Folklore of Lincolnshire (23 page)

Another belief was that the seventh child in a family, male or female, was sure to be ‘wise’. Wise Men/Women were thought of as white witches, who used their powers for good, not evil. They possessed a great deal of knowledge and could tell people’s fortunes. They were able to look into a person’s heart and read their secrets so were respected by all.

Legend states that gatherings or conventions of witch people in Lincolnshire would occur each mid-summer night and some say the burial mound at Revesby was one such meeting place. Others say this was the site of Devil worship, where witches would arrive on broomsticks with stolen un-baptised babies, ready to curse communities with famine and plagues and to dance with the Devil. In 1926, Christopher Marlowe wrote about a visit he made to Lincolnshire and specifically this burial mound. He described bizarre activities going on at the mound – 300 half-naked witches shrieking, dancing, feasting and drinking. He told of a travelling captain who unwittingly stumbled across this company and was badly abused by the witches.

There is a church in Skidbrooke, St Botolph’s, which has a reputation for being a centre of black magic and witchcraft, even today. The church itself has not been used for services for over thirty years, but ghosts and Satanists are said to frequent it.

Halloween was an occasion when people were eager to stay indoors, as it was known to be the night of witches and black magic. Katherine Briggs retells a story about witches on Halloween, taken from Barrett’s
More Tales from the Fens
. The story teller narrates a tale from his childhood, about an occasion when he stayed at his auntie’s one Halloween night. It was the custom this night to place willow twigs around the house, as witches would not cross them and his uncle also apparently killed a black
hen, taking two wing feathers to hang on the dog’s collar, then tying the hen on the chicken house door. Witches always kept away from black chicken feathers. This was the night that all the witches were supposed to be out in the Fens, meeting up and cursing and placing spells on the people and animals that they came across.

St Botolph’s Church, Skidbrooke. A beautiful building in a peaceful, rural location. A public footpath leads from the road where there is a sign for ‘Historic Church’.

The inside of the church at Skidbrooke – it is completely empty inside, although from the outside it looks like any other church in use. It is fairly large with some beautiful stonework inside.

Other precautions included burning oak logs on the fire, as witches could apparently smell peat burning from miles away. Some food was placed on the doorstep to appease any passing witches and thus avoid a curse from them. Before midnight, Barrett was told it was the custom for the oldest man and the youngest boy in the house to go out and do the rounds on the farm, checking on everything. Poor Barrett, who was the youngest lad, was probably terrified with all the talk of witches and curses round the fire!

The two of them trudged outside with a lantern and he said the animals were very restless, as they knew what was out there in the dark. As they walked to the orchard, an owl swooped down at them and the uncle struck out at it with a thick stick, knocking it to the ground. In his opinion he had just slain a witch in flight. They listened in at the beehive and heard a lot of noise going on inside. The uncle bent to it and whispered in, ‘Well done, my old beauties. I got one just now and, by the sound of it, you’ve got another; push her outside when you’ve done with her.’
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Back inside, the others were told of the shenanigans outside and the aunt was nervous of witches coming down the chimney and cursing them before morning. Wanting to discourage any witches coming down, she threw a handful of sulphur onto the fire, making the flames roar bright blue and yellow. The uncle, wanting to go one better, threw a handful of gunpowder he had in the cupboard into the flames. A huge bang shook the house and soot flew everywhere. When the smoke cleared, however, the aunt found herself nursing a dead magpie upon her lap. Another witch down!

After some refreshments, the two males had to do the rounds outside once more and when they got to the beehive, to the boy’s astonishment, a dead mouse – still warm – lay on the flight board. The three dead animals were all burnt on the fire and everyone was content that no witches would bother them that night.

It was a very common belief that witches could take the shape of different animals; hares, hedgehogs, cats, toads, magpies…even an ox. The certainty that they could shape-shift in this manner was illustrated by many tales across the county and even appeared in superstition. For example, there used to be a conviction in Kirton-in-Lindsey that eggshells should always be fully burnt or broken, so as to stop witches using them as boats to cross the sea. Quite which animal form they took to accomplish this is unclear, but presumably one quite small.

Daniel Codd mentions the tale of a witch from Dorrington, who used to cause mischief in her village and scared all the locals due to her shape-shifting abilities.
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She was, however, found one day beaten and bloody in her home and the people believed she had been kicked whilst in the shape of a rat.

There are many stories about witches being hurt whilst in the shape of some animal or other, then when they are seen again in their human form they appear to
have the same wound as the animal. Codd uses a witch from Rowston as an example. She was known to use the appearance of a hare to travel around but was one day shot by a local farmer whilst in this disguise. She managed to reach her home, but soon died, in human form, from a gunshot wound in her side.

