Finally, I've been after this book for years! 

I've always liked the semi anonymity that Blogger offers. Here you don't have to give your full name publicly, you can use any email address, not necessarily you primary one and you don't have to use an image of yourself. Yes, there are ways of being traced if someone really wants to (nothing on the net is truly secure!)

However I'm going to forgo all that to do a bit of advertising for my new book.

This is actually my second book but as the first was on John Dee's Enochian magic, which is a world away from folk magic, I didn't mention it.

But my new book is much closer...

The Book is entitled "RUNEN - The Wisdom of the Runes

Here's the blurb from my publisher Aeon Sophia Press.

Synopsis
What is presented here is without doubt, the most misunderstood, probably the most cynically abused set of runes in the history of runology. The Armanen runes have been ignored by scholars, abused by right wing extremists and largely forgotten by students of the occult. Nevertheless the Armanen runes are in many ways the quintessential esoteric rune row. Originally conceived of by the nineteenth century German mystic Guido von List, the Armanen runes offer us the most esoterically charged futharks ever encountered. But in order to fully understand the significance of the Armanen runes we must first examine their history, and attempt to dispel some of the myths that have grown up around them. We can then move on to examine them in detail. In doing so it is hoped that this present text will demonstrate that the Armanen runes deserve to be returned to their rightful place at the zenith of true rune magic and not left in the hands of fanatics who have no idea of their true meaning as symbols of transformation granting access into the deeper unconscious and what may lie beyond.

You can see it here

aeonsophiapress.com

A couple of images 

And a promo pic...

Incidentally my next book IS about Folk Magic, but from a slightly different 'angle'...

Sorry I've been quiet for so long, there's been a lot going on.....

Had an excellent day last Saturday (27th Feb) at the launch of Nigel Pearson's book 'The Devil's Plantation.

The day's speakers included Gemma Gary and Jane Cox of 'Troy Books' (great to finally meet them) Peter Jennings (author), Matthew 'Fox' (Pagan Federation, etc.) and Genuine 'East Anglian Cunning Man'  Michael Clark.

Also had the oppotunuity to meet writer Nigel Pennick, and reacquaint myself with the Former owner of the Witchcraft  museum, Graham King.

All in all a very good day.

Some very sad news.

from Xoanon's website

With profound sadness we announce the passing of Michael Howard, author, folklorist, publisher, witchcraft authority, and Elder of the Cultus Sabbati. He died peacefully after a short illness, in the county of Devonshire, England, with family and friends by his side. The Craft suffers a great loss at his departure.
Many know of Michael’s tireless work in publishing The Cauldron, the U.K.’s premiere journal of witchcraft, paganism, and folklore, begun in the 1970s. The publication enjoys great popularity and draws from a considerable diversity of sources and traditions. Often controversial, it has always nonetheless been substantive and original, reflecting Michael’s ability to draw together many different strands of practitioners, creating networks that endure to this day.
A member of several lodges, covines, and guilds, Michael’s magical expertise drew upon many esoteric strands, including herbalism, freemasonry, ceremonial magic, esoteric Christianity, and the folklore of his native British Isles. In particular, his understanding of Luciferian gnosis and magic was an instrumental force in shaping present-day cunning-craft. In the last two decades of his life, he devoted the entirety of his magical work to traditional craft, and was an exemplary practitioner and teacher.
The author of over 30 books, Michael published on a variety of esoteric topics over his lifetime. Perhaps his most influential books were Pillars of Tubal Cain, The Book of Fallen Angels, and Children of Cain. Some of his written ritual work, rarely published, also appeared in The Psalter of Cain, the Cultus Sabbati’s gathering of rites and charms in honour of Cain, patron of witches. Several of Michael’s unpublished texts remain in the wings for future publication through Xoanon and Three Hands Press, as was his wish.
We remember him as a man of many virtues, of great humour, insight, and courage, as well as his insistence on standing by his brethren, and defending the Craft. Above all, he exemplified the stance of Light-Bringer, and, in its function as tenebrator, the Opposer of Shadow.
In this time of mourning, we appreciate and thank our private community for all the support given to Michael and the Cultus over the years, and pledge continued honour to his memory, within the Circle and without.

