DEVONSHIRE WITCHES.
BY PAUL Q. KARKEEK.
(Read at Teignmouth, July, 1874.)
Reprinted from the Transactions of the Devonshire Association for theAdvancement of Science, Literature, and Art. 1874.
DEVONSHIRE WITCHES.
BY PAUL Q. KARKEEK.
(Read at Teignmouth, July, 1874.)
Devonshire bears powerful evidence to the theory of Mr. Buckle, thatthe climate and scenery of a country tend to influence the creed ofthe people. Our miles of broad and almost deserted moorland, the deepvalleys, the dark combes, and our stormy iron-bound coasts, may to acertain extent have inclined the Devonians of the past to a firmerbelief in the miraculous, than would be found in a more populous andless rugged county. Traces of this are present even now. Although ageshave passed away since unhappy men and women were tried for witchcraft,there may still be found in the western shires scores who believein charms, and who are habitual consultants of the "wise man;" andsufferers from the evil-eye, or people who have been ill-wished, areconstantly heard of.
Prior to the arrival of James I. our statute-book looked but mildly onwitchcraft. Laws were passed in 1551 and 1562 against this offence, butit remained for James the Demonologist to bring matters to a climax. Inproportion as the Puritans and their doctrines spread, so increased thebelief in, and prosecution for, witchcraft. This belief partook of thenature of an epidemic. Suddenly prisoners were seized, tried in variousways, taken before the magistrates, and sent to the assizes, wherethey were but seldom acquitted. Popular opinion having been satisfied,things resumed their usual course. There was no doubt about the crime;the same village contained the victims and the person of ill-repute.The inhabitants could see for themselves the patient whom no physiciancould cure, and who pronounced the complaint to be witchcraft; and theconfession of the accused only too plainly confirmed all suspicions.Next to murder, nothing[Pg 4] could be more palpable; and yet, when oncethe foundations of this fearful creed were disturbed by rationalism,the whole fabric was speedily swept away, leaving but few traces toshow how great it had been, and these only in the minds of the mostignorant classes. Strange to say, there are but few records of theconviction of witches which were not fully supported by the confessionsof the accused. It is indeed true that these confessions were only toofrequently extorted by gross cruelty, but in scores of cases this wasnot needed. The prisoners rejoiced in their crimes, and seemed proud oftheir evil reputations. In that awful moment, when, with one foot onthe gallows ladder, and preparing to pay the penalty of their fanciedcrimes, they even then would relate, and in glowing colours, their evildeeds, there could be but small reason for idle boastings then; but soit was. The witches themselves as firmly believed in their evil powersas did their accusers and judges. The trials by law were conductedwith all order and fairness. There was no unusual mode of procedure.In those days justice leaned towards the accuser, and inclined topunishment; but witchcraft was not an exception, or was treated worsethan murder or theft, and not nearly so badly as heresy. As I saidbefore, these trials of witches would come in spasms, and with all thefury of an epidemic. The history of one such epidemic I propose torelate.
In the year 1682 there lived in the town of Bideford three old women,poor, ugly, and discontented. One, Temperance Lloyd, pursued thelucrative occup