Witchcraft and the Walking Toad! January 21, 2015
Author: Beach Combing | in : Modern , trackback
If you want to know what beliefs were really held out in the wilder parts of the English countryside in the nineteenth century there are two important sources: folklore collections and, more to Beach’s taste, legal proceedings. Every so often a member of the British rural classes with conservative inclinations and beliefs, which would have shamed many of his or her contemporaries back into the Middle Ages, appears in the dock and defends extreme actions through obvious sincere beliefs in witchcraft and kindred superstitions. We are here at East Dereham in Norfolk, April 1879. The offence was that William Bulwer had hit and assaulted Christiana Martins daughter of Mrs Martins. But what soon emerges is his belief that the Martins family were all witches. Enjoy the clerk trying to prevent the flow of obscenities.
The following case of alleged witchcraft has recently been heard at the East Derham petty session: William Bulwer, Etling Green, was charged with assaulting Christiana Martins, a young girl, who resides near tha Etling Green toll bar. Complainant deposed that she was 18 years age, and on Wedneaday, the 2nd mat., the defendant cams to and abused her. The complainant, who looked scarce more than a child repeated, despite the efforts of the magistrates’ clerk to stop her, and without being in the least abashed, some of the worst language that it was possible to conceive—conversation of the most gross description, alleged to hava taken place between herself and the defendant. They appeared to have got from words to blows, and, while trying to fasten the gate, the defendant hit her across the hand with a stick.
William though had his reasons though. Beach has never come across this strange toad belief: can anyone help me track it down, drbeachcombing AT yahoo DOT com For frog witch beliefs follow the link.
Mrs Martins [mother of C] is an old witch, gentlemen, that is what she is, and she charmed me, and I get no sleep for her for three nights, and one night, at half-past eleven o’clock, I got up because I could not sleep, and went out and found a ‘walking toad’ under a clod that had been dug up with three-pronged fork. That is why could not rest; she is a bad old woman; she put this toad under there to charm me, and her daughter is just as bad, gentleman. She would bewitch anyone; she charmed me, and I got no rest day nor night for her, till I found this ‘walking toad’(laughter) under the turf. She dug hole and put there to charm me, gentleman, that is the truth; she is a bad old witch. I got the toad out, and put it in cloth, and took it upstairs and showed it my mother and ‘throwed’ it into the pit in the garden. I can bring it and show it to you, gentlemen.’
Those inserted ‘laughters’ are always a problem. When ‘Hodge’ hears laughter in court, he is in serious trouble.
Mr Hyde (laughing): What do you say, she bewitched you?
Defendant: Yes, sir. She went round this here ‘walking toad’ after she had buried it; and I could not rest by day sleep by night till I found it. She is a bad old witch, and is not going to come it over me though. Her daughter is as bad she is, and encourages her in it.
There follows a nice Victorian non-sequitur, but note that William cannot stay away from the witching. Note too that fascinating ‘she is not fit to live’: the defendant is still living in the burning years!
The bench: Do you go to church?
Defendant: Sometimes I goes to church, and sometimes I goes to chapel, and sometimes I don’t nowhere. Her mother is bad enough to do anything; and to go and put the ‘walking toad’ in the hole like that, for man which never did nothing to her, she is not fit to live, gentlemen; and to do such a thing, it is not as if I had done anything to her. She looks at lots of people, and I know she will do some one harm. (Laughter.)
The Chairman: Do you know this man. Superintendent Symonds? Is he sane? (Laughter.)
Superintendent Symonds: Yes, sir, perfectly. (Laughter.)
Defendant: It is quite true, gentlemen. I showed the toad to my mother, and can bring for you to see.
Of course, in these unenlightened times the offer was gently refused and poor William was fined 1 shilling and 12 shillings six pence costs. Presumably the Martins went cackling back to their coven.
21 Jan 2014: Our friends at Obscuragator write: ‘”Walking Toad” is a nickname for the natterjack toad, epidalea calamita. The only account I could find of a witch trial where the alleged witch was accused of using a toad (or in this case toads) to keep a person from sleeping was Oliffe Bartham of Shadbrook in 1599. From the Wikipedia entry for the Bury St. Edmunds witch trials, there is this: “Oliffe Bartham of Shadbrook was executed,[7] for “sending three toads to destroy the rest (sleep[8]) of Joan Jordan”.[6]” I came across a few witchcraft forum posts that make mention of the story Mrs. Martin and an article about the incident was (apparently) printed in Reynolds’s Newspaper (London, England), Sunday, April 13, 1879; Issue 1496. Also, more than one poster made mention of the “Toad Bone ritual.”’ Beach has some problems with this as the two rituals seems very different but the toad bone ritual (with pictures!) has been covered in a previous post. Huge thanks to Obscuragator!!
