Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1885-06-30
THR IEaEND q WIECH,s RoCE.



II Haen n rnchnmana esrwwna mma - Esam
shunnsd ~ ehs suDarnsiaiens.
In the midst Of q deep wood, not far
from 4 beautiful village ia western
Rhode Island, Is an enchanted rock. It
Is common boulder, about four feet
across the top, and not more than two
feet high. Around it - q singular
shallow furrow. Tall trees bend over it,
and it is only in midsummer that tho
vertical sun pierces the interIaeing
bOughs. The whole wood bears an I'M
canny reputation in local tradition. and
within the memory of the older inhabi-
tanfs witches are said to have been seen
! fitting about the outskirts Of the forest.
The neighbcrhood Of the rock Is es-
| pecially Stunned, and belated children
returning from q berrying trip on the
hills hasten their footsteps as they pass
the dreaded boulder. More than 200
years ago the regicides COTE and
VITALITY, fed from Point Judith to this
place, and since that time the stone has
been known as Witch Rock. An aged
Rhode Islander related his legend the
other day:
CA couple of hundred years agotn he
said, when settlers had begun to
break ground In the neighborhood Of
Hopkins Hill, a witch made her home
In cabin that had been abandoned by 4
pioneer close to Witch Rock. EVERYTHING
within hundred yards Of the rock be-
came enchanted, and she caused the
settlers many annoyances by her pzanks.
Tools that were left out over night
mysteriously disappeared, cattle were
afflicted with singular diseases, stones
were hurled through window panes BY
unseen hands, and whenever hail storm
or hurricane swept over the hills. de-
stroying the crops, people saw her flying
through the air, driving the storm on
ward with her broom. At last she was
driven out of the settlement. but the
rock and all the ground about i re-
NAMED enchanted to this day.
81 can recollect when the wood was
cleared land, but it was never possible to
plough within hundred yards Of the
bewitched stone. AS soon as the witch
line was passed, it is said, off went the
plough chip, which is now called the land
side, and which at that time was of
wood. You might fasten the chip on
again, If you could find it, but off it
would go Just as soon as the team was
started. The last attempt to plough
near the rock was made by an old man
named Reynolds about eighty or ninety
years ago. He said that he could put on
q plough clip so it would stay, and
many neighbors gathered to see the
trial.
Reynolds started into the field, and
the plough ran smoothly enough until
he crossed the witch's line, and then all
of a sudden the chip few off. The
plough edged away, and there were q
good many white faces, for nobody knew
what might happen next But the old
pioughman was not at all disheartened.
He soon found the chip in the furrow.
under turf, and he picked it up and
clasped it on the framework. Again the
team was started, but in a jiffy away
few the chip again, and vanished in the
air, and the oxen were found to be un-
yoked. Mr.. Reynolds hunted the furrow
over, but could not find the missing
piece. After this the crowd edged away,
slowly at first, but as soon as they were
out of the old mans sight away they sped
home.
ssReynolds said as soon as the people
ran away crow came from the north,
perched itself on a dead oak near by,
and commenced to CRY. Cav cawl cav 7
At this John Hopkins, who owned the
magical piece of land, and who had
been attracted from his home to the
spot after the fight of the people,
cried back:
"'Squawk you old Pat Jenkinsr
ssWhen the crow came flying over, the
plough chip came down out of the air,
the crow changed into an old woman
with cooked hat on. She was pursued
by the men to the rock, when she turned
into cat and disappeared into its mys-
FERROUS underground recesses. Shovels
were fetched, and willing hands dug
around and under the rock, but no trace
was found Of the cat. After that the
lot was left to grow up to weeds, wild
grass, and bushes; the cabin fell to pieces
about the enchanted rock, and finally
the thick woods that you now see COW
cred the tract, hiding the witch stone
from the world"
Witch's Rock is rarely visited, except
by hunters, and others who have heard
of its reputation.
The furrow about the boulder, which
is still distinctly traceable, is pointed
out as the trench excavated BY the
farmers shovels nearly 100 years ago,
In the effort to unearthen the black
witch cat that had eluded them.