candidate were a child or an adult. The most complete record of the
admission of children comes from the Basses-Pyrenees in 1609:
'Les Sorcieres luy offr[~e]t des petits enfans le genoueil en terre,
lui disant auec vne soubmission, _Grand seigneur, lequel i'adore, ie
vous ameine ce nouueau seruiteur, lequel veut estre perpetuellement
vostre esclaue_: Et le Diable en signe de remerciement & gratification
leur respond, _Approchez vous de moy_: a quoy obeissant, elles en se
trainant a genouil, le luy presentent, & luy receuant l'enfant entre
ses bras, le rend a la Sorciere, la remercie, & puis luy recommande
d'en auoir soing, leur disant par ce moyen sa troupe s'augmentera. Que
si les enfans ayans attainct l'aage de neuf ans, par malheur se voueent
au Diable sans estre forcez ny violentez d'aucun Sorcier, ils se
prosternent par terre deuant Satan: lequel iettant du feu par les
yeux, leur dit, Que demandez vous, voulez vous estre a moy? ils
respondent qu'ouy, il leur dict, Venez vous de vostre bonne volonte?
ils respondent qu'ouy, Faictes donc ce que ie veux, & ce que ie fay.
Et alors la grande maistresse & Royne du Sabbat qui leur sert de
pedagogue, dict a ce nouueau qui se presente, qu'il die a haute voix,
_Ie renie Dieu premierement, puis Iesus Christ son Fils, le S. Esprit,
la vierge, les Saincts, la Saincte Croix, le Chresme, le Baptesme, &
la Foy que ie tiens, mes Parrain & Marraine, & me remets de tout
poinct en ton pouuoir & entre tes mains, ne recognois autre Dieu: si
bien que tu es mon Dieu & ie suis ton esclaue_. Apres on luy baille vn
crapaud habille auec son capot ou manteau, puis il commande qu'on
l'adore; si bien qu'obeyssans & estants mis a genouil, ils baisent le
Diable aupres de l'[oe]il gauche, a la poitrine, a la fesse, a la
cuisse, & aux parties honteuses, puis leuant la queue ils luy baisent
le derriere.'[221]
The novice was then marked by a scratch from a sharp instrument, but was
not admitted to the 'high mysteries' till about the age of twenty.[222] As
no further ceremonies are mentioned, it may be concluded that the
initiation into these mysteries was performed by degrees and without any
special rites.
At Lille, about the middle of the seventeenth century, Madame Bourignon
founded a home for girls of the lowest classes, 'pauvres et mal-originees,
la plus part si ignorantes au fait de leur salut qu'elles vivoient comme
des betes'.[223] After a few years, in 1661, she discovered that thirty-two
of these girls were worshippers of the Devil, and in the habit of going to
the Witches' Sabbaths. They 'had all contracted this Mischief before they
came into the House'.[224] One of these girls named Bellot, aged fifteen,
said 'that her Mother had taken her with her when she was very Young, and
had even carried her in her Arms to the Witches Sabbaths'.[225] Another
girl of twelve had been in the habit of going to the Sabbath since she also
was 'very Young'. As the girls seem to have been genuinely fond of Madame
Bourignon, she obtained a considerable amount of information from them.
They told her that all worshippers of the Devil 'are constrained to offer
him their Children. When a child thus offered to the Devil by its Parents,
comes to the use of Reason, the Devil then demands its Soul, and makes it
deny God and renounce Baptism, and all relating to the Faith, promising
Homage and Fealty to the Devil in manner of a Marriage, and instead of a
Ring, the Devil gives them a Mark with an iron awl [aleine de fer] in some
part of the Body.'[226]
It is also clear that Marguerite Montvoisin[227] in Paris had been
instructed in witchcraft from an early age; but as the trial in which she
figures was for the attempted poisoning of the king and not for witchcraft,
no ceremonies of initiation or admission are recorded.
In Great Britain the ceremonies for the reception of children are not given
in any detail, though it was generally acknowledged that the witches
dedicated their children to the Devil as soon as born; and from the
evidence it appears that in many cases the witches had belonged to that
religion all their lives. It was sometimes sufficient evidence against a
woman that her mother had been a witch,[228] as it presupposed that she had
been brought up as a worshipper of the Devil.
