sky;
The sun's decline may be a sign
Some great event is nigh.

Let us remark, how black and dark,
Was the ensuing night;
And for a time the moon's decline
Which did not give her light.

Can mortal man this wonder scan,
Or tell a second cause?
Did not our GOD not shake his rod,
And check strong nature's laws?''

Today is the anniversary of one of those oddities in the annals of history which are fascinating to ponder.
The broadside shown above tells the story of the strange event, which happened on May 19, 1780, known as The Dark Day. On that day, according to many independent accounts, a darkness seemed to fall over much of New England beginning that morning, and continuing until just before sunset that evening.

Presumably my New England ancestors were right in the midst of this occurrence, since they lived mostly in Northeast Massachusetts and southern Maine at that time. I would love to have their accounts of what happened. I have no doubt that they would likely have subscribed to the viewpoint expressed by the broadside writer.

Given the very religious nature of most of the New England people at that time, the event was interpreted by many as a sign of God's displeasure and the impending judgment day. The anonymous writer of the broadside exhorts his readers to repent, and prepare for judgment.

The poet John Greenleaf Whittier tells of the events of the Dark Day in his poem, Abraham Davenport:

...Twas on a May-day of the far old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,
Over the fresh earth, and the heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness like the night
In day of which the Norland sagas tell,
The Twilight of the Gods. The low-hung sky
Was black with ominous clouds, save where its rim
Was fringed with a dull glow, like that which climbs
The crater's sides from the red hell below.
Birds ceased to sing, and all the barnyard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars
Lowed, and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;
Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom-blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky, that the dreadful face of Christ
Might look from the rent clouds, not as He looked
A loving guest at Bethany, but stern
As Justice and inexorable Law.

The modern mind tends to look for scientific explanations of the strange occurrence of that day, which was not the day of a solar eclipse. The 'Weather Doctor' website gives a very detailed account of the phenomenon and the known facts, taken from several reliable accounts by those who witnessed it. It makes for interesting reading. The writer suggests a logical, natural explanation for the 'Dark Day', which may well be true. I suppose in matters like these, I'm open-minded. I don't believe that the human mind, despite its scientific advances, is capable of knowing all things; I don't have a blind faith in science. For those who feel the need to tie everything up in scientific packages, and neatly dispose of any loose ends, to each his own. I'm content to accept that there are many things which are mysteries to us; I feel no need to explain everything away.

Mysteries and oddities are fascinating to me for their own sake. I have long been an observer of weather phenomena and I've been a sky-watcher since childhood. The writer and eccentric researcher Charles Fort collected accounts of anomalous events like this in his lifetime, during the early 20th century. I found his books, like 'The Book of the Damned' and 'Lo!' fascinating, and full of stories of quirky, unexplainable phenomena. This Dark Day falls into that category. We might offer possible 'scientific' explanations, but we can't know with certainty. And that is fine with me.

Some modern people believe our ancestors were backward and childlike, in comparison with our sophistication and knowledge, but I'm not inclined to look down on our ancestors and to condescend to their religiosity and piety; I don't believe we are wiser than our forefathers, despite our greater technical and scientific knowledge.

We in our generation seem to be experiencing a 'dark day' in America; or am I the only one lately who senses a pall and a gloom over our country lately? Let's hope that the darkness is as short-lived as that of the Dark Day of 1780.