Salem Witch Trials

I basically skipped school today since some bloody sports championship was on and I has better ways to spend my life, thanks all the same. Like dividing my team between reading/watching Harry Potter, and writing.

I'm not going to divulge the plot of my project at the moment, but it should (hopefully) be novel length (IE over 40,000 words.) at the moment I'm about quarter of the way there length wise, which is fairly good going.

So, as part of my story I was doing some research into the Salem Witch Trials. (Don't ask me why, I can't tell you.)

In particular, there was one woman who was amongst the first three to be convicted that caught my attention. Her name was Sarah, and she was sort of a tramp. She was in her thirties, married with a four year old daughter and another on the way, when she was accused of practising Witchcraft.

Lots of fascinating stuff happened, which I won't go into (you'll just have to read my story when it's done, won't you?) But this is the main point I want to focus on:

She was heavily pregnant when she was accused and taken to a cell where she was tortured using Waterboarding, amongst other methods.

(If you don't already know, Waterboarding is a form of torture where the victim is strapped to a board, held down with ropes, etc. water is them poured over their head, producing the effect of drowning them on dry land. This can result in choking, the lungs filling with water, severe psychological trauma and even victims simply having a heart attack out of fear. It doesn't sound so bad when you first hear about it- having water poured over your head- but some victims have been so traumatised they've been unale to take a shower or go out when it rains. I can sort of guess at what an Eco of it might feel like. Learning to roll in my kayak, I somehow managed to lose the handle for the spray deck one time and was stuck under water. It was horrible.)

Yes, so, anyway, Sarah. She was taken to a cell where she was bound and tortured- her four year old daughter was forced to testify against her in court. She gave birth in that same cell, and do you know what she named her daughter?

Mercy.

That struck me as inescapably sad. Especially as Mercy died soon after birth.

This all fits almost eerily well with the plot of my book(?). It almost freaked me out, how many little details slotted into place.

So, yes. If you want to learn more, then you're going to have to wait until it's finished. :3

And the buy it. :D

Mischief Managed.

Nox.