New addition to my Three Hands/Xoanon collection
 (Wording borrowed from Three Hands Press page)

WITCHCRAFT AND SORCERY OF THE BALKANS by Radomir Ristic

With its geographic diversity of rocky edifices, deep river valleys and dense forests, Europe's Balkan mountain region has been characterized as a natural fortress. This natural multiformity is mirrored by an ancient admixture of magical beliefs and practices present in the region for thousands of years. Among the many specialist types of Balkan magic is Vesticarstvo, a sorcery drawing its power from Balkan folk belief, relict shamanism, and medieval heresy. This traditional magic, which has also been referred to as The Balkan Craft, is present today in many forms, and uses of thousands of charms, rites, and spells in the rural communities where it survives. A quintessential embodiment of this power is the zmajevit covek or ‘dragon-man’. Part human, part serpent, he possessed supernatural heredity and the power to curse, cure, and traffic with supernatural beings. Often incorporating the ancient powers of the pre-Roman Gods, the Queen of the Fairies, elemental spirits, and the ancestral retinue, the vital corpus of Vesticarstvo lore is a little-explored area of occult study. Drawing from both historical sources and present survivals, the present volume examines its history, beliefs, and rituals, including a complete English translation of De Intorkatura, an age-old rite of magical combat, as well as several other Balkan witchcraft rituals never before translated into English.

Some interesting reading for the coming bank holiday weekend...

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Just found an audio interview with the author of the above book, well worth a listen.
(got to say, I love his accent!)

http://deeper-down-the-rabbit-hole.com/2012/10/episode-78-radomir-ristic-discusses-balkan-witchcraft/

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This arrived today! 

Here's publisher's write up

We (Troy Books) are delighted to announce a new special limited edition of Gemma's popular book 'The Black Toad - West Country Witchcraft and Magic'.
Since the fine hand-bound edition of this book sold out, we have received many enquiries regarding copies of this edition, and so we have decided to release a special edition limited to 200 copies. The book is case bound using recycled leather fibres emulating the look and feel of golden tan Morocco leather, and foil blocked in black with black end papers and black and yellow head and tail bands. Printed on cream 80gsm paper stock with sewn binding. The book is presented in Demy format 216 x 138mm.

Don't worry about the 'recycled leather fibres' because it looks and feels like 'normal' leather.
One thing that did surprise me is that it's slightly smaller then the original black cloth edition, but still a good size. Well worth buying!

Moving on up with my work!

best header I could think of to describe going from having the Standard edition of the The Dragon Book of Essex to the Deluxe.

 

Grimorium 

Synomosia 

               Dracotaos

Excellent video for an excellent book!

O’ Milcham-i-Azh’rail! Lift Thou Thy blade to Heaven, seven times tongued with flame, there to cut open the heart of the Sun, that its lifeblood may flow into Thy mouth; thus to empower Thee as the Messenger Divine– the catalyst for the translation of the Seeker’s Mind into the Circle of the Seven Stars.

Two new mini articles shamelessly borrowed from elsewhere. 

 
Witch Blood - Genuine Hereditary Witchcraft

Some witches claim blood lineage from witches who have gone before. This is known as possessing witch blood. It is based on a very ancient notion from the book of Enoch that T'Qayin once mixed his seed with that of the daughters of Adam, producing a race of supernaturally gifted beings. These beings are sometimes referred to as The Watchers. It is said that this divine spark runs through the veins and sings from the bones of every witch. Remember that you are made of the same materials as the stars, and that magic lives within you. Even if you cannot trace your familial lineage to that of a known witch, know that through the forging of the Red Thread, the magical link that this tradition creates between you and the Mighty Dead, you share the blood of T'Qayin.

The Kuthun

Is is told that for a witch to pass from this life into the next, she must pass her power on to another. This provides incentive for teaching the Craft to others, ensuring that our ways do not die with us. The Kuthun is a tangible object that links the power of a witch to her descendant. It may be a beloved magical tool, a piece of jewelry or regalia, or a formal document of lineage.

