TH E

BOOK OF WITC H E S

O L IVE R M A D O X H UE F F ER
Au tfi o r of “
I n d rea d] d Ou t
an j
‘
r
’ °
59 C .

W ith Fro nti spie c e in C o lo urs by W H

. e a th b
Ro ins o n

TH E JO H N M c B R I D E c o

N EW Y O R K

1 0
9 9
 C ON T E N T S

C H AP T ER I .

A P OSS I B LE REV I VA L °
OF W IT CHC RAF T

C H AP T ER II .

S AB B ATH ~
G E N E RAL

C H AP T ER I I I .

OR I G I N S W IT CH
'

HE OF TH E

C H AP T ER IV .

TH E H A LF -
W AY W O RLD S

C H AP T ER V .

TH E WIT C H S ATTR I B UT E S
’
 C o nte n t s
P AGE

C H AP T ER VI .

S O ME RE P RE S EN TATI VE E N G L I S H W IT C H E S

C H AP T ER V II .

TH E W C H OF AN
IT T I! U Y
IT

C H AP T ER V II I .

TH E W IT C H I N GR E C E A ND RO M
E E

C H AP T ER IX .

F RO M P AGA N I S M T O C H R I STI A N I T Y

C H AP TER X .

TH E W ITC H B ULL A T E FF E CTS

-
ND I S

C H AP T ER XI .

LA E R
T P E RS E C U T I O N S I N E N G LA ND

C H AP T ER XII .

P E R S E C U TI O NS IN SCOT LA ND

C H AP T ER X II I .

O T H E R PE RS E C U T I O N S
Vi
 C o n t e nt s
P AG E

C H AP T ER X IV .

P HI LT RE S CHA RM S A ND P O TI O N S
'
‘

C H AP T E R XV .

TH E WI CH N F C ION
T I I T a
.

C H AP T ER XV I .

SO M E WI T C H S D AY
'

i - E OF To -

VIi
 FO R E W O R D

L E S T any reader should open this volume

e xpecting to read an exhaustive treatise on
witches and witchcraft , treated scientifically , hi s

t o ri c a l l y , and so forth let me disarm him before

,

hand by telling him that he will be disappointed .

The witch o c cu i e s so large a place in the story

p
of mankind that to include all the detail of her
natural history within the limits o f o ne volume
would need the powers o f a magician no less
potent than was he who confine d the E astern
Dj inn in a bottle . I have attempted nothing so

ambitious as a large scale -

O rdnance M ap o f

Witchl a n d ; rather I have endeavoured to pro

duce a picture from which a general impression
ix
 F o re w o rd

may be gained . I have Chosen that is to say , ,

from the enormous mass o f material only so much

as seemed neces s ary for my immediate purpose ,

and on my lack o f j udgment be the blame for

any undesirable hiatus . I have sought again to , ,

Show whence the witch came and why as well as ,

what s he wa s and is ; to point o u t, further how ,

necessary s he is and must be to the happiness

o f mankind and how great the responsibility
,
o f

those who disbelieving in her themselves seek

, ,

to infect others with their scepticism . We have

few picturesque excrescenc es left upon this age
o f smoothly running machine wheels
- -

,
certai n
ly
we cannot spare o ne o f the most time honoured -

and romantic o f any . And if anything I have

written about her seem incompatible with sense
or fact I would plead in extenuation that neither
,

is essential to the firm believer in witchcraft and ,

that to be able to enter thoroughly into the s ub

j e ct it is above all things necessary to cast aside

S U CH nineteenth century shibboleths
-

x
 F o re w o rd

I would here express my gratitude to the many

fIi e n d s who have assisted me with material and ,

especially to Miss M uriel Harris whose valuable,

help has done much to lighten my task .

L O ND O N , S efle m b w , 68
19 .
 TH E BO O K O F W I TC H E S

C HAP T E R I

ON -

A P OS S I B LE REV I V AL O F W IT CHCRA F T
TO the superficial glance it might seem that he
who would urge a revival o f witchcraft is co n
fronted by a task more H erculean than that o f
—
making dry bones 1ive i n that the bones he seeks
'

to revivify have never existed The educated .

—
class which be it remembered includes those
, ,

who have studied in the elementary schools o f

—
whatever ha ti o n i s united in declaring that
such a person a s a witch never did never could , ,

and never will exist It is true that there are still

.

—
those a waning band who preserving implicit -

faith in the literal exactitude Of reveale d religion ,

—
maintain that witchcraft along with Gardens O f
E den giants and Jewish leaders capable Of i n
, ,

flu e n ci ng the movements Of s u n and moon

flo u ri s he d under the O ld Dispensation even ,

though it has become incredible under the

New . Yet speaking generally the witch i s as
, ,

I B
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
extinct in civilised men s minds as is the dodo ; so
’

that they who accept a s gospel the vaticinations

o f racecourse tipsters or swallow patent medi

cines with implicit faith yet moralise upon the ,

illimitability O f human superstition when they

read that witch doctors still command a follow
-

ing in West Africa or that Sicilian p e asants are

,

not yet tired Of Opening their purses to sham

sorcerers .

Were the reality o f sorcery dependent upon a

—
referendum of our universities o r for that matter , ,

Of our elementary school mistresses it were—

at once proclaimed a clamant imp osture F or '

tu na te l y for the witch and incidentally for a p i c

,

tu re s q u e aspect of the human intellect the E n ,

lightened even i f we include among them those

,

who accept their dogma a s the New Gospel are ,

— —
but a small a ridiculously small item o f the
human race Compared with the whole p o p u l a
.

tion of the world their numbers are S O insigni

,

fi ca nt as to be for all practical purposes non

existent There are villages but a f ew miles
.

beyond the boundary o f the M etropolitan

‘

Police District where the witch is as firmly

,

enthroned in the imaginations of the mobility

as in those of their ancestors three ce n
t u ri e s ago There are many British legislators
.

who would refuse to start an electioneering ca m

p ga i n upon a Friday I myself h ave kno wn a
.

—
ma n and know him still— a Romney Marsh
J

2
On a P o s s i bl e R e vi v a l o f Wi t chc ra ft
lander who within the last decade has suffered
, , ,

grievously —himself and through his childre n

‘

at the hands of witches whose names and where

about he ca n detail And I have known a
.

woman— she kept a lodging house in the Ken -

ni ngto n Road — who if not her self a witch was

, ,

yet the daughter o f o ne ari d o f acknowledged

,
’
power It is true that if the daughter s tale
.
,

told to me in the small front parlour in intervals

between the crashing passage o f electric trams
a n d motor lorries
- — may be accepted her mother s ,
’

gifts were put to no worse use than the curing of

’
her D evonshire neighbours minor ailments .

There is no need to go fifty nor five miles

, , ,

from London to find material for a revival in

B la ck M agic S carcely a week passes but some
.

Old crone i s charged bef ore a M etropolitan police

magistrate with having defrauded silly servant
girls o n the pretence of telling them their futures .

You cannot pass down Bond Street during the

season without encountering a row o f sandwich
—
men themselves preserving very few illusions
earning a meagre wage in the service o f this that , ,

or the other S oc iety crystal gaz er palmist o r -

, ,

clairvoyant Who has not seen some such a d v e r

.

ti s e m e nt as the following— quoted from a current

—
j ournal proffering information about the future ,
”
calculated from astrologi cal horoscopes at the ,

very moderate charge Of half a crown The - -

.
,

—
advertiser in deference to modern convention he
3
 The B o o k o f Witch e s
is described as a Professor rather tha n a
sorcerer— further protests his mastery of P hre no
logy G raphology Clairvoyance and P sycho
, , ,

metry And this advertiser is but o ne of many,

.

all seeking to gain some humble profit by follow

ing in the footsteps O f Diana and M other
D e m dyk e O f Pendle F orest .

Are there not a hundred and one select '

Societies each with its band o f earnest

—
,

adherents many with Official organs published ,

at more o r less regular intervals and c o m

manding circulations O f a sort openly fur —
the ri ng arts such as would two centuries ,

ago have entailed upon their members the charge

,

o f Witchcraft ! Is not spiritualism exalted into

an international cult ! The very existence o f
” “
such a coterie as the Thirteen Club with a ,

membership sworn to exhibit hi s e i u b i qu e their

, ,

c ontempt Of degrading superstitions is the ,

strongest testimony to their ubiquitous regard .

M ost curious fact Of all it is in America the

, ,

Ne w World home of all that i s most modern and

,

enlightened that we find superstitions command

,
!

ing mo st implicit faith It is only necessary to

.

glance through the advertisement pages o f an

American p o p u l a r m a g a z i ne to realise how f a r
.

the New Worl d has outstripped the O ld in its

blind adherence to this form of faith Nowhere .

ha s the Hypnotic the M esmeric the Psychic

‘

, ,

! uack such unchallenged empire .

 On a P os s i bl e R e v i va l o f W i t chc ra ft
In Lady Charlotte Bury s M emoirs o f a
’

”
Lady in Waiting we find an example O f the
,

belief in Witchcraft cherishe d in the most

exalted circle in the nineteenth century Writ .

—
ing of the unhappy Princess later Queen
Caroline wife of G eorge IV S he says a s
,
.
,

follows °

After dinner her Royal Highness

made a wax figure as usual and gave it an ,

amiable addition o f large horns ; then took three

pins o u t O f her garment and stuck them through
and through and put the figure to roast and melt
,

at the fire . Lady says the Princess

indulges in this amusement whenever there are
no strangers at table and S he thinks her Royal
,

Highnes s really has a superstitious belief that

destroying the e ffi gy of her husband will bring
to pass the destruction Of hi s Royal P erson .

We laugh at this instance Of Royal credulity ; yet

is not the mascot a commonplace Of o u r
conversation ! M adame de M ontespan it is ,

—
recorded had recourse no t without success to
,
—
the B lack M ass a s a means towards gaining the
affections Of Louis X IV It is but a few years
.

since the attention Of the police was directed

—
towards the practices Of those Society leaders
for the most part who had revived in twentieth
—
,

century Paris the cult Of D evil worship

, The .

most widely circulated London newspapers o f

the day gravely discuss in special articles the
res p ective value o f various mascots fo r motorists ,
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
or insert long descriptive reports o f the vati c i na
tions of this spiritualist or that wise woman as -

to the probable perpetrators Of mysterious

murders This is no exaggeration as he ma y
.
,

prove for himself who has patience to search the

files of the London daily Press for 190 7 And .
,

—
be it remembered the self proclaimed mission of
,

the contemporary Press is to mirror the public

mind as the most Obvious way Of instructing
it
.

Under these circumstances it is easy to credit

the possibility o f a revival Of the belief in witch
craft even i n the most civilised countries Of the
modern world What is more it i s far from
.
,

certain that such a revival would be altoge ther

deplorab l e Granted that oceans o f innocent
.

blood were shed in the name Of witchcraft the —

same might be said o f Christianity Of patriotism , ,

o f liberty of half a hundred other altogether u n

,

exceptionable ideals And as with them the

.
, ,

total extinction o f the witchcraft superstition

might no t impossibly have results no less disas
, ,

trous than f o r
,
—
instance the world wide adoption
,

o f European fashions in dress This quite apart .

from any question o f whether o r no witches have

ever existed or do still exist Even if we grant .

that superstition is necessarily superstitious i nthe

more degraded sense o f the word we need not ,

therefore deny it some share in alleviating the

human lot .

6
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
happiness upon his altars as though he were
indeed the G o d he has explained away And .

why ! Purely o n the faith of his o wn assevera

tions .

Why should we accept the scientist more than

his grandmother the witch We have no better
!
,

reason for accepting him than for rej ecting what

he tells us are no more than idle dre ams Let .

him discover what he will it does but vouch the,

more decidedly f o r the illimitability o f his and ,

our ignorance
,
It i s true he c a n perform
.

apparent m iracles S O could the witch He pooh .

poohs the arts that were so terrible to former

generations ; o u r posterity will laugh at hi s
boasted knowledge as at a boastful child s ’
.

Already there are world wide signs that whatever

-

hi s success in the material world mankind is ,

ready to revolt against hi s tyranny over the

Unseen The innumerable new religious sects
.
,

the thousand and one ethical fads the renaissance ,

o f so many ancient faiths —the Spiritualist and the

Theosophist the Christian Scientist and the
,

Co o ne yite the Tolstoyan and the Salvationist

,

—
laugh at them individually who may are all alike
outward and visible s igns o f the revolt of man
against being relegated to the i ns ignifi ca nc e o f a
scientific incident And among such troubled
.

waters witchcraft may well come I nto its own

again F or it as much as any has brought
.
, ,

happiness o u t of misery Consider the u ns u c

.

8
 On a P o s s i bl e R e vi v a l Of W i t chc ra ft
Under the f égzm e o f enlighten
'

ce s s fu l man .

ment he ca n find no o ne to blame for his sorrows ,

nor anywhere to look for their solacement Every .

thing works according to immutable laws ; he is

sick poor miserable because the Law o f the
, , ,

Inevitable will have it so ; he has no G od to whom

he c a n pray for some capri cious alleviation ; he
cannot buy good fortune from the Devil even at
—
the price Of his soul there is no G od nor D evil , ,

no r good fortune nor ill ; nothing but the imper

tu rb a b l y grinding c o g wheels upon whose orbit he

-

is inevitably bound Were he not a happier man

.

if he might find an ol d time witch whose spells-

being removed would leave him hope even

, ,

though fulfilment never Come ! Undoubtedly .

We have been tol d that had there been no G o d ,

it woul d have been ne ce ssary to invent o ne Yes .

,

and along with Him a Devil and good and evil

spirits and good luck and bad and superstitions
, ,

as many a s we ca n cram into o u r aching pates

anything everything that may save u s from the
,

—
horrible conception o f a machine like Certainty ,

from which there is no escape after which there ,

is no future Surely it were better that a few

.

thousand Old women be murdered in the name Of

superstition a few millions o f human beings
,

butchered in the name of religion than that all ,

mankind be doomed to such a fate .

Be it remembered to o that even the witch has

, ,

her grievance against the learned numbskulls who

9
 The B o o k f W i t ch e s
“

have undone her F o r the witch life was no t .

-

without its alleviations Consider Without her . .

witchcraft S he was no more than a poor O l d ,

starved shrunken woman inconsiderable and u n

, ,

considered ugly despised unhappy With it

, , ,
.

S he became a P ower She was feared as all — .

mankind wishes to b e hated perhaps but still -

feared ; courted also by those who sought her

, ,

help She was again Somebody a recognisable

.
,

entity a human being distinguished from the

,

common ruck Surely that more than outweighed

.

the chances Of a fiery death Nor was the method .

Of her death without its compensations Painful .

indeed it wa s though scarcely more so than slow

,

starvation But if s he knew herself innocent

.
,

s he knew as well that her short agony was but the

prelude to the eternal reward o f martyrdom I f .

s he believed herself with that poor weary brain ,

o f hers sold to the Devil

, what a world o f co n ,

solation in the thought that he the Prince Of the ,

Powers Of Darkness scarcely inferior to the ,

Almighty Himself and to Him alone should , ,

have singled her out as the o ne woman whose

help he needed in all the countryside And this .

being s o was the re n o t always the hope that

'

, ,

as he had promised he might appear even at the ,

eleventh hour and protect hi s o wn I f he failed .

,

the witch had but little time to realise I t and all

the Hereafter full Of infinite possibilities before
, ,

her Few witches I think but would have pre

.
, ,

I O
On a P o s s i bl e R e v i va l o f W i t chc ra ft
ferred their grim pre eminence with its sporting -

interest to being made the butt O f doctors little

,

wiser than themselves in the sight o f infinity held ,

up to mockery as silly Ol d women co z ening o r ,

self co z ened
-
.

I f witches do not in fact exist for us it is be ,

—
cause we have killed them with laughter as many
a good and evil cause has been killed H ad we
"
.

laughed at them from the beginning o f things it

is even possible that they had never existed .

But a s between them and Science the whole

, ,

weight O f evidence is in their favour There is .

the universal verdict o f history F or untold c e n .

tu ri e s as long as mankind has lorded it over the

,

earth their active existence wa s never held in

,

doubt down to within the last few generations

, .

The best and wisest me n of their ages have seen‘

them spoken with them tested their powers and

, ,

su ffered under them tried sentenced executed , , ,

them Every nation every century bears equal

.
,

testimony to their prowess Even to day save f o r .

-

a tiny band of over educate d scoffers sprung fo r

-

the most part from a race notorious f o r its wrong

headed prej udice the universal worl d accepts
,

them without any shadow of doubt In August of .

the present year a police court case wa s -

heard at Witham an E ssex town not fifty ,

miles from London in which the defend ,

a nt stood accused of assaulting another m a n

because his wife had bewitched him And .

11
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
’
it was given in evidence that the complainant s
wife was generally regarded as a witch by the
inhabitants of the Tiptree district Nor as I .
,

have already pointed o u t does Tiptree stand ,

alone Dare we then accept the opinion o f so

.
, ,

few against the experience the faith o f so many

,
!
,

I f s o must we not throw all history overboard as

,

well ! We are told that an Attila a M ahomet , ,

an Alexander o r to come nearer to o u r o wn days

, , ,

a Napoleon existed and did marvellous deeds

impossible to other men We read O f miracles
.

performed by a M oses a Saint Peter a Buddha

, ,
.

D O we refus e to believe that such persons ever

existed because their recorded deeds are more o r
less incompatible with the theories Of modern
science ! The witch carries history and the
supernatural tightly clasped in her skinny arms .

Let us beware lest in turning her from o u r door

s he carry them along with her t o leave us in their ,

place the origin o f species radium the gramo , ,

,
—
phone and some imperfect flying machines .

—
Those same flying machines provide yet another
argument in the witch s favour Why deny the
’
.

possibility that she possessed powers many Of

which we possess ourselves The witch flew .

through the air upon a broomstick ; Mr Henry .

Farman and Mr Wilbur Wright to mention two

.
,

o u t Of many are doing the same daily a s these

,

lines are written The vast maj ority o f us have

.

never s een either gentleman ; we take their

12
 On a P o s s i bl e R e vi v a l o f W i t chc ra ft
achievements o n trust from the tales told by news
—
paper correspondents a race o f men inevitably
inclined towards exaggeration Yet none o f us .

deny that Mr F arman exists and ca n fly through

.

the air upon a struct ure only more stable than a

broomsti ck in degree Why deny to the witch
.

that f aith you extend to the a eronaut O r aga i n

!
, ,

a witch cured diseases or caused them by reciting

, ,

a charm compounding a noxious brew in a kettle

, ,

making passes in the air with her hands A .

modern physician writes o u t a p re s crl p ti o n mixes ,

—
a few drugs in a bottle and cures diseases H e .

could as easily cause them by letting loose i n

visible microbes o u t o f a phial I s the o ne feat .

more credible than the other ! The witch sent

murrains upon cattle and removed the m H e
— .

were a poor who could no t do as

much In a story quoted elsewhere in this
.

volume a sorcerer o f Roman days bewitched his

,

horses and s o won C hariot races We refuse him-

.

the tribute o f o u r belief but we none the less

,

warn the modern doper Off o u r racecourses .

The witch could cause rain o r stay it Scarcely , .

a month passes but we read well attested accounts

o f ho w this o r that desert has been made to

blossom like the rose by irrigation o r other means .

But a few months since we were told that an

Italian scientist had discovered a means whereby
London could be relieved o f fogs through some
subtle employment Of electricity It i s true that .

I
3
 The B o o k o f W it ch e s
S ince then wehave had our full complement o f
foggy weather ; but does anyone regard the feat
as incredible !
I n all the long list of witch attainments there -

is not o ne that would gain more than a passing

newspaper paragraph in the silly season were it
performed in the London o f to day Why then -
.
, ,

this obstinate disbelief in the perfectly credible !

Largely perhaps because the witch was under

, ,

stood to perform her wonders by the aid o f the

Devil rather than of the Dynamo But must she .

be therefore branded as an impostor ! Certainly

not by those who believe in a personal Spirit of
Evil I do not know the proportion of profess
.

ing Christians who to day accept the D evil as -

part of their faith but it must be considerable ;

,
“

and the same is the case with many non Christian -

beliefs They who can swallow a Devil have

.

surely no excuse for refusing a witch Nor is .

the difficulty greater for those who while rej ect ,

ing the Devil accept the existence Of some sort

,

o f Evil Principle recognise in fact that there

- “
, ,

i s s uch a thing as evil at all F or them the pic .

tu re s q u e incidentals of witch life the signing of -

diabolical contracts aerial j ourneyings to the

,

Sabbath and so forth are but allegorical expres

, ,

sion of the fact that the witch did evil and was “

n o t ashamed are but roundabout ways of express

,

ing a great truth j ust as are the fi rst three

,

chapters o f Genesis or the story that Han

I 4
 The B o o k O f Wi t ch e s
a nineteenth century Queen O f England placed
-

such fond reliance Witch knots spells philtres

.
-

, , ,

divination— the witch has been as conservative as

s he has been endur i ng Every other profession
.

changes and has changed its aspects and its

methods from century to century O nly the .

witch has remained faithful to her original ideals ,

confident in the perfection of her art And for .

all reward Of such unexampled steadfastness we ,

creatures o f the moment deny tha t this one nu ,

changing human type this Pyramid o f human ,

endeavour has ever e x i s te d a t all ! Buttressed

, l
,

then upon the Scriptur e s to s a y nothing of the

, ,

holy writings Of Buddhist Brahmin M ahometan , , ,

and every other religion Of the first class coun ,

te na nce d increasingly though unwittingly by the

, ,

researches of science into the vastness o f o u r

ignorance ; acceptable to orthodox and heterodox
alike vouched for by history and personal testi
,

mony o f the most convincing o u r rej ection o f the ,

witch is based but upon the d o gma ti ci s ms Of o ne

i nconsiderable class the impenitent atheist
, ,

blinded by the imperfection Of his senses into

denying everything beyond their feeble compre
he ns i o n . To deny o u r recognition to a long line
o f women who however mistakenly have yet in
, , ,

the teeth O f prodigious diffi culties persevered in ,

their self allotted task with an altruistic e n

-

thu s i a s m perhaps unrivalled in the history Of

the world to relegate those who have left such

-

16
On a P o s s i bl e R e v iva l o f W i t chc ra ft
enduring marks upon the face Of history to an
Obscure corner o f the nursery and that upon such ,

feeble and suspect testimony were to brand o u r ,

se lves a s materialists indeed Rather let u s .

—
believe and thus prove our belief in human
—
nature that long after the last atheist has de
parted into the n o thi ngne s s he claims a s his birth
‘

right the witch once more raised to her seat o f

, ,

honour will continue to regulate the lives and

,

de stinies Of her devotees as unquestioned and a s

unquestionable as s he wa s in the days O f Saul
and o f O liver Cromwell It is to women that we
.

must look chiefly for the impetus towards this

renaissance Always the more devout the more
.
,

faithful half o f humanity there is yet another ,

peculiar claim upon her sympathies towards the

witch I n days such as ours when the whole ,

problem o f the rights and wrongs O f women i s

among the most urgent and immediate with which
we have to deal it were as anachronistic as
,

unnatural that Woman S hould allow the high

purpose the splendid endurance the noble
, ,

steadfastness in inquiry o f a whole great section

,

of —
her s e x including some Of the most de
s e rv e d l
y famous women t hat ever lived — S hould
allow all this not only to be forgotten but to be ,

absolutely discredited and denied P ersecuted .

by man made laws as S he ha s ever been and as

-

eternally in revolt against them there could be ,

no more appropriate or deserving figure to be

17 c
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
C hosen as Patroness o f the great fight for free
dom than the much libelled much martyrised
-

,
-

long enduring eternally misunderstood Witch

-

,
.

NO .The time has come when we c a n a p p re

ciate the artistic temperament O f Nero ; when
B luebeard i s revealed to us in the newer and
more kindly aspect o f an eccentric M arshal Of
France ; when many o f us are ready to believe
that C aesar Borgia acted from a mistaken sense Of
duty ; and that M essalina did but display the quali
ties natural to a brilliant Society leader Surely .

among them a ll not one i s more deserving Of

whitewashing than that signal instance o f the
f e m m e i n c o m fi r
,i s e the Witch We . may not '

approve all her actions we may not accept

,
‘

her as an example to be generally followed ; let

us at least so far escape the charge Of narrow
mindedness and lack Of imag i nati on as to pay
her the tribute if not O f a tear at least O f respect
, ,

ful credulity .
 C HAP T E R I I

A SABB AT H G E N ERAL
-

IT 18 Wild we ther Overhead

a All day the wind .

has been gr owi ng more a nd more b oisterous ,

bl o wing u p great mountains O f grey cloud o u t of

the East chasing the m helter S kelter across the
,
—
s k y tearing t hem into long ribbons and thrashing
,

them all together into o ne whirling tangle through ,

which the harassed moon ca n s carcely find her

way The late tra veller ha s many a n airy bu ffet
.

to withstand ere he c a n to p the last ascent and ‘

s e e the hamlet outlined in a su dden glint O f

. .

watery moonlight at his feet Those who lie .

abed are roused by the moaning in the eaves to ,

mutter fearfully The witches are abroad to

,

night
The witch lives by herself in a dingle a ,

hundred yards beyond the last cottage O f the

'

hamlet The dingle is a wilderness O f brush

.

wood through which a twiste d pathway leads to

,
’
the witch s door M atte d branches overhang her
.

roof tree and even when the moon breaking for

-

, ,

a moment from its net o f cloud sends down a ,

19 C 2
 The Bo o k Of Wi t ch e s
brighter ray than ordinary it does but emphasise ,

the secretiveness Of the anci ent moss grown -

thatch and the ill omened plants henbane purple

-

, , ,

nightshade or white bryony that cluster round

, ,

the walls He were a bold villager who dared

.

’
Venture anywhere within the Witch s dingle on
such a night as this The very wind wails among
.

the clashing branches in a subdued key very ,

different from its boisterous carelessness o n the

open d OWIl S beyond .

—
There is but one room and that of the barest
-i i n the witch s cottage ’
The village children .
,

who whisper of hoarded wealth a s o l d M other

'

Hackett passes them in the gloaming little know ,

how scant is the fare and small the grace they

must look f o r who have sold themselves to such
a master She sleeps upon the earthen floor
.
,

—
with garnered pine needles f o r mattress She .

has a bro k en stool to S it o n and a great iron pot ,

hangs above the slumbering embers on the clay

hearth .

It wants still an ho ur to midnight this eve of ,

May Day when there comes a stirri ng among

,

these same embers They are thrust aside and

.
“

up from beneath them Something heaves its way

into the room It i s the size O f a f o x black and
.

hairy shapeless and with many feet From

, .

somewhere I n I ts middle two green eyes shed a

baleful light that horribly illuminates the room .

It moves across the floor after the man ner O f a ,

20
 A S a bb a t h G e n e ra l -

great caterpillar and as it nears her the witch

,

casts a skinny arm abroad and mutters in her

sleep It reaches the bed lifts itself upon it and
.
, ,

mumbles something in her ear She awakes rises .

,

upon her elbow and replies peevishly She has

,
.

—
no fear Of the Thing it i s a familiar visitant .

She is angry and scol ds it in a shril l ol d voice

,
-

for disturbing her too soon H as S he not the .

—
D evil s marks u p on her breast and thigh
’

round blue marks that are impervious to all pain

,

from without but itch and throb when it is time

,

f o r her to go about her devilish business ! The

Thing takes her scoldings lightly twitting he r ,

with ha ving overslept herself at the last Sabbath

—which s he denies They fall a j esting ; she
.
-

—
calls it To m Vineg ar To m ; and they laugh
together over Ol d exploi ts and present purposes .

A moonbeam glints through a hole in the

that ch Where the witch has lain no w S its a
.

black c a t large rthan any Of natural generation

,

as larg e al mos t as a donkey It talks still with

, ,
.

e witc h s voice and lingers awhile ,the two pairs

’

th ,

O f green eyes watching e a ch o the r through the

'

d arkness At last
. with a careless greetin
,
g it ,

bound s across the floor leaps up the wall to the

,

chim ney o p e ni ng and is gone The shapeless

, .

Thing remains upon the bed Its sides quiver .

,

it chuckles beneath its breath in a wa y half

human yet altogether inhuman and Obscene
, .

The black ca t is hastening towards the hamle t

21
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
under the shadow Of the brushwood When she .

comes within sight of the end house s he leaves ,

—
the path and strikes out into the gorse clad waste
beyond the pasture keeping to it until s he is
,

opposite the cottage of Dickon the waggoner A .

child has been born three days back to Dickon

, ,

and M eg his wife It i s not yet baptised for the

.
,

priest lives four miles away beyond the downs, ,

and Dickon ha s been too pressed with work to

—
go for him TO morrow will be time enough for
.
,

it is the healthiest child not to say the most ,

beautiful the gossips have ever set eyes upon

,
.

Perhaps if M eg had n o t forgotten in her new

,

found happiness how j ust after her wedding

, ,

when o l d M other Hackett passed her door s he ,

made the sign O f the cross and cried o u t upon

the Old dame for a foul witch s he might no t be ,

sleeping s o easily now with her fi rs t born o n her -

bosom .

The black ca t creeps o n under the S hadow of

a hedge O ld Trusty the shepherd s dog left
.
,
’

to guard the flock during the night sees where ,

s he goes and taking her for a lurking fox

, , ,

charges fiercely towards the hedge to o eager to ,

give tongue But at the first flash Of the g reen

.

eyes a s s he turns her head he knows with what ,

he has to deal and flies whimpering for shelter

,

in the gorse hi s tail between his legs

, For a .

dog can tell a witch more readily than ca n his

—
ma ster and fears her a s greatly .

22
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
mumbling below her breath and once when the , ,

child wakes and wails taking it in her arms and ,

b u s hi ng it almost a s might a woman

,
It is close .

upon midnight yet the S ign has not come F o r

,
.

the Evil O ne being above all things inconstant

, ,

never lets his servants know time o r place until

the last moment and that in some unlooked f o r —
,

way .

At last when she is quite tormented with anxiety

,

lest s he have unwittingly angered her master ,

comes a stealthy clattering o f wings upon the

thatch and down through the hole that serves
,

f o r chimney rustles a black raven with fiery eyes .

’
It flutters straight for the witch s shoulder and
there settles whispering hoarsely in her ear while
, ,

the light from its eyes throws her lean features ,

with their twitching muscles into pale relief ,

against the darkness Nodding eager assent to .

the message M other Hackett hobbles to her bed

, ,

and from a safe hiding place among the

,
-

rustling pine needles draw s out a phial Next

-

, .

s he makes f o r the corner beside the hearth and ,

picks up the broomstick leaning against the wall .

The raven quits her shoulder for the pillow ,

the nce to watch her with its head at an approving

angle She opens the phial and smears the co n
.

tents o n the broomstick head and handle It is , .

an Ointment and it shines with the phosphorescent

,

light that is born O f corruption Well it may .

,

for it i s compounded o f black millet and the

2
4
 A S a bb a t h G e ne ra l -

dried powdered liver Of an unbaptised child j ust ,

’
such a o ne as now lies upon the witch s bed with ,

the grim raven gazing down o n it The witch .

deluded wretch believes the ointment to have

—
magic powers ; that smeare d upon her broom
,

stick i t gives the senseless wood volition an d the

,

—
power to Carry her s k y high ; o r if she swallow ,

it that it will render her ins ensible to p ain s o

, ,

that the worst e fforts o f the torturer and the e x e c u

ti o ne r shall force her to confess nothing The .

—
Devil her master knows none better that no
, ,
—
such potency I s I n any Ointment but that his o wn ,

hellish magic supports his minions in the air and

comes an he s o will to their aid in time o f trial
, ,
.

But this he hides from them s o that in their ,

folly they may be le d to murder babes the —

sacrifice he loves above all other .

The witch takes a broken eggshell and smears

it also with the Ointment She goes to the be d
.

and picks up the child the broomstick hopping

,

after her across the floor Being now ready to .

s et o ut She steps astride the broom handle that

,
-

holds itself aslant for her easier mounting She .

waves her hand to the attendant raven and with ,

a rush that sends a spirtle o f bright sparks up

,
—
from the embers s he is away u p the chimney ,

through the overhanging branches through the ,

ragged clouds and far o n her j ourney under the

,

stars Yet if any shoul d enter the witch s hut

.
,
’

then o r thereafter till the dawn they would ,

2
5
 The B o o k Of Wi t ch e s
find her S leeping peacefully upon the bed .

’
The raven having carried their master s messag e
, ,

ha s this further duty : to take upon himself the

witch s shape until he r return lest any finding
’
, ,

her from home should scent o u t her errand

,
.

The wind is from the East The witch must .

steer across it f o r the Sabbath General as the

,
-

corvine messenger has tol d her is to be held on ,

a lonely peak Of the Cevennes in mid France ,

-
.

Her task is not Of the easiest for the gusts come ,

fierce and sudden and the broomstick dips and

,

leaps before them like a cockle boat o n a rough -

sea . The witch s scanty locks and scantier

’

clothing stream out almost at a right angle and ,

once the baby in her arms raises its voice in a

tiny wail that would soften the heart of any but
a servant Of the Devil Up here the moonlight .

wells down unchecked turning the clouds below ,

into the shifting semblance o f snow mountains

and lakes o f silver They open out now and
.

again at the Wind s bidding to allow glimpses o f

’

the dark silent earth far down beneath

, .

—
S O for a time a little time for Devil s mes ,
’

s e ng e rs fly fast — the witch drives onward I n mid

air At last the broomstick slackens speed seems
.

to hesitate C ircles twice o r thrice and then dives

, ,

earthwards The hag alights upon the sea

.

shore upon a pebbly beach whereon the waves

,

fling themselves in white fury at the lash

ings of the wind now grown so high that M other
,

26
 —
A S a bb a t h G e n e ra l
Hackett c a n scarcely stand against it Whether .

because he foresees some chance Of evil doing —

,

o r from mere in constancy for he works without ,

me thod and against reason the D evil has ordered ,

that she shall no t cross the Channel o n her

broomstick She seizes the interval between
.

t wo waves to launch the eggshell S he has brought

with her steps into it raises the broomstick aloft
, ,

as sail o r ensign and puts o u t to sea in the teeth

,

o f the gale The great w aves roar far above her

.

head in foaming Whirlpools that might sink a

,

war fle e t but the eggshel l rides triumphantly

-

among them dancing upon their crests a n d ship

,

ping never a drop of water o n its passage Nor .

c a n the best e fforts o f the wind stay its speed .

O nly once does it deviate from its course when ,

a straining ship its spars and sails all splintered

,

and riven drives thr o ugh the mist to leeward

, .

AS she nears it the witch rises to her feet throws

, ,

o u t one skinny hand towards it and shrieks an ,

incantation down the wind A flicker of light .

ning shows itself in the E a s t a n d a cloud drives ,

over the face of the moon When its shadow .

is past there is no more S ign o f the ship o r its

,

toiling crew upon the lonely face of the waters .

M other H ackett mews gleefully as S he speeds

F ra nce wa rd s .

Coming to where the low grey coast rises from

the waves S he once more sets herself astride the
,

broomstick As s he speeds o n s ky high , towards

.
,
-

27
 The BO O k Of Wi t ch e s
the —
meeting place She falls in with comp a ny bent
,

on the same errand From all sides they come .

,

converging to the goal o l d lean hags like her , ,

self women in the prime Of life young girls not

, ,

yet o u t o f their teens Some bear with them u n .

weaned babes others children o f a larger growth

, ,

yet others youths o r grown men as O fferings to ,

Satan These they c arry pillion wise before

.
-

them for in the Devil s kingdom a l l is awry

,
’

imperfect contrariwise to the ways o f Christian

,

folk Some of them are mounted o n goats some

.
,

upon great toads or flying snakes or reptiles o f

, ,

uncertain S hape o r S imple broomsticks as fancy

, ,

has directed their imperious despot O ne a man — .

—rides side s e a fe d upon a great fiery dragon that

-

—
in the distance glows like a newly risen star H e .

is a mighty sorcerer one who commands Satan ,

instead Of serving him coming to the Sabbath for ,

some reason of his o wn and mounted on a steed ,

of his own providing .

The meeting place o f the Sabbath General as

-
-

Satan in mockery of Christian ritual Chooses to

, ,

call this foregathering o f his servants is a bare ,

peak in the loneliest part of the Cevennes It .

stands a little removed from the centre of a great

mountain amphitheatre and j ust below the ,

summit is a mountain tarn crystal — pure and ,

casting back the starlight as peac efully as though

there were no such things as witch or warlock
’
beneath God s Heaven Yet I t I s not the first .
'

28
 A S a bb a t h G e ne ra l -

time the same meeting place ha s been chosen f o r

-

no t a blade of grass not the humblest creeping

,

plant grows upon the sterile rocks

,
Every .

growing thing withered away root and branch , ,

when last the forces Of Hell gathered here S O .

must the place remain desert and bare mute , ,

witness O f its desecration until the Judgment ,

Day .

The witches come skirling down from the s k y

like a flight o f unclean birds circling above the ,

crags hovering to choose a settling place where

,
-

no sharp pointed rock shall gash their naked feet

-

chattering shrilly the while Those already .

arrived are seated in a wide circle o n a flat rock

ledge j utting from the mountain side They are .

mostly Witches o f the neighbourhood who have ,

come afoot and have s e t o u t betimes lest they

be detained upon the As more and more’

j oin the circle yo u ma y fi n d proof that they lie

who declare the Devil s servants mostly women
’
.

It is true that woman by reason of the frailty o f

,

her nature seeks more Often to pry into forbidden

,

things to her o wn destruction and thus there are

, ,

many more witches than warlocks or magicians .

—
Yet o f those gathere d for this Sabbath General ,

for every witch there is one mortal man to say ,

nothing of demons ; for while some as M other ,

Hackett have come alone others being the

, , ,

younger and fairer Of the witches have brought ,

with them two o r even three youths o r young

29
 The B o o k Of Wi t c h e s

men ready to take service with the Evil O ne and

,

cast away their hope Of salvation as did our ,

F ather Adam at the bidding of these Delilahs

,
.

Thus it is that in the unholy dances which are

,

to follow every witch will have a man for her

,

partner save the most favoured who dance with

,

the superior demons for thus the Devil will ,

have it
M other Hackett when s he di smounts from her
‘

broomstick takes her place beside one Luckie a

, ,

gossip Of former Sabbaths ill favoured as herself ,

-

who comes from the kingdom Of F ife where s he ,

i s much feared for the sudden tempests s he raises

—
when the fi s hing fle e ts are sailing homeward with
full catches Next to her is a younger witch
.
,

fair and well born Sidonia by name o f a noble

-

, ,

house in M ecklenburg She is a tall pale girl .

, ,

with hair the colour of ripe wheat and grey blue ,

-

eyes She is held in high esteem by Satan both

.
,

f o r her beauty and for the number Of well born -

youths s he has delivered into his hands Next .

to her is a witch o f Spain beautiful also though , ,

brown and with black beady eyes Between , .

these two there is little love lost seeing that they ,

are women no less than witches and either would ,

do the other a mischief could she compass it .

Though all those bidden have j oined the

circle there i s yet no sign of the Devil s coming
,
’
.

The witches cease their clacking and scan the

sk
y impatiently mutter i ng curses
, against their
3 0
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
he has been tweaked and bu ffeted a s earnest Of
what he i s to look f o r But no w another more
.
,

dreadful S hape looms up in the very centre Of the

circle and the angry witches fall back before it
,

in grovelling terror At first seen in the dim

.
,

light Of the waning moon it is shapeless inchoat e , ,

.

S lowly it takes form before their eyes into the

trunk Of a great tree with tangled limbs stretch
,

ing o u t from it It has about it the suggestion

.

of a face leering and horrible with set features

, ,

that half emerge and half conceal themselves in

the gnarling Of the bark such a face as a ma n
—

may see peering after him out Of the darkness

—
when he passes tip toe through the depths of
, ,

an ancient forest at midnight Before it the .

witches make Obeisance turning their backs upon,

it and bowing to the ground in mockery o f ,

Christian reverence When they turn again the

.

tree has changed into a goat i ts eyes a fla me with ,

Obscene passion and even as they look the goat

, , ,

fades into a lion with bloody j aws The lio n .

fades in turn into a man a comely man in all but ,

his expression and his eyes which whatever his

, , ,

shape are always those o f a goat bestial and

, ,

foul He I S dressed all in black but his f ace

.
,

and hands are dull red for hi s V itals are c o n

—
s u mi n in the flames f Hell and when he
g o -

raises his hand hi s wrist and for e arm glow within

,

his cuff as though they were made Of molten iron .

O n hi s left hand the fingers are all grown together

3 2
 A S a bb a t h G e ne ra l
-

into o ne misshapen claw f o r however fair the

,

human seeming into which the Devil moulds

himself you may always know him for what he
,

is in that some part o f him an ear a foot or a

, , , ,

hand is horribly misshapen

,
.

Now at last a l l being prepared attendant imps

, ,

pass round the circle checking the numbers o f

,
’
those present and who bears the D evil s mark
and who must sti ll rece ive I t and who ha s c a rri e d ,

o u t her appointed task and who has failed Re .

’
turning they whisper the tale into their master s
,

ear who gibbers with delight and leaps into the

,

air and cracks hi s heels together f o r there is ,

nothing noble o r o f dignity about him being in ,

all things mean and petty a thing O f l o w vices ,

rather than o f heroic crimes Thereafter he sits .

upon a throne seemingly Of gold that rises from

, ,

the earth to receive him while his attendants hold

,

aloft candles made Of the fat O f drowned mariners ,

burning with a pale blue light O ne by o ne he .

calls the witches before him calling them by ,

nicknames a s O ld T oothless o r Wag in the

, ,
- -

” ”
wind o r Co z li ng but never by the names
, ,

given them in Holy Baptism And they making .

,

obscene Obeisance before hi s throne speak to ,

him thuswise also calling him, M onsieur or ,

”
G ri z z l e gu ts, o r other fouler nam es Next .
,

standing with her back towards the throne ,

each in turn makes recital Of her foul

deeds since their last meeting : ho w many
33 D
 The B o o k O f W i t ch e s
Of God s children s he has ruined and u m
’

done what evil spells s he ha s ca s t upon

,

crops and besti al what tempests s he has ,

raised ho w s he has fared in furthering her

,

master s kingdom
’
Those who have done well
.

Satan fondles a n d caresses promising them great ,

reward but the others he hands over to hi s imps

,

for present p unishment Thus there is o ne .

,

—
plump and well favoured being a witch o f ,

Sweden who having been given f o r her task that

, ,

S he shall bring a neighbour s s o n a rich young

— ’

—
farmer to her master s allegiance has failed ’
,

therein and that although granted extension Of

,

time f o r the emprise H er the D evil losing all .

,

further patience Of which he has but little at the

,

best o f times marks o u t for punishment and his

, ,

demons casting her straightway to the ground

, ,

beat her with whips Of living snakes and scorpions ,

and bite and otherwise torment her with tooth

and claw s o that the blood runs from her in
, ,

streams And while s he yells and screams for

.

mercy flapping here and there upon the ground

,

like a fish upon a line the whole assembly shakes ,

with hideous laughter at the grotesqueness of her

agony .

M other Hackett her turn being come rises , ,

eagerly knowing that S he ha s done evil full

‘

measure since the last Sabbath The waggoner s .

’

Child s he hands to Gossip Luckie the time for ,

its presentation being n o t yet come and hobbles ,

34
 A S a bb a t h G e ne ra l -

her fastest to her place before the throne pucker ,

ing her Old eyes beneath the glare from the s u r

—
rounding corpse candles It i s f o r this that s he
.

ha s borne the hardships the hatre d and p e rs e c u

,

tion o f her Christian neighbours the starvation ,

Of hunger and col d during the long winter months

since the last Sabbath H er tale is Of murrains
.

cast upon a rich farmer s cattle o f a crop o f barley

’

that has withered away ben eath her spell Of a ,

’
tempest raised by her to unroof the priest s tithe
barn three parishes away o f the digging up o f ,

bodies from the churchyard to grace the Sabbath

banquet Of three boys who having stoned her
, , ,

—
have ever since gone cross eyed vomiting needles ,

incessantly and of the ship sunk in mid Channel

,
-

upon her late crossing Also there i s the u n

.

baptised child s he has brought with her to be ,

devot ed to the D evil s service f o r all time

’
.

When her tale is to l d s he waits yet a long

‘

moment expectant Of praise and reward Praise

, .

indeed her master l avishes upon her though he ,

chides her also for having brought him but a

waggoner s brat in place O f a child well born for
’
-

—
in them he delights most and Of future reward
great promise But he speaks as o ne whose
.

—
thoughts are elsewhere and his eyes which are
,

—
always the eyes o f a lustful goat wander to
where the beauteous Sidonia waits smiling for
her turn S O M other Hackett must hobble back
.

to her place in the circle her heart full o f bitter

,

35 D 2
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
ness and disappointment feeling that s he has ,

been tricked o u t o f her deser ts knowing that s he ,

must labour in ill doing yet another year before-

s h e can hope for the rich rewards promised her

s o many weary years ago yet still to look for ,

.

