[Footnote 437: Danaeus, ch. iv.]
[Footnote 438: _Rehearsall_, p. 7.]
[Footnote 439: _Boguet_, pp. 126-7.]
[Footnote 440: F. Hutchinson, _Historical Essay_, p. 43.]
[Footnote 441: Horneck, pt. ii, p. 321.]
[Footnote 442: Kinloch, pp. 120 seq.]
[Footnote 443: Pitcairn, iii, p. 603.]
[Footnote 444: Burns Begg, pp. 226 seq.]
[Footnote 445: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 140, 148, 156, 161.]
[Footnote 446: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 64.]
[Footnote 447: Boguet, p. 102.]
[Footnote 448: Burr, p. 418.]
[Footnote 449: Danaeus, ch. iv.]
[Footnote 450: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 62, 398.]
[Footnote 451: F. Hutchinson, p. 43.]
[Footnote 452: Boguet, p. 124.]
[Footnote 453: Bodin, _Fleau_, p. 182.]
[Footnote 454: Boguet, p. 123.]
[Footnote 455: Remigius, pp. 71, 72.]
[Footnote 456: _Pleasant Treatise_, p. 4.]
[Footnote 457: Pitcairn, iii, p. 617.]
[Footnote 458: Sharpe, pp. 131, 133.]
[Footnote 459: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 139.]
[Footnote 460: Id., pt. ii, p. 164.]
[Footnote 461: Id., pt. ii, pp. 293, 297.]
[Footnote 462: Horneck, pt. ii, p. 318.]
[Footnote 463: Monseur, p. 87.]
[Footnote 464: Lemoine, _La Tradition_, 1892, vi, p. 106.]
V. THE RITES
1. _General_
The exact order of the ceremonies is never given and probably varied in
different localities, but the general rule of the ritual at the Sabbath
seems to have been that proceedings began by the worshippers paying homage
to the Devil, who sat or stood in a convenient place. The homage consisted
in renewing the vows of fidelity and obedience, in kissing the Devil on any
part of his person that he chose to indicate, and sometimes in turning a
certain number of times widdershins. Then followed the reports of all magic
worked since the previous Sabbath, either by individuals or at the Esbats,
and at the same time the witches consulted the Master as to their cases and
received instructions from him how to proceed; after which came admissions
to the society or marriages of the members. This ended the business part of
the meeting. Immediately after all the business was transacted, the
religious service was celebrated, the ceremonial of which varied according
to the season of the year; and it was followed by the 'obscene' fertility
rites. The whole ceremony ended with feasting and dancing, and the assembly
broke up at dawn.
This was apparently the usual course of the ritual of the Sabbath; the
Esbat had less ceremonial, and the religious service was not performed. The
Devil himself often went round and collected the congregation; and, not
being in his 'grand arroy', he appeared as a man in ordinary dress. Instead
of the religious service with the adoration of the god, the witches worked
the spells and charms with which they bewitched or unbewitched their
enemies and friends, or they exercised new methods which they learnt from
their Master, or received instructions how to practise the arts of healing
and secret poisoning, of causing and blasting fertility.
There are a few general accounts of the usual course of the Sabbath ritual.
Danaeus (1575) does not distinguish clearly between the two classes of
meetings, but at the same time he seems to have realized that a certain
order was followed:
'Satan calleth them togither into a Diuelish Sinagoge, and that he may
also vnderstand of them howe well and diligently they haue fulfilled
their office of intoxicating committed vnto them, and who they haue
slaine: wherefore they meete togither in certen apointed places....