The Anderson children in Renfrewshire were all admitted to the society at
an early age.[229] Elizabeth Anderson was only seven when she was first
asked to swear fealty to the 'black grim Man.' James Lindsay was under
fourteen, and his little brother Thomas was still 'below pupillarity' at
the time of the trial, where he declared that he had been bribed, by the
promise of a red coat, to serve 'the Gentleman, whom he knew thereafter to
be the Devil'.[230] At Forfar in 1661, Jonet Howat was so young that when
Isabel Syrie 'presented hir to the divell, the divell said, What shall I do
with such a little bairn as she?' He accepted her, however, and she was
evidently the pet of the community, the Devil calling her 'his bonny
bird'.[231] At Paisley, Annabil Stuart was fourteen when, at her mother's
persuasion, she took the vows of fidelity to the Devil.[232]
Elizabeth Frances at Chelmsford (tried in 1556) was about twelve years old
when her grandmother first taught her the art of witchcraft.[233] Elizabeth
Demdike, the famous Lancashire witch, 'brought vp her owne Children,
instructed her Graund-children, and tooke great care and paines to bring
them to be Witches'.[234] One of her granddaughters, Jennet Device, was
aged nine at the time of the trial.
In Sweden the children were taken regularly to the assemblies,[235] and in
America[236] also a child-witch is recorded in the person of Sarah Carrier,
aged eight, who had made her vows two years before at her mother's
instigation.
The ceremony for the admission of adults who were converts to the witch
religion from Christianity follow certain main lines. These are (1) the
free consent of the candidate, (2) the explicit denial and rejection of a
previous religion, (3) the absolute and entire dedication of body and soul
to the service and commands of the new Master and God.
The ceremonies being more startling and dramatic for adults than for
children, they are recorded in Great Britain with the same careful detail
as in France, and it is possible to trace the local variations; although in
England, as is usual, the ceremonies had lost their significance to a far
greater extent than in Scotland, and are described more shortly, probably
because they were more curtailed.
The legal aspect of the admission ceremonies is well expressed by Sir
George Mackenzie, writing in 1699 on the Scotch laws relating to witchcraft
in the seventeenth century:
'As to the relevancy of this Crime, the first Article useth to be
_paction_ to serve the Devil, which is certainly relevant, _per se_,
without any addition.... Paction with the Devil is divided by Lawyers,
in _expressum_, _& tacitum_, an express and tacit Paction. Express
Paction is performed either by a formal Promise given to the Devil
then present, or by presenting a Supplication to him, or by giving the
promise to a Proxie or Commissioner impowered by the Devil for that
effect, which is used by some who dare not see himself. The _Formula_
set down by _Delrio_, is, _I deny God Creator of Heaven and Earth, and
I adhere to thee, and believe in thee_. But by the Journal Books it
appears, that the ordinary Form of express Paction confest by our
Witness, is a simple Promise to serve him. Tacit Paction is either
when a person who hath made no express Paction, useth the Words or
Signs which Sorcerers use, knowing them to be such.... Renouncing of
Baptism is by _Delrio_ made an effect of Paction, yet with us it is
relevant, _per se_ ... and the Solemnity confest by our Witches, is
the putting one hand to the crown of the Head, and another to the
sole of the Foot, renouncing their Baptism in that posture. _Delrio_
tells us, that the Devil useth to Baptize them of new, and to wipe off
their Brow the old Baptism: And our Witches confess always the giving
them new Names.... The Devil's Mark useth to be a great Article with
us, but it is not _per se_ found relevant, except it be confest by
them, that they got that Mark with their own consent; _quo casu_, it
is equivalent to a Paction. This Mark is given them, as is alledg'd,
by a Nip in any part of the body, and it is blew.'[237]
Reginald Scot,[238] writing considerably earlier, gives a somewhat similar
account of the English witches, though couched in less legal phraseology:
'The order of their bargaine or profession is double; the one solemne
and publike; the other secret and priuate. That which is called
solemne or publike, is where witches come togither at certeine
assemblies, at the times prefixed, and doo not onelie see the diuell
in visible forme; but confer and talke familiarlie with him. In which
conference the diuell exhorteth them to obserue their fidelitie vnto
him, promising them long life and prosperitie. Then the witches
assembled, commend a new disciple (whom they call a nouice) vnto him:
and if the diuell find that yoong witch apt and forward in
renunciation of christian faith, in despising anie of the seuen
sacraments, in treading upon crosses, in spetting at the time of
eleuation, in breaking their fast on fasting daies, and fasting on
sundaies; then the diuell giueth foorth his hand, and the nouice
joining hand in hand with him, promiseth to obserue and keepe all the
diuell's commandements. This done, the diuell beginneth to be more
bold with hir, telling hir plainlie that all this will not serue his
turne; and therefore requireth homage at hir hands: yea, he also
telleth hir, that she must grant him both hir bodie and soule to be
tormented in euerlasting fire: which she yeeldeth vnto. Then he
chargeth hir, to procure as manie men, women, and children also, as
she can, to enter into this societie.... Sometimes their homage with
their oth and bargaine is receiued for a certeine terme of yeares;
sometimes for euer. Sometimes it consisteth in the deniall of the
whole faith, sometimes in part. The first is, when the soule is
absolutelie yeelded to the diuell and hell-fier: the other is, when
they haue but bargained not to obserue certeine ceremonies and
statutes of the church; as to conceale faults at shrift, to fast on
sundaies, etc. And this is doone either by oth, protestation of words,
or by obligation in writing, sometimes sealed with wax, sometimes
signed with bloud.'
