The Witch cult in Western Europe

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At Maidstone in 1652 'Anne Ashby, alias Cobler, Anne Martyn, Mary Browne,
Anne Wilson, and Mildred Wright of Cranbrook, and Mary Read, of Lenham,
being legally convicted, were according to the Laws of this Nation,
adjudged to be hanged, at the common place of Execution. Some there were
that wished rather they might be burnt to Ashes; alledging that it was a
received opinion among many, that the body of a witch being burnt, her
bloud is prevented thereby from becomming hereditary to her Progeny in the
same evill.'[639] The witches themselves also held the belief that they
ought to die by fire. Anne Foster was tried for witchcraft at Northampton
in 1674: 'after Sentence of Death was past upon her, she mightily desired
to be Burned; but the Court would give no Ear to that, but that she should
be hanged at the Common place of Execution.'[640]

9. _Magic Words_

The magic words known to the witches were used only for certain definite
purposes, the most important use being to raise the Devil. I have omitted
the charms which are founded on Christian prayers and formulas, and quote
only those which appear to belong to the witch-cult.

In the section on _Familiars_ it will be seen how the witches divined by
means of animals, which animals were allotted to them by the Chief. In
auguries and divinations of this kind in every part of the world a form of
words is always used, and the augury is taken by the first animal of the
desired species which is seen after the charm is spoken.

Agnes Sampson, the leading witch of the North Berwick Coven, 1590, summoned
her familiar by calling 'Elva', and then divined by a dog, whom she
dismissed by telling him to 'depart by the law he lives on'. She also used
the formula, 'Haill, hola!', and 'Hola!' was also the cry when a cat was
cast into the sea to raise a storm.[641] A man-witch of Alest, 1593, gave
the devil's name as Abiron: 'quand il le vouloit voir il disoit: vien
Abiron, sinon ie te quitteray.'[642] Andro Man at Aberdeen, 1597,
'confessis that the Devill, thy maister, is rasit be the speking of the
word _Benedicite_, and is laid agane be tacking of a dog vnder thy left
oxster in thi richt hand, and casting the same in his mouth, and speking
the word _Maikpeblis_.--He grantit that this word _Benedicite_ rasit the
Dewill, and _Maikpeblis_ laid him againe, strikin him on the faice with ane
deice with the left hand.'[643] Alexander Hamilton of East Lothian, 1630,
when covenanting with the devil, had 'ane battoun of fir in his hand the
devill than gave the said Alexr command to tak that battoun quhan evir he
had ado with him and therewt to strek thruse upone the ground and to
chairge him to ruse up foule theiff'; the divining animals in this case
were crows, cats, and dogs.[644] Marie Lamont of Innerkip, 1662, was
instructed to call the Devil _Serpent_ when she desired to speak with
him.[645]

The Somerset witches, 1664, cried out _Robin_ at an appointed place, and
the Master then appeared in his proper form as a man: Elizabeth Style and
Alice Duke also called him _Robin_ when summoning him privately, and
Elizabeth Style added, 'O Sathan give me my purpose', before saying what
she wished done.[646] The Swedish witches, 1669, called their Chief with
the cry, 'Antecessor, come and carry us to Blockula'; this they did at an
appointed place, and the Devil then appeared as a man.[647]

