From A History of the County of
Durham, Volume 3 (1928):-
Its near neighbourhood to the port of Hartlepool produced in Hart an
unenviable number of witches and women of immoral life. In 1454, ‘Helena de Inferno, alias morans in
inferno, alias Meldrome,’ seems to have been as bad as her name implied. On 28 July 1582 , Alison Lawe of Hart was
prosecuted for being ‘a notorious sorcerer and enchanter.’ Two women of the neighbourhood had consulted
her and asked her for cures for the sick. Fortunately this was before the outbreak of
the witch superstition in the 17th century, and Alison was condemned
only to stand with a paper on her head once in Durham market, once in Hart Church and once in Norton Church.
She was peacefully buried at Hart six
years later on 5 August 1588 . In 1596, Ellen Thompson ‘fornicatrix and
excommunicated’ ‘was buried of ye people in ye chaer at ye entrance unto ye
yeate or stile of ye church-yard on ye East thereof.’ On 12 February
1641 , Old Mother Midnight of Elwick was buried, but
it does not appear how she earned her name.
It is believed
that the three latter, ‘confirmed’ witches are buried over the sty from Hart Cemetery so
that locals could regularly walk over their graves in unconsecrated ground on
their way to and from church. This would
ensure that they would be kept well-and-truly trodden underfoot.
No comments:
Post a Comment