This drawing is inspired by the frontispiece (see below) to the witch hunter Mathew Hopkins‘ infamous pamphlet The Discovery of Witches (London, 1647) is a classic image of Witches naming their imps and familiars – under horrific torture and threat of death – which was meted out to them anyway.
Legendary Essex note: The Witches Familiar ‘Vinegar Tom’ was described as ‘like a long-legg’d greyhound with a head like an Oxe”. This description was offered by a Woman in 1644, in Manningtree, Essex convicted of being a witch by Matthew Hopkins, after 4 days of being deprived sleep and other tortures. The descriptions captured the imagination of woodcut artists at the time, and helped further fuel the terror and hysteria for which many women were murdered in witch trials.
