A peck o’ trouble
I read the old lady’s words – and they do say there be a witch in it, and if you let un out there’ll be a peck o’ trouble – in the correct regional accent. Which probably means I’ve been here too long. Or I talk to too many spooky old ladies.
I’m pretty sure her granny gave her this and told her it was a witch bottle, and she assumed a witch bottle is a bottle with a witch in it.
It’s not. It’s a bottle made by a witch to ward off evil. It was a big Elizabethan thing here, though spells in jars go way, way back.
I still wouldn’t open it. It’s most likely full of rusty pins and pee.
Amazon, Etsy and Ebay all claim to sell witch bottles. Sadly, they’re little pill bottles full of oregano with a pentagram tied on. Show a little creativity, Ebay witches!
A better picture of this particular witch bottle here. Object is from the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford.
August 16, 2021 — 7:02 pm
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