Witches in British folklore were often accompanied by a familiar, a spirit (usually in the form of an animal) that could perform mischief on their behalf. Let's take a look at some examples, such as...
- Elizabeth Clarke's Menagerie
- Tom, the Canine Familiar of Elizabeth Sawyer
- The Pinching Toads of Joan Upney
- Gille, Bunne, Philip and More, the Familiars of the Windsor Witches
- Tibb, Fancie, Dandy and Ball, the Familiars of the Pendle Witches
- Sathan, the Traded Familiar of Elizabeth Francis and Agnes Waterhouse
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| Would you trust it? (Hannah Troupe) |
Elizabeth Clarke's Menagerie
In or around 1645, John Rivet accused Elizabeth Clarke of being a witch - which we know thanks to a pamphlet recording the work of "witchfinder general" Mathew Hopkins. Rivet had concluded that his wife had been cursed by Clarke, so Hopkins and his assistants "watched" her for signs of witchcraft.
We don't know the circumstances of her confession, but Clarke eventually admitted to practicing magic and having a whole menagerie of familiars (some of which were handed down to her by Anne West, her mentor in witchcraft) including...
- Jarmara, a pudgy white dog with sandy spots
- Vinegar Tom, a long-legged greyhound (later depicted with a horned bovine head and able to transform into a headless human child)
- Sacke and Sugar, a vicious creature (later shown as a large black rabbit) that Clarke warned would attack her watcher - and if able to reach his face, would fill his belly with toads
- Hoult, a white cat or "kitling"
- Other imps including a large black cat-like creature and a polecat (later identified as "Newes") with an overlarge head
- An illustration published by Hopkins also names Pyewackett, Elemauzar, Pecke-in-the-Crowne and Griezzell Greedigutt. It's possible that Hopkins added some of these details at a later date, and given the... erratic nature of Old English writing, it's hard to be sure of the exact names!
These imps would "suck" on Clarke, a reference to the familiars of witches being nurtured by their master's blood. In return, her familiars were said to find food for her and work mischief (such as killing livestock or children) on her behalf - one was even tasked with finding her a husband!
Hopkins himself claims to have been attacked by Clarke's familiars. He relates a tale in which, while walking back to his house at night, his greyhound suddenly gives chase to a mysterious kitten-sized white creature... only to return cowering and wounded to Hopkins. He also claimed to have encountered an enormous (three times the normal size) cat-proportioned creature hiding in his strawberry bed that night - when pursued, it opened a gate and escaped. Hopkins would later upgrade this encounter from a fleeing large cat to "the Devill like a Beare to kill him in his garden."
Hopkins himself claims to have been attacked by Clarke's familiars. He relates a tale in which, while walking back to his house at night, his greyhound suddenly gives chase to a mysterious kitten-sized white creature... only to return cowering and wounded to Hopkins. He also claimed to have encountered an enormous (three times the normal size) cat-proportioned creature hiding in his strawberry bed that night - when pursued, it opened a gate and escaped. Hopkins would later upgrade this encounter from a fleeing large cat to "the Devill like a Beare to kill him in his garden."
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| All normal... (Yuki Dog) |
Sometimes called "The Witch of Edmonton" thanks to a sensationalized recounting of her trial in 1621, Elizabeth Sawyer was said to have a canine familiar named Tom.
Tom was said to take the form of a large black or small white dog - and like a few other entries on this list, seems to have had a hunger for its mistress's blood. Apparently the creature would drink for around quarter of an hour, but not cause her any pain.
Sawyer was also accused of keeping white ferrets as familiars... though she claimed these were purely mundane animals.
The Pinching Toads of Joan Upney
The 1589 confession of Joan Upney is particularly strange, since it featured a collection of deadly pinching toads.Joan claimed to have been granted both mole and toad familiars, but the moles proved somewhat ineffective - at least one simply wasted away.
