Research source

The earliest witch-trial in the British Isles shows animal sacrifice

Date of account: Published 1921
Source: The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology
Reference: The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology · selected passage 113
Rights: public_domain
Language: English with quoted European trial material
Record updated: 2026-08-24

Record summary

Published source text

Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.

Source passage

Source text · mention only

The earliest witch-trial in the British Isles shows animal sacrifice. In 1324 in Ireland Lady Alice Kyteler 'was charged to haue nightlie conference with a spirit called Robin Artisson, to whom she sacrificed in the high waie .ix. red cocks'.[610] In 1566 at Chelmsford Mother Waterhouse 'gaue him [i.e. the Satan-cat] for his labour a chicken, which he fyrste required of her, and a drop of her blod.... Another tyme she rewarded hym as before, wyth a chicken and a droppe of her bloud, which chicken he eate vp cleane as he didde al the rest, and she cold fynde remaining neyther bones nor fethers.'[611] Joan Waterhouse, daughter of Mother Waterhouse, a girl of eighteen, said that the Deuil came in the likeness of a great dog, 'then asked hee her what she wolde geue hym, and she saide a red kocke.'[612] John Walsh of Dorset, in 1566, confessed that 'when he would call him [the Spirit], hee sayth hee must geue hym some lyuing thing, as a Chicken, a Cat, or a Dog.

Historical context

Contextual commentary · mention only

This is a historical account assembled under the reporting and publishing conventions of its period. It may preserve testimony, hearsay, retelling and editorial interpretation together.

Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

A modern comparison can identify recurring descriptions and possible explanations, but the account is not treated as independently verified evidence merely because it appeared in print.

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