Category Archives: Hornby History

Barney French

1972

Barney came to witch our land in 1972. This is the lower part of the ten acres. I got Barney to do the upper part where, years later we drilled and found tons of water. I asked him to teach me the dousing procedure. He stood behind me over the witch spot. Then he put his big huge paws around my hands (I was holding the stick) and , magically, the stick went down! He said “You’re not holding it tight enough”. I gripped it tighter. He covered my hands and the stick went down again, only this time it scraped flesh off my hands!

To this day I enjoy showing people how to witch. The best are the people who don’t believe in dousing. Such a pleasure when the stick goes down in their hands.