All Journal stories Witchcraft, Magic and Mystery
The Sark JournalThe book that would not stay gone
Burn them, bury them or throw them into the sea. According to Sark folklore, the books could still come back.
Burn the book.
It comes back.
Bury it.
It comes back.
Throw it into the sea.
It comes back.
These two books, Le Grand Albert and Le Petit Albert, share that reputation in Sark folklore: not that they were owned, but that they could not be got rid of.
Another Sark bargain with the Devil
The Devil appears elsewhere in Sark folklore too. William de Carteret, a fisherman, is said to have summoned the Devil to carry him home from Port Gorey.
He tricked Satan into carrying him the whole way, then banished him at his own doorstep.
Sugar became lice
A Stocks chef is said to have been caught consulting the book, and to have transformed a bowl of sugar into a bowl of lice.
Stocks is a real hotel. The transformation belongs to the folklore story.
More of Sark鈥檚 older stories are in Sark folklore, while Sark鈥檚 Witch Trials covers the separate legal history of people prosecuted for sorcery.
