1027 – Witches ladder
- Physical description:
- Witches' ladder made of 3 threads - white, gold and pink, with tufts of coloured fluff knotted into it.
- Museum classification:
- Spells& Charms
- Size:
- Approx 1 metre long
- Information:
Scarborough Museum has a piece of twine with eight knots which was used to cure warts (from Manchester), and a buckskin thong with three knots tied round the neck of a child to prevent croup (South Carolina, 1921); also two "wristing threads" from Shetland (1916) - knotted cords (it's hard to tell how many knots) of natural (?) black wool, which were tied round a limb to cure sprains (information provided by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- Thread
Scarborough Museum has a piece of twine with eight knots which was used to cure warts (from Manchester), and a buckskin thong with three knots tied round the neck of a child to prevent croup (South Carolina, 1921); also two "wristing threads" from Shetland (1916) - knotted cords (it's hard to tell how many knots) of natural (?) black wool, which were tied round a limb to cure sprains (information provided by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).