hag of the sixteenth century, was as fully endued with bewitching qualifications, as her more accomplished prototype of antiquity. She pluck'd each starre out of its throne, And no witch, whether of ancient or modern times, whether poetical or real, could do more. We have entered fully into the proceedings of former times, and we must now turn our attention to those of a later period. The following curious "confessions," will explain the subject extremely well; and we may rely upon their authenticity, as they were made in the year 1664, before Robert Hunt, Esq. one of his Majesty's justices of the peace for the county of Somerset, and " in the presence of several grave and orthodox divines." Elizabeth Style confessed, that the devill, about ten years since, appeared to her in the shape of a handsome man, and after of a black dog; that he promised her money, and that she should live gallantly, and have the pleasure of the world for twelve years, if she would, with her blood, sign his paper, which was to give her soul to him, and observe his laws, and that he might suck her blood. This, after four sollicitations, the examinant promised to do; upon which he pricked the fourth finger of her right hand, between the middle and upper joint (where the sign at the examination remained), and with a drop or two of her blood, she signed the paper with an O. Upon this the devill gave her sixpence, and vanished with the paper. That since he hath appeared to her in the shape of a man, and did so on Wed nesday seven-night past; but more usually he appears in the likeness of a dog, and cat, and a fly like a millar, in which last he usually sucks in the poll, about four of the clock in the morning, and did so January 27, and that it usually is pain to her to be so suckt. That when she hath a desire to do harm, she calls the spirit by the name of Robin, to whom, when he appeareth, she useth these words, O Satan, give me my purpose! She then tells him what she would have done. And that he should so appear to her was part of her contract with him. That about a month ago, he appearing, she desired him to torment one Elizabeth Hill, and to thrust thorns into her flesh, which he promised to do, and the next time he appeared, he told her he had done it. That a little above a month since, the examinant, with Alice Duke, Ann Bishop, and Mary Penny, met about nine o'clock of the night, in the common near Tristongate, where they met a man in black cloaths, with a little band, to whom they did courtesy and due observance; and the examinant verily believes that this was the devil. At that time Alice Duke brought a picture in wax, which was for Elizabeth Hill. The man in black took it in his arms, anointed its forehead, and said, I baptize thee with this oyl, and used some other words. He was god-father, and the examinant and Ann Bishop were god-mothers. They called it Elizabeth or Bess. Then the man in black, this examinant, Ann Bishop, and Alice Duke stuck thorns into several places of the neck, hand-wrists, fingers, and other parts of the said picture. + After which they had wine, cakes, and roast-meat (all brought by the man in black), which they did eat and drink. They danced and were merry, were bodily there, and in their cloaths. [Several of these unhallowed meetings took place, when other effigies were baptized, and other freaks and merriments indulged in. The black gentleman always presided, and whether he was man or devil, the most solemn respect was con "This Elizabeth Style, of Stoke Triston, in the county of Somerset (quoth Mr. Glanvil), was accused by divers persons of credit, upon oath, before Mr. Hunt, and particularly and largely confessed her guilt herself, which was found by the jury at her tryal at Taunton: but she prevented execution by dying in gaol, a little before the expiring of the term her confederate demon had set for her enjoyment of diabolical pleasures in this life." What a precious set of asses these "grave and orthodox divines” must have been! This precious" examinant" deposed also, that "when they would bewitch man, woman, or child, they do it sometimes only by a picture made in wax, which the devil formally baptized. Sometimes they have an apple, dish, spoon, or other thing from their evil spirit, which they give to the party to whom they would do harm. Upon which they have power to hurt the person that received it. Sometimes they have power to do mischief by a touch or curse: by these they can mischief cattle, and by cursing without touching: but neither without the devil's leave.”—Sadducismus Triumphatus, p. 297-8. stantly paid to him. From the testimony of this communcative old lady, it appears, that she and her associates were carried to these nocturnal confederations by supernatural means, but before they commenced their flight, it was necessary that they should anoint their foreheads and hand-wrists with "an oyl the spirit brings them *;" after which ceremony they are carried in "a very short time," using the following words in their passage, "Thout, tout, a tout tout, throughout and about!" and on their return they exclaim, "Rentum, tormentum." The "man in black" was certainly a very substantial sort of spirit, and never failed to bring with him abundance of excellent cheer. "Wine, good ale, cakes, meat, or the like," was the usual bill of fare; and few, we imagine, existed, who could withstand such a powerful temptation. The demon appears also to have been somewhat accomplished; for he "sometimes played sweetly on