Witchcraft.
“Had learned the art that none may name
In Padua far beyond the sea.”
“Tam saw an unco sight!
Warlocks and witches in a dance;
Nae cotillon brent new frae France,
But horn pipes, gigs, strathspeys, and reels,
Put life and mettle in their heels:
… There sat auld Nick, in shape o’ beast;
A towzie tyke, black, grim, and large,
To gie them music was his charge.”
--_Tam O’Shanter_, Burns.
“Wise judges have prescribed that men may not rashly
believe the confessions of witches, nor the evidence
against them. For the witches themselves are imaginative,
and people are credulous, and ready to impute accidents to
witchcraft.”--_Bacon._
The belief in witchcraft dates from so very remote a period, it is so
universally spread throughout all the various races that compose the
human family, that it is not to be wondered at if it still retains its
hold among the ignorant and semi-educated, especially when we find,
even in the present day, that persons, who ought by their superior
instruction, and by the position they hold in society, to be above
such superstitions, are nevertheless, firm believers in judicial
astrology, fortune telling, spiritualism, and other similar delusions.
Although it is now but very seldom that public rumour goes so far
as to point out any particular individual as a proficient in this
forbidden art, the persuasion that sorcery does still exist, is by no
means extinct. A sudden and unusual malady, either in man or beast, a
strange and unlooked-for accident, the failure of crops from blight
or insects,--all these, and many more evils, are attributed by the
ignorant to supernatural causes; and, it is probable, will continue
to be so as long as there are those who find it their interest to
encourage this superstitious belief. For there are individuals,
commonly called “désorceleurs” or “white-witches,” who pretend to be
able to declare whether a person is bewitched or not, and to have it
in their power, by charms and incantations, to counteract the evil
influence. Of course this is not to be done for nothing; and cases of
this kind, where large sums of money have been extorted from ignorant
dupes, have, even of late years, formed the subject of judicial
investigation. It is useless to attempt to reason with the lower orders
on this subject. They have an answer ready which, in their minds at
least, is a conclusive reply to all doubts that may be suggested:--
“Witches and witchcraft are frequently spoken of in the Holy
Scriptures; who, then, but an unbeliever, can doubt that such things
are?”
Guernsey did not escape the epidemic delusion which spread over the
whole of Europe in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Here, as
elsewhere, a terror seized upon the people, and no man thought himself
secure from the machinations of the agents of Satan. The records of
the Royal Court of the island contain far too many condemnations of
unfortunate men and women to the stake for sorcery; and the evidence
on which the sentences against them were based, as well as their own
confessions, extorted under the infliction of torture, and taken down
in writing at the time, are still extant. The unhappy individuals were
of various ages and conditions, but, judging from the statements of
their accusers, and the evidence brought against them, they appear
to have been in most, if not all cases, persons of irregular life,
subsisting by begging and pilfering, vindictive towards those who
offended them, and clever in taking advantage of, and working on, the
fears and preconceived notions of their dupes.
They were accused of causing storms to arise, in which the unfortunate
fisherman who had refused them a share of his catch, either lost
his boat, his gear, or his life; or was so tempest-tossed as to be
in danger of losing his wits. Women and children were, by their
infernal influence, afflicted with sudden and strange maladies. Oxen,
horses, calves, sheep, and swine died unexpectedly, the cows calved
prematurely, and either gave no milk, or else blood in lieu of it.
Butter would not come, or became rancid even while it was being made,
and curds dissolved and turned to whey.
Maggots of unusual appearance, black at both extremities, appeared in
prodigious quantities in the beds, and even under the women’s caps, and
lice were in such numbers that they could be swept away with a broom.
The water in the fountains--usually so bright and limpid--became turbid
and unfit for use, and full of tadpoles and disgusting insects. Frogs
and black beasts (“_des bêtes noires_”), whatever they may have been,
sat by the bedside of those who were under a spell; but all these evils
disappear as suddenly as they have come, either on the sufferer weakly
yielding to the demands of the supposed sorcerer, or having courage
enough to threaten to denounce him to the judicial authorities.
It is not to be wondered at that the pretended wizards and witches
should have shrunk from a judicial investigation at a time when all
believed firmly in their supernatural powers, and when the examination
into the alleged facts was carried on in a manner so different from
the procedure of the present day, hearsay evidence of the vaguest
description being admitted as proof, and when that failed, torture
being resorted to in order to extort a confession.
From the evidence given, and the confessions of the sorcerers
themselves, it appears that the means employed by them to effect their
nefarious designs were various; but two in particular are mentioned.
A peculiar black powder, furnished them by their master, the Devil,
which, being cast on man or beast, was the cause of serious and unusual
maladies; and certain enchanted articles, introduced furtively into the
beds or pillows of those on whom they wished to practise their evil
arts.
These charms are variously described by the witnesses as consisting of
seeds of different kinds, of which mildewed or blighted beans seem to
have been the most common, and of feathers, knotted together with ends
of thread or silk twist, and sometimes made into the shape of a small
image.
When the beds or pillows were opened to search for these articles, it
sometimes happened that an animal was seen to leave the bed, which,
after taking various forms, as that of a black cat, a cock, a rat, a
mouse, or a stoat, succeeded in evading all attempts to catch it, and
escaped in a mysterious manner.
Isabell Le Moigne, one of the witches, declared in her confession
that this was none other than Satan himself. If these charms were
thrown into the fire, they produced a most noisome smell, but, in some
instances, the immediate cure of the sufferer was the result. If the
person under the influence of witchcraft was uncertain on whom he ought
to fix the guilt of bewitching him, there was an infallible method for
discovering the culprit.
The house-key was to be placed on the hearth-stone, and the fire heaped
around it. As it became hot, the wizard or witch, apparently suffering
great agony, would come to the door, and endeavour to force an entrance
into the house, offering at the same time to put an end to the spell
under which the inmates were bound.
Another means of finding out the guilty party was to roast the
heart of some animal--some said that of a black sheep was the most
efficacious--with certain prescribed rites and incantations, or to
boil it with certain herbs known to the white witch or “désorceleur,”
who, of course, could not be expected to give his valuable advice and
services for nothing.
According to the confessions of the unfortunate victims of the
superstition and credulity of their times, to which allusion has been
made above, the doings of Satan with them were just such as we read of
in the accounts of prosecutions for witchcraft in other countries. A
desire to be revenged on some persons who had given them offence seems
to have been the first motive.
[Illustration: “North Arm, Old Harbour, showing back of Pollet.”]
The Devil then appeared to them in the shape of a black dog, cat, or
other animal, sometimes under one likeness, sometimes under another;
offered his services, invited them to attend the “Sabbath,” which
was generally held in some weird, out-of-the-way locality; furnished
them with a certain ointment, which was to be rubbed on the back and
stomach; after doing which, they found themselves carried through the
air, with extraordinary velocity, to the appointed place of meeting,
where they found other wizards and witches, and a number of imps in the
shape of dogs, cats, and hares. They were unable to recognise the other
sorcerers on account of their all appearing blackened and disfigured,
but they knew who they were by their answering to their names when the
roll was called over by Satan before entering on the business of the
night.
They commenced by adoring their infernal master in a manner which it
is not necessary to describe minutely. They then danced back to back,
after which they were regaled with bread and wine, which Satan poured
out of silver or pewter flagons into goblets of the same metals. They
all agreed in describing the wine as being inferior to that usually
drunk; and they asserted that salt was never seen at these feasts.
The Devil, before dismissing the assembly, gave them a certain black
powder, of which we have spoken before.
The favourite form assumed by Satan on these occasions seems to have
been that of a large black dog, standing upright on his hind legs, but
he sometimes appeared in the shape of a he-goat.
Isabell Le Moigne described him as a black dog of large size, with
long erect horns, and hands like those of a man. Deeds were done
at the Sabbath which will not bear being spoken of; but there are
circumstances which lead one to suppose that the poor deluded wretches
of women may, in some cases, have been deceived by designing men, who
enticed them from their houses at night, and, under assumed disguises,
abused their credulity.
All sorcerers were marked by Satan in some part or other of the body,
and the mark thus made was insensible to pain, and bloodless.
