er the conversion of England to an outward appearance of
Christianity. From the analogy of other religions in which the custom
occurs, it would appear that it is a ritual for the promotion of fertility;
the animal represented being either the sacred animal of the tribe or the
creature most used for food.

The suggestion that the Devil was a man, wearing either an animal's skin or
a mask in the form of an animal's head as a ritual disguise, accounts as
nothing else can for the witches' evidence as to his appearance and his
changes of form. A confusion, however, exists from the fact that the
witches, and therefore the recorders, usually spoke of the familiars as the
Devil; but in almost every case the disguised man can, on examination of
the evidence, be distinguished from the animal familiar.

The animal forms in which the Devil most commonly appeared were bull, cat,
dog, goat, horse, and sheep. A few curious facts come to light on
tabulating these forms; i.e. the Devil appears as a goat or a sheep in
France only; he is never found in any country as a hare, though this was
the traditional form for a witch to assume; nor is he found as a toad,
though this was a common form for the familiar; the fox and the ass also
are unknown forms; and in Western Europe the pig is an animal almost
entirely absent from all the rites and ceremonies as well as from the
disguises of the Devil.

The witches never admitted in so many words that the Devil was a man
disguised, but their evidence points strongly to the fact. In some cases
the whole body was disguised, in others a mask was worn, usually over the
face. The wearing of the mask is indicated partly by descriptions of its
appearance, and partly by the description of the Devil's voice. The
Lorraine witches in 1589 said that the Devils 'koennen nimmermehr die
Menschliche Stimme so aussdruecklich nachreden, dass man nicht leicht daran
mercke, dass es eine gemachte falsche Stimme sey. Nicolaea Ganatia, und
fast alle andere sagen, dass sie eine Stimme von sich geben, gleich denen,
so den Kopff in ein Fass oder zerbrochenen Hafen stecken und daraus reden.
Auch geben sie etwann eine kleine leise Stimme von sich.'[157] The North
Berwick Devil in 1590 was purposely disguised out of all recognition: 'The
Devil start up in the pulpit, like a mickle black man, with a black beard
sticking out like a goat's beard; and a high ribbed nose, falling down
sharp like the beak of a hawk; with a long rump