Fairies, Witches & Conjurers of Wiveliscombe and Taunton
The Burge family of Wiveliscombe have a history of being accused of sorcery.
The is a Bures Lane in Wiveliscombe.
The Burge family have married into the Collard family over the generations.
The is a Bures Lane in Wiveliscombe.
The Burge family have married into the Collard family over the generations.
Burge the Waterrow Conjuror lived in the woods near the Chipstable Mills.
During the 17th century there lived in Waterrow a 'Conjuror' or white witch by the name of Burge.
Story from the Book of Exmore
A farmer, for instance, was in great trouble about his stock. Three or four sheep died quite unaccountably, and he made up his mind that some evil influence was at work. He had seen a hare, apparently, and this hare he chose to consider as the form the witch had assumed in order to execute her fell purpose.
That witches appear in the shape of a hare is a very old belief.
The farmer went to a "conjurer" at Waterrow, named Burge, who, before the farmer could utter a word, told him his errand, and showed him the features of the witch. The farmer returned well satisfied with his visit, for, having paid the conjurer his fee, he had been assured that ere long the old woman should be punished.
That witches appear in the shape of a an owl or a hare is a very old belief in Somerset.
Burge the Conjurer was probably Edward Burge he died in 1699, in the St Andrews Register it states "A man of little substance'.
Burge was said to remove curses, or place curses on people.
He made charms and amulets and used these in spells.
He had spell recipes and knew incantations.
He also told people they were cursed and demanded payment to remove the curse.
He was also said to know the secrets of plants.
A conjurer folk healer, cunning folk, fairy doctor or white witch is an unlicensed person who practices the art of healing using traditional practices, herbal remedies and even the power of suggestion. A folk healer may be a highly trained person who pursues her specialties, learning by study, observation and imitation. In some cultures a healer might be considered to be a person who has inherited the "gift" of healing from his or her parent. The ability to set bones or the power to stop bleeding may be thought of as hereditary powers.
The term "cunning man" or "cunning woman" was most widely used in southern England and the Midlands, as well as in Wales. Such people were also frequently known across England as "wizards", "wise men" or "wise women", or in southern England and Wales as "conjurers" or as "dyn(es) hysbys" in the Welsh language. In Cornwall they were sometimes referred to as "pellars", which some etymologists suggest originated from the term "expellers", referring to the practice of expelling evil spirits. Folklorists often used the term "white witch", though this was infrequently used amongst the ordinary folk as the term "witch" had general connotations of evil.
In England and Wales, cunning folk had operated throughout the latter part of the Mediaeval and into the Early Modern period. In the 15th and 16th centuries, there had been no attempt to illegalise the cunning craft, although private lawsuits had been brought against some of them by those clients who felt that they had been cheated out of their money. This changed with the Witchcraft Act of 1542, enacted under the reign of Henry VIII, which targeted both witches and cunning folk, and which prescribed the death penalty for such crimes as using invocations and conjurations to locate treasure or to cast a love spell. This law was repealed no later than 1547, under the reign of Henry's son Edward VI, something that the historian Owen Davies believed was due to those in power changing their opinion on the law: they believed that either the death penalty was too harsh for such crimes or that the practice of the cunning craft was a moral issue that was better for the Church to deal with in ecclesiastic courts rather than a problem that had to be sorted out by the state.
There are a few people in our family tree who practise apothecary, the front runner to modern medicine, perhaps the older one's may have learnt from him the ways of plants and their healing properties.
The Collard & Yea families married with the Burge family.
William Burge married on the 26 Dec 1749 Sarah COLLARD
John Burge married on the 16 May 1750 Jane COLLARD
John Burge married on the Nov 1754 Elizabeth COLLARD
William Burge married on the 10 May 1813 Ann YEA
Bullock heart pierced with large nails and thorns found in a chimney of Shutes Hill Farm, CHIPSTABLE, SOMERSET, discovered in 1892, placed there to cause harm by someone "witchcraft'. A toad pierced with thorns was also found in the chimney. The heart is now in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum.
The television series Midsomer Murders showed a similar cursed bullock heart with nails found in a chimney in one of the series' episodes.
The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for the Year 1823 Volume 65
Anne Burge of Wiveliscombe, was accused of witchcraft in 1823
Tauton- Much curiosity was excited by the appearance of the names of three females in the calendar, on a charge, under lord Ellenborough’s act, of maliciciously cutting and stabbing an old woman, a reputed “witch”, with intent to murder her. The grand jury, however, after consulting the judge, threw out the bill on the capital charge of maliciciously cutting under lord Ellenborough’s act, and re-turned a true bill against.
Elizabeth Bryant, the mother aged 50, Elizabeth Bryant, the younger, aged 22 and Jane Bryant, aged 15, the two daughters assaulted Anne Burgess.
Mr Erskine stated the case to the jury. The parties reside at Wiveliscombe, in the country, and the prosecutrix was a very aged woman. The elder prisoner was a married woman, residing in the same neighbourhood. She had three daughters, who lived with her, two whom were prisoners at the bar. One of these had been afficted by fits, which the mother firmly believed were the workings of some malignant spirit: and in order to counteract or break the spell, she applied for advice to a reputed sorcerer, named Baker, residing and exercising absolute sway in a remote part of Devonshire. This fellow told her, that her daughter was bewitched by a particular person in their neighbourhood, and that, to get rid of the charm, it was necessary to draw blood from the witch, and to cause a preparation, of which he gave her the recipe, to be burnt, with certain ceremonies and prayers. Whether from a staid deportment, reservedness of manners, or old grudge, did not appear, but the prosecutrix was immediately fixed upon as the witch, and was published as such throughout the town of Wiveliscombe, by the elder prisoner, who positively declared that her daughter had been bewitched by her for more than 12 months! The prosecutrix, alarmed at the general impression which appeared to be raised against her, went on the night of the 26th November, to the house of the elder prisoner, whom she met in the dark passage of her house, and said, that she came to know the foundation of the reports, which had been circulated respecting her. The prisoner viewed the visit as a providential one for executing her purpose of drawing blood, and, with horrible imprecations, seized the old woman. The two daughters, upon hearing the noise, rushed out, and instantly fell upon the prosecutrix, who was dragged to the floor, and one of them fetched a nail as the first thing in the way, and began to lacerate the old woman’s arm in the most ferocious manner, whilst the other held her.
The reputed witch, Ann Burgess, was first called. She was a fine, hale-looking old woman, 68 years of age, of rather imposing gravity. She deposed-Ï know the prisoners, the mother and the two daughters. They live about a quarter of a mile from me. On the 26th of November I went to (Mrs Bryant’s), and met her in the passage, which is dark. I said , ‘Betty Bryant, I be come to ask you a civil question, whether I bewitched your daughter? ’She said ‘Yes you have, you d—d old witch: you have bewitched her for the last twelve months:, and she said, she was 10/. The worse for it, and she would be totally d—d, if she would not kill me. They all came out together, and fell upon me. The little daughter drew out my arm and held it, whilst one of the others cut it. The eldest of them said ‘Bring me a knife, that we may cut the flesh off the old wretch’s arms. The tore my arms all over with an iron nail’. The old woman here described the manner the prisoners performed the operation. She was ill from the wounds on her arm;, there was a woman who accompanied witness, who came in and dragged her away from their fury. It appeared, further, that witness and her friend cried out “murder” as loud as they could, and a mob assembled in the street round the door: but they did not choose to interfere because the old woman, on whom the prisoners were exercising their fury, was a witch. Two of the prisoners, the mother and the elder daughter, continued to hold the old woman as she struggled on the ground for her life ( as she expressed it), whilst the younger daughter, with the first instrument which came to hand, a large nail, lacerated her arm in a dreadful manner. This was done for nearly ten minutes, the mob standing by nearly the whole of the time:, and the old woman was rescued only by the vigorous efforts of her companion. She did not doubt, that if a knife had been in the way when she presented herself at the dorr, she would have been murdered.
Cross-examined.—Do not the people of Wiveliscombe account you to be a witch?
