Day 24 ~ Maryland's Own Moll Dyer

Hello Everyone and Happy Wednesday! Just one week from today is Samhain and I don't know about you, but the Sirens are getting more and more excited as the day comes closer. We hope you are enjoying the things we've brought to you and hold on tight... we have plenty more excitement. Today we have a story about Moll Dyer from Judas Antenesque over at Stirring the Cauldron With Judas. So sit back and hold on tight... here we go!

My Experience With Moll Dyer!

Photo Credit Witchcraft & Witches

As  always at this time of year our  thoughts turn to ghost and those who have passed, especially those who were of accused of being witches and murdered for it, whether it be true or not.   When I first started following this path, I did all the normal research that one does looking into the famous witches who were persecuted in Salem, my mistake at the time was not looking into the ones that were accused, acquitted, or convicted and hanged here in Maryland. A few years after I was on this path,  a movie came out, The Blair Witch project.  Some said it was based around a story of a local witch, let me tell you that the only thing they got right was female, and witch.  And she was burned out of her home.

I began researching witches’ in Maryland. I found the witch they claimed to be talking about, I also discovered her story.  Now there are two paths of thinking about this one particular witch, one is that she was made up, and none of what happened to her actually happened. It is stated they can find no record of her ever living in St. Mary’s county, that she never existed.

The other path of thinking is that she cannot be found in the records because the courthouse that kept those records burned down at one time and original records with it. I am inclined to lean toward this explanation. Why?  Well I believe that NO town really wants to be remembered as the town that set a woman’s house on fire, chased her into the woods and left her to freeze to death.  That’s just my thinking. Honestly if they are not guilty of something then why does almost every yard in that area have a religious statue in it?  Still I began throwing myself into researching everything I could find about this woman.

Moll Dyer has been called a hermit, a widow, a woman hiding from something she did in Europe, and last but not least she was called a WITCH.  In 1697 only one of these was worth killing her over.  In looking deeper, we discovered that most of the people who were accused of being witches were just normal non-practicing people. Some were just not liked by certain groups of people, others had a prime piece of property that someone wanted and the only way to get it was to accuse the owner of being a witch. Still others like Moll, I think lived apart so she didn't have to be bothered with the pettiness of the town’s folk.  They say she practiced herb lore, that some went to her for healing, I believe this to be true.  This is was her downfall. 

1697 was a hard time for that area, people were starving, their crops failing in the fields, the bitter winter had brought with it sickness. What were the causes? Being the intelligent townsfolk that they were, they somehow managed to rule out nature, and come to the conclusion that just one woman was the cause.   They worked themselves into a frenzy and headed to Molls house, did they intend to burn her out? YES!  And that was just what they did.  After setting fire to her hut in the dead of night, they chased her through the woods until they got too cold to follow and left her to fend for herself.  They found her the next day frozen some say to a rock, others call it a boulder.  I have visited it and have to say, it looks like a big rock to me.   As the story goes she was found with her knees, and one hand resting on it, the other hand raised in calling down a curse on the town. Moll was facing Brenton Bay when she died against said rock, was she cursing them I am not sure, but I hope she was.

So after a couple of years of research, I decided to take a drive down  to Route 5 and Leonardtown.  With my trusty wife and a friend of ours we slid into the front of my pickup truck and took the two hour and some odd minutes’ drive.  I had things mapped out, where her hut might have been, and the route she might have taken running from the townsfolk.   We were going to check it all out.  I stopped at a Safeway just outside of Waldorf and picked up three roses to place on Molls rock/boulder. And thirty five minutes later we were pulling into the Leonardtown town square.   

Photo Credit Waymark

Our first stop was the boulder/rock, we found it sitting beside the jailhouse like they said though it was smaller than I might have imagined.  I reverently knelt down carefully running my fingers over its smooth surface, the outlines were not there but you could feel impressions in it.  Gently I touched it, quietly telling Moll that she may be gone but not forgotten.  I suddenly got dizzy, and felt nauseous. (Part of me thought it could have been because the rock/boulder is sitting next to underground cables)  but I have hunted ghost, traipsed through fields and a few houses, and the only other time I felt the way I did that day was during one of my Halloween visits to Gettysburg.  

We drove 326 to Brenton Bay,  where I explained that this was the spot she was found half way between.  Then we went looking for Moll Dyers Run road, or just Dyers Run as it’s called. We finally found Moll Dyers Road. This is where I had the greatest experience I have ever had, (no I did not talk to her).

