Deborah Lea

In the study of witchcraft and magic it is tempting to get caught up in the glamour of witches. Such fascination is perfectly comprehensible given the mass trials, maleficent magic, sabbaths, murder (alleged), possession and even the occasional witch–finder. The allure witches and the epidemic trials have held for historians has not been unrewarding; evolution of elite and popular beliefs, perceptions of gender, legal practices, religious conflict, medicine, literature, theatre, politics (communal, local and national), insight into these issues and a whole host more can be provided through analysis of witchcraft, magic and their context. Yet, underneath the exceptional trials was a continuous undercurrent of belief and accusation, which given study provides an even more revealing window into the early modern community's relationship with the magical.

While lacking the lurid and fantastical details that are commonly associated with endemic witch trials, more 'mundane' accusations provide fascinating glimpses into the on-goings of communities. Each episode informs us about numerous aspects of early modern life. In the case of the series of libel accusations presented before the ecclesiastical courts of Chester in the seventeenth century they proved that women too could be actively and vigorously involved in levelling accusations against each other. Moreover, they also illustrated a definite association between allegations of witchcraft and sexual impropriety

There are numerous accounts of witchcraft in Lancashire, from early-modern pamphlets designed as moralistic tales, seventeenth-century theatrical adaptations, eighteenth-century pantomimes to nineteenth-century gothic novels. While the production of earlier works could be explained by their association with concurrent trials or dispossessions, the same is not always true for later works. Yet, these additional adaptations have not benefited from the same degree of attention as Potts' pamphlet. A collective examination of these works illustrated the continued fascination with the figure of the witch and its transformation from the signifier of negative values during the early-modern era to a comic caricature. Yet throughout this evolution the witch character maintained her capability for providing social, political and religous commentary.