History of Hedge Magic
The historical studies of Owen Davies have shown the extent to which cunning folk were a recognised part of British rural and urban life, and in the 19th century it is estimated there were several thousand at work across the country. They could be found operating openly in towns and villages across the nation and they were a valued part of the community. Some cunning folk were so successful that they began attracting clients from many miles away. Most offered more limited services to a smaller region. Cunning folk could make a good living from their talents, and there usually was a set monetary charge for their services. The money they earned meant they were often considered, especially by the better educated, as frauds and tricksters who got money out of the gullible for parlour tricks. By the nineteenth century when the threat of prosecution was slight they even advertised their services and wrote books. Whether Cunning folk actually did possess any supernatural power is open to debate; certainly some were caught in fraud such as spying on customers to help their predictions, repeatedly promising vast treasure which was never found, and falsely accusing the innocent of theft or witchcraft.