the pipe or cittern," while his delighted disciples danced merrily to the music. This, by the way, was no despicable mode of whiling away the tedium of a long and dreary winter's evening; and there can be but little doubt, that this fascinating fiend gained a great number of proselytes among the ancient women of the country. The confession which follows was made by a participator in the routs and revels of Elizabeth Style.] "Alice Duke, alias Manning, of Wincanton, in the county of Somerset, widow," declared, that "when she lived with Ann Bishop, of Wincanton, about eleven or twelve years ago, Ann Bishop persuaded her to go with her into the church-yard in the night-time, and be ing come thither, to go backward round the church, which they did three times. In their first round, they met a man in black cloaths, who went round the second time with them, and then they met a thing in the shape of a great black toad, which leaped up against the examinant's apron. In their third round, they met something like a rat, which vanished away! After this the examinant and Ann Bishop went home, but before Ann Bishop went off, the man in black said something to her softly, which the informant could not hear. A few days after, Ann Bishop speaking about their going round the church, told the examinant, that now she might have her desire, and what she would wish for. And shortly after, the devil appeared to her in the shape of a man, promising that she should want nothing, and that if she cursed any thing with a por take thee! she should have her purpose, in case she would give her soul to him, suffer him to suck her blood, keep his secrets, and be his instrument to do such mischief as he would set her about. All which, upon his second appearing to her, she yielded to, and the devil having pricked the fourth finger of her right-hand, between the middle and upper joint (where the mark is yet to be seen), gave her a pen, with which she made a cross or mark with her blood on paper or parchment, that the devil offered her for the confirmation of the agreement, which was done in the presence of Ann Bishop. And as soon as the examinant had signed it, the devil gave her sixpence, and went away with the paper or parchment. She confessed further, that the devil useth to suck her in the poll about four o'clock in the morning, in the form of a That the confederate spirit (observes Glanvil), should transport the witch through the air to the place of general rendezvous, there is no difficulty in conceiving it; and if that be true, which great philosophers affirm, concerning the real separability of the soul from the body without death, there is yet less; for then 'tis easy to apprehend, the soul having left its gross and sluggish body behind it, and being clothed only with its immediate vehicle of air, or more subtile matter, may be quickly conducted to any place it would be at by those officious spirits that attend it. And though I adventure to affirm nothing concerning the truth and certainty of this supposition, yet I must needs say, it doth not seem to me unreasonable. And our experience of apoplexies, epilepsies, extasies, and the strange things men report to have seen, during those deliquiums, look favourably upon this conjecture, which seems to me to contradict no principle of reason or philosophy; since death consists not so much in the actual separation of soul and body, as in the indisposition and unfitness of the body for vital union, as an excellent philosopher hath made good. On which hypothesis the witch's anointing herself before she takes her flight, may, perhaps, serve to keep the body tenantable, and in fit dispo sition to receive the spirit at its return. These things, I say, we may conceive, although I affirm nothing about them; and there is not any thing in such conceptions, but what hath been owned by men of worth and name, and may seem fair and accountable enough to those who judge not altogether by the measures of the popular and customary opinion.-Sadd. Triumph. 9. + Sadducismus Triumphatus, p. 295-6-7. The following exquisite explication of this imaginary action is worthy of Coleridge himself, so far, we mean, as regards ingenuity of argument:-" as for witches being sucked by their familiars, we know so little of the nature of demons and spirits, that 'tis no wonder we cannot certainly divine the reason of so strange an action. And yet we Ay like a millar, concerning which let us "I think so, too," answered she. A little while after, the deponent, and others, looking again into her poll, found the place to be of its former colour. The deponent demanded again, what the fly was; she confessed it was her familiar, and that she felt it tickle in her poll, and that was the usual time when her familiar came to her. Taken upon oath, before me, ROBERT HUNT. The remainder of this confession is merely a disclosure of the same disgusting practices as those which were used by Elizabeth Style, and of the same profuse liberality and fascinating courtesy of the "gentleman in black." It concludes, however, with the names of several individuals, upon whom Alice Duke had vented her malice, and who had been afflicted, in consequence of her baneful gifts, or injurious maledictions. That she hurt Thomas Garret's cows, because he refused to write a petition for her. That she hurt Thomas Conway, by putting a dish into his hand, which dish she had from the devil, she gave it him to give his daughter for good handsel. That she hurt Dorothy, the wife of George Vining, by giving her an iron slate to put into her steeling-box. That being angry with Edith Watts, the daughter of Edmond Watts, for treading on her foot, she cursed Edith with a pox-on-you, and after touched her, which hath done the said Edith much harm, for which she is sorry.