Find witches in the neighbourhood...

It's Hallowe'en again, and so I thought I would list a few resources where you might find some links to cases involving alleged (perhaps actual?!) witchcraft in the family!

In Scotland, the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft (www.shc.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches), has details of nearly 4000 people tried from 1563-1736 for witchcraft, with evidence for many cases gathered by local kirk sessions. For the story of the Forfar Witches visit www.angusheritage.com/People/AngusLives/The-Forfar-Witches.aspx, whilst a look at witches in Fife can be found at www.thefifepost.com/history/witches/.

The tales of witches in Strathearn are recounted at http://perthshirecrieffstrathearnlocalhistor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/witchcraft-in-strathearn-part-one-of.html and http://perthshirecrieffstrathearnlocalhistor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/witchcraft-in-strathearn-part-two-of.html.

In England, the Camulos site, which covers Colchester, has tales of local witches at www.camulos.com/witchcraft.htm, whilst the brilliant Pendle Witches website at www.pendlewitches.co.uk tells you everything you need to know about one of the most famous witchcraft cases in British history, at Pendle in Lancashire. The UK parliament site has an overview of laws against witchcraft in England at www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/religion/overview/witchcraft/, whilst tales of wicthcraft in Elizabeth England are available at www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/elizabethan-witchcraft-and-witches.htm.

A study of 17th century witchcraft in the county of Flintshire is online at the National Library of Wales website at www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=witchcraftcourtofgrearsessi. In Ireland, the last ever witch trail was that of the Islandmagee witches in County Antrim, who were convicted in my home town of Carrickfergus - you'll find the story at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islandmagee_witch_trial.

Finally, another tip of the hat to Bob Davey MBE, who I interviewed four years ago for Discover my Past England magazine. Bob was a man who basically took on the Devil's hordes and won, when he defeated a local witches coven that tried to desecrate the old 8th century built Anglo-Saxon Church of St Mary the Virgin at Houghton-on-the-Hill, Norfolk (pictured right).

You'll find Bob's story on a subsequent blog post here at
http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/genies-who-inspire-robert-davey-mbe.html.

Happy Hallowe'en!

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including my recently released Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html. My Pinterest account is at https://www.pinterest.com/chrismpaton/.