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Witchcraft, magic and culture 1736-1951: A brief historiographical review [PDF]

Talk of the Devil: Crime and Satanic Inspiration in Eighteenth-Century England [PDF]

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1999 : 1998 : 1997 : 1996

"Cunning-folk in the medical market-place during the nineteenth century", Medical History 43 (1999), 55-73
Over the last twenty years a considerable amount of valuable research has uncovered the activities of a variety of unorthodox medical practitioners in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Quack doctors, spiritual healers, medical botanists, and bone-setters have all been subjected to detailed analysis. In contrast the practitioners of folk-magical healing have been largely overlooked. In their dual role as herbalists and witch-doctors, cunning-folk in particular were an integral element of the popular medical experience. The aim of this article, therefore, is to introduce cunning-folk to the debate over medical provision in nineteenth-century society, and to examine their relationship with other groups of medical providers in terms of practice and public perception.

"Charmers and Charming in England and Wales from the Eighteenth to the Twentieth Century", Folklore 109 (1998), 41-53
Charmers have long been recognised as an important aspect of folk medicine. Unfortunately, however, they have usually been conflated with cunning-folk and consequently the well-defined tradition of charming has been rather obscured. Charmers were quite a diverse group of healers but, in general, they all shared several characteristics that separated them from other practitioners of folk medicine. Popular faith in charmers was undoubtedly very strong, and several traditional forms of charming have continued up till recently. This article not only examines the question of who charmers were, but also explores their practices and their place in a wider religious and medical context. It is a companion-piece to the author's other article published in Folklore 107 (1996), 19-31.

"Newspapers and the Popular Belief in Witchcraft and Magic in the Modern Period", Journal of British Studies 37 (1998), 139-166
The newspaper archive is, potentially, the largest untapped source of material concerning the popular belief in witchcraft and magic for the period after the formal cessation of the witchcraft trials in 1736. Several British historians have successfully exploited newspapers to examine popular customs in the modern period, but no one has attempted to use them to explore the continuation of witchcraft and magic. This article seeks to begin that task. Not only do newspapers provide us with valuable data concerning such popular beliefs but they also act as mirrors of changing elite attitudes towards those beliefs. Furthermore, it is shown that newspapers were not just passive chronicles but could also intervene in and shape the nature of people's interaction with magic and its practitioners.

"Hag-Riding in Nineteenth-Century West Country England and Modern Newfoundland: An Examination of an Experience-Centred Witchcraft Tradition", Folk Life 35 (1996-7): 36-53
Up until the early twentieth century, in parts of western and southern England, the dialect terms "hag-riding" and "hagging" were popularly used to describe a terrifying nocturnal assault by a witch. In Somerset and Dorset between 1852 and 1875, at least six court cases resulted from assaults upon suspected witches accused of hag-riding, and the testimonies given in court provide a fascinating insight into the way a sleep disturbance phenomenon was interpreted as a physical manifestation of witchcraft. For those suffering from hag-riding the experience was incontrovertible proof of the reality of witchcraft: it was maleficium in its most personal form, a direct physical assault on the body of the victim. Although the term "hag-riding" is culturally specific, the core features of the experience itself transcend cultural boundaries. The same term and variants of it are still in use in Newfoundland today, where the experience has been the subject of two studies from a "biocultural" and phenomenological perspective. This research, and other work on sleep disturbance phenomena, help us to understand the terrifying experiences of people who, because they attributed a supernatural origin to their experience, were often derided or condemned by the educated classes of the period.

"Cunning-folk in England and Wales during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries", Rural History 8:1 (1997): 93-109
The Dutch historian Willem de Blécourt has highlighted how little we really know about cunning-folk in the context of European witchcraft, and stressed the need for further substantial research. The study of English cunning-folk in the early modern period has been well served by the work of Keith Thomas and Alan Macfarlane, but their respective chapters, are, nevertheless, tantalising rather than conclusive. Although in the last twenty-five years early-modern historians have continued to take a strong interest in the witch-trials, and the social dynamics of witch-accusations, cunning-folk have, by and large, been neglected. The lack of research on cunning-folk in the modern period is even more marked, and it is the purpose of this article to begin to redress this imbalance. Most work on cunning-folk has tended to concentrate on what they did, rather than on who they were. The aim of this present discussion, therefore, is to focus less on the services cunning-folk provided, and more on their personal histories, how they generated a reputation, and how they were viewed by the society they lived in.

"Urbanization and the Decline of Witchcraft: An Examination of London", Journal of Social History 30:2 (1997): 597-617
Historical studies of European witchcraft have been remarkably quiet concerning the impact of urbanization on the structure of magical beliefs and practices. The work which has been done on witchcraft in urban areas of early modern Europe does suggest, however, that this would be a fruitful area for future study. This article looks at the evidence that as urban societies expanded and underwent profound economic and social change, so this also wrought equally profound transformations in the structure of witchcraft accusations and beliefs. London is used as a study area because as an urban centre spanning both preindustrial and industrial ages, it provides a sense of continuity over a considerable period of time.

"Methodism, the Clergy, and the Popular Belief in Witchcraft and Magic", History 82 (1997): 252-265
During the second half of the eighteenth century and the early nineteenth century, there was growing concern that the popular belief in witchcraft and magic was still widespread. It had generally been supposed that the spread of rational thought and scientific progress had somehow filtered down to the labouring classes. Since this was not happening, it was assumed that some other force was at work frustrating the enlightenment of the masses. During the same period, the growing popularity of Methodism was also worrying the Anglican establishment. With the likes of John Wesley openly expressing their belief in witchcraft, possession, and divine intervention and retribution, it was not surprising, perhaps, that Anglicans sought to blame Methodism for the continued, pernicious "superstitious" state of the masses. While Anglican clergymen accused Methodists of propagating "superstition" in their parishes, it was, in fact, the rites and the fabric of the churches and churchyards of the Anglican faith which continued to act as a powerful focus of popular magic.

"Healing Charms in use in England and Wales 1700-1960", Folklore 107 (1996): 19-33.
The collection and analysis of Anglo-Saxon and medieval healing charms has long generated an active interest in their content and application. However, despite the quite extensive ethnographic evidence concerning the content of healing charms in use from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, there has been no attempt, so far, to make an extensive collection of charm formulae from this period. This paper seeks to begin that task. It is hoped that this inventory not only serves to highlight an important aspect of the English and Welsh tradition of folk medicine, but also serves to indicate the long history of that tradition.

 

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