The words used before starting to a meeting are rarely recorded; only a few
remain. The earliest example is from Guernsey in 1563, when Martin Tulouff
heard an old witch cry as she bestrode a broomstick, 'Va au nom du diable
et luciffer [p=] dess[~q=] roches et espynes.' He then lost sight of her,
with the inference that she flew through the air, though he acknowledged
that he himself was not so successful.[648] The witches of the
Basses-Pyrenees, 1609, anointed themselves before starting, and repeated
the words 'Emen hetan, emen hetan', which de Lancre translates 'Ici et la,
ici et la'. 'Quelquefois plus furieuses elles se batent entre elles mesmes,
en disant, Ie suis le Diable, ie n'ay rien qui ne soit a toy, en ton nom
Seigneur cette tienne seruante s'oingt, & dois estre quelque iour Diable &
maling Esprit comme toy.' When, crossing water they cried, 'Haut la coude,
Quillet,' upon which they could cross without getting wet; and when going a
long distance they said, 'Pic suber hoeilhe, en ta la lane de bouc bien
m'arrecoueille.'[649] Isobel Gowdie, 1662, gives two variants of the magic
words used on these occasions: the first, 'Horse and hattock, in the
Divellis name' is not unlike the form given by Martin Tulouff; the second
is longer, 'Horse and hattock, horse and goe, Horse and pellattis, ho!
ho!'[650] The Somerset witches, 1664, when starting to the meeting, said,
'Thout, tout a tout, tout, throughout and about'; and when returning,
'Rentum tormentum'. At parting they cried, 'A Boy! merry meet, merry
part.'[651] They also had a long form of words which were used when
applying the flying ointment, but these are not recorded.

Other magical words were used at the religious services of the witches in
the Basses-Pyrenees (1609). At the elevation of the host the congregation
cried, '"Aquerra goity, Aquerra beyty, Aquerra goity, Aquerra beyty," qui
veut dire _Cabron arriba, Cabron abaro (sic)_'; at the elevation of the
chalice at a Christian service they said, 'Corbeau noir, corbeau noir.'
There were two forms of words to be used when making the sign of the cross;
the first was, 'In nomine Patrica, Aragueaco Petrica, Agora, Agora
Valentia, Iouanda, goure gaitz goustia,' translated as 'Au nom de Patrique,
Petrique, d'Arragon, a cette heure a cette heure Valence, tout nostre mal
est passe'. The second roused de Lancre's horror as peculiarly blasphemous:
'In nomine patrica, Aragueaco Petrica, Gastellaco Ianicot, Equidae ipordian
pot,' 'au nom de Patrique, petrique d'Arragon. Iannicot de Castille faictes
moy vn baiser au derriere.'[652] The mention of the ancient Basque god
Janicot makes this spell unusually interesting. As the dances were also a
religious rite the words used then must be recorded here. Bodin gives the
formula, 'Har, har, diable, diable, saute icy, saute la, ioue icy, ioue la:
Et les autres disoyent sabath sabath.'[653] The word _diable_ is clearly
Bodin's own interpellation for the name of the God, for the Guernsey
version, which is currently reported to be used at the present day, runs
'Har, har, Hou, Hou, danse ici', etc.; Hou being the name of an ancient
Breton god.[654] Jean Weir (1670) stated that at the instigation of some
woman unnamed she put her foot on a cloth on the floor with her hand upon
the crown of her head, and repeated thrice, 'All my cross and troubles go
to the door with thee.'[655] This seems to have been an admission ceremony,
but the words are of the same sentiment as the one recorded by de Lancre,
'tout notre mal est passe.'

There were also certain magical effects supposed to be brought about by the
use of certain words. Martin Tulouff (1563) claimed that he could bewitch
cows so that they gave blood instead of milk, by saying 'Butyrum de
armento', but he admitted that he also used powders to accomplish his
purpose.[656] Isobel Gowdie (1662) described how the witches laid a broom
or a stool in their beds to represent themselves during their absence at a
meeting. By the time that this record was made the witches evidently
believed that the object took on the exact appearance of the woman, having
forgotten its original meaning as a signal to show where she had gone. The
words used on these occasions show no belief in the change of appearance of
the object:

'I lay down this besom [or stool] in the Devil's name,
Let it not stir till I come again.'

Her statements regarding the change of witches into animals I have examined
in the section on Familiars (p. 234). The words used to effect these
changes are given in full. When a witch wished to take on the form of a
hare she said:

'I sall goe intill ane haire,
With sorrow, and sych, and meikle caire;
And I sall goe in the Divellis nam,
Ay quhill I com hom againe.'