The toads proved far more useful. Apparently Joan was able to set them on her enemies, whereupon they would "pinch" their target and suck the life right out of them. The toads didn't return from these assassination missions, but Upney made sure to keep a supply of the deadly amphibians on hand.
Upney's attempts to get her daughters into the world of amphibian assassination met with mixed success. The older daughter refused to have anything to do with the pinching creatures, while the younger seemed to have a knack for toad wrangling!
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| Toads are a classic familiar, vampire toads less so... (Li Lin) |
Gille, Bunne, Philip and More, the Familiars of the Windsor Witches
During the 1579 trial of the Windsor witches, the elicited confessions suggested the accused had a gaggle of familiars between them.
- Mother Dutten kept a "Spirite or Feende in the likenesse of a Toade" that she kept in amongst the herbs of her garden and fed with blood from her ankle
- Mother Deuell had Gille, a black cat fed with a mixture of milk and her blood
- Mother Margaret had a kitten named Ginnie, fed on breadcrumbs and her blood (spot the theme yet?)
- Elizabeth Stile had a rat named Philip (also fed on her blood) and claimed to have a black cat named Bunne, which attempted to persuade its mistress to escape rather than meekly submitting to trial
The familiars would be sent out to do mischief to those who had offended their owners, in exchange for... a drop of blood. Curiously, the rat Philip was said to have brought Stile milk and cream on one occasion when she was unable to get it by begging!
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| Using the dark powers to get groceries seems... odd. (Joshua J. Cotten) |
Tibb, Fancie, Dandy and Ball, the Familiars of the Pendle WitchesThe "Discovery of Witches" by Thomas Potts covered the 1612 witch trials of Lancashire - and it too featured a cast of familiars.
Alizon Device made a deal with a black dog-like spirit on the advice of her grandmother, Elizabeth Sothernes (or Demdike.) The dog sucked on her torso, leaving a blue mark that didn't fade for half a year. Device would later get into an argument with a peddler named John Law... after which the dog reappeared and asked if she would like him lamed. Device assented, and John Law was found collapsed and lamed (possibly due to a stroke) shortly afterwards.
Elizabeth Sothernes herself claimed to have been approached by a devil in the shape of a boy, wearing a coat that was half black and half brown. The entity named itself Tibb, and promised Sothernes anything she wished in exchange for her soul. Tibb would later appear as a brown dog and drink blood from under her left arm. Tibb later offered revenge on one who had offended her - and Sothernes accepted.
Anne Whittle also claimed to have been introduced to witchcraft by Sothernes, obtaining a familiar by the name of Fancie. She claimed that on one occasion, Fancie and Tibb had provided herself and Sotherne with a banquet - and provided them light without the aid of a fire or candle. At one point she sent Fancie (who could take the form of a man, dog or bear) to kill Robert Nutter, a man who had attempted to seduce her daughter.
Another familiar from the trial was Ball, a spirit who took the shape of a brown dog. Ball taught Elizabeth Device a ritual using a poppet (basically a voodoo doll) to kill John Robinson, a man who had insulted her for having a child out of wedlock. There was also Dandy, a black dog that showed James Device a similar spell and killed on his behalf.
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| All that effort and you're traded for a cake... (Kim Streicher) |
Sathan, the Traded Familiar of Elizabeth Francis and Agnes Waterhouse
Probably the least subtly named familiar on this list was Sathan (an old spelling of Satan) a companion of both Elizabeth Francis and Agnes Waterhouse.
Francis eventually married another man, but became disillusioned with her new life - she had Sathan lame her husband (by sitting like a toad in his shoe) and kill their daughter. Despite performing all these services for bread, milk and a little bit of its mistress's blood, Francis would eventually trade Sathan to Agnes Waterhouse in exchange for a cake!
Sathan performed similar dirty deeds for Waterhouse and even transformed into a toad so that she could sell the wool it normally bedded down on - it's hard to imagine that kind of loyalty in a normal cat!
Thanks for reading - for more magical marvels, try...