'"Certaine Wytches" - A Tapestry of Magic' by Karen Maitland

'Certaine Wytches.' Tapestry by Anne Jackson

I have just enjoyed a morning at a fascinating and unusual exhibition of knotted tapestries by the talented, American-born artist, Anne Jackson, on the theme of The History of Witch Persecution in Europe. The more I thought about it, the more I realised what an appropriate medium tapestry is for exploring the subject of witchcraft and not least because in earlier centuries, witches were thought to riding their distaffs to the Sabbats rather than brooms, and, of course, the whole concept of 'weaving' spells.

The technique of knotting tapestries is, as the artist points out, ‘hugely time consuming’, but in itself symbolises the witches who used ‘knot magic’ for charms and to raise storms, for which they were condemned to die by means of the knotted hangman’s noose, as is starkly illustrated in the first tapestry – Certaine Wytches.

‘Certaine Wytches, Chelmsford, Essex’ is a memorial to three witches from the same family who were tried at Chelmsford in 1566, Joan Waterhouse, her mother, Agnes and her grandmother, Eve. Agnes was hanged and the title of the tapestry comes from a trial pamphlet of the time.

'Grace Thomas and Temperance Lloyd: 

Why dost thou weep for me?''

Tapestry by Anne Jackson

‘Grace Thomas and Temperance Lloyd: Why dost thou weep for me?’ This tapestry tells the story of Temperance Lloyd who was convicted of being the leader of three Bideford witches. Grace testified against Temperance, claiming that when they met in the street, Temperance fell to her knees weeping. When Grace asked her why, she replied with the words that are woven into the tapestry. Grace swore that from that moment onwards, Temperance tormented her, entering Grace’s bedroom with the aid of the Devil; sticking pins in her; pinching her and putting a poppet in her bed. Grace said the Devil, in the form of a magpie, repeatedly terrified her by beating against her window and she also accused Temperance of turning herself into cat. Tragically, Temperance was convicted on this ‘evidence’ and hanged for witchcraft in Exeter in 1682.

'The Devon Witches: Half Hidden Signs'

Tapestry by Anne Jackson

'The Devon Witches: Half Hidden Signs' - This tapestry was inspired the book ‘The Witch in History’ by Diane Purkiss, in which she writes -

'their acts of magic are silent and unseeable, detectable only by half hidden signs.'

The artist has included images in the tapestry still used in pagan ritual today, including some runes which were given to her by a practising witch in her village,

In 'Once upon a Time.' Anne Jackson explores the way children are introduced to the concept of the ugly and wicked witch through bedtime fairy tales, whose caricature images feed into Halloween costumes and decorations. We are all familiar with the Disney cartoon of 'Snow White' being given the poisoned apple by the wicked witch, her stepmother, but tragically, this accusation is not a fairy tale. In 1664, Elizabeth Style at her trial in the cider town of Taunton was accused of poisoning a child by giving her a ‘very fair red apple’. Anne Jackson points out that cutting an apple in half is used in love charms. It has been also been used for centuries by many ordinary girls at Halloween to divine when they will be wed. Thinking of bedtime stories, reminded me that the wicked witch or bad fairy in 'Sleeping Beauty' lures the princess to pick her finger as she spins flax into thread, another link between witchcraft, spinning and weaving that has burrowed deep into our collective psyche.

'Once Upon a Time' and 'Never mention Money'

Tapestries by Anne Jackson

The tapestry next to it, Never Mention Money, depicts some of the superstitions once practised by Grimsby trawler men, to ward off witchcraft, such as smashing empty egg shells after you’ve eaten your boiled egg, so that witches can't use the them to sail out to sea and sink ships.

The tapestry exhibition is supported by a number of fascinating witchcraft artefacts on loan from The Museum of Witchcraft in Boscastle, Cornwall, including a pair of glass knitting needles used to create curses and charms. The piece of knitting made in the course of the casting the spell would later be burned, so that the spell was fixed and could not be unravelled.