One of the witches asserted that the Devil, before her enlistment into
his service, required of her the gift of some living animal, and that
she presented him with a young fowl. The next night at the Sabbath,
whither she was conveyed through the air after having duly anointed her
body with the ointment given her by the Devil, she was made to renounce
the Holy Trinity, and to promise obedience to her infernal master.
It appeared also from the confessions that if the servants of Satan
refused to do his behests, they are beaten and otherwise maltreated by
him.
It is clear from the evidence given in many of the trials for
witchcraft that the accused, in a majority of cases, were persons
who trafficked on the ignorance and credulity of the people, and who
encouraged the idea of their being possessed of supernatural powers so
long as they found it profitable to do so.
Even in the present day there are people who are afraid to refuse to
give alms to a beggar, lest an evil eye should be cast upon them;
and who can say how many deaths of cattle and pigs, attributed to
witchcraft, may not have been caused by poison adroitly administered
out of revenge for a supposed injury?
In their nocturnal flights through the air to their appointed place
of meeting with the Demon, witches were said to utter loud cries;
and persons may, perhaps, still be found ready to affirm that in
tempestuous nights, when the wind was howling round their dwellings,
they have been able to distinguish above all the tumult of the
elements, the unearthly cry of “_Har-hèri[146]! qué-hou-hou! Sabbat!
Sabbat._” This cry is attributed to the “_gens du hocq_” or “_gens du
Vendredi_,” as they are called by those whose prudence deters them
from speaking of “sorciers” and “sorcières,” lest the use of such
offensive epithets should give umbrage. It is believed, too, that in
their assemblies on Friday nights on the hill of Catiôroc, around the
cromlech called “Le Trepied,” or on the sands of Rocquaine Bay, they
dance to a roundelay, the burden of which is “_Qué-hou-hou! Marie
Lihou!_” Some suppose that these words are uttered in defiance of the
Blessed Virgin Mary, in whose honour the church and priory were erected
and dedicated by the name of Notre Dame, Ste. Marie de Lihou. They are
now a heap of shapeless ruins, but the place must have been looked upon
as one of peculiar sanctity, for even down to the present day French
coasting vessels passing by salute it by lowering their topmast. It is
not then to be wondered at if the infernal sisterhood--one of whose
chief amusements, as is well known, is the raising of storms in which
many a proud vessel goes down--should take a particular delight in
insulting the “Star of the Sea,” the kind and ever-watchful guardian
of the poor mariner.
Wizards and witches are supposed to have the power of navigating on the
sea in egg-shells, and on the blade-bones of animals. It is to prevent
this improper use of them that the spoon is always thrust through the
egg-shell after eating its contents, and that a hole is made through
the blade-bone before throwing it away.
It is believed that witches have the power of assuming the shape of
various animals, and many stories turn on the exercise of this supposed
faculty. The favourite forms with them appear to be those of cats,
hares, and “cahouettes”[147] or red-legged choughs. It is not easy
to conjecture how this beautiful and harmless bird got into such bad
company; perhaps its predilection for the wild and unfrequented cliffs
and headlands, where the witches are supposed to hold their unholy
meetings, may have gained it the reputation of being in alliance with
them.
In Guernsey, as elsewhere, a horseshoe, nailed on the lintel, door,
or threshold, or on the mast or any other part of a ship or boat, is
supposed to be a sure preservative against witchcraft, and, although
a black cat is one of the most frequent disguises assumed by Satan’s
imps and servants, the household in which a cat without a single white
hair is domesticated, is thought to be highly favoured, as none of the
infernal gang will venture to molest it. As some persons are fully
persuaded that every black cat, however tame and well-behaved it may
appear to be, is in reality in league with the Prince of Darkness, it
may be that any interference on the part of others of the fraternity is
contrary to the rules established among them, and resented accordingly,
the old saying that “two of a trade cannot agree,” holding good in this
case.
Allusion has been made to those who have an interest in encouraging
a belief in witchcraft, and there is no doubt that persons who, for
some reason or other, enjoy the unenviable reputation of dabbling
in this forbidden art, now that they have no longer the fear of the
stake and faggot before their eyes, and have only the minor terrors
of a Police Court to dread, are not altogether unwilling to brave the
latter danger if, by working on the credulity of the ignorant and
superstitious, they can extort money, or even command a certain amount
of consideration as the possessors of supernatural powers.
Few would venture in the present day to acknowledge openly that they
could injure their neighbours by the exercise of unholy arts; but many
may be found who pretend to a secret knowledge which may be used for
beneficent purposes.
The difference, however, between a true witch--the servant of
Satan--and what is commonly called “a white witch,” has never been
clearly defined. The latter is known in Guernsey by the name of
“désorceleresse” or “désorceleur,” for the art is quite as frequently,
if not more frequently, exercised by men than by women. The persons
who practise it pretend to be able to declare whether man or beast
is suffering from the effects of witchcraft, to discover who it is
that has cast the spell, and, by means of spells and incantations, to
counteract the evil influence. It is clear, however, that one who is
in possession of such powers must himself have a very intimate and
profound knowledge of the arts he is fighting against, and that, if
offended, he may perhaps be tempted to practise them. The “désorceleur”
thus is as much feared as trusted, and as, of course, he cannot be
expected to give his valuable services for nothing, the profession
is often found to be very remunerative, large sums of money, besides
presents in kind, being sometimes extorted from the superstition and
fears of the credulous dupes.
There is no doubt, however, that some of these pretenders have some
skill in the cure of the diseases to which cattle are liable, and
even that some of the minor ailments to which the human race are
subject, are occasionally relieved by them, especially those--and among
ignorant, uneducated people they are not few--which arise out of a
disordered imagination. The habits of close observation which those
of his profession acquire must needs give the “désorceleur” a great
insight into character; his cunning will soon teach him how to work
on the fears and credulity of those who come to consult him, and his
experience will guide him into the best way of exercising his knowledge.
How far the so-called white-witches are believers in their own
supernatural powers is an open question. It may be that, in making use
of certain forms or practices which they have learned from others, they
may be fully persuaded in their own minds of their efficacy, it may be
that in some cases they are labouring under a sort of hallucination.
A noted bone-setter, who, it is said, was occasionally resorted to when
man or beast was supposed to be under evil influence, or when it was
sought to discover the perpetration of a theft, used to account for
his pretended knowledge of the anatomy of the human body by asserting
solemnly that this knowledge had been revealed to him in a vision from
Heaven, and he had repeated this story so often that it was evident to
his hearers that he had come at last to believe fully in the truth of
what he said.
The rustic bone-setter is not necessarily a “désorceleur,” although,
as in the instance just noticed, the two professions may be combined;
but he is skilled in the cure of those somewhat mysterious ailments
known as “une veine trésaillie,” which seems to be a sprain or strain,
and “les côtaïs bas,” which may be defined as that sort of dyspeptic
affection which the lower orders call a “sinking of the stomach” or
“all-overness.” This ailment is supposed popularly to be caused by the
ribs slipping out of their place, and is cured by manipulation and
pushing them gradually back into their proper position. The efficacy
of friction properly applied in reducing a sprain is well known, and
accounts for the frequent success of the bone-setter in the treatment
of “veines trésaillies.”
Some of these practitioners--old women as well as men--pretend to
have the gift of causing warts to disappear by counting them, and
asking certain questions of the persons applying to them for relief.
The principal information they seem to wish to arrive at is the age
of the person; and this known, they predict that the warts are likely
to disappear within a certain time. As these unsightly excrescences
affect more particularly young persons, and as it is known that they
frequently disappear naturally at that age when youth is passing into
manhood, it is not unlikely that this fact may have been observed, and
the knowledge of it turned to account. It is believed that those who
possess the secret may impart it to one, and to one only; but they must
receive neither fee nor reward for so doing; for if they do, or if they
tell it to more than one, they lose their power of curing. They must
not receive money for their services, but if a cure is effected they
are at liberty to take a present.
[Illustration: “Town Harbour, from an old picture.”]
As might be expected, fortune-telling forms no small part of the
white-witch’s profession, although all do not practise it, and some
confine themselves to this particular branch alone. Cards seem to be
now the principal means used for prying into the secrets of futurity,
but other appliances have been used, and may, perhaps, still be used by
some, such as the detection of a thief by means of a Bible and key.
A sort of rhabdomancy, or divination by small rods, shuffled together
with certain ceremonies and charms, and then thrown on the ground, was
used by a sort of half-demented creature called Collas Roussé, about
the end of the last century.