To change into a cat or a crow the last two lines were retained unaltered,
but the first two were respectively,

'I sall goe intill ane catt,
With sorrow, and sych, and a blak shot'

or

'I sall goe intill a craw,
With sorrow, and sych, and a blak thraw.'

To return into human form the witch said:

'Haire, haire, God send thee caire.
I am in an haire's liknes just now,
Bot I sal be in a womanis liknes ewin now.'

From a cat or a crow, the words were 'Cat, cat, God send thee a blak shott'
or 'Craw, craw, God send thee a blak thraw', with the last two lines as
before. When the witch in animal form entered the house of another witch,
she would say, 'I conjure thee, Goe with me'; on which the second witch
would turn into the same kind of animal as the first. If, however, they met
in the open, the formula was slightly different, 'Divell speid the, Goe
thow with me,' the result being the same.[657]

The Somerset trials record the words used for cursing anything. These were
simply 'A Pox take it', the curse being supposed to take effect at once. If
the curse were pronounced over an image of a person the words were 'A Pox
on thee, I'le spite thee'.[658]

Alexander Elder's grace over meat is probably a corrupt form of some
ancient rite:

'We eat this meat in the Divellis nam,
With sorrow, and sych, and meikle shame;
We sall destroy hows and hald;
Both sheip and noat in till the fald.
Litle good sall come to the fore
Of all the rest of the litle store.'[659]

The 'conjuring of cats' was a distinct feature, and is clearly derived from
an early form of sacrifice. The details are recorded only in Scotland, and
it is possible that Scotland is the only country in which it occurred,
though the sanctity of the cat in other places suggests that the omission
in the records is accidental.

In the dittay against John Fian, 1590, he was 'fylit, for the chaissing of
ane catt in Tranent; in the quhilk chaise, he was careit heich aboue the
ground, with gryt swyftnes, and as lychtlie as the catt hir selff, ower ane
heicher dyke, nor he was able to lay his hand to the heid off:--And being
inquyrit, to quhat effect he chaissit the samin? Ansuerit, that in ane
conversatioune haldin at Brumhoillis, Sathan commandit all that were
present, to tak cattis; lyke as he, for obedience to Sathan, chaissit the
said catt, purpoiselie to be cassin in the sea, to raise windis for
distructioune of schippis and boitis.'[660] Agnes Sampson of the same Coven
as Fian confessed 'that at the time when his Majestie was in Denmark, shee
being accompanied by the parties before speciallie named, tooke a cat and
christened it, and afterwards bounde to each part of that cat, the cheefest
parte of a dead man, and severall joyntis of his bodie: And that in the
night following, the saide cat was convayed into the middest of the sea by
all the witches, sayling in their riddles or cives, as is aforesaid, and so
left the said cat right before the towne of Leith in Scotland. This doone,
there did arise such a tempest in the sea, as a greater hath not bene
seene.'[661] The legal record of this event is more detailed and less
dramatic; the sieves are never mentioned, the witches merely walking to the
Pier-head in an ordinary and commonplace manner. The Coven at Prestonpans
sent a letter to the Leith Coven that--

'they sould mak the storm vniuersall thro the sea. And within aucht
dayes eftir the said Bill [letter] wes delyuerit, the said Agnes
Sampsoune, Jonett Campbell, Johnne Fean, Gelie Duncan, and Meg Dyn
baptesit ane catt in the wobstaris hous, in maner following: Fyrst,
twa of thame held ane fingar, in the ane syd of the chimnay cruik, and
ane vther held ane vther fingar in the vther syd, the twa nebbis of
the fingars meting togidder; than thay patt the catt thryis throw the
linkis of the cruik, and passit itt thryis vnder the chimnay.
Thaireftir, att Begie Toddis hous, thay knitt to the foure feit of the
catt, foure jountis of men; quhilk being done, the sayd Jonet fechit
it to Leith; and about mydnycht, sche and the twa Linkhop, and twa
wyfeis callit Stobbeis, came to the Pier-heid, and saying thir words,
'See that thair be na desait amangis ws'; and thay caist the catt in
the see, sa far as thay mycht, quhilk swam owre and cam agane; and
thay that wer in the Panis, caist in ane vthir catt in the see att xj
houris. Eftir quhilk, be thair sorcerie and inchantment, the boit
perischit betuix Leith and Kinghorne; quhilk thing the Deuill did, and
went befoir, with ane stalf in his hand.'[662]

