Witch's ladder

[2] Six brooms, an old armchair and a ‘rope with feathers woven into it’ were found in the space that separated the roof from the upper room and was inaccessible from the interior of the house.

[3] This article detailed the responses to local enquiries, but was followed by a number of letters to the journal which expressed a range of opinions as to the function of the rope.

[4][5][6] When Charles Godfrey Leland received news of the Wellington find whilst in Italy, he investigated and found that the witches there used a similar form, called a "witches garland"; the item was made of cord, and contained black hen feathers.

The malediction was uttered as each knot was tied in and the item was placed under the victim's bed, to cause the ill fortune (see Part 2, Chapter 5 of Roman Etruscan Remains for more details).

Reverend Sabine Baring-Gould included an extensive article on the witch's ladder in his novel Curgenven published in 1893.

In his account the ladder was made of black wool, with white and brown thread, and at every two inches it was tied around cock's feathers.

An earlier version of a witch's ladder consisted of a rope or cord of three, nine, or thirteen knots.