Wh[~e] they meete together he appeareth visibly vnto them in sundrie
fourmes, as the head and chiefe of that congregation.... Then doe they
all repeate the othe which they haue geuen vnto him, in acknowledging
him to be their God, th[~e] fal they to dauncing.... Whiche beeing all
finished, then he demaundeth agayne of them what they woulde require
of him.... Vnto some he geueth poysons ready made, and others he
teacheth howe to make and mingle new.... Finally, if in any thing they
neede his presence and helpe, by couenant he promiseth to be present
with them.'[465]
Boguet (1589) is more exact, as he obtained his knowledge at first hand:
'Les Sorciers estans assemblez en leur Synagogue adorent premierement
Satan ... ils luy offrent des chandelles, & le baisent aux parties
honteuses de derriere. Quelquefois encor il tient vne image noire,
qu'il faut baiser aux Sorciers.... Les Sorciers en second lieu
dansent.... Les danses finies, les Sorciers viennent a s'accoupler....
Les Sorciers, apres s'estre veautrez parmy les plaisirs immondes de la
chair, banquettent & se festoient.... Les Sorciers rendent conte a
Satan de ce qu'ils ont fait des la derniere assemblee.... Il fait
renoncer de nouueau a ces miserables, Dieu, Chresme, & Baptesme. Il
leur fait rafraischir le serment solennel qu'ils ont fait.'[466]
The English account is put together from foreign sources to a great extent:
'They are carryed out of the house, either by the Window, Door, or
Chimney, mounted on their Imps.... Thus brought to the designed place,
they find a great number of others arrived there by the same means:
who, before Lucifer takes his place in his throne as King, do make
their accustomed homage, Adoring, and Proclaiming him their Lord, and
rendring him all Honour. This Solemnity being finished, they sit to
Table where no delicate meats are wanting.... At the sound of many
pleasant Instruments the table is taken away, and the pleasant consort
invites them to a Ball.... At the last, the lights are put out. The
Incubus's in the shapes of proper men satisfy the desires of the
Witches, and the Succubus's serve for whores to the Wizards. At last
before Aurora brings back the day, each one mounts on his spirit, and
so returns to his respective dwelling place.... Sometimes at their
solemn assemblies, the Devil commands, that each tell what wickedness
he hath committed.... When the assembly is ready to break up, and the
Devil to dispatch them, he publisheth this law with a loud voice,
_Revenge your selves or else you shall dye_, then each one kissing the
Posteriors of the Devil returns upon their aiery Vehicles to their
habitations.'[467]
2. _Homage_
In some places the witches saluted their Chief by falling on their knees,
and also by certain manual gestures; in other places by curtsies and
obeisances. In Scotland, France, and Belgium, another rite was also in
vogue, that of kissing the Devil on any part of his person that he might
direct. At Como and Brescia the witches, 'when they paid reverence to the
presiding demon, bent themselves backwards, lifting a foot in the air
forwards.'[468]
Remigius, writing of the Lorraine witches in 1589, says:
'Es erzehlte die Beatrix Bayona dass einer unter ihnen allen der
Oberster wer, welcher in einer Zell auff einem hohen Stuhl saesse, sehr
ernsthafftig und praechtig heraus, zu demselbigen trete je einer nach
dem andern, mit Furcht und Zittern, falle ihm zum Zeichen seiner
Ehrerbietung fuer die Fuesse, und umbfange ihn mit aller Demuth und
Reverentz.--Erstlich fallen sie nieder auff ihre Knie; darnach legen
sie die Haende ausswendig zusammen, als diejenigen pflegen zu thun,
welche obtestiren, jedoch auff dem Ruecken und verkehrter Weise, sie
haben den Ruecken zu ihm gewandt, bleiben so lang kniend, biss er
selbsten zu ihnen sagt, dass es genugsam sey.'[469]
In Somerset (1664) the witches always mention the salutation:
'At their first meeting the Man in black bids them welcome, and they
all make low obeysance to him.--[Elizabeth Style, Alice Duke, Anne
