Home » Stories » True Stories » The Prosecution of the Carnmoney Witch

The Montgomery Family

In the parish of Carnmoney (Carn of the Bog) in County Antrim lived a tailor named Alexander Montgomery with his wife Elizabeth and son David aged about 20. Their dwelling was close to Carnmoney Meeting House.

Hill View
Carnmoney Hill View

The Bewitched Cow

As was the custom at the time, the family kept a cow to provide milk and butter. Any extra produced, they could sell to supplement their income.

In the summer of 1807 however, the family noticed a problem. Although the cow continued to produce milk, try as they might they could not churn the milk into butter.

Neighbours and friends were consulted during the month of July. Various people tried to churn the milk but to no avail. The general consensus was that the cow had been bewitched. Traditional remedies and charms were used to try to undo the spell or reveal the witch but nothing worked.

“With Roun-tree tied in the cow’s tail,

And vervain gleaned about the ditches,

But a these did nought avail,

Tho’ They blest the cow, and cursed the witches”

Ballad of Carnmoney Witches

Bewitched Cow
Bewitched Cow

Mary Butters – The Healer

At this point the Montgomery’s were told about Mary Butters and her magical knowledge. In desperation they sent for the woman. Mary had been born in Carrickfergus around 1770. She was said to have been adept in ‘white magic’ from an early age. Using herbs and charms Mary had a reputation as a healer. She specialised in curing livestock that had been bewitched.

A cow was a very valuable asset in any Irish household in those days. Long held beliefs of bewitching by ‘butterwitches’ were widespread. It is notable here that a report in a local newspaper seems to blame the womenfolk for encouraging such superstitions.

“An opinion, which had been too long entertained by many people in the country, was unfortunately instilled into the mind of Montgomery’s wife, that whenever such circumstances occurred, it was occasioned by the cow having been bewitched. In this opinion she was fortified by the concurring testimony of every old woman in the parish, each of whom contributed her story of what she had seen and known in former times”

Belfast Newsletter, 21st August 1807
Belfast Newsletter 21st August 1807
Belfast Newsletter 21st August 1807

Belief in Witchcraft

The belief in witchcraft was not native to Ireland but brought over with the Presbyterian planters from Scotland. The parish of Carnmoney was at this time mainly Presbyterian in character. It is likely the Montgomery’s were of this faith, especially as they lived close to the Meeting House. The Scots-Presbyterian heritage had a profound belief in the devil and his servant witches.

“They brought their ideas with them to Ireland. Witch hunting in Scotland was one of the worst in Europe, far worse than England. Some 3,800 people were prosecuted there, and more than three quarters were put to death by strangling or burning”

Andrew Sneddon, Witchcraft and Magic in Ireland

Mary’s Analysis

When Mary arrived in the country parish of Carnmoney on a Tuesday in August, she consulted with the Montgomerys and their neighbours who had gathered to witness the event.

Mary tried and failed to churn the milk herself.

It is said that several of the bystanders drank the milk afterwards and were violently sick. It was agreed that the cow was the subject of a malevolent spell placed by a witch to cause hardship for the Montgomery family.

Removing the Curse

Preparation

Mary Butters agreed to perform a spell to revoke the curse. This had to happen after nightfall and as it was mid-summer the family had to wait till after 10.00pm before she could begin.

Alexander Montgomery and a young man named Carnaghan who was present, were instructed to go to the byre. They were told to wear their waistcoats turned inside out. Both men had to stand beside the cow’s head and wait there until called for.

Newsletter 21st August 1807
Newsletter 21st August 1807

Mary’s Spell

Meanwhile Mary Butters, Mrs Montgomery, David Montgomery and an old local woman called Margaret Lee who was lodging with the family remained in the house. Mary proceeded to close all the windows and doors and seal up every crevice where air could enter. She even blocked up the chimney so that she could cleanse the home.

In a large cooking pot over the fire, she poured some sweetened milk and added some needles, pins and crooked nails. The group huddled around the hearth and waited for the spell to take effect.

Carmoney Witch
Carmoney Witch

The Outcome

When morning broke and Montgomery and Carnaghan had still not been summoned they left the barn and approached the house.

They knocked on the locked door but received no reply. Looking through the window they espied the four occupants lying on the floor. In alarm they broke open the door.

A strong sulphurous smell filled the small cottage. Alexander found his wife and son dead. Margaret Lee was unconscious and passed away shortly after. Only Mary Butters was still breathing.

Local Reaction

A group of people gathered at the stricken house. They roughly grabbed Mary and dragged her outdoors. It is said they threw her on a dunghill and manhandled her till she regained consciousness.

“…and Mary Butters being thrown out on a dunghill, where she received some hearty kicks, soon after recovered”

Robert M Young, Historical Notices of Old Belfast 1896

John S Crone in his article Witchcraft in Antrim (Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vol 14 1908), states that Mary only regained consciousness when a mob of incensed locals brought her to the edge of a quarry and threatened to throw her over.

Imprisonmemt

Butters bought herself some time by claiming she could revive the dead folk if she was brought back to their cottage. Instead, Mary Butters was thrown into Carrickfergus jail. In harsh conditions she waited seven months till the sitting of the next Assizes.

An inquest was held on 19th August 1807 in Carnmoney. The coroner was James Stewart. He had examined the bodies and gave his opinion that Elizabeth and David Montgomery and Margaret Lee had died from inhaling the fumes and smoke from the pot over the fire. The jury concurred.

