A Staffordshire Witch

St Johns church in Burslem. Photo by Gary Tacagni.

Over the years I have heard reference’s made to a location where a witch is said to be buried, I decided to look into the story and the legend surrounding it.

The person in question was a Margaret Leigh who was born in Burslem in Staffordshire around 1685, according to accounts she was very ugly and this maybe the reason why she was ostracised by the local community, even as a child there were strange stories surrounding her. She was said to have rejected her Mothers milk and suckled from farm animals, also she is said to have been able to eat a crust of bread a few hours after she was born!

Whether it was due to her physical apperance or her renowned bad temper but she ended up living on her own in a cottage some miles from Burslem, she had to make a living from a young age as both her parents died when she was young, she did this by taking milk into town and selling it, she was constantly accused of watering it down by the townsfolk.

Probably one of the main reasons that turned local people against her was that she had a pet blackbird as company for her, however locals claimed that the blackthorn bush outside Margaret’s cottage that the blackbird used to perch in never produced any blossom. Whether the blackbird was simply a pet or something more sinister, perhaps a familiar that witches are known to use. In Celtic lore it is believed that the blackbird can freely pass from this world into the Otherworld. The bird is said to have mystical abilities and is said to be able to sing a person into a trance like state. The blackbird is also said to be able to give a person access to the magic of the Otherworld and this maybe the reason why “Molly Lee” used it as a familiar. Added to this Molly Lee seldom attended church which would have been frowned upon in her day as it was practically compulsory, because of her reluctance to attend church, Parson Spencer who was rector of St John’s church in Burslem branded her a witch. One day the Parson was drinking in a local pub called the Turk’s Head, Molly’s blackbird is said to have appeared on the pub sign and it is claimed that the beer in the pub turned sour, the Parson is then said to have tried to shoot the bird, and although he is said to have hit the bird it flew off apparently unharmed.