He is said to have had a good deal of shrewdness, to have been very
quick at repartee, and to have had great facility in expressing himself
in rhymed sentences. He appears to have believed that he was really
in possession of supernatural knowledge, and as his assumption of
extraordinary powers gained credence with the vulgar, he found it an
easy task to make a profit of their credulity. It is reported of him
that when brought to justice for some gross act of imposition, he had
the audacity to threaten his judges with the effects of his vengeance.
His threats, however, did not deter the magistrates from sentencing him
to exposure in the cage on a market day, with his divining apparatus
by his side. He bore his punishment bravely, and entertained the
multitude who crowded to see him with rhyming remarks. Another species
of rhabdomancy is the use of the divining rod, the efficacy of which is
fully believed in, not only for the discovery of springs of water, but
also for the revealing of the spot where treasure has been concealed;
and, if the stories that are told are all to be depended upon, there is
evidence sufficient to stagger the sturdiest unbeliever.
A country gentleman, now dead, whom nobody who knew him took for a
conjurer, was particularly renowned for his skill in this art. Not only
could he tell by means of the rod where a spring of water was to be
found, and to what depth it would be necessary to dig before coming to
it, but he could also discover in what part of a field or house money
or plate had been hidden. In order, however, to perform this last feat,
it is necessary that the rod should be previously touched with metal
of the same kind as that to be sought for. It is only in the hands of
some few favoured individuals that the rod works, and even then it
does so in various degrees; with some, being violently agitated, with
others, moving slowly, and sometimes imperceptibly. The art of holding
the forked stick may be taught to anyone, but unless a natural aptitude
exists, the rod remains inert in the grasp of the holder.
A portion of the confessions of some of the unfortunate victims who
suffered at the stake in 1617, translated from the records preserved
in the Register Office of the Royal Court of Guernsey, will be given
as a specimen of the absurdities to which credence could be given in a
superstitious age.[148]
It must not, however, be forgotten that the island did not stand alone
in this belief. No part of Europe seems to have escaped the absurd
dread of witchcraft, which, like a pestilence, spread from one nation
to another, and from which even the most learned of the age, men of
profound thought, did not escape. One curious fact may be noticed; the
practices imputed to the accused, who were for the most part of the
lowest and most ignorant classes of society, and to which in numberless
instances they confessed, appear to have been nearly identical in all
countries. The inference is that they must have been handed down from a
very remote period, and that they were in use among the pretenders to
magical arts and supernatural powers among our pagan ancestors; just
as in the present day we find similar ideas and practices existing
among savage tribes, and in semi-civilised countries where the light of
Christianity has not yet penetrated. It is well known how difficult it
is to wean a people from their primitive belief, and how prone they are
to cling to it in secret. Is it not possible that some secret society
may have existed for ages after the spread of the Gospel in which
heathen practices may have been perpetuated?
[146] _Ké_, _Gué_ or _Tié_ and _Hou_ are epithets applied to the Deity
in the Bas Breton. MS. Note by Mr. George Métivier.
“_Sabot-Daim_--a witch hornpipe.” (Idem.)
[147] Mr. Métivier, in his _Dictionnaire Franco-Normand_, has a long
article on “cahouettes.” He says:--
“They play, in neo-latin mythology, a very interesting part, even
to-day some traces of which are to be found. Wizards and witches,
according to the councils, disguised themselves formerly as ‘cahouets’
and ‘cahouettes.’ Raphaël, Archbishop of Nicosie, capital of the island
of Cyprus, in the year 1251, excommunicated all the ‘cahouets’ and
the ‘cahouettes’ as well as those who supported and encouraged games
of chance.--(_Constitutions_, _ch._ 15). And the Council of Nîmes,
thirty years after, treats in the same manner witches and sooth sayers,
‘coavets’ and ‘coavettes.’
“In the hierarchy of Mithras, that type of the rising sun which
bewitched the Gauls, the deacon, or minister was entitled ‘corneille’
or _rook_; and on the first day of the year, according to Porphyry, the
initiates disguised themselves severally as beasts and birds.”
Mr. Métivier ends by citing two authorities on ancient traditions
concerning these birds.
“Le corbeau est consacré à Apollon, et il est son ministre (_famulus_),
voilà pourquoi il possède la faculté de prédire.” _Gérard Jean Voss_,
_liv._ 3, _sur l’Idolâtrie_.
“Je crois que ces cérémonies se célébraient près de Coptos, ville dont
le nom était si fameux, et d’où vient l’Egypte. Dans les environs de
cette cité, on voyait deux corbeaux, c’étaient les seuls.… Et il y
avait là l’image d’Apollon, auquel les corbeaux étaient consacrés.”
“La corneille est le symbole de l’amour conjugal.” _Nicolas Caussin,
Jésuite, natif de Troyes_, _Notes sur Horapollo_. _Paris_, 1618, p. 165.
[148] EDITOR’S NOTE.--These are also given in full, in French, with an
English translation, by Mr. J. Linwood Pitts, F.S.A., (Normandy), in
his _Witchcraft and Devil-Lore in the Channel Islands, etc._, 1886.
Trials for Witchcraft, and Confessions of Witches.
EDITOR’S NOTE.--The documents which follow are translated from
the Records of the Royal Court preserved at the Greffe. Sir Edgar
MacCulloch had copied out the depositions of the witnesses on loose
sheets of paper, evidently meaning to incorporate them into his book.
The “Confession of the Witches” in his MS. follows his essay on
Witchcraft.
15TH MAY, 1581.
Katherine Eustace and her daughter were accused by common consent of
practising the art of witchcraft in the island.
The wife of Collas Cousin deposed that having refused to give milk to
the accused, saying that there were poorer people to whom she would
rather give, her cow then gave blood instead of milk.
Johan Le Roux deposed that having been seized with great pains in his
knee, he believed himself to be bewitched by Katherine Eustace, so his
wife went to the latter and threatened to denounce her to the Royal
Court; after that he got better.
28TH OCTOBER, 1581.
Robert Asheley, found dead in the garden behind St. Peter Port
parsonage, suspected of having committed suicide by shooting himself
with an arquebus. This having been proved according to the law, the
Court, after hearing the speech made by Her Majesty’s Procureur, found
that the said Robert Asheley shall be carried to some unfrequented spot
and there buried, a heap of stones being placed on his body,[149] and
thus he shall be deprived of burial in the spot where Christian remains
are placed; and that all his goods shall be confiscate to Her Majesty
the Queen.
[149] EDITOR’S NOTE.--See in “Hamlet,” where the priest refuses
Christian burial to Ophelia as a suicide, and commands:--“Shards,
flints, and pebbles should be thrown upon her.”
It has been conjectured that these heaps of stones were placed upon
graves, more especially of criminals and suicides, to keep the spirit
in the earth, and prevent the ghost from walking. Hence the modern
gravestone.
25TH FEBRUARY, 1583.
Collas de la Rue is accused of using the arts of witchcraft, and of
grievously vexing and tormenting divers subjects of Her Majesty.
Matthieu Cauchez deposed that his wife being in a pining languorous
condition, having heard that Collas de la Rue was a wizard, and knowing
that he frequently visited his house, he asked him if he could help
his wife. Collas replied:--
“As to her she is an ‘in pace’ (sic), she will not live much longer.”
De la Rue came to the place where his wife lay ill, and caused the bed
to be reversed, putting the bolster at the foot; she died three hours
afterwards.
James Blanche affirmed that having failed in a promise he had made
to De la Rue, the latter swore he should repent. His wife soon
afterwards became swollen all over, in which state she remained for
some considerable time. He finally went to De la Rue, and consulted him
as to how to cure his wife, and he gave him a decoction of herbs to be
used as a drink, by which his wife was cured.
