I often wonder if a young lass from Ireland would ever imagine folks would still be talking of her nearly 300 years later.
The mortal response would of course be... no.
But I also often wonder of the immortal response being... yes.
Either way, we still must consider, whoever this young girl became, whoever this grown woman was, whoever this infamous legend continues to be, that at this writing, at this passage of the life of Elly Kedward, we are witnessing the mortal life of someone who was born of a womb as we all were, who required nourishment from the breast of a mother as we all had, who cried the tears of sorrow as we all have, who laughed the joys in life as we all do, who felt the pain of loss as we all have have, and the embrace of love as we all aspire.
We are regarding her fragile mortality of youth, a mortality that would inevitably become... immortal, and as history claims - at the cost of many, of much bloodshed and of much terror.
And as we have long stated, "...in order to understand the witch, one must first understand who she was."
Let us begin where and how we came upon all this...
 It begins with a fellow you may all recall, none other than Bill Barnes, that charming old fella I developed such an affection for in the years I grew to know him. He adored sharing stories that kept my dear friend Aaron Chernak and I up for hours in chats at the Barnes' home, especially those cold winter nights beside their old wood stove. Pick a topic, any topic, the man was an absolute sponge of knowledge. And you could qualify any statement of his. The man did not exaggerate or embellish. Indeed, he had opinions one might debate, or even argue, but of history Bill was a master.
...except for fishing. I suspect fishing is a valid topic for anyone to exaggerate or embellish. However, I never fished with Bill, so I'm clueless. I do think Aaron once had, ask him.
I recall Bill's wife Irene calling down from upstairs, "Bill, you still down there talkin' with them boys?"
Indeed he was. Then again, it was likely my word-salad of speech that irritated her. I talk too damn much.
Bill Barnes was the Executive Director of the Historical Society of Burkittsville, Maryland. When he passed away some years ago, among his estate, very much well hidden in a locked box stored deep within the confines of their small attic, was discovered an old, decrepit journal from the 1700's. It was written entirely in Gaelic on rather brittle and fragile pages, some of which were torn from the binding.
 Upon closer inspection and translation, it was further discovered this journal appeared to be either an actual memoir of Elly Kedward's, or a chronicle of some nature.
Its handwritten title was "Deuchainn de Eilis Kedward."
Translated from Gaelic to English, it meant "The Trial of Elly Kedward."
One could say it was the long-lost "diary" of Elly Kedward.
But this diary was never "lost." Instead, it was never... revealed.
In the over two hundred years since Elly Kedward's death, the existence of any such diary had never been disclosed by any individual, organization or entity prior, nor by Bill himself. No family, colleagues, or known friends, such as myself or Aaron had ever heard him disclose or hint at anything such as this.
Why this is, is still unknown. And likely will never be known.
The fact it existed at all, and was in Bill's possession, drew contrast to his knowledge of Elly Kedward and the legend surrounding her fate. This in contrast, made Bill's knowledge appear profoundly limited, indicating there may have been knowledge about her he chose not to share, and to conceal for some reason.
We have theories to Bill's motivation, but only theories. As curator and director of the Burkittsville Historical Society, Bill was also custodian for a short time of a rare book about the occurrences surrounding the Blair Witch legend entitled "The Blair Witch Cult." It is a supposed collection of first-hand accounts of the horrors wrought by the infamous "Blair Witch." This only known copy, originally discovered in 1809, was on loan to Bill and the Burkittsville Historical Society courtesy of the Maryland Historical Society for purposes that he would transcribe the original manuscript.
When the Maryland Historical Society called for its return, Bill was reluctant to do so and staunchly argued it should remain in Burkittsville. "Over my dead body," he was quoted as saying in regards to returning it.
But he's a man of pride, morals and dignity, and thus he returned it. Though it has since been... "repossessed" if you will. More on that later.
 Bill Barnes passed away at the age of 90 back in 2017. Some months later it was decided to sell the house, and Irene would live with her son Wayne and daughter-in-law Leah. While clearing the attic, they discovered the journal. The family had no idea specifically what it was. To them, it was simply junk to discard. But fortunately, very fortunately I might add, Irene thought to reach out to me because although they didn't understand it was Gaelic per se, she thought it could be Dutch and might garner my interest. This, because in our many chats, I had shared my family's history of the Old Dutch Church and of Sleepy Hollow.
They had no idea it was Gaelic, nor did they care. It was just more of Bill’s clutter that they needed gone. To me however, when I saw the name "Kedward," I knew it was something special. Very much so. Though at the time I had no idea what I was holding something priceless; not in cash value of course, yet rather in historic value of interest, my interest, and inevitably world-wide, albeit probably limited to Blair Witch or Irish History aficionados.