Tapestry by Anne Jackson

There are many other fascinating tapestries in this exhibition bearing testament to the estimated 50,000 to 1,000,000 women, men and even small children who were executed for witchcraft throughout Europe and Russia between 1450 and 1750. So, if it is coming to a centre near you, it is really worth a visit.

‘Certaine Wytches’ is currently on until 6th May 2019, at Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Riverside Mill, Bovey Tracey, Devon TQ13 9AF (Funding by Devon Guild of Craftsmen, Arts Council of England and Heritage Lottery Fund.)

The Ten Best Witch Historical Fiction Novels – by Anna Mazzola

Witches are, in the perhaps unfortunate words of Grazia magazine, ‘hot right now’, both on screen and in books. Stacey Halls’ The Familiars is spending its third week in The Times bestselling fiction list, Laura Bates’ YA debut, The Burning, is making waves, and A Discovery of Witches is now an international bestseller and a TV series.

Several other recent novels feature witchcraft including Caroline Lea’s superb The Glass Girl (set against the backdrop of the 17th-century Icelandic witch trials) and E.C. Fremantle’s brilliant thriller The Poison Bed. “‘Witch,” says one of her characters. “That’s what happens to women who don’t do as they’re told.”  Each novel uses witchcraft to highlight the misogyny and fear of women’s sexuality that remain relevant today, together with the terrible power of false accusations. As Willow Winsham says in her fascinating book Accused: British Witches Throughout History, ‘if anyone could be a witch, then literally everyone was suspect.’

A coven of other witch books are due out in the coming months including Katie Lowe’s haunting debut, The Furies, Carla by Laura Legge, Her Kind by Niamh Boyce, Remember Tomorrow by Amanda Saint and Witchery by Juliet Diaz, which will explain ‘how to connect with the power of your inner witch’. There is, it seems, something potent in the air.

Here, in no particular order, I list ten of my favourite witch-based historical novels, followed by several others that have been strongly recommended.

1. Corrag, Susan Fletcher 

It is 1692 and Corrag, a wild young girl from the mountains of Scotland, has been condemned to death for her role in the Glencoe Masscare, accused of witchcraft and murder. In her filthy cell she is visited by Charles Leslie, a young Irishman with his own motives for questioning her.

As Corrag begins to tell her story, an unlikely friendship develops between them that will change both their lives. Compelling, atmospheric and exquisitely written.

2. The Witchfinder's Sister, Beth Underdown

Beth Underdown’s clever debut is a historical thriller based on the life of the 1640’s witchfinder Matthew Hopkins. Alice, Matthew’s fictional sister, is forced to return to her childhood town of Manningtree where she becomes entangled in her brother’s crazed pursuit of what he believes to be justice. Underdown brilliantly weaves fact with fiction to illustrate the disturbing paranoia and obsession behind the Essex witch hunts.

3. The King's Witch, Tracy Borman 

Historian Tracy Borman’s debut novel tells the fascinating story of Frances Gorges, a healer who is dragged to the court of James I, a man who has already condemned many for treason and witchcraft. There she becomes enmeshed in a world of intrigue and betrayal - and at great risk from the twisted machinations of Lord Cecil, the King's first minister.

The follow-up, The Devil’s Slave, is out June.

4. The Vanishing Witch, Karen Maitland

In Lincoln during the reign of Richard II, Caitlin, a dark-haired widow arrives in John of Gaunt's city with her two beautiful children. At first, Caitlin is considered a godsend, helping merchant Robert of Bassingham care for his sick wife. But when Robert's wife, and then others, die seemingly unnatural deaths, the accusations of witchcraft commence. Masterful storytelling.

5. The Familiars – Stacey Halls

17-year-old Fleetwood Shuttleworth, desperate to survive her latest pregnancy, crosses paths with Alice Gray, a mysterious young woman who agrees to become her midwife. When Alice is accused as part of the Lancashire witch trials, Fleetwood takes huge risks to try to save her – and her own unborn baby. But is Alice all that she seems?

Fast-faced, twisty and immense fun.

6. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Elizabeth George Speare 

In 1687 orphan Kit Tyler arrives as a stranger in colonial Connecticut and feels entirely out of place. When she forms a friendship with a Quaker woman called Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch, Kit is forced to choose between love and a sense of duty. Old, but gold.