Thomas Behot deposed that on returning from fishing, he refused to give
some fish to the son of Collas De la Rue. The son said he was a “false
villain,” and complained to his father, who on that said, “_Tais-toy,
il n’en peschera plus guères_.” (“Be quiet, he will not catch many
more.”) That same day he was taken ill, and became so swollen that he
could not rest between his sheets--(en ses draps). After having been
ill for a long time, his wife unsewed his mattress and found therein
several sorts of grains, such as broom, “alisandre” “nocillons” or
“nerillons de fèves,” (black beans?), the treadles of sheep, pieces
of laurel, rags with feathers stuck into them,[150] and several other
things. His wife threw it all into the fire, and such an awful smell
arose from the flames that they were obliged to leave the room, and
immediately his swelling disappeared. The same day he was taken with
such violent pains that he thought his last hour was come. Whereupon
his wife put the key of their front door in the fire, and, as soon as
it began to get red hot, Collas de la Rue, who had not been invited,
and who had not put foot inside their house for six years, arrived
there before sunrise, and said that he would undertake to cure him,
but that it would be a lengthy operation, that he would have to refer
to a book that he had at home, by which he had cured several people,
Matthieu Cauchez among others, and that also he (the witness) would be
cured. So Collas made him some poultices of herbs, but they did not
cure him. With great difficulty he dragged himself to St. Martin’s
Church (au temple de St. Martin), where De la Rue said to him:--
“I am glad to see you here, and yet not entirely glad, for you are not
yet cured.”
When the deponent replied that he soon hoped to be on the sea again, De
la Rue replied:
“Do not go, for you will not return without great danger.” (“N’y vas
pas, car à grand’ peine en reviendras tu.”)
However, he persisted in going, and encountered such bad weather that
he and all the crew were nearly drowned. And returning very ill, and
his malady continuing, his wife again unsewed his mattress and there
found an image made of a bone-like substance and apparently all gnawed,
(d’une manière d’os tout rongé) which he took to the magistrates, and
afterwards got better.
Collas De la Rue also told him that Collas Rouget had gone to Normandy
to seek a cure. Had he only consulted him first, he need not have gone
so far to be cured. In conclusion he said that on his conscience he
believed and affirmed the said De la Rue to be a wizard.
Richard de Vauriouf deposed that having had several differences with
Collas De la Rue on the subject of his cattle, which had caused him
annoyance, De la Rue said to him:
“You are very strong and active, but before long you will not be thus,
and you will be humbled after another manner.” (“Tu es bien robuste et
fort, mais avant qu’il soit guères ce ne sera pas ainsy, et tu seras
autrement abaissé.”)
Very soon afterwards the said Vauriouf was taken ill, and so was one of
his daughters, and he was weak and languishing for more than a month.
Pierre Tardif, who had had some law-suits with Collas De la Rue,
deposed that thereupon his daughter was taken ill, and her mattress
being searched they found several … (here and in various places the
record is torn) … of several kinds, and being … made principally of a
coloured silken thread and of … of broom, of beans cut up, two of them
being black … a pin stuck in a piece of rag and … After having taken
advice he (Tardif) had thrashed De la Rue … after having given him two
knock-down blows, his daughter was all right again. After which she was
again taken ill, so he searched for De la Rue, and, having found him,
he again thrashed him, this time drawing blood, and shortly after that
his daughter was cured. In conclusion he also deposed upon oath his
belief that De la Rue was a wizard.
[Illustration: “Royal Court House in 1880.”]
… deposed as to having heard Collas De la Rue say that he had means to
silence those who spoke ill of him (“qu’il avait des moyens de faire
taire ceux qui parloient mal de luy.”)
(The record is here again torn, and the trial apparently did not
conclude, but in 1585 the proceedings against Collas De la Rue were
recommenced and many of the same witnesses appeared).
[150] EDITOR’S NOTE.--In a letter called “Voudouism in Virginia,”
quoted by Mr. Moncure D. Conway in his book on _Demonology and
Devil-Lore_, Vol. I., p. 69., the following similar superstition is
noticed. “If an ignorant negro is smitten with a disease which he
cannot comprehend, he often imagines himself the victim of witchcraft,
and, having no faith in ‘white folks’ physic’ for such ailments,
must apply to one of these quacks. A physician residing near this
city (Richmond), was invited by such a one to witness his mode of
procedure with a dropsical patient for whom the physician in question
had occasionally charitably prescribed. On the coverlet of the bed on
which the sick man lay, was spread a quantity of bones, feathers and
other trash. The charlatan went through with a series of so-called
conjurations, burned feathers, hair, and tiny fragments of wood
in a charcoal furnace, and mumbled gibberish past the physician’s
comprehension. He then proceeded to rip open the pillows and bolsters,
and took from them some queer conglomerations of feathers. These he
said had caused all the trouble. Sprinkling a whitish powder over them
he burnt them in his furnace. A black offensive smoke was produced, and
he announced triumphantly that the evil influence was destroyed and
that the patient would surely get well. He died not many days later,
believing, in common with all his friends and relatives, that the
conjurations of the ‘trick doctor’ had failed to save him only because
resorted to too late.”
THE TRIAL OF COLLAS DE LA RUE RESUMED.
17TH DECEMBER, 1585.
Collas Hugues appeared in person and showed his child to us in the
Court. This said child cannot talk except at random and with an
impediment in its speech that none can cure; and he declares his
conviction that his said child is “detained” (detenu) by some wizard,
and he will take his oath that it is Collas De la Rue who “detains”
him, inasmuch that the latter threatened him that he would afflict
him through his most precious treasure (du plus cher joyau qu’il peut
avoir). On this declaration, Her Majesty’s Procureur testified to us
that the said De la Rue had formerly been imprisoned for sorcery, and
now, that though he had not always been proved guilty, yet that to all
outward appearance he had practised the art of witchcraft, and so much
so, that new complaints being made against him, he had demanded the
arrest and the confiscation of the goods of the said De la Rue, which
was granted.
On the 25th of December an investigation was ordered.
DECEMBER, 1585.
James Blanche affirms that on a certain day, having promised to go
for a day’s work to the aforesaid De la Rue, and not having done so,
that he was heard to say to one of his people, that he, Blanche,
should repent, and that soon afterwards his wife was seized with an
illness which lasted for nearly a year. So that, finding the said De
la Rue near “La Croix Guerin,”[151] he asked him if he could give him
something to cure his wife. Then the said De la Rue took an apple,
which he broke into six parts, of which he retained one, and gave the
remaining five pieces to the said Blanche to carry back to his wife,
forbidding him at the same time to eat a mouthful. Notwithstanding,
when he quitted De la Rue, he ate the said apple, and at that moment
the said De la Rue appeared before him, he having not yet reached his
own house, and taxed him with having eaten the forbidden apple, and the
same day his wife was cured. He, Blanche, says that this is a man given
to threats, and is much suspected and generally denounced as being a
wizard, and he has even heard that people have called him “sorcier” to
his face and he has not resented it.
[151] EDITOR’S NOTE.--The old name for the cross roads at St. Martin’s,
near where the village Post Office now stands.
DECEMBER, 1585.
Jehennet des Perques deposed that at divers times the said Collas De
la Rue went to the fishermen and foretold to them when they should
have fine weather and when they should have storms.… He was commonly
reported to be a wizard. He also deposed that on a certain day, he
being at the house of Collas Henry, where the said De la Rue had
quarrelled with the wife of Collas de Bertran, who had called him
“sorcier” (wizard), he threatened her that she should repent, and that
the said Mrs. de Bertran fell in descending the stairs (cheut aval les
degrez) and bruised herself from head to foot.
Several witnesses depose that Collas De la Rue is a man much given
to threats, that various persons have fallen ill after having been
threatened by him, and that he cured them at his will.
He was sent back to prison.
It appears that Collas De la Rue was executed, for, in a lawsuit
against Denis de Garis for concealing a treasure that he had found in
his house, it is said that the aforesaid treasure was found on the day
of Collas De la Rue’s execution, that is to say the 25th of March,
1585-6.
24TH NOVEMBER, 1602.
Marie Roland is accused of sorcery.
John Sohier witnesses that the aforesaid Marie, having been with him
one day at the house of the Henry’s, together with Joan Henry, whose
child lay ill, she confessed to having bewitched the child, and on
being asked in what manner, said that she had put its clothes one night
by the stream (auprès du douit) and that she and her master the Devil
then entered into the house of the said Henry by the chimney, and found
the said child by the hearth, and with a splinter she pricked the
child, and it was bewitched for three months.
10TH APRIL, 1613.
An inquest on the suspicions of witchcraft against Olivier Omont,
Cecile Vaultier, his wife, and Guillemine Omont, their daughter.