* may conjecture at some things that may render it less improbable. For some have thought, that the genii (whom both the Platonical and Christian antiquity thought embodied) are re-created by the reeks and vapours of human blood, and the spirits that proceed from them. Which supposal (if we grant them bodies) is not unlikely, every thing being refreshed and nourished by its like. And that they are not perfectly abstracted from all body and matter; besides the reverence that we owe to the wisest antiquity, there are several considerable arguments I could allege to render it probable. Which things supposed, the devil's sucking the sorceress is no great wonder, nor difficult to be accounted for.. Or, perhaps, this may be only a diabolical sacrament to confirm the hellish covenant. Again, it seemeth most probable to me that the familiar doth not only suck the witch, but, in the action, infuseth some poisonous ferment into her, which gives her imagination and spirits a magical tincture, whereby they become mischievously influential; and the word Venefica meaneth some such matter. Now that the imagination hath a mighty power in operation is proved by the number of diseases that it causeth; and that the fancy is modified by the qualities of the blood and spirits is too evident to need proof. Which things supposed, 'tis plain to conceive, that the evil spirits have breathed some vile vapour into the body of the witch, it may taint her blood and spirits with a noxious quality, by which her infected imagination, heightened by melancholy, and this worse cause, may do much hurt upon bodies that are impressible by such influences. And 'tis very likely, that this ferment disposeth the imagination of the sorceress to cause the mentioned apɑipecía, or separation of the soul from the body; and may, perhaps, keep the body in fit temper for its re-entry, as also it may facilitate transformation, which, it may be, could not be effected by ordinary and unassisted imagination.”—Glanvil's Considerations about Witchcraft, p. 10. These bewitched persons were duly sworn before Robert Hunt, Esq. "touching their griefs and maladies,"—all of which were, of course, imputed to the influence and infernal agency of Alice Duke. This poor, infatuated hag, although no doubt firmly It appears from these narratives, that the chief object which these crazy women had in view, was the tormenting of those individuals who had become obnoxious to them. But, in addition to the power which enabled witches to accomplish their purpose in this respect, they were gifted through the aid of their patron with divers other marvellous and supernatural attributes. They could assume the resemblance of any animal in the creation; Transform themselves to th' ugly shapes but, it must be observed, that their new form would always want the tail.* This convenient faculty was not altogether confined to their own persons: it extended in a slight degree to that of others, and the following simple recipe is given by Dr. Bulwer, for "setting a horse or ass's head" upon a man's neck and shoulders. "Cut off the head of a horse or an ass (before they be dead, otherwise the vertue or strength thereof will be less effectual) and take an earthen vessel of a fit capacity to contain the same. Let it be filled with the oyl or fat thereof; cover it close, and daub it over with loam. Let it boil over a soft fire for three dayes, that the flesh boiled may run into oyl, so as the bones may be seen. Beat the hair into powder, and mingle the same with the oyl, and anoint the heads of the standers by, and they shall seem to have horses' or asses heads! If beasts' heads be anointed with the like oil made of a man's head [cut off, of course, while the said man was "alive;"-mercy on us!] they shall seem to have men's faces, as divers authors soberly affirm!”+ But witches were not always thus misanthropic and malignant. For a moderate remuneration, they would use their influence in behalf of such persons as sought their aid in the satisfied the wishes of the applicant hour of need and trouble; and they by the disposal of certain charms, These were as various in kind as they were in virtue, but the following were usually found to be the most efficacious, and were consequently in the greatest request. Against the Biting of a Mad Dog. Put a silver ring on the finger, within the which these words are graven Hobay Habar Heber; and say to the person bitten by a mad dog-I am thy Saviour, lose not thy life, and then prick him in the nose thrice, that at each time he bleed. Otherwise, take pills made of the skull of one that is hanged. Otherwise, write upon Khuder, Feres, and let it be taken by the a piece of bread, Irioni, Khiriora, Osser, party bitten. Otherwise, O Rex gloriæ Jesu Christi veni cum pace. In nomine Patris max, in nomine Filii max, in nomine Spiritus Sancti prax. Gasper, Mel convinced in her own mind of the wide extent of her power, was fain to confess that she had gained nothing by her compact with the Devil. She could afflict her enemies with sickness and with sorrow, and their cattle with disease, but she could not amend her own squalid and miserable condition. Her patron (she said) promised her "when she made the contract with