Vol. 61 No. 4 (2013)
Research Article

Pyewacket: A Familiar Spirit of the Witchfinder General

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  • Richard Coates
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/0027773813Z.00000000058

Published 2013-12-01

Copyright (c) 2013 American Name Society 2013

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Abstract

The name of a witch’s familiar, Pyewacket, was reported by the Witchfinder General of England, Matthew Hopkins, at the height of the witch persecution in the middle of the seventeenth century. It has eluded explanation so far. It is suggested that it derives from the name of a village presently in the State of Maine, and that it became known in England through family connections between Hopkins and the Governor of Massachusetts John Winthrop.

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References

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