THE ISLE OF WIGHT FORTEAN SOCIETY

THE AIR LOOM GANG

A TALK BY MIKE JAY

The inaugural event of the Isle of Wight Fortean Society was a talk on Thursday 29th July, 2004 at 6:30pm at Ottakar's, High Street, Newport, Isle of Wight. For a report on Mike's talk click here.

The talk was given by Fortean Times contributor, author Mike Jay who discussed his book on the extraordinary case of James Tilly Matthews and The Air Loom Gang. Mike first gave a talk on this fascinating subject at the Fortean Times UnConvention 2002 in London, and his research into this intriguing history led to his wonderful, critically acclaimed book which has recently come out in paperback.

The book is now on sale at Ottakar's, or, if you prefer, you can purchase it online from Amazon.co.uk by clicking here: The Air Loom Gang.

To see a press release about the IWFS, click here.

James Tilly Matthews (the image to the left maybe the only known portrait) was a Welsh tea merchant and idealist. He became embroiled in revolutionary politics, and attempted to broker peace between the French Revolutionary government and the British government of William Pitt. The more he became enmeshed in political intrigue, and the more he was let down and disillusioned by the cowardice and ruthlessness of both sides, the more his mind began to construct a fantastic scenario to explain his own actions, and those of his captors and persecutors.

Released from an arduous and dispiriting French imprisonment, Matthews returned to England only to be locked into the infamous Bedlam lunatic asylum as an incorrigible madman for many years. He was said to be cogent, intelligent and lucid, and to appear entirely rational except when discussing two specific topics: (1) cabbages (he had a grand and touching scheme to turn over royal and national parks to the production of cabbages to feed the poor and indigent); and (2) revolutionary politics (Matthews insisted he was being manipulated and tortured).

Matthews' delusion was that his mind and thoughts were being controlled remotely by a nefarious gang of 'pneumatic chemists' by means of a powerful, proto-computerlike Air Loom which sent out mesmeric/animal magnetic rays. Matthews described this Loom in minute detail, and, as a fine draughtsman, actually drew it and made an extraordinary engraving of the devilish machine, which is reproduced below.

The Air Loom was fuelled by noxious substances which Matthews listed in detail: "seminal fluid, male and female - effluvia of copper - ditto of sulphur - the vapours of vitriol and aqua fortis - ditto of nightshade and hellebore - effluvia of dogs - stinking human breath - putrid effluvia - ditto of mortification and of the plague - stench of the sesspool - gaz from the anus of the horse - human gaz - gaz of the horse's greasy heels - Egyptian snuff, (this is a dusty vapour, extremely nauseous, but its composition has not been hitherto ascertained*) - vapour and effluvia of arsenic - poison of toad - otto of roses and of carnation." [Sic throughout]

"*This disgusting odour is exclusively employed during sleep, when, by their dream-workings, they have placed him, as a solitary wanderer, in the marshes near the mouth of the river Nile; not at that season when its waters bring joy and refreshment, but at its lowest ebb, when the heat is most oppressive, and the muddy and stagnant pools diffuse a putrid and suffocating stench; - the eye is likewise equally disgusted with the face of the country, which is made to assume a hateful tinge, resembling the dirty and cold blue of a scorbutic ulcer. From this cheerless scene they suddenly awake him, when he finds his nostrils stuffed, his mouth furred, and himself nearly choaked by the poisonous effects of their Egyptian snuff." [Again, sic throughout.]

The Loom was operated by a bizarre gang of shadowy sadists, such as the mysterious Glove Woman, Bill the King, Jack the Schoolmaster, Sir Archy, the Middle Man, Augusta and Charlotte. Matthews also describes the sort of excruciating tortures the Gang perpetrated upon him: Bomb Bursting, Brain Lengthening, Fluid Locking, Lobster Cracking, Kiting, and the terrifying Apoplexy-Working with the Nutmeg Grator.

"I have never seen the logic of madness . .presented so clearly and convincingly. The Air Loom Gang is a wonderful book to read, combining exceptional scholarship and psychological insight with deep empathy for the tormented but always gentle and dignified Matthews. And it is beautifully written, with all the drama, the rich characterization, the subtlety, of a fine novel." (Oliver Sacks)

Matthews's case is the first known example of the schizofreniform influencing machine delusion - a condition first studied in depth by Victor Tausk, a member of Freud's psychoanalytical circle, almost one hundred years later. An example of an influencing machine delusion is pictured right, in a drawing made by a patient early in the 20th Century.

This is a fascinating subject and the talk will be of interest to anyone keen on the history of delusions, madness and psychology, French and English politics of the late 1790s and early 19th Century, the evolution of conspiracy theories, and concepts of mind control.

Click here to see the poster for Mike Jay's talk.

Other Books by Mike Jay

All of the books mentioned below can be purchased or ordered from your local Ottakar's bookstore (click here to find the store nearest to you). If you prefer to order online from Amazon, click the links provided.

