Accordingly, one of their most favourite vehicles was a besom or broom,
an implement which, it has been suggested, from its being a type of the
winds, is an appropriate utensil "in the hands of the witches, who are
windmakers and workers in that element.[11]" According to the _Asiatic
Register_ for 1801, the Eastern as well as the European witches
"practise their spells by dancing at midnight, and the principal
instrument they use on such occasions is a broom." Hence, in Hamburg,
sailors, after long toiling against a contrary wind, on meeting another
ship sailing in an opposite direction, throw an old broom before the
vessel, believing thereby to reverse the wind.[12] As, too, in the case
of vervain and rue, the besom, although dearly loved by witches, is
still extensively used as a counter-charm against their machinations--it
being a well-known belief both in England and Germany that no individual
of this stamp can step over a besom laid inside the threshold. Hence,
also, in Westphalia, at Shrovetide, white besoms with white handles are
tied to the cows' horns; and, in the rites connected with the Midsummer
fires kept up in different parts of the country, the besom holds a
prominent place. In Bohemia, for instance, the young men collect for
some weeks beforehand as many worn-out brooms as they can lay their
hands on.
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