Bishop, Mary Penny] met about nine of the Clock in the Night, in the
Common near _Trister_ Gate, where they met a Man in black Clothes
with a little Band, to whom they did Courtesie and due
observance.--Mary Green [went with others to] Hussey's Knap in the
Forrest in the Night time, where met them the Fiend in the shape of a
little Man in black Clothes with a little band, to him all made
obeysances.... On Thursday Night before Whitsunday last [she met
several others] and being met they called out _Robin_. Upon which
instantly appeared a little Man in black Clothes to whom all made
obeysance, and the little Man put his hand to his Hat, saying, How do
ye? speaking _low_ but _big_. Then all made low obeysances to him
again.'[470]
As late as the eighteenth century there is a similar account.[471]
Danaeus (1575) and Cooper (1617) are the only writers who mention the kiss
in their general accounts of the ceremonies. The former says: 'Then biddeth
he th[~e] that they fall down & worship him, after what maner and gesture
of body he pleaseth, and best liketh of. Thus some of them falle downe at
his knees, some offre vnto him black burning cadles, other kisse him in
some part of his body where he appeareth visibly.'[472] Cooper mentions it
as part of the admission ceremony: 'Secondly, when this acknowledgement is
made, in testimoniall of this subiection, Satan offers his back-parts to be
kissed of his vassall.'[473]
The ceremony is one of the earliest of which there is any record. In 1303 a
Bishop of Coventry was accused at Rome of a number of crimes, amongst
others 'quod diabolo homagium fecerat, et eum fuerit osculatus in
tergo'.[474] Guillaume Edeline was tried in 1453; he was 'docteur en
theologie, prieur de S. Germain en Laye, et auparavant Augustin, et
religieux de certaines aultres ordres. Confessa ledit sire Guillaume, de sa
bonne et franche voulente, avoir fait hommage audit ennemy en l'espece et
semblance d'ung mouton, en le baisant par le fondement en signe de
reverence et d'hommage.'[475] Martin Tulouff, tried in Guernsey in 1563,
went to a meeting, 'ou ly avoet chinq ou vi chatz, d'ou il y en avoet ung
qui estoit noir, qui menoit la dance, et d^t [*q] il estoit sur ses pieds
plat, et que ladite Collennette le besa [*p] de derriere, et luy [*p] la
crysse. Et luy dist ladite vieillesse [*q] ledit chat estoit le
diable.'[476] Estebene de Cambrue, in 1567, described the ceremonies at the
Sabbath: 'Ils se mettent a dancer a l'entour d'une pierre, sur laquelle est
assis vn grand homme noir, qu'elles appellent Mosieur, & chacun de
l'assemblee luy va baiser le derriere.'[477] The witches of Poictiers in
1574 'dansoyent a l'entour du bouc: puis vn chacun luy baisoit le
derriere'.[478] The same ceremony took place at North Berwick in 1590: 'Now
efter that the deuell had endit his admonitions, he cam down out of the
pulpit, and caused all the company to com and kiss his ers, quhilk they
said was cauld lyk yce.'[479] Jane Bosdeau confessed that at meetings at
Puy-de-Dome in 1594 'all the Witches had Candles which they lighted at his,
and danced in a Circle Back to Back. They kiss'd his Backside, and pray'd
that he would help them.'[480] Andro Man of Aberdeen in 1597 confessed
'that all thay quha convenis with thame kissis Christsonday and the Quene
of Elphenis airss'.[481] Rolande de Vernois in 1598 'confessa que le Diable
se presenta pour lors au Sabbat en forme d'vn gros chat noir. Que tous
ceux, qui estoient au Sabbat, alloient baiser ce gros chat noir au
derriere.'[482] Cornelie van Beverwyck, aged 75, at Ghent in 1598, was
accused that 'vous n'avez pas craint de vous agenouiller devant lui, de lui
rendre hommage et de baiser son derriere en signe de soumission'.[483]
Claire Goessen in 1603 went to 'l'assemblee nocturne de Lembeke, ou, apres
la danse, elle a, comme tous les assistans, baise un bouc a l'endroit de sa
queue'.[484] Jeannette d'Abadie in 1609 in the Basses-Pyrenees said,
regarding the renunciation which she made on admission, 'il luy faisoit