The old woman (with great agitation)- “Oh dear! Oh dear! That I should live to be three score and eight years old, and be accounted a witch at last. Oh dear, what will become of me?’
“Well, it is very hard, certainly: but do they not account you to be a witch?”
It was some time before the old woman could give an intelligible answer, but she said, that she had never been accounted a witch in her life ( God forbid) by any one, before the prisoners circulated about town that she was so, and had exercised her infernal influence over one of them. She always tried to live righteously and peaceably, without doing harm to anyone. She greatly afflicted at injurious supposition.
The apprentice to Mr. North, surgeon at Wiveliscombe, deposed, that, on the night in question, the prosecutrix came to him, to dress her arm, which he found dreadfully lacerated. There were 15 or 16 incisions upon it, some about a quarter of an inch deep, and others an eighth of an inch. They were from two to three inches and three inches and a half long. She bleed severely. Witness dressed her arm, and as she was very healthy, it got well fast. She was ill for more than a month in consequence of the attack. Her arm still bound up.
Elizabeth Collard deposed, that she was an acquaintance of the elder prisoner, and met her on the morning of the day on which the assault took place, not having seen her before for a long time. Witness said, “We were talking about our troubles, when she told me that her troubles were greater than mine or any body’s troubles. She said, her daughter had been bewitched for the last 12 months, and that she she had been to consult old Baker, the Devonshire wizard, about her case, who had given her a recipe against witchcraft and told her, that blood must be drawn from the witch, and that she was going to get blood from her. She was in such a way, that I thought she would have gone immediately to Mrs. Burgess to have drawn blood, but I advised her not to do so, and to let old Baker punish her if she was really the witch.
Mr. Justice Borrough.—Who id old Baker?
Witness—Oh! My lord, he is a great conjurer, the people say. He is a good deal looked up to by the poor people in these parts.
Mr. Justice Borrough.- I wish we had the fellow here. Tell him, that if he does not leave off his conjuring, he will be caught and charmed in a manner that he will not like.
The witness returned- “I pitied the woman, she was in such a world of troubles: and besides that, she had a great many afflictions with her family, but she appeared to feel the bewitching of her daughter very deeply. I asked how the witchcraft worked upon her, when she told me that when her daughter was worked upon, she would dance and sing, just as if she was dancing and singing to a fiddle, in a way that there was no stopping her before she dropped down, when the fiend left her. Whilst the fit was upon her, she would look wished ( wild or affrighted), and point at something, crying, ‘There she stands! There she stands!’(the witch) I felt for her daughter very much. Her state is very pitiable, my lord”.
The jury then found all the prisoners Guilty.
The sentence was, that they should be each imprisoned in the county goal for the space of four calendar months.
The following is a copy of the amulet which the man Baker gave to the poor dupes to wear, as a charm against witchcraft, and also of the recipe or direction for breaking the charm:-
“The gar of mixture is to be mixt with half pint of gen(i.e. gin), and then a tablespoon to be taken mornings and at eleven o’çlock four and eight, and four of the pills to be taken every morning fasting, and the paper of powder to be divided in ten parts, and one part to be taken every night, going to bed, in a little honey.”
‘The paper of arbs (i.e.herbs) is to be burnt, a small bit at a time, on a few coals, with, a little hay and rosemary, and while it is burning, read the two first verses of the 68th Salm, and say the Lord’s Prayer after.
(Signed) “B Baker”
The time at which all this was done was midnight, and with other attendant ceremonies and circumstances, for which he gave instructions. The verses, with which the incantation was to be completed are the following, which, it will be agreed, are well chosen for affect:-
Exsurgat Deus, &c. “Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: let them also, that hate him, flee before him.
‘Like as the smoke vanisheth, so shalt thou drive them away: and like as the wax melteth at the fire, so let the ungodly perish at the presence of god”.
As the preparations were taken by the ignorant creatures, it could not be ascertained what they were, whether medicinal or mere rubbish. After the rites had been all performed, such was the effect upon the imagination of the girl ( aged 22), who fancied herself possessed, that she has not had a fit since. The act of drawing blood from the supposed witch remained to be performed, in order to break the charm entirely, and to prevent it from returning, which horrible ceremony was soon performed in the manner stated.
Ann Burge was buried at St Andrews Wiveliscombe on the 26 Jul 1840 aged 84 years.
Elizabeth Collard was buried at St Andrews Wiveliscombe on the 6th July 1839 aged 86.
Elizabeth Bryant and her family appear to have moved away from Wiveliscombe.
Benjamin Baker was known as the far famed conjurer from Devon.
Anne Burge of Wiveliscombe, was accused of witchcraft in 1823
Tauton- Much curiosity was excited by the appearance of the names of three females in the calendar, on a charge, under lord Ellenborough’s act, of maliciciously cutting and stabbing an old woman, a reputed “witch”, with intent to murder her. The grand jury, however, after consulting the judge, threw out the bill on the capital charge of maliciciously cutting under lord Ellenborough’s act, and re-turned a true bill against.
Elizabeth Bryant, the mother aged 50, Elizabeth Bryant, the younger, aged 22 and Jane Bryant, aged 15, the two daughters assaulted Anne Burgess.
Mr Erskine stated the case to the jury. The parties reside at Wiveliscombe, in the country, and the prosecutrix was a very aged woman. The elder prisoner was a married woman, residing in the same neighbourhood. She had three daughters, who lived with her, two whom were prisoners at the bar. One of these had been afficted by fits, which the mother firmly believed were the workings of some malignant spirit: and in order to counteract or break the spell, she applied for advice to a reputed sorcerer, named Baker, residing and exercising absolute sway in a remote part of Devonshire. This fellow told her, that her daughter was bewitched by a particular person in their neighbourhood, and that, to get rid of the charm, it was necessary to draw blood from the witch, and to cause a preparation, of which he gave her the recipe, to be burnt, with certain ceremonies and prayers. Whether from a staid deportment, reservedness of manners, or old grudge, did not appear, but the prosecutrix was immediately fixed upon as the witch, and was published as such throughout the town of Wiveliscombe, by the elder prisoner, who positively declared that her daughter had been bewitched by her for more than 12 months! The prosecutrix, alarmed at the general impression which appeared to be raised against her, went on the night of the 26th November, to the house of the elder prisoner, whom she met in the dark passage of her house, and said, that she came to know the foundation of the reports, which had been circulated respecting her. The prisoner viewed the visit as a providential one for executing her purpose of drawing blood, and, with horrible imprecations, seized the old woman. The two daughters, upon hearing the noise, rushed out, and instantly fell upon the prosecutrix, who was dragged to the floor, and one of them fetched a nail as the first thing in the way, and began to lacerate the old woman’s arm in the most ferocious manner, whilst the other held her.
The reputed witch, Ann Burgess, was first called. She was a fine, hale-looking old woman, 68 years of age, of rather imposing gravity. She deposed-Ï know the prisoners, the mother and the two daughters. They live about a quarter of a mile from me. On the 26th of November I went to (Mrs Bryant’s), and met her in the passage, which is dark. I said , ‘Betty Bryant, I be come to ask you a civil question, whether I bewitched your daughter? ’She said ‘Yes you have, you d—d old witch: you have bewitched her for the last twelve months:, and she said, she was 10/. The worse for it, and she would be totally d—d, if she would not kill me. They all came out together, and fell upon me. The little daughter drew out my arm and held it, whilst one of the others cut it. The eldest of them said ‘Bring me a knife, that we may cut the flesh off the old wretch’s arms. The tore my arms all over with an iron nail’. The old woman here described the manner the prisoners performed the operation. She was ill from the wounds on her arm;, there was a woman who accompanied witness, who came in and dragged her away from their fury. It appeared, further, that witness and her friend cried out “murder” as loud as they could, and a mob assembled in the street round the door: but they did not choose to interfere because the old woman, on whom the prisoners were exercising their fury, was a witch. Two of the prisoners, the mother and the elder daughter, continued to hold the old woman as she struggled on the ground for her life ( as she expressed it), whilst the younger daughter, with the first instrument which came to hand, a large nail, lacerated her arm in a dreadful manner. This was done for nearly ten minutes, the mob standing by nearly the whole of the time:, and the old woman was rescued only by the vigorous efforts of her companion. She did not doubt, that if a knife had been in the way when she presented herself at the dorr, she would have been murdered.
