The writing of "The Old Woman and the Conjurors" began as a result of a complete co-incidence. The author, whilst researching for a friend, discovered a story in an adjacent newspaper column containing familiar names and places. It described an attack on an old woman in a Devonshire village who was suspected of being a witch. This woman turned out to be the author's ancestor, and the subsequent investigation into her story led to the uncovering of a veritable pandemic of "witch scratching" and even murder of mostly elderly women during the period studied.