“The jury stated that they came to their death from suffocation, occasioned by a woman named Mary Butters, in her use of some noxious ingredients, in the manner of a charm, to recover a cow, the property of Alexander Montgomery”

Samuel McSkimin, History and Antiquities of Carrickfergus
Inquest Report (Newsletter August 1807)
Inquest Report (Newsletter August 1807)

The Verdict of the Court

Mary Butters faced trial at the Spring Assizes in March 1808.

For her defence she asserted that the occupants of the house had been killed by a devil with a huge club. She said that she too had been knocked over by this assailant.

The jury in the courtroom however, were more convinced by the original verdict delivered at the Inquest of death through poisoning/ suffocation. They did not believe this was deliberate.

The deaths in this case were recorded as being accidental. Mary Butters was acquitted by Proclamation. This effectively meant that there was no trial or verdict and the defendant was free to go. However, she could be re-summoned for trial if new evidence came to light.

Path through the Carnmoney woods
Path through the Carnmoney woods

Mary’s Fate

Mary Butters returned home and subsequently moved to live in the woods on Carnmoney Hill, where she was known as the Carnmoney Witch.

Fortunately for Mary and unusually for the time, she does not seem to have been shunned or ostracized from society. Indeed, it is reported that she was still called upon for her services in treating bewitched cows.

She is also said to have had the power of returning stolen horses to their rightful owners and inflicting punishment on the thieves.

Mary Butters died around 1839, though no grave record has ever been found.

Carnmoney Hill Path
Carnmoney Hill Path

The Ballad of the Witches

The sorceress opens the scene

With magic words of her invention,

To make the foolish people keen

Who did not know her base intention

She drew a circle round the churn,

And washed the staff in south-run water,

And swore the witches she would burn,

But she would have the tailor’s butter.

When sable night her curtain spread

Then she got on a flaming fire;

The tailor stood at the cow’s head

With his turn’d waistcoat in the byre.

The chimney covered with a scraw

An’ every crevice where it smoak’d,

But long before the cock did craw

The people in the house were choak’d.

The muckle pot hung on all night,

As Mary Butters had been brewing

In hopes to fetch some witch or wight,

Whas entrails by her art were stewing.

In this her magic a’ did fail,

Nae witch nor wizard was detected,

Now Mary Butters lies in jail

For the base part that she acted.

From the Ballad of the Carnmoney Witches

Useful Reference

Charles McConnell - The Witches of Islandmagee
The Witches of Islandmagee by Charles McConnell

Related Posts

The Last Witch Trial in Ireland

The Stocks at Purity Lane
The Stocks at Purity Lane

The last witch trial in Ireland reaching a verdict took place in March 1711 at the Old Courthouse in Carrickfergus.


If you enjoyed this article…

If you like our posts please help us to grow our readership by sharing any posts that you like using the social media sharing icons at the foot of each post.

Please Consider a Small Donation

Belfast Entries is a husband & wife hobby website featuring articles on our shared history, memories and entertaining stories of our past. To help us meet rising website hosting costs please click the coffee cup below to learn how to make a small donation. Please note that every contribution is valued and that we will not contact you directly in order to respect your privacy.

Buy Us a Coffee
Buy Us a Coffee

Donations this month 1 🙂

We had 8 donations last month


What are others reading now?

Galboly cottage view

Galboly – The County Antrim Village Lost in Time

By P&P / 30 September 2021 / 4 Comments
Mill chimney - a common sight in Belfast

Ardoyne – The Story of a Village

By P&P / 13 November 2021 / 2 Comments
Bodies Illustration at the scene Belfast Telegraph 13th March 1890

Nora’s Grave – A True Story of Love & Death

By P&P / 19 March 2022 / 0 Comments
Belfast Long Bridge crossed the River Lagan between 1688 and 1841

Unusual Laws in Old Belfast 1613 – 1816

By P&P / 11 March 2022 / 0 Comments

Cost of Living Crisis

Given the current cost of living crisis that will impact so many in coming months we have added a page signposting organisations that may be able to offer support. We have no relationship with these organisations and cannot offer financial advice but we hope that some of the links may prove useful.



Ancestry Antrim Arthur Chichester artist Belfast Belfast Entries Belfast Family belfast roots Carrickfergus Castle Cemetery Church Clifton House County Antrim County Down Department Store Donegal education. family tree Famous Folk Forgotten folk Genealogy Ghost graveyard Historical places History Hotel Ireland Irish Census Records Irish Family Irish genealogy irish roots Mary Ann McCracken Operation Overlord Otto Jaffe People Philanthropist Places to see Poor House Public Health Reformer Sailortown St Patrick Titanic Tourism United Irishmen


Belfast Entries posts & photos are our intellectual property and copyrighted to us. Where we use photos that do not belong to us, it is because we believe them to be in the public domain or shared under a Creative Commons licence with appropriate attribution. None of our content or images can be used without our consent. Note that a link to our Copyright & Takedown notice is included in the website footer on all pages.


P&P

We are a Belfast couple adding information on Belfast and the surrounding counties. Over coming months we will add a range of posts covering the people, places, products and stories that interest us and will hopefully be of interest to you. Over time we hope to build up information of use to locals & visitors alike and welcome your feedback on subjects of interest or stories that might be interest to the wider audience. Let us know what you think.

0 Comments

Leave a Reply

Avatar placeholder

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Would you like notifications of new Belfast Entries posts? OK No thanks