Also as mentioned, it was rather brittle with extremely fragile pages. It was Aaron who observed it to be Gaelic, but he didn't have the proficiency to decipher exactly what we were looking at. All we knew is that we recognized the name "Kedward" and that makes this something important.
My first thought was to call my old professor David Foster, now a dear friend from my days at Princeton. He was currently in York at the time, but suggested I take a few images and send them to him. After I'd done so, David reached out and explained it was indeed Irish Gaelic (Teangacha Gaelacha) and that "Deuchainn de Eilis Kedward" translated in English to be "The Trial of Elly Kedward." He further explained that it appeared to be a journal, or memoir of some sort, and that he would have a better grasp to the content with access to the entire journal.
David was quite enthusiastic in his interest but would be in London for several more weeks and wouldn’t be able to start translating it until his return. In the meantime, he recommended we contact a company called "Federal Forensic Associates" in Raleigh, North Carolina who could conduct radiocarbon dating and determine the journal's age.
It was an expensive option, but I was very much willing to pay the costs to help solve what had become a fascinating mystery.
I could tell David's enthusiasm was significant when I'd contacted the forensic lab, they already knew who I was and were now giving me priority.
I wasn't comfortable shipping the journal, so Aaron and I drove the 500+ mile journey down to Raleigh and hand delivered this would-be historic booklet.
Within a few weeks, Federal Forensic Associates contacted me with the results, and sure enough the pages were authentic to the period of the 18th century. Both the paper and ink were composed sometime between 1740 and 1760. They could also deduce that the paper, made up of recycled cotton rags and linen, was older by only a matter of years than the iron gall ink.
We already knew we were sitting on something rather historic, but the validation of its age only compounded all our collective enthusiasm.
Yet another road trip was taken to collect the journal, taking an entire weekend to conduct, and now it was time to bring it to Princeton, where the Department of Irish Studies under Professor Foster's (David's) supervision could translate all the pages.
Translation wouldn't be easy. There were many pages, some were heavily faded, some appeared out of sequence, and some were seemingly illegible.
Within time, it was universally agreed that we were looking at a full-on memoir, journal, diary, call it what-you-will, of Elly Kedward herself. The entries appear to conclude with Kedward's voyage to America on the shipping vessel "Reliant" in 1769, which has long been confirmed and cited.
We learned that "Deuchainn de Eilis Kedward" translated from Gaelic to English as "The Trial of Elly Kedward" was not actually a noun defining a "legal trial" per se, rather was as the verb in reference to her life and struggles, written in first person, composed and hand-written by Elly Kedward herself.
To discover Bill Barnes had been in possession of a direct, hand-written memoir of Elly Kedward, the woman history who for centuries has labeled the "Blair Witch," and ultimately lost her life to that accusation and prosecution, is extraordinary to say the least.
As mentioned, history has never known there to be such a journal. Of course it is possible it existed. When Kedward was accused, local authorities searched her home thoroughly and very well could have discovered the journal then. Yet, for centuries since it was never revealed.
This opens a series of questions.
Whether or not the journal was a date specific chronicle of time or recollective memoir is not known. The period from the first entry to latest entry does not give a specific timeline of entry other than consistent matured handwriting, though it does reveal entries made over a period of years. There were also what appeared to be a series of confusing sketches, which are still being researched and evaluated. More on that in the future as we learn developments.
What remains an even further and confounding mystery is that there are pages torn out of journal immediately following the recount of her voyage to America on the shipping vessel the "Reliant" in 1769. Kedward was presumed dead in 1785. That leaves an absence of sixteen years of potential entries and/or recollections of her final years in America. Considering the circumstances of her prosecution and subsequent banishment and presumed death, it is suspicious, to say the least, that pages are missing where those memoirs could have been written.
It was also determined by the forensic laboratory that those pages were removed in the late 18th century. It was not recent. As a result, we now have even more questions than answers. If Elly Kedward kept a diary, where had it been for the last 200+ years, especially considering all the events that occurred since then surrounding her?
How and when did Bill Barnes come into possession of the diary, from what source, and why did he choose not to disclose this fact? Bill gave several interviews over the years regarding Elly Kedward and the Blair Witch legend. Was it to keep any knowledge of its existence from the Maryland Historical Society, of whom he was at odds with? Even if so, it would not explain where it was for nearly 200 years prior to Bill Barnes being born.
 This brings us back to "The Blair Witch Cult" book: an alleged collection of first-hand accounts to the horrors Elly Kedward supposedly unleashed upon the township of Blair in the 1780s. The only known copy, handwritten, and discovered in 1809, was loaned to the Burkittsville Historical Society sometime in the late 1980s by the Maryland Historical Society under the agreement that Bill would try to make a full transcription of the barely legible pages.
