according to maple, pickingill was sufficiently well known in essex as an accomplished cunning man that people came to visit him from outside canewdon in search of magical aid, sometimes "from great distances", including men from the essex village of dengie, who sought his advice in a wage dispute. meanwhile, as maple noted, canewdon had developed a reputation associating it with witchcraft and magic by the end of the nineteenth century, when it was often thought of as "the witch country" and avoided by many wagoners who feared having their vehicles bewitched. this was possibly due to its relative isolation from neighbouring settlements, as it was surrounded by marshland, and the insular nature of its community. maple recorded that in this period there was a rumour that there were either six or nine elderly women living in canewdon who were malevolent witches and used their magic to harm others. it was believed that whilst they were not known to one another, they all owed their allegiance to a singular wizard or master of witches, and there was a rumour in the local community that pickingill himself was this figure. it was claimed that as "master of witches", pickingill simply had to whistle in order for these nine witches to stand by their front doors and reveal their identities, or that alternately he could "will them" to dance for him in the local churchyard.