Hello all: I have not suggested noe do I now recommend that an accusation of "mischief" should automatically be interpreted as witchcraft. However, I do think that the close association of mischief with witchcraft justifies research to see whetheer a woman accused of witchcraft was assumed to be a witch, no matter what the date was. If I remember correctly, there was some questioning of whether other crimes were charged when the accusers were actuaqlly thinking "witchcraft." I've found one possible case in an article from Journal of Black Studies, Sep94, Vol. 25 Issue 1, p99, 19p by Timothy J. McMillan. The title is BLACK MAGIC: WITCHCRAFT, RACE, AND RESISTANCE IN COLONIAL NEW ENGLAND." McMillan notes two cases in which black slaves were convicted of arson. However, instead of receiving the usual punishments, one was burnt. The other was hung and then his bordy was burnt on the same spot where the woman was burnt, so that their shes would mingle. McMillan points out that though the crime was arson, the punishment corresponds to that used in Europe for witches (and I'd add, heretics). McMillan argues--persuasively, I think--that in the minds of the magistrates and the accusers, the accused were witches, and though they were convicted of arson, they were treated the way witches were in Europe. Btw, the burning occurred in Roxbury--is that Middlesex or Suffolk County? Of course, burning blacks for various crimes continued to happen in various colonies--it seems to be a race-related thing. So, it may not be that notions of witchcraft were involved. McMillan notes that in the eighteenth century in NYC, "The use of this traditional method of execution [burning] demonstrates the fear among Whites of the satanic power possessed by Blacks and the need to cleanse their society of the threat." McMillan notes that burning, the ultimate method of execution, associated with destroying heretics and witches, was used on blacks accused of committing or plotting violence against whites or their property--and we're back to associations with "mischief." Incidentally,one of the black women who was accused at Salem confessed to having a knotted handkerchief and other objects that would be used in image magic, good or bad. McMillan notes that, "Peoples of African origin were considered to traffic with devils and actually resembled Satan himself." Repeatedly in New England records, the devil is described as a "black man" (although there are also associations with Indians or "tawnies," a point McMillan does not make.) Francine Nicholson _________________________________________________________________ Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months FREE* http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail