Witchcraft, magic and culture, 1736-1951 / Owen Davies.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davies, Owen, 1969-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Magic--Great Britain.

Magic.

Witchcraft--Great Britain--History.

Witchcraft.

History.

Great Britain.

Physical Description:

xii, 337 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, 1999.

Summary:

Most Studies of witchcraft and magic have been concerned with the era of the witch-trials, a period that officially came to an end in Britain with the passing of the Witchcraft Act of 1736. However, the fear of witches remained prevalent, and the resort to magic and magical practitioners persisted long after this law was passed. Suspected witches continued to appear in British courts up until the early twentieth century, though by then it was their persecutors who were being punished.

For the first time, this book traces the history of witchcraft and magic from 1736 to the year 1951, when the passing of the Fraudulent Mediums Act finally erased the concept of witchcraft from the statute books. The reader will discover the extent to which witchcraft, magic and fortune-telling influenced the thoughts and actions of the people of England and Wales in a period when the forces of 'progress' are often thought to have vanquished such beliefs.

Contents:

1 Educated Attitudes Towards the Popular Belief in Witchcraft and Magic 1

The denial of witchcraft and the defence of property 2

Witchcraft: an anachronism in the 'Age of Enlightenment' 7

Continuing religious interest in witchcraft 11

Possession, religion and spiritualism 18

Witchcraft and insanity 39

Reforming the popular mind 44

The legal debate over the Witchcraft and Vagrancy Acts 61

2 Witchcraft and Popular Justice 79

The decline of witchcraft prosecutions 79

Authority's role in the persecution and prosecution of witches 83

Swimming: the popular adoption of a continental practice 86

The continued resort to figures of authority and their response 100

Witch-mobbing as an act of folk justice 106

Witch-mobbing, the parish constable and the coming of the new police 109

3 Witchcraft, Magic and Popular Literature 120

Literacy and literature 121

Broadsides 124

Chapbooks 130

Prophecy 142

The witch and the Devil 147

Almanacs 153

Anti-superstition literature 157

4 The Witch 167

Witches, folklore and belief 168

Characteristics of the archetypal witch 174

Fairies, flying and shape-shifting 184

The witch in court 193

Origins of accusations 201

Bewitchment and social space 207

5 Occult Practitioners 214

Cunning-folk 214

Astrologers 229

Astrologers of London 236

Fortune-tellers 246

The reinvention of fortune-telling 250

Gypsies 258

Fortune-telling and the First World War 266

6 Declining Belief in Witchcraft 271

Measuring declining belief 272

Cultural change and the retiring witch 278.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0719056551

071905656X

OCLC:

41338629