Jenny Gibbons wrote: >"Mischief" is causing damage to another person's property, according to >Black's Law Dictionary. The damage can have been caused deliberately (in which case it's sometimes called "malicious mischief") or through negligence. For instance if your cows destroyed part of a neighbor's crops, that could be considered mischief. The Oxford English Dictionary confirms that the legal term "mischief" meant tangible damage as early as the 16th century. That's quite useful information, but I can see that mischief could be linked to witchcraft, and, iirc, sometimes was. After all, most of the complaints against witches seem to involve damage of persons or property. I can also see that elderly persons, especially women, might not keep up their property as well as their neighbors might like, and thus complaints might follow. I'm curious: who got the property after Goody Chamberlain died in prison? Carol Karlsen has piointed out that often civil complaints were followed by neighbors or (male) relatives taking over (female-owned) property that otherwise the male relatvies or neighbors would not have gotten their hands on. Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ Choose an Internet access plan right for you -- try MSN! http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp

Then mischief would be our new govenor putting in a toxic waste dump on the banks of the Ashelot river 1/8 of a mile from my shop. I wonder...If I were in old Salem what I should do.....Guess we will just go and protest (in vain I fear). Pamela ----- Original Message ----- From: "Francine Nicholson" <sorcha432@hotmail.com> To: <SALEM-WITCH-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, November 04, 2002 6:32 PM Subject: [SALEM-WITCH-L] Re: Mischief > Jenny Gibbons wrote: > >"Mischief" is causing damage to another person's property, according to > >Black's Law Dictionary. The damage can have been caused deliberately > (in which case it's sometimes called "malicious mischief") or through > negligence. For instance if your cows destroyed part of a neighbor's > crops, that could be considered mischief. The Oxford English Dictionary > confirms that the legal term "mischief" meant tangible damage as early as > the 16th century. > > That's quite useful information, but I can see that mischief could be linked > to witchcraft, and, iirc, sometimes was. After all, most of the complaints > against witches seem to involve damage of persons or property. I can also > see that elderly persons, especially women, might not keep up their property > as well as their neighbors might like, and thus complaints might follow. > > I'm curious: who got the property after Goody Chamberlain died in prison? > Carol Karlsen has piointed out that often civil complaints were followed by > neighbors or (male) relatives taking over (female-owned) property that > otherwise the male relatvies or neighbors would not have gotten their hands > on. > > Francine Nicholson > > _________________________________________________________________ > Choose an Internet access plan right for you -- try MSN! > http://resourcecenter.msn.com/access/plans/default.asp > > >