Dorothy Clutterbuck
Encyclopedia
Dorothy Clutterbuck was a wealthy Englishwoman who was named by Gerald Gardner
as a leading member of the New Forest coven
, a group of pagan Witches
into which Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939. She has therefore become a figure of some significance in the history of Wicca
.
Clutterbuck was a practising Anglican
Christian
, and never publicly identified herself as a witch. Researchers have debated whether the surviving evidence of her own writings indicates that she had unconventional religious leanings.
area of the New Forest
in southern England. After her father's death, she continued to live in the same house alone, but at the age of 55 she married Rupert Fordham, a local Justice of the Peace
who was of high rank in the Salvation Army
. Fordham died in May 1939 in a car accident.
Clutterbuck appears to have been an outwardly respectable member of the local community, a supporter of the Conservative Party
and the Church of England
. She left a sizeable legacy to the local Anglican priest in her will. Her estate was valued at £60,000, a very large sum for the time. The one scandal attached to her was an allegation that Rupert Fordham was already married to a mentally ill woman, so that the two were not legally married. Clutterbuck had reverted to her maiden name by the time of her death.
After her death in 1951, Clutterbuck was identified by Gerald Gardner
as a leading member of the New Forest coven
of witches into which he claimed to have been initiated in September 1939. Gardner referred to her affectionately as "Old Dorothy". Gardner's statements were interpreted by his pupil Doreen Valiente
as implying that Clutterbuck had personally initiated him into the coven, but later authors such as Philip Heselton
and Eleanor Bone
claim that his initiator was in fact Edith Woodford-Grimes. Some writers, such as Jeffrey Russell, suggested that Clutterbuck had been invented by Gardner, but Valiente obtained her birth, marriage and death certificates and published a basic outline of her life in 1982.
It continues to be debated whether Gardner's claims that Clutterbuck was involved in pagan witchcraft were true, or whether Gardner used the name of a respectable local worthy as a private joke and in order to distract attention from his true magical partner, Edith Woodford-Grimes. Ronald Hutton
and Leo Ruickbie
have concluded that Clutterbuck is unlikely to have been involved in Gardner's activities, in particular because of her apparent commitment to Christianity
. Hutton also points out that the date of Gardner's initiation would coincide with a period of mourning in 1939 when she had cancelled all other social engagements. Conversely, Philip Heselton has concluded that Clutterbuck definitely was involved in occult activities, and that her practice of Christianity was social and conventional in nature. The principal body of evidence to which both sides appeal is provided by Clutterbuck's own diaries.
, filled with daily poems and illustrations and intended to be read by visitors to her home.
The researchers Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton have both read Clutterbuck's diaries, and have come to entirely different conclusions on their contents. Hutton believes that Clutterbuck's poems show her to be a "simple" and "kindly" woman with no connections with paganism or the occult. Heselton, on the other hand, believes that her writings reveal that "Dorothy was a pagan in all but name."
The evidence cited by Heselton and his supporters consists both of the absence of overt Christian themes and the apparent presence of pagan sentiments. Heselton notes that "there is hardly a mention of Jesus and it seems as if her deepest spiritual experiences come from nature and, particularly, her garden." Little Christian sentiment is expressed, even on Christian holidays. Of the few direct references to Christianity, this for Whit Sunday 1942 is characteristically oblique:
"Midsummer," Heselton says "is lauded as 'the day of all days most dear'". Nature and the feelings of magical enchantment that come from it are commonly repeated themes, as is the theme of a fairy-like dancing maiden, often referred to as 'the Queen', who seems to personify the seasons and the land. For example:
The diaries also contain frequent references to fairies and the full moon; bits of herb-lore, and occasionally vivid descriptions of classical gods such as Aurora.
Other examples seem more ambiguous, and could equally express Christian or Pagan sentiment, or simple poetic metaphor:
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
as a leading member of the New Forest coven
New Forest coven
The New Forest coven were a group of Neopagan witches or Wiccans who allegedly met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the 1930s and 1940s...
, a group of pagan Witches
Wicca
Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...
into which Gardner claimed to have been initiated in 1939. She has therefore become a figure of some significance in the history of Wicca
History of Wicca
The history of Wicca documents the rise of the Neopagan religion of Wicca and related witchcraft-based Neopagan religions. Wicca originated in the early twentieth century, when it first developed amongst several secretive covens in England who were basing their religious beliefs and practices upon...
.
Clutterbuck was a practising Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, and never publicly identified herself as a witch. Researchers have debated whether the surviving evidence of her own writings indicates that she had unconventional religious leanings.
Biography
Clutterbuck was born in British India, and was the daughter of Thomas St. Quentin Clutterbuck, a British army officer. After her father's retirement, she appears to have moved back to England and to have lived with him in the ChristchurchChristchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
area of the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
in southern England. After her father's death, she continued to live in the same house alone, but at the age of 55 she married Rupert Fordham, a local Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
who was of high rank in the Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
. Fordham died in May 1939 in a car accident.
Clutterbuck appears to have been an outwardly respectable member of the local community, a supporter of the Conservative Party
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. She left a sizeable legacy to the local Anglican priest in her will. Her estate was valued at £60,000, a very large sum for the time. The one scandal attached to her was an allegation that Rupert Fordham was already married to a mentally ill woman, so that the two were not legally married. Clutterbuck had reverted to her maiden name by the time of her death.