The church at Tetford, where a gypsy was supposedly struck by lightning on the church steps. She is said to be buried in the churchyard.

Another well-known witch from Tetford met a similar fate, as she strayed from her house disguised also as a hare. She was shot at, escaped, but later as a human she was discovered with a gunshot wound.

Gutch and Peacock tell of a farmer who was having trouble with his pigs, so one day he took a red-hot poker and scored one pig’s back with it.
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Not long after this incident, a woman in the parish apparently died of a sore back.

On another occasion, a man and his son saw a cat walking in front of them, near Kirton Lindsey. The father knew it to be a witch and so threw a rock at it. The next day, the face of the local witch was heavily bandaged and she died soon after.

Johnny O’ The Grass was a famous Wise Man who lived near Louth. His powers of shape shifting extended beyond himself to others as well. It is said that one day he was nearing the toll road, near Girsby Hall and was asked to pay a toll for the donkey he was riding. Men went free. Apparently Johnny dismounted and muttered a few words, upon which his donkey turned into a man, and both men walked the toll road free of charge.

One unusual shape shifter is mentioned in the
Lincolnshire Life
magazine.
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Set in the days when the Roman Empire was marching its way across Britain, the tale tells of a mounted centurion who was leading his men towards Newport when his horse suddenly stopped for no apparent reason. He dismounted, searching for a cause, checking the horse’s hooves and the ground around, but all seemed well. While he puzzled over it, he plucked a blade of grass from the ground and absentmindedly began to tie it into knots. He tried everything he could think to get his horse moving again but it would not budge and his men were getting restless behind him. Infuriated, he threw the blade of grass onto the ground but when he looked down he was astounded to see, not a blade of grass, but a witch with her hands and feet knotted behind her back.

Gutch and Peacock mention an old lame man, who was well known in the area around Northorpe for being a wizard.
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The shape he would take was a large black dog. Unfortunately, whilst in this guise, he had the habit of biting farmers’ cattle. One man was said to have seen him doing this and went to shoo him away, only to see the dog transform into the wizard before his very eyes.

Codd mentions another occasion when a witch at Ludford took a particular dislike to one farm worker, Bob. She was often seen as a white hare, but also a cat and it was this cat that he encountered whilst feeding his horses. She so scared the beasts with her hissing and spitting that they were unable to eat and Bob thought this trouble would earn him a dismissal. His boss, however, believed him and allowed him to place some wicken over the stable door. This tree was often used to ward off or deflect witch’s curses and it appeared to have worked on this occasion too.

There is a well-known story of the witch who lived in Scamblesby, who was said to attack and curse anyone who disturbed her. One day, three riders passed too closely by her house and out she rushed ready to curse them. She cast a spell on both the first two horses but the third rider was prepared with a branch of wicken. He was thus protected and could carry on his way, unharmed.

Gutch and Peacock relate a tale of a witch from Grasby whose lover married another woman. She was so distraught that she cursed his cattle, resulting in him losing many of them. He decided he must do something to stop her and so armed himself with some branches of wicken. Whilst he was at home one day, a cat walked into his house and, knowing it was the witch in another form, he chased it around the house until it climbed up the chimney. Wanting to hurt her as he had been hurt, he lit a fire in the grate and scorched the cat badly. Needless to say, the witch died soon after from terrible burns.

Katherine Briggs reports an interesting story from around the Saxby area about the ghosts of six sailors who used to be seen after their ship had been wrecked. They were sometimes seen at night, sometimes during the day, and their faces were always turned towards the sea. One day, a lady decided to talk to them and called to the skipper, whom she recognised. When he replied, however, his voice merely boomed, like a thunder clap and so she had to tell him, ‘Moderate your speech, for I’m no ’fit to stand it.’
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Soon after this, his speech became just as it had been when he was alive and he told the woman that the witch, Madge Coutts, who had some kind of grudge against them, had boarded their ship in order to curse them. They tried to knock her overboard but when they finally succeeded, she dived under and boarded the other side in the shape of a huge black ox. She set her large horns to work on the decking until she splintered the wood and the boat went under. What grudge she held against the men is not clear but she seemed to survive the incident, as eye witnesses apparently remembered seeing her on the day of the wreck, entering her own chimney in the form of a grey cat.

When discussing their curses, Codd describes the story of a witch mentioned by Rudkin, from the Burton-upon-Stather area.
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Apparently she was rather a nasty witch and if ever anyone were to cross her or even irritate her, she would place a curse upon them. The incident of a farmer who was unable to deliver her some milk is mentioned and the witch in question is said to have cursed his cow, promising that it would turn into a bull. Supposedly this did happen and the bull became feral and dangerous. The beast was eventually put down, after trying to charge people and causing injury to itself and others.