468 – Print

Physical description:

Reproduction of an old woodcut showing a male witch selling the wind (in a knotted rope) to sailors.

Museum classification:

Sea Witchcraft

Information:

Original text by Cecil Williamson:

'In this early illustration we find confirmation of the fact that seafaring folk did actually purchase knotted wind or storm ropes from the sea witches.There were well known sea witches selling the wind in each of the following places: Sennen, St.Ives, Appledore, Lee, Lynton and Porlock, where one found Mother Leaky still trying to flog her wind strings with their knots, right up to the mid 1939's.'
The woodcut is from "Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus" by Olaus Magnus (1555).
In "A Treatise of Witchcraft" (1616), Alexander Roberts wrote, "Our own navigators, who trade in Finland, Denmark, Lapland, Ward-house, Norway, and other countries of that climate, and have obtained of the inhabitants thereof, a certain wind for twenty days together' and strings tied with three knots, so that if one were loosed, they should have a pleasant gale: if the second, a more vehement blast: if the third, such hideous and raging tempests that the mariners were not able once to look out."

Additional text, document 7473:

'Showing the captain of the boat holding the witch's wind rope with its three knots. The witch is to be seen on the left in the body of the ship arguing over the price while in the background one can clearly see the fate of those unwise enough not to avail themselves of the protection from the witch's wind rope.'

Resource:

Picture

Materials:

Paper

Copyright ownership:

Original text by Cecil Williamson:

Additional text, document 7473:

4084 – Selling the Wind Picture

A reproduction of a colour photograph of Graham King, then Director of the Museum, selling the wind to a sailor in Boscastle harbour in 1998. On foamboard with text.

211 – Glasses

4 wine glasses with goddess figure stems, two with pale green bowls and two with light red bowls. Probably Art Deco. One of the green glasses has a small crack extending down from the rim of the bowl. There were also originally 2 short round red glasses but they were lost in the 2004 flood.

476 – Witch picture

Reproduction of wood engraving depicting two witches - a woman with an upturned cauldron and a man with an animal skull on a staff - raising a storm. A ship is sinking in the background.