Literary notes about coven (AI summary)
The term "coven" is employed in literature both as a descriptor for a gathering of witches and as a broader term for a group or locale. In some texts it explicitly denotes the assembly of witches—such as when referencing dangerous witches or witch trials in early modern Scotland ([1], [2], [3]) or the eerie ambiance of a Black Mass at a nocturnal meeting place ([4]). In other works, the word extends beyond strictly witchcraft, referring to a band of misfits or even labeling a specific garden or alley, thereby evoking the notion of a collective that gathers and associates ([5], [6], [7]). Its varied spellings and uses, with etymological roots in the idea of convening, underscore its flexible application in literary contexts ([8], [9]).
- Helen Fraser, of the same “coven,” was a most dangerous witch.
— from Witch Stories by E. Lynn (Elizabeth Lynn) Linton - [770] The trial of Jonet Kerr and Issobell Ramsay at Edinburgh (1661) gives the names of thirteen persons, or one Coven.
— from The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology by Margaret Alice Murray - [667] At Auldearne the Coven, to which Isobel Gowdie belonged, performed a ceremony to obtain for themselves the benefit of a neighbour's crop.
— from The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology by Margaret Alice Murray - "Every Monday night—at midnight—we hold Black Mass at the Wee Coven on Kirkwood Drive.
— from The Status Civilization by Robert Sheckley - "A crackpot agitator in Drepplin; he had a coven of fellow-crackpots, who met in the back room of a saloon and had their office in a cigar box.
— from Space Viking by H. Beam Piper - Wherein not doubting of yo r Lo r pps care I rest from my house in the Coven garden the sixth of ffebruary 1640.
— from London and the Kingdom - Volume 3 A History Derived Mainly from the Archives at Guildhall in the Custody of the Corporation of the City of London. by Reginald R. (Reginald Robinson) Sharpe - The Authors Brother in great favour at Court, and aspiring to a Bishopricke; or to be Parish Preist of Coven garden. ibid .
— from The English-American, His Travail by Sea and Land: or, A New Survey of the West-India's by Thomas Gage - The Covens The word coven is a derivative of 'convene', and is variously spelt coven , coeven , covine , cuwing , and even covey .
— from The Witch-cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology by Margaret Alice Murray - Return 1602 'coven' in this sense should be 'covent', but Whiting affects the form: see 2686, 3167.
— from Minor Poets of the Caroline Period, Vol. III
