Who: Sylvia Daisy Pouncer Brown, Kay Harker's cruel governess
Where: Sylvia Daisy appears (in slightly different guises) in both of John Masefield's Kay Harker books, The Midnight Folk and The Box of Delights
Hobbies: Practicing Latin declensions by day and the black arts by night, depriving innocent boys of their toys and afternoon tea, summoning spirits
What she looks like, according to Kay: “She has a hooky nose, a hooky chin, very bright black eyes, long dingle-dangle earrings which click, a poke-bonnet, a red cloak, a stick with a hooky handle, and pointy black shiny shoes. And although in a way she looks old, in another way
she looks very young"
How Kay discovers her true identity: The contents of her bookshelf give Sylvia D.P. Brown away: Broomsticks, or the Midnight Practice, Spells and How to Bind Them, The Beginner’s Merlin, Merlin’s 100 Best Bewitchals, Were-Wolves, by one of Them, Shape-changing for all, by M. Le Fay, and most damningly, Why I am a Witch by Sylvia Daisy Pouncer
Masefield's inspiration: Sylvia Daisy is said to have been modeled on Masefield's Aunt, who raised him and his siblings after their parents died, and who disapproved of his love of reading, sending the teenager to live on a naval training ship to cure him of the filthy habit
Watch Sylvia Daisy in action (played by Patricia Quinn)
Read Michael Dirda on the two Kay Harker books
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