renouueller toutes les fois qu'elle alloit au sabbat, puis elle l'alloit
baiser au derriere.'[485] At the celebrated trial of Louis Gaufredy at Aix
in 1610, Magdalene de Demandouls gave a detailed account of the homage
rendered by the witches:
'First the hagges and witches, who are people of a sordid and base
condition, are the first that come to adore the Prince of the
Synagogue, who is Lucifers lieftenant, and he that now holdeth that
place is Lewes Gaufridy: then they adore the Princesse of the
Synagogue who is a woman placed at his right hand. Next they goe and
worship the Diuell who is seated in a Throne like a Prince. In the
second place come the Sorcerers and Sorceresses, who are people of a
middle condition, and these performe the same kind of adoration with
the former, kneeling vpon the ground, but not prostrating themselves
as doe the other; although they kisse the hands and feet of the Diuell
as the first likewise doe. In the third place come the Magicians who
are Gentlemen and people of a higher ranke.'[486]
Isobel Gowdie of Auldearne in 1662 said, 'Somtym he vold be lyk a stirk, a
bull, a deir, a rae, or a dowg, and he vold hold wp his taill wntill we
wold kiss his arce.'[487] The explanation of this rite is given in the
French authorities:
'Le Diable estoit en forme de bouc, ayant vne queue, & au dessoubs vn
visage d'homme noir, ou elle fut contrainte le baiser.--[Elle] depose,
Que la premiere fois qu'elle luy fut presentee elle le baisa a ce
visage de derriere au dessoubs d'vne grande queue: qu'elle l'y a baise
par trois fois, & qu'il auoit aussi ce visage faict comme le museau
d'vn bouc.--Il a vne grande queue au derriere, & vne forme de visage
au dessoubs: duquel visage il ne profere aucune parole, ains luy sert
pour le donner a baiser a ceux qui bon luy semble.--Es festes
solemnelles on baisoit le Diable au derriere, mais les notables
sorcieres le baisoient au visage.'[488] The two faces are thus
distinctly vouched for, and the use of them seems to have been to
distinguish the position of the witch in the society. The mask or
disguise is clearly indicated in the evidence of Isaac de Queyron, who
with others 'le baiserent a vne fesse qui estoit blanche & rouge, &
auoit la forme d'vne grande cuisse d'vn homme, & estoit velue'.[489]
The Devil was also kissed on other parts of his person. Marion Grant of the
Aberdeen witches (1597) confessed that he 'causit the kis him in dyvers
pairtis, and worship him on thy kneis as thy lord'.[490] Some of the Lyons
witches 'le baiserent aux parties honteuses de derriere: les autres le
baisent sur l'espaule.'[491] Jeannette d'Abadie in the Basses-Pyrenees
(1609) confessed 'que le Diable luy faisoit baiser son visage, puis le
nombril, puis le membre viril, puis son derriere'.[492] In connexion with
this last statement, it is worth comparing Doughty's account of an Arab
custom: 'There is a strange custom, (not only of nomad women, but in the
Arabic countries even among Christians, which may seem to remain of the old
idolatry among them,) of mothers, their gossips, and even young maidens,
visiting married women to kiss with a kind of devotion the _hammam_ of the
male children.'[493]
3. _The Dances_
Dances as an important part of fertility rites are too well known to need
description. The witches' dances, taken in conjunction with the dates of
the four great Sabbaths of the year, point to the fact that they also were
intended to promote fertility. There were several forms of ritual dances,
varying apparently according to the form of fertility required, whether of
crops, animals, or human beings. The jumping dance seems to have had for
its object the growth of the crops; the higher the performers jumped the
higher the crops would grow. The so-called 'obscene' or 'indecent' dance
was for the promotion of fertility among animals and women. When the
dancers were disguised as animals, the dance was for the increase of the
animals represented; when undisguised, for the fertility of human beings.