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As with the 'Witch blood' below there are other ways that hereditary magic gets passed on.This time it's via a trade or Association - The Horseman's Word.
 
Here's a short article about the oath itself

"The Baron of Kilmarnock is proud to be a member of the Horseman's Word. He was initiated in Sandwick, Orkney, on 14th April 1983.
In June 1989 the local newspaper printed the Oath of the Horseman's Word, and the belief that a member was initiated 'a few weeks ago'.

The Horsemen originated in the north-east of Scotland before 1870. Much has been written about the growth and the following of the Horsemen with anecdotal versions of the initiation ceremony, the mysteries, the Oath, and versions of the 'Word' itself. For anyone keen to read such accounts, a short list of books is given below.

On a light-hearted note, from 'Scots Pegasus' by the Scottish dialect poet Alastair Mackie, ' . . the hert o the nut is this - naebody, dammt, kens the horseman's word'.

Contrary to what curious readers may find stated elsewhere on the internet, the Horsemen (as we call it) is still an active Society in Scotland (AND in East Anglia! - my addition). Competent authors such as Russell Lyon in Lanarkshire made the effort to check facts before writing "Small groups have survived, notably in Orkney where, I have been told, members are still initiated into the old secrets; and those societies which appear to have been incorporated into Masonic lodges still flourish". And indeed this is so.

Billy Rennie, from Stuartfield near Peterhead, was described by a Scotland on Sunday columnist in Dec. 2002 as 'the last known surviving member of the Horseman’s Word'. In Oct. 2009 the Buchan Observer had a local headline entry 'Horseman's Word expert publishes book' - none other than brother Rennie, initiated in Sept.1961. A deluxe limited edition (100) followed, bound in leather 'with an imprint from an actual horseshoe, with nail holes in genuine gold' and including an envelope containing 'a horsehair knotted in the special manner that signifies that it is your invitation to the mysteries of the Society of the Horseman's Word'.

 Yes, we have many more 'surviving members' . . . and that is from the horse's mouth!

Gentlemen, please raise your glasses for the toast:
'Here's to the horse with the four white feet,
the chestnut tail and mane;
a star on his face and a spot on his breast,
and his master's name was Cain.'

SUGGESTED READING
* The Society of the Horseman's Word, Ben Furnee, SEE. 2009
• Folklore, Myths and Legends of Britain, Reader's Digest Association Ltd., 1977.
• The Quest for the Original Horse Whisperers, Russell Lyon, Luath Press Ltd., Edinburgh, 2003.
• The Horseman's Word, Timothy Neat, Birlinn Ltd., 2002.
• The Pattern Under The Plough, George Ewart Evans, Faber & Faber, 1966.

<- I would love this edition

                 But I have this edition -->









(article from http://www.kilmarnock.com/word.html)

 

New ritual for protection from thievery added to 'Ritual' page

…on the nature of the Craft and its practitioners….

The following is quoted from M. Howard’s ‘Children of Cain’, although the actual quote itself comes from ‘Welsh Witches’, I personally think it’s good for all, not just the Welsh.

(From ‘Welsh, Witches and Warlocks’ Pugh 1987)

1) The black witches, male and female, who traded their souls in exchange for magical powers, using them for evil and cursing. Quick to take umbrage they were liberal with their use of curses

2) The white witches, who used their powers for the lifting of curses and healing. They sold love potions, foretold the future and were widely consulted by the gentry of the times as well as ordinary folk. They could, when aroused to extreme anger, curse people.

3) The third type were also practicing white witches, always male, and called a wizard or wise man. He could also cure diseases and lift curses and usually travelled through the country selling his magical powers. In addition to these three types of witches there were men who could exorcise spirits by means of the cross and the Trinity and passages from the New Testament. They were classed as wise men and conjurors, but never referred to as witches, and were many times more successful at exorcising spirits then the clergy (Pugh 1987). (there certainly were and are Wise Woman too! My great grandmother was one - and she was Welsh!)

