Murder: death of Miss Mack Coy [i.e., McCoy], and the Young Teazer. On the death of Miss Elizabeth Mack Coy, of Lee, (N.H.) who was cruelly, murdered it is expected, towards the end of August, 1813: and on the deaths of Capt. Dobson, Lieut. Johnson, sailing master Merril, prize master Allen, and twenty five others, killed by a dreadful explosion on board a privateer called the Young Teazer: fire having been conveyed to the magazine it is expected, by this Johnson, who it is likely would have been hanged, had he not killed himself. Written by J. Plummer, travelling preacher

On the subject of Jonathan Plummer (1761-1819) of Newburyport, Massachusetts, Ola Winslow comments that

broadside history would certainly lose much of its sprightliness without the contribution of this loose-tongued fanatic, but to his fellow citizens in Newburyport he must have been a supreme nuisance in his day. (xxv)

Although he was considered “mentally weak,” his memory was good and he was given a common school education. Unable to work, Plummer sold pins, needles, and other small wares, as well as books, pamphlets, and his own works printed on broadsides such as this one, from a basket that he carried around town. Calling himself a “travelling preacher, physician, poet, and trader,” he would recite selections of prose and poetry in the market place in Newburyport (J. Currier 2:431-38; D. Williams 149-72; D. Tanner 405-12). Plummer produced over forty broadsides with his lyrics and sermons inspired by local events and local personalities.

Plummer probably read of these two events in local newspapers. On August 31, 1813, the body of Miss Elizabeth M’Coy was found in a river in the town of Nottingham, New Hampshire, “mangled in the most shocking manner.” David Rundlet Jr. (or Runlet) was indicted, tried, and acquitted of the crime in December, “though circumstances left little doubt of his guilt” (Haverhill [MA] Merrimack Intelligencer, September 4, 1813; [Concord] New-Hampshire Patriot, December 7, 1813; [Keene] New-Hampshire Sentinel, December 25, 1813).

The destruction of the New York privateer Young Teazer off Nova Scotia on June 27, 1813, survived as a myth and ghost story. Captained by W. B. Dobson,Young Teazer’s brief career as a privateer began in May 1813 with great success. The first rumor of her destruction off Halifax by Lieutenant Frederick Johnson, a member of the crew who feared being captured by the English, appeared in the Charleston City Gazette, on July 23, 1813. By July 27 it was confirmed in several other papers. The brief but dramatic tale took Plummer’s fancy.

The Thomas print of this Plummer sheet does not carry Coverly’s name, only his sales address: “Sold corner Theatre-Alley, Milk-St. Boston.” Another edition at AAS (1813) with the same row of coffins is marked “printed for the Author and sold by him at his Basket.” This was Plummer’s preferred imprint, regardless of who printed his words. The dramatic illustration Coverly chose for this piece is curious—it is the final cut in the story of The Prodigal Daughter, showing her miraculous return to life, hardly appropriate for these two tales of horror.

Plummer’s broadsides have a common pattern: an introduction, a verse, and then a “Sermon.” The verse may be called a hymn, song, psalm, elegy, or ode. It is usually in common meter with eight-line verses that could be sung to any common meter tune with four or eight strains.