7. Circe, Madeline Miller 

In this epic and magnificently written novel, Miller retells the story of the mythological witch Circe. Increasingly isolated by her immortal family, Circe turns to humans for friendship, leading her to discover a power forbidden to the gods: witchcraft.

We follow Circe from the halls of Helios to exile on the remote island of Aiaia, where she learns to harness her power.

8. Witch Child, Celia Rees

In 1659, after 14-year-old Mary sees her healer grandmother hanged for witchcraft, she escapes to Massachusetts Bay Colony with the help of an unknown woman. Through Mary's journal, we learn of how, though Mary hopes to make a new life among the pilgrims, she, like her grandmother, quickly finds herself the victim of ignorance and prejudice, and once more she faces important choices to ensure her survival. A powerful read for all ages.

9. The Glass Girl, Caroline Lea

The Glass Girl is an atmospheric and beautifully written debut set against the backdrop of the 17th-century Icelandic witch trials and sagas. Rósa is sent to join her new husband in the remote village of Stykkishólmur, where the villagers are deeply wary of outsiders.

As she grows increasingly isolated, Rósa's suspicions grow. Her husband buried his first wife alone in the dead of night. Is her own life in danger?

10. The Poison Bed, E.C. Fremantle

In 1615 Lady Frances Carr, considered by many to be a witch, is accused of murder and imprisoned, together with her newborn baby and a wet-nurse. As Frances tells the story of her life with her first husband and manipulative uncle, and of a society full of superstition and lies, a picture begins to form. But her husband Robert Carr has his own story. Which one will save its teller? A twisty, perfectly paced thriller.

Witchy 'To be Read' Pile 

A host of other witch and witchcraft-related books have been recommended to me and I set out here a few of those which are going on my towering ‘to be read’ pile:

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks. In 1666 villagers turn to sorcery, herb lore, and witch-hunting.

The Daylight Gate, in which Jeanette Winterson creates another view of the Pendle Witch Trials.

Lolly Willowes, Sylvia Townsend-Warner’s first novel about a young woman who believes she has sold her soul to the devil in return for freedom from her tiresome family (fair enough).

Widdershins by Helen Steadman, based on events from the Newcastle Witch Trials of 1650.

The Magpie Tree by Katherine Stansfield, exploring the relationship between witchcraft and foreigners in 1840s Cornwall.

Witches Trinity by Erika Mailman, set in Germany in 1507 when a visiting friar suggests that witchcraft is to blame for the failing crops and famine.

The Witches of Eileanan by Kate Forsyth, a historical fantasy trilogy in which the young Isabeau leads a horde of persecuted witches.

The Witches of New York by Ami McKay, a mystery set in Manhattan in 1880.

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent, set in Salem in 1692.

The Boy Who Drew The Future, by Rhian Ivory. Set in present day and 1863, when the last witch in the UK was swum in Sible Hedingham, Essex. You can read more about it here.


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Anna Mazzola is a writer of historical crime and Gothic fiction. Her second novel, The Story Keeper, is a tale of superstition, dark folklore and missing girls on the Isle of Skye.

https://annamazzola.com
https://twitter.com/Anna_Mazz

'The Immortal Fly' by Karen Maitland

'Lord of the Flies'

Artist: Louis Le Breton (1818-186

As part of the research for my medieval thriller, A Gathering of Ghosts, I spent time delving into the many legends attached to holy wells all over Britain. One of the strangest tales I found was recorded in The Statistical Account of Scotland 1794 and concerns the healing well of St Michael’s, Kirkmichael, which the writer notes earlier centuries was thought to be protected by a spirit in form of an immortal fly.