Although the dances took place at English witch meetings, they are merely
mentioned and not described. The Scotch trials give rather fuller accounts,
but the chief details are from France.
The two principal forms of the dance were the ring-dance and the
follow-my-leader dance, but there was also a very complicated form which
was not understood by the Inquisitors, who therefore dismiss it with the
words 'tout est en confusion'. It still survives, however, in the
Basses-Pyrenees, in some of the very villages which were inhabited by
witches in the sixteenth century--those witches whose proceedings de
Lancre describes so vividly.[494]
The ring dances were usually round some object; sometimes a stone,
sometimes the Devil stood or was enthroned in the middle. Thomas Leyis,
with a great number of other witches, 'came to the Market and Fish Cross of
Aberdeen, under the conduct and guiding of the Devil present with you, all
in company, playing before you on his kind of instruments: Ye all danced
about both the said crosses, and the meal market, a long space of time; in
the which Devil's dance, thou the said Thomas was foremost and led the
ring, and dang the said Kathren Mitchell, because she spoiled your dance,
and ran not so fast about as the rest. Testified by the said Kathren
Mitchell, who was present with thee at the time forsaid dancing with the
Devil.'[495] Margaret Og was indicted for going to Craigleauch 'on Hallow
even last, and there, accompanied by thy own two daughters, and certain
others, your devilish adherents and companions, ye danced all together,
about a great stone, under the conduct of Satan, your master, a long
space'.[496] Jonet Lucas was accused of 'danceing in ane ring' on the same
occasion.[497] Beatrice Robbie was 'indited as a notorious witch, in
coming, under the conduct of the Devil thy master, with certain others, thy
devilish adherents, to Craigleauche, and there dancing altogether about a
great stone, a long space, and the Devil your master playing before
you'.[498] In the Basses-Pyrenees, 'Ils se mettent a dancer a l'entour
d'une pierre, qui est plantee audit lieu, sur laquelle est assis un grand
homme noir.'[499] Jane Bosdeau, who 'confessed freely and without Torture
and continued constant in it in the midst of the Flames in which she was
burnt', said that she had been to a witch-meeting, 'and danced in a circle
back to back'.[500]
'Les Sorciers dansent, & font leurs danses en rond, doz contre doz.
Les boiteux y vont plus dispostement que les autres [et] incitoient
les autres a sauter & danser.[501] ... Quelquefois, mais rarement, ils
dansent deux a deux, & par fois l'vn ca & l'autre la, & tousiours en
confusion: estans telles danses semblables a celles des Fees, vrais
Diables incorporez, qui regnoient il n'y a pas log temps.'[502] 'On y
dance tousiours le dos tourne au centre de la dance, qui faict que les
filles sont si accoutumees a porter les mains en arriere en cette dace
ronde, qu'elles y trainent tout le corps, & luy donnent vn ply courbe
en arriere, ayant les bras a demy tournez: si bien que la plupart ont
le ventre communement grand, enfle & avance, & vn peu penchant sur le
deuant. On y dance fort peu souuent vn a vn, c'est a dire vn homme
seul auec vne femme ou fille.... On n'y dancoit que trois sortes de
bransles, communement se tournant les espaules l'vn a l'autre, & le
dos d'vn chascun visant dans le rond de la dance, & le visage en
dehors. La premiere c'est a la Bohemienne.... La seconde c'est a
sauts; ces deux sont en rond.'[503] 'Ils apperceurent a l'entree [d'vn
bois], vn rond, ou cerne, dans lequel il y auoit plusieurs vestiges de
pieds d'ho[~m]es, d'efans, & d'Ours, ou bien d'autres bestes
semblables,[504] lesquels estoient seulement enfoncez d'vn demy doigt
dans la neige, quoy que pour eux ils y entrassent iusques a la
ceinture.'[505]
The Swedish witches danced in the same manner. 'We used to go to a gravel
pit which lay hard by a cross-way, and there we put on a garment over our
heads, and then danced round.'[506] The round dance was so essentially a
witch dance that More says, 'It might be here very seasonable to enquire
into the nature of those large _dark Rings_ in the grass, which they call
_Fairy Circles_, whether they be the _Rendezvouz_ of Witches, or the
dancing places of those little Puppet Spirits which they call _Elves_ or
_Fairies_.'[507]
It will be seen from the above quotations that there were many varieties in
the ring dance; this was the case also in the follow-my-leader dance. There
seems to have been also a combination of the two dances; or perhaps it
would be more correct to say that sometimes the ring and follow-my-leader
figures were used together so as to form one complete dance, as in the
modern Lancers. In both forms of the dance one of the chief members of the
society was the 'ring-leader', or leader of the dance. In the
follow-my-leader dance this was often the Devil, but in the ring dances
this place was usually taken by the second in command. When, however, the
Devil was the leader, the second-in-command was in the rear to keep up
those who could not move so quickly as the others. As pace was apparently
of importance, and as it seems to have been a punishable offence to lag
behind in the dance, this is possibly the origin of the expression 'The
Devil take the hindmost'.