Beigis Todd was concerned in another 'conjuring of cats', this time at
Seaton.

'Eftir thay had drukkin togidder a certane space, thay, in thair
devillische maner, tuik ane katt, and drew the samyn nyne tymes throw
the said Beigis cruik; and thaireftir come with all thair speed to
Seaton-thorne, be-north the [3]et.... And thay thaireftir past
altogidder, with the Devill, to the irne [3]et [iron gate] of Seatoun,
quhair of new thay tuik ane cat, and drew the samyn nyne tymes throw
the said Irne-[3]ett: And immediatlie thaireftir, came to the barne,
foiranent George Feudaris dur, quhair thai christened the said catt,
and callit hir _Margaret_: And thaireftir come all bak agane to the
Deane-fute, quhair first thai convenit, and cuist the kat to the
Devill.'[663]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 465: Danaeus, ch. iv.]

[Footnote 466: Boguet, pp. 131-9.]

[Footnote 467: _Pleasant Treatise_, pp. 5-7.]

[Footnote 468: Lea, iii, p. 501.]

[Footnote 469: Remigius, pt. i, pp. 89, 91.]

[Footnote 470: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 137, 139, 163, 164.]

[Footnote 471: W. G. Stewart, p. 175.]

[Footnote 472: Danaeus, ch. ii.]

[Footnote 473: Cooper, p. 90.]

[Footnote 474: Rymer, i, p. 956.]

[Footnote 475: Chartier, iii, p. 45.]

[Footnote 476: From a trial in the Guernsey Greffe.]

[Footnote 477: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 123.]

[Footnote 478: Bodin, p. 187.]

[Footnote 479: Melville, p. 396; _see also_ Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp.
210-12, 239, 246.]

[Footnote 480: F. Hutchinson, p. 43.]

[Footnote 481: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, pp. 121, 125.]

[Footnote 482: Boguet, p. 411.]

[Footnote 483: Cannaert, p. 46.]

[Footnote 484: Id., p. 50.]

[Footnote 485: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 131.]

[Footnote 486: Michaelis, _Historie_, pp. 334-5.]

[Footnote 487: Pitcairn, iii, p. 613.]

[Footnote 488: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 68, 126, 128.]

[Footnote 489: Id. ib., p. 148.]

[Footnote 490: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 171.]

[Footnote 491: Boguet, p. 131.]

[Footnote 492: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 72, 131.]

[Footnote 493: Doughty, _Travels in Arabia Deserta_, i, 89.]

[Footnote 494: Moret, _Mysteres Egyptiens_, pp. 247 seq.]

[Footnote 495: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, pp. 97-8. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 496: Ib., i, p. 144. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 497: Ib., p. 149.]

[Footnote 498: Ib., p. 153. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 499: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 123.]

[Footnote 500: F. Hutchinson, _Historical Essay_, p. 43.]

[Footnote 501: Compare the account of the Forfar witch-dance. Kinloch, p.
120.]

[Footnote 502: Boguet, pp. 131-2.]

[Footnote 503: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 210.]

[Footnote 504: Compare the dittay against Bessie Thom, who danced round the
Fish Cross of Aberdeen with other witches 'in the lyknes of kattis and
haris'. _Spalding Club Misc._, i, 167.]

[Footnote 505: Boguet, p. 127.]

[Footnote 506: Horneck, pt. ii, p. 316.]

[Footnote 507: More, p. 232.]