Jacques Bailleul deposed that having refused alms to Olivier Omont
his son was taken with a pain in his ear which lasted twenty-four
hours, that the doctor said that he could not understand it (qu’il n’y
connaissait rien), that he believes that Olivier is a wizard.
Guillemine Le Pastourell affirms that Omont came begging from her, and
she said that he was stronger than her and that he could gain his bread
if necessary without begging, that the next day she was taken ill, that
she remained ill for three weeks, that Omont, having come again, gave
her some bread, and after that she recovered. During her illness all
her cattle died. She believed it was from some spell cast by the said
Omont.
Marie Sohier witnesses that the day after the death of her husband
Olivier Omont came to her house demanding bread. She replied that
having numerous children to feed she could not spare him any, that
he went away grumbling. At that very moment her daughter Marguerite,
aged six years, was taken ill, and when they gave her some bread she
threw it away and ate cinders by the handful. That her daughter Marie,
one year old, was taken ill one hour after the departure of Omont,
and she had remained ill for two years. That having met Omont at the
Mont Durand she threatened to throw a stone at him, and called him
“sorcier,” that on returning home she gave a lump of white bread to her
child, who ate it all, and since then is quite well. She believes that
the said Omont was the cause of the sickness of her children.
Philippin Le Goubey witnesses that Olivier Omont having begged for
cider from his wife, she refused him, and was instantly afflicted with
grievous pains; that he entreated the said Omont several times to come
into his house to see his wife, but that he always refused; that one
day he forced him to enter, and he put one foot in the house and the
other out, and then he fled; that rushing after him he threatened to
denounce him to justice if he would not cure his wife; that then he
said that she would be well again in a fortnight, but that he could not
cure her at that moment; that he forced him to return to the house,
and that, when there, he threatened to keep him there until he was
delivered up to justice; that at that very moment his wife was cured of
the worst of her pains; that having shortly afterwards come into the
town to make a notification of these things, he found that the said
Omont had already taken a boat and fled from the country.
Pierre Simon, of Torteval, being at the Hougue Antan,[152] met
Olivier Omont lying with his face against the ground. He tried to
awake him, shook him, and heard a buzzing (un bourdonnement) but saw
nothing. Feeling rather frightened he left him and went on towards the
Buttes[153] of Torteval, and then came back to the place where he had
left him. Omont suddenly awoke, having his mouth full of mud, and his
face all disfigured (défiguré). Omont having been questioned replied
that he had fallen from the cliff, and that Pierre Nant had seen him
fall.
Several people witnessed that having refused alms to Omont and to his
wife, their cattle fell ill and died, their cows gave blood instead of
milk, or gave nothing at all, their sows and their cows miscarried, and
misfortunes happened to their wives.
[152] This is a hill at Torteval, on which, says Mr. Métivier, our
ancestors used to light signal fires near the “Hougue Hérault,” where
the northern King _Herolt_ made his signals. He says the name is
derived from the Breton _An Tat_, “the old Father,” a name for the God
of the Gauls; in Swedish it is _Anda_, the spirit, or _Onda_, the evil
one. See Notes in _Rimes Guernesiaises_.
[153] These were the mounds of earth where they practised with the
cross-bow before the introduction of muskets. The “Buttes” still exist
in some parishes.
29TH JUNE, 1613.
Thomas Mancell witnessed that his wife having refused alms to Omont,
their cow fell ill, and they were obliged to kill it. Jean Hamon, who
flayed the cow, cut it at the shoulder, and “there issued a black beast
as large as a little ‘cabot’ (a small fish). Its throat was such that
one could easily insert the tip of one’s little finger, and it had two
little wings” (“en sortit une beste noire, grosse comme un petit cabot,
dans la gueule duquell on aurait bien mis le bout du petit doigt et
avait deulx petites ailes.”)
Jean Le Feyvre, of the Mielles,[154] witnesseth that one morning he
found Cécile, wife of Omont, near the Chapelle de l’Epine, where she
was searching, he could not tell for what, and where she remained for a
long while without his being able to perceive that she found anything,
and she did not perceive that he was watching her; and he having asked
her shortly afterwards whether it was she that he had observed at such
an hour near the chapel, she denied it, and that afterwards he asked
her again whether it was she who was in that neighbourhood, and she
replied in the affirmative, and then he started fine rumours, (ung beau
bruit) saying that she was dancing on the thorn which grows in the
aforesaid neighbourhood.
[154] _Mielles_, in Normandy, Brittany, and the Channel Islands, means
the “waste lands on the sea-shore.” In the Vale parish alone there
were two estates called “Les Mielles.” See Métivier’s _Dictionary_,
_Mielles_.
29TH MAY, 1613.
Thomasse, wife of Collas Troussey, deposes that one night, her husband
being on guard at the Castle, she was awakened by a frightful noise,
like cats squalling, and she dared not cry out on account of Olivier
Omont, who was sleeping in the same corridor as herself, though the
miauling of the cats still continued. When her husband was returned
from his patrol, she dared ask Omont if he had not heard the cats, to
which he replied Yes, but there was nothing for her to be afraid of,
that they would do her no harm. That another night, her husband being
also there, she had heard Omont call “Cats! cats!” and on asking him if
he had cats in his wallet (en son bisac,) he replied “No,” and that the
noise seemed beneath where she lay, but that he was afraid that they
would eat the fish that was on the table.
Olivier Omont, his wife and daughter, were all banished from the island.
30TH JUNE, 1613.
An enquiry was held on Laurence L’Eustace, wife of Thomas Le Comte,
suspected of being a witch.
Jean Hallouvris witnesses that for four years he has driven his cart.
As the wheels passed close to Laurence she dropped several strings and
twists of rushes (quelques colliers et nattes de pavie)[155] that she
was carrying, at which she was very angry. Two days afterwards, one
of his bullocks set off running as if it were mad, and then fell down
stone dead, and the other bullock died the next day.
[Illustration: “High Street, 1850.”
Sketched from an Old Picture by the late Mr. A. C. Andros.]
Pierre Machon deposes that he has heard Laurence swear “By God’s ten
fingers” (“Par les dix doigts de Dieu”), and with oaths and blasphemies
call devils to her assistance.
Christine, wife of Pierre Jehan, says that her first husband, Collas
Henry, having had a quarrel with Laurence Le Comte, one of their
children, aged two years, was taken with an illness which lasted for
twelve months. When the attack first came on, he jumped high into
the air, that, before being taken ill he walked very well, but that
afterwards, all that year he crawled on his hands and knees. That,
having had a quarrel with the said Laurence, and having put some curds
to cool, (des caillebottes à refroidir), she found them the next day
just like bits of rag (que de la mêque), and that on the following
Monday the child was seized with terror, and cried out that someone was
pulling his nose. That, as soon as she went to Laurence’s house, the
child got better, but, on her return, fell ill again, and finally died.
Laurence L’Eustache, wife of Thomas Le Comte, was also banished from
the island.
On the 17th of May, 1617, began the trial of Collette du Mont, widow
of Jean Becquet, Marie, her daughter, wife of Pierre Massy, and Isebel
Becquet, wife of Jean Le Moygne.
James Gallienne witnesses that one day, having quarrelled with Jean Le
Moigne, husband of the aforesaid Isebell, the said Le Moigne said to
him:--
“You are always seeking to pick quarrels with me, and you say that my
wife is a witch, but before six months are over you will be very glad
to come and implore me to help you;” that immediately his wife fell
into a lingering illness, and, doubting not but that it was the effect
of a spell, opened all the mattresses and found all kinds of filth and
bits of feather, which he has showed to several people; and in some
quite new pillows which he had at home he found a large quantity of
worms. He says that about six years ago, one of his children being
ill, he was putting a pillow under his head, found it hard, and, on
unripping it, found it full of dirt. While they unsewed it they heard a
flapping noise as of the wings of a cock, and the said child declared
that he saw this cock; that, having shut all the doors, they tried to
find what it really was, and that, having hunted and ransacked the
house, they saw first a rat, then a weasel, which slipped through the
holes of the pavement (sortit par les pertius de la dalle). And at
the end of two or three days he was asked why he had beaten the said
Isebell Becquet. He replied that he had not touched her, and soon
after that he was advised to try whether she was a witch, by putting
the key of his front door (de son grand huis) in the fire, which he
did. When the said key had been nearly two days in the fire the said
woman arrived at his house, without asking whether he were at home, and
begged of him seven to nine (sept à neuf) things which he refused her,
she wishing at all hazards to come in further (entrer plus outre) to
see the sick child, which he would not allow.