And s he curses under her breath a s Sidonia

passes in all the pride Of her unholy beauty ,

going to where the Evil O ne leans forward in

his chair hi s eyes glowing like hot coals and
, ,

motions to her to come yet nearer as s he tells

with trills O f silvery laughter that yet i s alto ,

gether horrible Of three youths S he ha s bewitched

, ,

and how o ne ha s hanged himself cursing the ,

name Of God and how another ha s murdered

,

hi s o wn brother and now lies in durance awaiting

,

death and the third s he ha s brought with her

,

to the Sabbath to enter himself among the Devil s

,
’

servants abandoning hi s hope of Heaven for her

,

sake O f her tale Satan loses no word and when

.
,

s he i s done he clips her in his arms and fondles

her and keeps her beside him throughout what

follows .

'
When all the witches have rendered account ,

i t is the turn o f the victims they have brought

‘

with them the unbaptised children first and they

,

o f tender years They are led o r carried before

.

’
the D evil s throne and stand there curious and , ,

—
open eyed understanding nothing Of what i s
,

going forward clustering together in a group the

, ,

elder girls holding the infants in their arms and

3 6
 A S a bb at h -
G e n e ra l
hushing them awkwardly when they cry The .

Evil O ne speaks to them su iti ng his words to ,

their condition his voice purring like a cat H e

,
.

draws bright pictures Of the reward they may

—
expect f o r absolute Obedience if they renounce
their kindred and those Of them who are bap
,

ti s e d their godfathers and godmothers and with

, ,

them G o d and the Child Jesus Some o f the .

elder among them demur at this whereupon he ,

reasons with them hi s voice still soft and cruel

,

as a cat s telling them that what they have

’

,
’
learned O f Holy Writ is but an Old wife s tale ,

and tha t the re is n o G o d but he who S peaks

'

b eing master Of both worlds Then his eyes .

blaze brighter and hi s voice grows fierce and

menacing and he leads them to the side o f the
,

mountain and shows them far below a dreadful

, ,

chasm with fierce flames leaping about it and

grim fi re monsters lifting up their open j aws from
-

its centre It is but a lying vision conj ured up

.
,

by his hellish arts ; but ho w shoul d such poor

babes know false from true The witches gather
round them and cozen and threaten telling them ,

that if they refuse they will be surely cast into

the flames but if they Obey they shall have all
,

that a child best loves full measure S O at last

, .

they do as they are bidden and Swear away their

,

young souls and their hope Of salvation f o r ever

and ever and make Obeisance to Satan with
,

Obs cene c e remonies Of which they understand

 The B o o k O f W i t c he s
nothing doing all f o r fear Of the witches who
,

instruct them When all even to the unweaned

.
,
’
babes are bound f o r ever to Satan s allegiance
, ,

they are led away to the S hore Of the mountain

tarn whither come great toads Sw imm i ng up from
,

its C lear depths and clambering to the shore .

These the children are s e t to mind being given ,

—
little white switches for that end Satan promising
that next year if they have deserve d well they
, ,

shall be granted the full privileges of servants Of

H ell Childlike when they have overcome their
.
,

first horror Of the hideous toads they make play ,

things Of them seeking to make them gallop with

,

the white switches and especially the boys for , , ,

getting all that has passed in the gleefulness Of

the moment .

M eanwhile the more mature recruits to Satan s ’

army are called in turn before him to be ,

examined in their love Of evil to make Obeisance ,

—
and to receive his mark invented by him in i m
pious mockery Of o u r Saviour s wounds and the ’

stigmata borne o n their bodies by many Of His

saints All this to the accompaniment o f rites S O
.

foul and bestial that they may not be written

down And next the present business being
.
,

disposed Of the whole crew falls a —dancing men

, , ,

women and imps together

, Back to back the .

couples dance for the most part stark naked

,
-

and some with black cats hanging from their

necks o r waists spitting and scratching and some
, ,

3 8
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
is nought but a huge mouth and hops underneath ,

the tables biting the ankles Of the witches While .

yet another takes the shape of a beaker whence ,

pours sparkling wine into the goblets Of the

guests I f they seek to drink it turns to burning
.
,

pitch Thus it i s indeed with all the viands for

. ,

though they seem all that the heart o r belly o f

—
man can desire and o f all things plenty saving
only salt f o r that Satan cannot abide as recall
, ,

ing the Last Supper upon earth o f the Lord

—
Christ yet being tested they are proved a
mockery F or when the guests stretch Ou t their
.

hands for what they most covet it v a nishes from

their ey es and in its place is corrup tion and
,

rottenness the reeking flesh Of murderers and

,

heretics o r of cattle that have died Of a murrain ,

the entrails O f r eptiles o r the scrapings O f

middens with for drink water in which drowned
, , ,

suicides have rotted and such like — Some Of

,
.

those but newly entered draw back in horror from

such fare whereat the more hardened mock at
,

them falling upon it themselves with horrid zest

, .

Grown merry after such feasting they fal l ,

a rioting j esting
-
and playing after such wise a s
, ,

may not be told until the time is come for their

,

next enterprise what time the Devil toys with the

,

most well favoured wantons among them When

-

at last the signal is given the whole hellish crew ,

rise into the air again their master leading them

, ,

s hrillin and squawking like a flight Of wild ees

g g e

40
 A S a bb a t h G e n e ra l -

across the darkling s k y The D evil leads them .

to an O l d cathedral town a place o f ancient ,

towers and crumbling walls and tall high ,

shouldered houses that lean o u t ov er narrow

lanes as if a gossiping Before the great cathe
-
.

dral i s a wide market place very busy in the day

-

, ,

but S ilent no w as a graveyard with only no w and ,

then the creaking O f some wind harrie d S ign to

—

tell Of human energies F our roads me et in the .

centre Of the market place and there the Evil ,

O ne alights hi s ministers behind him and there

, ,

his throne is s e t up facing the portal o f the

—
cathedral f o r it is thus that Satan loves best to
carry o n his mockery Of Christian ritual First .

is gone through a blasphemous parody o f H oly

Baptism toads taking the place Of children
,
.

E ach is tricke d out in a velvet suit Of black o r

scarlet with a bell tied to each paw and one
,

hung round its neck An unfrocked priest who

.
,

has been a miracle o f S hamelessness and is n o w

sold to Satan performs the blasphemy and the
, ,

Oldest and foulest witches stand a s S ponsors ,

vying with each other in the lewdness o f their

responses While this is going forward a brace
.

o f night rovers intent upon a deed Of sacrilege

-

, ,

come creeping through the shadows round the

cathedral walls seeking to force an entrance into
,

the holy place Their eyes and ears are at their

.

keene s t lest they be apprehended but though

, ,

they look right through the crowd O f demons and

 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
witches thronging the Open market place they -

— —
yet see nothing Of them f o r evil doers though ,

they be they have not yet lost their chance Of

,

salvation and none but those irrevocably swor n

,

Of Satan s following can s e e what befalls upon a

’

Witches Sabbath ’
.

The christening O f the toads being gone

through follows the yet more blasphemous cele
,

bration Of the B lack M ass The foresworn priest .

again o ffi ci a te s the imps witches and demons

, , ,

acting a s deacons acolytes o r worshippers all, , ,

impiously mim i cking the servants Of G o d In .

place Of the Host is exalted a black wafer cut ,

in the form o f a triangle and the whole servic e ,

o f the M ass is gone through backwards from

end to beginning The onlookers also make .

their Obeisances backwards with lewd g e sture n o t ,

forgotten towards where the father Of all evil sits

,

grinning and mowing upon hi s throne over against

the cathedral door Yet are they n o t permitted.

to finish their blasphemies f o r even as the false ,

priest makes to administer the wafer to an imp ,

who receives it for the greater mockery standing

, ,

upon his head the first pale shadow Of the dawn

,

creeps up the eastern s k y Seeing it a lusty .

,

cock roosting in some farmyard beyond the city

,

walls welcomes it with shrill c ro wi ng s The

, .

’
Devil s brood break Off and listen fearfully f o r ,

Chanticleer is a servant O f G o d and held in awe ,

by all demons witches and sorcerers a s the

, ,

4 2
 A S a bb a t h G e ne ra l -

heral d O f G od s daylight A rival bird takes up

’
.

the challenge and it is echoed far and wide over

,

the countryside The Evil O ne waits no longer

.
,

but sinks at once with his throne downwards , ,

through the cobble stones to his abiding place - -

followed by his attendant demons The witches

“

and sorcerers o f the company tarry no t but cast ,

themselves afloat upon the air wasting no time ,

o r breath upon their farewells lest daylight s u r

prise them ere they can reach their homes and all
their wickedness be made clear .

M other Hackett among the rest throws herself

, ,

astride her broom handle and sails Off down the

-

wind O n this her return S he wastes no time

.

at the s e a coast but shoots onward high in the

-

air through the increasing pallor Of the morning

,
.

O ver s e a and down s he flies and dropping like , ,

a stone into the dingle enters her cottage by the ,

chimney unseen even by the earliest ploughman

, .

At her coming the expectant demon in her shape

rises from the bed and takes again the semblance
Of a raven A few words Of greeting and inquiry
.
,

and it makes its exit by the road it came flying Off ,

heavily across the fields regardless o f the day ,

light f o r who seeing a raven fly towards the sea

, , ,

would think Of sorcery o r witchcraft ! Who ,

again entering her humble cot and seeing there

,

a poor Old woman sleeping o n a be d Of poverty

would recognise in her a foul witch forward in ,

all wickedness and a most potent agent Of her

43
 The B o o k O f Wi t ch e s
master Satan F o r s o cunningly do these devilish
.

hags aided by their master s arts conceal their

,
’

exits and their entrances their spells and incanta

,

tions that there be many ignorant men who

, ,

openly flouting Holy Writ declare even in these

, ,

enlightened days that there is no such thing as

,

witchcraft o r sorcery and that they who seek o u t

,

witches and S lay them are no better than cruel

murderers o f poor helpless o l d women Such are .

the craft and malice Of Satan and the folly of

mankind .

44
 C HAP T E R I I I

TH E O RI GI N S OF TH E W IT CH
TH E wit ch in the broader sense Of the word may
, ,

be said to have e xi s te d ever since mankin d first

evolved an imag i nati on and may be expected to
,

exp ire only with the death Of the last woman .

Given the supernatural and sorcery must ,

follow in some shap e or other a s i ts corol

lary Whence also the witch i s a s ubiqui
.

tous as s he i s enduring Under some form

.

o r other she exists and has existed in every

, ,

quarter Of the globe ; s he is a s familiar to

the E nglish peasant a s to the West African in ,

South America as in Japan H er attributes vary .

,

and have varied with the racial temperament

,

and the religious concepti ons O f her worshippers

and persecutors as widely as d o and have do ne
, , ,

their gods . But it wa s left for medi aeval

Christianity to give her the definite shape in which
s he is n o w most universally recognised and it is ,

to the Christian ideal of celibacy that s he owes ,

if indirectly the more Obscene and latterly the

, ,

45
 The B o o k Of Wi tch e s
more grotesque o f her attributes lifting her at
, ,

first to an evil equality with the horned Devil O f

the Middle Ages degrading her ultimately to the
,

horrid Old witch o f nursery legend .

It i s a far cry from this same horrid Old

witch fO thg p a ga n d i v i ni t but there is O
m m
-

break in the long pedigree It may be traced .

still f a rms; through the mists o f antiquity to the

—
“

earliest days o f human motherhood O nly as .

,

between goddess and witch we are confronted ,

with a D arwinian problem I s the witch indeed .

daughter o f the g o d d e s s o r are both descended

,
~

from a common ancestress ! To my mind the ,

latter is the more correct line Of desc e nt with ,

the pagan priestess as connecting link .

To o ne wizard ten thousand witches quotes

, ,

Michelet from a forgotten writer Of the days Of

Louis Treize ; and throughout all the history O f
sorcery women have formed the maj ority Of its
practitioners O ur forefathers attributed this to
.

the weakness o f womankind always curious to ,

probe the mysteries Of the Unknown always prone ,

to fall into the snare Of evil A more charitable .

— and correcter— explanation would be found in

the greater quickness Of he r p e rce p ti o ns I f Eve

'

first gave the apple to Adam s he gave with it ,

the f uture Of civilised humanity The first .

—
mother gave birth to twin daughters the goddess ,

and the witch and from one o r other o f them

,

came the impetus which ha s carried mank i nd to

4 6
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
for wonder as indeed it i s almost as wonderf ul
, ,

as the first smile o f the first baby . Pain c a n no

longer run riot unchecked If it have not yet .

found its mistress at least a protest has been

,

—
entered again st it reason not only for jo y and
wonder but for respect and gratitude even p er
,
—
haps for worship
Whatever his divinity M an worship s him
.

, self .

In every form o f religion the worshipped tends

to become confused with the worshipper M an .

cannot escape his own environment The .

thunderstorm frightens him there must be a ,

storm demon What is that demon but another

.

man like himself , though ugli er and wickeder and

very much more powerful ! Such a demon must
be flattered and propitiate d a s an angry man Of
might must be But a Primitive with his living
.

to make cannot spare the time necessary to p ro

p i t i a t e a worldful of demons H e deputes the
. duty
to a weaker neighbour one who sits at home , ,

engag i ng for hi s own part to find food for both .

+
Whence the first p ri e s te s s fro m whom later
descends the first priest F or who S O apt a t p ro
'

p i ti a t i o n a s S he who can caj ole that most domes

ti c a te d Of demons the ever present Pain
, SO
-
.
,

later when the propitiation of Evil gives place to

,

the invocation Of good who so worthy of honour

, ,

which is to s a y O f wo rs hip a s s he who in the dawn

’

, ,

ing o f the race first relieved poor humanity o f

,

i ts bodily ills ! G oddes s priestess White Witch

, ,
 The O ri gi n s o f t he W i t ch
—
and B lack all are but variations that oldest On
and most beautiful Of themes M otherhoo d , .

To return to the first hous e wife Throughout -

.

her life S he adds always a little to her store o f .

natural knowledge and when S he dies S he b e

’

u e a th s it to her daughters They in turn add to

q .

it until the time comes when to the cure Of bo dies

i s added that of minds F or M an s na s cent mind
.
’

begins to trouble him almost a s much a s does his

body A lready the eternal problem of why and
.

wherefore raises its head ; already he begins his

—
age long struggle with the inevitable That all
that i s is good does not commend itself to Pre
,

historic M an He knows s o much better

. He .

must Often go hungry his cattle die drought , ,

destroys his meagre crops hi s neighbour robs him ,

o f his war spoil

-

H e appeals to the woman who

.
,

thinks s o much for a way out Cannot s he who

,
.
,

with her potions drove the pain out of his body ,

help him in this a l so ! Can S he no t cure

hi s cattle ! Can S he not reason with the
delinquent rain demon o r by making a little
-

, ,

rain herself move him to emulation

,
! Best Of all ,

can s he not o u t o f the p lenitude o f her wisdom

, ,

suggest some means o f outwitting that treacherous

neighbour ! H e will reward her handsomely ,

especially f o r this last .

It is at this point that the priestess and the

‘

witch come to the crossing of the ways hence ,

forward to follow divergent paths The one .

49 E
 The B o o k o f '
W i tch e s
sister from whom is to be born the devout
,

priestess is ready to d o all that S he c a n She i n

,
.

vokes the cattle demon the rain demon ; s he no

-

,
-

more than the man has any doubt o f their invoca

,

b i l ity but if they refuse to answer it must be

,

because they are angry She cannot make it rai n .

if the demon g ainsay her prayer S he is honest .

,

acknowledging her inferiority to the supernatural .

O nly s he claims to understand more than most

the best wa y to approach it .

—
Consider the other woman the a ncestress of
the witch in the Opprobrious sense
, She knows .

very well that S he cannot make rain Probably .

She ha s made the experiment already But such — .

—
faith in her power is tempting s o are the gifts
thus easy to be earned The man believes in her
.

—almost S he begins to believe in herself P er .

haps S he tries to p ersuade herself that s he may

succeed this time She is weatherwise and she
.
,

reads in natural signs the probability that rain may

.
—
shortly be expected I f it should not well she ,

must take precautions against incurring blame .

She must impose conditions and any failure m ust ,

—
be s e t down to their no nf u lfil m e nt There i s a .

very pleasant sense o f power in gulling the over

grown baby who is s o r e ady to b e gulled She .

accepts the tr ust commands the rain demon to let

,
-

down his S howers Her reading Of the signs i s

.

—
ju s ti fi e d the expected rain comes Her r eputa .

—
tion i s assured until belief in the supernatural
5 0
 The O ri gi n s O f t he W i t ch
shall be n o more H er daughter and her grand
.

daughters inherit her claims They also c o m .

mand the storm using the same form Of words

,
.

Possibly they are themselves deceived believing —

that there is some virtue in the form Of their

mother s words n o w become an incantation
’

,
.

F rom the first C laim to powe r over the elements ,

to the finished sorceress and thence to the ,

horrid Old witch o f fairy legend is but a ,

matter o f regular evolution .

Just a s the priestess wa s the mother O f the

priest S O the wizard is born O f the witch M an
,
. .
,

—
though he start later very much a s the boy
i s S lower in development than i s his S ister
— is not content always to remain second in the
race f o r knowledge —
F o r a time perhaps f o r
—
long centuries he ha s been content to leave
things intellectual to his womenfolk But when .

he starts he is no t content to stay upon the

threshol d Of knowledge a s woman who ha s a p
, ,

p ro a c h e d i t only from necessity h a s done O ne ,

.

day a male iconoclast rebels pitting his awaken ,

ing intellect against the woman s inherited reputa ’

tion Victorious he yet trembles at hi s victory

.
, ,

while all P a l aeo l i thi a awaits the angry fire from

Heaven But nothing happens N O lightning
. .

strikes him ; no swift disease destroys him o r hi s

.
,

C hildren o r hi s cattle A new era has begun— the

, .

wizard places himself beside the witch slowly but ,

surely to elbow her into the second place .

5 1 E 2
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
AS the slow centuries pa s s society been ha s
gradually forming and shaping itself In hi s .

search f o r a civilisation M an has left the secluded

cave wherein he wrung the empire Of the wo rld
from the j aws Of the cave bear and the scythe -

toothed tiger H e has built himself homes and

.

collected them into villages ; from the scattered

family he ha s evolved the tribe and from the ,

tribe the nation Having learned hi s o wn power

.

when buttressed upon that o f his neighbours he ,

i s S lowly broadening and extending it until it i s

little inferior to that Of the divinities before whom
it pleases him to tremble —
H e o r Nature f o r
.

—
him chooses o u t rulers who become hi s gods in
,

all but divinity ; and hi s respect f o r them if less ,

absolute is more immediate than for his gods

, .

Government making all things possible becomes

, ,

an accomplished fact .

Government once instituted loses no time in

, ,

measuring itself against Heaven In one form .

o r other the conflict between Church and State

— disguise it as men may— ha s lasted from the
beginning and must last a s long a s both survive
, .

That ideal which reached the point nearest Of

attainment in the theoretic constitution Of the
Holy Roman Empire Of two rulers CO existent
, ,
-

and co equal governing o n e the spiritual and o ne

-

the mate rial empire Of the world wa s in the very ,

'

nature Of things doome d to remain a n i d e a l .

Either God o r Man must be first With their .

5 2
 The O ri g i n s Of t he W i t ch
struggles for the mastery the fortunes Of the
witch as Of all exponents Of the supernatural
, ,

were intimately bound up .

At first sheltering itself beneath the wings o f

—
the spiritual power the material flo u ri s he d a t its
,

protector s expense
’
The realm o f Nature
.

seemed at first s o inconsid erable compare d to

that of the supernatural that he were a bo l d
'

i conoclast who dared compare them O nly the .

,

King was always in the midst Of his people ; the

g o,d century by century retreate d further
, into
the u n s ca l e a b l e S kies S lowly the civil power
.

emancipated itself from the tutelage of the

—
spiritual as it is still doing in o u r o wn time
S lowly and with many falterings and many back
ward glances asserting itself i n prosperity a p
, ,

pealing for help in adversity retreating Often but , ,

never S O far as it advanced .

With the first introduction o f civil government

the witch and the priestess finally part company ,

to range themselves henceforward upon opposite

S ides It is true that a s religion follows religion
.

the priestess o f the former era Often becomes the

witch o f its successor thereby only accentuating
'

the distinction F or in the unceasing efforts to

.
,

arrange a m o d u s v i v e n d z between the human and

'

the supernatural worlds the priestess a cc o mm o

,

—
dates herself to circumstances the witch defies
them The priestess acknowledging her o wn
.
,

humanity claims only to interpret the wi s h e s o f

,

53
 The B o o k Of Wi t ch e s
the god to interced e with him o n behalf Of her
,

fellow men The witch staunch Tory Of the Old

-

.
,

breed claims to be divine in S O far as s he e x er

, ,

cises divine power unamenable to human govern

ance a nd thus S ingles herself o u t as o ne apart
, ,

independent o f civil and ecclesiastical powers

—
alike and as such an Obj ect Of fear and Of s u s
p i ci o n .Even S O s h e is still respectable suspect ,

indeed but no t condemned The public attitude

,
.

towards her is variable ; s he is alternately e n

c o u ra g e d and suppressed venerated and perse ,

o uted —and through all s he flourishes now ,

seductive as Circe now hag like as wa s Hecate

,
-
.

Ages pass empires flourish and decay and

, ,

S lowly a great change is coming over society

Unrest i s in the air ; Old systems and O l d creeds
are dying Of inertia and men look eagerly f o r ,

something to take their place The spirit Of in .

dividual liberty steals round the world whispering ,

in all men s ears The S lave toiling at the o a r

’
.
, ,

hears them though he dare not listen and hugs

, ,

—
them in his heart and a heresy threatening the ,

very foundations Of society spreads far and wide , .

I s it j ust possible that men are not born slave

o r master by divine decree !

The First Socialist i s born i n the E a st He .

and His disciples preach a creed so blasphemous ,

so incompatible with the rights O f property that ,

it becomes a sacred duty if vested interests are to ,

be p reserved to crucify Him a s an encouragement

,

54
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
civil rather than religious grounds gave the icono ,

clasts the o ne remaining impetus needed to s natch

the sceptre o f the world Successful they per 1 ,
-

s e c u t e d in their turn systematically and with the

,

thoroughness born o f conscious virtue In spite .

—O r beca u se O f— such attempts to stamp o u t

pagan and paganism together the o l d o rd e r still
-

,
f

survived in secret long after the known world

was Officially Christianised Naturally enough .
,

the Christian could only suppose that such

criminal persistence wa s the direct work of that
Evil O ne whom he first had exploited Pagan .

rites were nothing more nor less to him than

D evil worship those who practised them the
,

direct representatives o f Satan Some Of the .

pagan gods had been pressed into the service Of

’
Christianity as saints their festivals as saints ,

days Those that remained were classed together

.
,

with their ministers and attributes under the ,

generic heading Of M agic shunned and feared ,

at first but as the Church more and more stepped

,

into the shoes o f the civil power warred upon ,

without mercy .

Fa ch fo rci bl e arg g me nts for conver

fi m

sion the
, an witch
— was no t
r
i ong i n
" we
adopting
ha w-
a vg : a
‘
fl
" ' w w

the Christ i aniD fi Yil a s a rnore p ot ent gp rg te q to r

M ! \
d

m w m c g

—
than the O l d eas y go i ng g o d s wh o had formerly s
,

peopled the s up e rna tu ta l We d ‘

Pagan o r s m m

nominal Chri sti an S he wa s equall y anathema to

,

the Chur ch if only that she was consistentl y P ro

,

5 6
 The O ri gi n s o f t he W i t ch
tes tant claiming to hol d direct communication
,

with the Unseen quite regardless o f the proper

ecclesiastical channels And by this very inde .

e n d e n c e her hol d upon the imagination o f her

p
neighbours continued to increase as Christianity
p rogressed toward s univers al empire The very .

definite p ronouncements o f the Church against

witches witchcraft and all kinds o f magic serve d
, ,

to foster the general belief in their powers What .

was s o forcibly condemned must o f necessity exist .

There wa s moreover a certain satisfaction in this

, ,

same tangibility It simplified smoothed out the

.
,

path o f virtue With witchcraft about your duty

.
,

was plain and your task easy Y o u had but .

to mention a holy name to make a sacre d S ign , ,

to sprinkle a little hol y water and victory was ,

assured I f all assaults Of the devil were s o

.

straightforward and s o vincible the path to ,

H eaven were broad and smooth indeed .

It was perhaps the popular sense O f victorious

, ,

ability against her spells which protected the

witch p e r s e against over severe persecution
, ,
-

until towards the twelfth and thirteenth centuries .

Absolute confidence in the power to suppress an

evil diminishes the urgency for its suppression .

H ere and there a witch was executed local per ,

s e cu ti o ns o f inconsiderable extent occurred but for

,

general holocausts we must wait until the more

enlightened times Of a James I o r a Louis X IV . .

The wi tch o f the Dark Ages might count upon

57
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
a life Of comparative security sweetened by the ,

offerings Of those who pining for present j oys , ,

acted upon the advice Of O m ar Khayyam ra the r

than following that Of their ghostly advisers .

M eanwhile however a mass O f tradition and pre

, ,

cedent was growing up to be put to deadly pur ,

pose i n the animadversions Of learned sixteenth

and seventeenth century writers upon the vile a nd
damnable s i n O f witchcraft
m
.

B y the eleventh century the witch wa s fir ly

_

identified in the popular as well as the ecclesias

,

tical mind as a woman who had entered upon a

,

compact with Satan for the overthrowing o f

Christ s kingdom
’
The popular conceptio n Of
.

her personality had also undergone a change By .

the twelfth century there was no more question

—
of her a s a fair enchantress she wa s g r own Older
and uglier poorer and meaner S howing none Of
, ,

the advantages her compact with the Evil O ne

might have been expected to bring in its train .

The increasing tendency towards dabbling in

things forbidden brought about grea ter severity
in its repression but it wa s no t until the days o f
,

Innocent VI I I when witchcraft was Ofli ci a l l y

”

.
,

identified with heresy that the period o f cruel

, ,

persecution may be said really to have begun .

Sorcery in itself was bad enough ; associated with

heresy no crime was S O perni cious and no punish
ment too condign especially when inflicted by the
,

Holy Inquisition The inquisitorial power was

.

5 8
 The O ri gi n s Of t he W i t ch
frequently misused ; the fact that the possessions
of the accused became forfeit to her j udges when
tried in an ecclesiastical court may seem to the
sce ptic to provide ample reason why the ecclesias
‘

tical authoriti es undertook s o many more p ro s e c u

tions than did the civi l B u t o f the absolute
.

sincerity with which all classes s e t the mselves to

stamp o u t so dreadful a crime the portentous and ,

voluminous writings Of the perio d leave no doubt

whatever Catholic and after the Reformation
.
, ,

Protestant rich and poor patriot and philan

, ,

thro p i s t alike vied with each other in the e n

,

thu s i a s m with which they scented o u t their prey ,

and the pious satisfaction with which they tortured

helpless Old women to the last extremity in the
’

—
name Of the All M erciful .

From the fourteenth century onwards the type

Of recognised witch varies only in detail Though .

not invariably she is commonly the conventional

hag I f you ng s he has been led astray by a
.
,

senior or taken to the Sabbath in childhood under

,

—
constraint which was no t however regarded as , ,

a valid defence in time o f trial M any such were .

executed in the S ixteenth and seventeenth ce n

tu ri e s in many cases mere children
, But it was .

the toothless hag whose mumblings held the

public ear and became acknowledged as the
truest type Even when men ceased to fear her
.

S he lost nothing Of her grotesque hideousness to

the childish mind and a s such has become finally
,

59
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
enshrined in the nursery lore o f Europe As
.

such also I have endeavoured to reconstruct her

, ,

in her habit as S he lived in the eyes Of

medi aeval contemporaries elsewhere in this
volume .

60
 C HAP T E R IV

TH E HAL F W AY W O RLD S
-

H A V I N G decided very early in his earthly career

, ,

to acknowledge a supernatural world M an ,

promptly s e t to work to people it after his o wn

image O ne not providing scope for his quicken
.

ing imagination he added another to it supple

, ,

m e nti ng the he a v e n l y b y the infernal goo d by ,

evil if indeed as is more probable he did not

—
‘

, , ,

rather deduce good out of evil But j ust as there .

are many stages between high noon and midnight ,

s o to the world he s a w and those he imagined

he added yet others which should act as their

connecting links Between the divine and the
.

—
human he pl a ced the semi divine between the ,

human and the infernal the half human H e — .

mated G o d with M an and both with Devil and ,

dowered them with a numerous family God M an ,

-

,
—
M an Devil God Devil and s o on until the possi
-

, ,

b il i ti e s Of his earlier imagination were exhausted .

—
E ach ha s his o wn world and the stars cannot
rival them in number ; each world has its cities
61
 The B o o k O f Wi t c h e s
and its nations differing i n all things save one
,

that all alike feel act think after the manner

, , ,

Of mankind S O i s it again with the other uni

.
, ,

verse O i half wa y worlds filli ng the spac e

— ,

between the human and the bestial centaur — ,

satyr were wolf o r mermaid all alike reflect the

,
-

, ,

human imagination that has e volved them to —

nondescript bodies they unite the reflected mi nd

Of man .

Conforming to the general rule the witch is ,

but o ne dweller in a hal f way world that i s thickly

-

populated and in itself forms o ne Of an intricate

—
star group Externally at least its orbit nearly
.
,

coincides with that o f o u r human world i n that ,

i ts inhabitants are for the most part Of human

or ig i ns acquiring those attributes which raise them
— —
above o r degrade them below the commonalty
subsequently to their birth This not invariably .

nothing is invariable to the imagination Thus .

the fairies although not human beings may yet

, ,

—
be witches demons also unless many grave and ,

reverend authorities lie Under certain conditions

.

they may even become human beings as mer ,

—
maids may many a man ha s married a fairy wife
— and it is an open question whether they have

altogether lost their hOp e Of Heaven a s witches ,

invari ably have As witches they must be re

.
,

garded a s belonging to the White or b e ne fi c e nt , ,

type ; f o r although as M ercutio has told us they

, ,
“

may sometimes play unkind pranks upon the idle

62
 The B o o k O f W i t ch e s
Of these and the ladies with romantic names and
uncertain aspirates who deal o u t destinies in
modern Bond Street .

Even if we agree to confine the witch to the

narrowest limits to regard her that is to s a y as
, , ,

primarily a human being and only incidentally

possessed O f superhuman powers a n d a ttrib u te s '

there still remain many difficulties in the way of

exact classification Her powers are varied and.
,

by no means always common to every individual .

O r again s he ha s the power to turn herself

, ,

—
corporeally into a wolf o r a cat which brings her
into line with the were wolf j ust a s the cat o r -

wolf may under certain circumstances transform

themselves permanently o r o therwise into a
, ,

human witch She may acquire the mind o f a

.

wolf without its body ; on the other hand many ,

a beautiful princess ha s been transformed into a

white doe by witchcraft S O with her male .

c o l l e a gu e s
fi

s o rc e re r magician wizard warlock

, , , ,

male witch diviner and the rest O f the great

-

,
'

family W e may rea ch firm ground by agreeing

.

to recognise only such a s are O f human origin ,

though by S O doing we rule out many Of the m ost

—
eminent the great M erlin himself among them .

Bu t even S O it is impossible to dogmatise as to

,

where the o ne begins the other ends There , .

—
have been many male witches more particularly -

—
in Scotland as distinguished from wizards .

Wizard and warlock again if it be safe to regard ,

64
 The H a lf wa y W o rl d s
-

them as distinct spe cies though differing from ,

magician and sorcerer are yet very diffi cult o f ,

disentanglement The position is com plicated by

.

the fact that j ust as a man may be clerk singer

, , ,

cricketer forger philanthropist and stamp co l

, , ,
-

lec tor at one and the same time so might one ,

professor of the B lack Art ta ke half a do z en

/

shapes at the same time o r spread over his

career .

There is indeed b u t one pinnacle of solid rock

j utting out from the great quagmire of shifting
—
uncertainty witch wi z ard were wolf o r whatso
, ,
-

—
ever their sub division one and all unite in one
-

great certainty : that o f inevitable damnation .

Whatever their form however divergent their ,

p owers to that
,
one conclusion they must come
at last A m d thus and only thus we may know
.
, ,

—
them posthumously .

It is true that certain arbitrary lines may be

drawn to localise the wi tch p ro p e r even though '

the rules be chiefly made up of exceptions Thus .

s he is ,for the most part feminine The Scots , .

male witch and those elsewhere occurrent in the

-

sixteenth and seventeenth centuries might as ,

correctly be termed wizards o r warlocks for any ,

absolute proof to the contrary The witch again .

, ,

has seldom risen to such heights in the profession

as have her male competitors The magician .

belongs as we have seen to a later stage of

, ,

human develo p ment than doe s the witch but once , ,

65 F
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
evolved he soon l eft her far behind ; it is true
,

that he wa s able to avail himself o f the store O f

.

knowledge by her S O slowly and painfull y

acqu i red With its aid he soon raised himself to
‘

—
the highest rank in the profession approaching
it from the S Ci e nti fi c standpoint and leav i ng her ,

to muddle along empirically and by rule o f

thumb Nor wa s he content until he had made
.

—
himself master o f the Devil using Satan and all
—
his imps f or hi s own private ends while the less
enterprising witch never rose to be more than the
’
Devil s servant o r at best his humble partner in
,

—
ill doing .

The Magician whatsoever his own private ,

failings ha s certainly deserved well O f posterity

, .

Just as the quack and the Bond Street sybil are

representatives of the witch in the direct line so
“

, ,

from the alchemist and the sorcerer are descended

—
the great scientists O our Own day a n i mp i ous
f
brood indeed who deny that their own father was
,

aught but an impostor and a charlatan The pro .

”
p ri e t o r of let us s a
y
, Dr Parabole s Pellets , is .
’

o wn brother— illegiti m ate though he b e — to the

discoverer of the R Ontge n ray The researches .

o f the Old time sorcerer into the F orbidden what

-

ever their immediate profit at l e a s t p o i nte d o u t

'

the direction for more profitable researches M er .

lin Cornelius Agrippa or Albertus Magnus had

, , ,

they been born in o u r day would certainly have ,

achieved the F ellowship of the Royal Society

66
 The H a l f wa y -
W o rl d s
an d with good reason It is to the search after .

the philosopher s stone and the elixir vitae that

’

we o we the discovery o f radium It was only by .

call i ng in the aid o f the D evil that mankind ac

qu ired the prescience o f a G o d .

The witch proper o n the other hand di d not , ,

trouble herself with research work Having .

attained that dominion over her fellows dear to

the heart Of woman s he wa s content to rest upon
,

her laurels Certain incantations or charms

.
,

learned by rote the understanding o f the e ffect

, .

—
and cure Of certain poisons these were sufficient
stock i n trade to convince her neighbours and
- -

perhaps herself D oubtless Dr Parabole ho w

. .
,

ever aware i n the beginning O f the worthlessness

O f his o wn pills comes after years Of strenuous
,

advertising to believe in them H e may stop .

—
short of taking them himself a t least he will
prescribe them to his deare s t friend in absolute
good faith S O with the witch his grandmother
.
, .

M any no doubt o f the millions Offered up as

, ,

sacrifice to the All M erciful were guiltless even

-

in intention ; many more allowed themselves to

be convinced of their own sinfulness by the s u s
p i c i o ns Of their neighbours or the strenuous
arguments Of their j udge persecut ors many were -
'

hysterical epileptic o r insane

, But the larger
, .

proportion it is scarcely too much to s a y only

, ,

lacked the powerwhile cherishing the intention

witches they were in everything but Witchcraft .

67 F 2
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
We thus may briefly state the difference
between the W itch and the magician as that the
one professed powers in which she might hersel f
believe o r not believe inherited o r received by
,

her and by her passed o n to her successors with

,

out any attempt to augment them The magician .

,

on the other hand was actually a student of the

,

mysteries he professed and thus if we leave aside

, ,

—
his professional hocus pocus devilry cannot be ,

considered as altoge ther an impostor With the .

alchemist and the astrologer more Often than not,

combining the three characters in his one person ,

he stands at the head of the profession of which

— —
the witch male o r female brings up the rear .

Another distinc tion is drawn by sixteenth century -

authorities between Witches and conj urers on the

o ne side and sorcerers and enchanters on the
,

—
other i n that while the two firs t mentioned have -

personal relations with the Devil their colleagues ,

deal only in medicines and charms without o f , ,

necessity calling up apparitions at all It is to

, .

be noted in this connection that the sorcerer Often

leads Devil and devilkin by the nose in more ,

—
senses than one devils having extremely delicat e
noses and being thus easily soothed a nd entice d
,

by fumigations a peculiarity o f which every c o m

,

petent sorcerer avails himself Thus Saint .

,

Dunstan and those other saints o f Whom it i s

,

recorded that they literally led the Devil by the

nose using red hot pincers for the p ur p ose w er e
,
-

68
 The H a l f wa y -
W o rl d s
but following the path pointed out for them by
professors of the Art M agical .

Between the witch and the conj urer a Wide gulf

is fixed . The conj urer coerces the D ev i l against ,

his infernal will by prayers and the invocation

,

of G o d s H oly Name ; the Witch concludes with

’

him a business agreement bartering her body , ,

soul and obedience for certain m ore or less

,

illusory promises The c onj urer is almost i n

.

variably b e ne fi ce nt the W itch usually malignant

, ,

though the White Witch exercises her powers

only for good if sometimes with a certain mis
,

c hi e v o u s ne s s while the G rey Witch does good

'

or evil as the fancy takes her with a certain bias ,

towards evil The W i z ard again though often

.
, ,

confused with the male witch is in reality a -

p ractitioner o f great distinction possessing super ,

natural powers of his own attaining and like the , ,

magician constrainin g the Devil rather than

,

serving him H e also is capable of useful

.

public service so much S O indeed that M elton in

, ,

his As tro l o ga Stra published in 16 2 0 includes

”
, ,

what may pass as a Post O ffi ce Directory O f the

wizards Of London H e enumerates S ix of .

im p ortance some by na me as Dr F orman

, , .

or Young M aster O live in Turnbull Street ”

,

Others by vaguer designations as the cunning ,

man o f the Bankside o r the chirurgeon with

”
the bag pipe cheek
-

H e includes one woman.

in the list probably a White Witch

, .

69
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
The D i v i ners or p e e re rs into the future form
, ,

yet another sub section o f dabblers in the super

-

—
natural and o ne which numbers very many
practitioners even in o u r own day Naturally .

enough seeing that the desire to influence the

,

future is the Obvious co rOl l a ry to that o f knowing

it the part Of diviner was more Often than not
,

doubled with that o f witch o r sorcerer Divina .

tion is an art Of the most complicated boasting ,

almost as many branches as medicine i tself each ,

with its select band of practitioners Different .

nations again favoured di fferent methods Of

, ,

—
divining thus the Hebrews placed most con
fi d e nc e in Urim and Thummim ; the Greeks were
famous for axinomancy the machinery for which,

consisted Of an axe poised upon a slate o r other

wise handled This method was as apt f o r
.

present as f o r future needs being especially ,

potent in the discovery o f criminals Crime .

—
detection by divination has been and remains
greatly favoured in the East The Hindus i n .
,

particular place greater reliance upon it than

,

upon the more usual metho ds o f o u r O ccidental

police a n d m a ny stories are told o f the successes
,

achieved by their practitioners Nor i s this s u r .

prising i n cases Where the diviner shows such

shrewd knowledge o f human nature as in that o ft ,

quoted whereby all those under suspicion o f a

,

theft are ranged in a row and presented wi th

mouthfuls o f grain with the assurance that the
,

7 0
 The B o o k Of Wi t ch e s
example) ; O neiromancy ( or divination by dreams ,

honoured by Archbishop Laud and Lord Bacon

among others) ; Rhabdomancy ( by rods or wands .

”
The dowser or water fi nd e r whose exploits
,
-

have aro u sed s o much attention o f recent years ,

is Obviously akin to the Rha b do ma nci s t) Cry .

s ta l l o ma ncy o r crystal gazing

, was first popu e
-

l a ri s e d in th is country by the notorio us Dr Dee .

,

and still finds many v otaries in Bond Street and

elsewhere . Hydromancy o r divination by ,

water is another variety much favoured by the

,

Bond Street sybil a pool of ink sometime s

,

taking the place of the water Cheiromancy or .

,

Palmistry most popular of any may p ossess some

, ,

claim to respect in its least ambiti ous form as a

means towards character reading Divination .

by playing cards another popular method i s

-

, , ,

needless to s a y of later me d i a av a l origin The

, , .

Roman augurs who as every schoolboy kn o ws

, , ,

deduced the future from the flight of birds pro ,

vide yet another example of this universal pas

time perhaps the least harmful s u b section of the
,
-

B lack Arts .

Among the mo s t brilliant luminaries of the

half way worlds are those twin stars inhabited by
-
-

the Alchemist and the Astrologer The pseudo . !

—
science of star reading may be supposed to date
—
from the first nightfall and may thus C laim a
pedigree even older if only by a few months o r
,

years than that o f M agic proper Alchemy

, .
,

7 2
 The H a l f wa y
-
W o rl d s
despite its M oorish name has a scarcely less ,

.
—
e xtende d history It owes its birth traditionally ,

—
at any rate to the same Egyptian M an G od who -

first introduce d witchcraft and magic in their

regularised forms to an expectant world Its .

princi p les having been by him engraved in P unic

character s upon an emerald were discovered in ,
“

his tomb by no less a person than Alexander the

G reat It should perhaps be ad d e d that doubts
.

have been cast upon this re surrection H owever .

that may be it wa s much practised by the later

,

G reeks in Constantinople from the fifth century

A D until the M oslem conquest o f the city
. . F rom .

them the Arabs adopted it gave it the name by ,

which it has ever since been known and became ,

the most successful of its practitioners .

To attempt any close study o f the great

alchemists were foreign to my present purpose ,

a n d woul d entail more space than is at my dis

posal At the same time so close was their
.
,

connection in the eyes of the vulgar so intimate

, ,

their actual relationship with witchcraft that it is ,

impossible altogether to ignore them What is .

more they lend to the witch a reflecte d respect

,

abili ty such as she c a n by no means afford

to forgo They held in fact in their Own day
.
, , ,

mu ch the same position as do the great inventors

and scientists o f to d ay M r E dison and Mr . . .

M arconi had th ey been born ten ce nt uries since

, ,

would certainly have taken exalted rank as

73
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
alchemists or magicians AS it i s in ten c e n
.
,

tu ri e s a Whole world O f magical romance w i ll have

'

been very likely woven about their names even ,

if they have not been actually exalted to divinity

or inextricably confused with Lucifer and Prome
theus . While some o f their predecessors may
have actually claimed power over the supernatural
—either in self deception o r for self —
-
aggrandise
—
ment the great maj ority undoubtedly had such
claims thrust upon them either by their contem
,

ra ri e s o r by posterity and would have them

p o ,

selves claimed nothing higher than to be co n

s i d e re d students of the unknown The Phil o s o
.

h e r s Stone and the E lixir V i t m may have served

’

p
indeed as the ideal goal Of their researches ,

much as they do under their modern form o f the

Secret of Life in our o wn time ; but their actual
disco veries accidental and incidental though they
,

may have been were none the less valuable

, .

After such a lapse Of time it is as diffi cult to

draw the line between the alchemist scientist and -

the charlatan as it will be a century hence to dis

ti ng u i s h the false from the true among the
inventors and scientists of to day S O -

absolutely do the mists O f tradition Obscure the

f a ce of history Leaving out Of the question
.

such purely legendary figures as M erlin we may ,

“

class them under three headings and briefly c o n ,

sider one example under each In the first may .

be placed the more or less mythical figures o f

74
 The H a l f wa y
-
W o rl d s
G ebir and Albertus M agnus both of whom , ,
so

far as it is no w possible to j udge o we their ,

ambiguous reputations entirely to the superstiti o ns

Of their posterity .

Such a personage a s the great Arabian physician

G ebir otherwise Abou Mo u s s a h Dj afar surnamed
, ,

Al S Ofi o r the Wise l iv i ng i n the eighth century

, , ,

was certain to gain the reputation O f possessing

supernatural power even had he not busied him
,

self i n the discovery o f the Philosopher s Stone ’

and the E lixir Though he found neither

.
,

he yet in seeking them made other discoveries

little less valuable and it is scarcely too much
,

to s a y ,made their discovery possible in later

centuries Thus in default Of the means o f
.
,

making gold he gave us such useful chemicals

,

as nitric acid nitrate o f silver and oxide Of

, ,

copper . Incidentally he wrote several hundre d

”
treatises o n his two subj ects an English trans ,
”
lation o f o ne the S u mm ee P e rf e cti o ni s having
, ,

been published in 16 8 6 by Richard Russell him ,

self a n alchemist o f respectable attainments

Albertus M agnus again gave every excuse to
, ,

the vulgar for regarding him a s infernally

i nspired That is to s a y he was a scholar O f
.
,

great attainments in a day when scholars were

chiefly remarkable f o r their dense ignorance and ,

fully deserved some less ambiguous sobriquet

than that bestowed upon him by some writers Of
F ounder o f the S choolmen A Dominican .
,

75
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
he held the chair of Theology at Padua in 1 2 2 2
while still a young man G rown weary of a .

sedentary life he resigned his prof e ssorship and

,

taught in many of the chief Europea n cities and ,

more particularly in Par i s Where he lived for ,

three years in company with his illustrious pupil ,

Thomas Aquinas H e wa s at o ne time appointed

.

