In the witchcraft movement it would seem that certain plants were in
requisition for particular purposes, these workers of darkness having
utilised the properties of herbs to special ends. A plant was not
indiscriminately selected, but on account of possessing some virtue as
to render it suitable for any design that the witches might have in
view. Considering, too, how multitudinous and varied were their actions,
they had constant need of applying to the vegetable world for materials
with which to carry out their plans. But foremost amongst their
requirements was the power of locomotion wherewith to enable them with
supernatural rapidity to travel from one locality to another.
Accordingly, one of their most favourite vehicles was a besom or broom,
an implement which, it has been suggested, from its being a type of the
winds, is an appropriate utensil "in the hands of the witches, who are
windmakers and workers in that element.[11]" According to the _Asiatic
Register_ for 1801, the Eastern as well as the European witches
"practise their spells by dancing at midnight, and the principal
instrument they use on such occasions is a broom." Hence, in Hamburg,
sailors, after long toiling against a contrary wind, on meeting another
ship sailing in an opposite direction, throw an old broom before the
vessel, believing thereby to reverse the wind.[12] As, too, in the case
of vervain and rue, the besom, although dearly loved by witches, is
still extensively used as a counter-charm against their machinations--it
being a well-known belief both in England and Germany that no individual
of this stamp can step over a besom laid inside the threshold. Hence,
also, in Westphalia, at Shrovetide, white besoms with white handles are
tied to the cows' horns; and, in the rites connected with the Midsummer
fires kept up in different parts of the country, the besom holds a
prominent place. In Bohemia, for instance, the young men collect for
some weeks beforehand as many worn-out brooms as they can lay their
hands on. These, after dipping in tar, they light--running with them