Cross-examined.—Do not the people of Wiveliscombe account you to be a witch?
The old woman (with great agitation)- “Oh dear! Oh dear! That I should live to be three score and eight years old, and be accounted a witch at last. Oh dear, what will become of me?’
“Well, it is very hard, certainly: but do they not account you to be a witch?”
It was some time before the old woman could give an intelligible answer, but she said, that she had never been accounted a witch in her life ( God forbid) by any one, before the prisoners circulated about town that she was so, and had exercised her infernal influence over one of them. She always tried to live righteously and peaceably, without doing harm to anyone. She greatly afflicted at injurious supposition.
The apprentice to Mr. North, surgeon at Wiveliscombe, deposed, that, on the night in question, the prosecutrix came to him, to dress her arm, which he found dreadfully lacerated. There were 15 or 16 incisions upon it, some about a quarter of an inch deep, and others an eighth of an inch. They were from two to three inches and three inches and a half long. She bleed severely. Witness dressed her arm, and as she was very healthy, it got well fast. She was ill for more than a month in consequence of the attack. Her arm still bound up.
Elizabeth Collard deposed, that she was an acquaintance of the elder prisoner, and met her on the morning of the day on which the assault took place, not having seen her before for a long time. Witness said, “We were talking about our troubles, when she told me that her troubles were greater than mine or any body’s troubles. She said, her daughter had been bewitched for the last 12 months, and that she she had been to consult old Baker, the Devonshire wizard, about her case, who had given her a recipe against witchcraft and told her, that blood must be drawn from the witch, and that she was going to get blood from her. She was in such a way, that I thought she would have gone immediately to Mrs. Burgess to have drawn blood, but I advised her not to do so, and to let old Baker punish her if she was really the witch.
Mr. Justice Borrough.—Who id old Baker?
Witness—Oh! My lord, he is a great conjurer, the people say. He is a good deal looked up to by the poor people in these parts.
Mr. Justice Borrough.- I wish we had the fellow here. Tell him, that if he does not leave off his conjuring, he will be caught and charmed in a manner that he will not like.
The witness returned- “I pitied the woman, she was in such a world of troubles: and besides that, she had a great many afflictions with her family, but she appeared to feel the bewitching of her daughter very deeply. I asked how the witchcraft worked upon her, when she told me that when her daughter was worked upon, she would dance and sing, just as if she was dancing and singing to a fiddle, in a way that there was no stopping her before she dropped down, when the fiend left her. Whilst the fit was upon her, she would look wished ( wild or affrighted), and point at something, crying, ‘There she stands! There she stands!’(the witch) I felt for her daughter very much. Her state is very pitiable, my lord”.
The jury then found all the prisoners Guilty.
The sentence was, that they should be each imprisoned in the county goal for the space of four calendar months.
The following is a copy of the amulet which the man Baker gave to the poor dupes to wear, as a charm against witchcraft, and also of the recipe or direction for breaking the charm:-
“The gar of mixture is to be mixt with half pint of gen(i.e. gin), and then a tablespoon to be taken mornings and at eleven o’çlock four and eight, and four of the pills to be taken every morning fasting, and the paper of powder to be divided in ten parts, and one part to be taken every night, going to bed, in a little honey.”
‘The paper of arbs (i.e.herbs) is to be burnt, a small bit at a time, on a few coals, with, a little hay and rosemary, and while it is burning, read the two first verses of the 68th Salm, and say the Lord’s Prayer after.
(Signed) “B Baker”
The time at which all this was done was midnight, and with other attendant ceremonies and circumstances, for which he gave instructions. The verses, with which the incantation was to be completed are the following, which, it will be agreed, are well chosen for affect:-
Exsurgat Deus, &c. “Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: let them also, that hate him, flee before him.
‘Like as the smoke vanisheth, so shalt thou drive them away: and like as the wax melteth at the fire, so let the ungodly perish at the presence of god”.
As the preparations were taken by the ignorant creatures, it could not be ascertained what they were, whether medicinal or mere rubbish. After the rites had been all performed, such was the effect upon the imagination of the girl ( aged 22), who fancied herself possessed, that she has not had a fit since. The act of drawing blood from the supposed witch remained to be performed, in order to break the charm entirely, and to prevent it from returning, which horrible ceremony was soon performed in the manner stated.
Ann Burge was buried at St Andrews Wiveliscombe on the 26 Jul 1840 aged 84 years.
Elizabeth Collard was buried at St Andrews Wiveliscombe on the 6th July 1839 aged 86.
Elizabeth Bryant and her family appear to have moved away from Wiveliscombe.
Benjamin Baker was known as the far famed conjurer from Devon.
Benjamin Baker the far famed conjurer from Devon.
Witchcraft. — The belief in magical powers of cure cannot be better exemplified than in the case of c Conjuror' Baker. This man was originally a shoemaker, but retired from that business and became what was reputed a white witch. He circulated cards bearing his name and calling attention to the fact that he cast nativities and answered all sorts of questions. Baker resided at Westleigh, a few miles from this town, and many hundreds from Wellington and the neighbourhood around resorted thither for cure. Amongst other things Baker received fees for consultation, charms, medicine, and directions how to find out thieves and tricksters. To repeat prayers backwards, quote verses of Psalms, and such like, after swallowing certain drugs, these formed some of his remedies. An old resident in the town has informed me that he had a sister who was troubled with fits, and when so afflicted * cried out upon ' an old woman, a witch named Betty Webber, who lived in South Street.
The father of the woman went to Conjuror ' Baker, and received directions from that impostor to burn some powder, and at the same time the son (my informant) was to read a Psalm. In the summer of 1888 a paragraph appeared in the Wellington Weekly News to the effect that a young girl had come down from London to the village of Holcombe Rogus to visit some friends. She was much troubled with fits, and an old woman of the village told the girl she was to go to church on the following Sunday, and on coming out she was to ask twelve young men to give her a piece of silver, have a ring made from the coins, and wear it on one of her fingers. The complaint would then go. She did as she was told ; twelve young men gave her a silver coin, and she afterwards started off, presumably to get the ring made. When the Holcombe people came to hear that the girl was no better, they said that she must have spent the money, for had she done .as requested she would not again have been troubled.
Witchcraft. — The belief in magical powers of cure cannot be better exemplified than in the case of c Conjuror' Baker. This man was originally a shoemaker, but retired from that business and became what was reputed a white witch. He circulated cards bearing his name and calling attention to the fact that he cast nativities and answered all sorts of questions. Baker resided at Westleigh, a few miles from this town, and many hundreds from Wellington and the neighbourhood around resorted thither for cure. Amongst other things Baker received fees for consultation, charms, medicine, and directions how to find out thieves and tricksters. To repeat prayers backwards, quote verses of Psalms, and such like, after swallowing certain drugs, these formed some of his remedies. An old resident in the town has informed me that he had a sister who was troubled with fits, and when so afflicted * cried out upon ' an old woman, a witch named Betty Webber, who lived in South Street.
The father of the woman went to Conjuror ' Baker, and received directions from that impostor to burn some powder, and at the same time the son (my informant) was to read a Psalm. In the summer of 1888 a paragraph appeared in the Wellington Weekly News to the effect that a young girl had come down from London to the village of Holcombe Rogus to visit some friends. She was much troubled with fits, and an old woman of the village told the girl she was to go to church on the following Sunday, and on coming out she was to ask twelve young men to give her a piece of silver, have a ring made from the coins, and wear it on one of her fingers. The complaint would then go. She did as she was told ; twelve young men gave her a silver coin, and she afterwards started off, presumably to get the ring made. When the Holcombe people came to hear that the girl was no better, they said that she must have spent the money, for had she done .as requested she would not again have been troubled.
