Witchcraft in England

by Christina Hole

History of Witchcraft in England illustrated by Mervyn Peake

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Occult, Folklore

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1945

About the author

An award-winning British folklorist and author. Born in 1896.

Reviews

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting little book which suffers rather from the author's decision to organise the material into topics. The same cases are therefore revisited at different points in the book, the author attempting to discuss them without being repetitive, but it has the effect of making it rather bitty. There were probably some good insights here and there, but the author was a little too credulous in stating that a good number of people probably were witches in the sense of being poisoners etc. and seemed to lack some of the social awareness which these days is brought to this subject.

A curiosity of the book, apart from its rather creepy cover, are the illustrations by Mervyn Peake which don't always stick to the brief, e.g a cat is shown being thrown into a pond whereas in the narrative it was clearly tossed into the sea. All in all, would rate this a middling 3 star effort.

[Nicola · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. It was very interesting and educational. Its good to know Britain did not undergo a hysterical witch craze.
I was not very fond of the repetititve stories the author gave. There were too many. Impossible to keep track of those names.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book primarily serves as--and is best when considered as--a collection of anecdotes from English history. Author Christina Hole does try to organize the chapters by theme, but unfortunately the book actually suffers for it: many of the historical events defy easy categorization, so some degree of repetition is required. Occasionally multiple generations of a family will be involved--I think here specifically of the Device family--and that family name comes up several times, in the span of no less than sixty pages, and without a coherent narrative because of Hole's dogged insistence on dividing chapters by theme.

Hole often fails to define her terms: for example, she refers to the brutal practice of "watching" a suspected witch, but never actually defines it. (I do think I found a description of "watching," but since the paragraph never used the term "watching," a reader can't be sure.) A glossary at least would have been helpful, but of course it would have been best if she'd defined each term clearly as soon as she mentioned it.

Hole's perspective on witchcraft is never quite clear. At times she acknowledges that there were a great deal of false accusations (an entire chapter is devoted to this), and confessions given under duress or torture, but at other times is entirely credulous as to the guilt of convicted witches, no matter how outlandish the accusations or confessions. She makes it clear that there is a difference between the worship of non-Christian gods and devil-worship, but often obscures or ignores that difference, and she never goes into much detail. (Also, as an aside, everything she says about the Cathars--a heretical Christian sect--is wrong, but in fairness she may not have had access to accurate sources.) She at least tangentially acknowledges a mixture of Christianity and paganism in some of the magic, but doesn't explore this (it's touched on a bit more in her Saints in Folklore book). Furthermore, while she notes that part of what may have constituted "witchcraft" was simply ages-old folk-medicine, and that some witches (self-identified or not) attributed their magic to the workings of an "alien god" OR to a saint, she doesn't take time to consider where the line might be between a miracle-worker and a white witch: that is, between a "holy person" and someone seen as a not-to-be-crossed witch. The idea that there could be a fine line--a very fine one indeed--between religion and magic, as well as medicine in this time period, escapes her interest. I'm not sure why.

To conclude, I did glean some interesting perspectives on witchcraft in England, and some (although not all) of her historical anecdotes are well-footnoted. However, the book is so poorly organized, so haphazard in mission, that I think there must be better sources for those interested in the topic.

[Aaron Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A typical book in the genre. It covers up to some very late cases, one of which was in the mid 20th century. There are many cases which are presented which I had read about before but many that I hadn't, so was pleasantly surprised. I felt the inclusion of a dialogue about John Dee wasn't overly useful and could of been done without considering he has been dealt with extensively elsewhere. A couple times in the book she makes reference to Margaret Murray's work with somewhat a reverant tone, thankfully she didn't get all giddy about her for that would of been a great turn off for me to finish reading the book.
Overall not a necessary work but a nice one to have on the shelf.

[Allyson Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating history, full of sympathy and understatement. The illustrations by Peake are lively, human and strange.

