[Woodcarver] "Sacred Cod" Project----a big fish story

[Linehan718 at aol.com]

Purchasing the wood this weekend for a 5' replica of the "sacred Cod"  of 
Massachusetts.  Gonna be one of the bigger projects I've ever taken  on.  I 
am a little apprehensive due to the size but it will get done one  step at a 
time.  Preliminary work will be the hard part.  The glue up  and band sawing 
will be something challenging.  I have already made a  smaller version, 3' 
a few years ago so that makes it easier.

History of  the Sacred Cod
A representation of a cod has hung in the seat of  Massachusetts government 
since at least the early 18th century. The first cod  was a gilded wood 
carving of the fish which hung from the ceiling of what is now  called the Old 
State House. It hung there until a fire destroyed the building's  interior 
and part of its exterior brick walls, as well as the Cod, in 1747.When  it 
was rebuilt, the Sacred Cod was replaced by another wood carving, along with  
a golden lion and a silver unicorn, symbols of the British monarchy, being 
added  to the exterior of the State House.In 1776, the Declaration of 
Independence was  read from the balcony of the Old State House. Afterwards, the 
crowd that had  assembled to listen, tore down and burned the lion and the 
unicorn as an act in  defiance of British rule. The Sacred Cod survived the 
destruction, but went  missing from the House Chamber during the British 
occupation of Boston early on  in the American Revolution.
The third Sacred Cod was carved in 1784 after  John Rowe introduced the 
motion to the House "that leave might be given to hang  up the representation 
of a Cod Fish in the room where the House sit [sic], as a  memorial of the 
importance of the Cod-Fishery to the welfare of this  Commonwealth, as had 
been usual formerly.The new Massachusetts State House,  designed by Charles 
Bulfinch, was completed on January 11, 1798. When the House  was to move to its 
new room in the new State House, the House ordered the  "immediate removal 
of the ancient 'representation of codfish' from present  position in the 
chamber recently vacated by the House, and to cause it to be  suspended in a 
suitable place over the Speaker's chair in this chamber. The  Sacred Cod was 
lowered from the ceiling and then wrapped in an American flag. It  was placed 
on a bier and was carried by three Massachusetts Representatives,  while 
being escorted by the Seargent-at-Arms. A procession to the chamber began  and 
the Cod was carried as such to it's new home. When the procession arrived 
at  the new chamber, the members of the House rose and applauded the fish. It 
was  hung in the rear of the House Chamber, over the public gallery, in 
such a manner  that the Speaker of the House faces the cod when he addresses 
the House. 
 
Cod-napping
The Harvard Lampoon Castle, home of the Harvard Lampoon  magazine. Students 
from this publication were involved in the Cod-napping.
On  April 26, 1933, members of the Harvard Lampoon magazine stole the 
Sacred Cod as  a practical joke in an event that came to be known as "The 
Cod-napping".   Three members of the Lampoon staff pretending to be tourists, 
sneaked a pair of  wire cutters into the State House and, when no one was 
looking, cut the cords  suspending the cod. They hid the cod in a flower box that 
they had brought for  that purpose and left the State House with it. An 
anonymous call tipped off  State House officials that the cod was missing.  The 
theft was considered a  major one, with the House of Representatives 
declaring that it would not  legislate without the cod present. The Harvard Crimson 
investigated the theft  themselves and determined that the Lampoon was 
behind it. On April 27, the  Crimson gave the staff of the Lampoon an ultimatum 
to give the Sacred Cod, by  midnight, to them and allow the Crimson to take 
credit for returning it or they  would go public with their findings.  After 
not receiving a reply from the  Lampoon, the details of theft were printed 
in the next morning's edition of the  Crimson.
The Massachusetts State Police were called in to assist with the  search 
for the cod. They went so far as to dredge the Charles River, in hopes of  
recovering the Sacred Cod.   The authorities also found out that a  member of 
the Lampoon staff was onboard a plane heading to Newark, New Jersey.  They 
searched Logan International Airport and wired the authorities in Newark to  
search the plane the student was on when it arrived, but the cod was still 
not  recovered.  The office of the mayor of Boston also received a call saying 
 to "tell the Mayor that when the Sacred Cod is returned it will be wrapped 
in  the municipal flag, now flying in front of City Hall" and to "Try and 
catch us  when we cop the flag ".      Two days after the  Sacred Cod was 
stolen, the Harvard University Police Department received an  anonymous phone 
call informing him on how to get the Sacred Cod back. This led  to the 
Harvard University Police following a car without a license plate in West  
Roxbury. After 20 minutes, two men, dressed in collared shirts with the collars  
turned up and hats pulled down, jumped out of the car and handed the cod to 
the  police before speeding away. The cod was not wrapped in the municipal 
flag as  threatened.
On April 28, the Sacred Cod was again hung in the rear of the  House 
Chamber, over the public gallery, only this time it was hung 6  inches  higher to 
prevent future thefts. No charges have ever been filed  against anyone for 
the "Cod-napping", and the details on the whereabouts of the  cod, during the 
50 hours it was missing, never surfaced.
 
Maura
_www.Carvinginnyc.com_ (http://www.Carvinginnyc.com) 
 
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