Forbes says that
'an express Covenant is entred into betwixt a Witch, and the Devil
appearing in some visible Shape. Whereby the former renounceth God and
his Baptism, engages to serve the Devil, and do all the Mischief he
can as Occasion offers, and leaves Soul and Body to his Disposal after
Death. The Devil on his part articles with such Proselytes, concerning
the Shape he is to appear to them in, the Services they are to expect
from him, upon the Performance of certain Charms or ceremonious Rites.
This League is made verbally, if the Party cannot write. And such as
can write, sign a written Covenant with their Blood.'[239]
The general order of the ceremony of admission can be gathered from the
evidence given at the trials, though no one trial gives the order in its
entirety. The ceremony might take place privately, at a local meeting, or
in full Sabbath; it was the same for either sex, except that the men were
not usually introduced, the women were sometimes introduced, sometimes not.
If there were any sort of introduction, it was by some one who was
acquainted with the candidate; usually the person who had induced her to
join. She was brought before the Devil, who asked her if she would be his
faithful servant, and if she would renounce her previous religion, and
dedicate herself to his service, taking him as her God. After the
renunciation and vows, the Devil baptized her in his own great name, and
among the Scotch witches gave her a new name by which she was known
afterwards at the Sabbaths and other meetings. The ceremony concluded by
giving the witch a mark or 'flesh-brand' on some part of the body.
2. _The Introduction_
It is not clear whether the introduction of a candidate by a member of the
society was an early or a late detail. It is quite possible that it was
early, the introducer standing in the same relation to the candidate as the
Christian sponsors stand to a candidate for baptism. On the other hand, it
is quite comprehensible that, when the witch religion became an object of
persecution, no new member could be admitted unless vouched for by some
trustworthy person. In the cases where the first meetings with the Devil
are recorded, both systems are apparently in vogue. Occasionally, however,
the accounts show a confusion on the part of the recorder. Thus Anne
Chattox said that Mother Demdike introduced her to the Devil in Mother
Demdike's own house, and that she there yielded her soul to him; and in
another place she is reported as saying that 'a thing like a Christian man,
for foure yeares togeather, did sundry times come to this Examinate, and
requested this Examinate to giue him her Soule: And in the end, this
Examinate was contented to giue him her sayd Soule, shee being then in her
owne house, in the Forrest of Pendle.'[240] The two statements are not
inconsistent if we conclude that in her own house she consented to join the
society, and in Mother Demdike's presence she took the vows. As a rule the
men seem to have joined at the direct invitation of the Devil himself,
especially when they came of witch families.