Bishop of Regensburg but very soon resigned , ,

finding his episcopal duties interfere with his

studies O f the twenty fi v e folios from his pen
.
-

one i s devoted to alchemy and he wa s a mag i c i an ,

—
of the first class s o at least succeeding genera
, ,

tions averred though he himself very likely had

,

no s uspicions thereof A mong other O f his p os

.

sessions was a bra z en statue with the gift O f

speech a gift exercised with such assiduity as to
,

exhaust the patience even o f the saintly Thomas

Aquinas himself so that he was constrained to
,

shatter it to pieces .

Roger Bacon inventor and owner Of an eve n

,

more famous brazen head was no less illustrious ,

a scholar and as fully deserved his admiring

,
”
nickname The Adm irable Doctor even though ’

he were not in actual fact the inventor of gun

powder and the telescope as asserted by his ,

admirers A native of Somerset and born tradi

.
, ,

ti o na l l y the year before the signing o f Magna

,

Charta he might have ranked among the greatest

,

Englishmen had no t his reputation as a magician

given him the suggestion o f being a myth alto
7 6
 The H a lf wa y W o rl d s
-

gether Something of a h eretic he was although

.
,

in orders and hi s writings brought down upon

,

him the suspicions o f the General O f the Fran

c i s ca n O rder to which he belonged P ope
, .

Clement IV extende d protection to him f o r a

.

time even to the extent of studying his works

, ,

and more particularly his M agnum O pus but ”

,

later the Franciscan G eneral condemned his

writings and he spent fourteen years in prison
, ,

being release d only two years before his death .

But his historical achievements were as nothing to

his legendary possession in partnership wit h ,

Friar Bungay of the Talking H ead Less gar

, .

ru l o u s
’
than Albertus statue it emitted only ,

three sentences : Time is Time was Time . .

”
is past Its last dictum having unfortunately f o r
.
,

all aud i ence a foolish servant and being by him ,

hel d up to ridicule it fell to the ground and was

,

smashed to pieces thus depriving its inventor o f

,

—
his cherished scheme b y its help to surround
s

E ngland with a brazen rampart no whit less

e ffi cacious against the assaults Of the King s ’

—
enemies than are o u r present day ironclads .

Friar Bacon wa s not undeserving o f the post

humous popularity he achieved in song and story ,

fo r he it wa s who made magic and alchemy really

popular pursuits in this country So numerous .

were hi s imitators that rather more than a century

— —
after his death i n I 43 4 the alchemical manu
f a cture of gold and silver was declared a felony .

77
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
Twenty —one years later Henry V I being as he .
, ,

usually was in urgent need o f ready money saw

, ,

reason to modify the Governmental attitude and ,

—
granted a number Of patents to ecclesiastics a s
—
well as laymen fo r seeking after the Philo
sopher s Stone with the declared purpose of
’

paying the Royal debts o u t of the proceeds In .

which design he wa s i t i s to be feared d i s , ,

appointed .

Dr Dee the friend and gossip O f Queen

.
,

E lizabeth may be taken a s marking the point at

,

which the alc hemist ceases to be an inhabitant o f

any half way worl d and becomes altogether
-

human A Londoner by birth he was born in

.
,

15 2 7 , became a B A o f Cambridge University

.

and Rector o f Upton upon Severn — -

H is e c-
.

c l e s i a s ti ca l duties could not contain his energies ,

and so well versed did he become in arts magical

that upon a waxen e ffi gy O f Quee n E lizabeth
,

being found in Lincoln s Inn Fields and a — ’ “

waxen e ffi gy had only one meaning in E lizabeth s ’

—
time he was employed to counteract the evil
spells contained in it which he did with such ,

conspicuous success th at the Royal Person suf ~

f e re d no ill e ffects whatever

-

Unfortunately for .

himself Dr Dee acquired in course o f time a

, .

disciple one E dward Kelly Kelly proved an

, .

apt daunter o f demons but he wa s totally lacking ,

in the innocent credulity s o noticeable in the

character o f his rev erend mentor At his prompt .

7 8
 The B o o k o f Wi t c h e s
o fthe divining rod with which he sought for
,

hidden treasures in Westminster Abbey possibly ,

those left behind him by Raymond Lully .

Perhaps no symptom o f civilisation is more

disquieting than the increasing tendency to co m
—
press the half way worlds built up by our fore
-

fathers with such lavish expenditure of imagina

—
tion into the narrow limits of that in which we
—
are doomed to spend our working days no t too
j oyously We have seen how the alchemist and
.

the magician from semi divine beings v ested with

-

power over gods and men have by degrees come ,

to be confounded with the cheap j ack of a country -

fair S O it has been with many another deni z en

.

O f the Unseeable Consider f o r example the , ,

once formidable giant O riginally gods o r .

,

but little inferior to them s o that O lympus ,

must exercise all its might to prevail against

them ; at o ne time a nation in themselves ,

located somewhere in Cornwall with kings ,

of their own Corcoran B lunderbore and

, , ,

the rest aloof from man except when for

, ,

their pastime o r appetite they raided his ,

preserves vulnerable indeed though only to

, , ,

a superhuman Jack ; where are your giants now !

Goliath though defeated by David was yet not
, ,

dishonoured in that he was warring not against

,

—
a puny sling armed shepherd but against the
, ,

whole might of the Jewish Jehovah There were .

giants on the earth in those days the Scriptures ,

8O
 The H a lf wa y -
W o rl d s
tell us and that in terms giving us to understand
,

that a giant was to be regarded with respect if ,

n o t with admiration P olyphemus again though .

, ,

outwitted by a mortal was none the less a figure ,

almost divine go d like in his passions and his

,
-

agony The whole ancient worl d teems with

.

anecdotes all proving the respectability of the old

,

time giant And to day ! .I saw a giant myself -

some few years back H e was in a show and — .

he was known as G oliath A poor lean knock .

, ,

knee d wavering creature half idiotic too with a ,

-

, ,

sickly apologetic smile as though seeking to di s

, ,

arm the inevitable criticism his very existence

must pro voke Yet he wa s no t to blame poor
.
, ,

anachronistic wretch Rather it was the spirit of .

the age that preferre d to see him set up

, ,

for every fool to j eer at at S ixpence a time i n , ,

’
a showman s booth rather than to watch him afar ,

Off
, his terror magnified by distance walking ,

across a lonely heath in the twilight bearing a ,

princess o r a ca p tive knight along with him as

his natural prey The same spirit that has made .

the giant shrink to an absurdity can s e e only the

charlatan beneath the flowing robes o f the astro
loger ; and has argued the witch even o u t o f .

existence .

S O it is with the mermaid They showed one .

at the same booth wherein the degenerate giant

was mewed A poor shrunken grotesque
.
, ,

creature enough yet even s o it might have , “

81 G
 The B o o k Of W i t ch e s
passed for a symbol if no more had they been
, ,

content to leave it to our imag i nati on Instead .

they must explain even while they pocketed o u r

,

sixpences that the whole thing was a dreary

,

S ham concocted out of the fore quarters of a

,
-

monkey and the tail e n d of a co dfi s h the Whole ,

welded together by the ingenious fingers of some \

Japanese tri ck mo ng e rf Yet there are those who

would uphold such cruel candour who would ,

prefer to pay S ixpence in order to s e e an ape

c o d fi s h rath er than to remain i n blissful ignorance ,

rather than imagine that every wave may have

its lovely tenant a s e a maiden o f more than
,

earthly tenderness a nd beauty Civilisation .

prates to us of dugongs and o f manatees and ,

—
other fi s h beasts that it says rising upon the
, ,

crest of a wave sufficiently resemble the human

,

form to be mistaken for it by credulous s u s ce p ,

tible mariners But i s not our faith in that tender

.

story of the little mermaid who for love of a ,

man sought the earth in human shape even though

,

she knew that every step must cause her agony ,

—
every foot mark be outlined with her blood is —
not it better for us to b e lieve that fairy —tale than
to cram o u r weary brains with all the cynical
truths of all the dime museums or schools O f
-

science between London and San Francisco !

Even those who smile at Neptune and his
daughters cannot refuse the tribute of a shudder
to the M an Beast F o r however it be with the
-

82
 The H a lf wa y -
W o rl d s
mermaid the were —wolf is no figment o f the
,

imagination Not the fanciful alone are co n

.

v i n c e d that many human beings partake o f the

nature of certain beasts You may pass them .

—
by the hundre d in every city street men and
women showing in their faces their kinship with
the horse the d o g cat monkey lion sparrow
, , , , ,
.

—
And not in their faces alone for their features
—
do but reflect the minds within them the man
with the sharp rat like fac e nine times o u t o f ten
,
-

has all the selfish cunning o f the rat We have .

no nee d to seek f o r further ex p lanation Of the

—
centaur myth to argue that some horseless
nation seeing horsemen fo r the first time a o
, ,

c e p t e d the man and his mount as o ne and

indivisible ; there are p lenty of me n who have
as much of the equine as O f the human in their
composition S O it is with the wolf man the
.
— -

—
were wolf H e exists and to this day despite
.
, ,

all your civilising influences N o t among .

—
savages alone o r chiefly H e roams the streets .

o f our great cities seeking hi s prey P erhaps, .

—
he lives in the next street to you a prosperous ,

respecte d citi z en with a shop in Cheapside a

, ,

Wife and family and the regard of all his neigh

,

bours The wolf in him has never been arouse d

.

— may never be O nly let F ate o r chance s o ,

,
—
will it and well who ca n tell us Jack the ,
’
Ripper s antecedents ! And Where i n all the
annals o f lycanthropy can you find a grimmer
83 6 2
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
instance o f the man w olf than Jack the -

Ripper !
With the were wolf we return to closer contact
-

with witchcraft proper It i s true that the were .

wolf wa s no t always bewitched Sometimes the .

—
tendency wa s inborn the man o r woman was
transformed into the Wolf at each recurrent full
—
moon In France and more particularly in the
.

South where lycanthropy has always had o ne of

,

—
its strongh o lds the liability O f certain indi
v i du a l s especially if they be born illegitimate
, ,

to this inconvenience is still firmly credited

by the p opular mind The were wolf may .
-

be recognised for that matter even when in ,

his human form usually by the shape Of ,

hi s broad S hort fi ng e re d hands and his hairy

,
-

palm It is even possible to e ffect a permanent

.

cure should the opportunity occur and that b y ,

the simple means o f stabbing him three times in

the forehead with a knife While in his lupine
shape Again in Scandinavia and elsewhere
.
,

certain men could transform themselves into

—
wolves at will a superstition arising naturally
enough o u t of traditions o f the Berserkers and
the fits of wo l fi s h madness into which they
threw themselves Yet again as H erodotus tells
.
,

us lycanthropy wa s sometimes a national o b s e rV

,
a

ance .
The Neuri if the Scythians were to be
,

believed were in the habit of changing themselves

,

into wolves once a year and remaining in that

84
 The H a l f wa y
-
W o rl d s
S hape for several days . B ut more frequently the
change was attributable to some evil spell cast by
a witch It is true that the wolf was only one of
.

many a nimals into whose shape she might co n

d e mn a human soul to enter Circe is of course .
, ,

a classical example ; Saint Augustine in his D e ,

”
Civitate Dei relates how an O l d lady of his
,

acquaintance used to turn men into asses by

—
means of enchantments a n example which has
been followed by younger ladies ever S ince by
,

—
the way while Apuleius Golden Ass gives
’

us an autobiographical testimony to the effi cacy

o f certain drugs towards the same end .

D oubtless because the wolf was extirpat ed in

‘

this country at a comparatively early date E nglish

were wolf legends are few and far betw een
-
.

They coul d indeed only become universally c u r

rent in a country mainly pastoral and infested by
wolves as f o r instance in ancient Arcadia where
, , , ,

indee d the were wolf came into his highest estate

-

o r in many parts o f E astern and S outh E astern -

Europe to d ay I n certain Balkan districts

.

the were wolf shares the attributes o f the

-

vampire another allied superstition which is

,

by no means without its foundations of fact .

M ost people must have indeed been acquainted

, ,

at some time or other with the modern form Of

vampire individuals who unconsciously feed upon
,

the V itality o f those with whom they come into

contact M any stories have been wr itten many
.
,

85
 The B o o k O f W i t ch e s
legends founded upon this phenomenon to the ,

truth Of which many people have testified from

their own experience At which point I leave .

the subj ect to those with more scientific know

ledge than myself .

In case there should be any who desire to

transform themselves into a wolf without the
trouble and expense of resorting to a witch I will ,

close this chapter with a spell warranted to pro

duce the desired effe ct without any further outlay
than the price o f a small copper knife It is of .

Russian origin and is quoted from S a cha ro w by

,

Mr Baring Gould
. He who desires to become .

an o b o ro t ( o b o ro t o ne transformed were =
‘ ’
=

wolf ) let him seek in the forest a hewn down -

tree ; let him stab it with a small copper knife

and walk round the tree repeating the following ,

incantation

On h on h o c n on h i l nd on Buj n
t e s ea , t e ea ,
t e s a ,
a ,

O n h m p y p ur gl m h moon on
t e e t ast h ock e ea s t e , an as -
st

lyi ng
I n gr n wood i gloomy v l
a ee ,
n a a e .

Tow rd h ock w nd r h h ggy wolf

a s t e s t a e et a s a ,

H orn d c l king for hi h rp whi f ng

e a tt e s e e s s a te a s ;
But h wolf n r
t e h for e te s no t t e es t,

But h wolf d i v
t e in o h h d wy v l es no t t t e S a o a e .

Moon moon gold h orn d moon

, ,
-
e

C h ck h flig h f bull
e t e blun h h un r kn iv
t O e ts ,
t t e te s
’
es

Br k h h ph rd cudg l
,
’
ea t e s e e s e s ,

Cas t w ild f r u p on l l c l
ea a a tt e

On m on ll c r ping h ing
e n, a ee t s ,

4
86
 C HAP T E R V

TH E W IT CH S ATTRI B U T E S
’

IN his very learned and exhaustive treat i se De ,

”
la D émonomanie des Sorciers the worthy Bodin, ,

with enterprise worthy of a modern serial story —

’
writer keeps his reader s curiosity whetted to its
,

fullest by darkly hinting his knowledge of a we

some spells and charms commonly employed by
’
Satan s servants Unlike the modern writer
.
,

however he refrains from detailing them at length

,

in his last chapter fearing to impart knowledge

,

which may easily be put to the worst account .

H owever valuable a testimony to his good faith

and discretion this woul d certainly have brought
,

down upon him the strictures o f modern critics ,

and might indeed have entailed serious loss to the

world had not other less conscientious writers
more than rectified the omission .

It were of course impossible to include within

, ,

—
the limits of such a volume as is this o r o f a
—
h undred like i t One tithe of the great store o f ‘

s p ells ch a rm s and m iscellaneous me a ns toward s

, ,

88
 The Wi t ch s A t tri bu t e s
’

enchan tment gathered together in the long ce n

tu ri e s since the birth of the first witch So also .

i t is impossible to select any particular stage in

her long evolution as the most characteristic as ,

regards her manners and customs of all that we ,

imply by the word Witch ”

O n the other .

hand she has definitely crystallised in the minds

,

o f those of us who have ever been children ,

in the shape of the horrid old witch O f fairy

lore ; and j ust as in a preceding chapter I have
, ,

endeavoured to repro duce one o f her working

—
days as imaged in the p opular mind s o the —
witch of the M iddle Ages may best be chosen
when we woul d reconstruct her more human
aspect .

O f her actual ap pearance divested of her in ,

f e rna l attributes no better description could be

‘

desired than that given by Reg ma l d Scot i n “ The a

Wi tchhs be COm
’ u

D i s co v e ri e of Witchcraft
mo nl y o l d IaIri e b l e are e ie d pale fowle and
’

1
’

, , , , ,

full of wrinkles ; poore sullen supersti tious and , , ,

—
papists ( i t is perhaps unnecessary to point o u t
that S cot was o f the Reformed F aith) or such
as know no religion ; in whose d ro u s i e minds the
d e v il l hath goten a fine seat ; so as what mis ,

chi e f e mischance c a l a mi ti e o r slaughter is brought

, ,

to passe they are e a s i l i e persuaded the same is

,

doone by themselves imprinting in their minds an

,

earnest and constant imagination hereof l ha y .

a re l ea nea nd d e f orme d S h n wm g m e l a hj
nc o
, i e i n h
w

89
 The B oo k o f W i t ch es
their faces to the horror o f all that see them .

sc

Endowed with s o unfortunate a personality it ,

is no t surprising th a t as Scot goes on to inform

,

us the witch should have f ound it difficult to

,

make a living I t is indeed an interesting

.

example o f the law o f supply and demand that

such woeful figures being needed f o r the proper
propagation of the witch mania the conditions of -

medi ae val life by their harsh pressure upon the

,

poor and needy among women should have pro ,

v i d e d them by the score in every village Yo u .

—
may find the conventional witch figu re to day in —
the lonely hamlet o r in the city Workhouse but , ,

thanks to o u r better conditions of life s he has ,

become almost as rare as have accusations of

witchcraft against her .

The only means o f subsistence open to her ,

Scot goes o n is to beg from house to house In

, .

time it comes about that people grow w eary of

her importunities Perhaps they S how the ir im
.

”
patience to o openly Then says Scot
. s he , ,

curses o ne or the other from the master of the ,

”
house to the little pig that lieth in the stie .

Someone in the wide range between those two

extremes will be certain to suffer some kind o f
mischance before long o n much the same prin - w

c ip l e as that which gives life to o n e of o u r most

popular present day superstitions the ill —luck

-

,
”
attending a gathering of thirteen at table Any .

90
 The B o o k o f Wi tch e s
The imp or familiar who attends her may have
the form of a bird or d o g but is far more often the ,

most domestic animal of all the c a t Frequently ,

.

it is malformed o r monstrous in common with ,

Satan himself and all the beings who owe him

allegiance . It may have any number of legs ,

several tails or none at all ; its mewing is

,

diabolic ; it may be far above the usual stature

of its kind Usually it i s black but i s equally
.
,

eligible if white or yellow AS is a common .

incident of all religions the symbol is sometimes ,

confused with the o ffi ce the witch and her cat ,

exchanging identities Thus witches have co n .

fessed under torture to have formerly been cats ,

and to owe their human shape to Satan s i nte rf e r ’

ence with natural laws A piebald cat i s said to .

become a witch if it live for nine years and ,

the witch when upon a nefari ou s errand fre

, ,

quently assumes a feline shape .

A characteristic o f the witch in common with ,

demons and imps in general is that s he doe s ,

everything contrary to the tastes and customs of

good Christians With the o ne steady exception
.

of the cat s he most esteems animals repellent to

,

the ordinary person to women in particular and

, ,

he r i mps may appear as rats or mice usually tail ,

less spiders fleas nits flies toads hares crows

, , , , , , , ,

hornets moles frogs o r curiously enough

, , , , ,

domestic poultry An important item in her

.

i s —
outfit her broomstick as homely an insignia a s
92
 The Wi t ch s At t ri b u t e s
’

the c a t Its feminine conne ction i s obvious

.
,

though possibly its power of flight may be derived

from the magic wand Smeared with a Satanic .

ointment it acts as her ch ariot or i s prepare d to

, ,

—
serve her a s a weapon of o ffence o r defence and
wo e to him who su ffers a beating from the witch s
’

broom handle -
.

The spindle emblem o f domesticity becomes

, ,

in the witch s hands a m a l e fi ci a l instrument and

’

may be ap p lied by her to a number of evil uses .

The idea of the thread o f life enters into many

mythologies and it from some confusion of
, ,

i deas may well have been instrumental in trans

,

forming the natural occu p ation o f an Ol d woman

into o ne of the dangerous tricks o f witchcraft .

J ust as loathly reptiles the snake the , ,

lizard and the toad stand in close relation

, ,

to the witch s o p lants growing in suggestive

,

places or notoriously poison bearing are especiall y -

connecte d with her Hemlock mandrake .

, ,

,
—
henbane deadly nightshade o r moonshade ,

as it was sometimes calle d saffron po p lar

—
,

leaves all avoided by the common folk are

, ,

held in high esteem by Satan s servants for ’

their u s e in the concoction of love p hiltres and -

other noxious brews .

F o r the brewing of potions a cauldron is a

matter o f course and the mixtures po p ularly
,

supposed to have been brewed in it w ere enough

to have given it an e vil reputation for all time .

93
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
The enum eration o f thei r ingredients is u n
pleasantly sugge stive even to the unbeliever , ,

and the credulous may well have shuddered at

such a mixture as :

E ye of n wt d t of frog e an oe ,

Wool of b t d t ongu of dog a an e ,

Add r for k d blin dworm ing

e
’
s an
’
s st ,

Li rd l g d h owl t wing
za
’
s e an e
’
s ,

Liv r of bl ph m ing J w
e as e e ,

G ll of go t d lip of y w
a a an s s e ,

F i ng r of b i rth tr ngl d b be &

e -
s a e a ,
c .
,
&c .

It is true that a M acbeth wa s not to be catered

for every day and simpl er e ffects could have
,

been obtained by less c o mplicated though per ,

haps not less unappetisi ng means .

O f all these insignia and attributes o f her office

the most important as the most characteristic , ,

were her familiars or imps In medi aeval real .

life j ust as in modern fairy lore the witch s pos

,
-

,
’

—
session o f a ca t o r other animal h owever harm ,

less it might seem was proof positiv e of her -

guilt . Without her familiar indeed s he could , ,

scarcely have claimed the powe rs attrib u ted to

her for whatever i ts form it was the ever present
, , ,

reminder of her contract with their common

master and in many cases the channel through
,

which his commands and the means for their

carrying out w ere communicated to her The .

94
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
signature of the contract with Satan and at the ,

same time that he r nickname and familiars were

assigned to his new servant Its obj ect is i nge ni .

o us l
y explained by the unctuous Pierre de Lancre ,

no mean authority Satan he tells us Wishing

’
.
, ,

to ape Go d in all things has instituted this mark ,

ing of his servants in imitation o f the stigmat a

and also o f the circumcision A more p ractical .

explanation give n by some writers is that the

, ,

Devil s mark having the quality o f itching at

’
,

certain seasons is conferred upon witches

,

that they may never oversleep themselves and ,

thus be late for the Sabbath ceremonies The .

root of the whole matter however as the w orthy , ,

— —
Pierre is half inclined to believe and as some
of us may be half inclined to agree with him in
-

—
thinking is that the mark ( he com p ares it to a
’
toad s foot) has merely been instituted by Satan
out of his love of importance and display and ,

with no further motive .

Although in earlier ages this formality may

have been dispensed with by th e sixteenth ce n ,

tury the witch invariably signed a definite "

contract with Satan As was Only too probable

.
,

seeing that they dispensed with an attorney wh i le ,

the other person to the bargain himself of no ,

mean intelligence might chose among an infinity

,

of legal advisers the contract was o f a very o ne

,

sided nature Nothing at least was ever out

.
, ,

wa rdl y visible o f tho s e advantages for which s he

96
 The W i t ch
’
s A t t ri b u t e s
bartere d away body and soul Even such satis .

faction as may have come from attending the S ab

baths was dearly bought f o r not only did her ,

earthly neighbours S how their resentment in the

most forcible manner but her re Ce p ti o n by Satan , ,

unless she had carried out hi s instructions to the

f urthest limit was apt to be unamiable in the
,

extreme O f any more material satisfaction

.

S ave o f course that and it is perhap s a s sub

, , ,

s ta nti a l as human happiness c a n b e — O f paying

‘

o ff old scores there is no S ign at all It is per

,
.

haps this lack of business instinct which most

markedly differentiates the witch from the sor
cerer H e almost invariab ly gained whatever
.

worldly advantages he desire d during the term

Of his agreement and not infrequently tricked
,

S atan o u t of his share o f the bargai n at the end

o f it
.

O f the p reliminaries leading up to the bargain

we are given an illu m inating glimpse by E dward
F airfax in hi s already quote d book His d a u gh .

ter H elen being in a trance s a w the wife of o ne

, ,

Thorp and with the impertinent enthusiasm of

, ,

— —
youth as it no w seems to u S urged her to pray
with such vehemence that Thorp s wife wept ’

bitterly a long time Then she asked her how

.

she became a witch and the w oman answered that

,

a man like to a man of this world came unto her

upon the moor and o ffered her money which at ,

first s he refused but at the second ti me of his

,

97 H
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
coming he did overcome her in such sort that s he
gave him her body and soul and he m ade her ,

a lease back again of her life for 40 years which ,

was now ended upon Shrove Tuesday last The .

man did write their lease with their blood and ,

they likewise with their blood s e t their hands to

them That her lease was in his keeping a n d ,

ev ery 7 th year he showed it unto them and now ,

it was 3 years since s he s a w hers and that each ,

7 th year they renewed it She said further

.

that s he knew 40 witches but there were only ,

\
”
7 O f her company From
. other accounts we
learn that in the act of signing the contract the
witch frequently put o ne hand to the sole of her
foot and the other to the crown of her head
a gymnastic exercise that ca n scarcely have
been coincident with the affi xing o f her signa
ture however Anyone who desp i te his cozen
, .
,

ing o f witches may urge the number of times

,

when Satan was over reached by sorcerers as a

-

proof that his intelligence i s over rated may find -

evidence that he is occasionally gifted with busi

ness acumen in the confession of one M Guil .

laum e de Livre Doctor of Theology who wa s

, ,

so unlucky as to be conde mned for witchcraft in

14 5 3 By the terms o f his bargain with Satan
.

he was bound to preach whenever possible that

there wa s no such th i ng a s real sorcery S uch
”
.
,

as Bodin very acutely remarks are the wi l es ,

and lures of the Evil O ne ”

.

98
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
Th y w un o S n d p rom i
e s e a re t a ta ,
an se to br i ng as m nya as

h y un o hi rvic d p
t e ca n t s se e an ro f e s s mn .

Th y i nvo c S n h i r p i
e a te a ta in t e ra e rs ,
a nd s we a re by hi s
nm a e .

Besides preaching gross immorality

Th y c omm i h orribl murd r d k ill young i nf n
e t e e s ,
an a ts .

Al S or c r r for h mo p r x rc i p oi on d
e e s t e st a t e e se s ,
an to
kill wi h p oi on i f mor h inou h n im pl murd r
t s s ar e e s t a s e e .

Th y k ill m n c l
e e
’
s a tt e .

And l ly h w i ch ( h y h m lv c o n f ) c om
,
as t , t e t es as t e t e se es es s e

m it m ny bom in i on
a a at s a nd fil th e ne s .

O ther accounts follow similar lines add or

further indictments ; a s J ean Bodin who also ,

details the crimes of eating human flesh and

drinking blood destroying fruit and causing ,

famine and sterility Generally speaking then .

, ,

the crimes o f witchcra ft fall under the headings.

of o ffences against religion and the Church ;

of those against the community in general ,

such a s causing epidemics o r bad weather ;

and of those against individuals including ,

murder especially of young children causing

, ,

disease and inj ury to property

, Such catholic .

appreciation in wrong doing coul d no t fail to -

arouse the disapproval of all right thinking -

people and as the mere charge o f witchcraft

, ,

supported by any one accusation implied the p er ,

tra ti o n o f all these various misdeeds it is

p e ,

scarcely wonderful that the witch once a p p re ,

hended had small chance Of escape

, .

1 00
 The W i t ch s A t t ri b u t e s
’

Although less generally harmful in its effects ,

the witch s passion for aviation wa s as re p re he n

’

sib le as the rest o f her procee dings F or one .

thing it wa s generally considere d an offensive

,

parody of the angels mo de o f progression’

.

Pierre de Lancre indeed who is un usually well

, ,

informed states this as a fact H e points out

,
.

further that the goo d angels can fly much

faster being able to use their W ings while
, ,

the witch has to make use of some arti ficial

means of support as for example a broomstick
, , ,
.

It is characteristic of the cross grained e c ce n -

tri c i ty o f witches that whereas a good angel like ,

a good Christian enters o r leaves the room by

,

the door the witch prefers the less conv e nient

,

egress o f the chimney This was the more

.

aggravating that it r endered useless any attem p ts

by beleaguering the house to catch her in the act ,

seeing that s he only flies by night ; and Satan

further provides against discovery by allowing
her to leave her imp in her o wn shape behind her ,

and thus if need be provide a satisfactory alibi

, ,
.

The only way of getting at the real f a ct o f the

matter wa s then by obtaining a confession from
—
the witch herself which could howe ver usually , ,

be arrange d for by the authorities The broom .

stick be it noted wa s not an essential to the

, ,
’
witch s aerial j ourneys ; asses and horses if pro ,

perly anointed with witch ointment could be used

-

at a pinch a s could a straw an eggshell o r a

, , ,

10 1
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
barndoor fowl —to mention three out o f many
possible mounts Satan has been known to take
.

upon himself the shape o f a goat and thus to ,

provide a steed for those he most delights to

honour This is however attended by one grave
.
, ,

and dangerous disadvantage Sata n hates the .

sound o f church bells and should he hear the

-

sound o f the Ave M aria while carrying a witch

through the air will very likely drop her at once
,

as actually happened to a witch named Lucrece

in 1 5 2 4 .

—
The ever helpful D e Lancre details four way s
o f getting to the S abbath :

1) By thought o r meditation as in the vision

( ,

o f E zekiel .

( )
2 O n foot .

( 3) By being carried through the air by Satan .

(4) By going in dreams or illusions which leave ,

the witch uncerta i n whether s he has really been

present in the flesh o r only had a nightmare B u t .

D e Lancre is assured that the transport is real ,

seeing that they have actually been seen descend

ing from the clouds naked and often wounded
, ,

while they are Often s o exhausted thereafter a s

to be obliged to keep their beds f o r several days .

The Ointment used by witches f o r such pur

poses are by many considered to have been but
another instance of Satan s cunning and lack o f ’

g o od faith As a tangible token o f her s ervice

.
,

they flatter the witch s sense of importance’

10 2
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
the pi e c e al e rés zs mnc e o f the mixture are not
'

likely to be over scrupulous such a precaution

-

seems almost unnecessary .

The poisons charms and baleful powders

, ,

needed by the witches in their ordinary business

routine may be made either i n their o wn domestic
cauldron o r at the Sabbath They include such .

ingredients as the heads o f toads spiders o r the , ,

”
bark and pith o f the Arbre M audit The .

semi solids are the most poisonous to human

-

beings while the liquid varieties are used to

,

des troy crops and orchards F or doing damage .

o n the s e a or among the mountains powders are ,

—
well considered made o f toads flesh roasted ’

, ,

dried and pulverised and subsequently cast into

, ,

the air o r scattered o n the ground according to ,

the circumstances o f the case Another a n d v e ry .

baleful poison may be made o f green water

s o potent i s it that even to touch it cau se s instant

death A paste entirely effi cacious against con

.

f e s s i o n under torture may be made with black

millet mixed with the dried liver of an unbaptised
child A skinned cat a toad a lizard o r an a s p
.
, , ,

roasted dried pulverised and burned until

, , ,

required may be put to excellent purposes of

,

Offence Cast in the air or o n the ground with

.
,

the words This is for corn this for apples , ,

and s o forth such a powder if used in suffi cient

, ,

quantities will turn a smiling count ry side into a

,
-

desert There is indeed o ne plant which resists

.
, ,

1 04
 The W i t ch s Attri b u t e s
’

all such spells —

the common onion Thus D e .

Lancre tells us o f a certain garden s o inj ured by

these powders that everyth i ng die d except the
—
onions for which he adds the D evil has a
, ,

particular respect I f this respect comes from

.

—
dislike of its smell and Satan is known to have
—
a very delicate nose o u r modern prej udice
against the onion eater immediately afte r dinner
-

’
woul d seem to be only another proof of man s
natural tendency to evil .

I n deference to the unceasing demand the ,

witch has ever been a prominent exponent o f

—
prophecy and divination nor have any of her
practices given more offence to Holy Church At .

the late perio d o f her history we are now consider

ing s he had acquire d a s u fli ci e ntl y varied reper
,

toire o f metho ds to satisfy the most exacting To .

quote from a l o ng list supplie d us by Holland ,

the witch o f his times could divin e : By fire ,

by the ayer by water by the earth by the dead

, , , ,

by a sive by a cocke by a twi b b l e o r an axe by

, , ,

a ring by I se by m e a l e by a stone by a l a wre l l

, , , , ,

by an asse s head by s mo a k e by a rodde by

’

, , ,

pieces o f wood by a basin o f water by certain

, ,

round vessels O f glasse full o f water by rubbing ,

o f the n a l e s
y
”
All
. of which g o to S how that s h e

had lost little o f the skill possessed before her by

Egyptian necromancers and medi aeval magicians .

But the most fantastic a s it became the most ,

famous incident of the witch s life as V iewed by

,
’

10
5
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
her contemporaries was certainly the Sabbath ,
.

In a previous chapter I have endeavoured to p ro

vide some narrative account Of such a gathering
a s being the S implest and directest method o f re

construction I t was however Obviously imp o s

.
, ,

sible to include one tithe of the various incidents

at o n e o r other period attached thereto by writers ,

—
Inquisitors o r witches themselves and this quite
apart from the obvious limitations entailed in ,

matters o f detail upon one who writes fo r the

,

general publ ic .

These same Sabbaths mi ght be described in

’
modern terms o f commerce as Satan s stock
takings whereon he might check the number and
,

loyalty o f his subj ects They were o f two kinds

“
. ,

—the more important o r Sabbaths General ”

,
-

to which flocke d witches from all parts o f the

world a n d the more localised and frequent
,

S abbaths simple Their place and time .

varied though most frequently hel d after mid

,

—
night On Friday a n arrangement agreeable to
the Church V iew of the Jews and their Sabbath ,

and no t impossibly arising therefrom In earlier .

— —
days o r s o De Lancre informs u s the Devil
chose M onday the first day o f the week a s
, ,

most suitable but with his usual inconstancy has

, , ,

varie d it several times since then Darkness wa s .

n o t essential Sabbaths having been occasionally

,

held at high noon I n Southern countries.

,

indeed the hours between midday and 3 p m

, .

10 6
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
—
pious name for Jesus that he had won his case ,

and that they would not be burnt As a reward .

,

he added they must bring him eighty children

, ,

to be given to a certain priest present at the Sab

bath and later tried for sorcery H e appeared
,
.

in many forms that o f a goat being perhaps hi s

,
’
favourite Anyone who has ever studied a goat s
.

face and more particularly the expression o f its

,

eyes can testify to Satan s sense o f the fitness

,
’

o f things in S O doing as also to that of the o l d ,

F lemish painters and more particularly Jerome ,

B osch who in the paintings of devils f o r which

, ,

he is s o j ustly famous has made copious u s e o f ,

’
the goat s head a s a model for his most
demoniacal demons As a goat Satan was .

usually of monstrous si z e having o ne face in the ,

usual position and another between his haunches .

M arie d Agu e rre who attended a Sabbath at the

’

mature age o f thirteen and a fterwards paid the ,

p enalty with her life testified that i n the middle ,

o f the assembly was a huge pitcher o f water out ,

o f whi ch S a ta n emerged a s a goat grew to enor ,

mous size and o n his departure returned again

, , ,

into the pitcher Sometimes he had two pairs o f

.

horns in front and behind more usually onl y

, ,

three in all that in the centre supporting a light

, ,

to serve the double purpose of illuminating

the proceedings and o f lighting the candles
carried by the witches in mockery of Christian
ceremonies Above his horns he sometimes wo re
.

10 8
 The W it ch s A t t ri b u t e s
’

a sp e cies of cap an d sometimes he had a long

,

tail in the usual place with a human face above

, ,

it This was salute d by his guests but he wa s

.
,

unable to speak with it .

H e might also appear in the form of a tree

trunk without arms o r feet but with the indistinct
, ,

suggestion of a face seated on a throne ; some

,

times like a giant clad in dark clothes as he does

, ,

n o t wish hi s disciples to realise that he is himself

suffering the proverbial torture o f hell Some .

—
attendants at the Sabbath a s for instance p oor , ,

—
li ttle Corneille Brolic aged twelve s a w him as a
,

four horne d man ; others Janette d Ab a di e among

-

,
’

them vouch f o r his having two faces ; others saw

,

him as a black greyhound or a huge brass bull

lying on the ground The constant uncertainty
.

as to the form likely to be taken by the host must

have been an adde d interest to the procee dings
and it ha s been supposed by some that his power
ful imagination led him occasionally to appear in
a different shape to each several guest and to ,

change from one to another at frequent intervals

during the proceedings .

The actual ceremonies festivities and ritual o f , ,

the Sabbath varied greatly at di fferent times and

places but having already given a typical example
,

in an earlier chapter it is unnecessary to dwell

,

further o n s o unsavoury a subj ect The various .

accounts evolved from the imaginations of over

,

willing witnesses or tortured witch however much ,

10 9
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
they may suffer i n detail unite in being the ex ,

pression of the foulest and most obscene images

o f a disordered brain and as such we may leave ,

them So again the Devil s Mass wa s conducted

.
’

i n such a manner a s might most impiously parody

-

the Christian ritual The D evil howeve r as an .

, ,

o l d writer astutely p oi nts o u t in thinking to ,

\

imitate Christ by sitting on a great golden throne

during the ceremony only shows his exceeding ,

folly forgetting that although Christ Often

, ,

spoke while sitting He yet gained His greatest ,

triumph o n the Cross With the aforesaid throne .

Satan conj ures up all the paraphernalia of wor

,
—
S hip temples altars music bells though only
—
, ,
”

little ones for he hates and fears church bells

,
-

and even crosses F our priests o ne serving the .

,

M ass a deacon and a s u b deacon usually

, ,
-

o ffi c i a t e Candles holy water incense the

.
, , ,

offertory sermons and the elevation of the Host

, ,

all find place in the Devil s M a ss The S ign o f ’

.

the cross is made with the left hand and in ,

further mockery they chant .

I n nom in P rici A e at a ra g u e a c o

P ric
et gor gor !
a ,
a a ,
a a Va lni e t a

Jo u a n d a gour e g i taz
g o u s t i a

Which is to say
.

Au nom d P t i q e a r ue , P e t ri q u e d
’
Arra g o n , a c e t te h ur
e e .

V l nc
a e tou t no t r
e, s e ma l es t p assé .

Three languages according to French , a u tho ri

1 10
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
Were there any room for doubting that Satan
habitually breaks faith with his servants it would ,

be dispelled by the testimony given before the

—
oft quoted authority Pierre de Lancre when that
, ,

learned gentleman was holding an i nqu i s i ti on i n

the hag ridden district o f L a b o u rt by command of
-

the Parliament O f Bordeaux That of o ne .

\

witness Legier Ri u a s s e a u was the more depend

, ,

able i n that although an eye witness at the Sab

,
-

bath he wa s yet under no sort of Obligation to

,

Satan having bought the privilege from him for

,

the m o d e ra te price O f two fingers and two and a

half toes His obj ect wa s worthier than the mere
.

gratifying o f curiosity for he wished to disenchant

,

a certain Jeanne Perrin who was among those ,

present That he might be present without

.

danger two friends shut him in a dark room

, ,

wherein he remained for eight days There the .

Devil appeared to him and explained that if he

,

wished to s e e the Sabbath and also acquire the

power o f healing he could do it for two
toes and half a foot to which bargain he ,

agreed His friends afterwards released him

.

from his voluntary captivity but he could no t ,

escape the dark man who eight days later took

,

the flesh from the great and second toes and half
the third o f his left foot without however hurt , , ,

ing him in the least Had he desired the power

.

o f doing evil a s well he might have bought it for

,

the remainder o f his toes and half the foot ,

but being as good as he was prudent he

1 12
 The W i t ch s A tt ri b u t e s
’

refrained From hi s further evidence we learn

.

that the Sabbath takes place in the market square -

towards midnight on Wednesday o r F riday

Satan preferring stormy weather that the wind ,

m a y scatter poisons ov er a wider area That wit .

messed by R i u a s s e a u wa s presided over by a large

—
an d a small devil and all present the witness
,

—
presumably excepted ado re d Satan by kissing
his posterior face Thereafter sixty witches .

dance d before him each with a c a t tied to the tail

,
—

o f her shift M arie de la Ra l de another witness

.
, ,

deposed that she often s a w Satan approach the "

children present with a hot iron but could not ,

say definitely whether o r no t he branded

them She asserted that all enj oye d the
.

Sabbath to the utmost the D evil having ,

absolute command over their hearts and

wills . Witches s he added hear heavenly
, ,

music and really believe themselves to be in

Paradise The D e v il f pe rs u a d e s them that there
.
‘

is no such p lace as H ell and further by render , ,

ing them momentarily immune that fire has no ,

p ower over them As a further.proof o f Satanic

as tuteness she declared that witches s e e s o man y
,

priests pastors confessors and other persons of

, , ,

quality attending the Sabbath a s to be perfectly

convinced o f the entire correctness of the proceed
ings She herself even when s he s a w that the
.
,

H ost was black instead of white did no t at the ,

time reali se that anything wa s wrong .

_ 1 13
 C HAP T E R V I

S O M E RE P RE S EN TATI VE EN G L I SH W IT C H E S
H A V I N G seen how the witch i n general l ived and
‘

went about her evil business it may be well to ,

consider the personality of individual members of

the craft There have been needless to say
.
, ,

many women famous in other directions who ,

have been incidentally regarded by their contem

o ra ri e s as possessing superhuman powers In
p .

deed to be condemned as a witch wa s but to have

,

an offi cial seal s e t upon the highest com p liment

payable to a woman in more than one period of
the earth s history seeing that it marked her out
’

from the dead level o f mediocrity to which her

s e x was legally and socially condemned It is .

as unnecessary a s it is unfair to believe that the

English and French worthies who burnt Joan of
Arc were hypocrites That a woman could do as
.

s he had done wa s to them capable only o f two

explanations Either s he must be inspired from

.

above o r from below according to the point of

,

view As it was too much to expect that those

. .

Whom she had defeated should d her v ic

1 14
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
omnibus route to Hampstead Heath I have
not been able to trace any definite connection
between the witch and the ho s te l ry p ro b a b l y h

the choice of a sign was made in order to rival

—
another inn named after M other Redcap herself
—
a witch o f some eminence i n the same district .

M other Shipton wa s a native of the gloomy forest

of Knaresborough in Yorkshire a famous
, ,

—
forcing ground of B lack M agic and although , ,

few details o f her life have been preserved we ,

know so far as tradition may be trusted that

, ,

despite her evil reputation and the certainty that

s he had sold herself to the devil s he was granted ,

Christian burial in the churchyard at Clifton in ,

Yorkshire where s he died Whether this implies

,
.

that s he repented a nd cheated the d evil o f his

,

bargain before her death or only that the local

, ,

authorities were lax in their supervision o f the

parish cemetery is an open question At least
,
.
,

a tombstone is said to have been there erected to

her memory with the following inscri pt i on :
H r li h wh o n v r l i d
e e es s e e e e ,

Wh o ki ll of n h b n r i d
se s te as ee t e .

Her p ro ph ci h ll ill urv iv

e es s a st s e

And v r k p h n m l iv
e e ee er a e a e .

No doubt M other Shipton wa s as gifted as her

fellows in the customary art s o f witchcraft but ,

tradition draws a merciful veil over her exploits

as poisoner o r spell caster Her fame rests -
.

upon her prophecies and whether s he actually

,

1 16
S o m e R e p re s e n t a t i v e E ngl i s h W i t ch e s
uttered them herself or they were attributed to
her after the event by admiring biographers , ,

they have ever since been accepted as worthy of

all respect even when not attended by the result
s he anticipated Thus although s he is said to
.
,

have foretold the coming of the Stuarts in the

person of James I with the uncomplimentary .

comment that with him

From h c old N o t h
t e r
E v ry v i l h ll c om for th
e e s a e .

the Britis h S olon yet placed the greatest reliance

upon her prognostications as did E lizabeth before ,

hi m. It i s even said that his attempts by various

pronunciamentos to stay the increase in the size
’
of London were prompte d by M other Shipton s
well known prophecy that
-

Wh n H igh g H ill nd i h m id of L o n do n
e a te s ta s n t e st ,

Th n h ll h fol k of E ngl n d b undon

e s a t e a e e .

I f it be argued by the sce p tical that although ,

the London boundaries are no w considerably

beyond Highgate Hill the country has so far ,

prospered it is to be remembere d that the pro

,

p h e t e s s gave no date for the undoing of the

E nglish peop le and that if we may believe the
, ,

mournful views taken o f our national future by

the leaders o f whichever political party happens
to be o u t o f o ffice M other Shipton s reliability is
,
’

in a fair wa y o f being vindicated within a very few

years .

1 17
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
Yet another o f her perhaps the predictions —
—
most famous indeed may have been verified,

already in the days o f M arlborough Nelson o r , ,

any o f several eminent commanders o r may be ,

stil l in process o f fulfilment It runs as follows .

Th e m h ll c om wh n
ti e s of blood
a e e s ea s

Sh ll m ingl wi th gr t r flo d ;
a e a ea e o

G r t noi h ll th n b h rd ;
ea se s a e e ea

Gr t h ou t d c ri
ea s s an es

And h ll h und r loud r th n h ki ;

s ea s s a t e e a t e s es

Th n h ll th r li on figh wi h thr
e s a eed br i ng s t t ee , a n

Joy to p o p lah o n our t ek i ng e, o a .

