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Catherine Parson's account of Mother Redcap of Horseheath


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Catherine Parsons' account of Mother Redcap (although she doesn't use the name, that is who she is referring to) is often quoted but the full talk she gave in 1915 is still worth reading. We know from Enid Porter that Mother Redcap died in 1926. Parson's implies here that she had gone to the Linton workhouse shortly before the talk was given. Mother Redcap inherited her status as village witch from her sister who Parson's identifies only as "D". This may make it easier to identitfy the lady.

 

Parson's account tells also of social witches, what Hutton for example claimed not to exist in England. And she makes it clear that toad bone magic was known in Horseheath. 

 

There is an archived thread on this Forum on Mother Redcap back from 2009. But her is the link to the 1915 Parsons' article from 1915. The good bit starts on page 31.

http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-1895-1/dissemination/pdf/PCAS/1915_LXVII-XIX/PCAS_LXVII-XIX_1915_000-106_ALL-reduced.pdf

 

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Interesting links to read through! +1

 

On page 42, the reference to the lore of witches saying the lord's prayer backwards caught my attention. I hadn't seen that written anywhere else that I can recall, prior to the Mastering Witchcraft book by Paul Huson (and, of course, folks referencing it here in forums). To see it in print from as early as 1915 is interesting.

 

I'll enjoy reading through the rest, I'm sure.

Edited by Anara
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