Moll Dyer, the Witch of Leonardtown

When

c. 1698 traditional date – cannot be verified

Where

Leonardtown, Maryland, United States

Verdict

Legend

A solitary herbalist accused of witchcraft was driven from her burning cabin on a freezing night. She was found frozen to a rock that still bears her handprint.

What happened

According to a legend of St. Mary’s County, Maryland, in the late 17th century an elderly woman named Moll Dyer lived alone just south of Leonardtown. She knew herbs, made remedies and kept strange habits, so whenever sickness, a failed harvest or a sudden death struck, neighbours pointed at her. In the harsh winter of 1697–98 an epidemic, probably influenza, swept the county. One February night an angry mob set fire to Moll’s cabin; she fled into the woods. Days later she was found dead, frozen to a large rock with one hand raised as if in a curse. Prints of her hand and knee were said to remain in the stone. From then on the land around her cabin was supposedly barren, lightning struck the area, and the figure of an old woman with a white dog was seen at night. The Moll Dyer Rock, weighing several hundred kilograms, was located in the 20th century, moved to the Old Jail in Leonardtown and, in 2021, to the grounds of Tudor Hall, home of the county historical society.

Explanations and hypotheses

No contemporary document confirms that Moll Dyer existed or that a mob attacked her – the story survived as the county’s oral tradition and was written down much later. The rock is a natural boulder, and the “prints” are hollows in the stone. The St. Mary’s County Historical Society treats the legend as a tale about the consequences of fear and prejudice; since 2021 Leonardtown has marked 26 February as Moll Dyer Day, raising money to care for the rock, with kindness to outsiders as its message.

Legend A story handed down through generations – it can be neither confirmed nor disproved.

Sources

More: Wikipedia (en)