Item. Deposeth that his wife having rebuked the said Isebell because
her children annoyed those of the said Gallienne, she went away very
vexed, and the next day one of his oxen broke its neck, his mare
miscarried, and his wife was taken ill.
Item; that the children of the said Isebell said one day to the
children of the said Gallienne, that if their mother was ill it
was because she had spoken rudely; that some time afterwards, Mrs.
Gallienne being in bed in her room, the door being shut and simply a
sky-light (une luquerne _sic_, lucarne) open, she felt something like a
cat, which, little by little, crept on her chest as she lay on her bed.
Having shaken it to the ground, she heard one or two growls, on which,
astonished, she began to threaten it that if it was a wizard or a witch
she would cut it to pieces (que le couperoit en pièces), it returned by
the said sky-light.
Thomas Sohier said that Jean Jehan having summoned him to come and
make his will, he complained that the said Isebell was killing him for
having refused to make a jacket for her son. That some little time
afterwards James Gallienne, having a sick daughter, caused her bed to
be unripped, out of which came a sort of animal like a rat (une manière
de bête comme un rat), which hid itself in some wood and was hunted
for throughout the house; that on the following day, having met the
said Isebell, he noticed her face all torn (déchiré _sic_). On asking
her the cause she said it was from “du mal d’Espagne,” (cantharides,
the Spanish fly used for making blisters); that on that he asked
James Gallienne if he had not beaten her, who replied in the negative;
that, being the other day at the house of the said Gallienne, giving
evidence to this, his wife fell down as if dead, and on returning to
consciousness, said that she was bewitched.
Item. Testifies that in the bed of the aforesaid daughter (of
Gallienne), were found twenty-one or twenty-two spells (sorcerons).[156]
Many other depositions told the same story. Oxen and calves died, cows
and mares miscarried, sheep fell dead, children and women were taken
ill, no cream was found on the milk, curds would not “make,” cows dried
up, or only gave blood. Worms were bred in the beds, or even under
the women’s caps. They were black at both ends, or sometimes had two
heads. Frogs and black beasts (des bêtes noires) haunted the paths of
the bewitched persons. Fountains were full of insects, black pimples
appeared all over the bodies of the afflicted persons, and lice, in
such abundance that they had to use a broom to sweep them away. On the
witch being threatened the sick person recovered.
The trial was resumed on the 6th June, 1617.
Marie, wife of James Gallienne … deposed … Item; that for nearly ten
years her eldest daughter Rachel had been bewitched; that, having
unsewed her mattress, by which was some straw,[157] something was seen
lurking in the said straw, and Jean Le Gallez, being present, said that
it looked to him like a black cat, and sometimes like a cock, and then
like a mouse, and then like a rat, that it--whatever it was--hid in
some wood which was in the house, which was immediately rummaged and
moved, but no one knew how to capture it (ne sçurent tant faire que
de le prendre). That her husband saw it like a cock, and her daughter
like a mouse; that on opening the mattress they found within it many
spells (force sorcerons) and also beans with which were mingled black
grains as if mildewed,[158] which beans or grains having been put in
a porringer (une écuelle) in the presence of various women who were
there, it dissolved in their presence, and they did not know what
became of it (cela fondit en leur presence et ne sçurent que devint.)
That the said Isabell, having come to the house at the end of two or
three days, and asking for seven or nine sorts of things, and trying
to force an entrance into the place where the child was lying ill, all
which things were refused her by her husband, so she then went away,
and her face was all cut; and went to her husband and said that she
would not stay while Isebell Becquet was there, and she believes that
she is a witch.
On the 4th of July, 1617, these three women, Collette Dumont, widow of
Jean Becquet, Marie, her daughter, wife of Pierre Massy, and Isebell
Becquet, wife of Jean le Moigne, were convicted by the Royal Court
of Guernsey of having practised the damnable art of sorcery, and of
having thereby caused the death of many persons, destroyed and injured
much cattle, and done many other evil deeds. They were condemned to be
tied to a stake, strangled, and burnt until their bodies were totally
consumed; and their ashes to be scattered abroad. The sentence added
that, previous to execution, they were to be put to the torture[159] in
order to force them to declare the names of their accomplices.
First, the said Collette, immediately after the said sentence had
been rendered, and before leaving the Court, freely acknowledged
that she was a witch, but would not particularise the crimes which
she had committed; whereupon she was conducted with the others to
the torture-house, and, being put to the question, confessed that
the Devil, when she was still young, appeared to her in the form of
a cat,[160] in the parish of Torteval, it being yet day, as she was
returning from tending her cattle; that he prevailed upon her by
inviting her to revenge herself on one of her neighbours with whom
she was on bad terms in consequence of some injury done to her by his
cattle; that on subsequent occasions, when she had quarrelled with
anyone, he again appeared to her in the same form, and sometimes in
that of a dog, inducing her to revenge herself against those with
whom she was displeased, and persuading her to cause the death of men
and beasts; that the Devil having come to invite her to the Sabbath,
called her, without its being perceived by others, and gave her a
certain black ointment,[161] with which, having stripped, she rubbed
her body nearly all over, and, having dressed herself again and gone
out of doors, she was immediately carried through the air with great
velocity to the place where the Sabbath was held, which was sometimes
near the Torteval parish churchyard, and sometimes on the sea-shore
near Rocquaine Castle; that, being arrived there, she met frequently
as many as fifteen or sixteen wizards and witches, with devils, who
were there in the form of dogs, cats, and hares; that she could not
recognise the wizards and witches, because they were all blackened
and disfigured, although she heard the Devil evoke them by name, and
remembers among others, the wives Calais and Hardy. She confesses also
that at the opening of the Sabbath, the Devil, in making the evocation,
began sometimes by her name; that her daughter Marie, wife of Massy, at
present under condemnation for the same crime, is a witch, and that she
has taken her twice to the Sabbath with her. She does not know where
the Devil has marked her. She says that at the Sabbath they adored
the Devil, who stood upon his hind legs … in the form of a dog, that
afterwards they danced back to back, and after having danced they drank
wine, but of what colour she does not know, which the Devil poured out
of a flagon into a silver or pewter goblet; but that the wine did not
seem so good as that which is usually drunk, that they also ate white
bread, which the Devil presented to them, but that she has never seen
any salt[162] at the Sabbath.
[Illustration: “Castle Cornet, 1660.”]
She confesses that the Devil had charged her to call in on her way for
Isebell Le Moigne, when she went to the Sabbath, and that she has done
so several times; that on leaving the Sabbath the Devil invited her to
perpetrate many evils, and that, for this purpose he gave her certain
black powders, which he ordered her to throw on such persons and beasts
as she pleased; and that with this powder she did much evil, which
she cannot now call to mind, but she remembers that she threw some
over Mr. Dolbel, the minister of the parish, and by this means was the
cause of his death. With the same powder she bewitched the wife of Jean
Manguès, but denies that her death was caused by it. She says that she
touched the side, and threw some of this powder on the wife,[163] since
deceased, of Mr. Perchard, who succeeded Mr. Dolbel as minister of the
parish, thereby causing her death and that of her unborn babe. She
cannot say what offence the deceased had given her. She says that on
the refusal of Collas Tostevin’s wife to give her some milk, she caused
her cow to run dry by throwing some of the powder over it, but that
she cured the cow afterwards by giving it bran mixed with grass, which
the Devil had given her, to eat.
The confession of her daughter Marie, wife of Pierre Massy, is much
to the same effect, with this exception, that she seems to have been
in the habit of meeting the Devil in the form of a dog, and that he
changed her into an animal of the same species at the time of their
interviews.
The third of these unfortunate wretches, Isebell, wife of Jean Le
Moigne, enters, in her confession, into some additional details.
It was in the semblance of a hare, and in broad daylight, that the
Devil appeared to her for the first time, and incited her to avenge
herself on her sister-in-law, La Girarde, with whom she had quarrelled.