3. _The Renunciation and Vows_
The renunciation of previous errors of faith and the vows of fidelity to
the new belief are part of the ceremony of admission of any convert to a
new religion. The renunciation by the witches was explicit, but the records
are apt to pass it over in a few words, e.g. 'I denied my baptism,' 'I
forsook God and Christ,' 'Ils renient Dieu, la Vierge, et le reste,' 'Vne
renonciation expresse a Iesu-Christ & a la foy'; but occasionally the words
are given in full. Mackenzie, quoting from Del Rio, gives the formula thus:
'I deny God Creator of Heaven and Earth, and I adhere to thee, and believe
in thee.'[241] The actual formula is still extant in the case of the priest
Louis Gaufredy, tried before the Parliament of Aix in 1611:
'Ie Louys Gaufredy renonce a tous les biens tant spirituels que
corporels qui me pourroyent estre conferez de la part de Dieu, de la
vierge Marie & de tous les Saincts de Paradis, pareillement de mon
patron S. Iean Baptiste, S. Pierre, S. Paul, & S. Francois, & de me
donner de corps & d'ame a Lucifer icy present auec tous les biens que
ie feray a iamais: excepte la valeur du Sacrement pour le regard de
ceux qui le recevront: Et ainsi le signe et atteste.'[242]
Jeannette d'Abadie, aged sixteen, said that she was made to 'renoncer &
renier son Createur, la saincte Vierge, les Saincts, le Baptesme, pere,
mere, parens, le ciel, la terre & tout ce qui est au monde'.[243] The
irrevocability of this renunciation was impressed upon the Swedish witches
in a very dramatic manner: 'The Devil gave them a Purse, wherein there were
shavings of Clocks with a Stone tied to it, which they threw into the
water, and then were forced to speak these words: _As these Shavings of the
Clock do never return to the Clock from which they are taken, so may my
Soul never return to Heaven._'[244]
The vows to the new God were as explicit as the renunciation of the old.
Danaeus says, 'He commaundeth them to forswere God theyr creator and all
his power, promising perpetually to obey and worship him, who there
standeth in their presence.'[245] The English witches merely took the vow
of fealty and obedience, devoting themselves body and soul to him;
sometimes only the soul, however, is mentioned: but the Scotch witches of
both sexes laid one hand on the crown of the head, the other on the sole of
the foot, and dedicated all that was between the two hands to the service
of the Master.[246] There is a slight variation of this ceremony at
Dalkeith in 1661, where the Devil laid his hand upon Jonet Watson's head,
'and bad her "give all ower to him that was vnder his hand", and shoe did
so'.[247]
In Southern France the candidates, after renouncing their old faith,
'prennent Satan pour leur pere et protecteur, & la Diablesse pour leur
mere'.[248] At Lille the children called the ceremony the Dedication,[249]
showing that the same rite obtained there.
4. _The Covenant_
The signing of a covenant does not occur in every case and was probably a
late introduction. Forbes, as quoted above, gives the contract between the
Devil and his follower, with the part which each engages to perform. In
Somerset the witches signed whether they could write or not, those who
could not write putting a cross or circle as their mark.[250]
The free consent of the candidate is a point always insisted on, and by the
confessions of the witches themselves the consent was often not merely
freely but actually willingly given. Isobel Crawford of the Irvine Coven in
1618 was accused that the devil 'come to hir awin dur in similitud of ane
blak man, and prommeist, gif sche wold be his servand, sche sould have geir
aneuch, and sould not want. Quhairunto sche was ever reddy to accord.'[251]
Little Jonet Howat said that the Devil 'bade her renounce her God, and she
answered, Marry, shall I'.[252] In the dittay against Christian Grieve, it
is stated that 'Sathan desired you to be his servant whilk ye willingly
granted to be.... And sicklike the minister posing you upon the foresaid
particulars especially anent the renunciation of your Baptism, ye answered
that Sathan speired at you if ye would do it and ye answered "I warrand did
I."'[253] Bessie Henderson and Janet Brugh, of the same Coven, acknowledged
the same. To the former 'the Devil appeared and asked you gif you would be
his servant whilk ye freely and instantly accepted and granted
thereto'.[254] Janet Brugh was rather more emphatic: 'Sathan desired you to
be his servant whilk ye willingly promised to be and likeways desired you
to renounce your baptism whilk ye willingly did.'[255]
The written contract appealed very strongly to the legal minds of the
judges and magistrates, and it is therefore often mentioned, but in Great
Britain there is no record of the actual wording of any individual
covenant; the Devil seems to have kept the parchment, paper, or book in his
own custody. In France, however, such contracts occasionally fell into the
hands of the authorities; the earliest case being in 1453, when Guillaume
Edeline, Prior of St. Germain-en-Laye, signed a compact with the Devil,
which compact was afterwards found upon his person.[256] The witch
Stevenote de Audebert, who was burnt in January 1619, showed de Lancre 'le
pacte & conuention qu'elle auoit faict auec le Diable, escrite en sang de
menstrues, & si horrible qu'on auoit horreur de la regarder'.[257]
The contract was said to be signed always in the blood of the witch, and
here we come to a confusion between the mark made _on_ the person and the
mark made _by_ the person. It seems clear that part of the ceremony of
initiation was the cutting of the skin of the candidate to the effusion of
blood. This is the early rite, and it seems probable that when the written
contract came into vogue the blood was found to be a convenient
writing-fluid, or was offered to the Devil in the form of a signature. This
signing of a book plays a great part in the New England trials.
