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Of Witches and Deathbeds

Sunday, 5 February 2012

There's a hill on the Isle of Man (where I hail from, as regular readers will know) called Slieau Whallian. Folk legend has it that they used to put suspected witches - women and men - into spiked barrels at the top of this hill to see if they survived being rolled down. If they did the unfortunate victims must be witches and were killed. I'm sure you get the twisted logic.

Whether any of this actually happened, I don't know. I do know it's a very peaceful and lovely hill now. And I also know the tale is a good setting for a fantasy story. One in which things don't quite go to plan for those meting out this "justice". Having written such a story, I'm delighted to report that Electric Spec have bought it for their February edition. The story is called, unsurprisingly enough, Slieau Whallian.


Also, my entry into the 20th Sam's Dot Drabble Contest (Deathbed Confessions) - a fantasy piece called The Summoning Words - has been accepted and should be appearing there later this month.




Image: Slieau Whallian © Copyright Jon Wornham.

Posted by Simon Kewin at 10:14

18 comments:

  1. Deborah Walker5 February 2012 at 12:43

    Congratulations on two very nice sales, Simon. You're a regular a Electric Spec now.

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  2. Simon Kewin5 February 2012 at 13:23

    Thanks, Deborah. I know! There's an interview with them coming up on the W1S1 blog, too.

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  3. Old Kitty5 February 2012 at 13:31

    Yay for your most successful submissions!! Now how does one pronounce Slieau Whallian without being laughed at!??!?! :-)

    Boooo to this bit of folk lore nastiness though! I hope to heavens such a thing was never done but then you never know... it's terrible! Poor witches and their familiars - much maligned creatures!! :-)

    Take care
    x

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  4. Simon Kewin5 February 2012 at 13:48

    Old Kitty,

    I'd pronounce it "Sloo Wellian" myself, but I'm not a Manx speaker. And, absolutely on the nastiness. Hopefully the story redresses the balance in some small way.

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  5. Deborah Walker5 February 2012 at 14:32

    An interview. Fabulous. I'm looking forward to it.

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  6. Lydia Gray5 February 2012 at 14:54

    Congratulations, Simon!

    I'm looking forward to reading Slieau Whallian. It sounds great. I love old places and old legends.

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  7. mshatch5 February 2012 at 16:15

    Congrats, Simon :)

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  8. Simon Kewin5 February 2012 at 17:09

    Thanks Lydia and mshatch!

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  9. Golden Eagle5 February 2012 at 20:04

    It really is twisted the way they tried people as witches--if you survived, you were killed. If you died you were . . . well, innocent, but innocence didn't equal life.

    Congratulations on your stories!

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  10. Simon Kewin5 February 2012 at 20:49

    Thanks, Golden Eagle. I imagine a lot of the time it was just a way of getting rid of someone inconvenient and the business with the barrel (or whatever) was a way of dressing up what was, basically, murder.

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  11. Thomas Taylor5 February 2012 at 21:04

    Congratulations, Simon. I'd especially like to read that Slieau Whallian story. A fine hill with a dark soul, or so I imagine.

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  12. Simon Kewin5 February 2012 at 21:10

    Thanks, Thomas. You're exactly right.

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  13. Anonymous5 February 2012 at 21:21

    I enjoyed your last Electric Spec appearance, so I know I'll like this one as well. Way to go, Simon!

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  14. Simon Kewin5 February 2012 at 22:31

    Thanks, Milo!

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  15. dolorah6 February 2012 at 00:21

    Awesome. You're certainly keeping with the the published stories.

    How do you find these publications?

    .......dhole

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  16. Simon Kewin6 February 2012 at 07:27

    Thanks, Donna. Duotrope is my friend!

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  17. Sherri Lackey6 February 2012 at 21:11

    Saw you listed on the A-Z Challenge and I am now following. Congratulations on your submissions!

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  18. Simon Kewin6 February 2012 at 21:22

    Thanks, Sherri! See you on the A to Z.

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I'd love to know what you think.