Personally I’d like to think I fit best with type 3, indeed I'd never call myself a witch, and certainly not a warlock

Although I don’t sell magic powers or travel the country and neither am I a Christian. I do however work in a profession that could be seen as ‘magical’ not so long ago and I imagine that some ‘cunning folk’ did exactly what I do without realising that’s what it was!  

I will be returning to The Dragon Book of Essex soon, however I''d like to draw you attention to the article below. 

'Which craft is Witchcraft' was written specifically for this blog, by a close friend of mine, and looks at the use and potential miss use of the idea that 'traditional witchcraft' must have a genuine lineage to be considered genuine. The article also examines the relationship between 'witchcraft' and 'folk magic'; asking whether or not they are actually the same thing.

Enjoy and feel free to comment at the end.

Which Craft is Witchcraft?

A Short Introduction to English Folk Magic in Myth and Tradition

So, what exactly is witchcraft? Witchcraft, at its most basic, is folk magic, and although folk magic and witchcraft are a worldwide phenomenon, English folk magic displays its own idiosyncrasies that specifically characterise it. Folk magic is not, and never has been a religion, although this in no way infers that it is does not require a spiritual awareness, for that is close to its heart. Witchcraft has always existed and always will, all be it in a state of constant flux and continuous evolution. Such evolution has seen many changes in the way that it is conceived and practiced. It is no longer the sole preserve of a tribal member existing on the edge of society, and since the final repeal of the witchcraft act in 1951, the witch sought to become absorbed into mainstream society, or so it would seem.

Gerald Gardner’s Wicca, the first publically acceptable face of witchcraft had burst into the media unashamed in 1954 with the publication of Witchcraft Today. Although the measure of the laws against witchcraft had mellowed over time, it had been an offense since Anglo-Saxon times, meaning that Gardner’s first revelations of the Craft had tentatively appeared in 1949 in fictional guise. As an added precaution, that novel- High Magic’s Aid bore his witch-name ‘Scire’ as the only clue to its authorship.

Under Gardner witchcraft became a religion with a new set of rules, backed by Gardner’s astonishing claims that he was the member of an English coven of unbroken oral tradition dating from pre Christian days. Sadly, the origins of Gardner’s rituals didn’t even extend back a hundred years, betraying clear influences from a number of sources including the works of Robert Graves and Aleister Crowley. Although English Wicca incorporates aspects of English folk magic within it, Gardner’s basis is found amongst a variety of other traditions such as the C.G Leland’s Aradia, a small publication that appeared at the close of the 19^th century detailing Italian witch rites that he saw as ultimately drawn from the religious and magical practices of the ancient Etruscans. This is not to say that Wicca and folk magic are worlds apart, as both exhibit similar methodologies in terms of magical working, but Wicca is a new pagan religion rather than a revitalisation of what is often termed “the old ways” from an English perspective.

It is no surprise that Gardner’s claims attracted a counterblast from those aligned to what are referred to as more traditional witch practices, all claiming to be based on other traditions, and more often than not, even more arcane lineages, but do they have any real substance? The evidence for such is scant, and in most cases seriously lacking. For example, the story of Alex Sanders, Gardner’s biggest rival, contains a number of inconsistencies, most notably the two widely differing accounts of his own witch initiation. Sanders had largely tried to put a little more of the folk magic back into Wicca, but had retained much of Gardner’s basic religious structure and penchant for dubious history.

Others claimed a still more ‘traditional craft’ as it is now widely known. For instance, Robert Cochrane’s Clan of Tubal Cain, or 1724 tradition as it is often referred to, has been revealed as a similar hotchpotch of borrowed goods to that of Gardner, with its date of inauguration seemingly a fallacy if the evidence revealed by Doreen Valiente is to be believed, and certain elements are difficult to refute. Her Rebirth of Witchcraft also highlights many other questionable aspects of its claimed lineage.

Regardless of the validity of claim or counter claim, of which the real truth may never be known, there is a clear pattern emerging here; one of a disparate need to outdo each-other in terms of their specific archaic origins and unbroken working lineage, with the emphasis on the latter. Whereas English witchcraft itself may predate all of these spurious claims, it bears little relation to their formal structure and religious observations. It was, and still is, in its purest form, largely a solitary pursuit, and where any direct conference of powers from one person to another is concerned, this has been shown to have been relatively short lived, spanning no more than a few generations. Similarly, whereas these solitary witches probably had contact with each other on occasion, the formalised covine structure underpinning these traditions is derived from Dr Margaret Murray’s now largely discredited ideas first put forward in the early 20^th century.

So, the conundrum remains, just what is real witchcraft and is it still accesible as such today? The answer is yes, although it is not that simple. As already stated, true witchcraft is folk magic, and as such, is constantly evolving. Its only element that survives in terms of any long standing continuity is the land itself, the source of its power. It is the only verifiable point of connection to the magic of the past in this context, and one that can still provide the witch with all that is required to interact with it on both spiritual and practical levels.

With regard to the former, this can be achieved by ritual interaction with its places of power; its woods, wells and fields, its rivers, coves and seas, its places of the ancestral dead, all those sites that have been sacred through the ages. These are the only verifiable lineage of folk magic, and it requires nothing more to continually exist. Such sites also provide the witch with the practical elements essential to the arte, as well as teaching its ways to those willing to listen to its genius loci, their spiritual personifications.

Such an approach seems lost to many modern pagans in their desire for arcane knowledge, preferring to put their trust in dubious traditions. This is not to say that Gardner’s Wicca and other modern pagan traditions are devoid of any merit, but they are not witchcraft in its purest sense, and often clouded by emphasis on an ancient continuity of physical lineage which does not exist. 

To some degree, there are modern pagans who have attempted to revitalize witchcraft as folk magic in a purer sense. Those of particular note that rose to some prominence include the late Andrew Chumbley, who incorporated aspects of traditional East Anglian folk magic within his own diverse praxis. The connection to the land is one also understood by Peter Grey and Alkistis Dimech of publishers Scarlet Imprint. Having found the modern pagan traditions wanting in the sense of their comparitive safety and compromise, they have all sought to return the figure of the witch to one who resides outside the confines of modern society. Redefined as such, their respective witchcraft may not be to everyone’s taste, but undeniably connects to its folk magic roots with no overt emphasis on claims of dubious lineage, merely concentrating on its own existence and practice.

There are also practitioners and writers such as Michael Howard and Nigel Pennick who have chronicled many facets of traditional English folk magic, the latter having particularly championed its Scandinavian ancestry.  There is no doubt that European, and in particular Scandinavian folk witchcraft, with its inclusion of both Christian and pagan elements, does parallel English folk magic in terms of its method and practical application as part of its natural evolution. Such acknowledgement and inclusion of Christian elements in English folk magic are an alien concept to many neo-pagans, but it is now a valid part of the whole nevertheless.

Such breathing of new life into tradition is not confined to Essex and East Anglia, just one such example being the renewal of the Pellar path of Cornish witchcraft recently popularised by Gemma Gary. Within her work we find no pretension of arcane lineage, but a clear mandate to follow long standing folk tradition augmented by personal communion and practice. As such, it represents a valuable insight into a rural tradition that has seen little change over the past couple of centuries, and is founded on that vital connection to the land itself. Acknowledging both Christian and pagan elements, it clearly parallels the Cornish folk magic of the 19^th century according to both oral and written tradition. This fusion is also shown through the practices of the cunning folk, particularly here in East Anglia. These show similar methods of working that can be dated through written record to the 19^th century, with some accounts dating to the 18^th century. The rise of this dual observance for this new kind of witch only came to prominence in the 16^th century. As an antidote to malevolent witchcraft, the cunning folk specialised in removing curses and other magical afflictions. That is not to say that they could not effectively curse if they wished, and in some cases, probably did. The moral stance of the true folk-Witch has traditionally been one of ambivalence, cursing and curing as they saw fit or were employed to do, each according to their own conscience. Some continuity of this position may be found amongst the chovihani or ‘gypsy witches’, who have always practiced both ‘black’ and ‘white’ magic, woefully inadequate as those terms may be.

