{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_44412/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_44412","id":"gutenberg_44412","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44412","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - American","Category: History - British","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Devil","Witchcraft -- Great Britain","Witchcraft -- United States"],"text":"THE DEVIL IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF THE ONLY KNOWN SPECIMEN OF THE DEVIL\u2019S\nWRITING.]\n\n\n\n\n THE DEVIL IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA\n\n BY JOHN ASHTON\n\n AUTHOR OF \u2018SOCIAL ENGLAND UNDER THE REGENCY,\u2019\n \u2018SOCIAL LIFE IN THE REIGN OF QUEEN ANNE,\u2019\n \u2018VARIA,\u2019 ETC.\n\n \u2018Nam ut vere loquamur, superstitio fusa per gentes\n oppressit omnium fere animos, atque hominum\n imbecillitatem occupavit.\u2019\n CICERO--_De Divin._, Lib. ii. 72.\n\n _WITH FORTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS_\n\n WARD AND DOWNEY\n _Limited_\n 12 YORK BUILDINGS, ADELPHI W.C.\n 1896.\n [_All rights reserved._]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nTo my thinking, all modern English books on the Devil and his works are\nunsatisfactory. They all run in the same groove, give the same cases of\nwitchcraft, and, moreover, not one of them is illustrated. I have\nendeavoured to remedy this by localizing my facts, and by reproducing all\nthe engravings I could find suitable to my purpose.\n\nI have also tried to give a succinct account of demonology and witchcraft\nin England and America, by adducing authorities not usually given, and by\na painstaking research into old cases, carefully taking everything from\noriginal sources, and bringing to light very many cases never before\nrepublished.\n\nFor the benefit of students, I have given--as an Appendix--a list of the\nbooks consulted in the preparation of this work, which, however, the\nstudent must remember is not an exhaustive bibliography on the subject,\nbut only applies to this book, whose _raison d\u2019\u00eatre_ is its localization.\n\nThe frontispiece is supposed to be the only specimen of Satanic caligraphy\nin existence, and is taken from the \u2018Introductio in Chaldaicam Linguam,\u2019\netc., by Albonesi (Pavia, 1532). The author says that by the conjuration\nof Ludovico Spoletano the Devil was called up, and adjured to write a\nlegible and clear answer to a question asked him. Some invisible power\ntook the pen, which seemed suspended in the air, and rapidly wrote what is\nfacsimiled. The writing was given to Albonesi (who, however, confesses\nthat no one can decipher it), and his chief printer reproduced it very\naccurately. I am told by experts that in some of the characters may be\nfound a trace of Amharic, a language spoken in its purity in the province\nof Amhara (Ethiopia), and which, according to a legend, was the primeval\nlanguage spoken in Eden.\n\nJOHN ASHTON.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n PAGE\n\n CHAPTER I.\n\n Universal Belief in the Personality of the Devil, as\n portrayed by the British Artist--Arguments in Favour of his\n Personality--Ballad--\u2018Terrible and Seasonable Warning to\n Young Men\u2019 1\n\n CHAPTER II.\n\n \u2018Strange and True News from Westmoreland\u2019--\u2018The Politic\n Wife\u2019--\u2018How the Devill, though subtle, was guld by a\n Scold\u2019--\u2018The Devil\u2019s Oak\u2019--Raising the Devil--Arguments in\n Favour of Devils--The Number of Devils 13\n\n CHAPTER III.\n\n \u2018The Just Devil of Woodstock\u2019--Metrical Version--Presumed\n Genuine History of \u2018The Just Devil of Woodstock\u2019 28\n\n CHAPTER IV.\n\n \u2018The D\u00e6mon of Tedworth\u2019 47\n\n CHAPTER V.\n\n \u2018The D\u00e6mon of Burton\u2019--\u2018Strange and Wonderful News from\n Yowel, in Surrey\u2019--The Story of Mrs. Jermin--A Case at\n Welton--\u2018The Relation of James Sherring\u2019 60\n\n CHAPTER VI.\n\n A Demon in Gilbert Campbell\u2019s Family--Case of Sir William\n York--Case of Ian Smagge--Disturbances at Stockwell 72\n\n CHAPTER VII.\n\n Possession by, and casting out, Devils--The Church and\n Exorcisms--Earlier Exorcists--\u2018The Strange and Grievous\n Vexation by the Devil of 7 Persons in Lancashire\u2019 85\n\n CHAPTER VIII.\n\n James I. on Possession--The Vexation of Alexander Nyndge--\n \u2018Wonderful News from Buckinghamshire\u2019--Sale of a Devil 113\n\n CHAPTER IX.\n\n The Witch of Endor--The \u2018Mulier Malefica\u2019 of Berkeley--\n Northern Witches 129\n\n CHAPTER X.\n\n The Legal Witch--James I. on Witches--Reginald Scot on\n Witches--Addison on Witches 139\n\n CHAPTER XI.\n\n How a Witch was made--Her Compact with the Devil--Hell\n Broth--Homage and Feasting--The Witches\u2019 Sabbat 148\n\n CHAPTER XII.\n\n Familiar Spirits--Matthew Hopkins, the \u2018Witch-finder\u2019--\n Prince Rupert\u2019s dog Boy--Unguents used for transporting\n Witches from Place to Place--Their Festivities at the\n Sabbat 157\n\n CHAPTER XIII.\n\n Waxen Figures--Witches change into Animals--Witch\n Marks--Testimony against Witches--Tests for, and\n Examination of, Witches 175\n\n CHAPTER XIV.\n\n Legislation against Witches--Punishment--Last Executions\n for Witchcraft--Inability to weep and sink--Modern Cases\n of Witchcraft 191\n\n CHAPTER XV.\n\n Commencement of Witchcraft in England--Dame Eleanor\n Cobham--Jane Shore--Lord Huntingford--Cases from the\n Calendars of State Papers--Earliest Printed Case, that of\n John Walsh--Elizabeth Stile--Three Witches tried at\n Chelmsford--Witches of St. Osyth--Witches of\n Warboys--Witches of Northamptonshire 199\n\n CHAPTER XVI.\n\n The Lancashire Witches--Janet Preston--Margaret and Philip\n Flower--Anne Baker, Joane Willimot, and Ellen Greene--\n Elizabeth Sawyer--Mary Smith--Joan Williford, Joan Cariden,\n and Jane Hott 220\n\n CHAPTER XVII.\n\n Confessions of Witches executed in Essex--The Witches of\n Huntingdon--\u2018Wonderful News from the North\u2019--Trial of Six\n Witches at Maidstone--Trial of Four Witches at Worcester--A\n Lancashire Witch tried at Worcester--A Tewkesbury Witch 234\n\n CHAPTER XVIII.\n\n A Case of Vomiting Stones, etc., at Evesham--Anne\n Bodenham--Julian Cox--Elizabeth Styles--Rose Cullender and\n Amy Duny 246\n\n CHAPTER XIX.\n\n The Case of Mary Hill of Beckington--The Confession of\n Alice Huson--Florence Newton of Youghal--Temperance Lloyd\n (or Floyd), Mary Trembles, and Susannah Edwards 260\n\n CHAPTER XX.\n\n Elizabeth Horner--Pardons for Witchcraft--A Witch taken in\n London--Sarah Mordike--An Impostor convicted--Case of Jane\n Wenham--The Last Witch hanged in England 273\n\n CHAPTER XXI.\n\n Scotch Witches--Bessie Dunlop--Alesoun Peirson--Dr. John\n Fian--The Devil a Preacher--Examination of Agnes\n Sampson--Confession of Issobel Gowdie 287\n\n CHAPTER XXII.\n\n Early Witchcraft in Scotland--Lady Glamys--Bessie\n Dunlop--Lady Foulis--Numerous Cases 301\n\n CHAPTER XXIII.\n\n Witchcraft in America--In Illinois: Moreau and Emmanuel--In\n Virginia: Case of Grace Sherwood--In Pennsylvania: Two\n Swedish Women--In South Carolina--In Connecticut: Many\n Cases--In Massachusetts: Margaret Jones; Mary Parsons; Ann\n Hibbins; Other Cases 311\n\n CHAPTER XXIV.\n\n Cotton and Increase Mather--The Case of Goodwin\u2019s\n Daughter--That of Mr. Philip Smith--The Story of the Salem\n Witchcrafts--List of Victims--Release of Suspects--Reversal\n of Attainder, and Compensation 326\n\n APPENDIX 340\n\n\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nTHE DEVIL IN BRITAIN AND AMERICA\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\n Universal Belief in the Personality of the Devil, as portrayed by the\n British Artist--Arguments in Favour of his\n Personality--Ballad--\u2018Terrible and Seasonable Warning to Young Men.\u2019\n\n\nThe belief in a good and evil influence has existed from the earliest\nages, in every nation having a religion. The Egyptians had their _Typho_,\nthe Assyrians their _Ti-a-mat_ (the Serpent), the Hebrews their\n_Beelzebub_, or _Prince of Flies_,[1] and the Scandinavians their _Loki_.\nAnd many religions teach that the evil influence has a stronger hold upon\nmankind than the good influence--so great, indeed, as to nullify it in a\nlarge degree. Christianity especially teaches this: \u2018Enter ye by the\nnarrow gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to\ndestruction, and many be they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the\ngate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that\nfind it.\u2019 This doctrine of the great power of the Devil, or evil\ninfluence over man, is preached from every pulpit, under every form of\nChristianity, throughout the world; and although at the present time it is\nonly confined to the greater _moral_ power of the Devil over man, at an\nearlier period it was an article of belief that he was able to exercise a\ngreater _physical_ power.\n\nThis was coincident with a belief in his personality; and it is only in\nmodern times that that personality takes an alluring form. In the olden\ndays the Devil was always depicted as ugly and repulsive as the artist\ncould represent him, and yet he could have learned a great deal from the\nmodern Chinese and Japanese. The \u2018great God Pan,\u2019 although he was dead,\nwas resuscitated in order to furnish a type for \u2018the Prince of Darkness\u2019;\nand, accordingly, he was portrayed with horns, tail and cloven feet,\nmaking him an animal, according to a _mot_ attributed to Cuvier,\n\u2018graminivorous, and decidedly ruminant\u2019; while, to complete his classical\n_ensemble_, he was invested with the forked sceptre of Pluto, only\nsupplemented with another tine.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe British artist thus depicted him, but occasionally he drew him as a\n\u2018fearful wild fowl\u2019 of a totally different type--yet always as hideous as\nhis imagination could conceive, or his pencil execute.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThat the Devil could show himself to man, in a tangible form, was, for\nmany centuries, an article of firm belief, but, when it came to be argued\nout logically, it was difficult of proof. The only evidence that could be\nadduced which could carry conviction was from the Bible, which, of course,\nwas taken as the _ipsissima verba_ of God, and, on that, the old writers\nbased all their proof. One of the most lucid of them, Gyfford or Gifford,\nwriting in the sixteenth century, evidently feels this difficulty. Trying\nto prove that \u2018Diuels can appeare in a bodily shape, and use speeche and\nconference with men,\u2019 he says:[2]\n\n\u2018Our Saviour Christ saith that a spirite hath neither flesh nor bones. A\nspirite hath a substance, but yet such as is invisible, whereupon it must\nneedes be graunted, that Diuels in their owne nature have no bodilye\nshape, nor visible forme; moreover, it is against the truth, and against\npietie to believe that Diuels can create, or make bodies, or change one\nbody into another, for those things are proper to God. It followeth,\ntherefore, that whensoever they appeare in a visible forme, it is no more\nbut an apparition and counterfeit shewe of a bodie, unless a body be at\nany time lent them.\u2019\n\nAnd further on he thus speaks of the incarnation of Satan, as recorded in\nthe Bible.\n\n\u2018The Deuill did speake unto _Eua_ out of the Serpent. A thing manifest to\nproue that Deuils can speake, unlesse we imagine that age hath made him\nforgetfull and tongue tyde. Some holde that there was no visible Serpent\nbefore _Eua_, but an invisible thing described after that manner, that we\nmight be capable thereof.... But to let those goe, this is the chiefe and\nprincipall, for the matter which I have undertaken, to shewe euen by the\nvery storye that there was not onely the Deuill, but, also, a very\ncorporall beaste. If this question bee demaunded did _Eua_ knowe there was\nanye Deuill, or any wicked reprobate Angels. What man of knowledge will\nsay that she did? She did not as yet knowe good and euill. She knewe not\nthe authour of euill. When the Lorde sayde unto hir, What is this which\nthou hast done? she answereth by and by, The serpent deceiued me. Shee saw\nthere was one which had deceiued hir, shee nameth him a serpent; whence\nhad she that name for the deuill whome shee had not imagined to bee? It is\nplaine that she speaketh of a thing which had, before this, receiued his\nname.\n\n\u2018It is yet more euident by that she sayth, yonder serpent, or that\nserpent, for she noteth him out as pointing to a thing visible: for she\nuseth the demonstratiue particle _He_ in the Hebrew language, which\nseuereth him from other. Anie man of a sound mind may easilie see that\n_Eua_ nameth and pointeth at a visible beast, which was nombred among the\nbeastes of the fielde.\u2019\n\nThe Devil seems, with the exception of his entering into persons, not to\nhave used his power of appearing corporeally until people became too holy\nfor him to put up with, and many are the records in the Lives of the\nSaints of his appearance to these detestably good people--St. Anthony, to\nwit. Of course he always came off baffled and beaten, and, in the case of\nSt. Dunstan, suffered acute bodily pain, his nose being pinched by the\ngoldsmith-saint\u2019s red-hot tongs. Yet even that did not deter him from\nagain becoming visible, until, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries\nof our era, he became absolutely familiar on this earth.\n\nBut, according to all the records that we possess, his mission no longer\nwas to seduce the saints from their allegiance, and, having become more\ndemocratic, he mixed familiarly with the people, under different guises.\nOf course, his object was to secure the reversion of their souls at their\ndecease, his bait usually being the promise of wealth in this life, or the\ngratification of some passion.\n\nHe found many victims, but yet he met with failures--two of which are\nrecorded here.\n\n\nA NEW BALLAD.\n\nSHEWING THE GREAT MISERY SUSTAINED BY A POORE MAN IN ESSEX, HIS WIFE AND\nCHILDREN, WITH OTHER STRANGE THINGS DONE BY THE DEVILL.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n A poore Essex man\n that was in great distresse,\n Most bitterly made his complaint,\n in griefe and heavinesse:\n Through scarcity and want,\n he was oppressed sore,\n He could not find his children bread,\n he was so extreme poore.\n\n His silly Wife, God wot,\n being lately brought to bed,\n With her poore Infants at her brest\n had neither drinke nor bread.\n A wofull lying in\n was this, the Lord doth know,\n God keep all honest vertuous wives\n from feeling of such woe.\n\n My Husband deare, she said,\n for want of food I die,\n Some succour doe for me provide,\n to ease my misery.\n The man with many a teare,\n most pittiously replyde,\n We have no means to buy us bread;\n with that, the Children cry\u2019d.\n\n They came about him round,\n upon his coat they hung:\n And pittiously they made their mone,\n their little hands they wrung.\n Be still, my boyes, said he,\n And I\u2019le goe to the Wood,\n And bring some Acornes for to rost,\n and you shall have some food.\n\n Forth went the Wofull Man,\n a Cord he tooke with him,\n Wherewith to bind the broken wood,\n that he should homewards bring:\n And by the way as he went,\n met Farmers two or three,\n Desiring them for Christ his sake,\n to helpe his misery.\n\n Oh lend to me (he said)\n one loafe of Barley-bread,\n One pint of milke for my poore wife,\n in Child-bed almost dead:\n Thinke on my extreme need,\n to lend me have no doubt,\n I have no money for to pay,\n but I will worke it out.\n\n But they in churlish sort,\n did one by one reply,\n We have already lent you more\n than we can well come by.\n This answere strooke his heart\n as cold as any stone;\n Unto the Wood from thence he went,\n with many a grievous groane.\n\n Where at the length (behold)\n a tall man did him meet\n And cole-black were his garments all\n from head unto his feet.\n Thou wretched man, said he,\n why dost thou weep so sore?\n What is the cause thou mak\u2019st this mone,\n tell me, and sigh no more.\n\n Alas, good Sir (he said)\n the lacke of some reliefe,\n For my poore wife and children small,\n \u2019tis cause of all my griefe.\n They lie all like to starve,\n for want of bread (saith he);\n Good Sir, vouchsafe therefore to give\n one peny unto me.\n\n Hereby this wretched man\n committed wondrous evill,\n He beg\u2019d an almes, and did not know\n he ask\u2019t it of the Devill.\n But straight the hellish Fiend,\n to him reply\u2019d againe,\n An odious sinner art thou then\n that dost such want sustaine.\n\n Alack (the poore man said)\n this thing for truth I know,\n That _Job_ was just, yet never Man\n endured greater woe.\n The godly oft doe want,\n and need doth pinch them sore,\n Yet God will not forsake them quite,\n but doth their states restore.\n\n If thou so faithfull bee,\n why goest thou begging then?\n Thou shalt be fed as _Daniel_ was\n within the Lyon\u2019s den.\n If thus thou doe abide,\n the Ravens shall bring thee food,\n As they unto _Elias_ did\n that wandred in the Wood.\n\n Mocke not a wofull man,\n good Sir, the poore man said,\n Redouble not my sorrows so,\n that are upon me laid.\n But, rather, doe extend\n unto my need, and give\n One peny for to buy some bread,\n my Children poore may live.\n\n With that he opened straight\n the fairest purse in sight\n That ever mortal eye beheld,\n fild up with crownes full bright.\n Unto the wofull man\n the same he wholly gave,\n Who very earnestly did pray\n that Christ his life might save.\n\n Well, (quoth the damn\u2019d Spirit)\n goe, ease thy Children\u2019s sorrow,\n And, if thou wantest anything,\n come, meet me here to-morrow.\n Then home the poore man went,\n with cheerfull heart and mind,\n And comforted his woful wife\n with words that were most kind.\n\n Take Comfort, Wife, he said,\n I have a purse of Gold,\n Now given by a Gentleman,\n most faire for to behold.\n And thinking for to pull\n his purse from bosome out,\n He found nothing but Oken leaves,\n bound in a filthy Clout.\n\n Which, when he did behold,\n with sorrowe pale and wan,\n In desperate sort to seeke the purse,\n unto the Wood he ran,\n Supposing in his mind,\n that he had lost it there;\n He could not tell then what to think,\n he was \u2019twixt hope and feare.\n\n He had no sooner come\n into the shady Grove,\n The Devil met with him againe,\n as he in fancy strove.\n What seek\u2019st thou here? he said,\n the purse (quoth he) you gave,\n Thus Fortune she hath crossed me,\n and then the Devill said\n\n Where didst thou put the Purse?\n tell me, and do not lye,\n Within my bosome, said the man,\n where no man did come nigh.\n Looke there againe, (quoth he)\n then said the Man, I shall,\n And found his bosome full of Toads,\n as thicke as they could crawle.\n\n The poore man at this sight,\n to speak had not the power,\n See (q\u2019d the Devill) vengeance doth\n pursue thee every hour.\n Goe, cursed wretch, (quoth he)\n and rid away thy life,\n But murther first thy children young,\n and miserable Wife.\n\n The poore man, raging mad,\n ran home incontinent,\n Intending for to kill them all,\n but God did him prevent.\n For why, the chiefest man\n that in the Parish dwelt,\n With meat and money thither came,\n which liberally he dealt.\n\n Who, seeing the poore man\n come home in such a rage,\n Was faine to bind him in his bed,\n his fury to asswage.\n Where long he lay full sicke,\n still crying for his Gold,\n But, being well, this whole discourse\n he to his neighbours told.\n\n From all temptations,\n Lord, keep both Great and Small,\n And let no man, O heavenly God,\n for want of succour fall.\n But put their speciall trust\n in God for evermore,\n Who will, no doubt, from misery\n each faithfull man restore.\n\n\n\u2018A TERRIBLE AND SEASONABLE WARNING TO YOUNG MEN.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018Being a very particular and True Relation of one _Abraham Joiner_, a\nyoung man about 17 or 18 Years of Age, living in _Shakesby\u2019s_ Walks in\n_Shadwell_, being a Ballast Man by Profession, who, on _Saturday_ Night\nlast, pick\u2019d up a leud Woman, and spent what money he had about him in\nTreating her, saying afterwards, if she wou\u2019d have any more he must go to\nthe Devil for it, and, slipping out of her Company, he went to the _Cock_\nand _Lyon_ in _King Street_, the Devil appear\u2019d to him, and gave him a\nPistole, telling him _he shou\u2019d never want for Money_, appointing to meet\nhim the next Night, at the _World\u2019s End_ at _Stepney_; Also how his\nBrother persuaded him to throw the Money away, which he did; but was\nsuddenly taken in a very strange manner, so that they were fain to send\nfor the Reverend Mr. Constable and other Ministers to pray with him; he\nappearing now to be very Penitent; with an Account of the Prayers and\nExpressions he makes use of under his Affliction, and the Prayers that\nwere made for him, to free him from this violent Temptation.\n\n\u2018The Truth of which is sufficiently attested in the Neighbourhood, he\nlying now at his Mother\u2019s house,\u2019 etc.\n\nStepney seems to have been a favourite haunt of the Devil, for there is a\ntract published at Edinburgh, 1721, entitled \u2018A timely Warning to Rash and\nDisobedient Children. Being a strange and wonderful Relation of a young\nGentleman in the Parish of _Stepheny_, in the Suburbs of _London_, that\nsold himself to the Devil for 12 Years, to have the Power of being\nrevenged on his Father and Mother, and how, his Time being expired, he lay\nin a sad and deplorable Condition, to the Amazement of all Spectators.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\n \u2018Strange and True News from Westmoreland\u2019--\u2018The Politic Wife\u2019--\u2018How\n the Devill, though subtle, was guld by a Scold\u2019--\u2018The Devil\u2019s\n Oak\u2019--Raising the Devil--Arguments in Favour of Devils--The Numbers of\n Devils.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn the foregoing examples we have seen the Devil in human form, and\nproperly apparelled, but occasionally he showed himself in his supposed\nproper shape--when, of course, his intentions were at once perceived; and\non one occasion we find him called upon by an Angel, to execute justice on\na bad man. It is in\n\n\nSTRANGE AND TRUE NEWS FROM WESTMORELAND.\n\n Attend good Christian people all,\n Mark what I say, both old and young,\n Unto the general Judgment day,\n I think it is not very long.\n\n A Wonder strange I shall relate,\n I think the like was never shown,\n In _Westmoreland_ at _Tredenton_,\n Of such a thing was never known.\n\n One _Gabriel Harding_ liv\u2019d of late,\n As may to all men just appear,\n Whose yearly Rent, by just account,\n Came to five hundred pound a year.\n\n This man he had a Virtuous Wife,\n In Godly ways her mind did give:\n Yet he, as rude a wicked wretch,\n As in this sinful Land did live.\n\n Much news of him I will relate,\n The like no Mortal man did hear;\n \u2019Tis very new, and also true,\n Therefore, good Christians, all give ear.\n\n One time this man he came home drunk,\n As he us\u2019d, which made his wife to weep,\n Who straightway took him by the hand,\n Saying, Dear Husband, lye down and sleepe.\n\n She lovingly took him by the arms,\n Thinking in safety him to guide,\n A blow he struck her on the breast,\n The woman straight sank down and dy\u2019d.\n\n The Children with Mournful Cries\n They ran into the open Street,\n They wept, they wail\u2019d, they wrung their hands,\n To all good Christians they did meet.\n\n The people then, they all ran forth,\n Saying, Children, why make you such moan?\n O, make you haste unto our house,\n Our dear mother is dead and gone.\n\n Our Father hath our Mother kill\u2019d,\n The Children they cryed then.\n The people then they all made haste\n And laid their hands upon the man.\n\n He presently denied the same,\n Said from Guilty Murder I am free,\n If I did that wicked deed, he said,\n Some example I wish to be seen by me.\n\n Thus he forswore the wicked deed,\n Of his dear Wife\u2019s untimely end.\n Quoth the people, Let\u2019s conclude with speed,\n That for the Coroner we may send.\n\n Mark what I say, the door\u2019s fast shut,\n The People the Children did deplore,\n But straight they heard a Man to speak,\n And one stood knocking at the door.\n\n One in the house to the door made haste,\n Hearing a Man to Knock and Call,\n The door was opened presently,\n And in he came amongst them all.\n\n By your leave, good people, then he said,\n May a stranger with you have some talk?\n A dead woman I am come to see;\n Into the room, I pray, Sir, walk.\n\n His eyes like to the Stars did shine,\n He was clothed in a bright grass green,\n His cheeks were of a crimson red,\n For such a man was seldome seen.\n\n Unto the people then he spoke,\n Mark well these words which I shall say,\n For no Coroner shall you send,\n I\u2019m Judge and Jury here this day.\n\n Bring hither the Man that did the deed,\n And firmly hath denied the same.\n They brought him into the room with speed,\n To answer to this deed with shame.\n\n Now come, O wretched Man, quoth he,\n With shame before thy neighbours all,\n Thy body thou hast brought to Misery,\n Thy soul into a deeper thrall.\n\n Thy Chiefest delight was drunkeness,\n And lewd women, O, cursed sin,\n Blasphemous Oaths and Curses Vile\n A long time thou hast wallowed in.\n\n The Neighbours thou wouldst set at strife,\n And alwaies griping of the poor,\n Besides, thou hast murdered thy wife,\n A fearful death thou dy\u2019st therefore.\n\n Fear nothing, good people, then he said,\n A sight will presently appear,\n Let all your trust be in the Lord,\n No harm shall be while I am here.\n\n Then in the Room the Devil appear\u2019d,\n Like a brave Gentleman did stand,\n Satan (quoth he that was the Judge)\n Do no more than thou hast command.\n\n The Devil then he straight laid hold\n On him that had murdered his wife,\n His neck in Sunder then he broke,\n And thus did end his wretched life.\n\n The Devil then he vanished\n Quite from the People in the Hall,\n Which made the people much afraid,\n Yet no one had no hurt at all.\n\n Then straight a pleasant Melody\n Of Musick straight was heard to sound,\n It ravisht the hearts of those stood by,\n So sweet the Musick did abound.\n\n Now, (quoth this gallant Man in green)\n With you I can no longer stay,\n My love I leave, my leave I take,\n The time is come, I must away.\n\n Be sure to love each other well,\n Keep in your breast what I do say.\n It is the way to go to Heaven,\n When you shall rise at Judgment day.\n\n The people to their homes did go,\n Which had this mighty wonder seen,\n And said, it was an Angel sure\n That thus was clothed all in green.\n\n And thus the News from _Westmoreland_\n I have related to you o\u2019er,\n I think it is as strange a thing,\n As ever man did hear before.\n\nIn the old days the Devil was used as a butt at which people shot their\nlittle arrows of wit. In the miracle plays, when introduced, he filled the\npart of the pantaloon in our pantomimes, and was accompanied by a \u2018Vice,\u2019\nwho played practical jokes with him, slapping him with his wooden sword,\njumping on his back, etc.; and in the carvings of our abbeys and\ncathedrals, especially in the Miserere seats in the choir, he was\nfrequently depicted in comic situations, as also in the illuminations of\nmanuscripts. He was often written about as being sadly deficient in\nbrains, and many are the instances recorded of him being outwitted by a\nshrewd human being, as we may see by the following ballad.\n\n\nTHE POLITIC WIFE;\n\nOR, THE DEVIL OUTWITTED BY A WOMAN.\n\n Of all the plagues upon the earth,\n That e\u2019er poor man befal,\n It\u2019s hunger and a scolding wife,\n These are the worst of all:\n There was a poor man in our country\n Of a poor and low degree,\n And with both these plagues he was troubled,\n And the worst of luck had he.\n\n He had seven children by one wife,\n And the times were poor and hard,\n And his poor toil was grown so bad,\n He scarce could get him bread:\n Being discontented in his mind,\n One day his house he left,\n And wandered down by a forest side,\n Of his senses quite bereft.\n\n As he was wandering up and down,\n Betwixt hope and despair,\n The Devil started out of a bush,\n And appeared unto him there:\n O what is the matter, the Devil he said,\n You look so discontent?\n Sure you want some money to buy some bread,\n Or to pay your landlord\u2019s rent.\n\n Indeed, kind sir, you read me right,\n And the grounds of my disease,\n Then what is your name, said the poor man,\n Pray, tell me, if you please?\n My name is Dumkin the Devil, quoth he,\n And the truth to you I do tell,\n Altho\u2019 you see me wandering here,\n Yet my dwelling it is in hell.\n\n Then what will you give me, said the Devil,\n To ease you of your want,\n And you shall have corn and cattle enough,\n And never partake of scant?