At first she resisted the tempter, but he appeared to her a second
time, again in the road next her house, and on this occasion left with
her a packet of black powder, which she kept. A third time the demon
appeared, in the same form, urging her, if she would not give herself
to him, to make him a present of some living animal, whereupon she gave
him a chicken, and he appointed her to meet him the next day before
sunrise at the Sabbath, promising to send someone to guide her there.
Accordingly old Collette Dumont came that night to her house, and gave
her some black ointment, with which she rubbed herself. She was then
carried over hedges and ditches to the place of meeting near Rocquaine
Castle. She was received and welcomed by the Devil in the form of a
dog, with long erect horns (avec de grandes cornes dressées en hautt),
and hands like those of a man. He caused her to go down on her knees
and renounce the Almighty in these words: “I deny God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.” (“Je renie Dieu le Père, Dieu
le Fils, et Dieu le Saint Esprit”). After this, she was made to adore
the Devil and invoke him in these terms: “Our great Master, help us!”
(“Nostre grand Maistre, aide nous!”) and also to enter into an express
covenant to adhere to his service. At the conclusion of this ceremony,
the same acts of license, dancing and drinking (again bread and wine in
mockery of the Holy Sacrament), took place as are described by Collette
Dumont, widow Becquet, in her confession. On this occasion Isebell
Le Moigne entered into a pact with Satan for one month only; but
subsequently the agreement was extended to three years. She stated that
Satan treated Collette Dumont with marked respect, always evoking her
name first, styling her “Madame, la vieille Becquette,” and giving her
a place by his side. She also said that one night, when she was at the
Sabbath, the Devil marked her on the thigh. The mark thus made having
been examined by women appointed for that purpose, they certified
that they had thrust pins deep into it, and that Isebell felt no pain
therefrom, nor did any blood follow when the pins were withdrawn.
According to her account, the Devil appeared occasionally in the form
of a he-goat, and when they took leave of him, they all had to kiss
him, that he inquired of them when they would return, and exhorted
them to adhere to him and do all the evil in their power. He then took
them all by the hand and they departed in different directions. She
asserted also that it was the Devil who had been seen in the forms of
a rat and a stoat in the house of James Gallienne, whose child she
had bewitched; that she was in the neighbourhood of the house at the
time; and that the Devil, having resumed the form of a man, came to her
and beat her severely about the head and face, which ill-treatment she
attributed to her having refused to go with him to Gallienne’s house.
She said that she never went to the Sabbath except when her husband was
gone out to sea for the night, fishing.
The depositions of the witnesses, taken down very minutely in the three
cases above cited and in many others of a similar nature, have been
preserved, and throw a good deal of light on the popular ideas of the
day in respect to sorcerers and their doings.
[155] EDITOR’S NOTE.--Pavie used to be grown in ponds arranged for the
purpose, and was used for making pack-saddles, horse-collars, mats,
etc. It is a reed.--_From John de Garis, Esq._
[156] EDITOR’S NOTE.--(See footnote to p. 308). Some had a goat’s hair
intwined, others a flaxen thread.
Mr. J. Linwood Pitts, in his pamphlet on _Witchcraft in the Channel
Islands_, points out, page 6, “that the natural tendency of wool and
feathers to felt and clog together, has been distorted, by widely
different peoples, into an outward and visible sign that occult and
malignant influences were at work.”
[157] EDITOR’S NOTE.--“Il y avoit de _l’etrain_”--a Guernsey-French
word--from the old French _estraîn_, _estraine_, lat. strannu.--See
Métivier’s _Dictionary_ “Etrain.”
[158] EDITOR’S NOTE.--“Des graines noires comme de la neisle” (an old
French word _nêle_, from Latin _Nigella_.)--Métivier’s _Dictionary_
“_Néle_.”
[159] EDITOR’S NOTE.--The manner in which torture was administered in
Guernsey is thus described by Warburton, herald and antiquary, _temp._
Charles II., in his _Treatise on the History, Laws and Customs of the
Island of Guernsey_, 1682, page 126.
“By the law approved (_Terrien_, Lib. XII, Cap. 37), torture is to be
used, though not upon slight presumption, yet where the presumptive
proof is strong, and much more when the proof is positive, and there
wants only the confession of the party accused. Yet this practice
of torturing does not appear to have been used in the Island for
some ages, except in the case of witches, when it was too frequently
applied, near a century since. The custom then was, when any person was
supposed guilty of sorcery or witchcraft, they carried them to a place
in the town called _La Tour Beauregard_, and there, tying their hands
behind them by the two thumbs, drew them to a certain height, with an
engine made for that purpose, by which means sometimes their shoulders
were turned round, and sometimes their thumbs torn off; but this fancy
of witches has for some years been laid aside.”
[160] EDITOR’S NOTE.--Mary Osgood, one of the “Salem Witches” tried
in 1692, confessed that “when in a melancholy condition she saw the
appearance of a cat at the end of the house, which cat proved to be the
Devil himself.” See _Demonology and Devil-Lore_, Vol. II., p. 315.
[161] The Witches’ Sabbath being a travesty of all Christian holy rites
and ceremonies, the “black ointment” evidently represented the chrism.
[162] EDITOR’S NOTE.--“It is an example of the completeness and
consistency with which a theory may organise its myth, that the fatal
demons are generally represented as abhorring salt,--the preserving
agent against decay.… The Devil, as heir of death-demons, appears
in all European folk-lore as a hater of salt.” _Demonology and
Devil-Lore_, by Moncure Conway, Vol. I., p. 288.
[163] EDITOR’S NOTE.--Susanne de Quetteville, daughter of Jehannet
de Quetteville and his wife Colliche de Sausmarez, was born in 1586,
married the Rev. Jean Perchard in 1611, and died in 1612.
WIZARDS AND WITCHES.
There are some families in Guernsey whose members have the reputation
of being sorcerers from their birth. These individuals require no
initiation into the diabolic mysteries of the “Sabbat,” Satan claiming
them as his own from the very cradle. They are, however, furnished
by him with a familiar, generally in the shape of a fly, so that the
phrase “_avoir une mouque_” is well understood as meaning that the
person of whom it is said is one of the infernal fraternity. Indeed,
in talking of persons who are addicted to magical arts, it is reckoned
highly imprudent to speak of them as “_sorciers_” or “_sorcières_,” or
to call them by the now almost-forgotten name of “Quéraud.”[164] By
so doing you give offence, and, what is of still more consequence,
you put it in their power to injure you. It is, however, quite safe to
speak of them as “_gens du Vendredi_,”[165] or “_gens du hoc_.”[166]
Satan does not always wait for their death to claim their souls as his
own, but sometimes carries them off bodily; and a former schoolmaster
of the Vale, who, from his eccentricities, had acquired the reputation
of being a wizard, having disappeared mysteriously, and having never
been seen again, is commonly believed, to this day, to have been
spirited away.
Those who are born sorcerers have the faculty of transporting
themselves at will wherever they please, but those who seek admission
into the fraternity, and are initiated into the diabolical rites, are
furnished by their infernal master with a certain ointment with which
they anoint every part of their bodies before undertaking their aerial
journeys. They are also supposed to be able to introduce themselves at
night through the chinks and crevices of the buildings into the sheds
in which the cattle are housed, for the purpose of milking the cows,
not only thus depriving the owner of his property, but also worrying
and alarming the poor animals, whose altered looks in the morning shew
the ill-treatment to which they have been subjected. An old horse-shoe
nailed on the door or lintel, or a naturally pierced flintstone pebble
attached to the key of the stable door, are both considered efficacious
in warding off these attacks--but an infallible method of driving off
the witches is to suspend wreaths of the bramble from the rafters.
Witches and wizards travelling, not on land, but through the air,
finding these unexpected obstacles in their way, get scratched.[167]
After having rubbed themselves over with this ointment they are then
instructed to pronounce without intermission the words “_Roule, roule,
par dessus ronces et buissons_.” (“Roll, roll, above brambles and
brakes”).
