Black Willie of Hartlepool

The following account of the story is extracted from ‘Legends Superstitions of the County of Durham’ by William Brockie (1886). ‘The Rev. H. B. Tristram communicated to Mr Henderson the following case from the neighbourhood of Greatham : “In November of this year (1861) I was sent for by a parishioner, the wife of a small farmer, who complained that she had been scandalised by her neighbours opposite, who accused her of witchcraft. These neighbours had lost two horses during the last year and therefore consulted ‘ Black Willie ‘ at Hartlepool, who assured them that they had been bewitched. Acting on his advice, they adopted the following means for discovering the witch. Having procured a pigeon and tied its wings, every aperture in the house even to the key holes, was carefully stopped, and pins were run into the pigeon whilst alive by each member of the family, so as to pierce the poor bird’s heart. The pigeon was then roasted, and a watch kept at the window during the operation, for the first person who passed the door would of course be the guilty party. The good woman who appealed to me (Mr. Tristram), had the misfortune to be the first passer-by and the family were firmly convinced she had exercised ‘the evil eye’ upon the dead horses, though she was a comely matron, not yet fifty years of age.”