\n I have nothing to give you, said the poor man,\n Nor nothing here in hand,\n But all the service that I can do,\n Shall be at your command.\n\n Then, upon the condition of seven long years,\n A bargain with you I will frame,\n You shall bring me a beast unto this place,\n That I cannot tell his name:\n But, if I tell its name full right,\n Then mark what to you I tell,\n Then you must go along with me\n Directly unto Hell.\n\n This poor man went home joyfully,\n And thrifty he grew therefore,\n For he had corn and cattle enough,\n And every thing good store.\n His neighbours who did live around,\n Did wonder at him much,\n And thought he had robb\u2019d or stole,\n He was grown so wondrous rich.\n\n Then for the space of seven long years\n He lived in good cheer,\n But when the time of his indenture grew near,\n He began to fear:\n O what is the matter, said his wife,\n You look so discontent?\n Sure you have got some maid with child,\n And now you begin to repent.\n\n Indeed, kind wife, you judge me wrong,\n To censure so hard of me,\n Was it for getting a maid with child,\n That would be no felony:\n But I have made a league with the Devil,\n For seven long years, no more,\n That I should have corn and cattle enough,\n And everything good store.\n\n Then for the space of seven long years\n A bargain I did frame,\n I should bring him a beast unto that place,\n He could not tell its name:\n But if he tell his name full right,\n Then mark what to you I tell,\n Then I must go along with him,\n Directly unto Hell.\n\n Go, get you gone, you silly old man,\n Your cattle go tend and feed,\n For a woman\u2019s wit is far better than a man\u2019s,\n If us\u2019d in time of need:\n Go fetch me down all the birdlime you have,\n And set it down on the floor,\n And when I have pulled my cloathes all off,\n You shall anoint me all o\u2019er.\n\n Now when he had anointed her\n From the head unto the heel,\n Zounds! said the man, methinks you look\n Just like the very De\u2019el.\n Go, fetch me down all the feathers thou hast,\n And lay them down by me,\n And I will roll myself therein,\n \u2019Till never a place go free.\n\n Come, tie a string about my neck,\n And lead me to this place,\n And I will save you from the Devil,\n If I have but so much grace.\n The Devil, he stood roaring out,\n And looked both fierce and bold;\n Thou hast brought me a beast unto this place,\n And the bargain thou dost hold.\n\n Come, shew me the face of this beast, said the Devil,\n Come, shew it me in a short space;\n Then he shewed him his wife\u2019s buttocks,\n And swore it was her face:\n She has monstrous cheeks, the Devil he said,\n As she now stands at length,\n You\u2019d take her for some monstrous beast\n Taken by Man\u2019s main strength.\n\n How many more of these beasts, said the Devil,\n How many more of this kind?\n I have seven more such, said the poor man,\n But have left them all behind.\n If you have seven more such, said the Devil,\n The truth unto you I tell,\n You have beasts enough to cheat me\n And all the Devils in Hell.\n\n Here, take thy bond and indenture both,\n I\u2019ll have nothing to do with thee:\n So the man and his wife went joyfully home\n And lived full merrily.\n O, God send us good merry long lives,\n Without any sorrow or woe,\n Now here\u2019s a health to all such wives\n Who can cheat the Devil so.\n\nThere is\n\n \u2018A Pleasant new Ballad you here may behold\n How the Devill, though subtle, was guld by a Scold.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe story of this ballad is, that the Devil, being much amused with this\nscolding wife, went to fetch her. Taking the form of a horse, he called\nupon her husband, and told him to set her on his back. This was easily\naccomplished by telling her to _lead_ the horse to the stable, which she\nrefused to do.\n\n \u2018Goe leade, sir Knave, quoth she,\n and wherefore not, Goe ride?\n She took the Devill by the reines,\n and up she goes astride.\u2019\n\nAnd once on the Devil, she _rode_ him; she kicked him, beat him, slit his\nears, and kept him galloping all through Hell, until he could go no\nlonger, when he concluded to take her home again to her husband.\n\n \u2018Here, take her (quoth the Devill)\n to keep her here be bold,\n For Hell would not be troubled\n with such an earthly scold.\n When I come home, I may\n to all my fellowes tell,\n I lost my labour and my bloud,\n to bring a scold to Hell.\u2019\n\nIn another ballad, called \u2018The Devil\u2019s Oak,\u2019 he is made out to be a very\npoor thing; the last verse says:\n\n \u2018That shall be try\u2019d, the Devil then he cry\u2019d,\n then up the Devil he did start,\n Then the Tinker threw his staff about,\n and he made the Devil to smart:\n There against a gate, he did break his pate,\n and both his horns he broke;\n And ever since that time, I will make up my rhime,\n it was called \u201cThe Devil\u2019s Oak.\u201d\u2019\n\nBut popular belief credited to certain men the power of being able to\nproduce the Devil in a visible form, and these were called necromancers,\nsorcerers, magicians, etc. Of them Roger Bacon was said to have been one,\nand Johann Faust, whom Goethe has immortalized, and whose idealism is such\na favourite on the lyric stage. But Johann Faust was not at all the Faust\nof Goethe. He was the son of poor parents, and born at Knittlingen, in\nW\u00fcrtemberg, at the end of the fifteenth century. He was educated at the\nUniversity of Cracow, thanks to a legacy left him by an uncle, and he\nseems to have been nothing better than a common cheat, called by\nMelancthon \u2018an abominable beast, a sewer of many devils,\u2019 and by Conrad\nMuth, who was a friend both of Melancthon and Luther, \u2018a braggart and a\nfool who affects magic.\u2019 However, he was very popular in England, and not\nonly did Marlowe write a play about him, but there are many so-called\nlives of him in English, especially among the chap-books--in which he is\nfully credited with the power of producing the Devil in a tangible form by\nmeans of his magic art.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut the spirits supposed to be raised by these magicians were not always\nmaleficent; they were more demons than devils. It will therefore be as\nwell if we quote a competent and learned authority on the subject of\ndevils.\n\nSays Gyfford: \u2018The Devils being the principall agents, and chiefe\npractisers in witchcrafts and sorceryes, it is much to the purpose to\ndescrybe them and set them forth whereby wee shall bee the better\ninstructed to see what he is able to do, in what maner, and to what ende\nand purpose. At the beginning (as God\u2019s word doth teach us) they were\ncreated holy Angels, full of power and glory. They sinned, they were cast\ndown from heauen, they were utterly depriued of glory, and preserued for\niudgement. This therefore, and this change of theirs, did not destroy nor\ntake away their former faculties; but utterly corrupt, peruert, and\ndepraue the same: the essence of spirits remayned, and not onely, but also\npower and understanding, such as is in the Angels: y{e} heavenly Angels\nare very mighty and strong, far above all earthly creatures in the whole\nworld. The infernall Angels are, for their strength called principalityes\nand powers: those blessed ones applye all their might to set up and\naduaunce the glory of God, to defend and succour his children: the deuils\nbend all their force against God, agaynst his glory, his truth and his\npeople. And this is done with such fiercenes, rage and cruelty, that the\nholy ghost paynteth them out under the figure of a great red or fiery\ndragon, and roaring lyon, in very deed anything comparable to them. He\nhath such power and autority indeede, that hee is called the God of the\nworld. His Kingdome is bound and inclosed within certayne limits, for he\nis y{e} prince but of darknes; but yet within his sayd dominion (which is\nin ignorance of God) he exerciseth a mighty tyranny, our Saviour\ncompareth him to a strong man armed which kepeth his castle.\n\n\u2018And what shall we saie for the wisedome and understanding of Angels,\nwhich was giuen them in their creation, was it not far aboue that which\nmen can reach unto? When they became diuels (euen those reprobate angels)\ntheir understanding was not taken awaie, but turned into malicious craft\nand subtiltie. He neuer doth any thing but of an euill purpose, and yet he\ncan set such a colour, that the Apostle saith he doth change himselfe into\nthe likenesse of an angell of light. For the same cause he is called the\nold serpent, he was subtill at the beginning, but he is now growne much\nmore subtill by long experience, and continuall practise, he hath searched\nout and knoweth all the waies that may be to deceiue. So that, if God\nshould not chaine him up, as it is set forth, _Revel. 20_, his power and\nsubtiltie ioined together would overcome and seduce the whole world.\n\n\u2018There be great multitudes of infernall spirits, as the holy scriptures\ndoe euerie where shew, but yet they doe so ioine together in one, that\nthey be called the divell in the singular number. They doe all ioine\ntogether (as our Saviour teacheth) to uphold one kingdome. For though they\ncannot loue one another indeede, yet the hatred they beare against God, is\nas a band that doth tye them together. The holie angels are ministring\nspirits, sent foorth for their sakes which shall inherit the promise. They\nhaue no bodilie shape of themselues, but to set foorth their speedinesse,\nthe scripture applieth itselfe unto our rude capacitie, and painteth them\nout with wings.\n\n\u2018When they are to rescue and succour the seruants of God, they can\nstraight waie from the high heauens, which are thousands of thousands of\nmiles distant from the earth, bee present with them. Such quicknesse is\nalso in the diuels; for their nature being spirituall, and not loden with\nany heauie matter as our bodies are, doth afford unto them such a\nnimblenes as we cannot conceiue. By this, they flie through the world over\nsea and land, and espie out al aduantages and occasions to doe euill.\u2019[3]\n\nIndeed, \u2018there be great multitudes of infernall spirits,\u2019 if we can\nbelieve so eminent an authority upon the subject as Reginald Scott, who\ngives \u2018An inuentarie of the names, shapes, powers, gouernement, and\neffects of diuels and spirits, of their seuerall segniories and degrees: a\nstrange discourse woorth the reading.\n\n\u2018Their first and principall King (which is of the power of the east) is\ncalled _Ba\u00ebll_; who, when he is conjured up, appeareth with three heads;\nthe first, like a tode; the second, like a man; the third, like a cat. He\nspeaketh with a hoarse voice, he maketh a man go invisible, he hath under\nhis obedience and rule sixtie and six legions of divels.\u2019[4]\n\nAll the other diabolical chiefs are described at the same length, but I\nonly give their names, and the number of legions they command.\n\n Agares 31\n Marbas or Barbas 36\n Amon or Aamon 40\n Barbatos 30\n Buer 50\n Gusoin 40\n Botis or Otis 60\n Bathin or Mathinn 30\n Purson or Curson 22\n Eligor or Abigor 60\n Leraie or Oray 30\n Valefar or Malefar 10\n Morax or Foraij 36\n Ipos or Ayporos 36\n Naberius or Cerberus 19\n Glasya Labolas or Caacrinolaas 36\n Zepar 26\n Bileth 85\n Sitri or Bitru 60\n Paimon 20\n Belial none\n Bune 30\n Forneus 29\n Ronoue 19\n Berith 26\n Astaroth 40\n Foras or Forcas 29\n Furfur 26\n Marchosias 30\n Malphas 40\n Vepar or Separ 29\n Sabnacke or Salmac 50\n Sidonay or Asmoday 72\n Gaap or Tap 36\n Shax or Scox 30\n Procell 48\n Furcas 20\n Murmur 30\n Caim 30\n Raum or Raim 30\n Halphas 26\n Focalor 3\n Vine none\n Bifrons 26\n Gamigin 30\n Zagan 33\n Orias 30\n Valac 30\n Gomory 26\n Decarabia or Carabia 30\n Amduscias 29\n Andras 30\n Andrealphus 30\n Ose none\n Aym or Haborim 26\n Orobas 20\n Vapula 36\n Cimeries 20\n Amy 36\n Flauros 20\n Balam 40\n Allocer 36\n Vuall 37\n Saleos none\n Haagenti 33\n Ph\u0153nix 20\n Stolas 26\n\n\u2018Note that a legion is 6666, and now by multiplication count how manie\nlegions doo arise out of euerie particular,\u2019\n\nOr a grand total of 14,198,580 devils, not including their commanders.\n\nHow many of these fall to the share of England? I know not, but they were\nvery active in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,\nespecially in the seventeenth. They seem to us, nowadays, to have\nfrittered away their energies in attending on witches, in entering into\ndivers persons and tormenting them, and in making senseless uproars and\nplaying practical jokes. Let us take about half a dozen of these latter.\nSay, for argument sake, that they are not very abstruse or intellectual\nreading; at all events, they are as good as the modern stories of\nspiritual manifestations, and are as trustworthy.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\n \u2018The Just Devil of Woodstock\u2019--Metrical Version--Presumed Genuine\n History of \u2018The Just Devil of Woodstock.\u2019\n\n\nTHE JUST DEVIL OF WOODSTOCK.[5]\n\n\u2018The 16 day of _October_ in the year of our Lord 1649, The Commissioners\nfor surveying and valuing his Majesties Mannor House, Parks, Woods, Deer,\nDemesnes, and all things thereunto belonging, by Name Captain _Crook_,\nCapt. _Hart_, Capt. _Cockaine_, Capt. _Carelesse_, and Capt. _Roe_ their\nMessenger, with Mr. _Brown_ their Secretary, and two or three servants,\nwent from _Woodstock_ town (where they had lain some nights before) and\ntook up their lodgings in his Majesties House, after this manner: The\nBedchamber and withdrawing room, they both lodged in, and made their\nKitchin; the Presence Chamber their room for dispatch of business with all\ncommers: of the Councel Hall, their Brewhouse, as of the Dining room,\ntheir Woodhouse, where they laid in the clefts, of that antient standard\nin the High-Park, for many ages beyond memory, known by the Name of the\nKings Oak, which they had chosen out, and caused to be dug up by the\nRoots.