Having potentially muddied the murky waters of Craft tradition as much as having provided answers, an annotated reading list of books is in preparation for posting which will hopefully serve as a primer to further research. Whereas they will undoubtedly clarify some of the issues already raised, the lack of verifiable witch tradition is scant amongst their pages, and it is left up to the reader to distinguish truth from half truth or outright lie. The land itself remains the only verifiable constant, and its many secrets are not revealed easily!

Author 'The Fork in the Road' 

FINALLY!! This arrived today - The Dragon-book of Essex 

More images and info to come :)

New arrival today...

 

 Cecil Williamson's Book of Witchcraft.

In 1996, whilst helping the then new owner Graham King in refurbishments to the Museum of Witchcraft, Steve happened upon a handwritten manuscript entitled simply ‘Witchcraft’ and containing an intriguing pot-pourri of esoterica from the hand of the Museum's founder; Cecil Williamson. It is this manuscript which provides the basis for Steve's book which includes a full annotated transcript of the ‘Witchcraft’ manuscript, a history of Cecil Williamson and the Museum of Witchcraft, a treatise on Cecil Williamson’s vision of traditional Witchcraft - the practices and the philosophy of the wayside witches, an account of his meetings with Aleister Crowley and Gerald Gardner, and a controversial account of his witnessing of the birth of ‘Wicca’. The book is both a valuable reliquary of practices for the traditional witch, and a resource for folklorists and historians alike; telling the tale of a hitherto largely ignored, but hugely influential episode in modern occult history, and one of the great unsung heroes of the twilight world of folklore and witchcraft.

Although not yet listed on their website the book is available from Tory Books (unless sold out) Troy Books link is on the right

  

Another great article on my adopted great grandfather Mr. Murrell

Hadleigh's White Witch - how should we remember him?

By Robert Hallmann

An office block stands on a narrow lane called Endway, just south of the church in Hadleigh. It has taken the place of a row of six old weatherboarded cottages, the second of which, coming from the church, used to be the home of James ‘Cunning’ Murrell, shoemaker. We don’t know if he was a good shoemaker, though his fame, which reached as far as London and Kent in his time, seems to be quite remarkable. Even today, people around the world are researching his background and connections and publishing them on websites. It was his sideline that spread his name, for he claimed to be the seventh son of a seventh son – a witch, but a white one and he had the angels on his side.

He had been baptized at St Mary the Virgin, Hawkwell, on 9 October 1785. His place of birth was given as Rochford in the 1851 Census. That survey lists the widower James Murrills (then 66) as living with his son Edward (26), his daughter Eleanor (16), another daughter Louisa Spendale (20) and her son of six months William Spendle (!).

Of James and Elizabeth Murrell’s children, 16 were counted in the parish registers of St James the Less – though it seems that more died in infancy. Murrell left this world in Hadleigh on 16th December 1860, and if his date of baptism is correct, which usually took place only days after a birth, he was 75 years old, having foretold his own death to the day and the hour.

Around 1890, when the writer Arthur Morrison visited the cottage and met the new tenants who were in their nineties, they still believed in and praised the remarkable wizard, who had lived there before them. They talked of the cures he had performed, the amazing recovery of stolen goods, his prophecies aided by the stars and his triumphs over the designs of witches. The front door of the cottage opened into the little room where he had received his clients ‘amid walls hung about thick with the herbs that he was always gathering,’ though there are also reports of stashed contraband in that cottage.

Morrison borrowed a trap from Mr. Cracknell, the landlord of the Castle Inn at the time. They drove over to Thundersley, where they found Murrell’s son, Edward ‘Buck’ Murrell, working in a field – an illiterate, stocky, white-haired labourer, who soon became the centre of attention and a mine of anecdotes about his mystic father at the promise and deliverance of a pint of mild.

