The inclusion of Alice Molland is debatable, but it at least possible that she was the last person to be hanged for witchcraft. The problem is that primary source material seems to be lacking.
There is always a debate about whether pardons long after an injustice mean anything. But it doesn't hurt to draw attention to a stain on our history.
Wherever people believe in witchcraft, witches will be found. Admittedly, sometimes they make it easy.
Today's witches look like an amiable crowd. I wish them well. It's a pity that this latest gathering didn't beat the all-time record for the largest number of witches in any one place. That was set two years ago at Warwick castle; 765 witches. There is no information on the number of cats. Probably quite a few.
2 comments:
I am not sure if a pardon for individuals hanged a few hundred years ago does anything either, but it does bring the story back into the public. Executing something or someone you don't understand is one of those ignorant things people have done in the past and I am sure still do today. This is just another story of pointing fingers.
Indeed - a pardon is entirely symbolic where the wrong done is historical, as opposed to biographical. Sadly, 'witches' are still being persecuted today, and anything that draws attention to such injustice can't be a bad thing.
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