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 17._ About the middle of the night, these new guests were first\nawaked, by a knocking at the Presence Chamber door, which they also\nconceived did open, and something to enter, which came through the room,\nand also walkt through the withdrawing room into the Bed chamber, and\nthere walkt about that room with a heavy step during half an hour; then\ncrept under the bed where Captain _Hart_, and Capt. _Carelesse_ lay, where\nit did seeme (as it were) to bite and gnaw the Mat and Bed-coards, as if\nit would tear and rend the feather beds, which having done a while, then\nwould they heave a while, and rest; then heave them up again in the bed\nmore high than it did before, sometime on the one side, sometime on the\nother, as if it had tried which Captain was heaviest; thus having heaved\nfor some half an hour, from thence it walkt out, and went under the\nservants\u2019 bed, and did the like to them; thence it walkt into a\nwithdrawing room, and there did the same to all who lodged there: Thus\nhaving welcomed them for more than two hours space, it walked out as it\ncame in, and shut the outer door again, but with a clap of some mightie\nforce; these guests were in a sweat all this while, but out of it falling\ninto a sleep again, it became morning first before they spoke their minds,\nthen would they have it to be a Dog, yet they described it more to the\nlikenesse of a great Bear, so fell to examining under the Beds, where\nfinding only the Mats scratcht, but the Bed-coards whole, and the\nquarters of Beef which lay on the floor untoucht, they entertained other\nthoughts.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 18._ They were all awaked, as the night before, and now conceived\nthat they heard all the great clefts of the Kings Oak brought into the\nPresence Chamber, and there thumpt down, and, after, roul about the room;\nthey could hear their chairs and stools tost from one side of the room\nunto the other; and then (as it were) altogether jostled; thus having done\nan hour together, it walkt into the withdrawing room, where lodged the two\nCaptains, the Secretary, and two servants; here stopt the thing a while,\nas if it did take breath, but raised a hideous tone, then walkt into the\nBed-chamber, where lay those as before, and under the Bed it went, where\nit did heave, and heave again, that now they in bed were put to catch hold\nupon Bed-posts, and sometimes one of the other, to prevent their being\ntumbled out upon the ground; then coming out as from under the bed, and\ntaking hold upon the bed-posts, it would shake the whole bed, almost as if\na cradle rocked; Thus, having done here for half an hour, it went into the\nwithdrawing room, where first it came and stood at the bed\u2019s feet, and\nheaving up the bed\u2019s feet, flopt down again a while, until at last it\nheaved the feet so high, that those in bed thought to have been set upon\ntheir heads, and having thus for two hours entertained them, went out as\nin the night before, but with a great noise.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 19._ This night they awaked, not until the midst of the night,\nthey perceived the room to shake, with something that walkt about the\nbed-chamber, which, having done so for a while, it walkt into a\nwithdrawing room, where it took up a Brasse warming-pan, and returning\nwith it into the bed-chamber, therein made so loud a noise, in these\nCaptains\u2019 own words, it was as loud and scurvie as a ring of five untuned\nBells rang backward, but the Captains, not to seem afraid, next day made\nmirth of what had past, and jested at the Devil in the pan.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 20._ These Captains and their Company, still lodging as before,\nwere wakened in this night with some things flying about the rooms, and\nout of one room into the other, as thrown with some great force: Captain\n_Hart_ being in a slumber, was taken by the shoulder and shaked until he\ndid sit up in his bed, thinking that it had been by one of his fellows,\nwhen suddenly he was taken on the Pate with a Trencher, that it made him\nshrink down into the bed-clothes, and all of them, in both rooms, kept\ntheir heads, at least, within their sheets, so fiercely did three dozen of\nTrenchers, fly about the rooms; yet Captain _Hart_ ventured again to peep\nout to see what was the matter, and what it was that threw, but then the\nTrenchers came so fast and neer about his ears, that he was fain to couch\nagain: In the morning they found all their Trenchers, Pots and Spits, upon\nand about the rooms; this night there was also in several parts of the\nroom, and outer rooms, such noises of beating at doors, and on the Walls,\nas if that several Smiths had been at work; and yet our Captains shrunk\nnot from their work, but went on in that, and lodged as they had done\nbefore.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 21._ About midnight, they heard great knocking at every door,\nafter a while, the doors flew open, and into the withdrawing room entred\nsomething, as of a very mighty proportion, the figure of it they knew not\nhow to describe; this walkt a while about the room, shaking the floor at\nevery step, then came it close to the bed side, where lay Captains _Crook_\nand _Carelesse_; and, after a little pause, as it were, The bed-curtains,\nboth at sides and feet, were drawn up and down, slowly, then faster again\nfor a quarter of an hour, then from end to end as fast as imagination\ncould fancie the running of the rings, then shaked it the beds, as if the\njoints thereof had crackt; then walkt the thing into the bed-chamber, and\nso plaied with those beds there: Then took up eight Pewter-dishes, and\nbouled them about the room, and over the servants in the truckle beds;\nthen sometimes were the dishes taken up, and throwne crosse the high beds,\nand against the walls, and so much battered; but there were more dishes\nwherein was meat in the same room, that were not at all removed: During\nthis, in the Presence Chamber there was stranger noise of weightie things\nthrown down, and as they supposed, the clefts of the King\u2019s Oak did roul\nabout the room, yet at the wonted hour went away, and left them to take\nrest, such as they could.\n\n\u2018_October 22._ Hath mist of being set down, the Officers imployed in their\nwork farther off, came not that day to _Woodstock_.\n\n\u2018_October 23._ Those that lodged in the withdrawing room, in the midst of\nthe night were awakened with the cracking of fire, as if it had been with\nthorns and sparks of fire burning, whereupon they supposed that the bed\nchamber had taken fire, and, listening to it farther, they heard their\nfellows in bed sadly groan, which gave them to suppose they might be\nsuffocated, wherefore they call\u2019d upon their servants to make all possible\nhast to help them; when the two servants were come in, they found all\nasleep, and so brought back word, but that there were no bedclothes upon\nthem, wherefore they were sent back to cover them, and to stir up and mend\nthe fire; when the servants had covered them, and were come to the\nchimney, in the corners they found their wearing apparel, boots and\nstockings, but they had no sooner toucht the Embers, when the firebrands\nflew about their ears so fast, that away ran they into the other room, for\nthe shelter of their cover-lids, then after them walkt something that\nstampt about the room, as if it had been exceeding angry, and likewise\nthrew about the Trenchers, Platters, and all such things in the room;\nafter two hours went out, yet stampt again over their heads.\n\n\u2018_October 24._ They lodged all abroad.\n\n\u2018_October 25._ This afternoon came unto them Mr. _Richard Crook_, the\nLawyer, brother to Captain Crook, and now Deputy-Steward of the Mannor,\nunto Captain _Parsons_, and Major _Butler_, who had put out Mr. Hyans his\nMajesties Officer: To entertain this new guest the Commissioners caused a\nvery great fire to be made, of neere the chimney full of wood, of the\nKing\u2019s Oak, and he was lodged in the withdrawing room with his brother,\nand his servant in the same room: about the midst of the night a wonderful\nknocking was heard, and into the room something did rush, which, coming to\nthe chimney side, dasht out the fire, as with the stamp of some prodigious\nfoot, then threw down such weighty stuffe, what ere it was (they took it\nto be the residue of the clefts and roots of the King\u2019s Oak) close by the\nbed side, that the house and bed shook with it. Captain _Cockain_ and his\nfellow arose and took their swords to go unto the _Crooks_, the noise\nceased at their rising, so that they came to the door, and called; the two\nbrothers, though fully awaked, and heard them call, were so amazed, that\nthey made no answer, untill Captain _Cockaine_ had recovered the boldness\nto call very loud, and came unto their bed-side; then, faintly first,\nafter some more assurance, they came to understand one another, and\ncomforted the lawyer: Whilst this was thus, no noise was heard, which made\nthem think the time was past of that nights troubles, so that, after some\nlittle conference, they applied themselves to take some rest. When Captain\n_Cockaine_ was come to his own bed, which he had left open, he found it\nclosely covered, which he much wondered at, but turning the clothes down,\nand opening it to get in, he found the lower sheet strewed over with\ntrenchers, their whole three dozens of trenchers were orderly disposed\nbetween his sheets, which he and his fellow endeavouring to cast out, such\nnoise arose about the room, that they were glad to get into bed with some\nof the trenchers; the noise lasted a full half hour after this. This\nentertainment so ill did like the Lawyer, and being not so well studied in\nthe point, as to resolve this the Devil\u2019s Law-case, that he, next day,\nresolved to begone, but, not having dispatcht all that he came for, profit\nand perswasions prevailed with him to stay the other hearing, so that he\nlodged as he did the night before.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 26._ This night each room was better furnished with fire and\ncandle than before; yet about twelve at night came something in, that\ndasht all out, then did walk about the room, making a noise, not to be set\nforth by the comparison with any other thing, sometimes came it to the\nbed-sides, and drew the Curtains to and fro, then twerle them, then walk\nabout again, and return to the bed-posts, shake them with all the bed, so\nthat they in bed were put to hold one upon the other; then walk about the\nroom again, and come to the servants bed, and gnaw the wainscot head--and\nshake altogether in that room; at the time of this being in doing, they in\nthe bed-chamber heard such strange dropping down from the roof of the\nroom, that they supposed \u2019twas like the fall of money by the sound.\nCaptain _Cockaine_ not frighted with so small a noise (and lying near the\nchimney) stept out, and made shift to light a candle, by the light of\nwhich he perceived the room strewed over with broken glass, green, and\nsome as it were pieces of broken bottles. He had not long been considering\nwhat it was, when suddainly his candle was hit out, and glass flew about\nthe room, that he made haste to the protection of the Coverlets, the noise\nof thundering rose more hideous than at any time before; yet, at a certain\ntime, all vanisht into calmness. The morning after, was the glass about\nthe room, which the maid, that was to make clean the rooms, swept up into\na corner, and many came to see it. But Mr. _Richard Crooke_ would stay no\nlonger, yet as he stopt, going through _Woodstock_ Town, he was there\nheard to say, that he would not lodge amongst them another night, for a\nFee of \u00a3500.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 27._ The Commissioners had not yet done their work, wherefore\nthey must stay, and, being all men of the sword, they must not seem afraid\nto encounter with anything, though it be the Devill, therefore, with\npistols charged, and drawn swords laied by their bed sides, they applied\nthemselves to take some rest, when something, in the midst of night, so\nopened and shut the window casements, with such claps, that it awakened\nall that slept; some of them peeping out to look what was the matter with\nthe windows, stones flew about the rooms as if hurled with many hands;\nsome hit the walls, and some the bed\u2019s head close above the pillows; the\ndints of which were then, and yet (it is conceived) are to be seen, thus\nsometime throwing stones; and sometime making thundering noise; for two\nhours space it ceast, and all was quiet till the morn. After their rising,\nand the maid come in to make the fire, they looked about the rooms; they\nfound fourscore stones brought in that night, and, going to lay them\ntogether, in the corner, where the glass (before mentioned) had been\nswept up, they found that every piece of glass had been carried away that\nnight: many people came next day to see the stones, and all observed that\nthey were not of such kind of stones as are naturall in the countrey\nthereabout; with these were noises like claps of thunder, or report of\nCannon planted against the rooms; heard by all that lodged in the outer\ncourts, to their astonishment; and at _Woodstock_ Town, taken to be\nthunder.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 28._ This night, both strange and differing noise from the\nformer, first wakened Captain _Hart_ who lodged in the bed-chamber, who\nhearing _Roe_ and _Brown_ to groan, called out to _Cockaine_ and _Crooke_\nto come and help them, for _Hart_ could not now stir himself. Cockaine\nwould faine have answered, but he could not, or look about, something he\nthought, stopt both his breath and held down his eye lids. Amazed thus, he\nstruggled and kickt about, till he had awaked Captain _Crook_, who, half\nasleep, grew very angry at his kicks, and multiplied words till it grew to\nan appointment in the field: but this fully recovered _Cockaine_ to\nremember that Captain _Hart_ had called for help, wherefore to them he ran\nin the other room, whom he found sadly groaning: where scraping in the\nchimney he found a candle and fire to light it; but had not gone two\nsteps, when something blew the candle out, and threw him in the chair by\nthe bed side, when presently cried out Captain _Careless_, with a most\npittiful voice, Come hither, O come hither, brother _Cockaine_, the\nthing\u2019s gone off me. _Cockaine_ scarce yet himself, helpt to set him up\nin his bed, and, after, Captain _Hart_; and having scarce done that to\nthem, and also to the other two, they heard Captain _Crook_ crying out, as\nif something had been killing him; _Cockaine_ snacht up the sword that lay\nby their bed, and ran into the room to save _Crook_, but was in much more\nlikelyhood to kill him, for at his coming the thing that pressed _Crook_,\nwent off him, at which _Crook_ started out of his bed, when _Cockaine_\nthought a spirit made at him, at which _Crook_ cried out Lord help, Lord\nsave me; _Cockaine_ let fall his hand, and _Crook_ embracing _Cockaine_\ndesired his reconcilement: giving him many thanks for his deliverance,\nthen rose they all and came together, discoursed sometimes godly, and\nsometimes praied, for all this while was there such stamping over the roof\nof the house, as if 1,000 horse had there been trotting. This night, all\nthe stones brought in the night before, and laid up in the withdrawing\nroom, were all carried away again by that which brought them in, which at\nthe wonted time, left off, and, as it were, went out, and so away.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 29._ Their businesse having now received so much forwardnesse, as\nto be neer dispatcht, they encouraged one the other, and resolved to try\nfurther, therefore they provided more lights and fires, and further, for\ntheir assistance, prevailed with their Ordinary Keeper to lodge amongst\nthem, and bring his Mastive Bitch, and it was so this night with them,\nthat they had no disturbance at all.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 30._ So well had they past the night before, that this night they\nwent to bed confident and carelesse, untill, about 12 of the clock,\nsomething knockt at the door as with a smith\u2019s great hammer, but with such\nforce as if it had cleft the door; then entred something like a Bear, but\nseem\u2019d to swell more big and walkt about the room, and out of one room\ninto the other; treading so heavily, as the floore had not been strong\nenough to bear it; when it came to the bed chamber, it dasht against the\nbeds heads some kind of glasse vessell, that broke in sundry pieces; and,\nsometimes, it would take up those pieces, and hurle them about the room,\nand into the other room; and when it did not hurle the glasse at their\nheads, it did strike upon the tables as if many smiths, with their\ngreatest hammers, had been laying on as upon an anvill: sometimes it\nthumpt against the walls, as if it would beat a hole through; then upon\ntheir heads such stamping, as if the roof of the house were beating down\nupon their heads, and, having done thus during the space (as was\nconjectured) of two hours, it ceased and vanished, but with a more fierce\nshutting of the doors than at any time before. In the morning they found\nthe pieces of glass about the room, and observed that it was much\ndiffering from that glasse, brought in three nights before, this being of\na much thicker substance, which severall persons which came in carried\naway some pieces of. The Commissioners were in debate of lodging there no\nmore, but all their businesse was not done, and some of them were so\nconceited as to believe, and to attribute the rest they enjoyed the night\nbefore this last unto the Mastive bitch; wherefore they resolved to get\nmore company, and the Mastive bitch, and try another night.\n\n\u2018_Octob. 31._ This night, the fires and lights prepared, the Ordinary\nKeeper and his bitch, with another man persuaded by him, they all took\ntheir beds, and fell asleep. But, about 12 at night, such rapping was on\nall sides of them, that it wakened all of them. As the doors did seem to\nopen, the Mastive bitch fell fearfully a yelling, and presently ran\nfiercely into the bed to them in the truckle bed. As the thing came by the\ntable, it struck so fierce a blow on that, as that it made the frame to\ncrack; then took the warming pan from off the table and stroke it against\nthe walls with so much force as that it was beat flat together, lid and\nbottom; now were they hit as they lay covered over head and ears within\nthe bedclothes; Captain _Carelesse_ was taken a sound blow on the head\nwith the shoulder blade-bone of a dead Horse (before, they had been but\nthrown at when they peept up, and mist,) Brown had a shrewd blow on the\nleg with the back bone, and another on the head; and everyone of them felt\nseverall blows of bones and stones through the bed clothes, for now these\nthings were thrown as from an angry hand that meant further mischief; the\nstones flew in at the window as if shot out of a Gun, nor was the bursts\nlesse (as from without) than of a Cannon, and all the windows broken down.\nNow, as the hurling of the things did cease, and the thing walkt up and\ndown, Captains _Cockaine_ and _Hart_ cried out, _In the Name of the\nFather, Son and Holy Ghost, What are you? what would you have? what have\nwe done that you disturb us thus?_ No voice replied (as the Captains said,\nyet some of their servants have said otherwise) and the noise ceast.\nHereupon Captains _Hart_ and _Cockaine_ rose, who lay in the Bed-chamber,\nrenewed the fire and lights, and one great candle in a candlestick they\nplaced in the door, that might be seen by them in both the rooms; no\nsooner were they got to bed, but the noise arose on all sides more loud\nand hideous than at any time before, in so much (as to use the Captain\u2019s\nown words) it returned and brought seven Devils worse than itself; and,\npresently, they saw the candle and candlestick in the passage of the door,\ndasht up to the roof of the room, by a kick of the hinder parts of a\nHorse, and after, with the Hoof trod out the snuffe, and so dasht out the\nFire in the Chimnies. As this was done, there fell, as from the sieling,\nupon them in the Truckle beds, such quantities of water, as if it had been\npoured out of Buckets, which stunk worse than any earthly stink could\nmake. And, as this was in doing, something crept under the High Beds, tost\nthem up to the roof of the House, with the Commissioners in them, until\nthe Testers of the Beds were beaten down upon them, and the Bedsted-frames\nbroke under them. And here, some pause being made, they all, as if with\none consent, started up, and ran down the stairs until they came into the\nCounsel-Hall, where two sate up a Brewing, but were now fallen asleep;\nthose they scared much with wakening of them, having been much perplext\nbefore with the strange noise, which commonly was taken by them abroad\nfor thunder, sometimes for rumbling wind; here the Captains and their\ncompany got fire and candle, and everyone carrying something of either,\nthey returned into the Presence-Chamber, where some applied themselves to\nmake the fire, whilst others fell to Prayers, and, having got some clothes\nabout them, they spent the residue of the night in singing Psalms and\nPrayers; during which, no noise was in that room, but most hideously round\nabout, as at some distance.\n\n\u2018It should have been told before, how that when Captain _Hare_ first rose\nthis night (who lay in the Bed-Chamber next the fire) he found their Book\nof valuations crosse the embers smoaking, which he snacht up, and cast\nupon the Table there, which, the night before, was left upon the Table in\nthe presence, amongst their other papers. This Book was, in the morning,\nfound a handful burnt, and had burnt the Table where it lay; _Brown_ the\nClerk said, he would not for a 100 and a 100l. that it had been burnt a\nhandful further.\n\n\u2018This night it happened that there were six Cony-stealers, who were come\nwith their Nets and Ferrets to the Cony-burrows by _Rosamond\u2019s_ Well, but\nwith the noise this night from the Mannor-house, they were so terrified,\nthat, like men distracted, away they ran, and left their Haies all ready\npitched, ready up, and the Ferrets in the Cony-burrows.\n\n\u2018Now the Commissioners, more sensible of their danger, considered more\nseriously of their safety, and agreed to go and confer with Mr. _Hoffman_,\nthe Minister of _Wotton_ (a man not of the meanest note for life or\nlearning, by some esteemed more high) to desire his advice, together with\nhis company and prayers. Mr. _Hoffman_ held it too high a point to resolve\non suddenly and by himself, wherefore, desired time to consider upon it,\nwhich, being agreed unto, he forthwith rode to Mr. _Jenkinson_ and Mr.\n_Wheat_, the two next Justices of Peace, to try what Warrant they could\ngive him for it. They both (as \u2019tis said from themselves) encouraged him\nto be assisting to the Commissioners, according to his calling.\n\n[Sidenote: _By which it is to be noted that a Presbyterian Minister dares\nnot encounter an Independent Devil._]\n\n\u2018But certain it is, that when they came to fetch him to go with them, Mr.\n_Hoffman_ answered, That he would not lodge there one night, for \u00a3500, and\nbeing askt to pray with them, he held up his hands, and said, That he\nwould not meddle upon any terms.\n\n\u2018Mr. _Hoffman_ refusing to undertake the quarrel, the Commissioners held\nit not safe to lodge where they had been thus entertained, any longer, but\ncaused all things to be removed into the Chambers over the Gatehouse,\nwhere they staid but one night, and what rest they enjoyed there, we have\nbut an uncertain relation of, for they went away early the next morning;\nbut if it may be held fit to set down what hath been delivered by the\nreport of others, they were also the same night much affrighted with\ndreadful apparitions; but, observing that these passages spread much in\ndiscourse, to be also in particulars taken notice of, and that the nature\nof it made not for their cause, they agreed to the concealing of the\nthings for the future; yet this is well known and certain, that the\nGate-keeper\u2019s wife was in so strange an agony in her bed, and in her\nbed-chamber such noise (whilst her husband was above with the\nCommissioners) that two maids in the next room to her durst not venture to\nassist her, but, affrighted, ran out to call company, and their Master,\nand found the woman (at their coming in) gasping for breath: and the next\nday said that she saw and suffered that, which, for all the world, she\nwould not be hired to again.\n\nFrom _Woodstock_ the Commissioners removed unto _Euelme_, and some of them\nreturned to _Woodstock_, the Sunday sennight after (the Book of\n_Valuations_ wanting something that was, for haste, left imperfect), but\nlodged not in any of those rooms where they had lain before, and yet were\nnot unvisited (as they confess themselves) by the Devil, whom they called\ntheir nightly guest. Captain _Crooke_ came not untill _Tuesday_ night, and\nhow he sped that night, the gate-keeper\u2019s wife can tell, if she dareth;\nbut, what she hath whispered to her gossips, shall not be made a part of\nthis our Narrative, nor any more particulars which have fallen from the\nCommissioners themselves, and their servants to other persons; they are\nall, or most of them alive, and may add to it when they please, and,\nsurely, have not a better way to be revenged of him who troubled them,\nthan according to the Proverb, tell truth and shame the Devil.\n\nThere remains this observation to be added, that on a Wednesday morning,\nall these Officers went away; And that, since then, diverse persons of\nseverall qualities, have lodged often and sometimes long in the same rooms\nboth in the presence, withdrawing room and bed Chamber belonging unto his\nSacred Majesty, yet none have had the least disturbance, or heard the\nsmallest noise, for which the cause was not as ordinary, as apparent;\nexcept the Commissioners and their company, who came in order to the\nalienating and pulling down the house, which is well nigh performed.\u2019\n\nAs to the authenticity of the above, we are told in the Preface: \u2018And now,\nas to the Penman of this Narrative, know that he was a Divine, and, at the\ntime of those things acted, which are here related, the Minister and\nSchoolmaster of _Woodstock_, a person learned and discreet, nor byassed\nwith factious humours, his name _Widows_, who, each day, put in writing\nwhat he heard from their mouthes, (and such things as they told to have\nbefallen them the night before), therein keeping to their own words.\u2019\n\nThere was also a metrical account[6] of these strange doings, printed in\nthe year in which they occurred; but although it exactly tallies with the\nprose as above, it is not written in so refined a strain.\n\nThe _British Magazine_ for April, 1747 (vol. ii., p. 156) professes to\ngive \u2018The genuine history of the good devil of _Woodstock_, famous in the\nworld in the year 1649, and never accounted for, or at all understood to\nthis time.\u2019 It is by an anonymous writer, who says he found it in some\noriginal papers which had lately fallen into his hands, \u2018under the name of\nauthentick memoirs of the memorable _Joseph Collins_ of Oxford, commonly\nknown by the name of _funny Joe_,\u2019 and it puts forth that this said Joe,\nunder the name of Giles Sharp, entered the service of the Commissioners as\na servant, and with the help of two friends, an unknown trap-door in the\nceiling of the bedchamber, and some fulminating mercury, played the part\nof the Devil; but as the document is not known to be in existence, and is\nonly mentioned in the pages of a magazine a hundred years afterwards, the\nreader may attach whatever credit he pleases to it. At all events, it\nproves that something very extraordinary, according to popular rumour, did\ntake place at Woodstock during the Commissioners\u2019 occupation.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\n \u2018The D\u00e6mon of Tedworth.\u2019\n\n\n\u2018THE D\u00c6MON OF TEDWORTH.[7]\n\n\u2018Master _John Mompesson_, of _Tedworth_ in _Wiltshire_, being about the\nmiddle of _March_, in the year 1661, at a neighbouring Town, called\n_Ludgarshal_, heard a _Drum_ beat there, and being concerned as a\n_Commission Officer_ in the _Militia_, he enquired of the _Bayliffe_ of\nthe Town, at whose House he then was, what it meant. The Bayliffe told him\nthat they had for some dayes been troubled by that _Idle Drummer_, who\ndemanded money of the Constable, by virtue of a pretended pass, which he\nthought was counterfeit. Upon this Information Master _Mompesson_ sent for\nthe fellow, and ask\u2019d him by what _Authority_ he went up and down the\nCountrey in that manner, demanding money, and keeping a clutter with his\n_Drum_? The _Drummer_ answered he had good _Authority_, and produced his\npass, with a warrant under the hands of Sir _William Cawly_ and Colonel\n_Ayliffe_ of _Gretenham_. These papers discover\u2019d the knavery, for M.\n_Mompesson_ knowing those Gentlemen\u2019s hands, found that his pass and\nwarrant were _forgeries_; and upon the discovery, commanded the _vagrant_\nto put off his _Drum_, and charged the Constable to carry him to the next\n_Justice_ of _Peace_, to punish him according to the desert of his\n_Insolence_ and _Roguery_. The fellow then confest the _cheat_, and begg\u2019d\nearnestly for his _Drum_. But M. _Mompesson_ told him that if he\nunderstood from Colonel _Ayliffe_, whose _Drummer_ he pretended to be,\nthat he had been an honest man, he should have it again; but in the\ninterim he would secure it. So he left the _Drum_ with the Bayliffe, and\nthe Drummer in the Constable\u2019s hands; who, it seems, after, upon intreaty,\nlet him go.