The Bristol Witch Project
By BOB CONNORS
Updated 2:50 PM EDT, Fri, Oct 30, 2009
Double, double toil and trouble. That is the famous chant of the witches in William Shakespeare's "Macbeth," but did witches curse an area of Bristol as well?
It helps that the area in question is along Witches Rock Road in Bristol. The history of witchcraft on the road goes as far back as the 1700s, city historian Bob Montgomery told the Bristol Press. The story began when a witch placed a curse on a bunch of rocks, which became known as "witchrock," according to Montgomery. That curse is said to remain and haunts the street to this day, Montgomery told the paper.
The cable television channel FEARnet recently featured the program.
Some of those strange occurrences are documented in city history, according to the Press. Most notable is the story of Elijah Gaylord in the 1800s. An angry witch cursed Gaylord and every time he passed witchrock, his cart would separate from the horse that was pulling it. The mysterious happening continued until Gaylord finally moved away.
Another unexplained event from that time involved Truman Norton, who lived on the road with his daughter Merilla. The young girl was cursed by a witch and her father was so concerned about his daughter's safety, he hired someone to watch over her throughout the night, the Press reports.
Merilla was tormented that night by needles being stuck into her skin, by "unseen hands," according to the man watching over her.
FEARnet has featured Witches Rock Road on its "Streets of Fear" program. Comcast offers the show on its "On Demand" listings, or you can watch it on the Streets of Fear Web site.
First Published: Oct 15, 2009 12:26 PM EDT
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