VelvetBlade
January 20th, 2007, 08:05 AM
LONDON — She is 72 and a great-grandmother, but she still remembers how her classmates labeled her "witch-spawn" and "evil eye" because her grandmother was one of the last people jailed in Britain on witchcraft charges.
At the height of World War II, medium Helen Duncan was convicted under an 18th-century anti-witchcraft law and jailed by authorities who accused her of compromising Britain's safety.
Now, more than 50 years after Duncan's death, granddaughter Mary Martin is campaigning for a pardon.
"I was only 11 years old when the name-calling started," recalled Martin, who lives near Edinburgh, Scotland. "People said, 'Your grandmother was a witch.'"
"But she was simply a woman with a gift and she never endangered anybody."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-07/01-20-07/05world-nation.htm
At the height of World War II, medium Helen Duncan was convicted under an 18th-century anti-witchcraft law and jailed by authorities who accused her of compromising Britain's safety.
Now, more than 50 years after Duncan's death, granddaughter Mary Martin is campaigning for a pardon.
"I was only 11 years old when the name-calling started," recalled Martin, who lives near Edinburgh, Scotland. "People said, 'Your grandmother was a witch.'"
"But she was simply a woman with a gift and she never endangered anybody."
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/01-07/01-20-07/05world-nation.htm