#old mariann Voaden

[lailoken]

“Old Mariann Voaden:

Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould knew and wrote of his experiences of a remarkable witch named Mariann Voaden. She is described as having been a ‘picturesque objecť’ with dark, piercing eyes, and skin the colour of mahogany from dirt. The colour red, worn as a scarf or shawl, comes up again and again as a traditional sign of a witch in West Country lore, and it is interesting therefor that Mariann was noted for wearing a red kerchief about her head or neck, as well as an old petticoat of scarlet. From Baring-Gould's account, it is very clear that Mariann was very much a white witch, or 'blessing witch’, and a ‘God-fearing soul’, however, she still took full advantage of the old fears folk held about all witches; even those who specialised in magic of the helpful and curative variety. She expected to receive gifts of food from local farms and households, and would at times encourage such placating offerings. For example, if she spotted a child passing her old cob and thatch cottage, she would emerge, fix the and say ‘My dear, I knawed a child jist like you same age, red rosy cheeks, and curlin' black hair. And that child shrivelled up, shrumped like an apple as is picked in the third quarter of the moon. The cheeks grew white, the hair went out of curl, and she jist died right on end and away.’ Of course, a good gift of food, such as a chicken, or a basket of shortly be left outside Mariann's cottage by the child's mother.

She did however at times try, in her own unique way, to show her gratitude for the gifts people brought for her, such as the parish rector's daughter who would occasionally bring her food. Mariann made for her a present out of fine lace, and gave it to the young lady on her next visit. However, as she departed with her gratefully accepted gift, Marian called after her ‘Come back, my dear, I want that lace again. If anyone else be so gude as to give me aught, I shall want it to make an acknowledgment of the kindness.’ Indeed, Mariann's piece of fine lace work was often given in thanks for some kindness, and then immediately reclaimed.

Mariann seems also to have cultivated her notoriety further by deliberately allowing her once fine old cottage to fall into an entirely dilapidated state; to the extent that people wondered how an old woman could possibly survive in what remained of it winter after winter.

When the thatch began to wear thin and develop holes that let in the rain, farmers offered her straw for the repairs, which a thatcher would have willingly undertaken for free, but she refused, saying ‘God made the sky, and that is the best roof of all.’ To keep her head dry as the rains poor child to the spot with a dark gaze eggs, would poured in through her deteriorating roof, Mariann sealed up her chimney by stuffing it with a sack filled with chaff and slept with her head inside her bedroom fireplace.

Eventually, her staircase rotted from its exposure to water and collapsed; leaving Mariann having to climb a precarious makeshift ladder to access her bedroom. When the parish rector, concerned for her safety, tried to make her see the dangers of her living conditions, she said to him ‘My dear, there be two angels every night sits on the rungs of the ladder and watches there, that nobody comes nigh me, and they be ready to hold up the timbers that they don't fall on me.' The ladder however suffered the same fate as the stairs and soon collapsed from rot, forcing Marian to live in one room on the ground floor.

When inevitably the whole roof fell in, it brought down the upstairs floorboards with it, forming a 'lean to' roof under which Marian sheltered against one of the walls in her downstairs room. As the door was now blocked, Marian's only way in and out of what little remained of her cottage was a window through which she climbed.

Finally, as water inundated her tiny living space, Marian slept inside an oak chest with its lid propped up by a brick.

Baring-Gould, on a visit to Old Marian, once took his youngest daughter with him. The witch noticed the girl had 'breakings-out’ on her face and said ‘Ab, my dear, I see you want my help. You must bring the little maiden to me, she must be fasting, and then I will bless her face, and til two days she will be well.'

Like many a rural charmer, Mariann possessed the ability to stanch the flow of blood from a wound, of blood charming' as it is known, and could perform this act even at a distance from the patient. A man once wounded his leg badly when hay was being cut about eight miles from Mariann's cottage. The blood flowed from his leg 'in streams’ and a kerchief was dipped in this and given by the farmer to a man who rode vith it on horseback as fast as he could to Old Marian. As soon as she charmed the kerchief the blood in the man's wound ceased to flow.

Marian had a book of charms, which she had promised to Baring-Gould, sadly however he was never to receive it, for the remains of her cottage and her few possessions were destroyed by fire. She had been distracted one day, when the local fox hunt, from whom she always received a gift, stopped on its way past her cottage. Climbing out to see them, she left a small fire burning on her floor which caught and spread from the straw lying thereabout, leaving Old Mariann Voaden nowhere to go but the workhouse.

Whilst it is a tragedy that such a valuable artefact of 19th century rural magic; a Devonshire white witch's book of charms, was lost to us, we are indeed fortunate that the Rev. Sabine Baring-Gould was able to record at least some of Mariann's charms and recipes.

For whooping cough, Mariann would cut the hair from the cross on a donkey's back, which she would enclose within a silken bag to be tied about the afflicted child's neck. When asked about this charm Mariann explained; ‘You see, Christ Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass, and ever since then asses have the cross on their backs, and the hair of those crosses is holy and cures maladies.'

To cure fits, Mariann would have the patient swallow wood-lice, which could be pounded if preferred but, Mariann insisted, were more efficacious if swallowed 'au naturel'.

For Burns or Scalds, recite over the afflicted part: ‘There were three Angels who came from the North, One bringing Fire, the other brought Frost, The other he was the Holy Ghost. In Frost, out Fire! In the Name, etc.’

For a Sprain, recite thrice: ‘As Christ was riding over Crolly Bridge, His horse slid and sprained his leg. He alighted and spake the words: Bone to bone, and sinew to sinew! and blessed it and it became well and so shall (name of patient) become well. In the Name, etc.’

Another Receipt for a Sprain: 2 oz. of oil of turpentine. 2 oz. of swillowes. 2 og. of oil of earthworms. 2 oz. of nerve. 2 oz. of oil of spideldock [opodeldoc?]. 2 oz. of Spanish flies.

For Stanching Blood, recite thrice: ‘Jesus was born in Bethlehem, baptized in the river of Jordan. The water was wide and the river was rude against the Holy Child. And He smote it with a rod, and it stood still, and so shall your blood stand still. In the Name, etc.’

Cure for Toothache: ‘As our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ were walking in the garden of Jerusalem, Jesus said unto Peter, Why weepest thou? Peter answered and said, Lord, I be terrible tormented with the toothache. Jesus said unto Peter, If thou wilt believe in Me and My words abide in thee, thou shall never more fill the pain in thy tooth. Peter cried out with tears. Lord, I believe, help thou my onbelieve.'”

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Silent as the Trees:

Devonshire Witchcract, Folklore & Magic

by Gemma Gary