The Wellington House
In 1887, m pulling down a house of thick cob walls, a very interesting discovery was made. There were found in a space which separated the roof from the upper room, and to which there was no visible means of access from below: (1) six brooms; (2) an old armchair; (3) a rope with feathers. The workmen, not attaching due importance to the discovery, did not take proper care of the articles, and the brooms, which were ordinary heather ones, were re-handled and distributed so that they could not be dis- covered. The chair was old and worm-eaten, square and stiff* in shape, and with a rush bottom. It was made of oak and ash. The workmen who made the discovery expressed their belief that all these articles were the belongings of witches, and that the rope was to be used as a ladder to enable them to cross the roof. The workmen as soon as they saw the rope with feathers, called it a c witch's ladder.* This curious relic was composed of a piece of rope about five feet in length and half an inch in diameter, made with three strands, and has at one end a loop. Inserted into the rope crossways are a number of feathers — mostly goose, some crow and rook — not placed in any designed order, or at regular intervals, but sticking out on all sides of the rope, nearly at right angles. The feathers were made into the rope. Some old women who were questioned as to the use of c the ladder' were very reticent upon the subject. One of them, however, admitted the use of the new rope and new feathers in witchcraft. An old Devonshire woman to whom it was shown declared it must be c a wishing rope/ So much interest was aroused in this relic that Dr. Tylor exhibited it at the meeting of the British Association at Manchester in 1887. On that occasion a clergyman expressed his belief that the rope might be a ' servel ' for turning back deer in the forest, such as he himself had carried when young. It has been said also that with witches if anything goes crossgrained, if the ladder is waved to and fro a few times, and the request muttered at the same time with the swinging, the thing that was wrong will be righted. If a witch suspects a person of crime, or of witchcraft, or any offence what- soever, she hangs her ladder outside her house ; if the person conies to the door, but cannot be induced to enter, the thing is proved against him. Another suggestion is that the rope was one of those which witches are known to have used in many places for the purpose ot drawing away the milk from their neighbours' cowsheds.
In 1887, m pulling down a house of thick cob walls, a very interesting discovery was made. There were found in a space which separated the roof from the upper room, and to which there was no visible means of access from below: (1) six brooms; (2) an old armchair; (3) a rope with feathers. The workmen, not attaching due importance to the discovery, did not take proper care of the articles, and the brooms, which were ordinary heather ones, were re-handled and distributed so that they could not be dis- covered. The chair was old and worm-eaten, square and stiff* in shape, and with a rush bottom. It was made of oak and ash. The workmen who made the discovery expressed their belief that all these articles were the belongings of witches, and that the rope was to be used as a ladder to enable them to cross the roof. The workmen as soon as they saw the rope with feathers, called it a c witch's ladder.* This curious relic was composed of a piece of rope about five feet in length and half an inch in diameter, made with three strands, and has at one end a loop. Inserted into the rope crossways are a number of feathers — mostly goose, some crow and rook — not placed in any designed order, or at regular intervals, but sticking out on all sides of the rope, nearly at right angles. The feathers were made into the rope. Some old women who were questioned as to the use of c the ladder' were very reticent upon the subject. One of them, however, admitted the use of the new rope and new feathers in witchcraft. An old Devonshire woman to whom it was shown declared it must be c a wishing rope/ So much interest was aroused in this relic that Dr. Tylor exhibited it at the meeting of the British Association at Manchester in 1887. On that occasion a clergyman expressed his belief that the rope might be a ' servel ' for turning back deer in the forest, such as he himself had carried when young. It has been said also that with witches if anything goes crossgrained, if the ladder is waved to and fro a few times, and the request muttered at the same time with the swinging, the thing that was wrong will be righted. If a witch suspects a person of crime, or of witchcraft, or any offence what- soever, she hangs her ladder outside her house ; if the person conies to the door, but cannot be induced to enter, the thing is proved against him. Another suggestion is that the rope was one of those which witches are known to have used in many places for the purpose ot drawing away the milk from their neighbours' cowsheds.
Of the many extraordinary stories told of witchcraft in the
seventeenth century, the following is so remarkable a sample that
it will probably test the credulity of the most superstitious. That
this county was affected with witchcraft much more than most
places we have only to look into Glanvil's Sadducis?nus Triumphatus.
The following case is referred to by Hutchinson, 1 but his account
is very brief, and the full details which are given below are from
an original letter once in the possession of Mr. Thomas A. Couch,,
the Cornish antiquary, and addressed to the Bishop of Exeter.
1 Historical Essay, 2nd Edition, p. 62.
The Bovets, whose strange performances are described so fully, were members of a prominent family in Wellington at that time (1696), and their active interest in the Civil War and Monmouth Rebellion has been pointed out. The Homers, too, were not un- known here (see pp. 61, 62), so that, although Wellington is not actually mentioned in the narrative, there can be no doubt, judging from what data we have, but that if these strange freaks happened at all they happened in this town. My Most Hon d Lord, Y r Lordship was pleas'd to command me to attend the tryal of y e witch, and give you some account of it. It was thus : Elizabeth Horner, alias Turner, was arraigned on three several indite- ments for murthering Alice, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Bovet, and for pining and laming Sarah and Mary, daughters of y e same Thomas * and Elizabeth Bovet.
The evidence given w ch was anything material was this : Thomas Bovet, the father, swears that Alice, the youngest of y e three daughters, being about four years old, was taken very ill that physitiens could see no natural cause in her illness, and y* she died in five days. That Mary was so taken likewise. Her body strangely distorted, and her legs twisted like the screw of a gun, that she wou'd often go with her eyes shut into the fire, and say that Bett Horner drove her in ; continued thus about seven weeks. She was about ten years old.
'That Sarah, nine years old, was taken after the same manner, — com- plained of being scratch' 1 in bed by a cat, w ch she said was Bett Horner, whom she described exactly in the apparel she had on, tho' the child had not seen her in six months before. That after her imprisonment they were both tormented by pinching and bit'ng, all y e time crying out stil on Bett Horner ; at present the prints of pinches and markes of teeth appearing on their arms and cheeks (this point attested also by Justice Auchester who was w th the children at y e time). That they would vomit pins and stones Sarah cry'd out, the witch had put a pin into her, the point of one appeared just under the skin, and at last it came out upon her middle finger ; cry'd out of being struck by the witch w th a stick, the mark of which stroke appear'd at the time upon her 1 Hutchinson says that JVtHiam Bovet was the father of the children. ankle.
Sarah said that Bett Horner told her how she kill d Alice by squeezing, her breath out of her body, and that she had a teat on her left shoulder which was suck't by toads. Elizabeth Bovet, the mother, depos'd in like manner concerning Alice, who continued ill five days, and so dy'd crying out, Why doe you kill me ? That Sarah and Mary were taken ill alternately, not able to say their prayers, saying they were threatened by the witch, if they shou'd doe it, to be served by her as Alice was, and that she made 'em swear and curse. That they were both of late very hungry, and being asked why they were so, they said the head of Bett Horner entered into them
That Sarah walk't up a wall nine foot high four or five times, backwards and forwards, her face and forepart of her body parallel to y e ceiling of y e room, saying at the time that Bett Horner carry'd her up. The children were also produced in court, who gave the same account sensibly enough, Mary adding further that she saw Bett Horner in her full shape, playing with a toad in a basin Alice Osborne swore that she threaten'd her upon refusing her some barm. She afterwards found a vessel, after she had wasn't it for brewing, fiil'd full of drink, which they threw away, and then brewing and filling y e vessel with drink, in four or five days, neither she nor her husband having drawn any, she found it quite empty and as dry as if no drink had ever been in it.
That Bett Horner threatened her husband, saying, Thou hast children as well as others, and if I come home again, I'll mind some of 'cm. John Fursey depos'd to his seeing her three nights together upon a large down in the same place as if rising out of the ground. Margaret Armiger depos'd that on y e Saturday before her tryal, when the witch was in prison, she met her in the country at about twenty feet distance from her. Mary Stevens depos'd she took a red-hot nail and drove it into the witch's left foot-step, upon which she went lame, and being search' her leg and foot appear'd to be red and fiery. She continued so four or five days, when she pull'd up the nail again, and then the witch was well. This is what was most material against her.
