Happy Halloween! I thought it might be fun to include a short bonus episode in celebration of the spooky holiday! For this bonus episode, I read a portion of Lynn J. Buonviri’s book which describes the 15 criteria that were used in the investigation of witchcraft in the 17th century.
While doing research for episode 2 about the Old Jail Museum, I bought the book “Moll Dyer and Other Witch Tales of Southern Maryland”, written by Lynn J. Buonviri. In it, she describes a set of recommendations for criteria to be considered when officials were deciding whether or not to pursue an investigation for a witchcraft prosecution. These recommendations were used as a guide in Maryland during witch trials, and they originally came from the book “Country Justice”, written by Michael Dalton in the 17th century. Though now they seem absolutely ridiculous, they tragically brought the prosecution and death to many women who were charged with witchcraft.
“Court Justice” by Michael Dalton, 17th century
Criteria to be considered when prosecuting a potential witch
The rock where Moll Dyer was found frozen upon, Southern Maryland’s most infamous “witch”. Touching the stone is said to curse you for life: Beware!
Episode Links:
Wikipedia article about "Country Justice": https://lawlibrary.wm.edu/wythepedia/index.php/Countrey_Justice
Link to the scanned original "Country Justice" done by Google, from Ohio State University: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/osu.32437121567206