Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands: Transcripts from the Official Records of the Guernsey Royal Court, with an English Translation and Historical IntroductionPitts, John Linwood
History
Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands: Transcripts from the Official Records of the Guernsey Royal Court, with an English Translation and Historical Introduction
Coming down now to within a century ago, we find an article in the
_Gazette de Jersey_, of Saturday, March 10th, 1787, complaining of the
great increase of wizards and witches in the island, as well as of
their supposed victims. The writer says that the scenes then taking
place were truly ridiculous, and he details a case that had just
occurred at St. Brelade's as corroborative of his assertion. It
appears that a worthy householder there, had dreamed that a certain
wizard appeared to him and ordered him to poison himself at a date
which was specified, enjoining him above all things not to mention the
incident to anyone. The poor silly fellow was dreadfully distressed,
for he felt convinced that he would have to carry out the disagreeable
command. At the same time he was quite unable to keep so momentous a
secret to himself, and so he divulged the approaching tragedy to his
wife. The good woman's despair was fully equal to his own, and after
much anxious domestic counsel they determined to seek the good offices
of a White Witch (_une Queraude_), with the hope that her incantations
might overcome the evil spells of the Black Witch who was causing all
the mischief. This White Witch prescribed lengthened fasting and other
preparations for the great ordeal, and on a given night she and the
bewitched householder, together with his wife and four or five trusty
friends with drawn swords, shut themselves up in a room, and commenced
their mysterious ceremonial. There was the boiling of occult herbs;
the roasting of a beeve's heart stuck full of nails and pins; the
reading of certain passages from the family Bible; a mighty
gesticulating with the swords, which were first thrust up the chimney
to prevent the Black Witch from coming down, and anon were pointed
earthward to hinder him from rising up; and so the ridiculous game
went on. The only person who benefited was of course the imposter, who
was paid for her services; while we may perhaps charitably hope that
her dupes also were afterwards easier in their minds. The writer adds
that many other persons besides this man at St. Brelade's, had
latterly believed themselves bewitched, and had consulted wizards, who
were thus driving a profitable trade.
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Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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