The witch deny'd all, shew'd her shoulder bare in court, when there appear'd nothing but a kind of mole or wart, as it seem'd to me. She said the Lord's Prayer, stopping a little at forgive us our trespasses, but recovered and went on, and she repeated the Creed without a fault. My Lord Chief Justice, by his questions and manner of hemming up the evidence, seem'd to me to believe nothing of witchery at all, and to disbelieve the fact of walking up the wall, which was sworn by the mother. My Lord, y r Lp s most oblig'd and most obedient humble serv.
The Bovets, whose strange performances are described so fully, were members of a prominent family in Wellington at that time (1696), and their active interest in the Civil War and Monmouth Rebellion has been pointed out. The Homers, too, were not un- known here (see pp. 61, 62), so that, although Wellington is not actually mentioned in the narrative, there can be no doubt, judging from what data we have, but that if these strange freaks happened at all they happened in this town. My Most Hon d Lord, Y r Lordship was pleas'd to command me to attend the tryal of y e witch, and give you some account of it. It was thus : Elizabeth Horner, alias Turner, was arraigned on three several indite- ments for murthering Alice, the daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Bovet, and for pining and laming Sarah and Mary, daughters of y e same Thomas * and Elizabeth Bovet.
The evidence given w ch was anything material was this : Thomas Bovet, the father, swears that Alice, the youngest of y e three daughters, being about four years old, was taken very ill that physitiens could see no natural cause in her illness, and y* she died in five days. That Mary was so taken likewise. Her body strangely distorted, and her legs twisted like the screw of a gun, that she wou'd often go with her eyes shut into the fire, and say that Bett Horner drove her in ; continued thus about seven weeks. She was about ten years old.
'That Sarah, nine years old, was taken after the same manner, — com- plained of being scratch' 1 in bed by a cat, w ch she said was Bett Horner, whom she described exactly in the apparel she had on, tho' the child had not seen her in six months before. That after her imprisonment they were both tormented by pinching and bit'ng, all y e time crying out stil on Bett Horner ; at present the prints of pinches and markes of teeth appearing on their arms and cheeks (this point attested also by Justice Auchester who was w th the children at y e time). That they would vomit pins and stones Sarah cry'd out, the witch had put a pin into her, the point of one appeared just under the skin, and at last it came out upon her middle finger ; cry'd out of being struck by the witch w th a stick, the mark of which stroke appear'd at the time upon her 1 Hutchinson says that JVtHiam Bovet was the father of the children. ankle.
Sarah said that Bett Horner told her how she kill d Alice by squeezing, her breath out of her body, and that she had a teat on her left shoulder which was suck't by toads. Elizabeth Bovet, the mother, depos'd in like manner concerning Alice, who continued ill five days, and so dy'd crying out, Why doe you kill me ? That Sarah and Mary were taken ill alternately, not able to say their prayers, saying they were threatened by the witch, if they shou'd doe it, to be served by her as Alice was, and that she made 'em swear and curse. That they were both of late very hungry, and being asked why they were so, they said the head of Bett Horner entered into them
That Sarah walk't up a wall nine foot high four or five times, backwards and forwards, her face and forepart of her body parallel to y e ceiling of y e room, saying at the time that Bett Horner carry'd her up. The children were also produced in court, who gave the same account sensibly enough, Mary adding further that she saw Bett Horner in her full shape, playing with a toad in a basin Alice Osborne swore that she threaten'd her upon refusing her some barm. She afterwards found a vessel, after she had wasn't it for brewing, fiil'd full of drink, which they threw away, and then brewing and filling y e vessel with drink, in four or five days, neither she nor her husband having drawn any, she found it quite empty and as dry as if no drink had ever been in it.
That Bett Horner threatened her husband, saying, Thou hast children as well as others, and if I come home again, I'll mind some of 'cm. John Fursey depos'd to his seeing her three nights together upon a large down in the same place as if rising out of the ground. Margaret Armiger depos'd that on y e Saturday before her tryal, when the witch was in prison, she met her in the country at about twenty feet distance from her. Mary Stevens depos'd she took a red-hot nail and drove it into the witch's left foot-step, upon which she went lame, and being search' her leg and foot appear'd to be red and fiery. She continued so four or five days, when she pull'd up the nail again, and then the witch was well. This is what was most material against her.
The witch deny'd all, shew'd her shoulder bare in court, when there appear'd nothing but a kind of mole or wart, as it seem'd to me. She said the Lord's Prayer, stopping a little at forgive us our trespasses, but recovered and went on, and she repeated the Creed without a fault. My Lord Chief Justice, by his questions and manner of hemming up the evidence, seem'd to me to believe nothing of witchery at all, and to disbelieve the fact of walking up the wall, which was sworn by the mother. My Lord, y r Lp s most oblig'd and most obedient humble serv.
Blackburne. 1
But a few years ago a farmer living at West Buckland had a cow taken ill. The animal for several weeks would not eat anything except oaken boughs, and no farriers' medicine did it any good. At the same time there was living in the village a loose character named Cook, who was a blind weeding woman. She expressed a strong belief in witchcraft, and, furthermore, believed that the cow was ' witched/ and, therefore, must pine away. A few days after this both the woman and her husband were placed in Wellington Union, and within six hours after the woman had left the village the cow began to eat heartily, and soon got well. In the house where the blind weeding woman had lived there was found in the chimney a bullock's heart filled with a great number of pins. This was believed to be a genuine case of witchcraft. A man living in this neighbourhood told his friends that he had been bewitched. Things went wrong, and he could feel that he was 'overlooked/ Consequently a relation of his went to Chard, where resided a man famous as a ' white witch,' who could counteract the evil influence of the 'overlooking eye/ After having received a fee, this white witch declared that a certain person, known to the bewitched one, and a description of whom the wizard easily elicited and partly supplied, had overlooked him. They were to follow certain observances for several days, such as going from the house always at first in a particular direction. They would then shortly see a man of given description come to the house with a basket on his arm, and he should ask for their custom for his wares. They must refuse to buy, for this was the evil witch employed by the overlooking enemy. 1 Ths was no doubt Lancelot Blackburne who at this time was sub-dean of Exeter. Mr. Couch printed this letter in Notes and Queries^ ist Series, Vol. XI.
After that they were to come and report again and all should be well. When the man afflicted next went to Chard all was declared right, prosperity promised, and the deluded one paid down his money and came away happy, and quite convinced that the white witch was a most wonderful man, for no misfortune had befallen him since his communing with the wizard. Another well-authenticated story is of a person who suffered severely with the toothache, and after trying various remedies was recommended to a toothache charmer in Taunton, and went. The woman who possessed this title produced some herbs and charms, and after muttering some few words declared a cure effected.
The belief in the c Evil Eye ' is still strong on the Blackdown Hills. A short time ago there was living in the parish of Church- stanton a woman who was credited with the possession of the * Evil Eye,' and in consequence was held in great dread by her neighbours. Until within a few years past there lived at Blaclcmoor, West Buckland, a woman who was feared by all the people near, as she had a great reputation as a witch. It is considered very lucky to find a holy flint ; that is, a flint with a natural hole in it, for the possession of such a stone is a safe- guard against fairies, witches, and the Evil Eye. Many people remember Sail Sack and Nanny Small, two witches, who lived near the town, and whose cottages people were afraid to pass. Superstitions about Places^ Ghosts^ Fairies^ &c. — On the Black- down Hills, just above the town, is a place named Symonsborough.
