The Rollrights.and witches

 witches

The paganness of stone circles is something to dwell on. The one close

to where I spent my childhood, Long Compton,
was a traditional meeting place for witches

In 1875 this traditional association led to the murder of 
80 year old Anne Tennant byJames Heywood, her neighbour.

 He believed that he had been bewitched by Mistress Tennant.
As his neighbour kept toads in her garden, that was evidence for him,

But he was caught very quickly and confessed.
He said that there were 16 witches in Long Compton. 

Surely they come in groups of 13?

He said that he would like to kill them all.

He wanted to have the judge weigh Anne Tennant's body 

against the church bible.

But witchcraft by this date was not considered a punishable crime,

so he got the worst of it, and was adjudged insane.

He was detained in Warwick jail.

Still believing himself to be bewitched, he refused to eat and drink, and so 

passed a death sentence on himself.

I prefer to think of the witchkind, not as paganists

but as a human subspecies, or race. 

Like Samantha in "Bewitched" or looking a lot 

like Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina Spellman, 

Well, who wouldn't?

Or as in The Craft, Robin Tunney as Sarah Bailey.

An "Other" Someone born with native powers, in a family line.

This association of witches with old pagan places needs exploring, 

though, with such characters as Mother Shipton,
and the old country lore of the wise woman (hedge witches,
as they seem to be called today. )

To be continued........