''Lithobolia: or, the Stone-Throwing Devil'' is a 7,000-word narrative

folk tale Oral literature, orature, or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung in contrast to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used va ...

by Richard Chamberlayne first printed in London in 1698. It is considered an early example of

esoteric Western esotericism, also known as the Western mystery tradition, is a wide range of loosely related ideas and movements that developed within Western society. These ideas and currents are united since they are largely distinct both from orthod ...

literature and

supernatural horror Horror is a genre of speculative fiction that is intended to disturb, frighten, or scare an audience. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror. Literary historian J. A. Cuddon, in 1984, defi ...

writing, and has been compared to modern

poltergeist In German folklore and ghostlore, a poltergeist ( or ; ; or ) is a type of ghost or spirit that is responsible for physical disturbances, such as loud noises and objects being moved or destroyed. Most claims or fictional descriptions of polter ...

stories. The book describes events which supposedly took place during 1682 in Great Island (present-day New Castle),

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was an English colony and later a British province in New England. It corresponds to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America. It was named after the Englis ...

. During the summer months, hundreds of stones rained down on a certain

tavern A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and (mostly historically) where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that ...

. Nobody witnessed anyone throwing the stones. The tavern owner accused a female neighbor of using

witchcraft Witchcraft is the use of Magic (supernatural), magic by a person called a witch. Traditionally, "witchcraft" means the use of magic to inflict supernatural harm or misfortune on others, and this remains the most common and widespread meanin ...

against him, and she in turn accused him of being a wizard. The tavern was already controversial in the area, because the owner was a prosperous

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

, its personnel included Native Americans, and its regular customers included so-called " godless"

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

. The events marked the first major accusations about witchcraft in

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, starting a trend of similar accusations in other New England towns. The word "lithobolia" comes from a religious festival of

ancient Greece Ancient Greece () was a northeastern Mediterranean civilization, existing from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of classical antiquity (), that comprised a loose collection of culturally and linguistically r ...

, the ''

Lithobolia ''Lithobolia: or, the Stone-Throwing Devil'' is a 7,000-word narrative folklore, folk tale by Richard Chamberlayne first printed in London in 1698. It is considered an early example of esoteric literature and supernatural horror writing, and has ...

'', in which participants threw stones at one another.

Overview

The book's frontispiece describes itself as being ''"an Exact and True account (by way of Journal) of the various actions of infernal Spirits or (Devils Incarnate) Witches or both: and the great Disturbance and Amazement they gave to George Walton's family at a place called Great Island in the province of

New Hampshire New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

in New England, chiefly in throwing about (by an Invisible hand) Stones, Bricks, and Brick-Bats of all sizes, with several other things, as Hammers, Mauls, Iron-Crows, Spits, and other Utensils, as came into their Hellish minds, and this for space of a quarter of a year ..."'' The "Stone-Throwing Devil" created quite a sensation on Great Island (present-day

New Castle, New Hampshire New Castle is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 1,000 at the 2020 census. It is the easternmost town in New Hampshire and the smallest by area, and it is the only town in the state located entirely on i ...

) in 1682. Hundreds of stones mysteriously rained down on George Walton's tavern, as well as onto him, his son Shadrach and others in the area over the entire summer. Yet, no one ever came forward who saw anyone throwing the stones. Many other unexplained events also occurred at that time.

Demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

ic voices were heard, and items were flung about inside Walton's tavern. Prominent Boston minister

Increase Mather Increase Mather (; June 21, 1639 Old Style – August 23, 1723 Old Style) was a History of New England, New England Puritan clergyman in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and the sixth President of Harvard University, President of Harvard College (la ...

described the strange events in his book '' Illustrious Providences.'' George Walton, who was in a property boundary dispute with his neighbor, accused her of

. She, in turn, accused him of being a wizard. Others in the area may also have had reasons to throw stones at Walton. He was a

. Quakers were looked upon with great suspicion by

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

, and just being a Quaker was a crime. Walton was a successful innkeeper, merchant, and lumberman, and became the largest landowner on the island. Walton was envied by his less industrious neighbors. There were also a number of lawsuits over business and property disputes. He also had two Native American employees, which would have caused great concern so soon after war with the Indians (

King Philip's War King Philip's War (sometimes called the First Indian War, Metacom's War, Metacomet's War, Pometacomet's Rebellion, or Metacom's Rebellion) was an armed conflict in 1675–1678 between a group of indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodland ...

) and because of the uneasy peace that existed. His tavern customers included a variety of rowdy outsiders, including " godless" fishermen, who were considered undesirables by others on the island. Regardless of what caused Walton and his inn to be the victim of a months-long rain of stones, it was the first major outbreak of apparent witchcraft in America. News of it traveled throughout America and England. Within a few years, accusations of witchcraft would occur in other New England towns, culminating in the famous

Salem witch trials The Salem witch trials were a series of hearings and prosecutions of people accused of witchcraft in Province of Massachusetts Bay, colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. More than 200 people were accused. Not everyone wh ...

Adaptions

In 1952, an uncredited writer and artist produced "The Devil's Stones", a 1-page comic for issue #5 of the

Standard Comics Standard Comics was a comic book imprint of American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines (under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics) and paperback books (under the Popular Library name). Standard i ...

horror anthology ''The Unseen'' based on the story.''The Unseen'' #5 (Standard Comics, 1952 Series)
at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information use ...

References

External links

''Lithobolia'' Text Online {{Authority control 1698 non-fiction books 1698 in New Hampshire 1690s in London Books about folklore English ghosts Supernatural books Pamphlets Poltergeists Books about New Hampshire New Castle, New Hampshire Books about magic