At North Berwick Barbara Napier met her comrades at the church, 'where she
danced endlong the Kirk yard, and Gelie Duncan played on a trump, John
Fian, missellit, led the ring; Agnes Sampson and her daughters and all the
rest following the said Barbara, to the number of seven score of
persons.'[508] Isobel Gowdie was unfortunately not encouraged to describe
the dances in which she had taken part, so that our information, instead of
being full and precise, is very meagre. 'Jean Martein is Maiden to the
Coven that I am of; and her nickname is "Over the dyke with it", because
the Devil always takes the Maiden in his hand next him, when we dance
Gillatrypes; and when he would loup from [words broken here] he and she
will say, "Over the dyke with it."'[509] Another Scotch example is Mr.
Gideon Penman, who had been minister at Crighton. He usually 'was in the
rear in all their dances, and beat up all those that were slow'.[510]
Barton's wife 'one night going to a dancing upon Pentland Hills, he [the
Devil] went before us in the likeness of a rough tanny Dog, playing on a
pair of Pipes'.[511] De Lancre concludes his description of the dances (see
above, p. 131) by an account of an 'endlong' dance. 'La troisieme est aussi
le dos tourne, mais se tenant tous en long, & sans se deprendre des mains,
ils s'approchent de si pres qu'ils se touchent, & se rencontrent dos a dos,
vn homme auec vne femme; & a certaine cadance ils se choquent & frapent
impudemment cul contre cul.'[512] It was perhaps this dance which the
Devil led: 'Le Diable voit parfois dancer simplement comme spectateur;
parfois il mene la dance, changeant souuent de main & se mettant a la main
de celles qui luy plaisent le plus.'[513] In Northumberland in 1673 'their
particular divell tooke them that did most evill, and danced with them
first.--The devill, in the forme of a little black man and black cloaths,
called of one Isabell Thompson, of Slealy, widdow, by name, and required of
her what service she had done him. She replyd she had gott power of the
body of one Margarett Teasdale. And after he had danced with her he
dismissed her, and call'd of one Thomasine, wife of Edward Watson, of
Slealy.'[514] Danaeus also notes that the Devil was the leader: 'Th[~e] fal
they to dauncing, wherin he leadeth the daunce, or els they hoppe and
daunce merely about him.'[515] This is perhaps what de Lancre means when he
says that 'apres la dance ils se mettent par fois a sauter'.[516] A curious
variation of the follow-my-leader dance was practised at Aberdeen on Rood
Day, a date which as I have shown elsewhere corresponds with the
Walpurgis-Nacht of the German witches. The meeting took place upon St.
Katherine's Hill, 'and there under the conduct of Satan, present with you,
playing before you, after his form, ye all danced a devilish dance, riding
on trees, by a long space.'[517]