| Description Of Item | Two clipped articles from the Scotsman in a scrapbook from the collection of John Ritchie relating to the attack on Abbé (abbot) Jean Charles Alfred Desnoyers for practicing witchcraft. Both discusses an attack on parish curate Abbé Desnoyers in the commune of Bombon by two men, six women, and four girls. Following a complaint made in Bordeaux against Desnoyers for practicing witchcraft against members of the Order of Our Lady of Tears of Bordeaux, the twelve were ‘deputed to chastise the priest’. The second article discusses the background of the attack, the sect which perpetrated it, and its founder Marie Mesmin. Further discussion of this story is found in DEP/RIJ/8/71-74. |