| What names of famous witches can you think of? If | | | | local charm maker, working with herbs and divination. |
| you're anything like me recently, not many! For such an | | | | Pendle Hill Witches - 1612 |
| instantly recognisable figure of legend and fiction, I | | | | The Pendle Hill Witches will go down in history as being |
| realised it is surprising how few truly famous real | | | | at the centre of one of the biggest and most notorious |
| witches are still known today. We can think of The | | | | witch trials in Britain. The most prominent characters |
| Wicked Witch of the East from the Wizard of Oz, | | | | were "Old Demdike" and "Old Chattox" who were |
| Samantha from Bewitched and more recently | | | | rivals who brought their whole families into the feud |
| Hermione Granger from Harry Potter, no problem. But | | | | with them! Eleven were involved in the trials which |
| outside of imaginary witches, there are also tales of | | | | relied heavily on prejudices, gossip and superstition and |
| real ones, those who created interest and intrigue in | | | | there was little hope of being found innocent. Demdike |
| their time. Too many of the true stories of their lives | | | | died in prison while Chattox, along with the majority of |
| will now be lost but let's look at some of the names of | | | | the accused, went to the gallows. |
| famous witches of history and what they were | | | | Joan Wytte 1775 - 1813 |
| famous/infamous for! | | | | Known as "The Fighting Fairy Woman of Bodmin". |
| Granny Boswell 1813 - 1906 | | | | While she started off as a clairvoyant and healer, she |
| A Romany gypsy, she was known as a Cornish witch | | | | later became aggressive due to a tooth abscess |
| but was actually born in Ireland. She was a renowned | | | | which unfortunately led to the locals believing her to be |
| troublemaker, at least in the eyes of the authorities, | | | | possessed by the devil. She was imprisoned in Bodmin |
| often to be seen drunk in the street! But her reputation | | | | Jail where she died of bronchial pneumonia. Her bones |
| lives on in a curious tale, as told by the son of a man | | | | were kept at the Witchcraft Museum until it is |
| that fell victim to her scorn. With cars being a novelty, | | | | rumoured that poltergeist activity forced them to bring |
| Granny Boswell was fascinated by the sight of one | | | | in the assistance of a witch. She stated that Joan |
| about to come towards her - as she stood in the road! | | | | wished to be laid to rest and she was finally buried at |
| The driver, the story teller's father, sounded the horn | | | | Boscastle in 1998. |
| and told her to get out of the way. She shouted abuse | | | | Dolly Pentreath Died 1777 |
| and told him that the vehicle wouldn't make it to the | | | | The fish-wife of Mousehole. She was a formidable |
| end of the road. It didn't, they broke down before they | | | | character who took on the Press Gang as they |
| reached the end of the street. | | | | arrived to search for men to "recuit" for the navy. She |
| Tammy Blee 1798 - 1856 | | | | was also an astrologer and believed to have magical |
| Another of Cornwall's "cunning folk", Tammy Blee | | | | powers - but was always to be found smoking her |
| (Tamsin Blight) was know for going into trances in | | | | pipe and drinking from her pint glass. |
| order to communicate with the dead. She was also a | | | | |