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- James Murrell (c. 1785 – 16 December 1860), also known as Cunning Murrell, was an English cunning man, or professional folk magician, who spent most of his life in the town of Hadleigh in the eastern English county of Essex. In this capacity, he reportedly employed magical means to aid in healing both humans and animals, exorcising malevolent spirits, countering witches, and restoring lost or stolen property to its owner. Born in Rochford, Essex, Murrell grew up in the area before moving to Southwark in London, where he was married in 1812. He had seventeen children with his wife, and the family later moved back to Essex, settling in Hadleigh, where Murrell gained work as a shoemaker. At some point he also began working as a cunning man, gaining fame for his work in this field on both sides of the Thames Estuary. Describing himself as "the Devil's Master", he cultivated an air of mystery about himself, also experimenting with the creation of iron witch bottles. On a number of occasions his magical activities gained the attention of the local press. Although many residents valued his services and viewed him as a good and benevolent individual, his activities proved controversial and divisive. Many educated figures criticised what they saw as his role in encouraging superstition among the local population; his death certificate recorded his profession as that of a "quack doctor". Murrell's fame greatly increased after his death when he was made the subject, albeit in a highly fictionalised form, of a 1900 novel by Arthur Morrison. Morrison also produced a more objective study of the cunning man, published in The Strand magazine. During the 1950s, the folklorist Eric Maple conducted further research on Murrell, finding much local folklore still surrounding him in the Hadleigh area, including the allegation that he had the ability to fly and to instantaneously transport himself vast distances. Murrell has continued to attract the attention of historians and folklorists studying English folk magic, and is referenced in works by scholars like Ronald Hutton, Owen Davies, and Ralph Merrifield. (en)
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- Maple (en)
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- Hutton (en)
- Adshead (en)
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- Maple (en)
- Davies (en)
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- Merrifield (en)
- Wallworth (en)
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- Davies (en)
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- Rochford, Essex, England (en)
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- Hadleigh, Essex, England (en)
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- Reproductions of pages from Murrell's books of magic; the left page depicts sigils and pentacles, the right depicts a horoscope. (en)
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- Murrell's Magic Book.png (en)
- Murrell's Manuscript.png (en)
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- Cunning man, shoemaker (en)
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- Edward Murrell, Hannah Murrell (en)
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- "Superstition it seems, is as powerful now as when ghosts walked the earth, and witches were weighed against the Church Bible. We are, says a correspondent, quite equal to the people in the days of old; for we have our magicians, necromancers, and such like, to bring the hidden things to light. There is an old man named Murrells, a sort of quack doctor and herbalist living at Hadleigh, who has been practicing the magician for years, and in some cases successfully; and many persons are in the habit of going to him for advice and assistance[...] Of course the little old man in knee breeches and gaiters, and an old coat, is looked upon in the neighbourhood as more potent than a whole troop of policemen." (en)
- "A young woman found an old gypsy hiding in a barn and ordered her out. She was a witch, and she cursed the girl who presently began to scream like a cat and bark like a dog. Murrell was called in. He placed in the fire a bottle containing hair and nail-clippings from the victim. He told everyone to keep absolutely silent while they awaited the arrival of the witch. Presently there came a hammering on the door, and a woman's voice begged him to stop 'the test', as the fire was causing her agony. The bottle burst. On the following morning, an old woman was found burned to death outside the Woodcutters' Arms, three miles away. It was the gypsy. The girl recovered." (en)
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- — Chelmsford Chronicle, 1857. (en)
- — Account recorded from Mrs Watson, whose grandmother was a neighbour of Murrell's, by Maple. (en)
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- James Murrell (c. 1785 – 16 December 1860), also known as Cunning Murrell, was an English cunning man, or professional folk magician, who spent most of his life in the town of Hadleigh in the eastern English county of Essex. In this capacity, he reportedly employed magical means to aid in healing both humans and animals, exorcising malevolent spirits, countering witches, and restoring lost or stolen property to its owner. (en)
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