Local tradition ascribes the name to the supposed fact that a British chieftain named Simond or Symmond fell in battle just at this spot. It used to be confidently asserted by the people living near the place that the barrow could never be lessened, because as fast as the stones composing it were drawn away more would miraculously come to fill their places. A man named James Bale, who died only a few years since, tested the correctness of the old legend, with the result that now neither the barrow nor any sign of it exists ; but the spot is remembered in the name of Symonsborough hamlet, Great and Little Symonsborough farms, and the field names of Great Barrow Close and Little Barrow Close. A story which alternates with the foregoing in connexion with Symonsborough is that the stones were brought there by the Evil One in his apron. The place is, therefore, known to many as the c Devil's Lapful.'
From a History of Wellington
But a few years ago a farmer living at West Buckland had a cow taken ill. The animal for several weeks would not eat anything except oaken boughs, and no farriers' medicine did it any good. At the same time there was living in the village a loose character named Cook, who was a blind weeding woman. She expressed a strong belief in witchcraft, and, furthermore, believed that the cow was ' witched/ and, therefore, must pine away. A few days after this both the woman and her husband were placed in Wellington Union, and within six hours after the woman had left the village the cow began to eat heartily, and soon got well. In the house where the blind weeding woman had lived there was found in the chimney a bullock's heart filled with a great number of pins. This was believed to be a genuine case of witchcraft. A man living in this neighbourhood told his friends that he had been bewitched. Things went wrong, and he could feel that he was 'overlooked/ Consequently a relation of his went to Chard, where resided a man famous as a ' white witch,' who could counteract the evil influence of the 'overlooking eye/ After having received a fee, this white witch declared that a certain person, known to the bewitched one, and a description of whom the wizard easily elicited and partly supplied, had overlooked him. They were to follow certain observances for several days, such as going from the house always at first in a particular direction. They would then shortly see a man of given description come to the house with a basket on his arm, and he should ask for their custom for his wares. They must refuse to buy, for this was the evil witch employed by the overlooking enemy. 1 Ths was no doubt Lancelot Blackburne who at this time was sub-dean of Exeter. Mr. Couch printed this letter in Notes and Queries^ ist Series, Vol. XI.
After that they were to come and report again and all should be well. When the man afflicted next went to Chard all was declared right, prosperity promised, and the deluded one paid down his money and came away happy, and quite convinced that the white witch was a most wonderful man, for no misfortune had befallen him since his communing with the wizard. Another well-authenticated story is of a person who suffered severely with the toothache, and after trying various remedies was recommended to a toothache charmer in Taunton, and went. The woman who possessed this title produced some herbs and charms, and after muttering some few words declared a cure effected.
The belief in the c Evil Eye ' is still strong on the Blackdown Hills. A short time ago there was living in the parish of Church- stanton a woman who was credited with the possession of the * Evil Eye,' and in consequence was held in great dread by her neighbours. Until within a few years past there lived at Blaclcmoor, West Buckland, a woman who was feared by all the people near, as she had a great reputation as a witch. It is considered very lucky to find a holy flint ; that is, a flint with a natural hole in it, for the possession of such a stone is a safe- guard against fairies, witches, and the Evil Eye. Many people remember Sail Sack and Nanny Small, two witches, who lived near the town, and whose cottages people were afraid to pass. Superstitions about Places^ Ghosts^ Fairies^ &c. — On the Black- down Hills, just above the town, is a place named Symonsborough.
Local tradition ascribes the name to the supposed fact that a British chieftain named Simond or Symmond fell in battle just at this spot. It used to be confidently asserted by the people living near the place that the barrow could never be lessened, because as fast as the stones composing it were drawn away more would miraculously come to fill their places. A man named James Bale, who died only a few years since, tested the correctness of the old legend, with the result that now neither the barrow nor any sign of it exists ; but the spot is remembered in the name of Symonsborough hamlet, Great and Little Symonsborough farms, and the field names of Great Barrow Close and Little Barrow Close. A story which alternates with the foregoing in connexion with Symonsborough is that the stones were brought there by the Evil One in his apron. The place is, therefore, known to many as the c Devil's Lapful.'
From a History of Wellington
Fairies and the Otherworld
At the top of Wellington Hill, in the copse to the west of the Monument, there is a gully known as Wilscum Bottom. Here is a waterfall; the water falling into a hole, the bottom of which is of soft marl, proceeds downwards towards Bryant's Farm. This hole is called ' Popham's Pit,' and is supposed to be one of the entrances to the nether region of fiends. In fact, the Arch Enemy himself is said to issue from thence at certain times. It is believed that if cattle fall into this pit they sink out of sight into a bottomless abyss. Local tradition says that Sir John Popham was riding in this copse and that his horse fell over the edge of the hole and killed his rider. The ghost of the Knight is said to haunt the spot and approach the town nearer c by one cock-stride every year.' The following is an account of similar superstitions of the same locality, as told to Mr. F. T. Elworthy, and given in dialect spelling in his Grammar. The more familiar rendering is given here : — 1
I suppose you have heard about the great oak-tree up at Wellington Park wood, which, they used to say, Lord Popham was conjured (trans- formed) into? Well, don't you see, up there, you know, Sir, there is a great deep bottom (ravine) goes down as deep as the tower, very steep like, as one may say, the same as the side going up over Wellington Hill, and this here oak-tree, he was a terrible great tree sure enough, he was, and he grew in the side of him (i.e., of the ravine), and that place is called Wilscombe bottom. You mind (recollect) the poor (i.e., deceased) old Tom Alway, don't you, Sir ? that is, the old Tom Alway's father, you know, Sir (he) helped to throw (fell) him, and when they threw him (the oak), if he did not turn right top-on-tail (head over heels) — yes, sure, and the head of him was right down under, and there he abode, and they was all of them afraid for to go anenst (near) him, and they said how he was so conjured nobody could not never drag him out ; and there he remained ; and at last I went up, because they said the horses would be sure to be killed, with ten oxen, and I hitched them up to him, and the bullocks pulled him out, and dragged him into the hanging-close, and I never saw nought, and they was all of them a-waiting and a-looking how I should have been killed, and calling of me a fool for to go, but I never saw naught, nor yet nobody at all. And you knows Wellington Park house, don't you, Sir ? I mind when I used to live up there, up in the garret, there was a place there then like a oven like, and I saw some books with reading in them in the oven, and they said that was Lord Popham's books, and they said how a man went up and set astride upon the roof with a Bible, in order that he (the devil) might not carry the roof away. Yes ! and 'tis a terrible old house, Sir, but I never did not sec nobody there, no worse than myself, as one might say. Nevertheless, I have heard them say how the servant chap was going for to let out (i.e., into a pasture) the hackney after his master had come home from market, and there was a man stood in the gateway, and he could not open the gate, and when they took him to doing (scolding) next morning, because he had not put out the horse, don't you see, Sir? he said, said he, how he could not put him out, because there was a man stood right in the gateway, so that he could not open him (the gate), and they always used to say how they always considered that there was Lord Popham.'
