WHITE STAG OF NEW JERSEY

White Stag

The White Stag occurs in various romances of chivalry and is particularly associated with the Arthurian legend.  A white stag led Sir Perceval to the Grail Castle.  A cart pulled by three white stags occurs in the Grail romance Perlesvaus.  In the church at Tréheurenteuc in Brittany, which contains Grail-related motifs, there is a painting on the church wall of a white stag wearing a golden cross, with four lions around it.

However, it is to New Jersey we travel for a curious legend of the White Stag.  In days agone, the Quaker Bridge spanned the Batso River.  One night, in the midst of a rainstorm, a stagecoach driver was headed for the bridge.  Then a White Stag appeared ahead.  The horses stopped and the driver clambered down and walked towards it, only for the White Stag to vanish.  Then the driver saw that the bridge had been washed away and the Stag had prevented his driving the stage directly into the river.

White stags are not mythical.  Among Red deer (Cervus elaphus) such creatures occur from time to time.  They are not albinos.  They have a condition known as leucism.  The interesting thing, however, is that the Red deer is not found in North America.  So where did the White Stag of New Jersey come from?