Th t fi ry y r oon
a e ea as s as o
’
er

P c h ll th n b
ea e s b for ;
a e e as e e

P l n y h ll ev ryw h r b found
e t s a e e e e ,

And m wi th word h ll p lough th ground

en s s s a e .

The vagueness o f this and other prophecies by

M other Shipton however much they may e x a s
perate the stickler for exactitude bear w
,

itness to ,

her direct descent from the ancient sibyls and

pythons few if any o f whom ever vouchsafed
, , ,

anything more definite .

Passing by Young Nixon the dwarf who , , ,

although a prophet scarcely less inferior in fame

to M other Shipton scarcely falls within the limit ,

o f this volume — though it may be noted that o ne

—
o f his best known prophecies that he would starve ,

—
to death did actually come true we may next
,

consider the life history o f a witch less legendary

-

—
than M other Shipton the M other Redcap re
ferred to above a s havi ng provided a sign for a
1 18
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
together ; Darby was suddenly missed and no ,

o ne knew whither he went About this time her .

,

parents were carried before the j ustices for p ra c

ti s i ng the black art and therewith c ausing the
,

death of a maiden for which they were both hung

,
.

J y
i n n e then associated herself with o ne Pitcher ,

though who o r what he was never wa s known ;

but after a time hi s body was found Crouched
up in the oven burnt to a cinder Jinne y was
,
.

tried f o r the murder but acquitted because one

,

o f her associates proved he had often got into

’
the oven to hide himself from her tongue .

i
J y nn e was now a lone woman f o r her former ,

companions were afraid of her She wa s scarcely .

ever seen o r if s he were it was at nightfall under

, ,

the hedges or in the lane ; but how s he subsisted

wa s a miracle to her neighbours It happened .

during the troubles o f the Commonwealth that

a man sorely pressed by his pursuers go t into
, ,

her house by the back door and begged on hi s -

knees f o r a night s lodging ’

He was haggard .

in his countenance and ful l o f trouble He ‘

offered Jinne y money o f which he had plenty

, ,

and s he gave him a lodging This man it is .

,

said lived with her many years during which

, ,

time s he wanted for nothing though hard words ,

and sometimes blows were heard from her cottage .

The man at length di ed and an inquest was held ,

o n the body b u t thou gh everyon e thought him

, ,

poisoned no proof could be found and so she

, ,

120
S o m e R e pre s e nt a t i ve E ngl i s h W i t ch e s
again escaped harmless After this Ji nne y never .

wanted money as the cottage s he lived in was

,

her own built o n waste land by her father Years

,
.

thus passed Ji nne y using her foul tongue against

,

eve ryone and the rabble in return baiting her as

,

if she were a wild beast The occasion o f this .

arose principally from Ji nne y being repute d a

—
practiser of the black art a very witch She .

was resorted to by numbers as a fortune teller ,

-

and healer o f strange diseases ; and when any

mishap occurred then the o l d crone wa s s e t upon
,

by the mob and hooted without mercy The old

,
.
,

ill favoured creature would at such times lean

-

o u t of her hatch door with a grotesque re d cap ,

o n her head She had a large broad nose heavy

.
,

shaggy eyebrows sunken eyes and lank and

, ,

leathern cheeks ; her forehead wrinkled her ,

mouth wide and her look sullen and unmoved

, .

O n her shoulders wa s thrown a dark grey striped

frie z e with black patches which looked at a dis ,

tance like flying bats Suddenly she would let .

her huge black cat j ump upon the hatch by her

side when the mob instantly retreated from a
,

superstitious dread o f the double foe .

The extraordinary death of this singular

character is given in an o l d pamphlet Hun .

dreds o f men women and children were wi t

, ,

nesses o f the devil entering her house in his very ,

appearance and state and that although his return

,

was narrowly watch ed for he wa s not seen ,

12 1
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
again ; and that M other Damnable was found
dead o n the f o llowing morning sitting before the ,

fireplace holding a crutch over it with a teapot full

o f herbs drugs and liquid part of which being
, , ,

given to the c at the hair fell o ff in two hours and

,

the c a t soon after died ; that the body was s tiff x

when found and that the undertaker was obliged

to break her limbs before he could place them in
the co ffi n and that the j ustices have p u t men in
,
”
possession o f the hou s e to examine its cont ents .

Such i s the history o f this strange being whose

name will ever be associated with Camden Town ,

and whose reminiscence will ever be revived by '

the old wayside house which built on the site o f ,

’
the old beldame s cottage wears her head as the ,

sign o f the tavern .

M other Redcap who to j udge from the above

,

account would have had little cause o f complaint

,

had s he su ffered at the hands o f the executioner

instead o f those of the devil was more fortunate ,

than many other London witches Wapping .

,

nowad ays is a sufficiently prosaic spot In the

, .

seventeenth century it wa s the abode of one Joan

Peterson widely famous as the witch o f Wapping
, .

She wa s hanged at Tyburn in 16 5 2 o n evidence

such a s it must be confessed would nowadays
scarcely satisfy even a country JP trying a . .

poacher A black ca t had alarmed a woman by

.

entering a house near Joan s abode The woman ’

.

consulted a l ocal baker who replied that on

,

12 2
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
cent to ensure her salvation for under the very ,

nose of the priest the devil carried her body away

from whe re it lay at the foot o f the high altar .

Although suffi ciently historical to have inspired

one of Southey s ballads the Witch of Berkeley is
’

a shadowy fi gure enough Another who seeing .

, .

that s he was acquitted does not perhaps deserve

,

to be here considered was Gideon accused o f ,

sorcery by Agnes wife o f the merchant O do in

, ,

the tenth year of King John s reign Although ’

.

less popular as a legendary figure Gideon ha s a ,

definite claim to regard in that her trial is the

first to be found in English legal records the —
Ab b re v a ti o P l a ci to ru m ”
quoted by Thomas
,

Wright in his narrative of sorcery and magic It .

is satisfactory to know that Gideon having passed ,

through the ordeal by red hot iron was acquitted

-

in due course .

A famous witch was M argery Jo u rd e ma in ,

better known as the Witch of Eye who gains a ,

reflected halo of respectability in that she wa s

burnt at S mi thfi e l d in 144 1 as an accomplice o f
E leanor of Gloucester elsewhere referred to The
, .

Duchess o f Bedford charged in 14 7 8 with hav

,

in g bewitched E dward IV by means of

. a leaden
image made lyke a man of arms c o nte yni ng the ,

lengthy o f a mannes finger and broken in the ,

”
my d d e s and made fast with the wyre as well as ,

the unhappy Jane Shore come under the heading

,

o f politic al offende rs against whom witchcraft was

12 4
S o m e R e p re s e nt a t i v e E n gl i s h W i t ch e s
alleged only as a side issue M ore apt to o u r p ur .

pose i n that she wa s charged with the o ffence o f

,

witchcraft only and f o r it condemned to death

,

by H enry VI I I and executed at T yburn in

.
,

1 5 3 4 was E lizabeth Barton of Aldington

,
better ,

known as the F air M aid o f Kent It is true that .

she was a cra z ed enthusiast su ffering from a re ,

l i gi o u s mania rather than a witch and that s he

, ,

wa s further a pawn in a po litical intrigue whereby

, ,

the Catholic party endeavoured to influence the

King s matrimonial schemes
’
.

M other D e m dyk e o f P endle F orest in Lan

, ,

ca s hi re immortalised by Harrison Ainsworth in

,
”
The Lancashire Witches is elsewhere referred ,

E lizabeth Sawyer the Witch of E dmonton ,

though during her life gaining only local fame ,

yet achieved the posthumous glory o f providing

F ord and D ekker with the material for a play In .

this indeed s he did but plagiarise Mr P eter

, , .

F a b e l l o f the same town otherwise known a s the ,

M erry D evil of E dmonton who there lived and ,

died in H enry V I I I s reign and upon whose .

’
,

pranks wa s founded the play calle d after him ,

and long attributed to no less an author than

Shakespeare But whereas Mr F abell wa s a sor
. .

cerer o f no mean power in that he successfully ,

cheated the devil and died in hi s bed poor E liza ,

beth was no more than a common witch and as ,

such came to the usual end The manner o f her .

12
5
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
death in 16 2 1 ma y be found in the chap — book
published in that year and entitled The Wo n
,

d e rfu l l Di s co v e ri e of E lizabeth Sawyer A Witch,

late o f E dmonto n : Her Conviction Co nd e mna ,

tion and Death : Together with the relation o f

the Devil s Acce s s e to her and their Conference
’

together Written by Henry G OO d co l e Minister

.
,

o f the Word o f God , and her Continual Visitor

in the G aol o f Newgate .
”

12 6
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
definite Biblical auth ority for the s i n they were
condemning O rigen who protests against literal
.
,

interpretation o f the Bible i s inclined to ascribe

,

Biblical witchcraft altogether to the Devil basing ,

his theory upon the tribulations o f Jo b But St . .

Augustine needs no more definite proof for this

variety o f s in than the Bible denunciation ,

while Luther and Calvin in a later age are , ,

equally definite At the same time it is to be

.
,

remembered that the cult o f witchcraft woul d

certainly have existed had there been no mention
of it in the Bible at all It is as universal as
.
,

ubiquitous and as enduring a s the religious i n

,

s ti nc t itself ; Christianity did not invent the

witch it did but improve upon her
, A .

Biblical text was perhaps the most convincing

evidence ; failing it early Christian F athers o r
,

late Inquisitors would have found little difficulty

in adducing a substitute Even as it was .
,

a l tho u h the quoted the Bible — and in both O ld

g y
and New Testaments from G enesis to Revela
,

tions witchcraft i s recognised and condemned

,

they also referred with equal zest to the great

edifice of tradition and superstitio n founded upon
the struggles after celibacy o f the early fathers
and their relegation of all paga n rites to the
realms of B lack M agic
The Christians in adopting to their o wn uses
,

certain pagan rites and beliefs a nd regarding all ,

the rest as witchcraft and an abominable sin were ,

12 8
 The W i t c h o f A nti q u i t y
but following the example of their predecessors ,

the Jews . Throughout the O ld Testament

Jehovah is proclaimed as the one and only G o d
‘

despite the backslidings to which the constant

reiteration s of Thou shalt have none other gods
but M e would in the absence of other record
, ,

be su ffi cient witness The d eities o f other nations

.

were false gods and idols being regarded by ,

the Je w very much as were witches and sorcerers

by the Christian Again and again he turne d
.

from the o ne and only God to the gods o f the

heathen j ust as the early Christian wa s wont to
,

help himself out with pagan rites when his new

faith failed him a course o f action which of late
,

years shows signs o f a reviving popularity Such .

being the case it wa s as natural that the great

,

Jewish rulers should denounce to the furthest

limits of their vocabulary those who religiously ,

and politically were undermining a theocratic

,

government as that a modern Pope should hail

,

the Italian King accursed who seized u p o n the

‘

Patrimony .

The Jews had no national system of magic

o r witchcraft Though Abraham migrate d to
.

Canaan from Ur of the Chaldees the God of ,

Abraham wa s sternly opposed to those beliefs and

rites for which the Chaldeans have ever since
been famous These they partly inherited from
.

—
that earlier S hu miro Accadian people inhabiting
the reg i on between the lower courses o f the Tigris
12 9 K
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
and the Euphrates whose country they invaded ,

some forty centuries B C Besides peopling the . .

universe with good and evil spirits and having ,

knowle d ge o f the arts of writing and of metal

—
working the S hu miro Accadians practised sorcery
,

and magic wherewith to conj ure e v il spirits re ,

serv ing prayers in the more ordinary sense of the

word for the b e ne fi ce nt gods At the coming o f .

the Chaldeans the o l d religion was superseded

,

by the worship o f the Sun g o d Bel whose priests -

were the first practising astrologers Astrology .

,

divination conj uration and incantation thus all

, ,

had their part in the magi co religious practices o f -

the Chaldeans An elaborate system of demon

.

ology provided constant menace to the happiness

of —
the poor Cha l d e o Babylonian and very , ,

naturally by degrees he established a counter

,

influence by whose aid to obtain relief from his

tormentors M ost potent were the regular
.

magicians who with elaborate ritual and cere

, ,

mony were able to drive o u t the demons possess

,

ing the worshipper Such demons were co n .

trolled by the use o f potions by the tying o f ,

knots wherewith to strangle them o r by such in ,

ca nta ti o ns a s the following

Th y h v u d ll k ind of ch rm n win m wi h
e a e se a s a s to e t e e as t
ro p es ,

B ut I by c omm nd of M rduk h lord of ch rm

, a a , t e a s

By M duk h m r of b wi ch m n
,

ar t e a s te e t e t,
Bo h h m l d h f m l wi ch
t t e a e an t e e a e t ,

1 30
 The B o o k o f W it ch e s
ment by means of clay wood or dough figures , , ,

which has continued as among the most familiar

o f witch arts until o u r own times
-
and they were ,

ade p ts in the tyi ng o f witch knots Naturally -

enough such practices gained f o r them the u m

,

friendly attent ion o f the government but it i s ,

perhaps significant of the dread inspired by the m

that although the law provided fo r their execution
by fire there is no definite proof that anything
,

other than their e ffi gi e s was ever actually burnt .

Considering the superstitions amid which their

great forefather had been brought up it wa s ,

scarcely surprising that the monotheistic ideal

peculiar to the Jews should have su ffered occa
s i o na l eclipses Nor were Chaldean magic and
.

P ersian Zoroastri ani sm alone resp onsible fo r the

J ewish conception o f witchcraft In t ime o f .

famine Abraham and his wife went down into

Egypt j ust as did his descendants and the
, ,

Egyptian magician has earned for himself a fame

no less enduring than has the Chaldean Thot .
,

who revealed himself to man as the first magician ,

—
was their divine patron and it is significant that é -

he also first taught mankind the arts o f writing

and o f music to s a y nothing of arithmetic ge o
, ,

metry medicine and surgery

, , This divine .

schoolmaster pointed o u t in advance days o f ill

omen and his mag i cal arts making him master
, ,

of the other gods provided counteracting

,

remedies The Egyptian magician interpreted

.

13 2
 The W i t ch o f A n t i qu i t y
dreams cured demoniacal possession and was
, ,

skilled in casting nativities I n less ami ab le .

mood he could send nightmares harass with

, ,

spectres constrain the wills o f men and cause

, ,

women to fall victims to infatuations F o r the .

comp osition o f an irresistible charm he required

’
no more than a drop of hi s subj ect s blood some ,

nail parings hair or a scrap of linen from his

-

, ,

—
raiment to be incorporated in the wax of a doll
m odelled and clothed to resemble him o r her .

As with the B abylonian witch and her medi aeval

successors anything done to the e ffi gy was suf
,

f e re d by the original Thot also taught the .

magicians ho w to divide the waters and a ,

pleasant story has been preserved of a fair

maiden who dropped a new turquoise ornament
from a boat into the river and appealing in her , ,

distress to an amiable magician was consoled by ,

finding it he having divided the waters for her

, ,

safe and sound o n a potsherd It is no t diffi cult .

to trace to a similar origin the Jewish legend of the

Red Sea passage .

I sis another prominent protector o f witchcraft

, ,

wa s in fact more witch than goddess An E gyp

, , .

tian formula a gainst di s ease dating from abo ut ,

1 7 00 B C commences
. . O Isis mistress o f s o r
, , ,

c e ri e s
, deliver me set me fr e e from all bad evil, ,
”
( )
red things Red , it may be noted
. w a s the ,

colour of Set and thus of evil Woman was , .

,

indeed supposed to possess more completely than

,

13 3
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
man the qualities necessary for the exercise o f
magic legitimate o r otherwise She s a w and
,
.

heard that which the eyes and ears o f man coul d

not perceive ; her voice being more flexible and
,

piercing wa s heard at greater distances

,
She .

was by nature mistress o f the art o f summoning \

or banishing invisible beings The great .

”
spouse o r Queen of Pharaoh attained upon her
, , ,

accession to such rank magical powers above the

,

ordinary In this connection we find another co n

.

c e p ti o n of the witch in the sequel to the loss o f

Pharaoh s army in the Red Sea The women and

’
.

slaves o f the drowned warriors fear i ng a ggre s ,

sions from the Kings of Syria and the West ,

elected as their queen o ne D a l iik a h a woman ,

wise prudent and skilled in magic She c o l

, ,
.

l e cte d all the secrets o f Nature in the temples and

performed her sorceries at the moment when the
celestial bodies were most likely to be amenable
to a higher power Whenever an army set o u t
.

from Arabia o r Assyria for the invasion o f Egypt ,

the Wi tch Queen made e ffigi e s o f soldiers and

-

animals corresponding in numbers to its strength ,

as ascertained by her spies These s he caused to.

—
disappear beneath the ground a fate which
thereupon befell the invaders also .

The Egyptians were very learned in the c o n !

—
c ction o f love charms spells and philtres a
o , , ,

branch of their profession which we may suppose

to have appealed more to the witch than to the
134
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
The Babylonian captivity served to strengthen
and extend the full blooded belief in a compre
-

he ns i v e system o f demons already inherited by

the Hebrews They recognised two varieties o f
.

e v i l spirits
— the fallen angels and those who were
—
but semi supernatural .These latter were
again divided into the o ffspring o f Eve by
certain male spirits and those descended
from Adam by Lilith the first reall y Jewish
,
'
witch N o r were the J ews slow to test the
.

benevolence o f such beings whenever the

severity o f Jehovah proved irksome Saul .

banished from the land all wizards and those

who had familiar spirits Nevertheless being o n
.
,

o ne occasion afraid of the Philistines and unable ,

to obtain favourable assurances from Jehovah

either by dreams by Urim o r by the prophets
, , ,

he disguised himself and came by night to the

witch o f Endor The apparition o f Samuel ha s
.

given rise to much speculation Wi e ru s an e n .

,

lightened sixteenth century writer though a fi rm ,

believer in witchcraft withal holds that the Devil

,

himself took the form o f Samuel for the occasi on .

But Wi e ru s is essentially humane and his contem ,

o ra ri e s hel d much less charitable views o f the

p
women they regarded as servants o f Satan .

Although the idea of a personal Devil was

—
familiar to the Jews as for instance in his trial
, ,

o f strength with Jehovah for the allegiance of

—
Job we find no mention of his having entered
1
3 6
 The W i t ch o f A nt i qu i ty
into compacts with witches as in later times O n .

the other hand they had dealings with familiar

,

spirits and as was natural in a nation distin

, ,

u i s he d by its genius for prophecy they excelle d

g ,

in divination The early l aw is very severe o n

.

the subj ect The law abiding Jew might indeed

.
-

, ,

attempt to unravel the future so long a s he c o n

fine d his investigations to legitimate channels .

These included dreams prophecies and Urim , ,

and Thummim two stones carried in the pocket

,

o f the High Priest s ephod

’
engraved with an ,

affi rmative and a negative respectively one of ,

which being taken out the message upon the other ,

represented the Divine will All these being in .

,

connection with the service o f Jehovah were per ,

missible O n the other hand we read in Leviticus

.
,

that a man also or a woman that hath a familiar

spirit or that is a wi z ard shall surely be put to
death They shall stone them with stones
. And .

again , Regard no t them that have familiar

spirits neither seek after wizards to be d e fi l e d by
,
”
them . Saul died not only for transgressing
against the word o f the Lord which he kept
,

,
”
not but also for asking counsel o f one that
,

”
had a familiar spirit to enquire o f it His
, .

further sin would seem to have been that in his

perplexity he enquired not o f the Lord .

M anasseh ( about the eighth century) incurred

condemnation because he made his children to
”
pass through the fire practised augury and sor,

I 37
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
cery used enchantments
,
and dealt with them
,

that had familiar spirits and with wi zards Nor .

wa s it u ntil the Lord punished him by causing him

to be carrie d captive to Babylon that he humbled
himself and knew that the Lord He was G od .

Regarded as a preventative this form of punish ,

ment is curious enough seeing that the daughters

,

o f Babylon are vehemently accused of the very

crime for which M an asseh was sent among them .

Isaiah says in no doubtful terms that

, the ,

daughters of Babylon are to be punished for the

multitude of sorceries and enchantments with
”
which they have laboured from their youth And .

throughout Jewi sh history the in flu e nce o f these

Babylonian witches is noticeable .

Love magic was practised in Israe l almost

-

entirely by women and many of the Jewish

,

feminine ornaments were amatorial charms .

Indeed the demand for charms of all kinds was

,

as great among the monotheistic Hebrews a s

their neighbours To quote one example out of
.

many a charm very popular with Jewish mothers

,

against Lilith the witch of darkness much feared

, ,

by women in travail as having an evil propensity

for stealing new born babes was to write upon the
-

walls the nam es of three angels Senoi S e ns e no i , , ,

and S e ma nge l o f .

Despite the wide sway o f the evil a nd the

.

severity o f the laws against it spasmodically e n ,

forced by sev e ral o f the kings a s S a n] and ,

13 8
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
life work to harry o l d women in the name of the
-

L o rd s o u ght Biblical precedent this persistence

'

in type becomes natural enough unique thou gh,

it be The conc eption o f the Power who guides

.

the universe must vary according to human co n

c e p ti o ns of what composes that universe but so ,

long as we are afraid of the dark the foundations

upon which we build our manifestations o f evil
need vary little .

14 0
 CHAP TE R VI I I

TH E W IT C H I N GREE C E AN I)
‘

RO M E
A L T HO U GH the Christian witch was the direct
descendant of the Jewish there were yet other
,

branches of her family tree not without their i n

flu e nc e upon her final development Chief among .

them were the great witch families of Greec e and

Rome the one being in some sense a development
,

of the other and through it inh eriting more than a

trace of P ersian bloo d .

It is a natural feature o f anthropomor ph ic reli

gion that f rom a fe wrepresentatives of the more
important phases o f human existence the gods
and go ddesses tend to increase until there i s ,

hardly a department of h uman activity without its

presiding deity As there are kings and queens
.

among men s o there will be sovereigns among

,

the gods The divine king will have his offi cers
.
,

servants and warriors j us t as do those earthly

kings who worship him The personal appear
.

ance o f the god differs fro m that of the m a n only

in degree his connection with his worshippers is
,

almost u nd ignifi e d in the closeness o f his inti

14 1
 The B o o k o f Wi t che s
macy He suffers the Same passions commits
.
,

the same crime s occasionally aspires to the sam e

,

virtues ; he is in a word man in all but name and

, ,

divine only in his humanity .

Among no people was this tendency more \

highly and minutely develo p ed than among the

Greeks Not only did their deities adapt them
.

selves to every phase o f human life ; the famous

altar to the Unknown G od attests the limitless
”
,

potentialities of the Greek Pantheon Were all .

other records destroyed we could exactly recon

struct G recian life and feeling from the doings .

o f the Grecian gods ; we may expect to find

accordingly such a phase of belief a s witchcraft
accuratel y m i rrored in Greci an mythology And .
,

accordingly the witch proves to have her definite

,

niche in the G reek P antheon Naturally also she .

,

did not rank among the greater godde s ses O n .

the o ne hand s he may be looked for as the de

generate form of a goddess ; o n the other s he
corresponds nearly enough to the heroic demi
gods in whose veins royal blood mingled with
divine ichor .

To the first category belongs the dire and

dreadful form of H ecate O riginally an ancient
.

Thracian divinity s he by degrees assumed the

,

attributes of many Atis Cybele Isis and others

, , , ,
.

As the personification o f the moon, whose rays

serve but to increase the mystery of night she was ,

the patroness of all witche s and was invoke d o n

,

14 2
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
O rphic poems and when the
, religion began
’

o ld
to be submerged beneath foreign elements s he ,

yet held her own and was even invoked by stran

gers Her statues were erected before the houses
.

and at the cross roads in Athens and such-

H e ca te a were consulted as oracles Her personal .

appearance wa s the reverse of attractive She .

had either three bodies or three heads according ,

to time and circumstance one being o f a horse , ,

the second of a dog the third of a lion Although

,
.

usual this habit of body wa s not constant her

, ,

magic arts allowing her to take whatever form s he

chose as freely a s could her fellow divinities .

But however s he appeared she wa s invariably

hideous Nevertheless there seem to have
.
,

been those among her votaries bold enough

to desire personal interviews with her and for ,

their benefit s he provided a formula o f her own

composition and of such power that s he w as co n
straine d to obey the citation o f those availing
themselves of it It may be quoted for the benefit
.

of those readers who desire her closer acquaint -

ance M ake a wooden statue o f the root o f the

.

wild rue well polished and anoint it with the

,
-

bodies o f little common lizards crushed into a

paste with myrrh storax and incense Leave it
, , .

in the open air during the waxing of the moon ,

and then ( presumably at full moon) speak a s

follows :

Come infernal terrestrial and celes

, ,

tial Bombo goddess of the highways and the

,

144
 The W i t ch i n Gre e c e an d Ro me
cross ways enemy o f the light who walkest
-

abroad at night friend and companion of the

,

night thou who delightest in the barking o f dogs

,

and in the shedding of blood who wanderest ,

amongst the shades and about the tombs thou ,

wh o desirest blood and who bringest terror unto

—
mortals Gorgo M ormo m oon o f a thousand
, ,

forms cast a pro p itious eye u p on our sacrifices

,
.

Then take as many lizards a s Hecate has forms

and fail not to make a grove o f laurel boughs the ,

laurels having grown wild Then having a d .

,

dressed fervent prayers to the image you will ,

see her .

H ecat e who became the mother of S cylla and

, , ,

according to some accounts also o f M edea and o f

Circe was arch mistress o f the knowledge of
,
-

herbs and simples more especially of poisons , .

She is almost more typ ical of the later develop

ments of the witch than o f those of her o wn times -
.

Hag like and horrible s he worked only for evil

-

, .

inspiring her votaries with that terror which s he

herself p ersonified G o ddess though s he be s he
.
,

provides a poignant illustration of one charac

te ri s ti c of the G reek Pantheon which it shares with
no other Its go ds and goddesses a re always a
.

little more human than their votaries more prone ,

to human weaknesses if no t to human virtues .

Thus H ecate shows herself more horrible and

terror breeding than any o f those who did their
-

best to model themselves upon her Just as M ars .

44 5 L
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
represented the soldier carried to his logical co n
,

c lu s io n ,
s o H ecate represents the witch c o nce p
—
tion carried to its furthest limits the con e en
tra te d essence o f witchcraft .

To the class of semi divine witches belong -

those o f Thessaly as well as M edea and Circe

, ,
\

the putative daughters of H ecate from whom they ,

learned their magic arts Circe was ass i sted by .

four attendant witches who gathered for her the ,

herbs wherewith s he might brew such potions as

turned the companions o f U lysses into swine .

The influence of M edea wa s on the whole more , ,

benign She c ured Hercules of madness and ,

taught the Ma ru b i a ns the decidedly useful a cco m

p l i s hm e nt of fascinatin g and subduing venomous
serpents Not that her know ledge of ointments
.
,

poisonous and otherwise wa s in any way inferior ,

to that of her sister Euripides represents her as

.

invoked in terms almost identical with those

already quoted in connection with Hecate The .

—
love sick maiden S ima e tha in the second I dyll
, ,

o f Theocritus appeals to Hecate to make this

,

medicine o f mi ne no less potent than the spells of

Circe or of M edea or of P e ri me de of the golden
, ,
”
hair.

E qually skilled in poison were the witches of

Thessaly who cou l d moreover draw down the
, , ,

moon o u t of the s k y by their magic songs

philtres I f less awful than Hecate thei r pro
.
,

c e e di n s inspired equally little confidence They

g .

14 6
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
While the Thessalian witches paid more atten
’
tion to the toxicological aspect o f Hecate s
teaching the pythons exploited one no less
,

—
important the pre diction o f events to come .

Every prudent G reek consulted the oracle at

Delphi before undertaking anything o f import
,

—
ance the oracle displaying equal prudence in
the non committal vagueness o f her replies
-
.

Theseus who on the death of his father wished

, , ,

to introduce a new form of Government in Athens ,

sought advice thereon and received as his ,

answer
S on of h P i h m i d t e tt e a n a ,

To y ur own h rm d f
o t t e te s an a te s

My f h r g i v of m ny
at e es a s t a te s .

Be nx i ou or fr i d
no t a s a a ,

Th bl dd r w i ll
e t f il a e no a to s wim
O n th w v th t c om pe a es a ass h im .

To Philip o f M acedon ag a in the utterance , ,

the Pythian priestess ran :

The B ttl on Th m d th h ll b
a e er o on at s a e

Sf
a e di nc I d i r
at a s ta e es e to s ee .

Far l ik gl w ch ing i h i
e a n ea e at n t e a r,

C on q u r d h ll w p d c on q u ror p r i h h r
e e s a ee ,
an e e s t e e .

— —
That even oracles were and perhaps are open
to human influence may be deduced from Demos
th e n e s irreverent suggestion that the prophetess
’

had been tampered with in Philip s favour ’

.

The manner of delivering an o racle doubtless

14 8
 The W i t ch i n G re e c e an d Ro m e
gave a ritualistic example to the witches o f later
ages and as such may be quoted After the
, , ,
.

o fferi ng o f certain sacrifices the priestess took her ,

seat o n a tripo d place d over a fissure in the

ground at the centre o f the temple F rom this .

came forth an intoxicating gas which when she ,

breathed it caused her to utter wild whirling

, ,

words These were interpreted by the attendant

.

priest and by him handed to the applicant having ,

been first written down in hexameters by an offi cial

poet Divination in Greece thus owed as much to
.

the witch as to the goddess and it should be ,

noted that in the case of the D elphic oracle at

,

any rate the priest acted as g o between the

,
-

Pythia being only an item o f the oracul a r

machinery .

The P ersian w ars brought new influences to

bear upon Greek religion in general and witch
craft i n particular With Darius and Xerxes
”

came the magic practised by the followers o f

Z oroaster P liny has it that Xerxes was a cco m
.

a ni e d by O s tha ne s a writer n magic and this

p o
, ,

statement whether o r no c o rrect in itself

, ,

expresses a general truth Later after the G reek .

,

irruptions into P ersia and Assyria the Chaldeans ,

e ffected a peaceful occupation o f G reece to such

e ffect that Chaldean came to be synonymous
with doctor magician o r sorcerer Like those
, , . .

o f their descendants whose advertisements make

the fortunes of o ur newspaper pro p rietors to

14
9
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
day they cured sufferers from incurable diseases
,
,

provided for a small fee infallible recipes f o r

, ,

making money quickly and acted as mediators ,

between heaven and such offenders as could not

approach it through the regular channels with any
hope o f success Naturally also they did no t
. , ,

neglect such a popular line as prophecy ,

sometimes for distinguished clients a s f o r , ,

example the father of Euripides who is said to

, ,

have consulted a Chaldean as to his s o n s destiny .

In a word they took the place o f quack doctors -

“
, ,

palmists ,
get rich quickly -
colleges and the
-

various other practitioners in allied branches of

swindling whose operations to day are generally
,
-

hailed as remarkable instances o f American

cuteness and originality .

That t he G reek witch of the older school should

be powerfully influenced by such innovators was
natural enough the more s o that in Chaldea
,

women took a foremost part in p ra cti s mg the

more evil kinds of magic Accordingly we may .
,

accept the date o f the Persian Wars a s that in

which commenced a change in the whole char
acter o f Greci an witchcraft The witch became
'

less terrible i n that s he was less spiritual but more

‘

pernicious in that s he dabbled more with material

evil Hecate was a sufficiently awesome figure
.
,

but her terro rs were more or less impartial in

their scope and might affect o ne man as well as
,

another did he happen to come into contact with

,

15 0
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
sources and with them a very nice understanding
,

o f philtres A good example of a love charm is .

to be found in Theocritus wr iti ng in the first ,

decades o f the third century B C Among the . .

charms o f which the heroine o f his idyll avails

herself to bring about the return of her faithle ss
Io v e r a re laurel leaves bright red wool and witch -

, ,

—
knots this last a distinctively Babylonian prae
tice The charm ha s a recurrent refrain o f
.

My magic wheel bring back to me the man I ,

love Barley grains must then be scattered in

.

the fire while the following spell is intoned

Ti s
’
bon of D l ph i ( or noth r) I m c tt r ing
th e es e s a e a s a e .

D l ph i roubl d m d I g in t D l ph i m burn ing

e s t e e, an a a s e s a

th i l ur l
s E v n i t c r ck l loudly wh n i t h c ugh
a e . e as a es ,
e as a t

th fl m
e d udd nly i burn d u p
a e, an d w t v n s e s e ,
an e s e e no e e

h du t h r f 1 !
t e v n th u m y th fl h of D l ph i
s t e eo ,
0 e e s a e es e s

w t i th burn ing
as e n e .

E v n I m lfi th i w w i th th god t id
e as p d ily e s ax, e o a , so s ee

m y h by lov b mol t n
a e e e e .

Th r tim do I pour l ib ti on d th ric my L dy

ee es a s , an e a

Moon I p k th i p ll B i t w i h
,
s fr i nd h l ing r
ea s s e . e t a e e e s ,

b it wi h
e l m n h t h li m y h
t cl n forg t
a e a t a e es ,
a e as ea e

th me Th u of old d id u tt rly forg t th f i r t r d

as es e s e e e a -
es s e

Ar i dn a e .

C ol foo t i Arc d i n w d th t m dd n on th hill

ts s an a a ee a a e s e s

young t ll i on nd fl t foo d m r Ah v n
l

th e s a s a ee -
te a es : , e e as

th m y I D l ph i
es e a s ee e s .

Th i fring from hi clo k D l ph i h lo t th t n ow I

s e s a e s as s , a

sh r d d c t i n to h fl m
e an as t e a e .

Lo I wi ll c ru h
, f d v nomou dr ught t s an e t, an a e s a o !

morrow I wi ll bring th ee .

B t now Th ty l i t k
u h m g ic h rb d c r ly
, es s , a e t es e a e s an se et

15 2
 The W i t ch i n Gre e c e a nd R o m e
sm r h ju i c on h j mb of
ea t e h i g — d pi e d t e a s s a te an S t an
wh i p r Ti h bon of D l ph i h I m r
s e ,
’
s t e es e s t at s ea .

Wh n fir I w D l phi I f ll i ck of lov
e s t d c on s a e s e s e, an

sul d v ry wi rd
te e d v ry c ron
e & & za an e e e, c .
,
c .

Here then we have a detailed account o f pra e

, ,

tices identical with those such as subsequently

became the obj ect of fierce persecutions the use—
o f e ffi i e s
g of magic herbs the,
b urning of some ,
“

substance while calling the name of the person

to be influenced the using of a fragment of his ,

personal belongings to his detriment the co n ,

s u l ti n with crones for the satisfaction o f l ove

g
cravings It was however to o closely related to
.
, ,

religion f o r there to be any continuous expre s sion

of unfavourable public opinion At the same .

time laws existed against it subsequently to find

, ,

an e cho i n Roman legislation ~

The o ri s the .
,
”
Lemnian woman as D emosthenes calls her was , ,

publicly trie d in Athe ns and burned as a witch .

Demoniacal possession and exorcism were b e

li e v e d in at least as early a s 3 3 0 B C in which . .
,

year D emosthenes refers to them in an oration .

H i s feeling towa rds the practice of exorcism may

be deduced from hi s reproaching E s chi nu s a s
being the s o n o f a woman who gained her living
as an exorcist P lato in the Laws decrees . If , ,

any by bindings d o wn o r allurements o r incanta -

'

tions o r any such like poisonings whatever appear -

to be like o ne doing an i nj ury if he be a diviner ,

”
or interpreter of miracles l et him be put to death , .

15 3
 The B o o k f Wi tch e s
‘

But despite such minor i nconveniences the ,

G reek witch had little to fea in the way of per

r !
s e c u ti o ns s o that h e r medi aeval successors migh t
,

well have looked back to the days o f ancient

Hellas as their G olden Age alike spiritually and ,

materially .

I f the G reeks who recognised no predecessors

,

in the possession of their country yet imported so ,

much of their witchcraft from abroad it is little ,

to be wondered at that the Romans by their own ,

account foreign settlers in Italy should have done ,

so Unlike those o f Greece Roman legends p ro

.
,

vide a definite beg i nn i ng for Rome itself The .

city was founded by a foreigner What more likely .

than that he should bring with him the customs ,

cul ts and superstitions of his own country

, .

Granting that the pious ZE ne a s ever ex i sted we ,

may also suppose that he was responsible f o r the

Roman tendency in things magical O f G reek .

magic he woul d have learned enough and to —

—
spare i n the long ten years warring on the plains ’
.

of I lium From Dido also he might well have

.

learned something Virgil himself was by p o p u

.

lar report familiar with all the laws of witchcr aft ,

’
and Virgil tells us of Dido s acquaintance if not ,

with witchcraft at least with a witch o f u nq u e s

,

ti o ne d eminence Half priestess half e ncha n

.
-

,
-

tress she could cause rivers to run backwards

, ,

to say nothing of knowing the most secret thoughts

o f men . Certainly if ZE ne a s wished to in troduce
1
54
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
husb a nds expeditiously by poison two instance s ,

o u t o f many quoted by Latin writers .

In the comprehensive provisions of the Laws

of the Twelve Tables drawn up by the Duumvirs
in the fifth century B C witchcraft is no t over . .
,

looked .

He h ll b p un i h d wh o n ch n
s a e s e e a ts the c orn ;
D o ch rm h c orn of o h r
no t a t e t e s ;
Do n ch n
no t e a t,

are among some o f its inj unctions .

Roman morality being enforced upon soci al

rather than religious grounds witchcraft was f o r ,

bidden only in s o far as it was considered a per

ni ci o u s influence within the State Even in later .

times when various kinds o f magic were pro

,

hib i te d magical rites f o r curing diseases and

,

protecting the harvest from hail snow or tempest , ,

were not only allowed but even encouraged , .

The Lex Cornelia de S i ca rii s e t V e ne fi c is pro

v i d e d against o ffering sacrifice in order to inj ure

a neighbour The m a l e fi c e nt sorcerer could be

.

burned alive and those who consulted him o r her

,

were liable to crucifixion The possession o f .

m agical books wa s made criminal and the a d ,

ministration o f l ove philtres was punishable by

-

labour in the mines or in the case o f persons o f

, ,

rank by a fine This contrasts with the earlier

, .

laws which were interpreted in a far more liberal

,

spirit and only enforced in extreme cases .

15 6
 The W i t ch i n G re e c e an d Ro m e
Already in the early days of the Laws o f the
Twelve Tables Greek influence o n Roman witch
,

—
craft was noticeable it increased in proportion
as G reek thought extended its sway over the
Roman mind By way of Greece also as well
.
‘

as through inde p endent channels O riental magic ,

found its way to Rome where the wisdom of the ,

Egyptians was held in as high regard a s in G reece

itself By the time of M arius when the Romans
.
,

had come into direct relations with the E ast ,

Chaldeans s a cri fi ce rs and interpreters of the

,

Sibylline books positively swarme d in the city ,

while the use of love philtres and waxen images -

was become among the commonplace s o f every

day life .

H ow early Diana whose close connection with

,

the moon places her on a par with H ecate came ,

to be regarded as queen of the witches may be

doubted ; later Italia n legends and customs are
unanimous in according her that questionable
honour That must at least be a late conception
.

which regards her as a constant visitor to the

’
Witches Sabbath along with her daughter ,

H erodias M any such legends are still current in

Tuscany where in common with other parts of
, ,

Italy and E urope Diana was worshipped long

,

after Christianity wa s nominally supreme The .

Italian strege are the direct descend a nts o f

”
the Latin striges who took their name from a
,

bird o f ill omen that flies by night the screech

-

I
S7
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
o wl and witchcraft is still known to its votaries as
,

l a vecchia religione while actual belief in the

’

, ,

o l d go ds still survives in o ne form o r other in

many parts o f the Pen i nsula .

’
It may here be noted that Herodias father is
sometime s said to have b e en no other th an
Lucifer She also appears under the name of
.

Aradia Diana sends her to soj ourn fo r a time

.

on earth
Th ou mu go r h b low st to ea t e

T b o ch r un o wom n d m
e a te a e t e an en

Wh o would f in udy w i chc r f a s t t a t .

And h ou h l b h fir of w i ch
t s a t e t e st t es ,

And h ou h l ch h
t of p o i on i ng
s a t te a t e a rt s ,

And h ou h l ch h ow ru in h c ro p of r ich
t s a t te a to t e s a

p n ea s a t .

H ow b r v ng d u p on p r i
to e e e e a es t .

D oubl h h rm d do i i h n m of D i n
e t e a an t n t e a e a a ,

! u n of W i ch l l
ee t es a .

And Aradia taught mortals

To bl or cur w i h p ow r fri nd or fo
es s se t e e s es ,

To c onv r wi h pi r i e se t s ts ,

To find hi dd n r ur i n ci n ru in e t ea s e n a e t s ,

T c onjur
o h p i ri of p ri wh o di d l v ing
e t e s ts es ts e ea

r ur t ea s e,

To und r nd h ef h w i nd
s ta t e v o i ce o t e ,

To ch ng w r in o w in
a e a te t e,

To divin wi h c rd e t a s ,

To how h c r of h h nd
s t e se e ts t e a ,

To c ur d i e s ea s es ,

T o m k h ugly b u iful
a e t e ea t ,

To m wi ld b
ta e e a s ts .

1
5 8
 The B o o k o f W i tch e s
unpared —
thumb nail
while brewing her deadly
potion .

However un iversal in its appeal love wa s by ,

no means the only disease fo r which witchcraft

provided its remedy According to Cato for ,

example dislocation o f a j oint could be cured b y

,

the utterance o f the following charm :

M ot as ,
dn
a a ta ,
d a ri e s , d a rd a ri e s , a s t a t a ri e s .

To which P liny adds that it must be u sed in con

j unction with split reeds a prudent suggestion ,

enough From him also we may learn particular s

.

of other charms in common u s e Love philtres — .

“

were composed o f wild parsnip or mandrake ,

while the external application o f asses fat mixed ’

with gander grease was a means o f making ce r

tainty more sure Amateur gardeners with a taste
’

f o r early rising may be interested to know o f a

cure fo r the caterpillar pest —A woman ( pre
s u ma b l the gardener s wife is to walk at a par
’

y )
ti c u l a r se ason round the tree affected before sun
rise ungirt and barefoot And so on a remedy
, .
,

being provided f o r all the ills that flesh is heir to .

The Emperors held widely divergent views on

the matter of witchcraft Augustus re a li s m g i ts .
,

hold u pon the popular imagination collected ,

the verses of the sibyls from Samos Troy

.

, ,

Africa and elsewhere a nd ordered them to be

, ,

submitted to the prefect s o f the city there to be ,

j udged and reported on by fifteen very learned

160
 The . W i t ch i n G re e c e an d Ro m e
men . During the latter days o f P agan Rome
there was a marked revival o f witchcraft M arcus
“

Aurelius and Julian setting the example by their

patronage The earlier Christian Emperors t e
.

v i v e d the o l d laws against it but diverted them

.
,

to attack the old religion The secret magic c o n .

d e mne d by the Duumvirs was by them extende d

to cover the whole system o f paganism Almost .

immediately after his convers ion C o nstantine -

decreed that any haruspex ( diviner) e ntering a

citizen s house with the intention of celebrating
’

hi s rites should be burned alive while the pro ,

perty of his employer should be confiscated and

his accuser rewarded The Emperor showed .

that he was in earnest by ordering the execution

o f one o f his favourites for having caused bad

weathe r and prevented his corn tra ffi c with Con -

s ta nti no p l e It wa s ne vertheless declared some

.
, ,

two years later that the Emperor had no desire ,

to prohibit such magical rites as cured disease or

prevented bad w eather In the re ign o f his s u c .
’

cessor Constantius any person accused o f witch

, ,

craft wa s liable to be put to torture Proven s o r .

c e re rs were ordered to be thrown to wild beasts

o r crucified whil e if they persisted in denying

, ,

the i r offence their flesh was to be torn from their

,

bones with iron hooks This e dict also differen .

tiated between B lack and White M agic ; magic .

charms being permitted as remedies f o r drought ,

disease storms and the like

, , .

16 1
 The B o o k . o f Wi t ch e s
Julian the Apostate perhaps not unnatu rally
, ,

regarded sorcery with a more favourable eye but ,

later emperors showed themselves always mo re

inimical Valentiam added impious p rayers and
.

midnight sacrifices to the list of things forbidden ;

under Theodosius every detail of pagan worship
was included under the heading of magic and ,

as such rigorously forbidden In the reign o f

.

Honorius the Siby lline verses collected by

,

Augustus were suppressed The Codex Jus

.

ti ni a nu s devotes a whole title to witchcraft ’

.

The history o f the Roman witch i s thus pro

h e ti c o f that of her Christian successor So long
p .

as s h e was subj ect to the civil power alone s he

suffered little interference from the State but as ,

soon as s he aroused the j ealous attention o f the

more orthodox interpreters o f the supernatural ,

her doom was sealed We are apt to boast great

.

things o f the increase of knowledge in o ur time ,

and to instance the decay of superstition in evi

dence but were a sudden religious revival to
, ,

take place at all comparable to the birth throes -

of early Christianity or the Reformation it is ,

doubtful whether we should not find a belief in

the wicked prowess o f the witch revive along with
it and possibly o u r s p i ri tu a l p a s to rs and masters
,

among the first to attack it with temporal weapon s .