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it is just a stream of facts about witch trials, and it's not ordered in the most logical way, I found it fascinating. Centuries of accusations against unpopular woman of being witches, resulting in hundreds of deaths is deeply dark English undercurrent and several of them probably happened close to your home town (the evidence is spread all over England).

The book very effectively shows how simply cursing your neighbour could sometimes result in you being thrown in a river by an angry mob for the "swimming" test or burnt at the stake because of a few unlucky coincidences.

Plus the Mervyn Peake illustrations are suitably moody.

[imircm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting but lacking in depth. The book is presented as a series of historic anecdotes more than researched subjects. The arrangement of chapters by themes leads to some scattered repetitions and oddly placed bits. The information itself is written well enough and entertaining. I would have enjoyed more cited sources, greater depth of story, and better pacing. Personally, I found the last eighty-odd pages a chore to get through. The book served its purpose for me as a quick introduction to a few court cases and their major players; more as a starting off point for deeper reading rather than the end destination.

[Charlie Topnik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading this copy of Witchcraft in Britain by Christina Hole. Really informative without being boring, and with gorgeous creepy illustrations by Mervyn Peake. It is a slim volume, but covers a lot of ground, with an extensive list of sources for further reading. I highly recommend this for anyone interested in the history of popular social panics or to better understand the persecutions that those even suspected of practising the Craft have gone through. 4.5 stars out of 5!

[Kevinjwoods · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those interesting little books from the time when such highly researched and detailed books on subjects such as these were published for a mainstream audience in a format that would appeal to any interested parties rather thn being restricted to the 800 page hardback with 200 pages of interesting details and 600 pages of waffle about travels and travails market.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good, informative history of Witchcraft that covered a couple of historical events that I had not read elsewhere.

[Bec · Rating 3 out of 5]

A half decent look at history, and I love that it specifically mentions details of certain cases (like names, towns, years, events that lead to the case)

[Kerry Mairie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Out of date, didn't finish it.

[Christine Boehm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sisterhood!!

[Loki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting historical tidbits.

[Carli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Witchcraft In England and found it quite informative. I appreciated her documented accounted of multiple witchcraft cases with direct quotes from those involved. I also enjoyed learning more about the common beliefs associated with witchcraft and magic in England between 1200 and 1900. I was very excited to learn the details about certain magical believes and practices such as those having to do with sympathetic magic, image-making, and the power of the breath.
The only area where this book falls seriously short is in the organization. I thought that the author bounced around from case to case a lot, often revisiting cases she's mentioned earlier in the book, but under a slightly new context according to what the chapter was concerned with. Sometimes she would reference a case and I had a hard time seeing how it was relevant to title of the chapter. I believe she needed more warrants/bridges in her work.
All in in all Witchcraft In England is a good book to read and is very informative, though the organization leaves something to be desired.

[Aleina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was extremely interesting especially in the time and occasion it was found. My dad found it out in the shed when I was doing some recent studies on witchcraft and so I was quite taken into reading it. The book itself is very informative and the old look it has drew me to it even more. If you can find it, I may consider you to read it if you've been curious, interested in or may want to know a few more facts about this witch-craft.

[James Rhodes · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of excellent stories about witchcraft in this collection but the majority of them defer to The Discoverie of Witches as a source with little to no historical investigation to accompany them. There is no underlying thesis that Hole is attempting to convince the reader of and structure is rambling at best.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's odd to put a book on witchcraft in non-fiction, but it's really a history of the belief in witches and magic and a history of the persecution of witches in England. The book is well-written and interesting, although the author occasionally sounds like she believes in what she's talking about.

[Atzin]

An interesting read I picked out from the CG Jung Institute library in Los Angeles. I found the part with Familiars to be of much interest but overall the books editing and order felt scattered about and half-assed.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Quick and interesting read, but old and likely outdated. I wouldn't put it on a "must read" list, but wouldn't encourage against reading it if one happened to come across it, either.