him, that she should want nothing, but ever since she hath wanted all things." Glanvil, p. 303. The reason given by some writers for this unfortunate deficiency is, that, though the hands and feet by an easy transition might be converted into the four paws of a beast, yet there was no part about a witch that corresponded with the length of tail common to most quadrupeds. See a Pleasant Treatise on Witches, 1613, p. 30—1. Le Blanc (see his Travailes, part ii. c. 18,) acquiesces in the possibility of this kind of transformation; but Wierius sneers at the idea, and after having related a fabulous instance from William of Malmesbury, of some mischievous pranks played by two witches at Rome, who kept an inn, and occasionally transformed a guest into a horse, a pig, or an ass, he concludes, "At hæ, et similes nugæ eandem sortiantur fidem, quam Apuleius, et Luciani metamorphosis meretur." De Præstigiis Dæmonum, lib. iv. cap. 10. Cleveland thus banters the notion, Have you not heard th' abominable sport A Lancashire grand jury will report? A soldier with his morglay watch'd the mill, The cats they came to feast, when lusty Will Whips off great puss's leg, which, by some charm, + Bulwer's Anthropometamorphosis, or Artificial Changeling, p. 516. chior, Balthasar, prax, max Deus run right to the witche's door, and strike thereat with her hornes. max. Against the Tooth-ache. Scarifie the gums, in the grief, with the tooth of one that hath been slaine. Otherwise, Galbes, gabat, galdes, galdut. Otherwise, at saccaring of masse hold your teeth together, and say, "Os non comminuetis ex eo." Otherwise, "Strigiles falcesque dentatæ, dentium dolorem personate. O horsecombs and sickles that have so many teeth, come heal me of my tooth-ache!"" To Release a Woman in Travaile. Throw over the top of the house where a woman lieth in travaile, a stone, or any other thing that hath killed three living creatures; namely, a man, a wild bore, and a she beare. Against the Head-ache. Tie a halter round your head wherewith one hath been hanged. A Charme against Vinegar. That wine wax not eager, write on the vessel, “Gustate et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus." To find out a Theefe. Turn your face to the east, and make a crosse upon christall with olive oil, and under the crosse write these two wordes "Saint Helen." Then a child that is innocent, and a chaste virgine born in true wedlock, of the age of ten yeares, must take the christall in her hand; and behind her backe, kneeling on thy knees, thou must devoutly and reverently say over this prayer thrice: "I beseeche thee, my lady Saint Helen, mother of King Constantine, which diddest find the crosse whereupon Christ died by that thine holy devotion, and invention of the crosse, and by the true crosse, and by the joy which thou conceivedst at the finding thereof, and by the love which thou bearest to thy son Constantine, and by the great goodnesse which thou dost alwayes use, that thou shew me in this christall, whatsoever I ask or desire to know, Amen." And when the child seeth the Angell in the christall, demand what you will, and the Angell will make answer thereunto. Memorandum, that this be done just at the sun-rising, when the weather is faire and cleare. To find her that Bewitched your Kine. Put a paire of breeches upon the cowe's head, and beat her out of the pasture, with a good cudgel upon a Friday, and she will The manner of making a Wastecoat of Proofe. On Christmas day at night, a threed must be spun of flax by a little virgine girl, in the name of the Devil; and it must be by her woven, and also wrought with In the breast, or fore part the needle. thereof must be made with needle-worke, two heades: on the head at the right side must be a hat, and a long beard; the left head must have on a crowne, and it must be so horrible, that it may resemble Beelzebub, and on each side of the wastecoat must be made a cross. This holy garment [observes Reginald Scot] was much used of our forefathers, as a holy relique and charm, as given by the Pope, or some such arch-conjuror, who promised thereby all manner of immunity to the wearer thereof, insomuch as he could not be hurte with any shot, or other violence. And otherwise, that woman who should wear it, should have quicke deliverance.+ Such is the tenor of the most ordinary charms; but the most precious charm of all was the Agnus Dei, or Lamb of God. This was "a little cake, having the picture of a Lambe carrying of a flag on the one side; and Christ's head on the other side, and was hollow; so that the Gospel of St. John, written on fine paper, was placed in the concavitie thereof." This charm was a preservative against all manner of evil, a perfect Catholicon,--and blessed, indeed, was the individual who possessed a treasure so valuable. The monkish lines which follow will explain the ingredients and virtue of this delectable talisman. Balsamus et munda cera cum chrismatis undâ Conficiunt Agnum, quod munus do tibi magnum, Fonte velut natum, per mystica sanctifica tum: Fulgura desursum depellit, et omne malignum, Peccatum frangit, ut Christi sanguis et angit, Prægnans servatur, simul et partus libe ratur, Dona refert dignis, virtutem destruit ignis, Portatus mundæ de fluctibus eripit undæ. May we venture to recommend this charm to the notice of Dr. Pinckard, whose indefatigable and praiseworthy inquiries respecting this horrible malady, merit so highly the gratitude of his countrymen ? + Scot's Discovery, book xii. c. 9. VOL. V. 2 F |