It is diffi cult to see ho w they coul d logically

refrain .
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
Christian in the village street upon Heaven Hell , ,

a n d the i r denizens di ffered only in the change o f

'
]

a few names and the addition of some i nto l er

,

ance from those o f his pagan ancestor six c e n

tu t ies before His spiritual advisers bade him
.

worship the names of Christ St John a nd , .

,

St Peter in place o f Apollo M ercury or

.
, , ,

Mars and he troubling hi s head about very little

, ,

but his means of daily livelihood accepted the ,

change without demur M eanwhil e h i s mind

'

—
such as it was worked along i ts o l d lines As
'

in all great religious movements we find no ,

—
sudden o r violent change except o f course in , ,

—
individual cases the older ideas were aban
do med in name though only very slowly and
, , ,

the change from Diana to Christ s o far as it ,

affected the great bulk o f worshippers was ,

mentally imperceptible .

There were many Christians before Christ j ust ,

as there were many pagans after the death of

Paganism F or centuries the ne w ideas after
.
,

wards called Christian had been fermenting in ,

the minds of thoughtful pagans The sp ir i t o f .

the age called for their crystallisation in a leader

and the call of the West again received its answer
from the East But j ust as Naaman a believe r in
.
,

the God of Israel wa s yet permitted to bow down

,

—
in the house of Rimmon o r as the theory and
practice of modern Socialism are time after time
—
directly contrary s o save for martyrs and e n
,
.

164
 F ro m Pa ga ni s m to Ch ri s ti a n i ty
thu s i a s ts —
the Tolstoys of their the general age —
public accepted Christianity a s filling up awkward
gaps in their earlier beliefs rather than as super
seding them altogether .

—
Roman witchcraft continually reinforced
from the O rient grew in importance a s faith in
—

the greater gods decreased F rowned upon by .

the police as being contrary to publi c order it was

, ,

thus liable to be confounded with Christianity

which wa s forbidden o n similar grounds
both alike being practised in secret and penalise d
if brought too prominently into public notice .

Christianity as being the more aggressive was

, ,

—
more severely repressed and wa s accordingl y
destined to more success And it was reserved .

for the successful Christian to prove upon his f o r

mer companions in misfortune the utter useless
ness o f persecution Just as we may thank the
.

pagan persecutor that we no w live in the Christian

— —
era s o the medi aeval and modern witch owed
,

much o f her existence to the persevering e fforts

o f the early Christian towards the suppression o f

witchcraft and the witch It wa s natural and — .

—
indeed praiseworthy that the prominent features
o f paganism shoul d be relegated to the realms of

darkness by the successors to the pagan empire

the g o d o f o ne religion inevitably becomes the
devil o f i ts supplanter But whereas it was easy
.

enough to lump together satyr faun centaur and , ,

siren as varieties o f demon the witch wa s on a

, ,

I f)
5
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
different footing She really existed for o ne
.
,

—
thing in so far as that she was of flesh and blood
—
at any rate and s he exercised more personal
functions than any number of divinities Every .

one was ready to acclaim reforms which did not

—
interfere with his own comfort and the witch wa s
a fireside necessity She was family docto r .
,

,
—
lawyer and spiritual dir e ctor and payer off of -

—
your old scores to boot a factor in y o ur life the
loss of which could be compensated by no amount
of religion Also she stood for tradition
. the ,
”
good old times the respectability o f unchanging
,

—
conservatism Christianity novel and icono
.

—
clastic might make head among the inconstant
townsfolk alwa ys ready for some new thing ; the
,

provinces the village the lonely farmhouse o r

, ,

the fishing hamlet clung tenaciously to what had

been good enough for their grandfathers as — ,

indeed they have been doing ever since

,
.

Nevertheless from the great cities the creed o f

,

Christ spread slowly to the villages su ffering —

many modifications before it reached them De .

livered straight from the lips o f a Church father ,

Christian doctrine might be rigid a n d direct

enough Passed from mouth to mouth ignorant
.
, ,

or understanding they m ight reach the distant

,

flock s o diluted as to have opportunity f o r c o m

promise with time honoured precedent and what
- —
—
more s o than witchcraft You might i f you were .

a nopen minded hu s b a n d m a n
-
c o n c e iv e t hat you ~

16 6
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
Apart from the enduring influx o f E aste rn :

practices and superstitions Neo P latonism was ,

-

responsible for the revival o f belief in the super

natural as apart from the di vine The Alexandria n .

school discarding the o l d systems of philosophy

, ,

converted its study into that o f magic The .

barbarians again were everywhere astir The

, ,
.

long warring s between R ome and the Germans

culminated in the 9th year of the new era when
the Germ an Herman by his great victory over
Varus brought about the eventual liberation o f
hi s country In 2 5 9 A D the Emperor G allienus
. . .

married a barbarian princess and before the close

o f the third century A D the Empire had become
. .

largely barbarised by the G oths and Vandals

who did it military service and who incidentally , , ,

served to bolster up paganism and to introduce

new features into it The Teutonic witch met
.

her Roman sister and introduced her to darker

, ,

grimmer a nd more vigorous conce p tions o f her

,

art The dreadful pestilence which in the third

.
,

century ravaged the Empire gave a new p o p u

,

l a rity to the black arts and the Roman witch was

,

never more sought after than in the years preced

ing the last and most violent persecution of the
Christians at the hands of Diocletian .

Persecuted o r petted the witch wa s never able

,

to progress in the good op i n i on o f the Christian ,

whose protest against her existence wa s steady

’

a nd cons tant whatever hi s o wn fate or co ndi tio n .

16 8
 F ro m P a ga ni s m to Ch ri s t ia ni ty
As soon as the last o f hi s o wn persecutors had
laid aside the sword he at once seized it and s e t
,

to harassing the witch with a deserving vigour

which ha s never altogether relaxed .

Whereas the pagan had chastised the witch with

rods for inj uring man the Christian s e t about her
,

with scorpions as an enemy o f G o d Nor was the .

exalted testimony o f the F athers lacking to i nspire

his energies Tertullian in the s e co nd c e ntu ry
.
, ,

—
declared the world to be over run with evil spirits ,

including among them all heathen gods whether ,

amiable o r the reverse from H ebe to Hecate , .

O rigen in hi s third book o n Jo b mentions that

, ,

enchantments are sometimes o f the devil Saint .

”
Augustine in D e Civitate D ei has no doubt
, ,

that demons and evil s p irits have connection with

women The earliest ecclesiastica l decree bear
.

ing on the subj ect is that o f Ancyra in 3 1 5 A D b y

’
, . .
,

’
which soothsayers are c ondemned to five years
p enance . In 5 5
2 the Council o f A uxerre p ro

hi b i te d all resort to soothsayers Witchcraft .

,

which thus took upon i ts shoulders all the

enormities of paganism attained an importance it,

had never before possessed The plain man .

bega n to realise that hi s family witch wa s a more

i m portant person than he had hi therto believed .

I f no t he rs e l f o f semi infernal birth he had it

'
-

,
’
o n Saint Augustine s authority as aforesaid that , ,

s h e wa s i n all probability the mistress o f a sylvan ,

faun or other variety o f devil and that he r

, ,

16 9
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
offspring were themselves no less di a bolical .

Naturally enough they i ncre a s e d a n d multiplied

’

s o that between corporeal and spiritual devils the

world was over populated The M essalians

-
.
,

indeed went s o far as to make spitting a religious

,

—
exercise i n the hope of casting out the devil s
inhaled at every bre a th ; and the common sup e r
s ti ti o n concerning sneezing has the same origin .

It might almost be said indeed th a t in those early, ,

da ys devils filled a nd to admiration the part now

,
'

played by the microbe in every day life

.
-
.

It is to be feared that except by those who ,

seriously studied the question the existence of s o ,

many devils o f one kind or another did not cause

s uch general uneasi ness as the c l ergy might
—
desire very much as now happens when the
medical world is appalled by the disco very o f
some new microbe in strawberry telephone ,

receiver o r shirt cu ff The plain man accepted

,
-
.

them and having after so me centuries discovered

,

that they made little practical difference to his

life ceased to feel m o re than a languid interest in
,

even the most appalling ne w varieties discovered

by saintly specialists Their constant insistence
.

“
upon the inherent wickedness of humanity and the
almost insuperable dangers which assail the
Christian o n all sides lost something o f their
freshness in time o ne may suppose and were s u c
, ,

ce e d e d by a certain weariness Granted that .

Christianity was the o ne sure road to salvation in

17 0
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
that VVa l p u rg before s he became a Christian
saint ha d a long history a s a mother godd e ss -

In the same manner in the cult o f the V irgi n may

be found traces of that worship o f Diana which
for 6 00 years persisted side by side with
’

Christianity and i s far from being altogether

,

extinct in Italy even to day -

.

As may readily be understood these paganising ,

tendencies were not favourably regarde d by the

fathers In the year 6 00 A D St E l i gi u s felt
. . . .

called upon to forbid dancing capering carols , , ,

and diabolical songs upon the festival of Saint

John . A statute o f Saint Boniface forbids
choruses o f laymen and maidens to sing and
feast in the churche s As the Church increased
.

,
—
in power many such practices as for example , ,

the danc i ng of women round sacred trees and

wells with torches o r candles in their hands the
, ,

—
common meal the choral song and s a crifi ce were
,
“
roundly forbidden as witchcraft the uprooting o f ,

which the Church at last felt capable of taking

seriously in hand Thi s was indeed become a
.

matter almost o f life and death for the Church ,

found itself in many ways in acute c o m

petition with the witch the o ne attaining ,

by lawful means similar results to those

achieved by the other through the ass i st
ance o f Satan And j ust as Adam upon
.
,

learning that the apple wa s forbidden to him ,

immediate ly hungered after it to the exclusion o f _

17 2
 F ro m Pa ga ni s m to Ch ri s t ia ni t y
all other fare s o the publ ic showed itself more
,

eager to obtain the forbidden services o f the witch

than those o f the legitim ate practitioner S o .

much was this the case that the Church wa s some

times forced to resort to other means than perse
Cu ti o n to show itself capable o f competing against
the witch with her own weapons O c c asionally it .
,

must be confessed these methods suggeste d ,

rather the American Trust magnate than the fair -

competitor as for instance the case o f the B locks

, , ,

berg This hill was a place of considerable i m

.

portance to witches providing a large choice o f,

-

magical herbs as the raw material for their trade

in weather charms These could however be
-
.
, ,

gathered only upon the eve o f S aint John and

during the ringing of the neighbouring church
bells The ecclesiastical authorities becoming
.
,

aware o f this gave orders that the bells shoul d

,

be rung only for the shortest possible perio d o n

—
that date a proceeding the unfairness o f which
e

could only have been exceeded by not ringing

the bells at all .

Another story o f the kind quote d by Mr , .

Lecky shows that even in fair and open competi

, ,

tion holy water could hold its o wn against the

,

most powerful o f black magic A certain Chris .

tian I ta li cu s by name was addicted to horse

, ,

racing at Gaza O ne o f his most dangerous and

.

constan t competitors was a pagan Du umvir This .

!

latter being versed in the bla ck arts therewith

, ,

I 73
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
doped his horses so successfully that he i n
variably won Itali e ns being pr o hibited from
.
,

following his example at last appealed to Saint ,

Hilarion exhorting him to uphold the honour of

,

the Church by some signal display of super

natural power The saint after s ome hesitation
.
, ,

complied and presented Itali e ns with a bowl o f

,

specially consecrated holy water At the start o f -

.

the next race I ta l i cu s liberally besprinkled his

team whereupon they drew his chariot to the
,

winning post with supernatural rapidity The

-
.

Duumvir s horses o n the other hand faltered and

’

, ,

staggered as though belaboured by an unseen

,

—
hand and needless to say lost the race
, , .

Whether the Duumvir appealed to the contem

p o rar
y Jockey Club to disqualify the winning
t eam, and if so with what result we are not
, , ,

informed .

—
Considering the vast and ever increasing p o p u
lation of witches and demons it seemed an almost ,

hopeless t ask to exterminate them altogether .

Nor indeed was it until after the thirteenth c e n

tury that the Church atte mpted the task o n any
universal scale I f an individual witch was u m
.

lucky enough to fall into priestly hands her fate ,

—
was likely to be unhappy but in the early day s
o f the faith the priest felt himself capable o f

triumphing over her by less material w eapons .

O nly as priests coul d not be everywhere and the

, ,

number o f witches s o largely exceeded their own ,

1
74
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
any time a power vastly greater than those of evil
wa s ready to step in to protect you from the c o n
sequences o f your over rashness Before the -
.

name o f a fairly e fficient saint the most powerful

demon must bend hi s head especially with h oly ,

water anywhere in the neighbourhood I f you .

fell under the power of a witch it could only be

through neglecting to take proper precautions or
to employ someone else to do s o for a moderate
fee O ur o wn Anglo Saxon forefath ers showe d
.
-

a very nice spirit o f p rudence in such matters

as i n the famous meeting between Ethelbert King
o f Kent and Saint Augustine held by royal c o m , ,

mand in the open air lest the missionary being

, , ,

under a roof might practise unlawful arts upon

,

the King The witch in a word was everywhere

.
, , ,

—
but so were the necessary antidotes some o f them
o f the simplest Thus in the story of Hereward
.
,

we learn how the Wise Woman o f Brandon near ,

E ly anathematised the hero from a wooden s ca f

,

folding To be really effi cacious her curses must

. ,

be thrice repeated but before s he had time to do

,

this the scaffold wa s set on fire by Hereward s ’

followers and the Wise Woman perished m i ser

,

ably The witch in fact like her gossip the

.
, ,

Devil always comes o ff second best i n folk lore

,
-

where s he i s matched against the truly virtuous

a comforting reflection f o r everybody however ,

ominous for their friends .

She was still to some extent a shadowy per

1
7 6
 F ro m P a ga ni s m to Ch ri s t ia ni t y
s o na li ty shifting and indefinite attributes
, o f .

Although in 6 96 the Council o f Berkhampstead

decreed that any person sacrificing to the Devil
—
should be punished a clear enough reference to
—
witches it was no t until some centuries later that
the conception of the witch definitely crystallised
into its modern form o f a woman carrying out
an actual compact with Satan working miracles ,

by his power and frequentl y transported through

,

the air to pay him homage at Sabbath gatherings

“

Until then the Church may be said to have been

obta i n i ng and sifting evidence building up a ,

formidable mass of prece dent and tradition to be ,

employe d with deadly e ffect when witchcraft wa s

definitely branded as heresy .

Whether o r no the sins of witch and sorcerer

be definitely codified i t is the duty o f the law
, .

giver to provide for all contingencies ; and j ust as

Justinian devoted part of his code to dealing
with witchcraft s o Charlemagne two centuries and
, ,

a half later enacted new and stringent la ws for

,

—
the abatement o f sorcery as in the Capitular o f
8
7 9 , wherein supernatural meteorology is f o r

bidden M ore direct though perhaps less e ffi c a

.
,
f

cio n s were such deterrent methods as those o f

,
.

the pious Bishop Barbatus who in the seventh ,

century c u t down and uprooted a certain nut tree -

famous as a meeting place for witches It may .

here be noted that trees were at all times much

favoured b y the evil sisterhood more especially ,

I
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
as meteorological o ffices Numerous witch oaks
;
-

throughout Germany served for this purpose

o ne,
at Buckenhofen was used as a swing by
,

witches attending the Walpurgis nacht It is some -

.

thing of a paradox that while a gro v e o f oaks

the sacred tre e o f the Teutons as is the linden o f
,

—
the Slavs is a protection against magic parti ,

c u l a r trees should be famo us a s gathering p o m ts

-

fo r witches .

As the year 1000 approached the generally ,

optimistic outlook upo nthings in general suffered

a decline F amine and pestilence grew always
.

more commonplace ; the price o f corn increased

unprecedentedly ; s tarvation became the normal
condition of millions throughout Europe ; cases
occurred in which children were killed and
devoured by their famished parents ; dead b o dies
were disinterred and used for food O ld p ro .

p h e c i e s had placed the end of the world in th e

year 1000 and to the miseries o f hunger and

,

disease were added those of universal terror .

The forward movement in the Church seemed

to have died away and Christian fervour gave
,

place to increased insistence on forms and

ceremonies regarded by the commonalty as
,

tiresome if necessary duties Sma ll wonder

, , .

that they sought f o r something which instead ,

o f the hopeless contemplation of inherent sin .

should provide some ray of present comfort .

Here was the opportunity of the witch the sor ,

17 8
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
-

that o f Canute which included as —

love witchcraft
,

a branch of heathendom .

Though the anathemas o f the Church might fo r

a time stem the increasing tide of witch popularity -

they were fundamentally only incentives towards

a cult which did not include anathemas or per
s e c u ti o n
— exce p t indeed those with in the control
, ,

of the humblest individual In the twelfth c e n .

tury moreover
,
— the century of the Crusaders
many new influences were at work To counter .

a c t the general lethargy into which the Church

'

wa s sinking the Popes availed themselves of their

,

knowledge o f human natu re Epidemical frenzy .

wa s aroused by remission o f penance absolution ,

o f all sins past p resent and to come and the

, , , ,

assurance of eternal felicity for all who took the

cross Sham miracles and prophecies stimulated
.

the popular enthusiasm and more potent tha n ,

either wa s the knowledge among millions that any

change they might experience must be for the
better But howev er promising at the time the
.
,

great revival was fraught with danger to the

Church that provoke d it New conditions evolved .

new ideas Asia provided greater luxury f o r

.

body and mind than any hitherto known to its

European invaders The new world thus
.

opened before them might be sinful ; it wa s at

least very pleasant Future damnation presents
.

fe w terrors to the well — fed and the discovery that ,

millions existed and in comfort w ho had never

,

1 80
 F ro m P a ga ni s m to Ch ri s ti a ni ty
—
taken o ff their hat to a priest in their lives how
ever shocking it might seem at bound —
firs t wa s
to give fu riousl y to think .

Among the forbidden institutions upon which

the Crusader found reason to reconsider his ideas ,

witchcraft took a prominent place A nathema .

though it might be it had a multitude of O riental

,

exponents who whatever they might have to look

, ,

for i n the next world had little cause to c omp lain

,

o f this Such abominations cried fo r intelligent

-

investigatio n if only that they might be refuted

, ,

with the result that the Crusader retu rned home

with the knowledge o f many novel features that
might be profitably added to the Western ritual
o f magic M eanwhile in his absence his own
.

native practitioners had not been idle F aithful .

wi ves were anxious to know something o f their

lords whereabouts sa fety o r it may be fidelity
’
, , , , .

Those who were no t f aithful had e v en more need

o f tidin g s a s to his probable return and of means

f o r delaying it In such emergencies the services

.

o f the witch were indispensable — and priestly p ro

hib i ti o ns only served to advertise her powers and
to increase the nu mber o f her suppliants These .

various causes and m o re particularly the last

, ,

Combined to give witchcraft an importance in social

life hitherto denied to i t and to draw down upon ,

it more and more the wrath of M other Church .

She had indeed other no less pressing calls upon

, ,

her attention The long slumber o f orthodoxy

.

18 1
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
was a t an end ; many heresie s disturbed the m inds
o f the faithful The revival of Latin literature
.

sti rred thoughts and feelings l ong blurred by

Church teaching The Crusaders were not the
.

sole importers of O riental ideas ; G reek traders

also along with the drugs and perfumes o f the
,

East brought ne w doctrines re ceived with dan

, ,

g e ro u s tolerance The vigorous

. Innocent I I I .

quickl y perceived the danger and entered upon ,

a systematic persecution of heretics In 12 0 8 a .

Papal Legate having been murdered by Raimond

of —
Toulouse agai nst whom the Church had
already seri ous cause of complaint Innocent at ,

o nce proclaimed a crusade and the heretical ,

Albigenses were involved in the ru i n of their

most powerful protector su ffering a persecution of
,

almost unprecedented severity The es ta b lish

ment of the Inquisition now became a logical
necessity if the spread of heresy was to b e saved ,

and little time was lost i n its creation

By this time Satan had assumed a definite
form and personality in the public mind and the ,

idea that the witch obtained her powers through

a compact with him long sedulously inculcated
, ,

had taken root It is true that even yet the

.
‘

Sabbath was but a harmless servile carnival ,

frowned u p on indeed and discouraged whe reve r

, ,

possible .
Coincidentally with the rise of the
general here sy hunt Europe was overrun by a
,

number of devastating e p idemics L e p rosy .

,

18 2
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
year by year the attributes of the witch grew
more infernal as the material Dev i l became
’

m o re a n d more familiar in men s minds No .

doubt the increase o f witches was real as well as

theoretical . Love of notoriety is of no modern
growth— and the reputation o f possessing infernal
powers satisfactorily filled the position o f the
modern newspaper paragraph This in more .

—
senses tha n one fo r not only could you obtain
notoriety f o r yourself a s does the modern Apache
,

who murders f o r the rec l a m e it will bring him you ,

could also satisfy a grudge against a neighbour ,

with no risk to yourself by anonymously accusing

,

her to the local clergy Witchcraft again was .

, ,

open to all without licence examination or

, , ,

entrance fee P overty the desire of solitude a

.
, ,

nice taste in invective and a black cat o r s o were

,

all the stock i n trade requ ired to start in business

- -
.

The convenience from the Church point o f

,

view o f catching witch and heretic in the same

,

net wa s too obvious to be disregarded By the .

fourteenth century their connection wa s well

established in the eyes of church and law In .

France so early as the thirte e nth century prose

, ,

”
c u ti o n took place for v a u d e ri e an omnibus ,

word which covered at once witchcraft and the

heretical practices o f those Vaudois from whose
name it wa s derived In Ireland in 13 2 4 p ro
.
, ,

c e e di n s f o r witchcraft taken against Dame Alice

g
K yte l e r and others in the Court o f the Bishop o f
1 84
 F ro m P a ga ni s m to Ch ri s ti a ni ty
O ssory brought about a conflict between Church
,

and State such cases acco rding to English law

, , ,

being tried by a secular tribunal .

The substitution of linen for wool in dress wa s

an e ffi cient factor in abating the ravages of skin
diseases but their place wa s taken by the more
,

terrible B lack Death and in 13 5 0 epileptic , , ,

dancings known as the Dance of Saint Guy

, ,

br oke o u t with especial virulence in G ermany and “

F landers These and other diseases constant

.
,

wars bad harvests and other troubles brought

, ,

about a series o f class wars the Jacquerie in -

,
’
France and Wat Tyler s insurrection in England
, ,

f o r examp le ; the D evil and the witch between

them shared the b lame in the eyes of respectable
Europe The greater pestilences were attributed
.

to the D evil s personal i ntervention while minor

’
,

diseases and especially po i son i ngs fell to the

, ,
’
—
witch s share this l atter accusation being per ,

haps not altogether without cause The public

,
.

—o r that portion whose lives were cast in places

s ufl i ci e ntl y pleasant to prevent them desiring

such consolation as magic might afford them
were now fully aroused to their iniquity Against .

the agents o f s o grisly a horror a s the medi ae val

devil no measures could be too severe no ,

torture too dreadful Scholasticism vied .

with the Church in deploring the incre a s

ing evil ; John X X I I s publication of the .
’

first Bull agai nst witchcraft was capped by

18
5
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
the University of Paris which in 1398 laid down
, , ,

rules for the j udicial prosecution o f witches e x ,

i

pressing at the same time regret that the crime

o f sorcery shoul d b e growing more common than

in a ny former age I n England from the Con

.
,

quest onwa rds commissions were issued from time

,

to time empowering the Bishops to seek out sor

c e re rs.I n 140 6 such a mission wa s delegated to
the Bishop of Lincoln It was not h o wever
.
,
“

until 15 42 that penalties more severe than fine “

and imprisonment were inflicted by the E cclesias

tical Courts .

The ever increasing prestige o f witchcraft in

-

time rai sed it to a point where it could be made

an apt weapon for political intrigues The .

burning of Jeanne d Arc as a witch is a case in

.
’

point her tormentors by their choice o f indict

,

ment dimming for long centuries the halo which

surrounded her efforts towards the freeing o f her
country while at the same time it provided ample
,

opportunity for those who having been among the ,

first to hail the rising popular star are also first ,

to enj oy his fall from greatness Another case .

,

even more definitely political was that o f E leanor ,

Duchess o f G loucester in which the charge of ,

witchcraft proved a serviceable weapon in the

hands o f Cardinal Beaufort The Duchess .
,

although ac c used of no less a crime than procur

ing a wa x image of Henry V I manufactured by .
,

the Witch o f Eye with nefarious intent escaped

, ,

186
 C HAPT E R X

TH E W I CH B ULL AND
T -
I TS E FF E C T S
I HA VE elsewhere in this volume attempted to show
that even in our o wn days there i s nothing p a rti cu
, ,

—
l a rl y incredible about a witch and that the d i s
respect into which s he has fallen is due rather to
our modern lack o f any sense of proportion in o u r
beliefs than to any fault o f her own Ce rta i nl v
,
.

we have no cause to pride ourselves o n any i n

te l l e ctu a l superiority to the great divines and
scholars o f past ages who devoted themselves to
the dissection or condemnation o f witchcraft
rather we should deplore our lack of faith and of
imagination F o r them there existed no possibility
.

o f doubt no relative standard o f fact or the 0ry

, .

The p remises were absolute The spiritual world

.

was based upon the word of God as ex

pressed in the Bible and translated by the
Church To argue the absurdity o r inad
.

mi s s i b i l ity of any particular tenet o f Christian

—
doctrine was to suppose a paradox the fallibility
o f the infallible Eminent j urists a s was Bodin
.
, ,

o r learned physicians such as Wi eru s both writing ,

18 8
 The Wi t ch -
B u ll an d i t s E ffe c t s
towards the close o f the sixteenth century arguing ,

with great mental dexterity o n opposite sides ,

alike accepted the initial axiom cramp and co n ,

fine them though it might They had indeed no

.
, ,

—
alternative a s well might two modern as
tro n o m e rs in disputing over the whereabouts o f an
undiscovered planet deny the existe nce o f the s u n .

The humane Wi e ru s a friend o f Sir Philip

,

Sidney by the way preaches from t he same

, ,

—
text as does the j udicial Bodin though he de
livers a di fferent sermon B odin supporter o f
.

i
,

the o l d conventions makes a formidable o n ~

s l a u ht o n Wi e ru s — not f o r any scepticism a s to

g
the existence o f witches — no ground wa s given
—
him f o r such an accusation but for maintaining
against the view o f the Church that witches were
victims rather than disciples o f the D evil N o r .
,

in the face of the very explicit inj unction Thou ,

shalt no t suffer a witc h to live and the s u g

gesti on wa s still to be mooted that witch in
-

the original stood f o r poisoner — can we

accuse those who obeyed it of having acted from
any other motives than those o f earnest Chris
tians It is true that they carried zeal to the point
.

of —
enthusiasm but zeal has always been
accounted a mark o f grace .

As we have seen the severest period of witch

persecution commences from their definite c l a s s i fi
c ation a s heretics by the Bull o f Innocent V I I I .

issued in 148 4 The Bull itself wa s not lacking

.

189
 The Bo o k o f Wi t ch e s
”
in directness . It has come to o u r ears it ,

commences ,
that great numbers o f both sexes
are not afraid to abuse their o wn bodies Wi th
devils that serve to both sexes And with the ir .

I n cha ntm e nts charms and sorceries to vex a n d

,

a fflict M an and Beast wi th inward and outwar d

pains and tortures Therefore with the
authority apostolic we ha Ve given power to the
Inquisitor t o conv i ct imp ri son and punish
.
,
”
.

The Inquisitor Spreng er lost little time in

, ,

—
making use o f this delegated authority and such
wa s his z eal and so many his opportuniti es o f
a cquiring knowledge that within two years after

the issue o f the Bull he gave to the world his

’ ”
famous Witch s Hammer fo r the direction ,

and guidance o f tho s e upon whom should fall the

duty o f exterminating so vile a heresy This -

M alleus Ma l e fi ca ru m contains minute a c

cou nts o f every description of witch with s u gg e s ,

tions f o r counteracting and exterminating their

influe nce Like most o f his predecessors an d
.
—
—
successors Sprenger blames the whole existence
of witchcraft upon the notorious frailty of women .

”
The very word f oemina he declares in the , ,

accents of authority is derived from f e a nd

,

minus — because women have less faith than

have men From this unhappy constitution of
.

—
the sex countless ills have sprung among them
innumerable varieties o f witch O f these thirteen .
,

are exhaustively described that all may recog ,

1 90
 The B o o k o f Wit ch e s
the ordinary legal conventions were suspended at
th ese trials Contrary to the usual procedure wit
.
,

ness might be borne against them by e x c o m

mu ni c a te d persons convicts infants dishonest
, , ,

servants and runaway s Presump tion and c o n

.

e c tu re were accepted as evidence an equivocal o r

j ,

doubtful answer wa s regarded as a confession

and rumour or common rep or t su ffi cient to ensure
a conviction It is true that such improvements
.

in legal procedure cannot be altogether attributed

—
to the exertions of the In q uisitor dating as ,

many o f them do from centuries before the publi

,

—
cation o f h i s magnum opus a t least he devoted
a splendid enthusiasm to the obj ect he had s e t
before him and o n his death bed was able to look
,

forward with confident humility to the reward

—
merited by a well spent life .

The e ffects o f the Witch Bull were immediate

and in every way satisfactory to its authors a —
perfect frenzy o f witch fi n d i ng resulting F orty
-

one women were burned in o ne year c o mme nc -

—
ing in 148 5 b y the Inquisitor Cu ma nus A .

colleague not to be outdone executed a hundred

, ,

—
in Piedmont and was perfectly willing to con
ti nu e the good work had not public enthusiasm
,

waned in view o f the inevitable monotony in this

form o f amusement A little later a tempest devas
.

ta te d the country around Constance The i nhabit .

—
ants recognising that in fa ce o f the recent Bull
it were blasphemous to attribute such a storm
192
 The Wi t ch -
B u ll a n d i t s E ff e c t s
to natural causes seize d two o l d women obtaine d
, ,

confessions in the usual wa y and burned them ,

.

About 15 1 5 some five hundred persons were

,

exe c uted in Geneva as Protestant witches

an instance of the alliance between heresy and
witchcraft In Lorraine the learned and e n
.

thu si a s ti c Inquisitor Remigius put to death n i ne

hundred persons in 1 5 y ears Hutchinson .
,

indeed writing in 1 7 1 8 p uts the number at

, ,

eighteen hundred b ut even the smaller and —

—
,

mor e correct total shows that Remigius did his

duty nobly Italy naturally enough wa s deter
.
, ,

mined n ot to be outdone by foreign holocausts ,

and accordingly we find that more than a thou

sand executions took place i n Como in 15 2 4 and ,

an average of more than a hundre d wa s main

ta i ne d for several years .

M ere lists o f figures such as these are apt to

p all
, especially when as in su ch a case
, it is almost ,

impossible f o r a modern reader to realise the i r

actual meaning as that every day throughout a
,

whole year three unhappy women o l d poor and

, , , ,

defe ncel ess should be inhumanly tortured and

, ,

afterwards publicly murdered i n the most p ainful

way imaginable in o ne district not only without ,

a word o f protest being raised but with the ,

approval o f all E urope That it should have .

actually taken place vouches for the earnestness

with which our forefathers regarded their religion ,

if for nothing else .

1 93
 The B o o k o f W i t che s
Nor is it to b e supposed that Protestan ts were
in any wa y less attentive to this b ranch of their re
l igi o u s duties than were their Catholic neighbours .

They might differ upon every other point o n —

this at least there wa s no room for disagreement .

M artin Luther with his usual decision makes his

“
, ,

attitude perfectly clear I have no compassion

,
”
on these witches I would burn them all
. P er .

haps o ne reason for this uncompromi s ing attitude

’
may have been his contempt for Satan s snares ,

of which he had considerable experience So .

accustomed did he grow to the assaults o f the

Devil that having been once as it is related
, , ,

awakened at dead of night by an alarming clatter ,

he perceived that it was only the Devil and so

”
went to sleep again Calvin a gain says of
.
, ,

Psalm v 6 .
, I f there were no charms o f sorcery
, ,

this were but a childish and absurd thing which i s

”
here written It is true that Protestant and
.

Catholic regarded the witchcr aft question from

diametrically Opposite standpoints Whereas the .

Roman Church regarded heretics as a variety o f

witch the Reformers were inclined to regard
,

Catholic rites and forms as among the most

virulent of the black arts At a somewhat l a ter .

date during the N e w E ngl a n d persecutions a girl

, ,

was deposed to have been allowed by the D e v i l , ,

to read Popish Books — such as Cambridge

and O xford Tracts while good Protestant
-

works as The B ible Assemblie s Catechism o r

,
’

1 94
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
fore his agents should not be punished fo r crimes
,
,

in which their human frailty was alone guilty .

He adopted in a word towards the witch the

, , ,

modern attitude towards the dangerous lunatic

that s he should be restrained rather than punishe d .

H e even displays a certain contempt f o r her

w u n d e i s t a n d i ng in the light o f his o wn
‘

e rs
p o m

medical knowledge that many s o called cases of

,
-

bewitchment o r demoniacal possessio n were the ,

result of purely natural causes Like his contem .

o ra ri e s Wi e ru s concludes that the Devil chooses

p ,

women rather than men to do his will as being

easier to influence Naturally malicious a nd i m
.

patient they are unable to control their affections

,

—
and are all too credulous qualities o f which
Satan takes every advantage Particularly d oes he .

appreciate stupid weak o l d women the shakiness

, ,

o f whose wits places them the more surely in his

power Wi e ru s parts company from his contem

.

o ra ri e s in urging that this very f railty should

p
—
arouse compassion that they should be pitied
rather than treated as s tubborn heretics and that —
if punished they should be treated less severely
than were men because o f this infirmity o f their
,

sex .

Not content with stirring up doubt as to the

spiritual nature o f witchcraft Wi e ru s has the a u ,

d a ci ty to question the motives o f some o f its

j udges He quotes an example o f the profitable
.

side of the witch mania as having hap pened in

-

1 96
 The —
Wi t ch B u ll
“

a nd i t s E ffe c t s
Wurtemburg The skins of animals that died by
.

mischance there became the property o f the

executioner This functionary evidently pos
.

sesse d a spirit far in advance o f his age ,

f o r coincidently with the rise of a local

-

,
—
witch mania a fatal epidemic attributed of ,

—
course to witchcraft broke out among the sheep
, ,

pigs and oxen o f the neighbourhood The e x e c u

, .

ti o ne r grew rich — and had not the wisdom to

conceal it The j ealous suspicions o f his neigh
.

bours were aroused he wa s put to the torture , ,

confesse d to having poisoned the animals and ,

was condemned to be torn to pieces with pincers .

Wi e ru s had studie d the natural history o f the

witch no less closely than hi s predecessor the ,

I nquisitor Sprenger I ndeed j udging from some .

,

o f the charges brought against them at contem ~

p o ra r
y trials we may agree with him that they
,
‘

were mo re s u ite d to the a tte nti o ns o f a physician

'

than of a ju dg e Thus among the commonest of

‘

—
their crim e s as frequently proved by their own
confession it is to be remembere d were the
,
—
dishonouring of the crucifix and the denial o f
salvation the absconding despite bolts and bars
, , ,
’
to att e nd the D evil s Sabbath and the partaking
in choral dances around the witch tree of rende z -

v ous Remigius tells us that many confesse d to

.

hav ing changed themselves into cats to having ,

be l aboure d running water with rods in order to

—
b ring about bad weather more particularly hail
I 97
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
storms— and other doings of the kind c ustomary
to witches of all the ages Wi e ru s who was
'

.
,

held to be a disciple of that pr ince of s orcerers ,

Cornelius Agrippa was naturally as expert in all

’
,

things rel a ti ng to the D evil and his kingdom as

to his earthly slaves No modern revivalist .

could exceed the minuteness of his knowledge ,

nor indeed the thoroughness expressed in his

’

, ,

detailing of it H e even seems to h ave taken a

.

census of the more offi cial population in the

under world enumerating seventy two princes of
-

,
-

evil who rule over s e v e n mil l i o n four hundred

'

and five thousand nine hundred and twenty s ix -

devils of inferior rank .

Fifteen years after the publication o f De

P raes tigi i s appeared Jean B o di n s counterblast ’
.
,

The eminent j urist was well qualified to speak ,

having done some persecuting o n hi s o wn account

and thus gained fi rs t hand experience o f the ways
-

and customs of the witch To him the theories .

o f Wi e ru s appeared as those either of a very

ignorant o r of a very wicked man The s u gge s .

tion that witches and sorcerers should be pitied

rather than punished appeared to hi m to aim a
blow at the very framework o f society human and ,

divine and he felt it his duty to refute Wi e ru s

,

and all his works not through hatred but

, ,

primar i ly for the honour of God ”

He also gives .
7

detailed accounts of the various kinds o f witches ,

but unlike Wi e ru s discreetly refrains from setting

1 98
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
land were not averse to personal dealings with
fo llowers of the black art Queen E lizabeth her .

self s o far exercised her royal prerogative as to

—
have been unless rumour lie o n excellent —
terms with Dr John Dee the eminent crystal
.
,

gazer whose black stone is now in the B ritish

,

M useum In Scotland the principal Act was

.

passed in 1 5 6 3 By it the practice o f witchcraft

.
,

sorcery and necromancy the pretence o f possess ,

ing magical knowledge and the seeking of help

,

from witches were declared capital o ffe nces .

It says much for the common sense o f the E ng

lish nation that it should at such a period have , ,

produced s o enlightened a writer o n the subj ect

a s was Reginald Scot As against hi s contem
.

p o ra r
y ,Holland who writing
, , in 1 59 0 urges tha t ,

since witches were in the Bible shall S a tan be ,

“

less cruel no w ! S cot in The D i s co v e rie of

,
”
Witchcraft scoffs at S p re ng e r s fables and
’

B o d i n s hables
’
a conceit that must h ave
-

a fforded him infinite satisfaction I denie .

”
no t, he argues that there are witches or images
, ,

but I detest the idolatrous op i n i ons conceived of

th em . And again : I am well ass ur ed that if
all the o l d women in the worl d were witches and
‘

all the priests conj urers we should not have a ,

drop o f rain the more o r the less for them 5 The .

’

suggestion of priests as conj urers is of course a , ,

”
hit at Papish practices and another d e s crip ,

tion of witches as Papists betrays hi s relig i ous

2 00
 The Wi t ch -
B u ll an d i t s E ffe c t s
a ttitude It must be said that the An glican
.

Church wa s inclined towards tolerance the —

severe witch persecutions in these islands which
-

I detail elsewhere being chiefly due to that

, ,

Puritan spirit which dwelt with more satisfaction

o n the sins than the virtues o f mankind F or .

j ust as it has been said that the only antagonist

more redoubtable on the battle fi e l d than a swear - .

ing Iri s hman is a prayin g S cotsman s o the ,“

P uritan was a deadlier persecutor o f witches than

the most zealous Inquisitor Th is with good .

reason if we remember that the Catholic offere d

,

the chance o f H eaven to anyone who wa s not an

obstinate heretic ; while the Pu ritan was o f much
the same op i n i on as the o l d S cotswoman who , ,

havi ng with her brother seceded from the local

kirk a n d being aske d by the minist er whether she
,

Se riously believe d that no one but her brother

and herself would be Saved replied that she had
'

grave d o u b ts a b o u t her brother

'
.

James I a l though upon hi s succession to the

.
,

English throne he found the Episcopacy well

suite d to hi s theories o f kingship yet preserved ,

the Puritanical sense o f other people s sinfulne s s ’

in his heart To this no less than to his desir e f o r

.

literary laurels is to be ascribed his painstaking

,

”
n o t to s a y pedantic D ae m o n o l o gi a published ,

in 15 97 which the loyal H utchinson excuses in

, (

his H i s t o ri ca f Essay o n Witchcraft 4 excuses - -

o n the ground of his youth and inexperience .

201
 The B o o k o f Wi tch e s
James needless to s a y saw no need o f apology
, , ,

f o r the benefit he was conferring on mankind

in general and his subj ects in particular I n his .

love for police court details indeed he showed

-

, ,

himself altogether at o ne with his subj ect s ,

if we may j udge from the taste o f their

present day descendant s
-
H e had again .
, ,

every right to consider himself an auth ority o n

hi s subj ect as o ne who had himself su ff ered from
,

magical machinations A Protestant King seek

.

ing a Protestant bride he su ffered all the terror s

,

and discomforts o f a te mp tu o u s crossing from

Denmark brought about through his earthly
,

agents by Satan filled with wrath and consterna

,

tion at the alliance of two such powerful enemies

o f his kingdom As he might have expected his
.
,

plans were brought to nought and his servants

‘

, ,

Agnes Simpson and Dr Fian su ffered the appro .

,

p ri a te penalty the las

, t named especially being
-

subj ected to perhaps the mos t sickening torture

on record King James showed s o close a n
.

interest in the minuti ae o f the black art that had

he moved in a less exalted sphere he might w ell
have come under suspicion himself Thus o n .

o ne occasion he sent f o r Gre l li s Duncan a per ,

’
fo rmer on the Jews harp and caused her to play ,

before him the identical tune to which S atan a n d

his companions led the brawl at a Sabbath in
North Berwick churchyard It is true as against .
,

this that many witches executed in his reign

,

202
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
— a n unwonted concession to t he public taste this ,

last on the part of one who believed so firmly in

,

the Divine Right o f Kings .

In common with most dogmatists o n the sub

j c e t J ames declares that the great maj ority of
,

witches are women woman being the frailer ,

’

vessel and therefore like Eve more easily e n

, , ,

trapped by the D evil than those o f his o wn sex .

He recapitulates many o f their commonly quot ed

misdeeds and relates how Satan teaches them
,

to make pictures by wax o r clay which being , ,

roasted utterly destroy the person they represent

,
.

To some he gives powders such as cure certain

.

diseases to others poisons and so o n and s o

, ,

forth For the practice o f such infernal arts the

.

English Solon declares that witches and magi cians

should be put to death without distinction of sex
age or rank
, .

Such august patronage o f their efforts served

the ever increasing tribe o f professional witch
-

fi n de rs in good stead and the Act of 1 5 6 3 was

,

enforced m ore stringently than ever The trials .

were sometimes held in the or d inary courts more ,

often before special tribu nals set up as a r ul e , , ,

o n the petition o f a presbytery o r of the G rand

Assembly F or the greater convenience and

.

protection of the public boxes were place d in ,

many churches to receive anonymous accusations ,

giving magnificent opportunity to slanderers and

backbiters To such a pitch had matters come
.

2 04
 The Wi t ch -
B u ll an d i t s E ffe c t s
by 16 6 1 that Parliament directe d the j udges to
visit D alkeith and M usselburgh two notorious ,
‘

centres of the art magical twice a week to try ,

those accused In these trials any evidence wa s

.

relevant especially if put fo rward by professional

,

—
witch fi n d e rs o r witch pinchers while the ordinary
-

methods of torture were aggravated wh en c o n

’
fessions were sought f o r in vi ew o f the Devil s
,

penchant for protecting his o wn .

The c l o s e o f the sixteenth century s a w the com

'

m e nce m e nt o f a series o f persecutions fi e rc e r and

more general than perhaps any which had pre
ceded them which did not finally die out before
,

the rising sun o f common sense unti l almost our

-

’
grandfathers time and which were carrie d to
,

almost greater extremes in the N ew Worl d than

in the O ld .

205
 CHAP T E R X I
TH E L AT ER P ER S E C UTION S IN EN GL AND
TH E law— —
especially in this country gains half
its terrors from its pomp and circumstance An .

English prisoner condemned to de ath by a wig

,

less j udge might well regard himself as mur

,

—
dered and few Englishmen that have attended
an American court of law but have felt scanda
li s e d by its lack of ceremonious decency even if ,

they have accepted its decrees as j ust Indeed it .

,

is scarcely too much to hold that the firm belief

in the corruptibility o f the American j udge and
the o ne sidedness o f American j ustice which
-

every Englishman cherishes as his birthright ,

wa s originally based upon his distaste for this

lack o f appropriate ceremonial .

I f this j udicial dignity be needed even f o r the

trial of an ordinary fellow mortal how much more
,

must it be needed when Satan himself and his

human agents are at the bar Accordingly we
.
,

find the inquisitor or j udge always ultra —p u nc

til i o u s in bringing all due form and ceremony to
bear up on a Witch trial No detail wa s without
-
.
,

2 06
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
honest servant who having s tolen his mistre ss
, ,
’

property and with it levanted need only accuse ,

her of witchcraft to escape any unpleasant co ns e

q u e nc e s to himself It was however the.only , ,

means by which the law could escape from the

—
horns of a serious dilemma as none that are
honest ca n detect a Witch Again s he must be .
,

denied any chance of prov i ng her in nocence o r —

the D evil will certainly take full advantage o f it
on her behalf and once arrested she must on no
, ,

account be allowed to l e ave the prison o r go home .

Popular suspicion p resumpti on and conj ecture

, ,

are sufficient to ensure a conviction for in such ,

a case Vox populi is emphatically Vox Dei Con .

f e s s i o n must however be extorted at all costs As

'

.
, ,

the great Inquisitor Sprenger from whose a u , ,

tho ri t a tiv e pronouncements I have already quoted

freely ha s it : “ If s he confess nothing she
,

must be dismissed according to the law ; there

fore every care must be taken to ensure co n
”
fe s s io n .

