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The Witch Trees of Wiltshire
No, today we’re not talking about popular culture per se. Rather, we’re going to be talking about popular storytelling – or popular mythology of a different kind. I’m doing this on purpose for a few reasons: I want to explore other types of “popular culture” than the media kind, and I also wanted to talk about something that is, quite literally, close to home.
A couple of months ago, I moved to Salisbury, Wiltshire here in England. I’m still slowly getting to know the city and the surrounding area, and going on country-side walks is a fun way of doing it. A couple weeks ago, my husband and I walked to Grovely Woods, a beautiful wood just outside of Wilton, a neighbouring village to Salisbury. Most of the wood is composed of straight birch trees on either side of a Roman road. But just off the main path, a little past the entrance, are three gnarled and large trees known as the Witch Trees.
The story of the Witch Trees starts in the 1700s, when four sisters came to live in Wilton. A little after their arrival, a smallpox outbreak swept through the town, and the townspeople blamed the sisters as witches who cursed the town with the plague. They brought the sisters to the woods and bludgeoned them to death. The story goes, that they buried each sister several paces away from each other so they could not continue to conspire against the town (which of course witches can do in death). From the place they buried the bodies, these large trees grew – to forever remind the villagers of what they had done.
Visiting the trees is interesting. Three of the four are still standing, as the fourth apparently fell down in a storm a few years back. If you’re looking into the treeline, they’re not too difficult to miss – you can see the main road from the trees. Logs, twigs and other wood pieces into a circle surrounding the base of each tree, clearly marking them as something separate and special. Visitors frequently leave trinkets, including pieces of flint, jewellery, ribbons, and other items of affection. The first tree you encounter is probably the most adorned.
What makes these trees and their story interesting is that they have become markers of memorialisation. Visitors cling to the story of the witch sisters and come to remember them, even those so many hundreds of years in the future that they have no specific familial connection to them at all. But they do have a personal connection – a connection born of something quite different.
In all honesty, the historical accuracy of the story is not really important. Nor is the question of whether the trees magically grew from the graves, or if they were planted there. None of these things matter because the story is already present and a part of the world, and the story is what matters.
The story of the sisters connects the visitors to the history of the village (whether real or not), finding themselves and their own present understandings in their own village. They memorialise the story with trinkets and visitations – people may sit on the logs which surround the tree after leaving their gift.
What we see in the Witch Trees is the way individuals use story and mythology to connect themselves to the landscape, as well as to history. Wiltshire folklore cements the resident to the Wiltshire landscape as well as to other Wiltshire residents. The visitors to the Witch Trees are not only connecting to the story of the sisters, but also to the landscape of the woods that house the trees, and the other residents who also come to visit the trees.
Not to mention the beaitufl act of leaving the gifts in the first place – something akin to ritual, and yet so natural and so part of the lived experience that the giver probably doesn’t think that much of it. The act is a reciprocal one. The tree has given story, one that connects to landscape and community, to the giver. In return, the giver presents the tree with a piece of their own narrative – a piece of their own story and community, wrapped around the piece of landscape.
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Reviews for "Exploring Witchcraft Ethics: The Power and Responsibility of Magic"
- John - 2/5 - I found "Witch dmadmin iuto tree" to be extremely confusing and hard to follow. The plot jumped all over the place and the characters were poorly developed. It felt like the author was trying to be too clever and ended up sacrificing clarity and coherence. I tried to give it a fair chance, but I just couldn't get into it.
- Sarah - 1/5 - I honestly don't understand what all the hype is about "Witch dmadmin iuto tree". The writing was pretentious and convoluted, making it a chore to read. Not to mention, the story itself was a mess. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and the whole thing felt like a jumble of random ideas. I regret picking up this book and would not recommend it to anyone.
- Mark - 2/5 - "Witch dmadmin iuto tree" was a disappointment for me. The premise seemed intriguing, but the execution fell flat. The pacing was all over the place, with long stretches of nothing happening, followed by rushed and confusing plot developments. The writing style was also difficult to grasp, making it hard to stay engaged. Overall, it just didn't live up to the hype for me.
- Emily - 2/5 - I really wanted to enjoy "Witch dmadmin iuto tree" as I'm a fan of fantasy novels, but it didn't click with me. The narrative felt disjointed and the world-building lacked depth. The author introduced many concepts and characters without fully exploring them, leaving me frustrated and disconnected from the story. I think this book had potential, but it needed more refinement to be truly captivating.