A People Bewitched: Witchcraft and Magic in Nineteenth-Century Somerset

Over the last few years I have been conducting detailed research on the continued popular belief in witchcraft and magic in nineteenth-century Somerset. This has included extensive surveying of local newspapers, censuses, ethnographic sources, and trade directories. The results have been impressive. I have found 26 court cases involving assaults or threats against supposed witches, and a similar number of trials concerning cunning-folk, astrologers and fortune-tellers. The study of all this material has provided new insights into the continued influence of such beliefs in nineteenth-century society. It will also be of great interest to historians of early modern witchcraft, as it examines what sort of people were accused of witchcraft, who accused them, and the reasons why witchcraft came to be suspected in the first place. Here is an extract to give some idea of what the book contains:

"Fits, which were probably sometimes of an epileptic nature, were seen by many as one of the most dramatic visual symptoms of bewitchment. Although sufferers lived otherwise perfectly normal lives, their fits were disturbing for themselves and their families, and disrupted work and relations. It is not surprising then that those suffering from fits occasionally attempted to scratch those they suspected of witchcraft in an attempt to free themselves of their affliction. The most graphic evidence for this can be found in the case of Adam Lamb, heard before the Wincanton petty sessions on Monday 20 June 1870. Lamb was a 23-year-old agricultural labourer who lived with his widowed mother in North Town Street, Corton Denham. He was described as "a lusty young fellow", and "a very quiet orderly young man" except after too much drink, when "he had all sorts of strange fancies". He often had fits, and while they continued he was very much excited. Sometimes it took as many as six men to hold him down.

In late May of that year the Corton Friendly Society held their anniversary fair. One of those present was a 39-year-old spinster named Mary Crees. She made gloves for a living, and lived in Victoria Cottage with her 76-year-old mother, Fanny, the widow of an agricultural labourer, and her 33-year-old sister, Elizabeth. Lamb was also at the fair, enjoying a dance, but when he saw Mary he stopped and came towards her saying, "What do you mean by it, you bitch." She answered, "Adam, I have not done anything to you." "Thee dosn't touch me now" he said, "but thee dost sometimes, you bitch." She ignored him, and he left. However, about half-an-hour later he returned in a great rage and grabbed her by the throat, saying "Now I'll stab thee, you ____" , and proceeded to utter a stream of "disgusting expressions". He struck her three times on the chest and produced a knife before he was dragged away by some of his friends. As he left he threatened, "If I can't do for thee now, I will do it, for I'll wait for thee."

One of the witnesses called before the petty sessions was a labourer's wife named Elizabeth Stewart, aged fifty-five, who lived in Poor House Road. She knew both Lamb and Crees very well, and told the Bench that Lamb had been saying for a long time that he intended to draw blood from Crees, as he believed she had bewitched him. She said that Mary was a very quiet woman who looked after her aged mother, and that she knew of no other person who accused her of witchcraft. Asked to confirm the defendant's claim that Crees had actually approached him first before the assault she replied in the negative. Lamb then exclaimed, "That's lies. She asked me to dance with her, and I said, 'No, I shant. You've made I dance enough already'".

One of the magistrates, T. E. Rogers, then asked "What did you mean?"
"She overlooked I."
"Nonsense!"
"That's as true as this stick in my hand. I wanted to draw blood to break the spell, and said I would if she touched I again. I know I be guilty of drawing the knife, but I did not strike her."
"How long have you had this fancy?"
"It was two years ago, 24th of last May, that she first did it. I had a fit then, and was like a dead man for three hours. Sometimes I be obliged to be tied down. I could see her when she began it as plain as I can see this hat."

Lamb then called a friend named Rudge to confirm that he suffered from such fits. Rogers then proceeded with his questioning.
"This young woman has nothing to do with your fits any more than I have, and you must not touch her again."
"You mid'n think so, sir, but I do know it; so, there! Them as don't think so ought to have 'em, and then they'd know. Do run in the family of 'em. Her mother do do it."
"Nonsense!"
"But I do know it!"
The chairman of the court, C. Barton, took his turn to dissuade Lamb:
"It is only a fancy you have in your head. You must not touch this young woman. She can't hurt you, and won't have anything to do with you."
"I hope not," replied Lamb, "I shant know myself, hardly."
He took Barton's words rather too literally, though, and seems to have believed that the court was somehow going to restrain Crees from bewitching him. He expressed his delight at the prospect of being free from "witchery", and gladly promised not to molest Crees. The Bench bound him over in £10 to keep the peace for six months."