B eforeburning the witch it was how ever , , ,

necessary to catch her H ere and more .

particularly in England private enterprise

stepped in to supplement public e ffort Witch .

finding o ffere d a respectable and lucrative

“

career for anyone gifted wit h the requisite

imagination and provided a safe opening for
,

those who had failed in other walks of life .

Enterprise imagination the form of facile exp res

, ,

208
 The La te r Pe rs e c u t i o ns i n E ngl a nd
sion the instinct of sensationalism and so forth
, ,

— were all necessary for the finished witch

fi n d e r it i s true The names o f many have come

,
.

down to us but none more fully earned the

,

prophetic title o f the Napoleon o f witch fi n di ng -

than M atthew H opkins who alone gained by his , ,

eminent services to the public a handle to his ,

name — that of Witch F inder G eneral H o p

”
-
.

kins who flourished in the m id seventeenth ce n

,
-

tury gauge d the public taste in witch sensation to

,
-

—
a nicety and elevated hi s trade to an exact
science Yet curiously enough he only e ntered i t
.
,

by accident owing to an epidemic o f witchcraft in

,

his native town of M anningtree H i s public spirit .

l eading him to take a prominent part in the dis

c o v e ry and punishment o f the cu lprits it became ,

plainly evident in which direction his talents coul d

be best employed a n d wha t had been a hobby
,

became his life work H i s position ha v m g been

-
.

legalised he adopte d the manner of a j udge tak

, ,

ing regular circuits through the four counties

which he more particularly took under his
protection or giving his services to any towns
,

a p plying for them at the extremely modest

charge o f twenty shillings and expenses M ore .

than a hundred witches were brought to punish

ment by his painstaking exertions though perhaps ,

hi s greatest triumph wa s achieved in the case of

the Reverend Mr Lewis the reading parson.
,

o f Framlingham M r Lewis wa s a churchman and

. .
,

2 09 P
 The B o o k o f W i t che s
as such regar ded as a malignant by the Puritan
Government and needless to s a y by Mr Hop
, , , .

kins himself a Puritan of the most orthodox type

,
.

Mr Lewis being eighty fiv e years of age was

.
,
-

,
’
tortured after Mr Hopkins recipe and was so .
,

brought to confess that he had made a compa ct

with Satan that he kept two imps and that he had
, ,

sunk several ships by hi s magic arts H e was duly .

hanged though it is satisfactory to know that at

,

his death he withdrew the confession his human

weakness had extorted from him and died with
a dignity becoming his age and cloth .

As was only to be expected in this imperfect

’
world Mr Hopkins j ust s everity and proper d i s
,
.

regard for sickly sentimentality br ought him many

enemies some o f whom no doubt were inspired by
,

envy o f hi s professional success Although .

cheered by the understanding sympathy o f the

superior class including among them no less a
,

person than Sir Matthew Hale Lord Chief Jus ,

tice of England he was continually attacked both

, ,

publicly and privately by people who ought to ,

have known better O ne o f the mo s t virulent o f .

these wa s o ne Mr Gaule minister of G reat .

,

Stoughton in Huntingdon who not only wrote

, ,

and pr e ached against Hopkins and his methods ,

but refused him permission to conduct a witch

hunt at Stoughton Stung to the heart by such .

ingratitude Mr Hopkins set forth his side of the

, .

argument in a letter which Mr G aule h imself s u b .

2 10
 The Bo o k o f Wit c he s
Your Servant to be Commanded M atthe w ,
.

”
Hopkins .

Mr G aule ho w ever ill advised proved himself

.
,
-

no despicable antagonist H e turned the batteries

.

of ridicule against the worthy witch fi nd e r -

and hi s methods wh i ch he describes as

,

follows : Having taken the susp ecte d Witch ,

s he is p laced in the middle o f a room

upon a stool or table cross legged or in ,
-

some other uneasy P osture to which if s he sub ,

mits not s he i s then bound with cords ; there s he is

watched and kept without M eat or Sleep f o r the
space o f F our and Twenty Hours ( for the y s a y
within that time they shall s e e her Imp come and
suck) A little Hole is likewise made in the door
.
,

—
f o r her Imp to come in a t lest it should come in
some less discernible shape They that watch her .

are taught to be ever and anon sweeping the

Room and if they s e e any Spiders or F lies to kill
, ,

them and if they cannot kill them t hen they may

, ,

be sure they are her Imps .

But however earnest in their errors might be

Mr G aule and those who supported him it wa s
.
,

long ere they could find many supporters in

their crusade against one who had s o struck the
public imagination Hopkins methods o f torture
.
’

might be severe but they produced results such

,
—
as the following : O ne Penitent Woman con
fessed that her mother lying sick and s he looking
, ,

at her somewhat like a Mole ran into the bed to

,

2 12
 The L a t e r P e rs ec u t i o n s i n E ngla nd
her which she being startle d at her mother bade
, ,

her not fear it but gave it her sayi ng ,

Kee p , ,

this in a P ot by the fire and thou shal f never

”
want And s o on and so forth
.
.

I n the end however as to o often ha p pens envy

‘

, , ,

triumphed over modest merit and H opkins had ,

to pay the penalty that usually awaits the p opular

idol Either his severity o utran his discretion
. ,

o r he showed too openly his belief that the chief

obj ect of a profession is to provide a handsome

income ; o r perhaps his inventive faculties d i d not
keep p ace with the p ublic desire B e that as it .

may his fall when it came wa s heavy It is even

, , , .

said on reputable authority that H o p ki ns w as

, ,

himself at the last accuse d of witchcraft that

, , ,

he was tried by o ne of his o wn methods that of ,

”
swimming and that like many o f the o l d
,
”
women he had tried he swam wa s accordingly ,
=

found guilty and executed It may be agree d

,
.

that like the story of P halaris destroyed in the

,

fiery bron z e bull of his o wn devising o r o f Dr , .

Guillotin first to su ffer o n the guillotine he had

,

invented this end o f H opkins has too much of

,

poetic j ustice about it to be altogether credible .

B ut in all that has to do with witchcraft faith ,

is a matter of opinion s o there we may leave it , .

That M atthew Hopkins initiated new methods

o f witch fi n di n by no means implies that there
g
-

was any lack of such before his time Where the

simple rule o f thumb torture failed to extract
- -

2 13
 The B o o k o f Wi tch e s
the requisite confession a further range subtler , ,

and more exq uisite came into play No witch

,
.

—4
could s a y the Lord s Prayer a possible enough ’

contingency under great nervous strain even for

a good Christi an Thus F airfax relates how
.

Thorp s wife accused of bewitching hi s childre n

’

, ,

being put to this test could not s a y F orgive ,

”
us o u r trespasses and th u s c o nv m c e d the j u s t1ce s
,

o f her guilt Another method much practised by

.

Hopkins was the searching for the Devil marks -

.

These marks as we have said were the corporeal

, ,

proofs of her contract with Satan borne by every ,

witch upon some part o f her body and were ,

further the places whereat her imps came to suck

.
—
her blood F ew witches which is to s a y s u s ,

—
pe ets were ever found to pass this test satis
—
f a c to ri l y a fact the less surprising in that any
blemish birth mark o r even insect bite was
,
-

,
-

a ccepted by special legal inj unction a s Sufficient

evidence .The witch mark was believed to be -

insensible to pain whence arose the popular and

,

”
lucrative profession o f witch pricking The -

witch pricker having blindfolded the witch pro

-

, ,

c e e d e d to prick her in suspected places with a

three inch pin afterwards telling her to point o u t

-

to him the places where she felt pain I f the .

suspect half crazed with shame and terror was

,
-

unable to do s o with sufficient ex a ctitude the spot ,

was declared insensible and her conviction f o l ,

lowed Before the actual pricking when the , ,

2 14
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
—to say nothing of what wa s probably the first
—
cold bath s he had ever experienced acting upon
her advanced age gave her little chance o f final
,

triumph over her accusers Another well known .

—
and popular test was that o f weighing the s u s
e cte d witch against the Church Bible H ad the
p .

authorities provided one of more than co mmon

weight which outweighed her skin and bone wo e ,

betide her ! for her guilt wa s proved beyond

further question .

Such forms o f extraneous evidence were how ,

-e

ever held in less s to re tha n was the obtaining of

'

,
“

a definite confession which had the double

,

advantage of j ustifying the j udges to the full as

well as o f convicting the accused O f how it .

might be obtained Reginald Scot gives us a vivid

”
example . The seven words o f the Cross he ,
’
says be hanged about the witch s neck and the
,

length of Christ in wax be knit about her bare

”
bodie with re l ik e s of saints I f torture and other
.

means of persuasion cannot o btain a confession ,

the j ailer must pretend to leave her and some of ,

her friends must visit her promising that if s he ,

will but confess they will help her to escape from

p rison . Friday according
, to the same writer w a s ,

the most auspicious day f o r the purpose As to .

the actual torture the prisoner must first be

,

stripped lest the means o f witchcraft be sewn into

her clothing the instruments of torture being so
,

placed that s he has an uninterrupted V iew of

2 16
 The L a t e r P e rs e c u ti o n s i n E ngl a nd
them The j udge then exhorts her that if she
.

remains obstinate he bids the attendants make

,

her fast to the s tra p a d o o r other chosen i ns tru

ment Having been tortured s he is taken aside
.
,

and again urged to confess by the promise of thus

—
escaping the death penalty As the Church con .

v e ni e nt l y absolved the faithful from the necessity

o f keeping faith with heretics o r sorcerers this ,

promise wa s never kept T o put it briefly every

.
,

possible avenue of escape was denied the accused .

Even an alibi however complete wa s unavailing

, , ,

seeing that in her absence her place wa s always

filled by a demon .

H owever much we may sympathise wi th the

victims of such j udicial proceedings it woul d be ,

less than fair to blame the general public fo r its

attitude towards them when such men as B lack
stone o r Sir M atthew Ha l e were convince d of
their reasonableness B l ackstone indeed one o f
.
, ,

the greatest o f E nglish lawyers went so far as to ,

declare that to deny the p ossibility nay the , ,

actual existence o f witchcraft is at once flatly to

contradict the revealed Word of G od :The

attitude of Sir M atthew H ale Lord Chief Justice , ,

an enlightened and G o d fearing man may best

-

be gathered from an account of one o f the trials

in which he was concerned In 16 6 4 at St .
, .

E d mu n d s b u ry two women Amy Duny and Rose

, ,

Cullender were tried before him upon the usual

,

charges The first witness was Dorothy Durent

.
,

2 17
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
whose child was under the care of Rose Cullender .

Dorothy had for some time suspected R o se

—
of bewitching her child a fact which throws some
’
doubt upon the witness s maternal care in co n
fi di ng her offspring to such a nurse Eventually .

the witness consulted a witch doctor a p ro ce e d l -

ing whi ch had s he known it rendered her liable

, ,

to conviction as well as Rose under the statute o f ,

James The doctor advised her to hang up her

child s blanket in the chimney which she did O n
’
,
.

taking it down some time later she was horror ,

stricken to find a toad in it This toad she h a d .

put it into the fire and held it there though it ,

made a great and horrible noise and flashed like ,

gunpowder and went o ff like a pistol and then ,

became invisible and that by this the prisoner wa s ,

scorched and burnt lamentably ”

O ther wit .

1 If
p r on or p r on h ll p r c i or
a ny e s ,
e s s , s a us e, a t s e, exer

ci y i nvoc i n or conjur i on of y vi l d wick d

se an at o at an e an e

s pi ri or h ll c on ul c ov n n wi h n r in m p loy
t, s a s t, e a t t , e te t a , e ,

find or r w rd y vi l d wi ck d pi ri
, e a or for y
an e an e s t , to an

i n n or p ur p o
te t or k u p y d d m wom n s e, to ta e an ea a n, a ,

or ch i ld of hi h or h i r gr v or y o h r p l c
o ut s , e r, t e a e, an t e a e

wh r h d d body r h or h k i n bon or y
e e t e ea e s tet ,
t e s ,
e, an

p r of y d d p r on b m p loy d or u d i y
a t an ea e s to e e e se n an

m nn r of wi chc r f orc ry ch rm or n ch n m n or
a e t a t, s e ,
a , e a t e t,
s h ll a p r c i or x rci
us e ,
y w i chc
a r f tn ch n
se, e e se an t a t, e a t
m n ch rm or or c ry wh r by y p r on h ll b
e t, a , s e e e an e s s a e

ki ll d d roy d w d c on um d pi n d or l m d i
e ,
es t e , a s te ,
s e ,
e ,
a e n
hi or h
s body or y p r h r of v ry u ch off nd r i
er , an a t t e e , e e s e e s

a f lon wi h ou b n fi of cl rgy (Th i A w

e t t e e t e
”
. s ct as n o t re

p l d un il
ea e t

2 18
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
and returned to the best o f health Which c a n .

have left no further doubt in the mind of Sir

M atthew Hale Lord Chief Baron of the Court
,

o f Exchequer as to the j ustice o f his sentence

, ,

even had he any before .

It would be both tedious and unprofitable to

trace o u t the whole long history of witch p e rs e cu -

tion in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries .

Their details are invariably na u s e o u s a nd differ ,

v

only in the slightest degree ; having heard one ,

the recapitulation o f the rest ca n be of interest

only to the moralist Some of the more famous
.

examples may be briefly considered however as , ,

typical of the rest I have already referred to

.

the case o f the K na re s ro u gh witches accused ,

of bewitching the c hildren o f E dward F airfax ,

—
the scholar a case the more remarkable that the
s i x women accused although tried before two
,

successive assizes were finally acquitted The

,
’
.

lonely moorlands and grim wa s te s o f the Northern

counties were naturally enou gh regarded with
, ,

suspicion as o ffering very eligible lurking places -

f o r Satan s agents and accordingly we find that

’

the maj ority o f the earlier persecutions concerned

that part of the county Ten years before the
. .

— —
Knaresborough trial i n 16 1 2 twenty witches
were tried at the Assizes and G enerall G aole
Delivery holden at Lancaster before Sir E dward
, ,
”
Bromley and Sir James E ltham They came .

from P endle F orest a wild district on the eastern

,

2 20
 The La te r Pe rs e c u ti o n s i n Engla nd
extremity of the county and the most p rominent ,

among them was E li z abeth S o u the rne s more ,

generally known as M other D e m dyk e who by , ,

her o wn confession had been a practising witch ,

for nearly half a century having been led astray ,

thereto by one Tibb a spirit or devil in the form ,

o f a boy wearing a parti coloured coat of brown

-

and black whom s he met u p on the highway

-

,
.

She and her fello w prisone r s were charged with -

murders conspiracies and other damnable pra e

, ,

tices upon evidence fully borne out by their own

,

confessions Nevertheless o f the t wenty only

.
,

twelve were hanged o ne M other D e m dyk e her , ,

self cheating the gallows by dying in prison

, ,

—
while the remaining seven were acquitted for the
time That so large a pro p ortion shoul d have
.

escap ed speaks ill for the abilities of the p ro s e cu

tion for an examp le wa s badly needed
, This .

”
remote country says S cot wa s full o f P opish
, ,

recusants travelling p riests and so forth and

, , ,

some o f their spells are given in which holy names

and things alluded to form a strange contrast
with the purpose to which they were applied to
secure a good brewing of ale or the like O ne ,

such charm quoted at the trial was used by Anne

, ,

Whittle a Zi a s Cha tto x o ne o f the twenty in order

, , ,

to remove a curse previously laid Upon J ohn

M oore s W1fe s brewing and ran as follow s
’ .
’

Th r B i r hee te s ast h ou bi n
t t te ,

Th H o i ll e s t, Ey i l l T ongu
e, e ;
22 1
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
Th r B i r h ll b hy b oo
ee t te s a e t te ,
F h r S onn
at e d H ly Gh o e, an o s t,

A God n m 5 a e .

F iv P rno r fi Avi
e a te s te s ,
ve es ,

And c r d a ee e,

For wor h i p of fi w d
s ve o un es

O f our Lo rd .

Which would seem show that whether or no to

Anne Whittle was a witch she was certainly a ,

Papist s o we need feel little surprise that she was

,

among the twelve exec uted .

The second great persecution in Lancashire in ,

16 3 3 rested almost entirely o n the evidence of

,

a boy of eleven H i s name was E dmund Robin

.

son and he lived with his father a very poor

, ,

man in Pendle F orest where no doubt he heard

, ,

many legends of the redoubtable M other Dem

dyke and her colleagues Upon All Saints Day .
’

when gathering b u l l o e s in a field he there saw ,

two greyhounds o ne black the other brown each

, , ,

wearing a collar shining like gold They fawned .

upon him whereafter, seeing no one he took , ,

them thinking to course with them

, And pre .

s e nt l a Hare did rise very near before him

y .

‘
Whereat he cried Loo Loo Loo but the
, , ,
’

D o ggs would not run Whereupon he bei ng .

,

very angry took them and with the strings that

, ,

were abou t the n collars tied them to a little bush ,

at the next hedge and with a switch that he had

,

in his hand he beat them And instead of the .

black greyhound o ne Dickenson s wife stood up

,
’
,

222
 The Bo o k o f Wi tch e s
”
homewards They pursued him but he me t
.
,

two horsemen whereupon they left him !The

,
.

foremost of his pursuers wa s one Lo i n d s wife ’

.

The troubles o f the Informer were not yet at

an end “ After he had come from the company
.

aforesaid his Father bade him go and fetch home

,

two kine and he happed upon a Boy who fought ,

”
him . The Informer had his ears and face
made very bloody in the fight and looking down ,

he s a w the Boy had a cloven foot With co m .

mendable prudence he ran away only to s e e a ,

light like to a lantern which he pursued thinking

, ,

it might be carried by a neighbour But he only .

— —
found a woman L o i n d s wife standing on a ’

bridge and running from her he met the cloven

,

footed Boy again who hit him and made him cry
,
.

Such was the dread story told in court and ,

partly corroborated by the boy s father The ’

.

wives o f Dickenson and Lo in d along with some ,

eighteen other persons were arrested at once , ,

while the informer and hi s father made a comfort

able little s u m o f money by going the round o f
the neighbouring churches and there detecting
others The trial took place at Lancaster Assizes
.
,

when seventeen of the accused were found guilty ,

but the j udge not being satisfied with the evi

,

dence obtained a reprieve F our of the accused

, .

were sent up to London and committed to the ,

F leet Prison where great sums of money were

,

”
gotten by shewing them The Bishop o f Chester
.

2 24
 The L a te r P e rs e c u t i o n s i n E n gl a nd
held a special examination of the case and the ,

informer being separated from his father soon

, ,

confessed that his estimable parent had invented

the whole story as a means towards an end So .

the trial ended in a lamentable fiasco from the i

,

point of view of that public who were looking

forward to the public executions a s a holiday .

Although the activities o f M atthew H opkins

reached their culminating po 1nt in the trial of the
M anningtree Witches held before S ir M atthew
,

H ale at Ipswich in 16 4 5 they were only a part

,

o f his bag in that year as we may gather from a

,

statement in B eaumont s Treatise o n Spirits

’ ”
,

that thirty six were arraigned at the same time

-

before Judge Coniers an 16 45 and fourteen o f

, .
,

them hanged and a h undred more detained in

”
several prisons in Su ffolk and Essex Nearly .

twenty years later in 16 6 4 we find the Witch

, ,

fi n d e r General at work l n Great Yarmouth where

-

he accused sixteen old women all o f whom were ,

convicted and executed ; and in the same year

took place the St E d mu ns b u ry trials already
.

referred to . Nevertheless it must be said f o r

M atthew H opkins gent that by the very e n
, ,

thu s i a s m he imparted into his business he did

something towards checking the tide o f p e rs e cu
tion even at the full Although the general public
.

gave little sign of satiety those in authority and

,

the more educated class in general were gr owing

tired of so much useless bloo dshed Witch trials .
-

22
5 !
 :
The B o o k o f W i t ch e s 1

continued unabated but towards the clos e Of the

,

c entury the j udge s directions to his j ury were

’

freque ntly such as to e nsure an acquittal ; while ,

even when found guilty the accused were often ,

reprieved thr o ugh the j udge s exertions Among ’

.

these j ust j udges the name o f L o rd Chief Justice

Holt merits a high place as o f one more t han ,

usually inadvance o f his age .

In 16 94 before the same Lord Chief Justice at

, ,

Bury Saint E dmunds wa s tried M other Mun

’

n i ngs
, o f Hartis in Su ffolk M any things were
,
.

depo sed concerning her spoiling o f wort and

harming o f cattle and further that several , , ,

ersons up o n thei r death —

beds had attributed th e i r
p
destruction to her arts Thus it was s worn that
. .

Thomas Pannel the landlord not kno wmg how

, ,

to turn her o u t o f his house took away the door

'

and left her without o ne Some time after he .

,

happening to p ass by s he said to him Go thy , ,

way ; thy nose shall lie up ward in the churchyard

before Saturday next ”
O n the M onday follow.

ing Pannel sickened died o n the Tuesday and , ,

was buried within the week according to her ,

word To confirm this a no the r witne s s a dded

'

.
,

that a doctor being consulted about another

,
‘

a fflicted person and M other M unnings bei ng

,

mentioned said that s he wa s a dangerous woman

, ,

f o r s he could touch the line o f life In the indict .

ment s he was charged with having an imp like

‘

a polecat a nd o ne witn ess sw

, ore that coming from
226
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
a fflicted Person had refused l e tt1ng her a House
,
.

Some Witnesses said that Mrs Rudge wa s better .

upon the confinement o f the woman and worse ,

again when her chains were o ff O th er witnesses .

gave account that her grandmother and her aunt

had formerly been hanged for Wit ches and that ,

her Grandmother had said she had 8 or 9 Imps ,

and that s he had given two or three apiece to her

”
children . It was further shown on the evidence
o f a midwife who had searched her grandmother ,

—
that the prisoner had plainer witch marks than
s he ; while several women who had been on bad

terms with her took oath that their bodies were

infested with lice and other vermin supposed to
be of her sending But not even the vermin
.
.

could influence the Lord Chief Justice and Mar ,

”
garet E lmore was found Not Guilty .

Yet another case tried before Holt wa s that

, ,

o f E lizabeth Horner at E x e te rf i n 1 6 96 Three .

children of o ne William Borch were said to have

been bewitched by her O ne had died the leg
.
,

o f another wa s twisted all had vomited pins been

, ,

bitten pricked and pinched

, , Their mother .

deposed that one of them walked up a smooth

"

plaistered Wall till her F eet were nine foot high ,

”
her Head standing o ff from it This s he said .
, ,

s he did five or s i x times and laughed and said

,

”
Bess Horner held her up Poor E lizabeth had
.

a wart o n her shoulder which the children said

,

wa s a witch mark and was sucked by her toad

-

, .

228
 The L a t e r P e rs e c u ti o n s i n E ngl a nd
But the Lord Chief Justice seems to have been
of another opinion f o r he directed the j ury to
,

a c q u 1t her Indeed of all the many cases o f

.
,

Witchcraft brought before him not o ne p r1s o ne r ,

—
wa s convicted a state o f things which would c e r
t a i n l y have resulted in a q u estion being asked
in Parliament had it happened in our time The .

last woman found guilty of witchcraft in this ”

country wa s Jane Wenham the Witch o f Wal ,

kerne in H ertfordshire who was tried in 1 7 1 2

, , .

—
The witch fi n de r wa s called into requisition and ,

she was sub mitted to the usual inane and degrad

ing tests . They either did themselves o r s u f
f e re d others that were about them to scratch and
tear her face and run Pins into her F lesh They .

turned the Lord s Prayer into a Charm ’

( the Vicar of A rd e l
y wa s responsible for this part
o f the performance by the way They turned
),
.
.

to Spectre Evidence they drave her to such D i s ,

traction that by leading Q uestions they dre w from

her what they called a Confession They had .

her to Jail The witnesses swore to vomiting

.

Pins The Jury found her Guilty the Judge c o n

.
,

d e mne d her and those clergymen wrote a Narra

‘

tive o f the Tryal which wa s received and read

,

with such P leasure that in a M onth s Time it had ’

”
a F ourth E dition But Jane Wenham wa s for
.

tu na te in her j udge B eing a man o f learning

.

and experience he Value d not those Tricks and

,

Trya l s and though he wa s force d to condemn

,

229
 ”
T he Bo o k o f W i t ch e s
her because a Silly Jury would find her guilty ,

he saved her Life And that s he might not after

.

wards be torn to pieces in an ignorant Town a ,

sensible Gentlem an who will for ever be in

,

Honour for what he did Colonel P lummer of ,

Gilston in the same County took her into his

, ,

protection and placed her in a little house near

his o wn where s he now lives soberly a n d i no ffe n
'

s iv e l y and keeps her church and the whole

, ,

county is now fully convinced that she was inno

cent and that the M aid that wa s thought to be
,

bewitched was an I dle Hussy and was well .

”
a s soon as her sweetheart came and married her .

Thenceforward the law o f England had no

more terrors for the witch though she wa s not ,

yet quite o u t o f danger The Statute o f James

.

I was not repealed until 1 7 3 6 and long after that

‘

.
,

the mob was accustomed to take the law into its ’

o wn hands Thus in 1 7 5 1 a man and his wife

.
, ,

named O sborn were ducked at Thring having ,

been dragged by the mob from the workhouse

where they had been placed by the parish o fli cers -

for safety The woman lost her life in the

.

process She wa s however not unavenged fo r

.
, , ,

a verdict o f Wilful Murder was returned

against the r1ngl e a d e r of the m o b a chimney ,

swee per named Colley and he was hanged very

, ,

much to his o wn and other people s indignation ’

.

There was indeed something to be said f o r the “

inj ured Colley when a man like Wesley p i nn1ng ,

2 30
 CHAP T E R XI I

P ER S E C U TI O N S IN S CO T L AND
TH E influence longitude upon national ten
o f
d e n ci e s in superstition is far too wide a subj ect to
be here discussed in any detail but speaking ,

generally it may be said that the superstitions o f

,

— —
a people as their religion are largely a matter
—
of climate milder and more genial in temperate
districts carried to fi e rc e r and more terrible
,

lengths amid extremes o f heat and cold The .

man whose gods are based upon his conceptions

o f the thunderstorm the grim northern winter o r
,

the tropical sun evokes sterner and more dreadf ul

,

images than he whose lot is cast amid mild skies

and gentle breezes How wide i s the difference
.

between the grim gods who ruled the inhospitable

heavens o f Scandinavian and Teuton from the
tolerant Bohemians who tenanted the classical
O lympus The gentle dryads and light hearted
.
-

fauns o f Italy would hav e perished in the first

snows o f a Baltic winter j ust as the hungry ravens
,

o f Woden would have been metamorphos ed into

’
Venus doves in o ne Italian generation .

Nowh e r e i s the influence of climate u p o n fl

2 32
 P e rs e c u t i o n s i n S c o t l a nd
national temperament more clearly typified than
in the island of G reat Britain The Viking .
,

settling amid the lush meadows and pleasant

woodlands of England laid aside his heathen ,

sacrifices for the more climatically appro

ri a t e religion o f Christ with scarcely a regre t
p .

Thor and Woden long held their o wn in the bare

northern fastnesses not to be finally driven o u t
,

until they had tinged the Chri s t1a n1ty which took
their place with something o f their o wn hopeless
ness and gloom Just as the gods o f Valhalla
.

ever looke d forward to the day of their d e s tru c

tion s o Hell rather than H eaven has always
,

h el d the leading place in the S cottish imagina

t1on So it came about that t he superstitions
.

”
I

of the Scot were gloomier than were those

'

o f his neighbour over the Border The c o nv i c .

tion of his o wn sinfu lness was always with him ;

ho w much deeper and more certain that of his
neighbours And because he had a more i m
.

minent sense o f sin his belief 1n W 1tche s and their

,

malignancy was more i ntimate and more resent

f ul The Englishman ag ain feared th e witch
, ,

c hi c fly o n hi s own personal account ; the Scotsman

’

"

to ok up the cudgels o n behalf o f hi s Creator as

well The D evil seemed s o much more p o werful
.

to the dwellers o f a bleak Highland glen than to

the stout yeoman walking amid his opulent Eng
lish pastures In Scotland he wa s o n terms
.

a lmost of e uality with G od ; it is scarcely too

q
233
 The B oo k o f Wi t ch e s
much to say that to the maj ority he was even m ore
powerful and his earthly agents all the more to
,

be f eared and hated

As in Rome and Greece the witch was firmly ,

settled in Scotland centuries before the coming

o f Christianity But s he was of another breed
.
,

as b e fi tte d her sterner ancestry She and her .

demoniacal coadj uto rs held all the land under a

grip o f blood and iron There was nothing .

amiable nothing whimsical no th1ng human about

, ,

the spirits of o n e kind o r another that lorded it

, ,

among the mists and heather Even the fairies .

had more in common with Logi than with O beron ,

B l f a m e their dwell ing place resembled rather

,
-

Hell than F airyland In place of a L o b lie b y

.
— -

—
the F ire who found his highest pleasure in the
,

helping o f good housewives without fee o f a ,

Queen Mab who to rm e nte d n o one but the idle

'

o r the wicked you had a Kelpie lurking in lonely

, ,

places intent upon your murder o r a Banshee p ro , ,

p h e s in
y g your coming death o r ru in When at .

last Christianity cam e it had a long stern struggle

, ,

a a 1n s t s uch antagonists— nor ind e e could it

’

d
'

g , ,

ever altogether overcome them even thou gh it ,

forced them to adopt new names a n d new d is

guises The mi s s mn a ry s aints found the n task
.

o f c o nv e r5 1o n i ncreased tenfold by the strenuou s

opposition o f the witches and other evil s p 1r1t s .

St Patrick l n p a rticular s o enra g ed the m a n d

.
, ,

the 1r master the Devil by his perti nacity that , ,

2 34
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
’
—
ing o f his daughter s fate fitted out a w vessel ,
ar

and despatched it to Tobermory to take sum

mary vengeance M aclean and his people feeling
.
,

unequal to resisting it by ordinary means sought ,

aid from magic ( Druidism in fact) and by power ,

ful spells and charms gathered all the witches

of Mull the D o i a e a gcm Mu i l e a c k together
,
’
,
.

He explained the position and begged them

to raise a tempest and sink the Spanish vessel
pointing o u t at the same time that her commander ,

o ne Captain F orrest was himself a magician

,
.

The chief witch asked if the Spaniard when ,

declaring his unfriendly 1nte nti o n s had said , ,

With G od s help ! ’
O n learning that he had
omitted that precaution s he professed herself .

ready to undertake the task This passage is s o .

uns uggestive of the pagan witch s usual attitude ’

that I take it to be a pious interpretation of later

date .

In due time the witches began their work of

u ba g a ba
, g and g i s re a
g ( charm incantation and ,

chanting) but with little initial e ffect Stronger

, .

measures b e comi ng necessary the chief witch tied ,

a straw rope to a quern stone passed it ove r a

-

rafter and raised the stone as high as s he was

,

able As it rose the wind rose with it but s he

.
,

could not get it very high owing to the counter

spells o f the Spanish captain with the English
name Accordingly she called her sister witches
.
—
to hel p her — witches with very much fin e r names ,

2 36
 P e rs e c u t i o ns i n S c o tl a n d
by the wa y than their English colleagues could
,

boast of They were nine in all and the names

.
,

of five wer e Lu i d e a g (which i s to s a y R a ggi e

Agus D o id e a g (o r Frizzle Hair Agus Co r
rag N ighi n Jain E b ain The Finger o f White
John s Daughter
’
Cas a m ho ga i n Ri a b ha i ch a ’

G l e a nc o mha m H o gga n f o o t from G lencoe

and Agus G o rms hu i l mh or b harr na Ma ighe
Great B lue Eye from Mb y -
All pulled to
gether at the rope but could no t raise the quern
,

stone Some of them then flew through the air

.

’
and climbe d a bout the ship s rigging in the shape
o f cats spitting and swearing
, But Captain F o r .

rest only laughed at them S o he did when .

their number increased to fifteen At last the .

D o i d e a g got a very strong man D o m l mu l l D u b k ,

LE Zi d i r to hold the rope and prevent the stone

,

from slipping down aga i n while s he flew off to ,

Lochaber to beg the assistance of Great G a rma l

of Mo y the d o y e mze o f Scotch witchcraft whose
, ,

powers were more developed than those of all the

others put together G a rma l accepted the flat.

tering invitation and s e t o u t for the scene o f

'

action No sooner was she in the air than a tem

.

pest began and by the time s he reached Tober

,

mory Captain F orrest realised that he had better

retire But before hi s cable could be cu t Great
.

G a rma l had reached the ship had climbed to ,

the top of the mast in the shape o f the largest

black c a t that ever was seen and uttered o ne ,

23
7
 The Book o f W i t ch e s ,

spell whereupon the Spanish man 0 w a r with a l l

’
-

her crew sank to the bottom o f the sea .

Against witches o f such prowess he must be a

— —
powerful man saint o r king who would gainsay
.
—
them M any i f no t most o f the earlier Scot
—

tish kings had passages with witchcraft mostly ,

to their o wn detriment Leaving aside M acbeth

.
,

quite a s cre dible an historic character as the re st ,

we have King Du ff who towards the e n d of the

, ,

tenth century narrowly escaped a l inge rm g death

,

—
at the hands of the witches the y employing the e

—
old fashioned even in those days but e mine ntl v
, ,
”
dependable waxen image By good luck only .

he wa s enabled to discover the witches and having ,

burned them and broken up the magic before it

was quite melted before their fire to recov er his ,

usual health and spirits .

Not only for its long line of eminent witches

does Scotland claim an important place in the
annals of the arts magical In Michael Scot s he .

had o ne o f the most famous wizards k no wn to his

'

tory far superior in prowess to the great bulk o f his

,

successors i f tradition may be credited and every

'

, ,

whit as eminent while a great deal more probable

, ,

than the British M erlin of Arthurian legend .

Thomas the Rhyme r he o f E s ci l d o nne chosen

’

'

, ,

lover of the F airy Queen was a nother wizard o f ,

repute .

It is an indirect testimony to t he high i f e v i l .

,
'

place held by magic in Scotland that s o man

238
 The B o o k o f W i tch e s
humbler acc o mplices paid the pen alty in the usual i

way .

In the following year occurred a witch trial o f -

interest in itself and the cause o f the great out

,

burst o f persecution which for the next century

makes the annals of Scottish j ustice run red with
— —
innocent blood that o f Dr P eane o r Fian a s .
,

it i s variously spelt The story o f the Secretar .

and Register to the Devil has been often told ,

but it will bear recapitulation Fian was a school .

master a t Saltpans Lothian ; he was further , ,

according to his accusers a wizard M ore ,

.

exactly perhaps he should be described as a

, ,

male witch seeing that he had no control over

-

Satan but on the other hand had sworn a ll e gi

, , ,

— —
ance to him received witch marks under his ,

—
tongue and otherwise conformed to the etiquette
o f the lower grade in the profession T hi s seems .
,

indeed to have been customary in Scotland where

, ,

the distinction which I have endeavoured to lay

down b e tween the sorcerer and the witch is often
hard to trace His magic however gains its chief
.
, ,

—
interest from its obj ect no less a person than
James I and VI This learned and Protestant
. .

monarch being o n his way to visit his Danish

,

bride in her native land the Devil and his Secre ,

tary laid a plot to drown him They put to s e a .

,

after the vessel along with a whole regiment of,

witches and there cast an enchanted ca t into the

,
‘

sea raising a fierce storm which could not how

, , ,

2 40
 P e rs e c u t i o n s i n S c o tla n d
ev e r prevent the Divinely protected James from
,
-

reaching D enmark in safety O n his retu rn .

—
j ourney the plotters tried another plan to raise
a fog whereby the Royal shi p might be driven -

ashore on the E nglish coast T owards this end .

-

Satan cast a football o r i ts mi s ty semblance , ,_ ,

into the s e a and succeede d i ni raising what may

’

be accurately described as the D evil s own f o g ’

.

But angels guided the ship upon its proper

course and again the King escaped the assaults
,

of his enemies F o r these and other crimes Dr

. .

Fian with a number o f women witches wa s tried

,
-

, ,

tortured forced to confess and burned on Castle

, ,

—
Hill though he withdrew his confession before
the end and die d like a gentleman and a scholar .

It i s an interesting point about the trial that in it

occur s the first Scottish mention o f the D evil s ’

mark .

The e ffects o f this outrage upon the Lord s ’

Anointed were not to end with the death o f its

presumed concocters I f the tribe of witches had
.

grown s o bold it was high time they were e x tir

,

pated a n d gallantly did the King and his advisers

,

s e t about it It wa s in 1 5 6 3 that the persecution

.

of the witch was regularise d as a disti nct branch

of crime by an enactment of the E states “ that ,

nae person take upon hand to use any manner of

witchcraft s sorcery o r necromancy nor give
, , ,

themselv es furth to have ony s i c craft or know

ledge thereof therethrough abusing the peo p le ”
,

24 1 R
 The B o o k o f W i tch e s
and that nae person seek ony help response o r , ,

consultation at any s i c users o r abusers o f witch

,
”
crafts under pain of death .

Thenceforward until the last witch burning in ,

-

1 7 2 7 the fires were seldom allowed to g o out and

, ,

to be an o l d a n d ugly woman was perhaps the

most dangerous trade in S cottish industry .

There wa s indeed o ne incidental to a witch

, ,

—
b u rnm g which may i t is at least to be hoped
h ave sometimes moved the economical S cotsman
—
in the direction o f toleration the expense .

Here for instance are the items expended in the

, ,
'

execution o f o ne batch of witches in F ife in

16 3 3 :

For te n lo d of c o l
a s a to burn th m e

For a ta r
-
b rr l a e

F o r t o we s
For h rd n b jum p
a e to e s to t hm
e

For m k i ng of th m
a e

O r a grand total of £4 no small sum 1 15 . 2d .

, ,

seen with thrifty eyes especially if we co nsider the ,

greater value of money in those days

It is perhaps only characteristic of the national
, ,

attitude towards the whole subj ect that the

White o r amiable witch w
, a s held in as great ,

detestation a s her B lack o r malignant sister , ,

.

Torture and penalty were the same for either .

Thus we find that in 1 5 97 four women were c o n , ,

242
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
of Isobel Grierson s p o u s to J ,
Bull wark o hn n e ,
~

man in the F annis ( Preston Pans) tried at E din ,

burgh i n M arch 16 0 7 ,
Grierson by the way
.
, ,

wa s a n ame V ery prominent in witch circles at the -

time O ne Robert Grierson had taken a leading

.
.

part a s an accomplice o f Dr Fian above referred .

,

to hi s being the hand which cast the enchanted

,

c a t into the s e a in the endeavour to drown King

James He wa s also as shown in the co nf e s

.
,

sion o f another defendant in the same trial the ,

cause of much disturbance at a Sabbath held in

North Berwick Churchyard Satan by an u nf o r .
,

t u n a t e slip addressed him by hi s real name

, .

As etiquette strictly demanded that Christian

—
names should be ignored and nick names i n thi s
’

“
-

instance Rab the Rower used instead the -

mistake appeared an intentional insult o n Satan s ’

part and wa s s o taken by the assembled witches

, ,

who expressed their displeasure with u nc o mp ro

m i s i ng vigour even to the extent of running
,

hird y g i rd y about the churchyard But to

’

’
return to John Bull s wife She was accused .

i n te r a l i a of having conceived a cruel hatred and

,

malice against one Adam Clark and with having ,

for the space o f a year used all devilish and u n

holy means to be re venged upon him On a .

November night in 16 06 between eleven and mid ,

night Adam and hi s wife being in bed Isobel

, ,

entered the house in the form o f a black cat ,

accompanied by a number of other cats and made ,

2 44
 P e rs e c u t i on s i n S c o tl a nd
a great and fearful noise Whereat Adam his wife , , ,

and maid servant were s o frightened as almost

-

to g o mad Immediately afterwards the Devil

.

appeared in the likeness o f a b lack man sei z ed

, ,

the servant s nightcap and cast it o n the fire and

’ "

then dragged her up and down the house Who .

thereby contracted a great sickness s o that she ,

lay bed fast in danger o f her life , f o r the space

-

of s ix weeks I sobel was further accuse d o f

.

having compassed the death o f William Burnet

and of laying o n him a fearful and uncouth sick
ness by casting in at his door a gobbet o f raw
, ,

enchante d flesh Whereafter the D evil nightly .

’
appeared in poor William s house in the guise of
a nak ed infant child for the space of half a year .

O ccasionally he varied the performance by a p

pearing in the shape o f I sobel herself but b eing ,

called by her name would immediately vanish

away As a result o f all which Adam languished
.
,

in sickness for the space o f three years unable to ,

obtain a cure and at last in great douleur and

, ,
”
payne departed this life Another o f her victims
, .

was Robert P e d d a n who remained sick for the ,

space o f o ne year and six months and then sud ,

d e nl y remembering that he owed I sobel nine shil

ling and fourpence and that before the time of ,

his sickness as he had refused to pay it s he ha d

, ,

delivere d to him certain writings that she kept in

M S and th e reafter with divers blasphemo us
.
, ,

s p eeches told him he should repent it Re me m

, .

2
45
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
bering this he sought o u t I sobel and satisfied her
,

the said sum a t the same time asking his health

“
,

o f her f o r God s sake saying , I f ye have done

’
,

me any wrong o r hurt refrain the same and ,

”
restore to me my health And within twenty four — .

hours he was as well as ever before Yet again .

,

M argaret the wife o f Robert P e d d a n lying in

, ,

bed Isobel or a spirit in her shape entered his

, , ,

house seized M argaret by the shoulder and flung

,

her upon the floor s o that she swooned with ,

fright and was immediately seized with a fearful

,
’

and uncouth sickness I sobel hearing that .

,

—
rumours o f her ill doing were abroad caused ,

Mrs P e dd a n to drink with her whereupon her

.
,

sickness left her f o r eight o r ten days But as .

Mrs P e d d a n learning nothing from experience

.
, ,

declared hi e e z u b i qu e that I sobel wa s a foul witch

‘

s he straightway laid another charm upon her so ,

that the sickness returned I sobel being found .

,

guilty o f all these and other crimes wa s ordered ,

by her j udges to be taken to the Castle Hill

o f E dinburgh and there to be strangled at the
,

stake until s he be dead a n d her body to be burnt

in ashes as convict o f the said crimes ; and all
,

her movable goods to be escheat and inbrought

to our sovereign lord s use as convict o f the said ’

,
”
crimes Which wa s done accordingly
. .

In 16 2 2 M argaret Wallace was executed o n the

charge o f inflicting and causing diseases The .

chief count against her was o f having consulted

2
4 6
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
th e D evil by Jan et Cra n ston a notorious
, w i tch ,

a n d had by him been promised that if they gave ,

themselves bodies a n d souls to hi s allegiance ,

they shoul d be as trim l i e clad as the best s e r

”
vants in E d i nburgh . Janet Barker one of th e ,

’
twai n admitted having the D evi l s mark between
,

her shoul ders and when a pin wa s thrust therein

,

it remained there for an hour before s h e noticed

it.
Needless to say both were ,
wi rri e t
( s tra n gled ) at the stake and burn ed Agnes .

F ynni e was convicted on no fewer than twenty

counts o f diff erent o ff ences chiefly of harmi ng
,

the health of personal enemies Her defence was .

more vigorous than wa s customary but although ,

s h e pleaded that of all the wi tches already burne d

not one had menti oned her name s he was found ,

guilty an d executed .

It must not be supposed that Satan di d not

make occasional e ff orts to bef riend his own Thus .

we may learn from Sinclair s Invisible World ’

Discovered that b e directly interfered e m ,

d e a v o u ri ng to save the wi fe of one G o o d ai l a ,

”
most beautiful an d comely person for whom he ,

had a particular regard much to the j ealousy of

,

—
less well favoured witches H e even visited her
.

prison an d endeavoured to carry her off through

th e air s o that
, s he made several loups upwards ,

increasing gradually till her feet were as high

”
as hi s breast . But Jam es F leming the gaoler , ,

wa s a m a n o f might
.
. H e caught hol d of her feet ,

2 48
 P e rs e c u t i o n s i n S c o t l a nd
so that it was a case o f P ull D evil pull ,

—
Gaoler and the better man which is to say
,

.
—
Mr F leming won and the prisoner was saved ,

for subsequent execution O n another occasion .

Satan actually released a witch from the church

steeple o f Culross where she was confined U n
,
.

fortunately for her before they had gone far upon

,

their aerial flight she happened in the course of

,
!
,

conversation to mention the name of the D eity

,

whereupon he dropped her .

P o l i fi cd

—
of the wiLch s a v a m dee d tha t s he m a rd e d
b eg
as b e lpng ing W
fi

rte
p a rm y
b that 1n __ _

power That did not however gain 16 : her the

.
, ,

symp athy of the defeated Thus the death of .