   

While sitting close to what is now private property, the truck idling, we had the windows open and chatting about what we found, suddenly I began to get warm, okay three arses in the front of a pickup, on an October day in Maryland, yeah we can get warm.   We rolled the windows up and I turned the air on, this did not help.   Ten minutes after this I backed the truck up and pulled back onto route 5 heading to Point Look Out. We were almost to the civil war graveyard when I explained my sudden urge to leave.

Now I have been on fire before, (a lot of weed and a gas oven left me without my eyebrows and other hair for a while) and I have also stood in the front of a building that was on fire so I know what it feels like physically.  So to feel that kind of heat and smoke while sitting in the front of my pickup with two other people was very overwhelming.  I believe that was her way of answering me when I asked if she was real. I have called on Molls help now and again when it comes to getting local problems removed she is great to work with.  We haven’t taken that two hours and some odd minutes’ drive since our son was three, I am thinking that it’s about time to visit Moll.

SO the next time you drive through Maryland on your way to Ocean City and are tired of sitting in traffic on Rt.50, jump off and drive to Leonardtown, visit Molls rock/boulder tell me which one you think it is. And just say “Hi” She’s there I know it.

See you around the cauldron ~Judas

Wednesday's Giveaway!

Today's giveaway comes from Vickie over at Aoibheal's Lair.

This giveaway is a Mini Wax Burner with 5 1 gram packages of Pumpkin Bread scented wax melts.

To enter this drawing:

Your first entry is to follow us here. (Make sure you comment and tell us that you're following!)

Bonus entries:

Go to Aoibheal's Lair and follow her. Come back and tell us that you did.

Like Aoibheal's Lair on Facebook. Come back and tell us you did.

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Remember: You have until 8PM on Thursday night to enter, and the winner will be announced in Friday's Blog post. Good Luck!!

Wednesday's Wicked Desserts

Mummy Head Candy Apples

from Pillsbury ~ Let the Making Begin

Ingredients: 

8 small apples, 

8 sticks, 

2.5 cups white candy melts or coating wafers (14 oz),

 chopped black paste icing color (not liquid food color)

1) Wash and dry apples; remove stem and blossom ends. Insert wooden stick into stem end of each apple.

2) In medium microwavable bowl, microwave candy melts uncovered on High 45 seconds or until melted; stir until smooth.

3) Dip each apple in melted coating, turning and spreading to coat. Let stand on waxed paper until firm. With fork, drizzle remaining melted coating (reheat if necessary) across coated apples in zigzag fashion to look like mummies. With black paste icing, pipe eyes on each apple. Let stand until set.

Crafty Wednesday!

Q-tip Skeleton

from Crafts for All Seasons

This Q-tip skeleton is a wonderful craft for children to make this Halloween!  The best thing is, there are not many supplies needed at all, and most likely they are in your house right now. A child may need some help from an adult to cut the Q-tips in half, as some of them can be a little tough to cut through.

Things Needed:

18 Q-tips

Black cardstock or construction paper

White paper

Black marker

Scissors

White glue

1. Begin by gluing 6 whole Q-tips on the black cardstock for the skeleton’s ribs.

2. Glue 1 Q-tip perpendicular over the ribs to act as the backbone. Have the Q-tip lie flush with the last rib, but poke up longer than the top rib, to act as the neck bone.

3. Draw a skull on the white paper with a black marker, and cut it out.

4. Glue the skull on the paper above and touching the neck bone.

5. Glue 4 whole Q-tips for the arm joints and leg joints, as shown in the finished photo below.

 6. Cut 6 whole Q-tips in half, or make them even shorter if you like (like I did). These are smaller bones that can be used as the 10 fingers, and 2 to be the feet. Glue them in place. 

7. Hang on your front door for the Trick-or-Treaters!

And the Winner Is!

The winner of the Monday October 22nd Giveaway from Nyx DarkSky from Pagan Mart is: Jonquil Alexa (petoskystone)

Congratulations!!

Please make sure to email  us your shipping information and we'll get your prize out to you within 5 business days.

*Note: All winners are selected through random number generation. Be sure you enter each time separately so you can make the most of it.

Also, don't forget that each entry qualifies you for our Grand Prize Giveaway at the end of the celebration!

The Video for Wednesday!

Today's video is brought to you courtesy of our Siren DJ, Kestril Trueseeker

The kid friendly classic, The Monster Mash, is a staple of Halloween parties. Most little kids, even if they are scared of the boogieman, happily do the mash.

Catch you tomorrow!