This was discovered in the following manner:--A prying valet, who
lived in the service of a gentleman who was a wizard, of which fact
he was nevertheless ignorant, was one day amusing himself by peeping
through the key-hole of his master’s bed chamber. He observed his
master make use of the ointment, and heard distinctly the words which
he pronounced, immediately after which he became invisible. Wishing
to try the effect of the unguent on his own person, he entered the
room, and went through the process of anointment, but when he came to
pronounce the magic formula, he made use of the word “dessous” instead
of “dessus” (“under” instead of “over.”) Perhaps he was an Englishman,
to whom the French “u” was an insurmountable difficulty. Be this as it
may, he had reason to repent bitterly of his indiscreet curiosity, for,
no sooner were the words out of his mouth, than he felt himself lifted
up, and carried at a fearful rate through furze brakes and bramble
hedges, while at the same time he had the mortification to see his
master gliding along through the air, several feet above the bushes,
and laughing heartily at his misfortunes. At last, dreadfully scratched
and torn, and more dead than alive, he arrived at the spot where the
infernal troops had their rendezvous, but was too much frightened to
notice what took place there, only too happy to escape without being
forced, against his will, to enrol himself among them. His curiosity,
however, was effectually cured, and he vowed nevermore to pry into his
master’s secrets.[168]
[Illustration: “Old Harbour.”]
The following is another instance of the use of this infernal ointment.
It is related that a lady of St. Pierre-du-Bois was astonished at
the long time her husband remained in his private apartment, and
her curiosity at last induced her to watch him. Accordingly she
one day concealed herself in the room. Her husband came in shortly
afterwards, and, after stripping off all his clothes, proceeded to
anoint himself from head to foot with a certain ointment, after which
he repeated the words “_va et vient_” (“go and come”), and immediately
disappeared. Anxious to know whither he was gone, she went through the
same ceremony, and no sooner had she repeated the mysterious words
than she found herself on the summit of Pleinmont, in the midst of a
large concourse of people. A table was set out, covered with a variety
of viands of which some present invited her courteously to partake.
Previously, however, to touching anything, she, like a good Christian,
repeated aloud the words “_Au nom de Dieu soit, Amen_,” (“In the name
of God, Amen”). No sooner had the sacred name passed her lips than
she found herself alone. All had disappeared, and the only signs
which remained of any living beings having been on the spot besides
herself were recent marks of cloven feet indented on the sward in every
direction.
[164] Mr. Métivier derives this word “quéraud,” meaning enchanter,
or “maître sorcier,” from the old French _charay_, _caral_, meaning
magical type or letter. “In dog Latin _Caraco_ was the writer or
engraver of occult characters, and in the old French version of “Le
Roman du Lancelot du Lac” it says that “Morgain, la seur au Roi Artur,
sceut des enchantements et des _caraulx_ plus que nulle femme.””
[165] Friday nights being always the nights appointed for the “Sabbat.”
[166] Mr. Métivier translates this word _Hoc_ as the great feast given
by the enemy of mankind to his familiars, the wizards and witches.
Like most of the words and customs connected with witchcraft it had
originally a sacred meaning, for he says that the Hebrew word in the
seventh verse of the second Psalm, translated “the decree” is “the
Hoc,” and means:--The law imposed by a King on his subjects from which
there is no appeal.
[167] From George Allez, Esq.
[168] From Miss Elizabeth Chepmell.
EDITOR’S NOTES.
A very similar story is told in M. Paul Sebillot’s _Traditions et
Superstitions de la Haute Bretagne_, Tome I., p. 277.
“Une femme avait deux enfants, quand elle les avait couchés, elle
sortait, et ils ne la revoyaient que de matin. Un des enfants, qui
commençait à être grand, fit mine de s’endormir, il vit sa mère aller
sous le lit, se mettre toute nue, et se frotter d’onguent, puis dire,
avant de partir:
“Par sur haies et bûchons (buissons) Faut que je trouve les autres où
qu’ils sont.” Le gars, dès que sa mère fut partir, se frotta aussi avec
l’onguent et dit:--“Par en travers haies et bûchons. Faut que je trouve
les autres où qu’ils sont.” Mais, comme il s’était trompé en répétant
ce qu’il avait ouï dire, il passa _à travers_ les ronces et les haies,
et arriva tout sanglant au rendezvous des sorciers. Il les trouva qui
dansaient, et qui chantaient, et sa mère était avec eux.”
THE AERIAL JOURNEY.
There is a story told of two men who were neighbours and inhabitants
of the parish of St. Saviour’s, that their occupation--that of
quarrymen--took them frequently to the Vale parish, where the finest
qualities of granite are to be procured. The distance they had to
traverse before arriving at their destination was considerable, and the
road in some places, rather lonely.
Leonard Sarre, who was of a companionable nature, thought that the
tediousness of the way would be considerably lessened by having
someone to talk to, even if it were only his fellow workman, Matthew
Tostevin, whose taciturnity and reserve were proverbial. Often, when
setting off in the early morning to go to his work, he would, as he
passed Tostevin’s door, look in and offer his company. The answer was
invariably the same:--
“Go on, I shall be there as soon as you, though I shall not leave home
for an hour to come.”
When Sarre arrived at the quarry where they worked he was frequently
astounded at finding Tostevin already there. The way which Sarre took
was the very shortest and most direct. He was confident that Tostevin
could not pass without his perceiving him, and any other road would
entail at least half-an-hour’s extra walking to accomplish. There was
evidently a mystery, and Leonard was resolved to fathom it.
At last, in answer to his repeated enquiries, Matthew told him that he
was willing to let him into the secret. He bade him place his foot on
one of his, clasp him tightly round the waist, shut his eyes closely,
and, above all, on no account whatever, to utter a word.
Leonard Sarre did as he was directed, and immediately felt himself
lifted into the air and carried along at a fearful rate. In his fright
he forgot the injunctions that had been given him, opened his eyes,
and, finding himself far above the earth, cried out in terror “_O, mon
Dieu!_” The holy name dissolved the unhallowed spell, at least so far
as poor Leonard was concerned. He fell; fortunately it was into one
of the most boggy spots of La Grand’ Mare, so he escaped with a few
scratches and bruises, a thorough ducking, and a tremendous fright.
What became of Matthew Tostevin is not known.
It was not until many years had rolled over his head that Leonard Sarre
ventured to relate his perilous adventure, and then Tostevin had long
been dead.[169]
[169] From John De Garis, Esq.
THE COUNTRYWOMAN AND THE WITCH.
The barren and rugged hill of Catiauroc, situated near the sea-shore
in the parish of St. Saviour’s, is the noted and favourite haunt of
wizards and witches. Once every week on the Friday night they resort
thither, and grand assemblies, at which their infernal master presides
in person, are held at other seasons, particularly on St. Thomas’, or
the longest night, and on the eve of Christmas.
Though the power of sorcerers in doing harm is very great, yet they
themselves are subject to all the accidents and infirmities of life,
nor can their supernatural skill extricate them from any difficulty
they may chance to get into.
A countrywoman left her cottage one morning at daybreak to look after
her cows. In passing through a furze brake that led to the meadow she
thought she perceived, by the yet imperfect light, what appeared to
her a bundle of clothes thrown on the top of a hedge. On approaching
nearer she was astonished to recognise a lady from the town, whose
dress was so entangled in the brambles that it was impossible for her
to extricate herself, or to descend from her elevated situation, and
who was so exhausted that she had scarcely sufficient strength left to
beg for assistance. It immediately occurred to her, that the lady in
her aërial journey to the Catiauroc that night had kept too close to
the earth, and thus had been caught by the bushes, but, remembering
that there are some persons with whom it is better to be friends than
enemies, she immediately drew near and assisted the lady to descend, at
the same time expressing her surprise at seeing her in such a singular
position, and begging her to walk into her cottage and rest herself.
“No,” said the lady, thanking her, “I must now make the best of my way
home. Mention to no living creature what you have seen this day, and
all will go well with you, but bitterly will you repent your folly if
you disobey this injunction.”
She then left the countrywoman. It is not easy for a man to keep a
secret from his wife, but it is almost impossible for a woman to
conceal anything from her husband.
The secret weighed on the poor woman’s heart and rendered her
miserable, till at last she flattered herself she had discovered an
expedient by which she might ease her mind without disobeying the
commands put upon her. She therefore one morning desired her husband to
follow her into the garden and stand at some little distance from her.
She then addressed herself to a tree, and related to this inanimate
object what she had seen, but the secret of course reached, as was
intended, the ears of her husband. The subterfuge availed her nothing;
before the close of day she was struck with deafness, and never, to her
dying day, did she recover her hearing.