Murrell’s landlord had buried the little old man’s chest and other possessions in the back garden, but Buck had recovered them and they opened that promising chest in the parlour of the Castle Inn.

On Buck’s father’s death a sack full of letters had been destroyed, yet there were still many left in the wooden chest among other scraps of paper covered in ‘crabby’ writing amid calculations, horoscopes, exorcisms and conjurations and obscure ancient books on Arthur Morrison’s visit.

Among books on astrology and astronomy, old medical books, a bible and a prayer book were home-made books and manuscripts. Some of these dealt with conjurations and magic, astrology and horoscopes.

Not surprisingly, perhaps, to the cynic, there were also collected many notes carrying intimate details of persons, which, if revealed at the right time, would no doubt impress the gullible…

The letters proved the immense faith people put into Murrell’s powers, like the one that read: “I have took the powder it made me verrey quear in the stummuk pleas send sum more.”

Yet for all his fame he had remained poor. Even when Morrison was shown his grave and those of his family around him by his son Edward ‘Buck’ Murrell at the east side of Hadleigh church, the graves were unmarked. And even then most were just a discolouration in the turf. Mysteriously, Morrison recalls, he lay at rest there with twenty of his children about him! Another amazing feat of the ‘Cunning’ magician and conjurer?

Arthur Morrison published both a novel and a ‘Strand’ magazine article on ‘Cunning’ Murrell in 1900.

CUNNING MURRELL LANE?

The idea was first suggested by a neighbour and has been welcomed by some, if not all of those I have spoken to since. Hadleigh's former resident James Murrell (1780-1860), colourful hero of print and fiction as well as many folk memories, has no local recognition. We don't acknowledge him anywhere in Hadleigh apart from his inclusion in the relief on the Library wall, not even with a blue plaque on the site of his former abode.

There is, however, a path roughly connecting Castle Lane and Chapel Lane just north in the Salvation Army complex that is known as Fitzwilliam Road or more colloquially as Piggery Lane. (Who is or was Fitzwilliam?) It's not much of a road, but it takes in great views, is a bit devious and slippery and could have been part of the little man's herb gathering walks? It's a small, local idea, but it would add a little zest in an about to be much publicised area, so close to the Olympic site.

While I would welcome a commemoration of the little man out in nature, others are not too happy with renaming ‘Piggery Lane’. Naming one of the newly planned commercial ‘lanes’ as part of the council’s regeneration plans in the town centre have been suggested as possible memorials, or even a statue in the middle of Hadleigh? Something more prominent than a country lane? Another suggestion is an annual Cunning Murrell award at a local school to provide ‘a maintenance-free, vandal-proof memorial’. Perhaps on a history subject? Or on traditional medicine? Or on folklore?

Local artist David Hurrell has added another interesting alternative: ‘…there is an ancient lane running from the Chapel Lane Recreation Ground through to Benfleet Road (across the old Hadleigh Common) which has never been named (except the school-kids used to refer to it as Dog Pooh Alley!). Nowadays, since dog-owners have cleaned up their act (and the pooh) it is a pleasant cut-through for school children and other locals. There is a natural water-course (ditch) which could provide scope for some useful planting, and it runs alongside the Allotments. The path could easily be extended down to the War Memorial Gardens and the Chapel Lane hedge improved for wildlife. Maybe Lady Olivia Sparrow also deserves a mention in the town? (Incidentally, there is another old track from the bottom of Chapel Lane in danger of disappearing into obscurity -- Snipes Lane -- which could do with re-instatement.)’

So, how about David's idea for a CUNNING MURRELL LANE or PATH?

Others may have different ideas still. Perhaps it can be discussed and a local accord arrived at?

Illustrations by an unknown artist from my 2009 book 'Essex Ghost Stories'. The drawings were first published with one of the stories in Essex Countryside (now Essex Life) magazine some years ago, and include quotations from the wizard's own writings. Here 'Cunning' Murrell meets the author...?

My own favourite: 'Cunning' Murrell, the Devil's Master...

An illustration by Jean Westell based on descriptions of James Murrell.

Jean Westell