[Footnote 508: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp. 245-6. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 509: Id., iii, p. 606. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 510: Fountainhall, i, p. 14.]

[Footnote 511: Sinclair, p. 163.]

[Footnote 512: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 210.]

[Footnote 513: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 212.]

[Footnote 514: _Surtees Soc._, xl, pp. 195, 197.]

[Footnote 515: Danaeus, ch. iv.]

[Footnote 516: De Lancre, op. cit., p. 211.]

[Footnote 517: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, pp. 165, 167. Spelling modernized.
The account of the Arab witches should be compared with this. 'In the time
of Ibn Munkidh the witches rode about naked on a stick between the graves
of the cemetery of Shaizar.' Wellhausen, p. 159.]

[Footnote 518: _Pleasant Treatise of Witches_, p. 6.]

[Footnote 519: Reg. Scot, Bk. iii, p. 42. La volta is said to be the origin
of the waltz.]

[Footnote 520: Lea, iii, p. 501.]

[Footnote 521: Remigius, p. 82.]

[Footnote 522: E. Monseur, p. 102.]

[Footnote 523: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 141.]

[Footnote 524: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp. 239, 246.]

[Footnote 525: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, pp. 114-15. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 526: Id., i, p. 149. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 527: _Spottiswoode Miscellany_, ii, p. 68.]

[Footnote 528: Kinloch, p. 129. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 529: Sinclair, p. 163.]

[Footnote 530: Burns Begg, pp. 234, 235.]

[Footnote 531: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 127.]

[Footnote 532: Id. ib., p. 150.]

[Footnote 533: Id. ib., p. 211.]

[Footnote 534: Danaeus, ch. iv.]

[Footnote 535: Sinclair, p. 219.]

[Footnote 536: Kinloch, p. 120.]

[Footnote 537: Sharpe, p. 131.]

[Footnote 538: Boguet, p. 132.]

[Footnote 539: Michaelis, _Hist._, p. 336.]

[Footnote 540: Van Elven, v (1891), p. 215.]

[Footnote 541: _Pleasant Treatise of Witches_, p. 5.]

[Footnote 542: Potts, G 3, I 3, P 3.]

[Footnote 543: _Examination of Joan Williford_, p. 6.]

[Footnote 544: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 139-40.]

[Footnote 545: Id., p. 138.]

[Footnote 546: Id., p. 149.]

[Footnote 547: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 163.]

[Footnote 548: _Spottiswoode Misc._, ii, p. 67.]

[Footnote 549: Kinloch, p. 121.]

[Footnote 550: Id., p. 124.]

[Footnote 551: Id., p. 126.]

[Footnote 552: Id., p. 127.]

[Footnote 553: Id., p. 133. Dated = caressed.]

[Footnote 554: Burns Begg, p. 227.]

[Footnote 555: Id., p. 238.]

[Footnote 556: Sharpe, p. 131.]

[Footnote 557: The complete grace is given on p. 167. It will be seen that
it is a corrupt version of some ancient form of words.]

[Footnote 558: Pitcairn, iii, pp. 612, 613. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 559: _Scots Magazine_, 1814, p. 200. Spelling modernized.]

[Footnote 560: Burr, p. 418.]

[Footnote 561: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 197.]

[Footnote 562: Id. ib., p. 148.]

[Footnote 563: Michaelis, _Historie_, pp. 335-6.]

[Footnote 564: Boguet, pp. 135-9.]

[Footnote 565: Cannaert, p. 45.]

[Footnote 566: Horneck, pp. 321-2, 327.]

[Footnote 567: Bodin, _Fleau_, p. 187.]

[Footnote 568: Melville, p. 395.]

[Footnote 569: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 246. The ploughman, Gray Meal, who
took a large part in the ceremonies, was an old man.]

[Footnote 570: Id., i, pt. ii, p. 210.]

[Footnote 571: F. Hutchinson, _Hist. Essay_, p. 42.]