25 2015 Jan Bob S: ‘Being keen on strange stories to do with toads and frogs, I was interested in your posting regarding the folklore beliefs regarding toads and witchcraft appearing through the court case in Norfolk. I suspected that the term “walking toad” referred to the natterjack toad, sometimes known as the “running toad”. This view was confirmed in a webpage titled American Folkloric witchcraft which is relevant both to this, and to your previous posting regarding toads and horse-whispering, which provides other accounts of the toad bone and its use. This site states that a “walking toad” is the natterjack toad, although the description given of a toad with a yellow band round the neck doesn’t quite fit- the yellow line is down the back. http://afwcraft.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/toad-bone-amulet.html. From this webpage I found a link to the following detailed historical and folklore treatment of the toad bone amulet, with a great bibliography: http://web.archive.org/web/20041015023500/http://www.the-cauldron.fsnet.co.uk/toad.htm. The following relevant passage appears: “The commonplace association in East Anglia between the toad-bone ritual and the possession of witchcraft power is indicated by the fact that the very word for ‘bewitchment’ or the practise of enchantment in Norfolk was ‘tudding’; lit. ‘toading’ (Porter, [Cambridgeshire Customs and Folklore]1969, pp.50-51). In the Folklore Record (II.pp.207-9) of 1879, it is interesting to note that a man charged with assault, excused himself by declaring that the woman assaulted was a witch who had bespelled him by means of a ‘walking toad’ (Kittredge, [Witchcraft in Old and New England] 1929). A ‘walking toad’ is a Natterjack, the type of batrachia most commonly recommended for the bone ritual in the East Anglian accounts (see Evans, 1960, 1962).” Walter Rye in his “Index Rerum of Norfolk Antiquities” (1899) p.82 gives the following references to “Walking Toad” superstitions which would be interesting to follow up : East Anglian i:310, 364 ; East Anglian iv: 191, . http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000508/18920611/107/0004 http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000444/18901104/033/0002 I have just found those East Anglian references here- they don’t add much! http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0002036234;view=1up;seq=322 http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.a0002036234;view=1up;seq=376 Also I came across an account of the incident in East Dereham involving the Walking Toad, written by Augustus Jessopp in a magazine in Nov 1882 and
appearing in a later book of his writings. The author, a clergyman in Norfolk/ Suffolk (which he refers to as Arcadia) disguises the names of the characters involved, and the place name, but provides extra details which, if not just the workings of his literary imagination, add something to the account as reported from the court case. The chapter in the book is worth reading for its references to other local folklore too. (See details of sources, and text on the attached word document) The case is mentioned in passing in a newspaper cutting (sheffield) on surviving superstition which you may find interesting. The cases mentioned may all be known to you already, or may lead to interesting blog-fodder!
25 Jan 2015: Liz writes in: ‘Regarding toads and their use in witchcraft, I vaguely remember reading that a witch was accused of hitching a toad to a miniature plough to blast the crops of a farmer who had incurred his wrath. I have a feeling that it was the man murdered in the UK just after the war and was found on a hill with slashes on his face, presumably in a ‘cutting above the breath’ act.’
28 Feb 2015: Bob wrote back with some more stuff: Sorry Bob that this comes up so late. ‘You noted in your original post you’d be interested to know more of the beliefs behind the incident of the walking toad being buried. Quite rightly, this appears to be different to the toad bone ritual, which also involves burying a toad (but in an anthill, in order to get the bones of the toad). Christina Hole in her “Witchcraft in England” (1945) has the East Dereham case (page15), citing the Leigh Chronicle of 17th April 1878. She writes: “In 1879 William Butler of Etling Green was charged at East Dereham Petty Sessions with striking and abusing Christiana Martins, a girl of eighteen. His defence was that she and her mother were both witches and had prevented him from sleeping by burying a “walking toad” near his house. This was an ancient and well-known form of magic, and a charm to secure command over a fellow-creature by destroying such a toad and using its bones is still known in Norfolk” The last sentence seems to hint at a recognised toad ritual or spell, differing from the toad-bone one, but I could find no explicit reference to it, apart from one modern reference: In “Charms Spells and Curses” an e-book by Victor J. Banis (2012), p.58
we find: “If a walking toad be buried in the name of a certain person, and the one casting the spell circle around it, the one whose name was pronounced will not rest by day or night until he find it and burn it.” I am unsure if this come from an old source, or has just been suggested by the Etling Green case itself. In my researches into the “entombed toad” phenomenon some years back, I collected a number of references to toads being buried enclosed in flowerpots and other sealed containers by those experimenting or just curious about the toad’s alleged long vitality- but that is another story! However, I certainly remember finding some references to a tradition of toads being buried in earthenware pots, in the context of a fertility ritual. I will look to see if I can find these notes….’ We can hope!