\n\n\u2018About the midst of _April_ following, when M. _M._ was preparing for a\nJourney to _London_, the Bayliffe sent the _Drum_ to his house; and, being\nreturned, his wife told him that they had been much affrighted in the\nnight by _Thieves_, during his absence; and that the House had like to\nhave been broken up. He had not been at home above three nights, when the\nsame noise returned that had disturbed his Family when he was abroad. It\nwas a very great _knocking_ at his Doors, and the out side of his House.\nM. _M._ arose, and with a brace of Pistols in his hands, went up and down\nsearching for the cause of the Disturbance. He open\u2019d the door, where the\ngreat knocking was, and presently the noise was at another. He opened that\nalso, and went forth, rounding his House, but could discover nothing; only\nhe still heard a strange noise and hollow sound; but could not perceive\nwhat was the occasion of it. When he was returned to his Bed, the noise\nwas a _Thumping_ and _Drumming_ on the top of his House, which continued a\ngood space, and then by degrees went off into the Air.\n\n\u2018After this _It_ would come 5 nights together, and absent itself 3.\nKnocking very hard at the out-sides of the House, which is most of it, of\nBoard. This _It_ did, constantly, as they were going to sleep, either\nearly or late. After a month\u2019s racket without, _It_ came into the room\nwhere the _Drum_ lay, where _It_ would be 4 or 5 nights in 7, making great\nhollow sounds, and sensibly shaking the Beds and Windows. _It_ would come\nwithin half an hour after they were in Bed, and stay almost two. The sign\nof _Its_ approach was an _hurling_ in the Air over the House; and at _Its_\nrecess they should hear a _Drum_ beat, like the breaking up of a Guard.\n_It_ continued in this Room for the space of two months; the Gentleman\nhimself lying there to observe _It_: and though _It_ was very troublesome\nin the fore part of the night, yet, after two hours disturbance, _It_\nwould desist, and leave all in quietness: At which time perhaps the Laws\nof the _Black Society_ required _Its_ presence at the general _Rendezvous_\nelsewhere.\n\n\u2018About this time the Gentleman\u2019s Wife was brought to Bed; the noise came a\nlittle that night she was in Travail, but then forbore for three weeks\ntill she had recover\u2019d strength. After this _civil cessation_, it return\u2019d\nin a _ruder_ manner than before, applying wholly to the younger children;\nwhose Bedsteads _It_ would beat with that violence that all present would\nexpect, when they would fall in pieces. Those that laid their hands upon\nthem, could feel no blows, but perceived them to shake exceedingly. _It_\nwould for an hour together beat, what they Call ROUNDHEADS and\nCUCKOLDS--the Tattoo, and several other Points of Warre, and that as\ndextrously as any Drummer. After which _It_ would get under the Bed, and\nscratch there as if _It_ had Iron Tallons. _It_ would lift the children up\nin their Beds, follow them from one room to another; and, for a while,\napplied to none particularly but them.\n\n\u2018There was a Cock-loft in the House which had been observed hitherto to be\nuntroubled; thither they removed their children, putting them to bed while\nit was fair day: and yet they were no sooner covered, but the _unwelcome\nVisitant_ was come, and played his tricks as before.\n\n\u2018On the 5th of _Novemb. 1662_. _It_ kept a mighty noise, and one of the\nGentleman\u2019s Servants observing two Boards in the children\u2019s room that\nseemed to move, he bade _It_ give him one of them, and presently the Board\ncame within a yard of him. The Fellow added, _Nay, let me have it in my\nhand_: upon which it was shuft quite home. The man thrust it back, and the\nD\u00e6mon returned it to him, and so from one to another at least 20 times\ntogether, till the Gentleman forbad his servant such _Familiarities_. That\nmorning _It_ left a _Sulphurous smell_ behind _It_, very _displeasant_ and\n_offensive_.... At night the Minister of the place, Mr. _Cragge_, and many\nof the Neighbours came to the House--and went to prayer at the Children\u2019s\nBed-side, where, at that time _It_ was very troublesome and loud. During\nthe time of _Prayer_ _It_ with-drew into the Cock-Loft, but, the Service\nbeing ended, _It_ returned; and in the sight and presence of the company,\nthe _Chairs_ walked about the Room, the Children\u2019s Shooes were thrown over\ntheir heads, and every loose thing moved about the Chamber; also a Bed\nstaffe was thrown at the _Minister_, which hit him on the Leg, but so\nfavourably, that a lock of Wooll could not have fallen more softly. And a\ncircumstance more was observed, viz., that it never in the least roul\u2019d,\nnor mov\u2019d from the place where it lighted.\n\n\u2018The Gentleman perceiving that _It_ so much persecuted the little\nChildren, lodg\u2019d them out at a Neighbour\u2019s House, and took his eldest\ndaughter, who was about 10 years of Age, into his own Chamber, where _It_\nhad not been in a month before. But no sooner was she in Bed, but the\ntroublesome Guest was with her, and continued his unquiet visits for the\nspace of three weeks, during which time _It_ would beat the Drum, and\nexactly answer any Tune that was knock\u2019d, or called for. The House where\nthe Gentleman had lodged his Children, being full of Strangers, he was\nforced to take them home again; and, because they had never observed any\ndisturbance in the Parlor, he laid them there, where also their old\nVisitant found them; but, at this time, troubled them no otherwise than by\nplucking them by the hair and night-cloathes.\n\n\u2018_It_ would sometimes lift up the Servants with their Beds, and lay them\ndown again gently, without any more prejudice than the fright of being\ncarried to the _Drummer\u2019s_ quarters. And at other times _It_ would lie\nlike a great weight upon their Feet.\n\n\u2018\u2019Twas observed, that when the noise was loudest, and came with the most\n_suddain_ and _surprizing violence_, yet no Dog would move. The Knocking\nwas oft so boysterous and rude, that it hath been heard at a considerable\ndistance in the Fields, and awakened the Neighbours in the Village, none\nof which live very near this house.\n\n\u2018About the latter end of _Decemb. 1662_. the _Drummings_ were less\nfrequent, and the noise the _Fiend_ made, was a _gingling_, as it had been\nof money, occasioned, as \u2019twas thought, by some discourse of an antient\nGentlewoman, Mother to M. _M._ (who was one day saying to a Neighbour that\ntalked of _Fairies leaving money_, that she should like _It_ well, if _It_\nwould leave them some to make amends for the trouble _It_ made them) for\nthat night there was a great _chinking_ of money all the house over; but\nhe that rose earliest the next morning, was ne\u2019re a groat the richer.\nAfter this _It_ desisted from its _ruder noises_, and employed _It_ self\nabout little _apish_ Tricks, and less troublesome _Caprichios_. On\n_Christmas Eve_, an hour before day, one of the little Boyes arising out\nof his Bed, was hit on a sore place in his Heel by the latch of the Door,\nwhich the _waggish D\u00e6mons_ had pluckt out and thrown at him. The Pin that\nfastened it was so small, that \u2019twas for the credit of his _Opticks_ that\nhe pick\u2019t it out without Candle-light. The night after _Christmas Day_,\n_It_ threw all the old Gentlewoman\u2019s Cloaths about the Room, and hid her\n_Bible_ in the Ashes. In such _impertinent ludicrous fagaries_, it was\nfrequent. After _this_ the _Spirit_ was very troublesome to a Servant of\nM. _Mompesson\u2019s_, who was a stout fellow, and of sober conversation....\nHis Master permitted him to give this proof of his courage, and lodg\u2019d him\nin the next room to his own. There was _John engarrison\u2019d_, and provided\nfor the assault with a trusty Sword, and other implements of War. And, for\nsome time, there was scarce a night past without some doubty action and\nencounter, in which the success was various. One while, _John\u2019s_ bag and\nbaggage would be in the enemy\u2019s _power_, _Doublet_ and _Breeches_\nsurprized, and his Shooes raised in _rebellion_ against him; and then\n_lusty John_ by _Dint_ of Weapon recovers all again, suppresseth the\n_insurrection_ of his _Shooes_, and holds his own in spight of _Satan_ and\nthe _Drummer_. And for the most part, our combatant came off with honour\nand advantage, except when his enemy outwatch\u2019d and surprized him, and\nthen he\u2019s made a prisoner, bound hand and foot, and at the mercy of the\n_Goblin_; till he hath got the opportunity of recovering his _Diabolical\nBlade_, and then our Champion is in good plight again....\n\n\u2018About the beginning of Jan. 1662 they were wont to hear a _singing_ in\nthe _chimney_, before _It_ came down. And one night, about this time,\nLights were seen in the House: One of which came into M. _Mompesson\u2019s_\nChamber, which seemed _blue_ and _glimmering_, and caused a great\nstiffness in their eyes that saw it. After this light, something was\nheard coming up the Stairs, as if it had been some one without Shooes. The\nlight was also 4 or 5 times seen in the Children\u2019s Chamber; and the Maids\nconfidently affirm that the doors were at least ten times opened, and shut\nin their sight. They heard a noise at the same time when the Doors were\nopened, as if half a dozen had entred in together. After which, some were\nheard to walk about the room, and one rusled as if it had been in silk.\nThe like M. _M._ himself once heard.\n\n\u2018During the time of the Knocking, when many were present, a Gentleman of\nthe company said, _Satan_, If the _Drummer_ sets thee a work, give three\nKnocks, and no more, which _It_ did very distinctly, and stopt. Then the\nGentleman knockt, to see if _It_ would answer him as _It_ was wont, but\n_It_ remained quiet. He further tryed _It_ the same way, bidding _It_, for\nconfirmation, if _It_ were the _Drummer_, to give 5 Knocks and no more\nthat night, which _It_ did accordingly, and was silent all the night\nafter. This was done in the presence of Sir _Tho. Chamberlain_ of\n_Oxfordshire_ and several others.\n\n\u2018On _Saturday_ morning, Jan. 10. an hour before day, the _Drum_ was beaten\nupon the out-sides of M. _Mompesson\u2019s_ Chamber, from whence _It_ went to\nthe other end of the House, where some Gentlemen, Strangers, lay, playing\nat their door, and without, 4 or 5. several Times, and so went off into\nthe Air.\n\n\u2018The next night, a Smith of the Village lying with _John_, they heard a\nnoise in the room, as if one had been shooing of a horse there; and\nsomewhat came, as it were, with a pair of _Pincers_, and snipt at the\nSmith\u2019s Nose, most part of the Night.\n\n\u2018One morning M. _Mompesson_ rising early to go a Journey, heard a great\nnoise below, where the Children lay, and, running down, with a Pistol in\nhis hand, heard this voice, _A Witch, A Witch_, as they had also heard it\nonce before; but, upon his entrance, all was quiet. Having, one night\nplayed some little pranks at M. _Mompesson\u2019s_ Bed\u2019s feet, _It_ went into\nanother Bed, in which one of his Daughter\u2019s lay, where _It_ passed from\nside to side, and lifted her up, as _It_ went under her. At that time\nthere were three kindes of noises in the Bed. They endeavoured to thrust\nat _It_ with a _Sword_, but _It_ very carefully avoided them, still\nskipping under the Child, when they were ready to thrust. The night after,\n_It_ came _panting_ like a Dog out of breath; upon which one took a\nBed-Staff to knock, which was taken out of her hand, and thrown away with\nsome violence. Upon this the company came up, and, presently, the room was\nfilled with a _bloomy noysome_ smell, and was very _hot_; though without\nFire, and in midst of a very _sharp_ and _severe_ winter. _It_ continued\nin the Bed, panting and scratching an hour and half, and then went into\nthe next Chamber, where it knock\u2019d a little, and seemed to rattle a chain.\nThus it did for two or three nights together.\n\n\u2018After this, the old Gentlewoman\u2019s Bible was found in the Ashes open, the\npaper side being downwards. M. _Mompesson_ took it up, and observed that\nit lay open at the third chapter of S. _Mark_, in which there is mention\nof the _unclean spirits falling down before our Saviour_; of his _giving\npower to the 12 to cast out Devils_, and of the _Scribes\u2019_ opinion, that\nhe _cast them out through Beelzebub_. The next night they strewed ashes\nover the Chamber, to see what _impressions_ _It_ would leave. And in the\nmorning, found in one place the resemblance of a great Claw, in another,\nof a lesser; some Letters in another, which they could make nothing of;\nbesides many _Circles_ and _Scratches_ in the Ashes; all which, I suppose,\nwere _ludicrous_ devices, by which the _sportful D\u00e6mon_ made _pastime_\nwith human _Ignorance_ and _Credulity_.\n\n\u2018About this time, my[8] curiosity drew me to the House, to be a witness of\nsome of those strange passages. _It_ had ceased from _It\u2019s_ pranks of\n_Drumming_, and _ruder noises_, before I came; but most of the more\nremarkable circumstances before related were confirmed to me there, by\nseveral of the Neighbours together, who had been present at them. At that\ntime _It_ used to haunt the Children; I heard _It_ scratch very loudly and\ndistinctly in their Bed, behind the Boulster. I thrust in my hand to the\nplace where the noise seemed to be, upon which It withdrew to another part\nof the Bed; and, upon the taking out of my hand, _It_ returned as before.\nI had heard of _It\u2019s_ imitating noises, and therefore made the trial, by\nscratching certain determinate times upon the Sheet, as 5. and 7. and 10.\nwhich _It_ did also, and still stopt at my number. After a while _It_\nwent into the midst of the Bed, under the Children, and there _panted_\nlike a Dog, very loudly. I put my hand upon the place, and felt the Bed\nbear up against it, as if something had thrust it up; but, by grasping,\ncould feel nothing but the Feathers: and there was nothing under it. The\nmotion _It_ caused by this _panting_ was so strong, that it shook the\nRooms and Windows. _It_ continued thus for more than half an hour, while I\nstayed, and as long after. I was certain that there could be no _fallacy_\nnor _deceit_ in these passages, which I critically examined; and I am sure\nthere was nothing of _fear_ or _imagination_ in the case; for I was no\nmore concerned than I am at the Writing this Relation.