Moat

From Traditional Witchcraft Wiki Project

The word Moat was adapted in Middle English from the French motte, meaning 'mound' or 'hillock', and was first applied to the central mound on which a fortification was erected (see motte and bailey), and then came to be applied to the excavated ring, a "dry moat". The term moat is also applied to natural formations reminiscent of the artificial structure.

Usage in Archaeology

A moat is deep, broad ditch surrounding a structure, installation, or town, and usually filled with water. They are usually defensive in nature, and often employed about castles and other fortifications as a preliminary barrier, or obstacle, designed to slow down the enemy. Moats also made it difficult for the enemy to dig tunnels under the fortifications so as to effect a collapse of their defences, which is known as sapping or undermining (hence the modern usage of the word). Withdrawable bridges were sometimes constructed to span these moats in the Middle Ages. When a person died, their dead body would often be thrown into the moat.

Usage in Witchcraft

It is also sometimes used in witchcraft as a term denoting the outer bounds of the witch's circle or other enclosure, thereby denoting a protective boundary.