Witch Krafting with Kat

Welcome to another Witchy Wednesday. Newes from Scotland (1591) is a sensational contemporary pamphlet detailing the infamous North Berwick Witch Trials. It claims a coven of witches, led by schoolmaster Dr. John Fian, used sorcery to conjure fierce storms to assassinate King James VI and his bride, Anne of Denmark, on their return voyage from Norway. Newes from Scotland, declaring the damnable life... 1591 Sourced from Internet Archive.  Thank you for visiting my blog, please join me for another Witchy Wednesday next week.  Kat 😊

  Letter about Elizabeth Tibbots. (Catalogue ref: SP 29/317 f.116) Elizabeth Tibbots (also spelled Tibbetts) was an 18-year-old girl from Stoneleigh, near Coventry, who became the center of a witchcraft mystery in 1672. A contemporary observer suspected her of being a witch or being bewitched after she began suffering violent seizures and vomiting inedible objects like knives and pebbles. In this letter the account of a woman who has been observed acting incredibly strangely is reported. The author suspects that she has either been bewitched, or is a witch herself. He is certain of what he has seen and that the Devil must be behind her bizarre behaviour, 2 November, 1672. Transcript (a) All our wonder hereabouts is employed at the strange condition of a maid near us, one Elizabeth Tibbots of about 18 years of age living with her uncle, one Thomas Crofts, at a place called Hust in the parish of Stoneleigh, about two miles hence. Which maid, for about this 3 weeks past has been taken...

  Joan Guppie: Certificate. (Catalogue ref: E 163/17/5 Accusations of witchcraft often stemmed from the grey area between using perceived supernatural powers for good, or for harm. Jane (or Joan) Guppie was a healer or wise woman in Dorset who was accused by a neighbour, Judith Gibbs, of bewitching her and making her ill. The initial court case was launched by Jane herself, complaining that Judith and her friends had attacked her. Judith and her confederates responded that they had merely been attempting to ‘prick’ Jane – to draw a few drops of her blood to cure Judith of her illness. This certificate was drawn up by other members of the community, testifying that Jane was not a witch, and that ‘she hath done good to many people as well in curing of diverse people of wounds and such like things’. One can clearly see the signatures and seals used by Jane’s neighbours to record their support. The neighbours of a suspected witch were not always hostile towards them. This document (whi...