“Near the kirk of this parish there is a fountain, once highly celebrated and anciently, dedicated to St Michael. Many a patient have its waters restored to health, and many more have attested the efficacy of their virtues. But, as the presiding power is sometimes capricious, and apt to desert his charge, it now lies neglected, choked with weeds, unhonoured and unfrequented. In better days, it was not so, for the winged guardian, under the semblance of a fly, was never absent from his duty. If the sober matron wished to know the issue of her husband's ailment, or the love-sick nymph that of her languishing swain, they visited the well of St Michael. Every movement of the sympathetic fly was regarded in silent awe, and as he appeared cheerful or dejected, the anxious votaries drew their presages and their breasts vibrated with correspondent emotions.”

I am still wondering how you can tell when a fly is cheerful or dejected.

But the idea of an immortal fly was not confined to the Middle Ages. Pliny in his Natural History, said that although flies often drown, they can be brought back to life by sprinkling them with ashes and warming them in the sun. Other writers claimed this proved that, like humans, they had an immortal soul, which could re-enter and reanimate the body. There is some suggestion that the ancient Egyptians thought that the souls of ancestors could return in the form of a fly, and fly amulets are frequently found in tombs.

Egyptian Fly Amulet c1550-1295 BCE. Hippo ivory

Metropolitan Museum of Art

In Viking mythology, Loki, the Norse deity of air was able to transform into a fly to create mischief. And right up until the 19th century in Iceland, Scandinavian and Northern European there was a wide-spread belief in a ‘sending’ which took the form of a fly. They believed a person could send out a malicious spirit or curse in the shape of a fly against someone they wanted to harm. This fly, which could not be killed, could travel hundreds of miles in pursuit of its prey and as it approached, the victim would gradually fall into a sleep from which they’d never wake. The victims supposedly killed by these ‘sendings’, were often found in cottages with earth floors or had camped in low-lying ground, so their mysterious deaths were probably caused by marsh-gases or fumes from cess-pits.

Flies, of course, with their attraction to decaying food, excrement and corpses were widely associated with death and decay, and plague of flies descending on a person or town was regarded as a divine punishment. Saints often displayed their holiness by driving them out. In 1121, when St Bernard of Clairvaux was preaching in Foigny, a swarm of flies had the temerity to disrupt his sermon by tormenting his congregation. He excommunicated the flies. The monks entering the church the next day found the inserts all dead and in such large numbers they had to shovel them away.

Madonna and child gazing at a fly

Carlo Crivelli (c1435-1495)

Since, Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies was another name for Satan. It follows that demons were said to take the form of flies and during the 16th and 17th century witch persecutions, women were often accused of having a 'familiar' in the form of a fly, which they could send to spy on their neighbours. Since flies were so common in poor households it was almost impossible to refute. A young girl, Deborah Pacey, testifying at a witchcraft trial in Bury St. Edmunds in 1664 claimed to be tormented by evil spirits in the form of flies that forced her to swallow and regurgitate pins.

In the ancient world, the fly was admired for its courage in attacking foes vastly bigger than itself and for its persistence in returning even when repeatedly driven off. In Egypt, those who displayed such daring in the face of the enemy were rewarded with gold or silver flies. Ahmose-pen-Nekhbet c 1570-1550 BCE boasts that the Pharaoh Thutmose bestowed six such flies on him.

Egyptian String of gold flies c.1600-1070 BCE

Metropolitan Museum of Art

But even in medieval Europe, flies were sometimes thought of as heroes especially, when they were plaguing your enemies rather than you. In 1285, when attackers in Catalonia tried to desecrated the tomb of the Girona’s patron Saint, St Narcissus, a cloud of huge flies rose up from the tomb driving the marauders away. An event which is celebrated now with chocolate flies, called mosques de Girona.

Flies even once achieved celestial recognition. In the late 17th Century there was a separate constellation of stars called first Musca, the fly, and then later Musca Borealis, the northern fly, to distinguish it from the Musca constellation in the Southern hemisphere. But this group of stars is now included in the constellation of Aries.

The Constellations of Aries and Musca Borealis 

The Ram and the Northern Fly

Sidney Hall (1788-1831)

And in England, the Christmas fly, the last fly that was found in the house at the end of December, was never killed. Like a stranger coming to the door at that season, a lone fly appearing then, was said to bring a blessing to the household and it was even thought to help with the housework.

St Narcissus of Girona blessing the flies