Clutterbuck and Wicca
Gerald Gardner
Gerald Brousseau Gardner , who sometimes used the craft name Scire, was an influential English Wiccan, as well as an amateur anthropologist and archaeologist, writer, weaponry expert and occultist. He was instrumental in bringing the Neopagan religion of Wicca to public attention in Britain and...
as a leading member of the New Forest coven
New Forest coven
The New Forest coven were a group of Neopagan witches or Wiccans who allegedly met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the 1930s and 1940s...
of witches into which he claimed to have been initiated in September 1939. Gardner referred to her affectionately as "Old Dorothy". Gardner's statements were interpreted by his pupil Doreen Valiente
Doreen Valiente
Doreen Edith Dominy Valiente , who also went under the craft name Ameth, was an influential English Wiccan who was involved in a number of different early traditions, including Gardnerianism, Cochrane's Craft and the Coven of Atho...
as implying that Clutterbuck had personally initiated him into the coven, but later authors such as Philip Heselton
Philip Heselton
Philip Heselton is a retired British Conservation Officer, a Wiccan initiate, and a writer on the subjects of Wicca, Paganism and Earth mysteries...
and Eleanor Bone
Eleanor Bone
Eleanor "Ray" Bone was an influential figure in the neopagan religion of Wicca. She claimed to have been initiated in 1941 by a couple of hereditary witches in Cumbria. She later met and became friends with Gerald Gardner, and was initiated into Wicca, becoming the High Priestess in one of his...
claim that his initiator was in fact Edith Woodford-Grimes. Some writers, such as Jeffrey Russell, suggested that Clutterbuck had been invented by Gardner, but Valiente obtained her birth, marriage and death certificates and published a basic outline of her life in 1982.
It continues to be debated whether Gardner's claims that Clutterbuck was involved in pagan witchcraft were true, or whether Gardner used the name of a respectable local worthy as a private joke and in order to distract attention from his true magical partner, Edith Woodford-Grimes. Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Hutton is an English historian who specializes in the study of Early Modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion and contemporary Paganism. A reader in the subject at the University of Bristol, Hutton has published fourteen books and has appeared on British television and radio...
and Leo Ruickbie
Leo Ruickbie
Leo Ruickbie is an historian and sociologist of magic, witchcraft and Wicca. He is the author of several books, beginning with Witchcraft Out of the Shadows, a 2004 publication outlining the history of witchcraft from ancient Greece until the modern day. Ruickbie was born in Scotland and took a...
have concluded that Clutterbuck is unlikely to have been involved in Gardner's activities, in particular because of her apparent commitment to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Hutton also points out that the date of Gardner's initiation would coincide with a period of mourning in 1939 when she had cancelled all other social engagements. Conversely, Philip Heselton has concluded that Clutterbuck definitely was involved in occult activities, and that her practice of Christianity was social and conventional in nature. The principal body of evidence to which both sides appeal is provided by Clutterbuck's own diaries.
The diaries
Clutterbuck left three volumes of diaries, which are actually more similar to commonplace booksCommonplace
Commonplace books were a way to compile knowledge, usually by writing information into books. They became significant in Early Modern Europe....
, filled with daily poems and illustrations and intended to be read by visitors to her home.
The researchers Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton have both read Clutterbuck's diaries, and have come to entirely different conclusions on their contents. Hutton believes that Clutterbuck's poems show her to be a "simple" and "kindly" woman with no connections with paganism or the occult. Heselton, on the other hand, believes that her writings reveal that "Dorothy was a pagan in all but name."
The evidence cited by Heselton and his supporters consists both of the absence of overt Christian themes and the apparent presence of pagan sentiments. Heselton notes that "there is hardly a mention of Jesus and it seems as if her deepest spiritual experiences come from nature and, particularly, her garden." Little Christian sentiment is expressed, even on Christian holidays. Of the few direct references to Christianity, this for Whit Sunday 1942 is characteristically oblique:
- "The Sunday that comes in the time of the May
- With its crown of white blossoms for this sacred day
- The Essence of this Day - The Spirit of Prayer
- Brings to us those loved Spirits who used to be here"
- [ 1942-05-24 ]
"Midsummer," Heselton says "is lauded as 'the day of all days most dear'". Nature and the feelings of magical enchantment that come from it are commonly repeated themes, as is the theme of a fairy-like dancing maiden, often referred to as 'the Queen', who seems to personify the seasons and the land. For example:
- "... I knew you were a vision
- The loveliest ever seen
- But I also knew that you were Real
- And of my heart, the Queen."
- [ 1943-10-27 ]
- "I am waiting for my Lady
- For, down the pathway shadey
- I think I hear her footfall light
- My heart beats wildly with delight
- ...
- I cannot wait — the minutes drag
- Just when I'm in despair
- Dear Heaven! She is coming! And now She's here! She's here!"
- [ 1942-07-30 ]
- "Of all the Ladies that I know
- There's only one can please me so
- That all her Looks and all her Ways
- Make Music for me all my Days.
- For Life, I love her, and adore
- I only saw her once — not more
- But once I saw her, as I say
- But once she crossed my Path, my Way
- For Ever. She will be my Queen
- Where did I see her? — in a Dream."
- [ 1943-06-21 (Midsummer Eve) ]
The diaries also contain frequent references to fairies and the full moon; bits of herb-lore, and occasionally vivid descriptions of classical gods such as Aurora.
Other examples seem more ambiguous, and could equally express Christian or Pagan sentiment, or simple poetic metaphor:
- "Then with a flash of Scarlet
- Sweeping across the snows
- Comes Christmas, Radiant Creature!
- She's laughing as she goes. The shining holly fills her lap
- Blue pages hold her train
- Dear Time of lovely memories. So here you are again
- There stand the glittering Christmas Trees
- The Fires flame and glow
- Soft fingers tapping on the pane
- Are fairies, made of snow
- The Bells ring out, The Carols mount
- All the old songs are dear
- The First Most Sacred Festival
- The best of all the year"
- [ Christmas 1942 ]