The Unfortunate Colonel Despard. Mike's new (hardback) non-fiction book came out recently. The year is 1798, and Britain is in the grip of a divisive war on terror. The government is forcing through new emergency powers to imprison suspected terrorists without trial. Dissent is spilling on to the streets, where mass popular opposition to the war is suppressed with violence. Secret intelligence sources whisper of a vast international terrorist conspiracy - and Colonel Edward Marcus Despard is shortly to become the last man to be sentenced to public hanging, drawing and quartering for high treason.

Despard's execution was the culmination of an extraordinary life. He had served as a soldier in Jamaica, and fought alongside savage Miskito Indians - and a young Horatio Nelson - in one of the most hellish jungle campaigns in the history of warfare. Rewarded with command of the British settlement of Belize, he married a black woman and staked his reputation on giving the same rights to freed slaves as to white settlers. Summoned back to London to explain himself, he found his career put on hold. At a time when many believed that, as in America and France, the ruling elite was on the verge of collapse, Despard, cast aside by the establishment, joined the revolutionary underground.

The Unfortunate Colonel Despard moves from high adventure on the Spanish Main to the political tumult of the London underworld in the 1790's. Despard's personal drama unfolds against a background of voodoo slave revolts and naval mutinies, the French Revolution and the Irish Rebellion, the democratic ideals of Thomas Paine and the ruthless political clampdown of William Pitt's 'Reign on Terror.' Despard's contested fate was the sensational climax to a British revolution that never happened, but it was also to presage the birth of modern democracy.

"Compelling . . . Jay weaves a complex variety of themes, many with overtly topical resonances, into Despard's journey." Sunday Times

Blue Tide: The Search for Soma (2002) Praise from Howard Marks: "Blue Tide is an extremely well-written account of the author's exhaustive and tenacious attempts to identify and/or explain soma, the plant of the gods, history's first mind-bending substance.

"No literal or metaphorical stones are left unturned as we share the delights of genuine discovery obtained through conscientious and intelligent use of established academia, cyberspace travel, and good old-fashioned field research, be it botanical, psychoactive, or anthropological.

"Blue Tide more than any other book I've read, satisfactorily answers the plethora of queries concerning the history of the use of drugs as a means of soul searching, attaining spiritual enlightenment, and getting off one's face. Read it before you get high. Read it before you die."

Artificial Paradises (1999) (edited by Mike Jay) "Times change - who would have thought that we'd ever see a non-judgemental mainstream anthology of writings about mind-altering drugs? Editor Mike Jay delivers scores of well-selected hits of wild wisdom from Homer and his cronies to William Burroughs in Artificial Paradises. His mild-mannered but insightful introductions and links between pieces prime the reader for a series of expansive trips through other people's minds as they grapple with various medical, moral, artistic and spiritual puzzlers posed by drugs.

"Hopped-up coke fiend Sigmund Freud rants about his favourite little helper while painter Henri Michaux complains that mescaline is a poor muse. The pieces are usually amusing and sometimes penetrating. Jay wisely avoids most of the propaganda we've been over-subjected to in recent decades, instead focusing on the experience and assessment of drugs and their cultural value. Sections include "Researches Chemical and Philosophical: Drugs and Science" and "The Algebra of Need: Drugs and Addiction," with selections from such disparate writers as Jean Cocteau and Thomas Szasz. Most of the pieces are very short - one or two pages - but highly concentrated, giving an immediate sense of the author's intent and attitudes, often inspiring a trip to the library for another dose. When it's time to turn on, tune in and drop out, prepare yourself with the guidance of Artificial Paradises." (Rob Lightner)

Revealing the diverse roles mind-altering drugs have played throughout history, this collection brings together a multiplicity of voices which explore the presence of drugs in science and religion, pleasure and madness, individualism and social control.

The Underworld of the East Being Eighteen Years of Actual Experiences of the Underworlds, Drug Haunts and Jungles of India, China and Malaya (2000) by James S. Lee (edited by Mike Jay) This has long been a favourite of everyone I know who's read it. Old drug writings can be stuffy and boring but this is so vivid, it takes you straight there to India, China and Sumatra at the turn of the century, as Lee discovers everything from cocaine to hashish and lots of other stuff besides and goes off on wild trips and fantasies. An amazing document, which for years has been almost impossible to find. (Webreviewer)

Long lost classic of drug literature out of print since 1935. A very exciting and tense read showing what it was like for an Englishman to escape the confines of deadening society and to be able to travel the far east whilst working as a mining engineer. At one point trapped by a man eating tiger the next marrying a local girl. During his travels the author meets everything the east has to offer by way of excitement and danger. He forms the first motorcycle gang in the east. But the main interest in the book is his detailed exploits with drugs in the evenings and weekends. He discovers the joys of cocaine, hashish and opium and moves to Sumatra where he finds two mysterious drugs that are now lost to Western knowledge which - if their existence and effects are to be believed - would offer not only spectacular new highs to the drug connoisseur but nothing less than a fortune to the pharmaceutical industry. (Webreviewer)

"Breathtaking reading." (Headpress)

"Unusual for its time in its unabashed defence of copious narcotic consumption" (Times Literary Supplement)

