For the most part, people who receive this when I press "send" will have absolutely no interest in what I wrote..for others who are in my family or classmates that live in Massachusetts..it may be of some interest...Perhaps others would be interested in a tale of Witches and Lizzie Borden..??

A recent two part TV show concerning the Salem Witch Trials was most interesting to those of us who grew up in New England, particularly in Massachusetts. For some of us, we are distressed that Salem still gets much of the publicity about the cult of the witches when, in fact, there are those of us who live in Bristol County, which includes the Town of Swansea, that are concerned that our colonial witch heritage and our supernatural powers are not properly recognized. Not recognized in respect to our ability to demonstrate a charming antisocial behavior and to exercise mystic powers of black magic and sorcery..Further, Salem had no corner on the market for young girls possessed with alarming hysterical and demoniacal tendencies. Swansea, Somerset and Fall River had more than their share of demented females.

There were many covens in Bristol County and my immediate family was one of the largest..My Grandfather Chace was the "Grand Poopah Warlock" of all the elderly Warlocks in our area. And, as was the tradition, he designated all his sons and grandsons as Wizards; a much better name than "male witch". I was known as "Wizard Stubby". In keeping with their lot in life and inability to vote in the early days, females were simply called "witches".

For the most part, our coven was made up of benevolent witches and wizards and we did not take full advantage of our occult powers. We met at midnight in an ancient Indian Burial ground..on Narragansett Bay. We often invited friends to our meetings to enjoy the cod fish brewed in the juice of quahogs in the large black iron cauldrons that were tended to by our elderly weathered witches referred to as "crones." No one had control over the crones or their sometimes sorceress behavior. In their black flowing robes and wrinkled faces complete with piercing red eyes, children under 12 were warned of possible nightmares. For those mothers carrying babies in their arms, the babies were anointed with the warm blood of young goats.

As benevolent as our covens was.. once in a while and depending on the time in the month, a female witch would lose control of her faculties and become a witch possessed of bestial and demoniac capabilities.. Obviously, some form of diabolic heresy, this was viewed as her having a temporary illicit affair with Satan...and my Grandfather, the Grand Poopah Warlock would rectify the situation by conducting a Black Mass.

One of our more famous witches in Fall River and considered somewhat crazed was Lizzie Borden. While yet in her prime of life, she was responsible for the poem: Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her father forty whacks..and when she saw what she had done, she gave her mother forty-one.

From the time of her birth, Lizzie drew attention to some phenomenal traits that could not be explained...and these traits severely frightened her paternal mother. Although she was considered an attractive young lady, on certain days of the month, people accused her of having an "evil eye." No one wanted to be near her.. even those people who considered Lizzie as having an "involuntary" evil eye... over which she had no control, it appeared to be an off-on congenital affliction. Those who did happen to be near her on such days (when the evil eye was evident) said she acted like her constant companion, Beelzebub, her black cat. They said she even purred.

Emma, her sister, who appeared to have no abnormalities was known to have participated in Voodoo rituals with her Haitian friends in Newport....it was rumored that Emma took up this practice to control Lizzie when they were home alone.

One of the mystical events concerning Lizzie took place when she was in the eighth grade. Not being able to exercise her powers over this new invention called a camera..she was leery of it. When her picture was developed, the principal swore the teachers to secrecy...It showed an old woman with a frightening cross eyed effect. Although color cameras had not yet been invented, her hair was bloody red, not the soft light color as it was in real life. She had heavy black eyebrows that thickly joined together over the bridge of her nose. Her nose was grossly disjointed with a huge bulge in the middle and a large protruding black wart on the end of it.

Only a very few people saw this picture...but one who did was her mother...who shortly after viewing it..packed a few bags and was never heard from again.

For the most part, Lizzie's life appeared to be normal...her father married again and shortly thereafter, both were found dead having been carved up with an ax.

There was some talk of Lizzie being a witch and the rumors of her evil eye persisted. Not unlike the Salem Witches, she was eventually brought to trial.

Almost everyone in the covens knew that Lizzie would not be convicted. Warlocks, wizards and crones filled the courtroom..All faults of Lizzie were denounced...indeed a hex was put on the jury..and so Lizzie prevailed. The first judge was run over an killed by a run a way horse..during the trial... The second committed suicide after the verdict.

Although my family wanted her to be in our coven, which was the best known, she became a free lancer and participated as a member of all the covens in the area. It was always the biggest thrill of all to have Lizzie at a local coven meeting.

Because of the fame and power of the witches in Salem, our coven and the others in Bristol County remained subservient to them. So it was that on the Fourth of July, when the patriotic ceremonies were over, we would put on our cloven feet, rubbed down with a secret mixture of wild turkey blood and fly off to Salem. There we would join the Salemite witches on Gallows Hill. We helped build the large bon fires out of large wooden barrels used for tea parties...And. as was the custom, our children joined the Salem children in throwing stones at sinners..(those who were not witches but lived in Salem) .... later they were caught and tied to a chair and dipped into ice cold water..Older sinners were locked up in the stocks...and black eggs were thrown at their heads.

When the fires burned down, we accepted the invitation from the great, great, great grandmother of Tatuba, Salem's first known witch..to spend the night in the Salem Willows. There we were treated to an ancient witches brew made in steaming copper caldrons (much better grade than our iron ones). We were also fed standard witch's fare of bread, cheese and beer..known as "offal."

For whatever reason, my Grandfather Warlock did not like us to partake of offal...He frequently quoted to us from the Book of Proverbs where it is written, "Eat thou not the bread of those that hath an evil eye." As the Grand Poopah Warlock, it was his responsibility to see that no one with the evil eye joined our coven...but the Salem witches were a crafty bunch and he did not trust them. For that reason, most of us, especially the Wizards ate at the nearest Howard Johnson's.

Over the years, the covens of Bristol County became smaller and smaller. Witch's activities lessened. Many of us married witch's we grew up with and we have spent a lifetime watching these young beautiful witchs turn into Victoria Secret crones. However,they remain as lovely and delightful as they were at our Black Mass wedding.