for several generations, and it seems that in fact this is simply a small
abandoned farmhouse!
The worst period of witchhunting in England took place in 1645 with the
persecutions carried out by Matthew Hopkins, who called himself the
‘WitchfinderGeneral’. He accused thirtyfive Essex women of witchcraft,
nineteen of whom were hanged at a mass execution in Chelmsford. Nine other
unfortunates died in gaol. The general lawlessness of the Civil War period
seems to have led to an increase in persecution.
Accused witches in Europe were unlike those in Britain. Many more were
male, and many were well off, while in England, most of the accused were
women of lower birth aged over fifty. Many prosecutions were initiated by
private people who might have seen a way to either get their hands on useful
property, or to take revenge against someone who had insulted or offended
them.
To identify a witch, there were several methods and procedures available
and, without torture, these were essential for a successful prosecution.
‘Pricking’involved finding a‘devil’s mark’on the skin of the accused and
sticking a knife or a pin into it. It was believed that if the person were a
witch, they would feel no pain. Some professional‘prickers’were said to
have used retractable blades to make it seem that the accused was in league
with the devil. Another method was‘swimming’ –the theory that a witch
could not sink into water, especially if it had been blessed. The accused was
bound, with her thumbs tied to her feet, right to left and left to right. A rope
tied around the waist allowed the innocent to be pulled out before they
drowned. This practice was deplored by both the civil courts and the
church, but went on in rural districts.
‘Watching’involved placing the witch on a stool and observing them for
hours or even days to see if a familiar imp or creature would appear, coming
to their aid. Finding familiars, or wax images, or implements associated with
witchcraft in the person’s home also provided evidence, along with the
testimony of those claiming to have been bewitched. Witches were also
examined to see if they had a‘devil’s teat’with which they suckled their imps
or familiars (Figure 23). The‘familiars’were usually the domestic pets of
these poor, lonely old women–their cats and dogs and rabbits.^5
There were ways to protect oneself against a witch. One popular English
method was‘scratching’. If you scratched a witch deeply enough to draw blood,
the enchantment would fail but this seems to have been a purely folk practice,
frowned upon by many in authority. Another method was to make up a‘witch
bottle’. Many of these have been found, often under hearths or doorsteps. The
EARLY MODERN CRIME