Charles I according to many could only have

.
, ,

been compassed by the P owers of Darkness them

selves Even the brute creation seemed to have
.

realised this if we may j udge from the reputed

,

fact that some of the lions in the Tower o f London

died from the smell o f a handkerchief dipped in
the martyred monarch s blood O ld Noll ” ’
.

was declared by Royalists anxious to exp lain

,

away their defeats to be Satan s direct agent

,
’

if not the D evil incarnate the Commonwealth ,

representing his Kingdom upon E arth Thus .

al though the Republicans had done their utmost

in the way of witch harrying their efforts were -

but feeble compared to those of the Royalists

24 9
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
upon the glorio u s Restoration O bviously a witch .

must be a friend to crop eared Roundheads -

-
and fearfully did she pay the penalty S o me .

where about 1 2 0 were executed i n the year 16 6 1

’
immediately following the King s entering upon
—
his own again the maj ority owing their arrest to
the exertions o f John Kincaid and John Dick ,

witch fi n d e rs as eminent though less famous than

-

, ,

M atthew Hopkins himself And now it was the .

turn of the vi ctorious Cavaliers to be regarded ,

by Presbyterian and P arliamentarian a s owing ,

their success to the help o f Satan and his agents .

Their Bishops were reported to be cloven footed -

.

and shadowless their military commanders to be

,

—
bullet proof by enchantment and to possess ,

horses that could clamber among inaccessible

rocks like foxes ; the j ustices who put fugitives
on trial for treason were seen in familiar
converse with the Fiend and o ne o f them ,

was known to have offered up his fi rs t born s o n -

to Satan .

A representative example o f the trials held

in the latter part o f the seventeenth century
is that consequent upon the death o f Sir
George Maxwell o f Pollock slain as w
, as , ,

supposed by the malice o f some haggs and one

,
”
wizard .
A full account of it is given in the
Me m o ri al l s o f Robert Law writer edited from
”
, ,

his M S by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe To put

.
.

it briefly Sir George having been ill for some

, ,

2
5 0
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
weather being —
chilly b ycomposedly warming
her hands at the fire that was to consume her .

In 1 7 3 5 English and Scottish statutes against

,

witchcraft were alike repealed much to the horror

,

o f the seceders from the E stablished Kirk who , ,

in their annual confession of National and Per

sonal Sins gave a prominent place to
, The
Penal Statutes against Witches having been t e
pealed b y Parliament contrary to the exp ress Law
o f God.

2
5 2
 C HAP T E R X I I I

OTHER P E R s E c uT I O N s

TH E universality of the belief witchcraft carried 1n

in i ts train international belief in the effi cacy o f

persecution as its cure When o ne nation le d the
.

others were bound to follow a n d accordingly we ,

find that every E uropean country to s a y —

—
nothing o f non Christian peoples lent itself
-

vigorously to this form of legalise d murder But .

so similar are the details of these proceedings

that witchcr a ft might claim to have preceded
Volapuk or E speranto as an international bond
’
.

Everywhere the p e rs e cu ti o n followed the same ,

o r p arallel lines di ffering only in minor national

,

idiosyncrasies S o far as Ca tholic countri es were

.

—
in question this was natural enough se e ing that
all alike drew their inspiration from the same
—
source Innocent V I I I s Bull ; while the P ro
.
’

te s ta nts however much they might obj ect to P apal

,

persecution o f their peculiar tenets heartily a greed ,

with both the purpose and the method of those

directed at the commo n enemy o f all .

In France as elsewhere the seventeenth ce n

, ,

2
53
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
tury s a w the witch fever rise to i ts most e x tra v a
-

gant height Though it i s difficult to compare

.

—
them in degree where all alike rose to the highest
—
l eve l o f bloodthirstiness the French may be said
to have excelled their ancient rivals in thorough
ness Thus the direction of the c ampaign was
.

in the direct control of either Church or State ,

rather than being sub mitted to the ordinary process

o f the law ; they were offi cial rather than local ,

and witchcraft a religious and political rather than

a merely cr1m1na l o ffence Thus in 16 3 4 Urbain
.
, ,

Gra n d i e r who had satirised Richelieu

, wa s ,

accused at the Cardinal s direct instig ation of

,
’

practising the B lack Art upon some nuns at

Loudun and was in d u e course burned at the
,

stake ; and many similar cases are recorded A .

point m which the French practice differed from

the Englis h 1n the matter o f witch finding was that ,

while 1n England the affair was usually entrusted

to the care o f such comparatively humble persons
a s M atthew Hopkins the French Commissi oner
,

wa s a n o fficial o f importance and usually a s in , ,

the case of Pierre de Lancre of education This , .

gentleman sent a s we have seen at the instance

,

o f the King according to his o wn account by the

, ,

Parliament o f Bordeaux to investigate the charges

o f wholesale witchcraft against the inhabitants of

the L a b o u rt district m 16 0 8 ha s himself provided

,

u s with illuminating insight into such an o ffi c i a l s

’

frame of mind This is shown even more clearly

.

2 54
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
Bordeaux to buy wines and have there assured
,

him that they have often seen l arge troops of

d aemons heading across the s e a straight for
L a b o u rt From all o f which the Commissioner
.

concludes that there is scarcely a family in the

district but i s more or less deeply involved in o r
connected with witchcraft and i ts practices .

The same causes which rendered the French

persecutions more severe while they laste d also ,

brought it about that any relaxation o f the

Governmental attitude diminished them to a
greater extent than was the case in England ,

where witchcraft had a more personal aspect The .

armed peasant who musket in hand proved his

, , ,

possession of s upernatural powers by defeating

the King s best troops led by a M arshall of
’

France among the bare peaks of the Cevennes in

, ,

defence o f his detestable heresies might look for ,

nothing but ruthless exter mination a s a wizard ;

but even Governments have human memories ,

and the humble old woman muttering spell s in

obscure corners o f the kingdom was apt to b e ,

overlooked Sometimes too as the years passed

.
, , ,

the Royal Person actually interf ered to shi eld

the accused from less offi cial persecution .

Thus when in 16 7 2 a number o f shepherds

, ,

were arrested in Normandy and the Parlia

ment of Rouen prepared for an investigation
similar to that previously h eld at L a b o u rt the ,

King ordered all the accused to be set at liberty ,

2
5 6
 Ot h e r P e rs e c u ti o n s
with salutary effect in dissipating the increasing
m tc h fever
-

Some ten years later however a

.
, ,

Royal edict revived all previous ordinances

against sorcery and divination M any such cases .

”
were tried before the Chambre Ardente the ,

last being that o f a woman named Voisin c o n ,

d e m n e d for sorcery and poisoning in 1 6 8 0 The .

—
anti sorcery laws were in force until the mid
eighteenth century while a s proof o f the persis
,

tence of the superstition we may again quote the

case o f the S o u b e rv i e s in 18 5 0 already referred
, ,

to .

Germany— the land o f sentiment no less than ,

o f common sense — wa s not di fferent from her

neighbours in her method o f regarding the witch .

The German though he proteste d against the

,

methods o f the In quisition a s applied to himself , ,

could have n o obj e ction to i ts treatment o f the

witch question Cases were sometimes heard in
-

the civil court but were far mor e frequently left

,

to the tender mercies o f the Church At the end .

of the fifteenth century the Inquisitors Sprenger

and Kramer taught the whole duty o f an Inquisi
tor i n the M alleus Ma l e fi c a ru m and found
”
,

many apt pupils throughout the Empire P erse .

c u ti o n s of unprecedente d fi e rc e n e
s s broke o u t in

many districts o he of the most striking examp les

,

being that at Trier in the second half o f the s i x

t e e nth century F o r many years there had been
.

f a 1l u re o f crops and increasing sterility throughout

2
57 s
 The B o o k o f Wi tc h e s
the land attributed by many to the increase of
,

witchcraft and the malice o f the Devil In time .

,

so ferocious became the popular antipathy that

scarcely any who fell under suspicion had the
remotest chance of escape It wa s perhaps the .

most democratic persecution recorded in history ;

neither rank nor wealth wa s o f the least avail in
face o f accusation Canon Linden an eye
.
,

witness relates that two Burgomasters several

, ,

councillors and associate j udges canons o f s u n ,

dry collegiate churches , parish pries ts and rural

deans were among the victims Dr Dietrich . .

F lade j udge o f the secular court and deputy

,

governor of the city strove to check the p e rs e cu

,

tion a nd fe l l a V ictim to it for his pains He was .

accused tortured into confessing various crimes o f

,

sorcery and burned at the stake in 1 5 8 9 A

,
.

Dutch scholar Cornelius Loos by name a reputed

, ,

disciple o f Wi e ru s and tenant o f a professorial

chair at the Trier University also ventured to ,

enter a protest against the prevalent madness .

F ailing in hi s appeal to the authorities he wrote a

book in which his views were set forth at length
, .

It was seized while in the printers hands and its ’

author cast into prison He was however re .

, ,
‘

leased in the spring o f 1 5 93 upon uttering a

.

—
solemn recantation published in book form s ix
years later by Del R i o F ar from curing the
.

barrenness o f the land the persecution only i n

,

— —
creased i t and thus provided its own cure dying
2
5 8
 The B o o k o f W it ch e s
The Bamberg persecuti on wa s succeeded by
one at Wurzburg in the following year F o rtu .

n a te l y the noble Jesuit priest and poet Friedrich ,

v o n Spee was appointed confessor o f those s e n

,

te n c e d to death and was inspired to write in

, ,
”
16 3 1 hi s
,
Cautio Cri mi na li s which published , ,

anonymously did much to stem the tide o f perse

“
,

c u ti o n . Incredible among u s G ermans he ”

,

begins and especially ( I blush to s a y it) among

,

Catholics a re the popular superstitions envy

, , ,

calumnies backbitings insinuations and the like

, ,

which being neither punished by the magistrates

nor refuted by the pulpit first stir up suspicion ,

o f witchcraft All the Divine j udgments which

.

God ha s threatened in Holy Writ are now

ascribed to witches No longer do God o r Nature
.

”
aught but witches everything
, .

It was a long time however before such e n , ,

lightened views could obtain universal credence ,

and it was in Germany that the last European

execution f o r witchcraft took place s o latel y as ,

1 7 93 .

The international epidemic did not spread to

Sweden till the end o f the century when it broke ,

o ut,in more than usually eccentric form in the ,

village o f M ohra It was chiefly remarkable .

for the number o f children concerned F our .

score and five persons fifteen of them children , ,

were con d e mned and most if no t all of them

, , ,

were burnt and executed There were besides .

2 60
 O th e r P e rs e c u t i o n s
six and thirty children that ran the gauntlet and
- -

twenty were whipt o n the hands at the Church

”
door every Sunday f o r three weeks together .

The whole proceedings were indeed almost a , ,

children s drama and n o emanation o f childish

’

imagination but was eagerly swallowe d by a

normall y sober and sensible community M ost .

probably indeed the whole affair had i ts foun

, ,

—
dation in some myth or folk story more or less
popular in all the local nurseries Indeed were we .
,

o f the present generation to return t o the earlier

belief in lycanthropy and the ceaseless malig

n ancy o f ubiquitous were wolves it i s easily with
-

in the bounds of possibility that Red Riding

H oo d a story which quite conceivably owes its
,

origin to the same s u perstition might bring about

,

some si milar panic An imaginative child might

'

easily mix up the grandmother in the story with

the wolf who devours her : might thus come to
the conclusion that his o wn grandmother occa
s i o n a l l y masqueraded in the form o f a wolf

might in time convince himself that he had actu

ally seen her thus tra ns mo gri fi e d and might thus ,

in time bring n o t only his own venerable relative

but those of half the other children in the school
that he attended under unpleasant suspicion and
n o t improbably to a more unpleasant death .

The m ainstay o f the M ohra panic was the

sudden belief propagated by the children
-

—
themselves that some hundreds o f them had
26 1
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
been brought under the power o f the D evil by
local witches The whole community took the
.

alarm the Government was appealed to and a

, ,

Royal Commission embodied to investigate the

—
charges with sanguinary results It was de .

c l a re d that the witches instructed the children to

go to the cross ways and there to invoke the

-

Devil b e ggm g him to carry them to the B l o ck u l a

, ,

the favourite local mountain meeting place fo r -

“
Sabbaths Satan in answering their prayers
.
, ,

appeared in many forms the most original being ,

that o f a man with a red beard wearing a grey ,

coat red and blue stockings a high crowned hat

, ,
-

adorned with ribbons o f many colours and pre ,

p o s t e ro u s garters S o attired he must. have

wanted only a magic pipe to serve as double to
the Pied Piper o f Hamelin the Teutonic legend ,

most nearly recalled by the whole circumstance .

He provided the children with mounts and

anointed them with unguent composed of the
scrapings o f altars and the filings o f church
clocks .
Another account says that the witches ’

accompanied the children riding with them to the ,

B l o ck u l a o n men s backs— the said men upon

’

arriving there being propped against the wall

,
,

fast asleep Now and again they preferred to

.

ride upon posts o r goats transfixed upon spits

,
,

and they flew through walls chimneys and , ,

windows without either inj uring themselves or

breaking the glass and bricks .

2 62
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
the bloodshed at last brought people to
s e c u ti o n s ,
—
their senses perhaps the execu tion of fifteen
children gave their parents pause At all events .
,

the Commission was in due course dissolved and ,

the persecution came to a sudden end though ,

prayers continued to be o ffered weekly in the

church against any other such horrible visitation
as indeed they well might
It is not my intention to give more than a
general idea o f the most outstanding historic
—
persecutions for as I have said they differ only
, ,

in minor degrees in different times and places .

There are however yet o ne other group too strik

, ,

—
ing to be ignored those which raged in the New
England Colonies It m ight have been sup
.

posed by one unconversant with human nature

, ,

that the memory of their o wn sufferings would

have softened the hearts o f the colonists when they
themselves were in power The reverse wa s the
.

case ; their enmity against their former oppressors

was diverted towards this new ch a nnel gaining ,

force in the process There I S i ndeed some excuse

.

to be found f o r their mental attitude Springing .

in the most cases from the humbler class they had ,

many privations and su fferings to endure before

they could gain any respite in their newly settled -

country to think of progressive education Their .

warfare against the Indians might well have given

both sides reason to think that the Devil was
ind e e d a rrayed upon the side o f the ir e n e mie s
2 64
 O th e r P e rs e c u ti o n s
and in time the gloomy superstitions o f the natives
served to buttress the imported beliefs o f E urope .

From the beginning o f the seventeenth century

to the end the settlers had been forced t o devote
most o f their thoughts to means o f subsistence
alone and there had been no opportunity for
,

speculative thought to modify ideas which stand ,

i ng still became more and m 0re stereotyped

,
.

The precarious existence o f the infant State also

gave its leaders every ground for taking the
severest measures towards anything considered to
be dangerous to its welfare As early a s 16 48 .
,

M argaret Jones of Cha rl e s to ne wa s accused o f

practising witchcraft The charge was that s he
.

was found to have such a malignant touch as

many persons men women and children whom
, ,

s h e stroked o r touched in any a ffliction o r d i s

pleasure were taken with deafness or vomiting

, ,

o r other violent pains o r sickness

”
G overnor .

Winthrop in whose Journals the account is

,

found also adds that in prison there wa s seen

,

in her arms a little child which ran from her into

”
another room the o ffi cer following it it vanished
, , .

M argaret J ones was found guilty o f the crime

o f witchcraft and wa s hanged according to th e
,

law Soon after her execution her husband

.

wished to go to Barbadoes in a vessel lying in

B oston H arbour H e wa s refused a passage as
.

being the husband of a witch and thereupon the ,

V es s el began to roll a s though it would turn over .

26
5
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
Ins tead of the phenomenon being attributed to
the refusal to take an innocent man o n board it ,

was reported to the magistrate and an offi cer was ,

sen t to arrest Jones O n his exhibiting the war

.

rant for the arrest the vessel instantly ceased to

,

roll Jones was thrown into prison but there is

.
,

no evidence of hi s ever having been tried '

.

In 16 5 5 Ann H ib b i ns wa s hanged at Boston

,

for witchcraft ; there were W1tch executions in -

—
di fferent places at ever decreasing intervals O ne .

o f the most interesting cases o f witchcraft was

that o f the Goodwin family in 16 8 8 A full .

account of this case is given by Cotton M ather ,

”
Minister of the Gospel in a book which pur
,

ported to contain a faithful account o f many

Wonderful and Surprising Things that have b e
fallen several Bewitched and P ossessed P ersons
”
in New England In his o wn words in 16 8 9
.
, ,

There dwells at this time in the So uth part

o f Boston a sober and pious man whose name is ,

John Goodwin whose Trade is that o f a M ason

, ,

and whose Wife (to whom a good Report gives

a share with him in all the characters o f Virtue)
has made him the Father o f s ix ( no w living)
children O f these children all but the eldest
.
,

who works with his F ather at his calling and the ,

youngest who lives yet upon the Breast o f its

,

mother have laboured under the direful effects

,

(
o f a no less palpable than stupendous WI T CH
”
)
C RAF T After explaining the godly and
.

266
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
ness that their Jaws went out of j oint ; and anon
they woul d clap together with a force like that
—
!

of a Strong Spring Lock The same would .

—
happen to their Shoulder Blades and their ,

E lbows and Hand wrists and several of their -

Joints They w oul d at times l y in a b e nu mme d

.

condition and be drawn together as those that

,

are tyed Neck and Heels and presently be ,

stretched o u t yea drawn Backwards to such a

, ,

degree it was feared the v ery skin o f their Bellies

w ould have cra ck d There were many o ther
’

symptoms which M ather relates with zealous

—
satisfactio n At last the distracted father told
the M agistrates o f his suspicions o f the washer
woman Glover O n being examined s he gave
.
,

such a poor account o f herself that s he wa s com

mi tte d to prison It wa s found that s he could
.

not say the Lord s Prayer even when it Wa s re

’

e a te d to her clause by clause and when s he was

p ,

committed it wa s found that all the children had

”
some present ease The s upposed witch wa s
.

brought to trial but being an Irishwoman there

, , ,

were diffi culties in her understanding the ques

tions which told very badly against her O rders
, .

were given to search her house and several small ,

— —
images dolls perhaps made o f rags and
,

stu ffed with goat s hair were found ’

The o l d
-

,
.

woman then confessed that her way to torment

the obj ects o f her malice was by rubbing o f her
Finger with her spittle and s tro a k i ng o f tho s e ,

26 8
 O t h e r P e rs e c u t i o n s
little Images When o ne of the images wa s
.

brought to her s he took it in her hand and i m

, ,

mediately one of the chil dren fell into fi ts before

the whole assembly Witnesses were easily found .

against her o ne o f whom said that Glover had

,

som etimes come down her chimney After her .

condemnation the worthy Ma ther visited her in

prison but she entertained me with nothing but
,

Irish which language I have no t Learning enough

,

to unders tand without an Interpreter ”

O n her .

way to execution s he declared that her death

would not end the su fferings o f the children a s , ,

there were more in it besides herself ; and so it

proved The children would bark lik e dogs
.

and p urr lik e cats and they would fly like

“
,

geese . Such is Satanic perversity that if o ne

ordered them to R ub a clean table they were .

ab le to do it without any disturbance ; if to rub a

dir ty Table presu m ably th ey would with many
, ,
”
T orments be made uncapable
, M ather relates .

that owing to their B ewitchments holy Books ,

cau s ed them horrible agonies O ne girl told him .

that if she went to read the Bible her eyes would ,

b e strangely twi s ted and blinded and her neck ,

presumab ly broken but also that if anyone else ,

did read the B ible in the Room though it were ,

wholly o u t o f her sight and without the least voice ,

o r noise o f it s he would be cast into very

A P o pi s h B o o /
,

”
horrible agonies e . says M ather , ,

she woul d endure very well and also books

2 69
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
such as the O xford Tests —M ather must be
—
forgiven for being a partisan but my grand
father Cotton s catechism called
’
Milk f o r
’
Babes and the Assemblie s Catechism would
bring hideous convulsions on the child if s he
”
l o o k d into them With a certain unconscious
’
.

j ocularity M ather hopes that he has not spoilt

,

the credit of the books by telling how much the

”
Devil hated them .

At last Cotton Ma the r a n d some devout neigh ‘

bours kept a day of prayer on behalf of the

a fflicted children and gradually the liberty of
,

the children increased daily more and more and ,

”
their vexation abated by degrees though demons ,

and spirits continued to trouble Boston for some

time after .

In 1 6 92 Salem village was the scene o f a fierce

outbreak against witchcraft which lasted some ,

1 6 months Cotton Mather attributes it to the

.

Indian Paw M aws but Hutchinson with his

-

, ,

usual common sense probably hit s upon at least

,

o ne o f the real causes M ather had published a

.

book on witchcraft in 16 8 9 It wa s strongly re .

commended in England by Richard B axter who ,

a short time later published his own Certainty of

the World of Spirits This contained a testi
.

mony to M ather and he in hi s turn caused it to

, , ,

be widely circulated in N e w England The .

witch epidemic at Salem occurred but a short time

after this and Hutchinson attributes 1t to
2 70
 The B o o k o f Wit ch e s
these birds hurt the children and a fflicted per
”
sons.
Sarah Good was sentenced to be hanged .

The Rev Mr Voyes told her as s he stood on

. .

the scaffold Yo u are a witch and you know

,

o u are a witch She replied You are a liar

y
.
.
,

I am no more a witch than yo u are a wizard ,

and if yo u take my life G o d will give y o u blood

to drink ” Sarah O sborn died in prison and
. ,

the bill of the Boston j ailer f o r the expenses o f

both women runs thus
36 s d . .

To chains f o r Sarah Good and

Sarah O sborn 14 0

To k e e p 1ng Sarah O sborn from

the 7 th M arch to 10th M ay ,

when s he died being nine weeks

,

and two days 1 3 5

Tihu b a was kept in prison for 13 months and
wa s then sold to pay her prison fees .

The arrest o f these three women was followed

almost immediately by many more a c cu s a ti o ns u
The arrival o f Governor Phips in M ay armed ,

with a charter which empowered the general

court to erect and constitute j udicatories and
courts o f record o r other courts of which the
,

Governor wa s to appoint the j udges gave a great ,

impetus to the persecution Finding the prison

.

full o f witches he gave orders for their immediate

trial All through June and July the cases
.

crowded o ne upon another a nd such wa s the pitch

,

27 2
 O th e r P e rs e c u ti o n s
of superstitious terror to which the people o f
S alem had arrived that two dogs were put to ,

death for witchcraft The cases o f M artha and .

Giles Carey and o f Rebecca Nurse are s o well

, ,

known that we will rather turn to the trial of

Susann a M artin held in the court of O yer and ,

terminated at Salem on Ju ne 2 9th 16 92 g

,

Cotton M ather relates o f her that Susanna

M artin pleading Not G uilty to the indictment
,

o f witchcraft brought in against her there were ,

produced the evidences o f many persons very

sensibly and grievously bewitched who all com ,

plained o f the prisoner at the bar a s the person

”
they believed the cause o f their miseries .

’
At the examination the cast of Susanna s eye
was supposed to strike the a fflicted people to the
ground whether they s a w it or not .

Ma g i s tra te P a r y wh l h o l !
a t a i s t e s e pe p
. e

Ma rti n I don k ow
t. n
’
.

Ma g B u t . at wh do you h n k l h m !
t i ai s t e

Ma rti n I don d r
t . p nd my judgm n t u p on i
e s i e to s e
’
e t .

Ma g . t D on you h n k h y b w ch d !
t i
’
t e a re e it e

Ma rti n N o I
d o no t t i
. h nk h y
,
t e a re .

Ma g e . usT ll your h ough bou h m h n

t ts a t t e t e .

Ma rti n N o my h ough
. t , my own wh n th y
t s a re e e a re

in ; b ut
'

Wh n h y e t th y tno h r Th i r
e a re ou e a re a t e
’
s . e

m a s te r
Ma g Th i r M r Wh o do you h in k i h i
. e a s te
!
t s t e r

M as ! te r
M i I f h y b d li ng i h Bl ck A you m y
a rt n . t e e ea n t e a rt , a

k now w ll I as e as .

M g . W ll W h
a h v you don ow rd hi !
e . at a e e t a s t s

273 T
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
o h i ng
Ma rti n N ll . t at a .

Ma g Why i i you or your p p r n c

.
,
t s a ea a e .

I c nno h lp i
M a rt i n . a t e t .

Ma g I s i t y.M t ! H w c om your pp r
no t our as er o es a ea

anc h ur h !
e to t t es e

M ti H ow do I know ! H h t pp r d i h
ar n . e t a a ea e n t e

sh p f S mu l glori fi d S in m y pp r i y
a e o a e ,
a e a t, a a ea n an

on h p
e s
’
s a e .

John Allen of Salisbury testified that b e , ,

having refused because o f the weakness o f hi s

’
oxen to cart some staves at Susanna M artin s
request s he was angry and said
,
It had been ,

a s good that he had f o r hi s oxen should never ,

”
do him much more service The witness a n .

s we re d her Dost thou threaten me thou old

, ,

witch I ll throw thee into the brook ! to escape

! ’

which she flew over the bridge and escaped From .

that time various misfortunes happened to his

oxen and they ended by swimming out into the
sea .O f fourteen good oxen only o ne was sav e d ,

the rest were cast up drowned in different pl aces .

John Atkinson also testified to the bewitching

of cattle by M artin and Bernard P e a che said , ,

that Being in Bed o n a Lord s Day night he ,

’

heard a Scrubbing at the Window Whereat he then ,

s a w Susanna Martin come in and j umped down

upon the floor She took hold o f witness s feet .

’

and drew hi s body up into a heap F o r two hours .

he could neither speak nor stir but at length he ,

caught her hand and bit three of her fingers to

the bone Whereupon s he went down the stairs
.

2 74
 The B o o k o f Wi t c he s
2
somewhat bigger than the first but as Black
as a Cole Its motions wer e quicker than
.

those of his ax ; it flew at his Belly and

away ; then at his Throat / and over his
Shoulder o ne way and then over his Shoul
der another H i s heart now began to fail
.

him and he thought the Dog would have tore his

Throat out But he recovered himself and called
.

upon God in hi s Distress ; and naming the Name

o f Jesus Christ it vanished away at once
, The .

Deponent spoke not o ne word o f these accidents

for fear o f affrighting hi s wife But the next .

mo rnrng E dmund E liot going into M artin s house

’

this woman asked him where K e mb a l wa s ! He

’
R e p l ye d At home abed for aught he knew She
‘
.
,
’
return ed They s a y he wa s frighted last night
,
.

E liot asked With what !

, She answered ,

With Puppies E liot asked when s he heard o f

.
’

it for he had heard nothing of it ; s he rej oined

, ,

About the Town altho K e mb a l had men ’

”
ti o n e d the M atter to no creature Living .

Susanna could do nothing against such evidence

a s this
. She was found Guilty and executed
on July 19th .

In sixteen months nineteen persons were

hanged o ne ( Giles Corry) was pressed to death
,

and eight more were condemned More than fifty .

confessed themselves to be witches a hundred ,

and fifty were in prison and two hundred others

were accused But people were growing weary
.
,

276
 O the r P e rs e c u t i o n s
and it was thought time to cease the persecutions .

By about April 1693 all those imprisoned were

, ,

set at liberty and others who had fle d the country

,

were allowed to return home It is a striking .

comme nt that M r P arri s in whose house the s u p

.
,

posed witchcrafts had begun was accused by his

,

congregation that he hath been the beginner and

procurer o f the sor est a fflictio ns not to this ,

village only but to this whole country that did

,

ever befall them and he was dismissed

, .

2
77
 C HAP T E R XIV

P HI L T R E S CHAR M S AND P O TI O N S
,

W ERE it not th a t dogs and horses have frequently

be en observed to e x p re s s the 1r fear o f ghosts an ,

apt definition f o r man would be the s u p e rs ti

”
tious animal Certainly no human feeling is
.

more universal o r more enduring I f as I have .

,

endeavoured to prove the first mother wa s the

,

first witch s he must have brought superstition with

,

her as a l e ga cy from the unknown world Not

. .

only i s it universal in mankind it is also essential ,

to mankind if only that it is the one barrier b e

,

tween them and the tyranny of fact As many .

headed as a Hydra it is to be fou nd in o ne form

,

o r other in the composition o f every human being

, ,

from the sage to the savage Dr Johnson s . .

’

idiosyncrasy fo r touching every post he passed

upon his walks abroad Napoleon s belief in his
,
’

’
star the burglar s faith in his lump o f coal a s his
,

surest safeguard against discovery and the bunch ,

of bells which every Italian waggoner hangs about

hi s team to scare away errant demons are all alike
.

—
variations upon the one theme humanity s t e ’

2
7 8
 The B o o k o f Wit ch e s
a mute protest is but acknowledging the faith he
seeks to outrage .

All these modern forms of civilised s u p e rs ti

tion are o f course surviv a ls from a former age
, ,
.

Some o f them as for instance that of spilling

, , ,

salt or sitting thirtee n at table c a n be traced back ,

to religious or other sources O thers again .

, ,

have endured from the earliest days of the human

race M any directly emanate from the art of
.

witchcraft A full fle dge d witch must have her

.
-

—
regular recipes and prescriptions the first witch
as m uch as the last With the genius that made .

her a witch s he must seize and formulate the

,

shadowy conceptions that f o rm so large a share .

of her c li e n tel e s beliefs ; with her power of

’

organisation s he must elaborate and adapt them

,

to individual needs ; in answer to the primitive

—
appeal she must return the full fle dge d spell or
,

charm As we have seen her magical powers

.
,

were exercised in various directions ; her metho ds

were consequently as variant In her c apacity a s .

healer and conversely as disease infli cte r her

,
-

various spells must cover all the ills that flesh

is heir to She must be able to cure the disease
.

s h e inflicts ; more those who combat her must

,

have their own ammunition of the like kind To .

the Greek Abracadabra the Church must oppose

the sign of the Cross or the mention of the
Trinity Thus 1n t1me arose an eno rmous store
.

o f s u ch earl y methods of faith cure— a s to re

2 80
 Ph i lt res Ch a rm s
,
an d P o ti o n s
which has since accumulated to such v ast pro
portions as make it hopeless to do more than
enumerate a fe w gleane d from various ages and
countries as examples of the rest
“
.

A great n umber o f these charms are given by

Wi e ru s who 15 severely reprobated by Bodin for
,

propagating such iniquities T o o thache being a .

common and distracting complaint there were "

,

V arious recipes f o r 1ts cure To re p eat the fol .

lowing was found to be very efficacious :

G lb
a es ,
G lba a t, G a ld e s , Ga l d a t .

O r it was equally goo d to write the following on

a piece of paper and then to hang it round your
,

neck
S ri gi l
t es ,
fa l c e s q u e , d nt
e a ta e .

D n i um
e t , do lo re m p e rs a n a te .

Another and more religious means was to quote

J ohn ch ix concerning the curse of the blind
, . .
,

man and Exodus ch xii where it is written that

, ,
. .
,

no bone of the P assover shall be broken ; and

then to touch your teeth during M ass by which ,

time it was more than probab le that your pains

should cease Ague another common complaint
.
, ,

had several remedies Y ou might either write .

Abracadabra triangularly and hang it round your

neck o r visit at dead of night the neares t cross
,

road five different times and there bury a new ,

l a i d e gg (this has never been known to fail) or

-

281
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
emulate Ashmole the astrologer who wr o te in , ,

16 6 1
'

I oo k rly i h morn i ng good do of li xi r d

t ea n t e a se e an

h ung h r pid r bou my n ck h y drov my gu

t ee s e s a t e ; t e e a e

a wy a .

—
Against mad dog bite there were more co m

pl i cated methods than mere Pasteurisation and ,

what is more you had a large choice A cure wa s

,
.

effected by writing on a piece o f bread the

words :
I ri o ni K h i ri o ri e ffe ra
'

K ud r f r
e e e .

then swallowing it ; or writing on a piece o f paper

o r bread the words

Oh ng of Glory J u
p c i h Ch ris t c om
n m of h F h + n m of h S +
,
Ki ,
es s ,
e in ea e n t e

a e m i h t e at er ax n t e a e t e on

m i
ax h n m of h H oly Gh o
n t e p G p
a r M l e t e s t, ra x ,
as a ,
e

chior B l h r p
,
m aGod i m x
t asa ra x ax a

Some people were known to have been cured

by a man who wrote
H a x , pa x , ma x , Du e s a d im a x

on an apple which he gave the patient to eat ;

,

b u t this says Wi e ru s was v ery impious

, , .

According to Cato bones out o f j oint could be ,

put back into place by the charm :

Dn a a ta , d a ri e s , d a rd a ri e s , a s t a t a ri e s .

Divers were but little distinguished from one

another and we find a number o f cures for fevers
,

282
 The Bo o k o f Wi t c he s
A cure for epilepsy wa s contained in the
“

following words
G pr fr
as a e e t h u M lchi or B l h r urum
m y rrh a m , t s e ,
a t asa a

H c ri
ae t a cui c um p b i nomi n r gum
se o rt a t a e

S o l u it u r a morbo Ch r i i p i c duc ost e ta te a .

Another remedy wa s to take the hand of the

patient and say in his ear
I c onjur you by h S un h Mo n h Go p l of h
e t e ,
t e o ,
t e s e t e

D y g i v n of G od
a S i n H ub r Gi ll C orn i ll d
e to a t e t, es ,
e e an

J i n h you g u p wi hou f lli ng g i n i h n m

,

e t at et t t a a a ,
n t e a e
,

of h F h r h S
t e at d h H oly Gh o
e ,
Am n
t e ca n an t e st . e .

F or the cure of headache P liny recommends a

plant growing on the head of a statue that has
never touched the ground) gathered in the lappet ,

o f any o ne of the garments and attached to the ,

neck with a red string .

Against the King s Evil v e rv a i ne plucked ’

, ,

with the root wrapped in a leaf and warmed under

, ,

cinders wa s considered efficacious This might

,
.

at first sight seem to differ little in character from

a medical prescription whether useless or no but , ,

to be effi cacious certain conditions must be c o m

plied with It must be applied that is to say
.
, ,

by a young and fasting virgin and the patient ,

must receive it fasting While touching his hand .

the virgin must say Apollo let not the plague , ,

”
increase which a virgin has allayed And there .

after she must spit t hree times .

P liny also provides us with a recipe against

2 84
 Ph i l t re s Ch a rm s ,
an d P o t i o ns
accidents in general originally taken from the ,

Druids of G aul : Carry about your person the

plant selago gathere d without the u s e of iron
,
’

and with the right hand passed through the left

sleeve of the tunic a s though committing a theft ,
.

When you gather it yo ur c l o thi ng m u s t be white ,

your feet bare and clean while a sacrifice of bread ,

”
and wine must be o ffere d previously .

There were also many specific cures for dif

f e re nt accidents An incantation for thorn pricks
.
-

i s found in the recorde d case o f one Mr Smer .

don When o u r S aviour Christ was o n earth

H e pricked His forefinger on the right hand with
a black thorn or whatever it may be and the, ,

B loo d sprang up to H eaven n o r mo a th nor rust , , ,

nor canker did corrupt and if M r Smerdon wil l , .

put hi s trust in God hi s Will d o the same In the

-

name o f the F ather a nd o f the Son and of the

Holy Ghost This i s to be repeate d three times
.
,

and at the end A men and the Lord s Prayer are ’

to be said .

A once popular prayer for a scalt is the

-

following
Th e i r w a s ng l c m from th E t
t wo a e s a e e as . O ne c rri d
a e

F i r th o th r c rr i d Fro t O t F i r I n Fro
_

e, e e a e s . u e . st .

F th r S on d H oly Gh o t
a e , an s .

A more modern version runs thus :

Th r w r h r Ang l c m from E
e e e e t ee e s a e a s t a nd W es t ,

O brough F i r d no h r brough Fr
ne t e an a t e t o s t,

28
5
 The B o o k f
Wi t ch e s
o

And th Th i rd i t w e as the H oly Gh o s t .

O t Fi r
u I n Fr e . o s t, &c .
,
&c .

A simple way of extracting an arrow is

r m W h il k n ling Pa te r Av e
+ h word A J w h old r v lly
S a y th ee ti es ,
e ee ,
the a nd ,

+ J u Ch r I pr y
a nd th e n a dd t es e s e is s ie e i
n cl n d ruck J u
+h +h +h + by
i i e st es s Ch ri s t Lo rd es s i st a

+ nm
Th e e by t i s i ro n b y t i s l a nc e b y t i s b lo o d a nd

t ish w r dr w h
a te ,
a o ut t i s i ro n i n t he a e, &c .
,
810 .

There are several charms useful fo r stanch

ing blood O ne runs : .

J u h
es s B th l h m born d b p t i d w i
t at wa s i n e e e an a ze as n

t he fl m J d
u ent i n t t h w orr t h y m
a ne , a s s
y g e e a te a s co n , so

s in
t t h blood of t h y
te e M N t hy t t h row th s an . s e rv a u n e

v r tu of Thy H oly N m —J
e d of Th y y w t a e es u m
an co s n s e e

S i n t Jon And y thy ch rm fy tym , wi h fy

a . se s a e ve es t ve

P t rno t r i h w
a e s hi p of th fy
e s wn t dy e o rs c e ve o un s .

Another runs
I n nomi n e P a tris et F i l ii et Spi ri u S n c i c r
t s a t ,
a a t, Ca ra ,

s a ri t e , c o n fi rm a c o ns a n a i m a b o l i te .

And another
+ + +Blood c All
+ +
S ep a s ep a
g a s epa g o g a eas e to flo w . is
con umm d N m of
+ + of H oly +
s a te i n th e a e th e F a th e r p o d e n d i a nd

of
+
th e son p a n d e ra a nd th e S p i ri t n d i
p a o r c a

p c w h you Am n
ea e be it . e

The following simple charm may be found

efli ca ci o u s against the assaults o f stinging
nettles :
N ttle e in, D o ck o ut,

D o ck i n, N l e tt e o ut,

N l ie tt e n, D o ck o u t,

D o ck rub ,
N ttl ou ti
e e

2 86
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
’
in the neighbourhood of an adulterer s house or , ,

by a curious contrast that of an upright magis

,

trate and to strike with it the infected cabbages

,
.

Provided you walk straight through and across

the cabbage bed the caterpillars will faint and
-

fall away but if you turn round you lose all

,

chance o f getting rid o f them .

A good way of exterminating serpents toads , ,

lizards and other vermin was to obtain a supply

,
”
of the herb calle d serpentine When making .

+ +
use o f it you must draw three rings o n the earth ,

—
+
an d s a
y I n nomine Patris an et F ilii elion
”
e t Spiritus sancti t e d i o n P a te r Noster Then .

s a y three times Super a s p 1de m e t basilicum

”
a mb u l a b is e t c o nc u l ca b i s l e o ne m et d ra co ne m .

The numerous aids towards discovering

thieves seem to indicate that the difficulty
of distinguishing between meum and tuum
is of no modern growth M any religious for
.

mul ae were o f course pressed into the detective

, ,

service perhap s the most famous being the curse

,

o f Saint Adalbert Such value wa s placed upon

.

it that the Church only permitted its employment

with the licence o f the Bishop under pain of ex
communication It i s of interminable length
.
,

and commences a s follows In the a u

o r —
th i ty o f all powerful God F ather Son and , , ,

H oly Ghost and o f the Holy Virgin M ary ,

mother of our Lord Jesus Christ and of the holy

angels and archangels and of Saint Michael and
,

2 88
 Ph i l t re s Ch a rm s ,
an d P o ti o n s
of John the B aptist in the name of the apostle ,

Saint P eter and o f the other a postles o f Saint ,

Sylvester S aint Adalbert and o f all Confessors

, , ,

of Saint Ald e gonde o f holy virgins of all the , ,

saints which a re i n H eaven an d o n the earth to

whom power is given to bind and unbind we ex ,

communicate damn curse a n d anathematise and , ,

-

forbid the entrance into H oly M other Church

’
o f these thieves sacrilegists ravishers their com , , ,

panions coadj utors and coadj utrices who have

, ,
“

committe d this theft o r who have taken any part ,

”
in it & c & c , .
,
.

Another metho d combines an invocation with

the u s e o f a crystal :

T u rn ow rd h E m k c ro bov h c ry l
t a s t e as t, a e a ss a e t e s ta
wi h ol iv il d wri h n m of S i n H l n b low
t e o ,
an te t e a e a t e e e

th i c ro Th n young boy f l gi im b i r h mu
s ss . e a o e t a te t s t
ta k h c ry l hi r igh h nd whi l you“ kn l down
e t e s ta ln s t a ,
e ee

b h i nd h i m d y h r e i m d vou ly I p r y you
e an sa t e t es e t ,
a ,

h oly L dy H l n mo h r of K i ng C on n i n wh o h v
. a e e ,
t e s ta t e, a e

found h c ro of our L ord J u C h r i h i h

t e ss es s s t, t at n t e

n m d f vour of h i v ry h oly d vo i on d i nv n i on
a e an a t s e e t an e t
of h c ro i h n m of hi v ry h oly c ro i f vour
t e ss ; n t e a e t s e ss ; n a

o f h i joy h
t you x p r i n c d w h n you found hi v ry
s t at e e e e e t s e

h oly c ro i c on i d r ion of h gr lov y bor

s s ; n s e at t e ea t e ou e

your K i ng C on
s o n, n i n i h or i h n m of ll s ta t e ; n s t, n t e a e a

th g od h i ng you njoy for v r m y i p l

e o t you s e e e ,
a t ea s e to
s h ow i hi c ry l wh I k d m longing kn w
n t s s ta at as an a to o .

Th n h boy will
e t h e ng l i h c ry l d you s ee t e a e n t e s ta ,
an

w i ll k w h you w n
as d h ng l wi ll r p ly Th i
at a t, an t e a e e . s

sh ould b don unri e d wh n h h e at s se an e t e s un as

ri nse .

89
 The B o o k o f Wit ch e s
A simpler and more homely means runs
thus
Go runn ing r iv r d t k
to a m ny l ittl p bbl e , an a e as a e e es

as hr t u p c d p op l C rry th m y ur h ou
e e a re s s e te e e . a e to o se

an d m k h m d h ; bury th m und r h th r h old

a e t e re -
o t e e t e es

ov r whi ch you mos t c ommon ly p i n o th h ou

e d ass t e se, an

l v th m th r th r d y Th n d ig th m u p wh n th
ea e e e e ee a s . e e e e

s un i up h n p t bowl of w t r i th m iddl f th
s ,
t e u a a e n e e o e

ci rcl i wh ich h r i c r h ving writt n up on i t

e n t e e s a o ss ,
a e

C h r i tu i it sC h ri t u r gn t C h r i t u i m p
s v c ,
s s e a ,
s s e ra t .

Th bowl h v i ng b n
e t d i gn d w i h th c ro
a with ee se an s e t e ss ,

a c onjur i on by th p i on of Ch ri t by hi d t h d
at e ass s ,
s ea an

r urr c i on & th row th p bbl

es e t f r h ot h r i
,
c .
, e e e s o ne a te t e e n

th e w t r e ch a ei th n m of h u p ct
,
a d o ne n e a e t e s s e s
,
an

w h n you com t th p b b l of th h i f i t w i ll m k
e e o e e e
"
e t e ,
a e

th e w t r boi l a e .

Wi e ru s sagely adds the comment that it is not

for the D evil to make the water boil i n
d ifli c u l t
”
order to convict the innocent .

A means of getting a little private revenge upon

the thief or the witch even if the harm they hav e ,

done you has ceased is as follows : ,

on S t urd y morn ing b for unri

Cu t a br n ch of a e e s s e, a a

t—
,

nu tr y r old yi ng I
ee a you br n ch of thi
ea , sa , cu t ,
a s

summ r i h n m of hi m wh om I m n t tri k or
e ,
n t e a e ea o s e

mu il t H ving d n h t p t c lo h on th bl
”

+ +
t a e . a o e t a ,
u a t e ta e

sa y g I n
in nom i n t
P i F i l i i p i r i u n c ti e a tr s et et S t s sa .
”

S y th i th r
a im wi h th followi ng E i n c u t d h
s ee t es t e , t e ro c ,

my hrro c th b t u b roch
, e s e n a ro m t , e a ass a a ro .
”

Th n y H ol y Tri n i y p uni h h i m wh o h h rm d m
w y h h rm b y your gr t j ti +
e sa t s as a e . e,

d t k
+m i l g h n trik th cloth
an a e a a t e a ea us ce es o n

eli on e ar s a es a e t e s e e .

2 90
 The B o o k o f Wi t che s
s e cra t e d wafer and if it be given them to eat
,
.

they will always be friends .

The use o f images to work death and d e s tru c

tion upon your enemies has been the subj ect of
tales from time immemorial Some kinds of .

images are of course mu ch more deadly than

, ,

others according to their differences o f constru e

,

tion ; and whereas some may only subj ect the

victim to great discomfort others have far more ,

awful results In a ny case a victim will do well ,

to take every means o f d i s c o v e rm g his enemy

should he su ffer such pains f o r which he can in
no wise account Happier still is he who gives .

no provocation for the use o f this deadly and

secret means of vengeance .

Images were sometimes made of brass o r the

dust o f a d ead man as well a s o f wa x , The
limbs were often interchanged and inverted a ,

hand being in place o f a foot an d v i c e v e rs a ,

‘
.

The head was also turned backwards The worst .

kind was given the form o f a man with a certain

name — W i e ru s i —
hes tates to give i t written above
the head and the magic words A lif l a f e il , , ,

Z a z a hi t mel m e l ta t l e u a ta m l e u ta re then it should ,

be buried in a sepulchre .

