Fairy wells, by Victor Coysh
From his Random Notes. La Fontaine des Faies and Le Gibet des Faies.
Witchcraft & Folklore
Pouliche and paen-paen
A translation of the entry for 'pouliche' in George Metivier's Norman-French Dictionary, from the Guernsey Magazine, January 1884; and another little rhyme.
La Magie naturelle: Grimoires
Grimoires are books of household magic. Two in particular, Le Grand Albert and Le Petit Albert, were enormously popular in France throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. A curious mixture of esoteric science and totally impractical superstition, they were for some time tolerated by the Church, with whose teachings they sat uneasily, but were prized by the ordinary people who tried valiantly to reconcile their belief in Christianity with their fear, or hope, that 'natural' magic might just have the power to overcome nature itself.
The witch and the raven: The life of Helier Fautrart, by John Quick, ed. E.P. Le Feuvre
Icones Sacrae Gallicanae et Anglicanae was compiled by John Quick, a Presbyterian clergyman who was born in Plymouth in 1636. Helier Fautrart's life as Rector of St Peter Port Church is one of the biographies of fifty 'French divines' he gathered together in his first work; he followed this with twenty English ministers. He has, however, conflated the life of Helier, who ministered in Jersey, with that of his son, Daniel, who became minister of the Town Church in Guernsey in 1633. This volume includes a fascinating witchy tale.
New books 2009
Biberach, Guernsey Business Law, Witchcraft, Guernsey Merchants
New Year in Guernsey
Once upon a time Guernsey's biggest party day.