This picture may appear to be a bit of old school writing and I guess it is, but it's what it writes about which intrigues me.
The notebook of a witch finder has been put online for the whole world to see. It tells the stories of women living in the East of England (where I'm from) who, suspected of witchcraft, were tortured and hanged. Seems brutal to us now, but in those times, witches were the feared terrorists of the day. The notebook talks of one girl called Rebecca who was tortured because her Mum mentioned her name under torture. Rebecca then reveals her own mother to be a witch. Along with many other women, her mum was hanged because of Rebecca's confession, but she herself was spared.
If that doesn't inspire a story I don't know what does!
Rebecca lived in Colchester, which is where I went to sixth form. I mean, that's crazy! 350 years ago, girls were being tortured and hung where I went to school! My own sister is called Rebecca and she went to sixth form there too, so the whole thing is just super creepy for me...
Notebooks have always intrigued me. When I was younger, I read Celia Rees' Witch Child. The main character Mary writes a diary and sews each page into her quilt for fear of discovery. In the story I'm writing, one of the characters, Holly, finds out about another character through reading her diary. They are curious things that tell us secrets...
Check out this notebook's stories from 350 years ago and see how they play with your imagination....
1 comment:
Gulp i went there too. I think i remember you lol. :)
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