Reginald Scot gives the following variation

Ma k e an i mg a e i n hi s n m wh om you would h ur or
a e t
ki ll of w i g i
, ne v r ne w ; und r t h
ax i gh rm p ok
e e r t a e e
wh r of w l l w
e e a s a o es h r d h li v r und r h l f ;
a t, an t e e e t e e t
th n h ng bou h
e a a t t e n ck h r of
e t e e w th r d i w a ne ea n a ne

2 92
 Ph i l tre s Cha rm s a n d P o ti o n s ,

n dl p ri ck d i n to th m mb r wh i ch you would h v
ee e, e e e e a e

h urt wi th th h ll of c rt i n wo rd ( whi ch for th

,
e re e a rs a e e a s e

avoi d i ng of u p r titi on mi tt d) s e s a re o e .

This was probab ly taken straight from Wie ru s ’

book with which it c o rresponds almost exactly

, ,

and the f ollowing instructions a re with some ,

changes in the magic words identical with those ,

given above This does not however by any .

, ,

means exhaust Wi e ru s list as will be seen by the ’

,

following
T k w im g
a of w
e td h o o h r of h a es ,
o ne ax an t e t e t e

du of d d m
st P i ron w h i ch c ould c u
a ea h an . ut an , a se t e

d h of m i n o h h nd of
ea t a of h figur
a n, t t e a o ne t e es ,
so

th i m y p i rc h h d of h i m g wh ich r p r n t
at t a e e t e ea t e a e e es e s

th p r on w h o
e d h you d i r
e s se ea t es e .

Charms for taciturnity under torture o r against ,

feeling the pangs o f torture itself were obviously ,

very freely bestowed by Satan upon his servants .

As an enlightened and advanced thinker Wi e ru s

remarks that the merit o f the spells does not lie
in the words which compose the m but is merely ,

a piece o f D evil s work O ne of these spells ’

.

agains t the torture runs thus

T o th r ee un q u l br nch th r bod i
e a a es , ee es a re h ung ,

D is m a s , G t es t D ivi n
as po t t which
,
e a es as , is in the
m i ddl e . Di m s i c ond mn d
as d G tsh e e ,
an es as as fl own to
H vn ea e .

’
S cot s version o f this is
Th r bod i on bough doo h ng
ee es a a ,
 Di m s es a nd G e s ta s ,
i n t he mid t s

Th e p ow r ofe t he D iv i ni t i e .

D is m a s i s d mn d b t G
a e ,
u e s ta s l i ft d u p
e

Abov e th e s t rr on hi
a es e .

P aul Gri l l a n d a j u r1s co ns u 1t tells a s tory of

, ,

+ +
a thief who had concealed in his hair a little paper

+ +
on which he had written J esus a u te m tra n ,

s i e ns r medium i l l o ru m i b at os no n c o m
p e

m inu i tis e x He was marked wi th t he

cross and was thus immune from torture
,
.

Much of this is Of course mere gib he ri s h in , , ,

which the original i dea may or may not be trace

able The divorce o f the sense from the w ords gra
.

dually led people to believe that the words them

selves contained peculiar merit and that absurd ,

reiteration of meaningless sounds suffi ced to give

’
them their heart s desire This attitude accounts . .

o f cour se for the many s p ells which recall the

,

patter song in character Their main feature .

consists in the repetition or rhyming of cert a in

syllables as in the cure of toothache
, G albas ,

galbat g a l d e s ga l d a t
, o r against
, mad dog -

”
bite , I ri o ni K hiri o ri e ffe ra Kuder fere This .

characteristic doubtless made them easy to re

member while the confusion o f meaning no doubt
,

added to their value in the eyes o f the faithful .

Witches too were probably a s sus c eptible to the

, ,

fascination o f j ingle and alliteration a s is the

poet of to day -

It will have been noticed that religion and

magic are curiously mingled in many of the spells
2 94
 The B o o k f Wi t ch e s
”

Certain stones and vegetables were part o f the

stock i n trade o f t he witch o r wiz ard The power
- -
.

of man dragore as a philtre was u nequalled ,

cinquefoil wa s used for purification ; while olive

branches are s o pure that if p l anted by a rake they '

will be barren o r die Jasper is powerful ag ainst

.

apparitions and coral worn by infants o r mounted

, ,

in bracelets protects against charms P erfume

,
.

made o f peewits feather s drives away phantoms ;

’

antirrhinum worn in a bracelet ensures against

poison ; a lemon stuck full o f gaily coloured pins -

amongst which are no black ones brings good ,

luck ; while the horseshoe has long been used for

the same purpose Against chafing O f the thigh
.

while riding P liny recommends that a sprig of

poplar should be carried in the hand .

O n the whole the means o f enchantment were

,

very easily procured and they were generally ,

most effi cacious when most nasty While some .

o f them , such as hellebore which secured bene ,

fi ci a l rest had real medicinal val ue others were

, ,

a d o te d f o r some trivial reason o f growth

’

p form , ,

o r time o f year As much stress was laid o n the

.

"

words that accompanied them as o n a doctor s ’

prescription and the strength o f the appeal to the

,

imagination wa s only equalled by the openness

o f the imagination to that appeal .

O ne other point i s to be remembered ere we

close the chapte r : that these charms and philtres
very often served their purpose Though there .

2 96
 Phi l tre s Cha rm s
,
an d P o ti o ns
may have been little value f o r thief taking in the
monotonous repetition of a meaningless j ingle it ,

by no means follows that it woul d be equally

useless in the cure of s a y toothache O nly get
, ,
.

your patient to believe o r believe yourself that

, ,

—
the pain is o n the point o f vanishing and but
are not F aith H ealers and Christian Scientists a
power in the land to day S o again if a young
-
.
, ,

Woman should get to hear that a young man wa s

s o impressed by her charms as to see k diabolical

assistance in gaining her smiles he woul d in all ,

probability assume a position in her thoughts more

—
prominent than that held by his rivals f with a
p ossible sequel in matrimony Let us laugh at
.

the folly of o u r forefathers by all means no

‘

—
—
doub t they set u s the example but it d oes not
therefore fo llow that o u r means to an end are
always the more e ffi cacious through being
presumably more sensible .

2
97
 CH A P TE R XV

TH E W IT C H IN F I C TI ON
To those who deny the existence of the witch i n
fact any mention of the witch in fiction as a
,

separate entity may seem superfluous Never .

th el e s s even the enlightened must admit a dis

tinction between the witch as she appeared to
“
B odin or Pierre de Lancre and the very re p u l
sive looking Ol d witch whose unde rlip hung
-

’
down to her chin of Hans Andersen s Tinder
”
box . Indeed this latter ca n scarcely be co n
,

s i d e re d a witch at all in the true sense o f the

word seeing that despite her underlip s he seems

,

to have had no occult powers of her own except , ,

i ndeed that her checked apron had the faculty of

,

quieting savage dogs F or the rest though s he

.
, ,

seems to have been entirely dependent upon the

o l d tinder box left by her randmother under
g
-

ground and o f which s he sent the soldier in

,

search The only detail indeed wherein s he

.
, ,

resembled the more orthodox witch of history was

that when the soldier cut o ff her head without any
provocation whatever he not only incurred no
,

blame but even thereby paved his way to marry

,

2 98
 The B o o k o f Wi tch e s
and beautiful o r o l d and repulsive whether b a g
, ,

o r h e roine goddess o r gude wife s he remains

,
-

constant to her type and h a s done s o from the

,

beginning o f things The witch o f fiction o n

.
,

the other hand like the problematic heroine doth

, ,

as her creator wishes in defiance o f all laws o f

possibility As any inquisitor could tell you in
.
,

a court o f j ustice once a w1tch always a witch ;

,

in the pages o f Grimm a witch i s quite as likely

to be a fairy godmother o r a benevolent o l d lady ,

with a magic golden apple o r f or that matter , , ,

a benevolent o l d lady pure and simple Some .

times it i s true a s with characters in a realistic

, ,

novel the witch o f fiction may pass f o r an impres

,

s i o ni s ti c study o f the real witch I hu s in the .

famous story o f H ansel and Gretel s he i s so far

realistic as to desire the capture o f small children .

But instead o f acting thus in the service and for

,

the honour o f her master the D evil s he is move d ,

by no nobler impulse than the desire to eat them ,

and thus shows herself not a witch at all f o r —

—
your true witch is always altruistic nothing better ,

indeed than a greedy old cannibal Her methods

, .
,

again however creditable to their inventor are

, ,

by no means such as would have commended

themselves to the economical tastes o f her Satanic
employer The real witch was never yet provided
.

with the capital necessary to build herself houses

of sugar and spice and all that s nice either ’

a s residence o r decoy She lived notoriously in

,

3 0 0
 The W i t ch i n Fi c ti o n
hovels — unl ess indeed s he had private means
, ,

and the profits o f her infernal bargain even when ,

s he received them were never sufficient to provide

,

her with more than the barest living Grimm s .

’

cannibal with her roof o f chocolate and walls of

,

marzipan might have been a sorceress ; s he

,
-

certainly wa s no witch
M ore realistic and thus all the more misleading
, ,

are the weird sisters in M acbeth Did we take .

them a s representative types o f witch d o m we ,

shoul d be a s much deceive d a s were he who ,

reading nothing but newspapers believed that ,

E nglish life wa s made up o f murders divorces , ,

political speeches and j udicial witticisms They .

give us indeed a n excellent impressionist idea

’

, ,

o f the witch as s he appeare d in the public eye ,

some valuable recipes f o r potions apt illustra ,

tions o f divinatory methods and s o forth but no ,

suggestion whatever o f that quiet home life

wherein the witch like the British public passe d
, ,

most o f her existence N o doubt s he occasionally

.

took part in social reunions in caverns o r o n ,

blasted heaths with H ecate a s the guest o f the

,

evening ; no doubt s he there interchange d ideas

as to the surest means o f drowning sailors o r
ruining kingdoms , But these were only para
graphs in the story of her life very much as being ,

tried for murder o r presente d at Court are o u t

standing 1n c 1d e n —
ts in the f ife story of the average
B riton F o r the most part s he spent her time in
.
,

3 0 1
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
the quiet seclusion of her hovel adding to her ,

sto ck o f every day p oisons or giving interviews

-

to the local peasantry O f this Shakespeare tells

.

us nothing ; to j udge from the witches in M acbeth

they might have spent the whole Of their time
waiting about o n Scottish moorlands on the chance
of making history .

Much nearer to the truth are the lives of M other

D e md yk e M other Cha tto x and the rest o f the
, ,

Lancashire Witches as portrayed f o r u s by

”
,

Harrison Ainsworth It is true that for p urposes

.

o f dramatic e ffect the author exaggerates their

characteristics ; but such is the privilege of the
—
historical novelist Nobody supposes o r is ex
.

t d to suppose — that the Queen E li z abeth of

p e c e

The F a erie Queene or the Richelieu of Les

( I rois Mousquetaires
‘

corresponds in every
respect to the historical personages for whom they
stand In real life Queen E li z abeth was probably
.

insufferable vain ugly with the bad temper that

, , ,

comes from biliousness founded o n a re gi rrze of ’

beer and beefsteak for breakfast ; Richelieu an

imposing figure only because he wa s successful .

But nobody would think of blaming Spenser o r

Dumas for having built up an heroic edifice up o n
a mediocre foundation ; had they told us no more
than the bare truth they would certainly have
,

been accused o f falsifying history and with more , ,

j ustice of lack of literary artistry The mission

, .

of the historical novelist as generally unde r ,

3 0 2
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
had we no further k no wl e g e of witchd o m we ,

should be sadly led astray though naturally a nd ,

inevitably F or Goethe though he gives us some

.
,

vivid sketches o f witch life uses them only inci -

dentally H i s witches have no greater purpose

.

than to form a background against which

the figures o f M ephistopheles and F aust may b e !

—
the better shown u p nay more his witches are , ,

but part o f that background phantasmagorically ,

confused with M enelaus Paris O beron Ariel , , , ,

Tit ania and a hundred other figures of mythology

,

o r fairy lore
-
It is true that by moments he gives
.

u s studies o f the witch a s a personal entity as , ,

f o r instance when F aust and hi s mentor visit the

,

Witch Kitchen there to interview not only a very

,

witch but with her a miscellaneous collection o f

,

he r familiars cats kittens and the like

, , It may ,
.

be noted as a subtle touch o f realism that the

witch does not at first recognise her master owing
to his temporary lack o f a cloven hoof and
attendant ravens cursing him roundly before s he
,

realises the mistake But in this the p oet over .

does hi s realism seeing that in real life the witch

,

had s o many opportunities o f meeting Satan in

unexpected forms as a tree trunk a brazen bull
,
-

, ,

o r a greyhound that any minor modification o f

,

his anatomy would certainly not have caused any

such mys tifi c a ti o n Even in the original then
.
, ,

we have to make great allowances for poetical

o r other licence before we can admit tha t the

0
3 4
 The Wi t ch i n Fi c ti o n
witches of F aust are at all true to life When .

we come to the acting editions o f the play a s per

formed i n England by ambitious acto r managers -

we find that the unfortunate witch becomes little

more than a caricature O n the Brocken s he is
.

elbowed out of place by miscellaneous mytho

logicals so that the audience gains no truer idea
,

o f an ordinary S abbath than does the visitor o f

London who only sees it on a Bank holiday I n -

.

the Witch kitchen scene again not only is s he

-

quite lost in a worl d o f red fire and scenic effects ,

but s he is represented as resembling rather the

pantaloon in a pantomime than a j unior partner
o f the Devil At least the witch has s o much
.

cause of gratitude to the poet that he and his ,

imitators have given her a new even if rather ,

meretricious popularity at a perio d when it is

,

badly needed .

Properly to appreciate the di fference between

the witch of fiction and her prototype in real life ,

we must seek her in what is after all her strong

, ,

,
—
hold the fairy story It would seem indeed as
.
, ,

if having been driven to take refuge in the

,

nursery she has there caught something o f the

,

vitality o f its more familiar occupants F o r j ust .

as we find that the real witch has more than o ne

seeming so the witch of fiction may belong to
,

a ny of many types — i f not to several o f them at

once As already noticed she makes a habit of
.
,

e xceeding the bounds of possibility ; she is also

3 5
0 x
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
as frequently a s not a dual personality In real .

life the witch i s always the witch first the q ueen , .

o r duchess o r gude wife only incidentally Were

-
.

it not for her occult powers s he woul d cease to

exist would be degraded indeed to th e ordinary
, , ,

level of queen o r beldame But in fiction and .

,

especially in fairy fiction this does not hold good ; ,

that is to say there are certain ranks and positions

,

which carry with them almost o f right the being

considered a witch Thus if you happen to marry
.

a king who has a beautiful daughter or a par

, ,

ti c u l a rl y eligible s o n it is almost a foregone ,

conclusion that you are a witch ; this not because ,

widowed monarchs are particularly given to

making bad marriages but rather it would seem , , ,

o n some such principle as that by which the wife

o f the Egyptian Pharaoh became a goddess by

marriage It i s true that to be a witch in fairy

.

land you need not have entered into any agree

,

ment with the Devil nor possess any supernatural ,

power whatever As in the already quoted story

.

o f the Tinder b o x the possession of any magic

-

article suffi ciently bewitched to d o mischief is all

that you require Yo u need not have bewitched
.

it yourself in many cases yo u have inherited in

, ,

others purchased it in others had it thrust upon ,

you Yo u need not again be ugly ; in most

.
, ,

cases you cannot be for no o ne ca n suppose that ,

a royal widower would feel himself called upon

to mate with a hag e n s e c o nd e s n o c e s Sometimes .
,

3 0 6
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
her familiars three toads place themselves
, ,

upon E liza s head forehead and heart so that

’
, , ,

s he may become as stupid as ugly and as evilly , ,

inclined as themselves In this they fail alto .

gether being unable to make headway against the

,

virtuous innocence of E liza very much as upon , ,

earth all evil spells were rendered impote nt when

,

confro nted with holy words o r the sign o f the

cross. She does not it may be noted disdain
, ,

such more commonplace methods of annoyance ,

’
a s anointing her stepdaughter s face with walnut

j uice and driving her from home Yet another .

point in which the story of The Wild Swans

shows itself in accordance with the traditions o f
the real witch world is where the good princess
-

now become queen being accused o f consorting

,

with witches in a churchyard is herself accused ,

of witchcraft by the local archbishop and would ,

inevitably have been burnt but for the timely inter

v e nti o n of her brothers It was fortunate for her
.

that s he lived in fairy land and not under the j uris

-

diction of Innocent VI I I o r James I when it is . .

,

m uch to be feared that a whole army o f brother s

would not have su ffi ced to save her as a matter -

of fact they would probably have been among

her warmest accusers This the more so that she
.
,

was attended in prison by three familiars in the

shape of mice who woul d certainly have provided
,

damning evidence in the eyes o f any sel f respect -

ing 1nqu i s l to r
.

3 0 8
 The W i t ch i n F i c ti o n
In seeking for the witch in fairy land we must -

often l o ok for her under some other name as —

a fairy for instance and especially as a fairy
, ,

godmother O ne o f the most embarrassing

.

attributes of the fairy godmother is that if yo u -

offend her s he at once changes into a witch ,

without giving you any warning whatever She .

may have offi ciated a s godmother to half a do z en

o f your children treating them always as a re a l
,

fairy should B ut should you once offend her

.
,

and especially should you forget to invite her

to a christening s he at once becomes a witch of
,

the utmost malignancy This is a cu ri o u s p e r .

version from the habits o f the real witch whose ,

interests are entirely against the baptising o f

children under any circumstances It may be .

supposed that havi ng for the nonce laid aside

,

her evil doing and adopte d the civilised veneer

,

of fairyism s he i s quick to take o ffence at any

,

implie d no n recognition thereof very much a s

“
-

might a black man if anyone said to him I ,

’
suppose you don t wear trousers at home ! A
famous example of the b e ne fi ce nt fairy godmother
occurs of course in Cinderella
, a cynic might
, ,

indeed argue that her b e ne fi c e nce to wa rd s Ci n

,
~
~

d e re ll a her provision of fine dresses s i x horse

, ,
-

coaches and glass slippers were induced rather

, ,

b v the desire to spite the ugly sisters than o u t of

any actual love o f Cinderella herself Another .

common type o f the double edge d godmother -

3 9
0
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
occurs in the story o f Prince Hazel and Prince
F a ir With characteristic perversity while pre
. ,

tending that each prince will have an equal

chance s he yet makes everything smooth for the
’

o ne while placing irresistib l e temptation in the

,

path of the other basing her action upon her p re

,

conceived idea o f their disposition .

The witch f a i ry ne e d not be a godmother

.
-
In .

”
the S leeping Beauty for instance her sole , ,

cause o f irritation is at no t receiving an i nv i tati on

to the christening I n consequence as every
.
,

child knows s he condemns the future Beauty to

,

pri ck her finger a t the age o f fifteen and thereafter

—
to fall asleep she and all her entourag e u ntil —
'

a casual prince shall have sufficient curiosity to

make his w a
y through the surrounding thorn
thickets It may be noted in this connection that
.

—
the every day inhabitants o f fairy land have never
-

shown themselves able to learn from experience .

Scarcely a royal christening could take place with

o u t some important witch fairy being forgo tten -

always with disastrous results yet no steps seem ,

ever to have been taken to guard agains t the

recurrence o f such disastrous neglige nce .

The witch p rm c e s s di ffers from the witch queen

-
-

stepmother in that s he is usually herself under a

spell which being removed usually by the inter
, , ,

v e nti o n of some adventurous lover s he at once ,

resumes all the lovable qualities inherent to beau

“
tiful princesses Thus in The Travelling
.
,

3 10
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
M aria S chwe i d l e r deserves a better fate than to
be included as a witch under any heading what
ever seeing that not only was her innocence
,

finally made manifest but that the accusation wa s

,

originally aroused against her for no better cause

than her o wn kindness o f heart and practical bene
v o l e nce It is true that many of the names
. .

en shrined in the annals of witchcraft would never

have been there if guilt o r malevolence were the
sole rightful claims to this form of im mortality .

As might be expected the wizard no less than , ,

the W itch ha s appealed to the picturesque im a gina

,

tion o f the romancist in many times and countries .

What is more he ha s if anything been taken

, , ,

more seriously This i s perhaps due to the fact

.

that his creator has generally conformed more

closely to his original The great alchemists o f.

history have been pressed into the service of many

writers much as have the Rosicrucians the
, ,

Cabalists and other members o f magico secret

,
-

societies Even when we find the wizard

.
,

magician o r sorcerer in his purely romantic guise

, ,

he conforms more closely to hi s o rigina Ltha n does

”
the witch In the Arabian Nights for example
.
, ,

are many magicians to say nothing o f dj inns but

, ,

there I S scarcely o ne among them who transcends

the powers o f his real life prototype M erlin .
,

again despite his ambiguous ori gi ns wherever he

,
,
 The W i t ch i n F i c ti o n
to type Prospero in the
. T empest, is a ,

magician of no mean power but he is no ne the ,

less a man with human affections and human aims ,

taking the side of goo d in the age long struggle -

against evil as represented by Caliban N o one

,
.

meeting Prospero in the society of let us s a y , ,

Albertus M agnus need have found anything to

,

cavil at in hi s verisimilitude Even when you .

find a magician in fairy lore as in the already -

quote d story o f The Travelling Companion ,

he i s if unamiable no t unreal unless indeed in

, , , , ,

his preference for cushions made o f live mice ,

’
eating each others tails .

Thus in fiction as in fact we find the caste

, ,

distinction between the witch and the wi z ard

rigidly observed the o ne approached with some
,

thing like re v e re nce the o the r re ga rd e d with dis

'

like and half contemptuous fear This may be

-
.

largely due in both worlds to the fact that there

”
are to ten thousand witches but o ne wizard ,

and that familiarity breeds contempt N e v e rthe .

less i t shoul d serve but as another claim upon o u r

,

sympathy for the much abused witch even while -

it exemplifies the truth o f the proverb that nothing

succeeds like success The magician after having .
,

led the Devil by the nose throughout a long and

ill spent life not only succeeds nine times o u t
-

o f ten in cheating him in the end but also pre ,

serves to a remarkable degree the sympathies o f

mankind whether as devotee or novel reader
,
-

13
3
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
The unfortunate witch having devoted her
,

industrious days to carrying out faithfully the

terms o f her bargain is condemned to the flames
,

both in this world and the next amid universal

execration Truly he does not always bear the
.

palm who best merits it .

3 4
1
 The B o o k o f Wi tch e s
methods But this ca n only obscure without
.
,

changing the great underlying phenomenon

,

that the lethargic E ast the great home o f witch ,

craft and witch lore has at last aroused itself from

-

its long trance and by whatever methods , ,

chastised the fussy West that sought professedly ,

f o r its own good to change i ts lotus dreams to ,

-

nightmares It only remains for China to rise up

.

and chastise the inconstant Japanese for their

treachery to a common ideal to make the certainty ,

of the witch s V ictory more certain

’
.

The position of the witch is indeed u n , ,

assailable Whatever the result of the racial

.

Armageddon o f to morrow s he can lose -

nothing I f white civilisation stand the test o f

.

battle s he i s in no w orse position than before ; if it

,

go down before the hosts of Asia the witch and ,

her devotees will reap the fruits o f victory It .

may suit the present Asiatic purpose to drape its

—
limbs with tawdry European v e s tm e nts but the fl

patent leather boot s worn by the B abu cannot

-

make an Englishman of him He may be a

“failed B A of Allahabad University a per sist
.

. .
,

ent o ffi ce seeker a bomb throwing R e v o l u ti o m s t

-

,
-

and a professed Atheist but he i s none the less a ,

believer in a million gods and ten times as many

witches In his native village he has an heredi
.

tary o fii ci a l magician who controls the weather , ,

wards o ff evil spells performs incantations and ,

—
the like at fixed charges and commands the im
3 16
 So me f To d a yW i t ch e s o -

p li c i t confidence of educated and uneducated

alike What i s more the Indian cult of witchcraft
.
,

has flourished the more widely beneath the co n

t e mp t u o u s protection of the British Raj In the .

old times there were certain inconven i ences a t

tendant upon the witch or wizard life in India as -

elsewhere Dreaded they were as they are still

.
, ,

but there were times when an outraged community

turned under the pressure of their malignant spells
and meted o u t appropriate punishment full mea
sure Witch tests very similar to those em p loyed
.
-

by M atthew H opkins were ever y where in use .

Among the Bhils for example and other allie d , ,

tribes a form o f
, swimming prevailed in ,

many ways an improvement upon the fallible

British methods A stake bein g set up in a shal
.

low tank o r lake s o that it protrudes above the

‘

surfac e the suspected witch must lay hold o f it

,

and descend to the bottom there to re ,

main while a n arrow is shot from a bow

and brought back by a runner to the
fi ri ng place
-

I f the suspect can remain under

.

water until then she is declared innocent ; if she

,

rises to breathe s he is a confessed witch This

,
.

method offers so many opportunities o f ma nip u

’
lation either by the suspect s friends o r enemies
, ,

that it may well take prece d ence even o f the o r

deal by fire water o r ploughshare favoured among
, ,

us in feudal days while the inventiveness of the ,

English witch fi n d e r i s put to open shame Need

-
.

3 7
1
 The Bo o k o f Wi t ch e s
less to say Indian witchcraft had and has all the
,

material incidentals proper to a cult There are .

substances susceptible to spells much as is the ,

case with electricity ; there are others as f o r , ,

example the boughs of the castor oil plant very

,
-

—
effective in its cure s o that to flog a witch with
such rods is the best possible way of rendering
her harmless There are proper ways of pu nish
.

ing her too as for example to rub red pepper

, , , ,

into her eyes But unfortunately for those s u s

.

c e tib l e to spells the British Governm ent has

p ,

now stepped in to protect not the persecuted ryot , ,

but the witch who persecutes him It i s a crime to .

destroy even to torture a witch however notori

, , ,

o us ; and however strongly we may obj ect to such

iniquitous laws it i s advisable to obey them o r to
, ,

break them only very secretly 1nd e e d O wing to .

this unfortunate state o f things the witch riots ,

unchecked throughout Hindus tan and every ,

where increases in importance F or if you are .

,

forbidden to suppress her the only alternative i s ,

to seek her favour and if you have offended to ,

appease her with gifts o r pay some rival p ra cti ,

t i o ne r to weave yet more potent counter spells -

O therwise the odds are heavy that sooner o r later ,

as you are returning home through the j ungle o ne

day s he will lie in wait f o r you in the disguise of
,

a poisonous snake o r man eating tiger o r failing -

, ,

t hat that you will die miserably of typhoid fever

,

o r plague .

3 1 8
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
the belief in witches in our own and other Euro
pean countries F urther examples might be
.

quoted almost a d i nfi ni zu m a l l going to prove ‘

‘

, ,

the same thing that the elementary school is

,

powerless against the inherited tradition Those .

interested may find a s triking example o f belief in

witchcraft and the power of the evil eye in Som er
set including a n incantation of some merit the
, ,

whole too long for quotation in Somerset and ,

Dorset Notes and Queries for December 18 94 , .

O r again in La M ala Vita a Roma by Signori

,
”
,

N i ce f o ro and S ighe l e a chapter is devoted to the ,

—
present day witches of the Eternal City showing ,

conclusively that among a host of fortune tellers

,
-

and similar swindlers the genuine strege ,

flourish as o f yore though they are perhaps less ,

easily to be found by strangers in search of them .

Instead however o f quoting further from the ex

, ,

ri e n c e s of others I may adduce o ne o r two

p e ,

instances of witches with whom I have personally

come in contact I must admit that as providing
.
,

any test of the b o na fi d e s o f the modern witch ,

they are singularly unconvincing They may .

,

however serve as some proof no t only that the

, ,

witch can still find many to do her reverence in

modern Christian Europe but that as a p ro f e s , ,

sion for women that of the witch is not without its

,

potentialities in these overcrowded days .

I f you cross over the P o nte Vecchio at F lorence

and leaving the Via dei Bardi on your left c o n
, ,

3 2 0
 So me f To da y
Wi t ch e s o -

tin ne along the Via P orta Romana for about two

hundred yards befor e turning sharp ly to the
right you will be following a course which has
,

been often trodden by those in search o f respite

—
from witch harrying I f y o u wish actually to
.

consult the witch you must persevere yet further ,

through a maze o f rather mo uldering streets until ‘

you come to a very tall house painted a pale ,

maroon colour and pock marked with brown -

stains where rain ha s eaten into the plaster Y o u .

may recogni se the house by the fact that it has

two sham windows frescoed on its side wall — it
—
stands at a corner o f two malodorous lanes and
that one o f them purports to be occupied by a
lady who is smiling at you invitingly Smiled I .
,

shoul d say f o r even at the time o f my last visit

, ,

two years ago s he was f ading into the plaster

,

background and by now s he may have dis

,

appeared altogether or have been replaced by a

scowling gentleman f o r all I know to the con
,

tra ry . I would not swear for that matter that

, ,

even the house still stands where it did s o quick ,

is the march of modern improvement in New

Italy But grante d that y o u find the lane and the
.

house and the painte d lady grante d further that ,

Emilia has not changed her address y o u may ,

be sure o f speaking with a witch whose fame

ha s permeated a considerable portion o f Tus
cany You will have to climb a wearisome dis
.

tance up some incredibly dirty and unpleasantly

3 2 1 Y
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
smelling stairs to reach he r first though a n d it , ,

is possible that even then yo u may have to wait

until s he ha s settled the destiny o r cured the ills
of some client from a distant village But having .

overcome all d ifii cu l ti e s you may count upon a

’
,

not unamiable reception from a stout elderly ,

woman with a good humoured eye and a plentiful

-

crop o f glossy black hair turning slightly to grey .

She will not be at all puffed up by her powers

o r position and s h e will be quite ready to accept
,

any little token o f appreciative regard you may

be inclined to press upon her ; but to be quite ,

candid I doubt if you will leave her apartment

,

knowing much more o f witchcraft after the

modern Italian convention than when you entered
it This partly from a certain d ifii d e nce o n her
.

part to give away trade secrets but still more ,

’
because Emilia s Italian i s several shades worse
than your own s o that unless you are an
,

amateur in Tuscan also yo u will find her alto

,

gether unintelligible O nly if you shoul d prove

.
, .

able to interchange ideas y o u must by all means

,

a s k her about the O ld Religion ho w far it still ,

prevails among the Apennines what are i ts gods , ,

and what their powers I f further yo u ask

.
, ,

her opinion as to the magical powers o f certain

Christian saints and especially o f Saint Anthony
, ,

y o u will be amply repaid supposing you to

,
be
interested 1n such m atters for all the troub l e you
,

and your nose have been put to in discovering

’
—
Emilia s abiding place .

3 2
2
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
would be the proper person to apply to in such a
diffi culty But I was very soon convinced of my
.

mistake To marry you usher you into or out of

.
,

the world the reverend gentleman may have his

,

uses But to ward off the ills of witchcraft his

.

ministrations are w orse than useless seeing that ,

they only serve to irritate the demons and thus

make the patient s su fferings more int ense All ’
.

this provided of course that he be not himself

, ,

a stregone a state o f things more common than

,

might be supposed But j ust as the priest is the .

one genuine authority on Heaven Purgatory , ,

and the simpler issues of Hell s o to grapple , ,

with witchcraft no o ne is s o capable as a witch

,

And of all available witches none was so e ffi cient

o r be it added
, so moderate in her charges as
,

Emilia She wa s in fact the family witch o f

.
, ,
-

the M oretti family frequently called in and as ,

frequently being entirely successful in her treat

ment She was for that matter long since
.
, ,

become a valued family friend and— i n fact , ,

Emilia must be called in without delay I .

’
accompanied Zita s elder brother Luigi when
he visited F lorence for the purpose and with ,

him and Emilia returned travelling part of the ,

way by electric tramcar the conductor being , ,

as it chanced an acquaintance of my companions

,
,

and as such chatting p leasantly with Emilia

, ,

concerning her profession contrasting it favour ,

ably with his own Exactly what counter charms . -

3 4
2
 So Wi tch e s o f To da y
me -

s he used in Zita s treatment I wa s not privileged

’

to know ; at least I c a n testify that they were

,

entirely successful and that within a very short

,

time Zita was herself again breaking her usual ,

quanti ty of hearts round and about the village well ,

and openly j eering at the rival beauty to whom

s h e attributed her indisposition f o r the ill success ,
-

that had attended her I f I cannot claim that

.

through Zi ta s bewitching and its cure I gained

’

much knowledge of Italian witchcraft as pre

s e nt l understood I may at least instance it as an
y ,

—
example o f the matter o f fact way in which its
-

existence is accepted by the modern Tuscan

peasant H e regards it indeed with as little o r
.
,

less perturbation as the coming o f the motor car

,
-
.

Just as the motor has become a danger on every

road s o the evil spir it th rongs every field You
, .

may take precautions against him and the

ill deeds done by him at the witch s bidding j ust
- — ’

as you look carefully round before crossing a

—
road nowadays yo u may string bells o r weave
’
feathers o n your horse s head dress as p re v e nta -

tiv e s o r make the requisite sign whenever you

,

have reason to believe yourself within the radius

of an evil eye ; but accidents will happen and —
1t 1s always well to know the address o f such

a dependable practitioner as Emilia in case ,

.

F or that matter yo u may sometimes desire to

,

—
have a spell cast o n your o wn account it is dith
cult to go through life without a quarrel or two
3 2
5
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
and in that case also Emilia B ut I am
b e co m m g 1n di s cre e t .

Another w1tch with whom I have had personal

—
dealings lives o r did live for s he wa s reported to
,

be more than o ne hundred years o f age at the time

—i n a small town locally termed a city in North
, ,

Carolina I must frankly admit that I learned

.

even less o f magical knowledge from her than

from her Italian colleague She was a negress .
,

and having heard o f her existence from the

coloured coachman of the fri e nd in whose house
I was staying I determined to leave no stone
,

u nturned to make her acquaintance I hoped to .

glean from her lips some particulars o f the extent

—
to which Voodooism elsewhere referred to in this
fl

—
volume is still practised by the American negro
—a fact o f which I was repeatedly assured by
Southern friends I was signally disappointed ;
.

the o l d lady would not in fact co nd escend so

, ,

much as to open her lips to me at all She lived .

with her s o n who held a position o f some trust

,

in connection with the Coloured Baptist Church ,

in o ne o f the wooden shanties which make up the

Coloured town They stand at some little dis
.

tance from the august quarters inhabited by the

white gentry and the approach i s rendered almost
,

impossible upon a wet day by oceans o f brick red -

mud o f incredible prehensibility The o l d lady .

I found crouching over a fire in ap p roved witch

fashion her attention entirely devoted to the
,

26
3
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
once had with a middle aged witch of unpleasing -

exterior in the kitchen o f the suburban house

tenante d by a relative To the practice o f witch.

craft this example added the collecting o f o l d

bottles and kitchen refuse as a means of liveli
hood and s he lived as the police afterwards
, ,

informed u s in a caravan temporarily moored on

,

a piece o f waste land in the neighbourhood o f

’

Hamm ersmith Broadway The mistress o f the .

house having occasion to enter the kitchen there

, ,

found her seated at the table unravelling the ,

—
mysteries of F ate to the cook and scullery maid
by the aid of a very greasy pack o f playing cards -

Whatever her pretensions to knowledge of the

lower world s he had obviously been drinking
,

so much s o indeed that I wa s called upon

, ,

for aid in e j e ctrng her from the premises A .

large woman o f determined aspect and an a ggre s

,

sive tongue this might have proved a task of some

,

difficulty had I not luckily bethought me o f

adj uring her in German before which s he slowly ,

retreated cursing volubly in English the while

, ,

until s he had reache d the area steps when we -

were able to lock the back door upon her an d s o

be rid o f her It appeared on subsequent inquiry
.

that s he had obtained sums amounting in all to

some 1 7 5 6 d from among the domestics the
. .
,

greater part being the price of informing the

aforesaid scullery maid that her young man then
-

serving hi s country in India still remained faith ,

3 2 8
 So me f To d a y
Wi t ch e s o -

ful to her memory This information proved in

.

due course to be well founded the gallant warrior ,

returning six months later filled with amatory

ardour It is true that the witch forgot to men
.

tion that by that time he would be ousted from

—
Griselda s heart b y i f I remember aright a
’
—
dashing young milkman a n d that he woul d incur
,

a fine of c i rc a 40 5 f o r assaulting and battering

, .

him thereafter Nevertheless public feeling

.

below stairs remained strongly in favour o f the

-

ej ected sorceress a n d no minor domestic mishap

,

could happen for weeks thereafter but it was set

’
down as directly resulting from the witch s de
parting curses .

O ne other incursion into the World o f M agic

lingers in my memory a s having taken place in
a seaside town that shall be nameless While .

there passing a holiday with some friends I fre ,

quently observe d large yellow handbills and even ,

posters setting forth that a lady who from her

, ,

name appeared to be o f O riental antecedents was ,

prepare d to cast horoscopes read palms and , ,

arrange all kinds o f personally conduc ted tours

into the future at fees which could only be
described as ridiculous It s o happened that .

among the members o f the party wa s a young

lady who wa s then in the throes o f her last love
affair Naturally anxious to learn its future course
.
,

she it appears consulted the seeress whom I will

, , ,

call though it wa s not her name M adame

, ,

3 9
2
 The B o o k o f Wi t che s

Fatimah S o remarkable did the results appear

.

that the convert felt it her duty to acquaint the

rest of us therewith The fame o f M adame Fati
.

mah was not long in penetrating to my ears and ,

the day came when I found myself waiting upon

the witch s doorstep She was lodged in a back
’
.

s tre e t s o m e little distance from the centre of the

town in o ne o f those lodging houses which make

,
-

a point of advertising that they possess a fine s e a

V iew a s indeed they may if you ascend to the
,

roof o r extend your body o u t o f window at an

acute angle Certainly no less prom i s i ng hunting
.

ground f o r the witch fi n d e r could be imagined-

.

M adame occupied the first floor and delive red ,

her prognostications amid an Early Victorian -

atmosphere o f horsehair and antimacassars that

wa s not altogeth er unimpressive though speaking ,

o f the past rather than o f the future She wa s .

—
middle aged o f comfortable rotundity and
, ,

dressed in a black silk dress over which was ,

thrown a Japanese kimono embroidered with wild

geese Doubtless from the long residence in the
.

O rient to which s he took an early opportunity

,

o f referring and where she had studied her art

,

at the fountain head from the lips o f a native

-

gentleman very well known in m agic circles ,

and very likely to the Evil O ne himself ,

j udging from Madame F a ti m a h s account o f ’

hi s prowess but whose name I can only vaguely

,

remember as sounding something like Yogi

3 30
 The B o o k o f Wi t ch e s
baby two crossed swords and what might be
‘

, ,

either an elephant lying on his back with his legs

in the air o r the church o f Saint John West
, ,

minster seen from the north west the details

,
-

being too hazy for me to speak with absolute

certainty M adame F atimah seemed slightly dis
.

concerted at first but I am bound to admit that

,

she very soon displayed abundance o f s a v o zr fa i re

’

to s a y nothing of a sense of humour for without ,

any further waste o f time s he announced that I

must look forward to a life of misfortune that ,

whether in business in love o r in pleasure I could

, ,

expect nothing but disaster and that I shoul d ,

inevitably su ffer death by hanging in my sixty

seventh year Let me only add that I paid her
.

modest fee with the greatest willingness and that ,

I have ever since remained convinced that the

modern witch is no whit behind her medi aeval
predecessor in those qualities which led her to s o
high a place in the public estimation .

I have instanced these few examples of my

personal knowledge o f witches and witchcraft not
as throwing any light either upon their claims or
their methods but simply as some proof o f what
,

I have adduced earlier in this volume that belief ,

in witchcraft under one form o r another is as

, ,

widely prevalent in the modern civilised world

as ever it wa s and that it is ever likely to remain
,

so. Nor does the fact that rogues and vagabonds

not a few have availed themselves of its time
33 2
 So me W i t ch e s o f To da y
honoured respectability as a cloak f o r their petty
depredations at a l l detract from its claims to
respectful cre dence That great faith is yet to be
.

whose fundamental truths cannot be turned to the

advantage of the charlatan the swindler and the ,

—
sham devotee the greater the faith indeed s o , ,

much the greater is and must be the number o f its

, ,

exploiters battening upon the devotion o f the

,

faithful Nevertheless it is not upon questions

.
,

of credibility or faith alone that the world empire -

of the witch is founded D emonstrably true o r .

proven false the cult o f witchcraft ha s existed

,

from the beginning and will continue until the

end of history Worshipped or reviled praised
.
, ,

persecuted o r co n demned witchcraft and the ,

witch have endure d and will endure while there

remains o ne man o r woman o n the earth capable
o f dreading the Unknown Rej oice or grieve as
.

you will the witch is the expression of o ne o f the

—
greatest of human needs that o f escaping from
—
humanity and its limitable environment o f o ne
—
o f the greatest o f human world movements the ,

revolt against the Inevitable She does and .

must exist for the strongest of all reasons that

, ,

constituted a s it is humanity coul d not exist

without her .

3 33
 B I B L I OGRA P H Y

Th e p r i n ci p l u h r i i m d of i hi volum a a t o t es a e us e n t s e,

an d r f rr d i h x
no t g iv n i h followi ng
e e e to n t e te t , a re e n t e

l i Th d
s t do n c ri ly r f r h or igi n l
e a te s no t e es s a e e to t e a

y r of p ubl ic i on b d i i on m d of
.

ea h at ,
ut to t e e t a e us e

Ad m W H
a s , Wi ch W rlo ck d M g ici n . . t , a an a a .

8 89 1

A i n wor h H Th L nc h i r Wi ch
.

s t e a as e t es

And r n H “n F i ry T l
. .
,
”
e se a s a a es

Augu in C i vi
. .
,
”
st D D ie e ta te e

B umon Tr i on S p i ri
. .

ea t eat s e ts
Bl ck on C omm n r i
. .

a s t e e ta es

Bl u D r L udw ig D “ Z ub rw n
. .

a , l j di h . . as a t u sc e a e es e .

8 98 1

B d in J D l“D monom n i d S orci r

.

o
5 8 e a e a e es e s 1 0

Boul on R ich A C om p l H i ory of M g ick S or

.
, . .

t ea t s t a

c ry d Wi chc r f , .
,
”
e 7 5 an t a t 1 1

Br d J P o p ul r An i q u i i of G r Bri in
. .

an a t t es ea t ta
,
.
.

9 5 1 0

Budg E “ A E gyp i n M gi c
.

e, t a a

Burr G Th Wi ch P
. . .

i e t e rs e c u t o n s
-

bo M O f C r dul i y
.
,

C
.

asau n, 6 8 ~
e t 1 6
l P O n P“ o p ul r R hym d C h rm
. . .

C a ss e ,
.
89 a es an a s 1 0
D vi T W M g ic d D ivin i n mong h
. .

a es a an at o a t e
br w
.
, .

He8 98 e s 1

F i rf x E D“ m l g i
. .

a a 6 ae o no o a 1 22
Fr r J G Th Gold n Bough
.
, . .

”
a ze e e 1 00
,
9
Gomm G L H“ndb o k of Folklor
. .
. .

”
e, 89 . a o e 1 0
Gould S B ri ng O ld E ngl i h F i ry T l
.
.

. a s a a es
Gould S B ri ng Th Boo k of W r Wolv
.
, .

a e e e es
G r imm D u ch Myth ologi
.
, .
.

. e ts e e .

3 34
 The B o o k o f W i t ch e s
P i tc a i rn R Tri a ls in t a “C r1m i na 1 Sco l nd 18 3 3

P la to La ws
. . .

P l i ny N a t ur a l H 1s to ry
. .

P lu ta rch Li v e s
. .

Scot R The D i s c o v e ri e o f Wi tchc ra ft

. .

1 8
5 4
Sc o S i W l r d W i chc r f
“D e monology
.
, . .

tt , r a te an t a t
S pp J N O r“i n fi d Occi d n
. .

”
e 9 3 e t n e t 1 0

Sh rp C K H i ory of Wi chc r f i Sc o l nd
. . .
, .

a e, . . s t t a t n t a .

884 1

S in cl i r “G S n I nv i i bl W orld D i pl y d
.

’
a eo a ta s s e s a e

S m i h D“ i c i on ry of h B i bl
,
. .

t t a t e e

Sp r ng r M ll u M l fi m 48 6
. .

e e a e s a e c a ru 1

S l d i n Wi chc r f i Ch ri i n C oun ri
. . .

a a 88 t a t n st a t es 1 2

T r n “l i on B i on d Mo ch u
. . .

Th i
eo cr tu s a s at an s s

Wi d m n n A R l ig i on of h An c i n E gy p i n
fi .

e e a ,
. e t e e t t a s .

W i e ru sJ D P “m ig 6
5 3 e r st ns 1

W r igh Th om N rr i v of S orc ry gi c
. . .
,

t, as a at e e a nd Ma
Al o m ny p m ph l ch p book & &
. .

e ts c hi e fly f
‘

s a a a -
s c c o

v nt n th d igh t n h c n t ur i
. .
, , , ,

the se e ee an e ee t e es .

CLAY AN D S ON S , LTD ., B RE AD S T. H I LL, E C. , AN D B UN G AY, S UF F OLK . .