“Old Hannah:
Close beside the ancient Dendles Wood, on the southern edge of Dartmoor, an elderly woman, known as Old Hannah, lived with her son in a small and isolated cottage. She was locally reputed and feared as a powerful and dangerous witch; a reputation strengthened by the mystery of how the old woman and her son managed to sustain themselves as they had no known livelihood, livestock or crops, and were generally shunned by the community. Suspicion naturally arose that they had been living on produce stolen from surrounding farms, and when one farmer lost a few hens he openly accused Old Hanna's son of committing the theft. Not long following these events, further losses were experienced on the farm. when a prized horse and some cattle mysteriously fell dead. When the farmer himself fell ill, he feared that he would be next to die, and all agreed that his misfortune was the result of a curse placed by Old Hanna, in revenge for the accusation made against her son.
Something needed to be done; the curse had to be broken and the community were not willing to continue living in fear, so a group of farmers and neighbours decided to confront the old woman and made their way to her cottage. Of course, fearing her magic, no one could bring themselves to make the first move, or indeed make their presence known, and so the angry but frightened group waited quietly under the cover of the woodland's edge; not knowing quite how to proceed. Eventually, Old Hanna's son emerged from the small cottage door with a fine lurcher which immediately began chasing out and catching rabbits with remarkable efficiency, with each one being thrown over the dog's shoulder and bagged by feared witch's son.
At least the mystery of how the pair managed to feed themselves was now solved, but the already angry farmers were now enraged by the sight of what they regarded as their rabbits being so freely taken, and so they forgot their fear (Old Hannah was nowhere to be seen in any case) and broke their cover to confront the young man. However, both he and the dog fled from the scene and the angry group gave chase.
Into the wood they ran, trying to elude their pursuers, yet as some were on horseback they could not manage to evade them, and eventually came to the confluence of Broadall Lake and the River Yealm. With nowhere to turn, the young man and the lurcher made their way in desperation across the flowing waters over the stones and boulders. The dog however was not able to keep grip on the slippery rocks and fell into the water. Their pursuers stopped in amazement as the dog transformed in an instant into Old Hannah herself; desperately splashing about and scrabbling to climb up onto one of the rocks. In accordance with the old tradition that witches, spells, and spirits cannot cross running water, the attempt to cross the Yealm had undone Old Hannah's magical transformation into a lurcher. The spell against the farmer seemed also to have been broken, for he soon recovered from illness, whilst Old Hannah withdrew and her son ran away, never to return. Much time passed since the incident and nothing had been seen or heard of Old Hannah, and so all believed she must either have died, or followed after her son. Eventually, some brave souls ventured out to her lonely cottage to find out for themselves, and there they discovered her earthly remains; clutching a bunch of broom (planta genista) in one hand, and the skin of a black cat in the other.”
—
Silent as the Trees:
Devonshire Witchcract, Folklore & Magic
by Gemma Gary