1900 (1999) (edited by Mike Jay and Michael Neve) At the turn of the 19th century, just as today, many people were terrified - or thrilled - by the seemingly unstoppable progress of science, wrestling with questions of sexual identity, turning away from traditional religions or taking refuge in spiritualism, the paranormal and "new age" philosophies. From poetry to pulp fiction, scientific polemic to sexological speculation, 1900 brings together a fascinating collage of writings which encompass the amazing range of beliefs, ideas and obsessions current at the turn of the century. (Web reviewer)

"1900 offers a striking vision of the fin-de-siècle shock of the new no less than the fatigue of the old, regeneration no less than degeneration, the viewpoints of scientists and futurists as well as decadent poets" (Roy Porter)

"1900 is a splendid starting point for analysis of fin-de-siècle thought and for understanding the millennium" (Elaine Showalter)

"The fin-de-siècle was in fact the true Millennium", Mike Jay and Michael Neve confidently assert, and from the evidence of this full and fascinating collection they may be right. While 1999 pretended to be on the brink of oblivion, with its millennium virus and post modern end of all certainty, summer holidays for 2000 were still being booked. If you want real panic, then go back a century. The late Victorians' anxieties were multiple and strangely familiar: "The future of the human race, the apocalyptic possibilities opened up by science, the crisis of faith, the mass belief in the paranormal, the future role of women, the multicultural 'global village'". Jay and Neve have compiled over 100 snippets that together make a convincing case that fin-de-siècle is more than just a marketing ploy. Some of the pieces are expected - H.G. Wells' The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds, Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species - but others are ingeniously chosen. There are enlightening sections on late 19th-century spiritualism, atheism and the emergent sexology that don't merely go for the obvious - the rise of "the unconscious," for example, predictably draws on Freud, Nietzsche and Charcot, but juxtaposes them neatly with Strindberg, George Du Maurier's Trilby and H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau. Most striking perhaps is the final chapter on "imagining the next century", with scary pieces on "feeble-mindedness" and "lethal chambers for the insane": nevertheless, they're tame compared with what actually transpired. Inevitably, this miscellany of often very short pieces will leave you hungry for more, but that's all to the good. There's a wealth of literature waiting to be explored: let's hope Jay and Neve's inspired collection opens the floodgates. (Alan Stewart)

Emperors of Dreams Drugs in the Nineteenth Century (2000) "Intelligent, witty, cogent and a bit pissed off, Emperors of Dreams is one of the best books on drugs I have come across, and should be mandatory reading for anyone concerned with drug legalisation." (Julian Keeling in The New Statesman)

"Meticulously researched, compulsively readable and unfailingly fascinating ...more than just an inebriating travelogue of days gone by, Jay's book is important in its even-handed, dispassionate and intelligent discussion of such incendiary topics as decriminalisation and legalisation. His closing chapter on temperance and prohibition is perhaps the most level-headed prose ever written on the subject." Gary Lachman in Fortean Times)

" An excellent book... it states with precision as well as poetry the nature of the drug experience." (Nicholas Lezard in The Guardian)

"Mike Jay's engaging survey of drug use in the 19th century is full of fascinating asides, but is also an account of the arrival of drug prohibition...Fear of pleasure, as Jay shows in this splendid book, is perhaps the most powerful motive in the hysterical anti-drug rhetoric that has created the mess we are in today." (Joan Smith in The Independent on Sunday)

"Mike Jay's sensible yet stylish book is the first attempt to survey the nineteenth-century drug scene at large...one of the pleasures of Jay's approach lies in showing that drugs did not have the histories we might, from a present-day perspective, expect....a fine book." (Roy Porter in The Times Higher Education Supplement)

"As well as exploding the fantasy that a society without drugs used to exist, Jay clarifies the question of why so many of them were outlawed...in the process he tells a series of fascinating stories about the first individuals to describe their effects, and how their use spread." (Peter Carty in Time Out)

"Mike Jay has built a necessary bridge between scholarship and the illicit enthusiasm of drug culture...He does not disdain conventional drug history, but has absorbed it into a work that is literary in the broadest sense - rich in sociology and politics as well as in poetry and letters...Jay relishes his storytelling, and keeps a steady hand on his source material. Emperors of Dreams is a book for aficionados, who savour not only good writing but also the recollection, in tranquility, of altered states." (Marek Kohn in The Independent)

"It is a fascinating book... Jay is excellent is on the emergence of medical science as a social force." (W. N. Herbert in Scotland on Sunday)

"This is a highly intelligent and well-written book on the history of drugs in the nineteenth century, but in fact the best chapter is the last one where the author moves into the twentieth century and looks at the Prohibition era in the States, drawing some pertinent conclusions for the present. My only quibble is the positive spin put on Freud's contribution to the cocaine debate, which I think mistaken, but that's very much a side issue. Altogether a book I would thoroughly recommend." (Mick Hartley)

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Copyright © 2004 James Nye, Jack Phoenix, Rabbi Burns. For permission to quote, email Jack.