Writers on the Covens in Maryland

Margaret Murray, in her book “The God of Witches” (Faber, London, 1952), reproduces the image of a witches dance taken from an old ballad called ‘blackletter’ on “Robin Goodfellow”. We see covens in maryland dancing in a circle, alternating man and woman. Outside the circle of dancers, a twelfth wizard plays a musical instrument, presumably a recorder. The thirteenth character is Robin Goodfellow, dancing in the circle, with horns and hooves, and carrying a lighted candle and a broom. Either he is the ancient God himself or his first representative in ritual disguise. There is another version of this image that shows six men and six women in a circle, plus the character of Robin Goodfellow and the musician outside the circle. The existence of these two versions is curious and it may have some importance.

One of the first witchcraft trials in the British Isles, the full details of which have come down to us, is that of Dame Alice Kyteler of Kilkenny, in 1324. The names of the accused are recorded, numbering twelve in total. The thirteenth was that of Robin Artisson, the “Devil” of the coven, who escaped.

Joseph Glanvill described, in his “Saducismus Triumphatus”, published in 1681, two covens of 13 people. Glanvill, who was chaplain to King Charles II, lamented the growing skepticism of his day or ‘Sadducism’ as he called it. He wrote his book to fight it. He relates there a number of interesting tales to prove the reality of witchcraft and the supernatural. Among these tales is the story of the Somerset witches who were tried in 1664. These two covens consisted of 13 people each, one was in Wincanton and the other in Brewham. They were ruled by a mysterious “man in black” whose identity has never been revealed. Once again, this is a case where the actual names of the two covens have been kept on legal records.

In 1662, the Scottish witch, Isobel Gowdie of Auldearne, surrendered herself to the authorities and made the longest and most detailed confession that has come down to us in a witch trial. in Great Britain. During it, she said that witches were organized in a coven and that each coven was made up of thirteen people.

Dr Rossell Hope Robbins, in The encyclopedia of witchcraft and demonology (Crown Publishers Inc, New York, 1959), rejects the idea of ​​the real existence of wizarding covens and asserts that the word “coven” appeared for the first time. in 1662, following the confession of Isobel Gowdie, which he referred to as “the ramblings of an old woman”. But according to Christina Hole, in her book Witchcraft in England (Batsford, London, 1945 and Collier Macmillan, New York 1966), Isobel Gowdie was “a pretty young woman with red hair, the wife of a farmer” and her name is remained in the memory of the people of Morayshire. She was hanged in Westport in Elgin County and her body was burnt to ashes, for it is only in this way that a witch’s power can be totally banished.

Chaucer uses the word “coven” in his Canterbury Tales to refer to an assembly of thirteen people. It is in fact a variation of the word “convent”, which continues to this day in London under the name of Covent Garden. The Latinized spelling of “covent” was introduced around 1550 and gradually replaced the old form. A poem from the beginning of the 14th century, titled Handlyng Synne, tells of a “coveyne” of thirteen people who performed ungodly dances in a church cemetery while the priest was saying Mass and who were duly punished for their manners. sinners.

Obviously, the “covent” or “coveyne” or even “coven” (there are several spelling variations) was a group of thirteen people. They could be Christian, as in the book of the Ecclesiastical Memorials (quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1933), written in 1536, and which speaks of houses of religion "the number of which in one of these houses is, or recently was, lower than that of a covent, that is to say less than thirteen people ”. But the evil people of the “coveyne” who danced in the churchyard were certainly not religious people.

Meaning For the Word Coven

Eventually, the word “coven” was only used to designate exclusively a cult group of witches and this is how it has come down to us.

Heraldic traditions give substance to many symbolisms and curious knowledge, some of which allude to the occult. It should be noted that the College of Heralds is made up of thirteen people:

• three kings of arms, called Garter, Clarencieux, and Norroy;
• six heralds, Somerset, Richmond, Lancaster, Windsor, Chester and York;
• and four Chasers, called Rouge Dragon, Blue Mantle, Portcullis and Rouge Croix.