At the top of Wellington Hill, in the copse to the west of the Monument, there is a gully known as Wilscum Bottom. Here is a waterfall; the water falling into a hole, the bottom of which is of soft marl, proceeds downwards towards Bryant's Farm. This hole is called ' Popham's Pit,' and is supposed to be one of the entrances to the nether region of fiends. In fact, the Arch Enemy himself is said to issue from thence at certain times. It is believed that if cattle fall into this pit they sink out of sight into a bottomless abyss. Local tradition says that Sir John Popham was riding in this copse and that his horse fell over the edge of the hole and killed his rider. The ghost of the Knight is said to haunt the spot and approach the town nearer c by one cock-stride every year.' The following is an account of similar superstitions of the same locality, as told to Mr. F. T. Elworthy, and given in dialect spelling in his Grammar. The more familiar rendering is given here : — 1
I suppose you have heard about the great oak-tree up at Wellington Park wood, which, they used to say, Lord Popham was conjured (trans- formed) into? Well, don't you see, up there, you know, Sir, there is a great deep bottom (ravine) goes down as deep as the tower, very steep like, as one may say, the same as the side going up over Wellington Hill, and this here oak-tree, he was a terrible great tree sure enough, he was, and he grew in the side of him (i.e., of the ravine), and that place is called Wilscombe bottom. You mind (recollect) the poor (i.e., deceased) old Tom Alway, don't you, Sir ? that is, the old Tom Alway's father, you know, Sir (he) helped to throw (fell) him, and when they threw him (the oak), if he did not turn right top-on-tail (head over heels) — yes, sure, and the head of him was right down under, and there he abode, and they was all of them afraid for to go anenst (near) him, and they said how he was so conjured nobody could not never drag him out ; and there he remained ; and at last I went up, because they said the horses would be sure to be killed, with ten oxen, and I hitched them up to him, and the bullocks pulled him out, and dragged him into the hanging-close, and I never saw nought, and they was all of them a-waiting and a-looking how I should have been killed, and calling of me a fool for to go, but I never saw naught, nor yet nobody at all. And you knows Wellington Park house, don't you, Sir ? I mind when I used to live up there, up in the garret, there was a place there then like a oven like, and I saw some books with reading in them in the oven, and they said that was Lord Popham's books, and they said how a man went up and set astride upon the roof with a Bible, in order that he (the devil) might not carry the roof away. Yes ! and 'tis a terrible old house, Sir, but I never did not sec nobody there, no worse than myself, as one might say. Nevertheless, I have heard them say how the servant chap was going for to let out (i.e., into a pasture) the hackney after his master had come home from market, and there was a man stood in the gateway, and he could not open the gate, and when they took him to doing (scolding) next morning, because he had not put out the horse, don't you see, Sir? he said, said he, how he could not put him out, because there was a man stood right in the gateway, so that he could not open him (the gate), and they always used to say how they always considered that there was Lord Popham.'
Cock-Crow Stone
There is near the c Cat and Fiddle ■ on the hill a large boulder stone known as Cock-Crow Stone, and it is said of the stone that every time it hears the cock crow it gets up and turns round. An attempt was once made to move this stone, for it is believed that there is hidden beneath it a crock of gold. The stone, however, resisted all attempts of a team of horses to move it. When old houses are being pulled down it is a very common question to ask for 'the Crock.' Hoards of money have, indeed, been found which were hidden away in stormy times.
There is near the c Cat and Fiddle ■ on the hill a large boulder stone known as Cock-Crow Stone, and it is said of the stone that every time it hears the cock crow it gets up and turns round. An attempt was once made to move this stone, for it is believed that there is hidden beneath it a crock of gold. The stone, however, resisted all attempts of a team of horses to move it. When old houses are being pulled down it is a very common question to ask for 'the Crock.' Hoards of money have, indeed, been found which were hidden away in stormy times.
The Pandamonium, or the Devil's Cloyster ious book by Richard Bovet, published in 1684
Bovet's relations are very curious. Of fairies, he writes : * The place near which they most ordinarily showed themselves was on the side of a hill named Blackdown. Those that have had occasion to travel that way have frequently seen them there, appearing like men and women of a stature, generally,, near the smaller size of men ; their habits (clothes) used to be of red, blue, or green, according to the old way of country garb r with high-crown'd hats.' These fairies sometimes appeared dancing and sometimes keeping a fair. Bovet relates that a farmer of the neighbourhood, returning one night from market, seeing (or thinking he saw) a great array of these fairies, and having the curiosity to approach near to them he became afflicted with lameness, and con- tinued lame all his life. '
There were some,' continues Bovet, 1 whose names I have now forgot, but who assured me that they had at many times seen this fair-keeping in the summer time as they came from Taunton market ; but that they must not adventure in amongst them, for that every one that had done so had received great damage by it. Any person that is incredulous of what is here related may, upon inquiry of the neighbour inhabitants, receive ample satisfaction, not only as to what is here related, but abun- dantly more, which I have heard solemnly confirmed by many of them/
Pixy-rings are places where fairies dance. Toadstools are pixy- stools. Gathering stray apples in an orchard is called gathering the pixy-wording, viz., pixy-hoarding.
Superstitions about Births and Deaths. —
A remarkable instance of the veneration in which the ash-tree is held was instanced quite recently when the wife of a well-to-do farmer gave birth to twins, one of whom was born with hernia. To cure this, the farmer and his wife, together with neighbours and dependents, adjourned to a wood early one Sunday morning and split open the stem of a young growing ash-tree, wide enough for the child to be passed through. This was done three times, and the tree bound up again with a hay band, the popular belief being that if the tree grows together again the child will get better, but if the sides of the tree do not unite the child will die.
In this identical case the hay band got removed, and the superstitious farmer was unable to test the validity of his belief.
There is a widespread superstition that when a death occurs in a family where bees are kept each hive ought to be told of it. Mr. Elworthy has given a curious instance of this. Some years ago a man whose wife had very recently died was desirous to sell two hives of bees. It was suggested to him that his reason for selling was lest they should die. But he replied that it was all right, the bees would not die, for he had been down on his knees as they carried his wife's corpse away and whispered it to them all. It is considered not only unlucky, but a sign of death if, in swarming, the bees alight on a dead tree. 1
When a candle is burning, if the melted grease runs down on one side it often projects and then unites to the candle, forming a loop. This is a c coffin handle,' and is a sure sign of death to the person in whose direction it forms itself.
The same superstition holds when the grease merely forms a considerable projection ; it is then c a winding sheet,' and being more common is not as much dreaded as a c coffin handle.' 2
A late and solitary blossom on an apple-tree is a sign of death, so also is a dog barking at night, or a bird tapping against the window pane.
Other death signs are the accidental placing of the bellows on the table ; if the flowers of May or white thorn are brought into the house ; if four magpies are seen together.
Always drown kittens born in May, as they will catch no mice.
Bovet relates, c At Kitsford, which is now the seat of Thomas Wood, Esq.,
I very well remember dining in the parlour there with 1 Elworthy. the lady, the mother of the ahove-named gentleman ; she showed me in the hangings of the room, near one of the windows, a great hole eaten, as supposed, by rats ; it was almost at the top of the room ; and this, she said, happened but a few weeks before the death of her husband. Some time after, dining again in the same room, there was another hole eaten just under the former, which, the gentlewoman was pleased to say, did foreshew her death; and truly, in a very little time after, she died on a Sunday morning without any previous sickness, being at that time dressing herself to go to church with intent to receive the Communion, and was to all appearance well in health, and dead in half an hour's time. About a year or more after that another hole was eaten in the same hanging, soon after which died Roger Wood, Esq., the Heir, and elder brother to him that now enjoys the estate. He likewise died very suddenly, for having been out coursing a hare in the morning he came in about noon at his brother's, George Powell, Esquire's (where he then lodged), and, leaning his hand to his head, complained that his head aked, and died in a few hours.'
A superstition very prevalent in the neighbourhood about the tolling of the death-bell is that if it sounds c heavy,' or not clear, there will be occasion for it to ring again within a short time ; some fix it at a week. If a corpse is limp when put into the coffin there will shortly be another death in the family.
Miscellaneous Superstitions. — It is believed that if you wish to do injury to an enemy you must take an onion, write the name of your enemy on a piece of a paper, and then stick it with pins to the onion, putting as many pins into the onion through the paper as it will take. The onion must then be put up the chimney, and as it withers so will the heart of the person whose name is pierced. The pig's heart is used for the same purpose. 2 Two hearts and a criss-cross drawn with the forefinger on the it.
VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
mash in brewing or the sponge in baking are supposed to be quite effectual in keeping off mischievous sprites or witches.
A double nut is worn as a charm against witches. As cures for toothache the double-nut charm is also used, and the drawing on of the stockings and boots in the order contrary to custom is a supposed preventive.
A drawn tooth should be thrown into the fire, otherwise 4 dog's tooth ' will be engendered.
An obsolete Twelfth-night custom to bring luck and fruitfulness to the apple-trees was to toast a round of bread and soak it in a mug of cider. The bread was then taken to the apple-tree and placed in the fork all soft and sopped. Then each one present took a mouth- ful of the cider in the mug and ejected it from their mouths on to the toast. The company then shouted, — ' Apple-tree ! apple-tree ! I wassail thee ! And wish thee good luck ! To blow and to bear ! Hatfuls ! capfuls ! three bushel bagfuls ! And my pockets full, too ! Hurrah ! ' After this ceremony had been gone through to several trees there was a return to the fireside, where more mugs were passed around.