When the Maryland Historical Society called for its return years later, Bill was reluctant to do so and staunchly argued Blair is Burkittsville history and it should remain in Burkittsville and that they didn’t even care about it until those kids went missing. "Over my dead body," he was once quoted as saying about returning it.
But good ol’ Bill Barnes was a man of pride, morals and dignity, and thus in 1996, he returned it. It was on public display for the first time in its history in MSHS’s museum until 1999 when water damage caused a partial ceiling collapse over the exhibit. Coincidentally, the same year Haxan Films edited and released the found film footage of the missing kids. The book was never redisplayed.
But I would not be talking about this if that was where the story ended...
For many years, Aaron Chernak had been researching The Blair Witch Cult and had been doing so alongside Bill Barnes. This is how I met Bill Barnes, through Aaron. Aaron met him through his fiancé Rhiannon. Bill is Rhiannon's "uncle" if you will. Not literally; technically he's a "great cousin,” but Rhiannon claims calling him "cousin" makes her sound like a cast member in “The Bear," and really feels like more of an "Uncle Billy."
After Bill had (reluctantly) returned the book back to the Maryland Historical Society, Aaron was making monthly, sometimes weekly trips to Baltimore to continue his research. The fact that the Maryland Historical Society lent the book to Bill Barnes for transcription was, for me (and especially for Aaron), ironic. The Maryland Historical Society never had it transcribed, never translated, never fully researched. They accepted it as it was, as a curiosity piece for their historic collection of local legends. They just simply "had it" because it was discovered in 1809, that it involved a local legend and thus kept it for historic posterity. They had for years. We had the Kedward journal but for days before it was sent for carbon-dating then translation.
We finally met up with Professor Foster at Princeton a couple weeks after he returned to hand off the journal. But he had a bombshell surprise for us. He had contacted the Maryland Historical Society and put in a formal request to borrow the Blair Witch Cult so that he with the supervision and assistance from both the Federal Forensic Associates and the University's Department of Irish Studies could restore and study it for academic research at Princeton Library's Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Firestone Library where he was faculty and advisor to Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.
We suspect that request got their attention.
Actually, we don't suspect. We know it got their attention, as the Maryland Historical Society quickly obliged.
The influence and authority of Princeton's Rare Books and Special Collections had it in their possession rather swiftly, in an institution that contains and carefully preserves such works as the first six printed editions of the Bible, beginning with the 1455 Gutenberg Bible, fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the earliest substantial European printed book; the original printing of the Declaration of Independence; Beethoven’s autograph music sketchbook (in his own handwriting), Shakespeare’s first, second, third and fourth folios; significant autograph music manuscripts of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Wagner; a lengthy autograph speech by Abraham Lincoln from 1856 on the problems of slavery; and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s original letter and telegram copy books from the last weeks of the Civil War, among many other pieces of history.
When Princeton makes a request, one does not ignore the fact. They may decline such a request, but they certainly will not ignore it. The Maryland Historical Society not only responded but sent the Blair Witch Cult immediately.
...via FedEx. Which astounded the faculty. Items of significant historical value or interest are traditinally couriered, not plopped into the post like an Ebay shipment. Gotta love the Maryland Historical Society.
After having lunch at Chancellor Green, as we put on our coats and said our goodbye's (for now), Professor Foster spontaneously added, "Aaron, I slipped a little something for you into your rucksack. Don’t open it here. Keep it as long as needed and we’ll cover for you. But I suspect you'll find a ghost or two to bust in that bag of yours... metaphorically speaking."
A wink and a smile, David folded his leather case, turned and walked away to join other faculty for a meeting.
 Those astute enough can probably figure out that when Aaron eventually opened his bag, inside, wrapped in cloth, which was wrapped in bubble wrap, was the nearly mythical book, The Blair Witch Cult!
Aaron is as busy with The Blair Witch Cult as I am with The Trial of Elly Kedward. And soon the transcriptions will be complete, and with possibility we may learn even more as to the legend of the Blair Witch.
As for The Trial of Elly Kedward (or as Elly referred to it as "Deuchainn de Eilis Kedward") the task at hand is to present a proof-of-concept experiment, telling Elly's story in as best a representation as I can muster. Through the Gaelic translations to English, through the words of her own thoughts, written in her own hand, reconstructing her life and world through the use of original material created for the project as well as third-party source material assembled to visually represent the entries of her journal, diary, memoir, call it what you will.
She called it "Deuchainn de Eilis Kedward." Depending on the region of Gaelic language, it can be translated to English as "The Test of Elly Kedward" or "The Struggle of Elly Kedward" or as we know it, and as we have discovered in Elly's direct inscription - "The Trial of Elly Kedward."
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