The contract was usually for the term of the witch's life, but sometimes it
was for a term of years, the number of which varies considerably. As Scot
says, 'Sometimes their homage with their oth and bargaine is receiued for a
certeine terme of yeares; sometimes for ever.'[258] Popular belief assigns
seven years as the length of time, at the end of which period the Devil was
supposed to kill his votary. The tradition seems to be founded on fact, but
there is also a certain amount of evidence that the witch was at liberty to
discontinue or renew the contract at the end of the allotted term. Such a
renewal seems also to have been made on the appointment of a new Chief. In
France, England, and New England the term of years is mentioned; in
Scotland it is mentioned by the legal authorities, but from the fact that
it occurs seldom, if ever, in the trials it would seem that the contract of
the Scotch witches was for life.
Magdalene de la Croix, Abbess of a religious house in Cordova in 1545, made
a contract 'for the space of thirty years', she being then a girl of
twelve.[259] In Paris in 1571 'il y eut vn aduocat lequel confessa qu'il
auoit passe l'obligation au Diable renonceant a Dieu, & icelle signee de
son propre sang. Encores s'est il verifie par plusieurs procez, que
l'obligation reciproque entre le diable, & le sorcier, contient
quelquesfois le terme d'vn an, deux ans, ou autre temps.'[260] At Faversham
in 1645 Joan Williford said 'that the Devil promised to be her servant
about twenty yeeres, and that the time is now almost expired'.[261] In
Huntingdonshire in 1646 Elizabeth Weed of Great Catworth confessed that
'the Devill then offer'd her, that hee would doe what mischiefe she should
require him; and said she must covenant with him that he must have her
soule at the end of one and twenty years, which she granted'.[262] In 1652
Giles Fenderlin of Leaven Heath was tried for that when he was a soldier at
Bell in Flanders he made a five-years' covenant with a Jesuit; 'after the
said five years was expired, in 1643 he renew'd the said Covenant with the
Jesuit for 14 years longer: whereupon he drew a Covenant for him with the
Devil, pricking the two fore-fingers of his right hand with an needle, and
drew bloud, wherewith he writ his name with his own bloud, and then
covenanted with the Devil, That if he should be safely protected during the
space of 14 years aforesaid, while such time as it expired, that then he
was to take away both body and soul as his own right and interest.'[263] At
Lille in 1661 Madame Bourignon's girls indicate the renewal of the
contract: 'The Devil gives them a Mark, which Marks they renew as often as
those Persons have any desire to quit him. The Devil reproves them then
more severely and obligeth them to new Promises, making them also new Marks
for assurance or pledge, that those Persons should continue faithful to
him.'[264] In Somerset in 1664 Elizabeth Style said that the Devil
'promised her Mony, 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'.[265] At Groton in New
England in 1671, according to Elizabeth Knap, 'the terme of time agreed
upon with him was for 7 yeers; one yeere shee was to be faithfull in his
service, and then ye other six hee would serve her, and make her a
witch'.[266] At Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1673 Ann Armstrong 'deposeth that Ann
Drydon had a lease for fifty yeares of the divill, whereof ten ar expired.
Ann Forster had a lease of her life for 47 yeares, whereof seaven are yet
to come. Lucy Thompson had a lease of two and forty, whereof two are yet to
come, and, her lease being near out, they would have perswaded this
informer to have taken a lease of three score yeares or upwards.'[267] In
New England some of the 'afflicted' said of Goodwife C. that 'she had
Covenanted with the _Devil_ for ten Years, six of them were gone, and four
more to come'.[268] In modern France the belief in the contract for a term
of years is recorded, but nothing is said of the renewal of the contract or
of the fate of the witch who refuses such a contract. In the department of
Entre-Sambre-et-Meuse the full method of entering on such a contract is
known: 'Si vous voulez venir au bois avec moi, vous verrez un homme venir a
vous. C'est le chef. Il vous demandera si vous voulez vous engager dans la
societe. Si vous acceptez, le terme d'engagement est de _sept_ ans et vous
gagnerez une _plaquette_ par jour.'[269] Among the Walloons the neophyte
takes with him a black hen, which the Devil buys, and then ratifies the
contract, 'le pacte est fait pour une duree de sept ans.'[270]
5. _The Baptism_