\n\n\u2018But to proceed with M. _Mompesson\u2019s_ own particulars.\n\n\u2018There came one morning a light into the Children\u2019s Chamber, and the\nvoice, crying, _A Witch, A Witch_, for at least an hundred times together.\nM. _M._ seeing at a time some Wood move that was in the Chimney, when no\none was near, discharged a Pistol into it; after which they found several\ndrops of Blood on the Hearth, and in divers places of the Stairs.\n\nThere was a seeming _calm_ in the House for 2 or 3 nights after the\ndischarge of the Pistol; but then _It_ came again, applying _Itself_ to a\nlittle Child, newly taken from Nurse; which it so persecuted, that _It_\nwould not let the poor Infant rest for two nights together, nor suffer a\nCandle in the Room, but would carry them away up the _Chimney_, or throw\nthem under the Bed. _It_ so scared this Child by leaping upon it, that\nfor some hours, it could not be recovered out of the fright. Insomuch as\nthey were inforced again to remove the Children out of the House. The next\nnight, after they were gone, something about midnight came up the Stairs,\nand knockt at M. _Mompesson\u2019s_ door; but he, lying still, _It_ went up\nanother pair of Stairs, to his Man\u2019s Chamber, to whom _It_ appeared,\nstanding at his Bed\u2019s foot. The exact shape and proportion he could not\ndiscover; but saw a great body, with two _red_ and _glaring_ eyes, which\nfor some time were fixt steddily upon him, and, at length, disappeared.\n\n\u2018Another night, Strangers being present, _It_ purr\u2019d in the Children\u2019s Bed\nlike a _Cat_; and at that time the Cloaths and Children were lift up from\nthe Bed, and 6 men could not keep them down. Upon this they removed them\nfrom thence, intending to have ript open the Bed: but they were no sooner\nlaid in another, but this second Bed was more troubled than the former.\n_It_ continued thus 4 hours, and so beat the Children\u2019s legs against the\nBed-posts, that they were forced to arise, and sit up all night. After\nthis _It_ would empty Chamber-pots into their Beds, and strew them with\nAshes; and that though they were never so carefully watch\u2019t, _It_ put a\nlong piked Iron into M. _Mompesson\u2019s_ Bed, and, into his Mother\u2019s, a naked\nKnife upright. It would fill porringers with Ashes, throw every thing\nabout, and keep a noise all day.\n\n\u2018About the beginning of April 1663. a Gentleman that lay in the house had\nall his money turn\u2019d black in his Pockets. And M. _Mompesson_, one\nmorning, coming into his Stable, found the Horse he was wont to ride, on\nthe ground, with one of his hinder Legs in his mouth, and so fastned\nthere, that \u2019twas difficult work for several men, with a Leaver, to get it\nout. After this there were some other remarkable things; but my _account_\ngoes no farther: Only M. _Mompesson_ told me, that afterwards the house\nwas several nights beset with 7 or 8 in the shape of men, who, as soon as\na Gun was discharged, would shuffle away together into an Arbour.\n\n\u2018THE DRUMMER was tryed at the _Assize_ at _Salisbury_, condemned to the\n_Islands_, and was, accordingly, sent away: but I know not how, made a\nshift to come back again. And \u2019tis observable, that during all the time of\nhis restraint, and absence, the House was in quiet; but, as soon as ever\nhe came back, the disturbance also returned. He had been a Souldier under\nCRUMWEL, and used to talk much of gallant Books he had of an odd Fellow\u2019s,\nwho was counted a Wizard.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\n \u2018The D\u00e6mon of Burton\u2019--\u2018Strange and Wonderful News from Yowel, in\n Surrey\u2019--The Story of Mrs. Jermin--A Case at Welton--\u2018The Relation of\n James Sherring.\u2019\n\n\nThe next case (in chronological order) that I have met with is very\nsimilar to that of Mompesson, and, like that, shows the trivialities to\nwhich this species of Devil could descend, apparently, with no object.\n\n\n\u2018THE D\u00c6MON OF BURTON.[9]\n\n\u2018There is a Farm in _Burton_, a _Village_ in the Parish of _Weobley_, in\nthis County,[10] which Mr. _William Bridges_, a Linnen-Draper in _London_,\nhas in Mortgage from one _Thomas Tompkins_, a decay\u2019d Yeoman man. This\nFarm was, about Michaelmas, 1669. taken by Lease by Mrs. _Elizabeth\nBridges_, to commence from _February_ then next; Soon after this Tenant\nwas entered on the Farm, and lodg\u2019d in the House, some _Familiar_ began to\nact apish Pranks, by knocking boldly at the door in the dusk of the\nEvening, and the like, early in the Morning, but no body to be seen.\n\n\u2018After this, the Stools and Forms, though left in their proper places,\nwere, every night set round the fire, which the Tenant perceiving, she set\nthem next night under the Table, and next morning they were found set\norderly about the fire as before, and a continual noise of Cats heard all\nnight, but never seen.\n\n\u2018Afterwards, the Tenant having in a Room a heap of Malt, and another of\nVetches, the two parcels were found next morning exactly mingled together,\nand put into a new heap.\n\n\u2018Another time she had baked a Batch of Bread, and laid the Loaves over\nnight on a Table; next morning the Loaves were all gone, and, after search\nmade, they were found in another Room, hid in Tubs, and covered with\nlinnen Cloathes, and all this while the Tenant had the keys of the doors\nin her pocket, and found the doors in the morning fast lock\u2019d as she left\nthem over night: so, also, her Cheeses and meat were often carried out of\none Room into another, whilst the doors were fast lock\u2019d, and sometimes\nconvey\u2019d into the Orchard.\n\n\u2018Then the Tenant having set Cabbidg-Plants in her Garden, in the night the\nPlants were pull\u2019d up, and laid in several formes, as Crosses,\nFlower-de-Luces, and the like. She caus\u2019d them to be set again, and the\nGround finely raked about, to the end they might see if any footsteps\nmight be discovered in the morning, when the Plants were found pull\u2019d up\nas before, and no track or footstep to be found or perceived; the Plants\nwere set a third time, and then they continued unmoved.\n\n\u2018She had in her Cheese-chamber many Cheeses upon Shelves, and a Bag of\nHops in the same Room. One night, the Cheeses were all laid on the floor\nin several formes, and the Hops all strewed about the Room, and the\nChamber door found fast lock\u2019d in the morning.\n\n\u2018Another night in the Buttery there were several dishes of cold Meat left\nupon a hanging Shelf; in the morning, the Table Cloath was found orderly\nlaid on the Floor, and the Dishes set on it, and most of the Meat eaten,\nonely a manners bit left in every Dish; yet there were silver Spoons,\nwhich lay by the Dishes, and none of them diminished.\n\n\u2018At another time she had left half a rosted Pig, which was design\u2019d for\nbreakfast next day, when the Pig was call\u2019d for, there was not one bit of\neither Skin or Flesh left, but the Bones of the Pig, lay orderly in the\nDish, and not one of them unjoynted or misplac\u2019d.\n\n\u2018Whilst these, and many other such pleasant tricks were play\u2019d in the\nRooms that were lock\u2019d to make a discovery of any deceipt, if possible,\nthe entrance of the doors were all strew\u2019d with sifted ashes, and no\nfootstep or track of anything was found in the morning, when such pranks\nwere play\u2019d in the Room.\n\n\u2018One night the Tenant having bought a quart of Vinegar in a Bottel, she\nset it in her Dairy-house, where there were six Cows Milk. In the Morning\nshe found her Bottle empty, and her milk all turned, and made into a\nperfect Posset, with the Vinegar.\n\n\u2018And the Cheeses were sometimes convey\u2019d by night out of the Cheese\nChamber, and put into the Trines of Milk in the Dairy-house.\n\n\u2018The Tenant had, likewise, divers of her Cattel that dyed in a strange\nmanner, among others, a Sow that leap\u2019d and danc\u2019d in several unusual\npostures, and, at last fell down dead.\n\n\u2018The _Hagg_, having thus for above a moneth together, almost every night\nacted the part of _Hocus pocus Minor_, lay quiet for some moneths, and\nthen began to act the _Major_, and do greater mischiefs; and to this\npurpose, One night, as the Tenant and her Maid were going to bed, and\npassing by the Hall, which was dressed with green boughs tyed on the\nPosts, after the Country fashion, they were all of a flame, and no fire\nhad been made in that Room of a fortnight before, nor any Candle that\nnight; but the fire was soon quenched by throwing water on it, yet an\noutcry being made, the neighbours came in, and watched the House all\nnight.\n\n\u2018Not long after, a Loft of Hay, dry, and well Inned, was set on fire in\nthe daytime, and was, most of it, burnt, with the house it lay in; and no\nway could be found how it should come to pass, but by the same black hand.\n\n\u2018And, after some time, a Mow of pulse and pease was likewise fired in the\ndaytime, and all the grayn either burnt or spoiled, and in the middle of\nthe bottom of the Mow were found dead burnt Coales, which in all the\nSpectators Judgements, could not be conveyed thither but by Witchcraft.\n\n\u2018After these dreadful fires, which did endanger the whole Village had\nthey not been at length quench\u2019d by a numerous Company of the Neighbours,\nwho came in to the Tenant\u2019s Assistance, the poor Tenant dirst stay no\nlonger in the House, but quitted it, with all her losses, when one _John\nJones_ a valiant Welchman of the neighbourhood, would needs give a signal\nproof of his Brittish Valour, and to that purpose undertook to lye in the\nHouse, and to incounter the _Hagg_, to which end he carried with him a\nlarge Basket hilted Sword, a Mastive Dog, and a Lanthorn and Candle to\nburn by him; he had not long lain on the Bed, with his Dog, and Sword\nready drawn by him, but he heard a great Knocking at the Door, and many\nCats, as he conceived, came into his Chamber, broke the Windows, and made\na hideous noise, at which the Mastive howll\u2019d and quak\u2019d, and crept close\nto his Master; the Candle went out, and the Welchman fell into a cold\nsweat, left his Sword unused, and with much adoe found the door, and ran\nhalf a Mile without ever looking behind him; protesting, next day, he\nwould not lye another night in the House, for a hundred pounds.\u2019\n\nThe next in point of time is the following:\n\n\n\u2018STRANGE AND WONDERFUL NEWS FROM YOWEL[11] IN SURREY.\u2019[12]\n\n\u2018On _Thursday_, the 5th of _October_, one Mr. _Tuers_, a Gentleman, living\nat _Yowell_ in the County of _Surry_, together with his wife, went forth\nupon occasion, leaving their Servant Maid, _Elizabeth Burgiss_, at home,\nto officiate in their absence, as she found occasion. In the meantime, or\ninterim, one _Joan Butts_, a person that hath been for a long time\nsuspected to be a _Witch_, came to the house of the aforesaid Mr. _Tuers_,\nand, framing some discourse to the Maid before named, she, at last, askt\nher for a pair of old Gloves; the Maid knowing her to be a person of ill\nrepute, and being willing to be rid of her company, gave her a very short\nand sharp answer, telling her that she had no Gloves for her, or, if shee\nhad, she could not spare time to look them out; whereupon this _Joan\nButts_ went away, but in a little time returned, asking the aforesaid Maid\nfor a Pin to pin her Neckcloath, which she furnished her with, and so this\n_Joan Butts_ departed, leaving the Maid without any dread or fear of any\nharm.\n\n\u2018But, about fourteen days after, there happened strange and miraculous\nwonders, amazing and frightening all the Spectators; for stones flew about\nthe Yard at such a strange rate, as if it had rained down showers of them,\nand many of them were as big as a man\u2019s fist, and afterwards flew as thick\nabout the House as before they did about the Yard, notwithstanding the\ndoors were close shut, yet for all (that) they flew so thick about, they\nhit nobody but the Maid, to the great astonishment of her Master, Mistris\nand others; but more to be admired, the next day this maid was suddenly\nattacqued with intolerable pain in her back, and such unsufferable\npricking of Pins, that she was not able to endure, or without lamentable\ncomplaining. The groans and skreeches she sometimes parted with, would\nhave moved a stony heart to pitty her distress, and Mr. _Tuers_, her\nMaster, commiserating her condition, asked if he should put his hand down\nher back, and feel what might be the cause of her pain or Torment, which\nshe willingly agreed to, and, to the amazement of all persons present,\npulled out a great piece of Clay as full of Pins as it could well be, and\nthrowing them into the fire, she was for that present at great ease. But,\nafter that, a second Torment did seize this Maid, which caused her to\ncomplain more grievously and lamentably than before; whereupon one Mr.\n_Waters_ put his hand down her back, and pulled out a piece of Clay as\nthick of Thorns, as the other of Pins, so, throwing them into the fire,\nshe was again at ease for that time.\n\n\u2018The next day, as she was going a Milking, she saw, in _Nonsuch Park_,\nthis wretched old Caitiff sitting amongst the Thorns and Bushes, bedaggled\nup to the Knees in Dew, and looking like one that had lately had converse\nwith some Infernal Fiend; and, wondring to see her there so early, in that\npickle (being, as it were, doubtful of her wickedness); and supposing her\nto be the cause of her (before mentioned) pain and misery, returned home\nto her Master\u2019s house, telling him how she saw this _Joan Butts_ in the\nplace before named, adding in what strange garb and posture she sat in;\nwhich added to the suspicion of the (before doubtful) Master.\n\n\u2018But the same night the Maid going into the chamber where she lay, to\nfetch a Trunk which was intended to be sent to _London_, all on a sudden\ncryed out, Master, Master, here is the old Woman: the master running\nhastily to see whether it were so or no, could see no old woman, but the\nAndirons thrown after the maid, and all her own Linnen thrown about at\nsuch a rate, as it is hard to believe, but that it will, upon occasion, be\nattested by unquestionable Evidence; and likewise a Wooden Bar which\nbelonged to the street door, was strangely removed and conveyed up stairs,\nand came tumbling down after the maid, in the sight of her master.