[Footnote 572: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 172.]

[Footnote 573: Boguet, p. 131.]

[Footnote 574: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 68, 401.]

[Footnote 575: Id., _L'Incredulite_, p. 805.]

[Footnote 576: Davenport, p. 2.]

[Footnote 577: Van Elven, _La Tradition_, v (1891), p. 215.]

[Footnote 578: Sinclair, p. 163. The account given by Barton's wife of the
position of the candle on the Devil's person is paralleled by the
peculiarly coarse description of the Light-bearers at the witch-sabbaths at
Muenster. Humborg, p. 120.]

[Footnote 579: Kinloch, p. 120.]

[Footnote 580: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 139.]

[Footnote 581: Chambers, iii, p. 298.]

[Footnote 582: Stewart, p. 175.]

[Footnote 583: Glanvil, pt. ii, p. 294.]

[Footnote 584: Holinshed, _Ireland_, p. 58.]

[Footnote 585: Boguet, p. 141.]

[Footnote 586: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 401-2.]

[Footnote 587: Michaelis, _Hist._, p. 337. The use of this phrase suggests
that the sprinkling was a fertility rite.]

[Footnote 588: Fountainhall, i, pp. 14, 15.]

[Footnote 589: Law, p. 145.]

[Footnote 590: Fountainhall, i, p. 14.]

[Footnote 591: Ravaisson, 1679-81, p. 336.]

[Footnote 592: Id., p. 333.]

[Footnote 593: Id., p. 335.]

[Footnote 594: Ravaisson, p. 335.]

[Footnote 595: Cotton Mather, pp. 120, 131, 158.]

[Footnote 596: J. Hutchinson, _Hist. of Massachusetts Bay_, ii, p. 55.]

[Footnote 597: Burr, p. 417.]

[Footnote 598: Increase Mather, p. 210.]

[Footnote 599: Cotton Mather, p. 81.]

[Footnote 600: Cooper, p. 91.]

[Footnote 601: _Chelmsford Witches_, pp. 24, 26, 29, 30. Philobiblon
Society, viii.]

[Footnote 602: _Examination of John Walsh._]

[Footnote 603: Cannaert, p. 48.]

[Footnote 604: Whitaker, p. 216.]

[Footnote 605: Stearne, p. 29.]

[Footnote 606: Pitcairn, iii, pp. 603, 617.]

[Footnote 607: Cotta, p. 114.]

[Footnote 608: Danaeus, ch. iv.]

[Footnote 609: R. Scot, Bk. III, p. 44.]

[Footnote 610: Holinshed, _Ireland_, p. 58.]

[Footnote 611: Philobiblon Society, viii, _Chelmsford Witches_, pp. 29,
30.]

[Footnote 612: Id. ib., viii, p. 34.]

[Footnote 613: _Examination of John Walsh._]

[Footnote 614: Remigius, pt. i, p. 54.]

[Footnote 615: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, p. 120; Burton, i, p. 252.]

[Footnote 616: Pitcairn, ii, pp. 542-3.]

[Footnote 617: From an unpublished trial in the Justiciary Court at
Edinburgh. The meaning of the word _laif_ is not clear. The Oxford
dictionary gives _lop-eared_, the Scotch dictionary gives _loaf_. By
analogy with the other accounts one would expect here a word meaning a
hen.]

[Footnote 618: _Highland Papers_, iii, p. 18.]

[Footnote 619: Lemoine, vi, p. 109.]

[Footnote 620: Reg. Scot, Bk. III, p. 41.]

[Footnote 621: Id., Bk. II, p. 32.]

[Footnote 622: Boguet, p. 205.]

[Footnote 623: Ravaisson, p. 334, 335.]

[Footnote 624: Sharpe, p. 147.]

[Footnote 625: Chambers, iii, p. 450.]

[Footnote 626: Scot, Bk. III, p. 42.]

[Footnote 627: Sinistrari de Ameno, p. 27.]

