The Story of Mother Grundy
Creswell Crags
The limestone crags rose from the trees as the sun glinted down from a bright blue sky, the kind with fluffy white clouds, catching on the lake's placid surface. It was truly beautiful to behold and I was instantly transported back through time, could imagine living in this place, could picture it through the ages. Oh the stories these rugged cliff faces could tell!
This week, I visited a local-ish ‘attraction’ called Creswell Crags that sits between my local county of Nottinghamshire and the neighbouring county of Derbyshire whilst also being close to South Yorkshire. It’s a limestone gorge with a series of caves that you can explore and they contain the oldest examples of coloured cave art in the UK. It’s a fascinating site and has shown through the tools found there that it was an important site for ice age Neanderthals and early humans, but that’s not why I wanted to visit the site, as interesting as it all is. You see, last year, witch marks were discovered in one of the caves there.
Witch Marks found in one of the caves at Creswell Crags.
You can imagine how excited I was!
The term ‘witch marks’ is something of a misnomer in that they weren't made by witches as such. Our lovely guide told us these apotropaic marks are at least 200 years old and were probably made by a local cunning man or woman designed to keep evil out or to trap evil spirits. Some of the most common signs found were the double v engravings, believed to stand for Virgin of Virgins and another nod to the Virgin Mary were the VV M markings, but there were also patterns including those that looked like a ladder, perhaps symbolising Jacob’s ladder. It truly was fascinating however what caught my imagination the most was the story of Mother Grundy.
Mother Grundy was an old lady who lived in the village of Creswell sometime during the 18th century. She was accused of witchcraft and driven from the village by the locals, and so she made the gorge her home (you can visit one of the caves which is called Mother Grundy’s Parlour, and some believe her presence can still be felt there). When a child of a rich local landowner became ill, possibly due to eating a poisonous plant, of course Mother Grundy knew the cure and made him well again, winning the hearts and minds of the villagers who invited her back to live in the village. Perhaps my favourite part of this story though is the massive middle finger she gave the lot of them by refusing their offer, choosing instead to remain in the gorge. Fuck them all!
It was a beautiful day out, with lovely poet inspiring scenery but the witch marks and Mother Grundy’s story got me thinking. I always root for the underdog, for those who find themselves on the outside of society and mainstream culture, the poor and downtrodden, so it’s no surprise that I felt inspired by what I’d learned that day. And it is also no surprise that really, we haven’t changed all that much, have we?
Last week, the UK news channels were disgusting. Of course news of migrants braving the English Channel in small overcrowded dinghies, risking their lives for want of a better life is nothing new and as always, a divisive subject. The actions of the major news channels were totally shocking, chartering boats and scouring the channel for dinghies stuffed full of desperate people to shout questions at and further fan the flames of hatred and division. It made truly sickening TV. It’s no surprise that the ‘All Lives Matter’ brigade took to social media to share their opinions, of which ‘send them back’ was the kindest. I guess all lives don’t matter after all, eh?
And then there are so many issues, locally and globally. The gentrification of poor areas, corrupt and / or immoral politicians more concerned with lining their own and their cronies pockets than doing their jobs and representing their constituents, so many slights against people whether due to their race, class, gender, take your pick. Like Mother Grundy, our worth isn’t considered worth unless it benefits those who would sneer at and look down on us. I don’t blame Mother Grundy for wanting to piss off and live in the wilds, to turn her back on a society that turns in on itself instead of standing together. I feel like that sometimes too, but of course, nowadays many of us don’t have the luxury of doing that, of escaping to live in the countryside, after all, the land is no longer free and belongs to those with deep pockets and corrupt. And if HS2 goes ahead, then there will be a significant reduction in some of the UK’s important countryside including ancient woodlands.
It was a good day out at the crags though and for anyone in the UK, it’s well worth a visit. It is a truly beautiful place and sometimes, that is just what is needed, to remember how wild we are by spending time out in the wilds. Nature is good for the soul and it energises and recharges us. We will need our strength if we want to make real the change we desire to see in the world.
EMMA KATHRYN
My name is Emma Kathryn, my path is a mixture of traditional British witchcraft, Vodou and Obeah, a mixture representing my heritage. I live in the sticks with my family where I read tarot, practice witchcraft and drink copious amounts of coffee.
You can follow Emma on Facebook.