Store or hoard apples should never be gathered when the moon is on the wane or they will shrivel up.
When the cuckoo is heard for the first time it is lucky to run as hard as you can straight ahead for a hundred yards or so.
To help a friend to salt is to help him to sorrow ; the antidote being to take a pinch of the salt so given and throw it over the left shoulder.
During a thunderstorm always open the door of the room where you are sitting, so that if a thunderbolt comes down the chimney it may find its way out.
A sty on the eye is remedied by striking it with a wedding-ring.
When the new moon is first seen the one who sees it should, to avert ill-luck, turn his back to the moon, take out a coin and toss it over the left shoulder, at the same time looking over that shoulder.
When the new moon change happens to fall on a Saturday it portends bad weather.
The old saying runs, — 1 Saturday's moon If it comes once in seven years Comes once too soon.* By some it is believed that if the weather is about to change it will do so on a Sunday. Others say that whatever the weather is on a Saturday that will it be the week to come. Or again, — ' A rainy Friday, a rainy Sunday. A fair Friday, a fair Sunday.'
Bovet's relations are very curious. Of fairies, he writes : * The place near which they most ordinarily showed themselves was on the side of a hill named Blackdown. Those that have had occasion to travel that way have frequently seen them there, appearing like men and women of a stature, generally,, near the smaller size of men ; their habits (clothes) used to be of red, blue, or green, according to the old way of country garb r with high-crown'd hats.' These fairies sometimes appeared dancing and sometimes keeping a fair. Bovet relates that a farmer of the neighbourhood, returning one night from market, seeing (or thinking he saw) a great array of these fairies, and having the curiosity to approach near to them he became afflicted with lameness, and con- tinued lame all his life. '
There were some,' continues Bovet, 1 whose names I have now forgot, but who assured me that they had at many times seen this fair-keeping in the summer time as they came from Taunton market ; but that they must not adventure in amongst them, for that every one that had done so had received great damage by it. Any person that is incredulous of what is here related may, upon inquiry of the neighbour inhabitants, receive ample satisfaction, not only as to what is here related, but abun- dantly more, which I have heard solemnly confirmed by many of them/
Pixy-rings are places where fairies dance. Toadstools are pixy- stools. Gathering stray apples in an orchard is called gathering the pixy-wording, viz., pixy-hoarding.
Superstitions about Births and Deaths. —
A remarkable instance of the veneration in which the ash-tree is held was instanced quite recently when the wife of a well-to-do farmer gave birth to twins, one of whom was born with hernia. To cure this, the farmer and his wife, together with neighbours and dependents, adjourned to a wood early one Sunday morning and split open the stem of a young growing ash-tree, wide enough for the child to be passed through. This was done three times, and the tree bound up again with a hay band, the popular belief being that if the tree grows together again the child will get better, but if the sides of the tree do not unite the child will die.
In this identical case the hay band got removed, and the superstitious farmer was unable to test the validity of his belief.
There is a widespread superstition that when a death occurs in a family where bees are kept each hive ought to be told of it. Mr. Elworthy has given a curious instance of this. Some years ago a man whose wife had very recently died was desirous to sell two hives of bees. It was suggested to him that his reason for selling was lest they should die. But he replied that it was all right, the bees would not die, for he had been down on his knees as they carried his wife's corpse away and whispered it to them all. It is considered not only unlucky, but a sign of death if, in swarming, the bees alight on a dead tree. 1
When a candle is burning, if the melted grease runs down on one side it often projects and then unites to the candle, forming a loop. This is a c coffin handle,' and is a sure sign of death to the person in whose direction it forms itself.
The same superstition holds when the grease merely forms a considerable projection ; it is then c a winding sheet,' and being more common is not as much dreaded as a c coffin handle.' 2
A late and solitary blossom on an apple-tree is a sign of death, so also is a dog barking at night, or a bird tapping against the window pane.
Other death signs are the accidental placing of the bellows on the table ; if the flowers of May or white thorn are brought into the house ; if four magpies are seen together.
Always drown kittens born in May, as they will catch no mice.
Bovet relates, c At Kitsford, which is now the seat of Thomas Wood, Esq.,
I very well remember dining in the parlour there with 1 Elworthy. the lady, the mother of the ahove-named gentleman ; she showed me in the hangings of the room, near one of the windows, a great hole eaten, as supposed, by rats ; it was almost at the top of the room ; and this, she said, happened but a few weeks before the death of her husband. Some time after, dining again in the same room, there was another hole eaten just under the former, which, the gentlewoman was pleased to say, did foreshew her death; and truly, in a very little time after, she died on a Sunday morning without any previous sickness, being at that time dressing herself to go to church with intent to receive the Communion, and was to all appearance well in health, and dead in half an hour's time. About a year or more after that another hole was eaten in the same hanging, soon after which died Roger Wood, Esq., the Heir, and elder brother to him that now enjoys the estate. He likewise died very suddenly, for having been out coursing a hare in the morning he came in about noon at his brother's, George Powell, Esquire's (where he then lodged), and, leaning his hand to his head, complained that his head aked, and died in a few hours.'
A superstition very prevalent in the neighbourhood about the tolling of the death-bell is that if it sounds c heavy,' or not clear, there will be occasion for it to ring again within a short time ; some fix it at a week. If a corpse is limp when put into the coffin there will shortly be another death in the family.
Miscellaneous Superstitions. — It is believed that if you wish to do injury to an enemy you must take an onion, write the name of your enemy on a piece of a paper, and then stick it with pins to the onion, putting as many pins into the onion through the paper as it will take. The onion must then be put up the chimney, and as it withers so will the heart of the person whose name is pierced. The pig's heart is used for the same purpose. 2 Two hearts and a criss-cross drawn with the forefinger on the it.
VARIOUS SUPERSTITIONS.
mash in brewing or the sponge in baking are supposed to be quite effectual in keeping off mischievous sprites or witches.
A double nut is worn as a charm against witches. As cures for toothache the double-nut charm is also used, and the drawing on of the stockings and boots in the order contrary to custom is a supposed preventive.
A drawn tooth should be thrown into the fire, otherwise 4 dog's tooth ' will be engendered.
An obsolete Twelfth-night custom to bring luck and fruitfulness to the apple-trees was to toast a round of bread and soak it in a mug of cider. The bread was then taken to the apple-tree and placed in the fork all soft and sopped. Then each one present took a mouth- ful of the cider in the mug and ejected it from their mouths on to the toast. The company then shouted, — ' Apple-tree ! apple-tree ! I wassail thee ! And wish thee good luck ! To blow and to bear ! Hatfuls ! capfuls ! three bushel bagfuls ! And my pockets full, too ! Hurrah ! ' After this ceremony had been gone through to several trees there was a return to the fireside, where more mugs were passed around.
Store or hoard apples should never be gathered when the moon is on the wane or they will shrivel up.
When the cuckoo is heard for the first time it is lucky to run as hard as you can straight ahead for a hundred yards or so.
To help a friend to salt is to help him to sorrow ; the antidote being to take a pinch of the salt so given and throw it over the left shoulder.
During a thunderstorm always open the door of the room where you are sitting, so that if a thunderbolt comes down the chimney it may find its way out.
A sty on the eye is remedied by striking it with a wedding-ring.
When the new moon is first seen the one who sees it should, to avert ill-luck, turn his back to the moon, take out a coin and toss it over the left shoulder, at the same time looking over that shoulder.
When the new moon change happens to fall on a Saturday it portends bad weather.
The old saying runs, — 1 Saturday's moon If it comes once in seven years Comes once too soon.* By some it is believed that if the weather is about to change it will do so on a Sunday. Others say that whatever the weather is on a Saturday that will it be the week to come. Or again, — ' A rainy Friday, a rainy Sunday. A fair Friday, a fair Sunday.'
Research by Sheridon Rayment