| This article belongs to the continuity of the Dark Shadows movies. |
The Collins family jewels were a collection of valuables that belonged to Naomi Collins during the latter half of the 18th century. Many rumors persisted as to what eventually became of the jewels. Some sources cited that they were buried with her in the Collins family mausoleum. Others cite that they were lost during the war. Barnabas Collins submitted that the jewels were given to Naomi’s son, the first Barnabas Collins whereupon he took them to England.
At some point during the 19th century, an unknown author scripted a riddle that some believed pertained to the hiding place of the family jewels.
- The Madonnas rest high above
- The Lion’s head watches the dove
- And in the womb beneath the hill
- A blazing light glows bright and still
In June of 1970, Willie Loomis, a handyman working for the Collins family, discovered the riddle and deciphered it. He found a secret antechamber buried deep within the bowels of the family mausoleum – inside of which was a coffin wrapped in sturdy, iron chains. Willie believed that the coffin contained the elusive jewels, but he soon learned (to his own regret), that the contents of the coffin were hardly desirable.
Only one piece from the collection ever resurfaced. Barnabas Collins presented Elizabeth Collins Stoddard with an exquisite necklace in June of 1970. He offered it to her as a gift in the hopes of ingratiating himself upon the modern New England branch of the family.
Notes[]
- In the original Dark Shadows television series, the family jewels were originally part of a pirate’s plunder that had come into the possession of Naomi Collins. She had given the jewels to her son, Barnabas Collins, as part of a wedding dowry.