Witchcraft and Devil Lore in the Channel Islands | Page 4

relatives
came forward and claimed to be heirs to her goods and chattles, seeing
that she had not been convicted of the imputed crime, and urging that
her death put an end to further criminal proceedings. The Queen's
Procureur, however--it was in the reign of Elizabeth--contended that
death was no bar to the completion of the indictment, although it had

effectually removed the criminal from the jurisdiction of the Court, as
far as punishment was concerned. The very reasonable claim of the
deceased woman's relatives was therefore set aside, and the defunct of
course being found guilty, her possessions reverted to the crown.
Again, forty years later, in 1623, an old woman of sixty, named Marie
Filleul, daughter of Thomas Filleul, of the parish of St. Clement's, was
tried before a jury of twenty-four of her countrymen, and found guilty
of the diabolical crime of Sorcery. She was therefore hanged and burnt
as a witch, and her goods were confiscated to the King [James I.], and
to the Seigneurs to whom they belonged.
It may be interesting to note here the opinion of Mr. Philippe Le Geyt,
the famous commentator on the constitution and laws of Jersey, and
one of the most enlightened men of his time, who for many years was
Lieutenant-Bailiff of that island. He was born in 1635 and died in 1715,
in his eighty-first year. In Vol. I., page 42, of his works, there occurs a
passage of which the following is a translation:--
As Holy Scripture forbids us to allow witches to live, many persons
have made it a matter of conscience and of religion to be severe in
respect to such a crime. This principle has without doubt made many
persons credulous. How often have purely accidental associations been
taken as convincing proofs? How many innocent people have perished
in the flames on the asserted testimony of supernatural circumstances? I
will not say that there are no witches; but ever since the difficulty of
convicting them has been recognized in the island, they all seem to
have disappeared, as though the evidence of the times gone by had been
but an illusion. This shows the instability of all things here below.
Coming down now to within a century ago, we find an article in the
Gazette de Jersey, of Saturday, March 10th, 1787, complaining of the
great increase of wizards and witches in the island, as well as of their
supposed victims. The writer says that the scenes then taking place
were truly ridiculous, and he details a case that had just occurred at St.
Brelade's as corroborative of his assertion. It appears that a worthy
householder there, had dreamed that a certain wizard appeared to him
and ordered him to poison himself at a date which was specified,

enjoining him above all things not to mention the incident to anyone.
The poor silly fellow was dreadfully distressed, for he felt convinced
that he would have to carry out the disagreeable command. At the same
time he was quite unable to keep so momentous a secret to himself, and
so he divulged the approaching tragedy to his wife. The good woman's
despair was fully equal to his own, and after much anxious domestic
counsel they determined to seek the good offices of a White Witch
(_une Quéraude_), with the hope that her incantations might overcome
the evil spells of the Black Witch who was causing all the mischief.
This White Witch prescribed lengthened fasting and other preparations
for the great ordeal, and on a given night she and the bewitched
householder, together with his wife and four or five trusty friends with
drawn swords, shut themselves up in a room, and commenced their
mysterious ceremonial. There was the boiling of occult herbs; the
roasting of a beeve's heart stuck full of nails and pins; the reading of
certain passages from the family Bible; a mighty gesticulating with the
swords, which were first thrust up the chimney to prevent the Black
Witch from coming down, and anon were pointed earthward to hinder
him from rising up; and so the ridiculous game went on. The only
person who benefited was of course the imposter, who was paid for her
services; while we may perhaps charitably hope that her dupes also
were afterwards easier in their minds. The writer adds that many other
persons besides this man at St. Brelade's, had latterly believed
themselves bewitched, and had consulted wizards, who were thus
driving a profitable trade.
* * * * *
Among the indications and symptoms of a witch, are reckoned various
bodily marks and spots, said to be insensible to pain (page 20), inability
to shed tears, &c. The pricking of witches was at one time a lucrative
profession both in England and Scotland, one of the most