It was common practice in England in the 15th and 16th centuries in remote villages for the wise woman who acted as the healer/apothecary for the area to put a broomstick with the bristles uppermost sticking out of the cold chimney to signify that she was not at home. This would save the local villagers a wasted journey. I understand that the same was true in parts of the Americas when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived. There was therefore an association between the broomstick and the old wise woman. Of course during the Salem witch trials in the USA and also during the Pendle Witch trials in old England the statement made by ‘witnesses’ that they saw the old woman flying on the broomstick.
Of course such stories spread, particularly during the time of the Witchfinder General in the mid 17th Century in England. The English Civil War and the rise of the Parliamentarians ended the reign of the Witchfinder General. (Frequently these Witchfinders aquired the property of the denounced persons!).
It was common practice in England in the 15th and 16th centuries in remote villages for the wise woman who acted as the healer/apothecary for the area to put a broomstick with the bristles uppermost sticking out of the cold chimney to signify that she was not at home. This would save the local villagers a wasted journey. I understand that the same was true in parts of the Americas when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived. There was therefore an association between the broomstick and the old wise woman. Of course during the Salem witch trials in the USA and also during the Pendle Witch trials in old England the statement made by ‘witnesses’ that they saw the old woman flying on the broomstick.
Of course such stories spread, particularly during the time of the Witchfinder General in the mid 17th Century in England. The English Civil War and the rise of the Parliamentarians ended the reign of the Witchfinder General. (Frequently these Witchfinders aquired the property of the denounced persons!).