Ellen Gæst

Ellen Gæst was the name of the progenitor of the Gaest line of witches. She was born in Besom in 1632 and was later executed there as part of the Besom Witch Trials in 1693. She is remembered for having cursed her family line to always bestow a child a name containing the letters E & L.

Life in Besom
Not much is known about Ellen's life in Besom. It is known she was born there in 1632, and that she was a practicing witch who was well-known throughout her community. She was an educated woman and known to be able to read and write, and used these skills to contribute to her family's grimoire. Ellen had a daughter called Eliza, also a witch, to whom she left her house and possessions upon her death.

Role in the Witch Trials
Ellen was accused of witchcraft by her neighbour Goody Tewshewes in the spring of 1693. Ellen openly admitted she was a witch as it was well-known fact; and bluntly told her neighbour she "would turne her into a frogge lest she mayke herselph scarce". Goody Tooshoos denounced Ellen as an evil sinner and had her husband, Judge Cornrows, arrest her for the crime of sorcery. Due to the irrefutable evidence, Ellen was executed by hanging on 19th July, 1693.

Aftermath
Goody Tooshoos tried to claim Ellen's land and home for her own (as it was the adjoining property) but could not do so as Ellen had legally left everything to her daughter Eliza, in the event of her death. Eliza herselph was then accused of witchcraft, a claim that was obviously true, and was subsequently imprisoned and executed in August 1693. This did not result in Goody Tooshoos' acquisition of the Gæst property, as Eliza had left everything to her son, Elliot.

It was revealed by Elliot Gæst that the deed to the property had been enchanted by his grandmother to automatically transfer the ownership of the land to the next living descendant, thanks to the ad perpetuam rei memoriam spell. Goody Tooshoos tried to have Elliot arrested but by this point the townsfolk had become sick of her, and an angry mob ran her and her husband out of town.

Family Curse
It was Ellen's decree upon the gallows that each and every descendant of hers should bear a name beginning with the prefix EL; in fact she cursed her entire future family tree so that terrible tragedy would befall anyone who named a child anything different. The curse remains unbroken to this day.