Lake Memphremagog, located on the Vermont/Canadian border, is a 31 mile long glacial lake.  The name comes from the Abenaki Memrahabegek meaning “where there is a big expanse of water”.  It is also said to be the home of Memphre, the Lake Memphremagog monster, which is as far as I know the only lake monster to appear on a coin.

New England is no stranger to sea serpents and Lake Monsters of course – the Gloucester Sea Serpent, Lake Champlain’s Champ, and the Casco Bay Serpent are among the best known.  Indeed,  sea serpent and similar beings are relatively common in Native American tradition (see Edward Lenik’s “Mythic Creatures: Serpents, Dragons, and Sea Monsters in Northeastern Rock Art” Archaeology of Eastern North America {Vol. 38 (2010), pp. 17-37})

Today we present a bit of an oddity in the field of cryptozoology – the account of Uriah Jewett and his encounter with the Sea Serpent of lake Memphremagog as well as the Duke of Conaught.  This slim book (Uriah Jewett and the Sea Serpent of Lake Memphreemagog) was published in 1917, came from the notes that had been prepared by George Merrill prior to his death.   It says almost nothing about Memphre however, and spends most of its dozen or so pages hinting at the sexual misdeeds of the Duke and the odd solitary habits of Uriah.  Weird.  Nevertheless, it does contain one exciting illustration depicting the creature: