User talk:Spookywitch1234
October 2020
[edit]
Hello, I'm CLCStudent. I wanted to let you know that one or more of your recent contributions have been undone because they did not appear constructive. If you would like to experiment, please use your sandbox. If you have any questions, you can ask for assistance at the Teahouse. Thanks. CLCStudent (talk) 15:51, 9 October 2020 (UTC)
- Hi Spookywitch1234. In the edit summary for the change which CLCStudent highlights above, you ask for the source of evidence that it was the subject's enemies that perpetuated the rumours of her being a witch. In the linked, quoted and referenced work (immediately next to the text in question) Curran (2005) states the following. He does so in a section expressly dealing with the subject's raids on planted landowners;
- Some of these attacks were allegedly led by Máire Rua herself and no matter how often the English fought back, she always seemed to escape [..] she had many enemies, most of whom were happy to perpetuate the witchcraft legend
- Later on in the work, in what amounts to his "conclusion" section on the subject, Curran further notes that:
- The various tales of witchcraft attributed to the Fitzgeralds and the O'Briens were probably little more than propaganda put about by their enemies. As the former Gaelic aristocracy - particular those that had opposed English settlement - began to fade away both in status and power, there seems to have been something of an effort to portray them in a less than favourable light.
- I would also note that, in his extensive intro, Curran explains how medieval "male-dominated communities" used rumours and claims of witchcraft as a weapon against women they didn't like or who didn't fit a mould of expected behaviours. It is not really appropriate for us to repeat claims that the subject was a witch (clearly fanciful given that witches and sorcery are not real), without applying at least some of the same qualifiers that the source material itself does. Guliolopez (talk) 18:15, 9 October 2020 (UTC)
- Also, FYI, to perpetuate something doesn't mean to create (start) it. To perpetuate something is to continue (sustain) it. Guliolopez (talk) 19:31, 9 October 2020 (UTC)