[Footnote 628: See, amongst others, the account of Mary Johnson (Essex,
1645), who was accused of poisoning two children; the symptoms suggest
belladonna. Howell, iv, 844, 846.]

[Footnote 629: Scot, Bk. III, p. 41.]

[Footnote 630: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 128.]

[Footnote 631: Kinloch, p. 121.]

[Footnote 632: Bodin, _Fleau_, pp. 187-8.]

[Footnote 633: Boguet, p. 141.]

[Footnote 634: Cannaert, p. 50.]

[Footnote 635: De Lancre, _Tableau_, p. 133.]

[Footnote 636: _La Tradition_, 1891, v, p. 215. Neither name nor place are
given.]

[Footnote 637: Bourignon, _Parole_, p. 87.]

[Footnote 638: _Scot. Hist. Soc._, xxv, p. 348. _See also_ Ross, _Aberdour
and Inchcolme_, p. 339.]

[Footnote 639: _Prod. and Trag. History_, p. 7.]

[Footnote 640: _Tryall of Ann Foster_, p. 8.]

[Footnote 641: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, pp. 211, 235, 238.]

[Footnote 642: De Lancre, _L'Incredulite_, p. 772.]

[Footnote 643: _Spalding Club Misc._, i, pp. 120, 124.]

[Footnote 644: From the record of the trial in the Justiciary Court of
Edinburgh.]

[Footnote 645: Sharpe, p. 132.]

[Footnote 646: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 137, 164.]

[Footnote 647: Horneck, pt. ii, p. 316.]

[Footnote 648: From the record of the trial in the Guernsey Greffe.]

[Footnote 649: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 123, 400.]

[Footnote 650: Pitcairn, iii, pp. 604, 608.]

[Footnote 651: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 139, 141. I have pointed out that the
cry of 'A Boy' is possibly the Christian recorder's method of expressing
the Bacchic shout 'Evoe'. See _Jour. Man. Or. Soc._, 1916-17, p. 65.]

[Footnote 652: De Lancre, _Tableau_, pp. 401, 461, 462, 464.]

[Footnote 653: Bodin, p. 190.]

[Footnote 654: The names of the smaller islands are often compounded with
the name of this deity, e.g. Li-hou, Brecq-hou, &c.]

[Footnote 655: Law, p. 27 note.]

[Footnote 656: From a trial in the Guernsey Greffe.]

[Footnote 657: Pitcairn, iii, pp. 607-8, 611.]

[Footnote 658: Glanvil, pt. ii, pp. 137, 139, 148, 149.]

[Footnote 659: Pitcairn, iii, p. 612. Sych = sighing, lamentation.]

[Footnote 660: Id., i, pt. ii, p. 212.]

[Footnote 661: _Newes from Scotland_, see Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 218.]

[Footnote 662: Pitcairn, i, pt. ii, p. 237.]

[Footnote 663: Id., ii, p. 542.]

VI. THE RITES (_continued_)

WITCHES' RAIN-MAKING AND FERTILITY RITES

1. _General_

In common with many other religions of the Lower Culture, the witch-cult of
Western Europe observed certain rites for rain-making and for causing or
blasting fertility. This fact was recognized in the papal Bulls formulated
against the witches who were denounced, not for moral offences, but for the
destruction of fertility. The celebrated Decree of Innocent VIII, which in
1488 let loose the full force of the Church against the witches, says that
'they blight the marriage bed, destroy the births of women and the increase
of cattle; they blast the corn on the ground, the grapes of the vineyard,
the fruits of the trees, the grass and herbs of the field'. Adrian VI
followed this up in 1521 with a Decretal Epistle, denouncing the witches
'as a Sect deviating from the Catholic Faith, denying their Baptism, and
showing Contempt of the Ecclesiastical Sacraments, treading Crosses under
their Feet, and, taking the Devil for their Lord, destroyed the Fruits of
the Earth by their Enchantments, Sorceries, and Superstitions'.

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