\n\n\u2018About three days after, they were surprized with new wonders, for there\nwas to be seen such sights as they never saw before, _viz._, the Bellows\nflew about the house, and Candlesticks and other things thrown after the\nGirl as she passed to and fro in her master\u2019s house; and, going to her\nMother\u2019s house, which was at _Astead_, about three miles distant from\n_Yowel_, such numberless numbers of stones were thrown at her, that she\nfound it hazardous to Travel, but had she returned, it might have been the\nsame; and so she continued till she came to her mother\u2019s house, where, on\nSunday the 9th of _October_, they were possest with admiration, as well as\nthose of her Master\u2019s Family, for her Grandfather\u2019s Britches were\nstrangely found to be on the top of the house, as near as can be imagined,\nover his Bed; and, besides, such great quantities of Nuts and Acorns flew\nabout, that the Spectators never beheld the like before. The pewter\ndanced about the house in a strange manner, and hits a Gentleman such a\nblow on the back, that I suppose he will have but little stomach\nhereafter, to go to see the Devil dance.\n\n\u2018But the same day happened another Wonder, no less strange than what is\nbefore recited, for there was a Fiddle close laid up in a Chest, which was\nstrangely, and unknown to any of the house, hung up in the room, and,\nafter, was removed to the top of the Bed-Tester, and, the third time,\ncarried quite away, and hath no more been seen since.\n\n\u2018But, on Thursday, the 18th of this present _October_, there being a Fair\nkept at _Yowel_, the mother of this afflicted maid came thither, and,\nmeeting with this old suspected _Witch_ (whom she had great reason to\nimagine so to be,) fell foul upon her, and so evilly Treated her, that she\nfetcht out some of her Hellish Blood, but the effects and event thereof, I\nmust get time to acquaint you with.\u2019\n\nThe Rev. Joseph Glanvill was a great collector of these stories, and after\nhis death many were published, as being found among his papers. One is a\nstory of a Mr. Jermin, minister of Bigner in Sussex, who had noises in his\nhouse like guns going off whilst it seemed that people ran swiftly down\nstairs, into his chamber, and there seemed to wrestle, whilst one day,\nwhen a physician was dining with him \u2018there came a Man on Horseback into\nthe Yard, in Mourning. His Servant went to know what was his Busness, and\nfound him sitting very Melancholy, nor could he get any Answer from him.\nThe Master of the House and the Physician went to see who it was; upon\nwhich, the Man clapt spurs to his Horse, and rode into the House, up\nStairs into a long Gallery, whither the Physician followed him, and saw\nhim vanish in a Fire at the upper end of the Gallery. But though none of\nthe Family received hurt at any time, yet Mr. _Jermin_ fell into a Fever\nwith the Disturbance he experienced, that endangered his Life.\u2019\n\nThen we have the story of an extremely uncomfortable house \u2018at Welton,\nwithin a mile of Daventry,\u2019 where the younger daughter, ten years of age,\ntook to vomiting three gallons of water in less than three days, and\nafterwards stones and coals, in number about five hundred. \u2018Some weighed a\nquarter of a Pound, and were so big, as they had enough to do to get them\nout of her mouth.... This Vomiting lasted about a Fortnight, and hath\nWitnesses good store.\u2019 Things got rather lively in the house, and were\nthrown about; the Bible, being laid upon a bed, was hid in another bed;\nthe things from the parlour were turned out into the hall; their milk was\nspilt, their beer mixed with sand, and their salt with bran. The man of\nthe house, one Moses Cowley, seems to have had an especially bad time of\nit. \u2018A knife rose up in the Window, and flew at him, hitting him with the\nHaft;\u2019 and, to make the place more uncomfortable, \u2018Every day abundance of\nStones were thrown about the House, which broke the windows, and hit the\npeople.\u2019 Probably the Devil was disappointed, inasmuch as \u2018they were the\nless troubled because, all this while no hurt was done to their Persons,\u2019\nand after a while the persecution ceased, with the exception of \u2018great\nKnockings, and cruel Noise.\u2019\n\nThen there is \u2018The Relation of _James Sherring_, taken concerning the\nmatter at old _Gast\u2019s_ House of _Little Burton_.\n\n\u2018The first Night I was there with _Hugh Mellmore_ and _Edward Smith_, they\nheard, as it were, the Washing in Water over their Heads. Then, taking a\nCandle, and going up Stairs, there was a wet Cloth thrown at them, but it\nfell on the Stairs. They going up farther, there was another thrown as\nbefore. And, when they were come up into the Chamber, there stood a Bowl\nof Water, some of it sprinkled over, and the Water looked white, as if\nthere had been Soap used in it. The Bowl, just before, was in the Kitchin,\nand could not be carried up but through the Room where they were. The next\nthing that they heard, the same Night, was a terrible noise, as if it had\nbeen a clap of Thunder, and, shortly after, they heard great scratching\nabout the Bed stead, and, after that, great Knocking with a Hammer against\nthe Beds-head, so that the two Maids that were in the Bed cryed out for\nHelp. Then they ran up the stairs, and there lay the Hammer on the bed,\nand on the Beds-head there were near a Thousand Prints of the Hammer,\nwhich the violent Strokes had made. The maids said they were scratcht and\npincht with a Hand that was put into the Bed, which had exceeding long\nNails. They said the Hammer was lockt up fast in the Cup board when they\nwent to Bed.\n\n\u2018The second Night that _James Sherring_, and _Tho. Hillary_ were there,\n_James Sherring_ sat down in the Chimney to fill a pipe of Tobacco, he\nmade use of the Fire-tongs to take up a Coal to light his Pipe, and by and\nby the Tongs were drawn up the Stairs, and after they were up in the\nChamber, they were play\u2019d withal (as many times Men do) and then thrown\ndown upon the Bed. Although the Tongs were so near him, he never perceived\nthe going of them away. The same Night one of the Maids left her Shoes by\nthe Fire, and they were carried up into the Chamber, and the old Man\u2019s\nbrought down, and set in their places. The same Night there was a Knife\ncarried up into the Chamber, and it did scratch and scrape the Bed\u2019s head\nall the Night; but, when they went up into the Chamber, the Knife was\nthrown into the Loft. As they were going up the Stairs, there were things\nthrown at them, which were, just before in the low Room, and when they\nwent down the Stairs, the old Mans Breeches were thrown down after them.\nThese were the most remarkable things done that Night, only there was\ncontinual knocking and pinching the Maids, which was usually done every\nNight.\u2019\n\nThere is a great deal more of this case, which reads like the senseless\nphenomena of a spiritual s\u00e9ance, but we will pass on to\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\n A Demon in Gilbert Campbell\u2019s Family--Case of Sir William York--Case\n of Ian Smagge--Disturbances at Stockwell.\n\n\n\u2018A REMARKABLE STORY TOUCHING THE STIRS MADE BY A D\u00c6MON IN THE FAMILY OF\nONE GILBERT CAMPBELL, BY PROFESSION A WEAVER, IN THE OLD PARISH OF\nGLENLUCE, IN GALLOWAY, IN SCOTLAND.\n\n\u2018It happened in October 1654, that after one _Alexander Agnew_, a bold and\nsturdy Beggar, who, afterwards, was hang\u2019d at _Dumfries_, for Blasphemy,\nhad threatened hurt to _Gilbert Campbel\u2019s_ family, because he had not\ngotten such an Alms as he required; the said _Gilbert_ was oftentimes\nhindred in the exercise of his Calling, all his working Instruments being,\nsome of them broken, some of them cut, and yet could not know by what\nmeans this hurt was done. Which piece of trouble did continue till about\nthe middle of _November_; at which time the Devil came with new and\nextraordinary Assaults, by throwing of Stones in at Doors and Windows, and\ndown through the Chimney head, which were of great quantity, and thrown\nwith great force, yet by God\u2019s good Providence, there was not one Person\nof the family hurt, or suffer\u2019d damage thereby. This piece of new and\nsore Trouble did necessitate Mr. _Campbel_ to reveal that to the Minister\nof the Parish, and to some other Neighbours and Friends, which, hitherto,\nhe had endured secretly. Yet notwithstanding this, his Trouble was\ninlarged; for, not long after, he found oftentimes his Warp and Threads\ncut as with a pair of Sizzars, and the Reed broken; and not only this, but\ntheir Apparel cut after the same manner, even while they were wearing\nthem, their Coats, Bonnets, Hose, Shoes, but could not discern how, or by\nwhat means. Only, it pleased God to preserve their Persons, that the least\nharm was not done. Yet in the Night-time they wanted liberty to Sleep,\nsomething coming and pulling their Bed-clothes and Linnens off them, and\nleaving their Bodies naked.\n\n\u2018Next, their Chests and Trunks were opened, and all things in them strewed\nhere and there: Likewise the parts of the working Instruments that had\nescaped, were carried away, and hid in holes and bores of the House, where\nhardly they could be found again: Nay, whatever piece of Cloth or\nHousehold stuff was in any part of the House, it was carried away, and so\ncut and abused, that the Good-man was necessitated, with all haste and\nspeed to remove, and to transport the rest to a Neighbour\u2019s House, and he\nhimself compell\u2019d to quit the Exercise of his Calling, whereby only he\nmaintained his Family. Yet he resolv\u2019d to remain in the House for a\nseason. During which time some Persons thereabout, not very judicious,\ncounselled him to send his Children out of the Family, here and there,\n(to try whom the Trouble did most follow, assuring him that this Trouble\nwas not against all the Family, but against some one Person or other in\nit) whom he too willingly obeyed. Yet for the space of 4 or 5 Days after,\nthere were no remarkable assaults, as before.\u2019\n\nAfter the Devil had twice set this poor man\u2019s house on fire, and \u2018the\npersons within the family suffering many losses, as the Cutting of their\nCoaths, the throwing of Peits, the pulling down of Turf and Feal from the\nRoof and Walls of the House, and the stealing of their Apparel, and the\npricking of their Flesh and Skin with pins, the Presbytery set apart a day\nfor a solemn humiliation, which seems to have had some effect upon Satan,\nfor soon after he found a voice.\n\n\u2018Upon _Monday_ the 12th of _February_, the rest of the Family began to\nhear a Voice speak to them, but could not well know from whence it came.\nYet, from Evening to Midnight, much vain Discourse was kept up with the\nDevil, and many idle and impertinent Questions proposed without that due\nFear of God that should have been upon their Spirits, under so rare and\nextraordinary a Trial. The Minister hearing of this, went to the House\nupon the _Tuesday_, being accompanied with some Gentlemen, who, after\nPrayer was ended, heard a Voice speaking out of the Ground, from under a\nBed, in the proper Country Dialect, saying, _Would you know the Witches\nof_ Glenluce? _I will call them_, and so related four or five Persons\nNames, that went under an evil report. The said _Gilbert_ informed the\nCompany that one of them was dead long ago. The Devil answered, _It is\ntrue, she is dead long ago, yet her Spirit is living with us in the\nWorld_. The Minister reply\u2019d, saying: _The Lord rebuke thee, Satan, and\nput thee to silence, we are not to receive any Information from thee,\nwhatsoever Fame any Persons go under; thou art but seeking to seduce this\nFamily, for Satan\u2019s kingdom is not divided against itself_.\u2019\n\nThen the Devil and the minister had a most unseemly wrangle, both\nbattering each other with texts of Scripture; and the holy man\u2019s visit did\nno good, for all their annoyances returned, until poor Campbell again\nappealed to the Presbytery; which body ordered that a solemn humiliation\nshould be kept through all the bounds of the Synod. This was in February,\nand Campbell\u2019s persecutions gradually decreased till April, when they\naltogether ceased, and so continued till August.\n\n\u2018About which time the Devil began with new Assaults, and taking the ready\nMeat that was in the House, did sometimes hide it in holes by the\nDoor-posts, and at other times did hide it under the Beds, and sometimes\namong the Bed cloaths, and under the Linnens, and at last did carry it\nquite away, till nothing was left there save Bread and Water to live by.\nAfter this he exercised his Malice and Cruelty against all the Persons of\nthe Family, in wearying them in the Night time, with stirring and moving\nthrough the House, so that they had no rest for noise, which continued all\nthe month of August after this manner. After which time the Devil grew\nyet worse, and began with terrible Roarings and terrifying Voices, so that\nno Person could sleep in the House in the Night-time, and sometimes did\nvex them with casting of Stones, striking them with Staves on their Beds,\nin the Night time, and upon the 11th of _September_, about Midnight, he\ncryed out with a loud voice: _I shall burn the House_: and, about 3 or 4\nnights after, he set one of the Beds on Fire, which was soon extinguished\nwithout any prejudice, except the Bed itself, and so he continued to haunt\nthem.\u2019\n\nHere this thrilling narrative ends, and the minister and Presbytery seem\nto have given up the job of quelling the Devil. A much milder case is:\n\n\u2018_A true and faithful_ Narrative _of the disturbance which was in the\nHouse of Sir_ William York, _in the Parish of_ Lessingham _in_\nLincolnshire.\u2019\n\nIt began in May, 1679, with the latch of the outer door being lifted very\nquickly, which was done for between two or three hours. In July the doors\nbanged to, and the chairs all held a conversazione in the hall, after\nwhich they returned to their several rooms. In August the persecution took\nthe form of knocking at the doors; in September the noise was of a man\nwalking on stilts.\n\n\u2018Afterwards the said Noise began to be more dreadful and greater yet, and\nin more places, which mightily disordered Sir _William\u2019s_ ancient Father;\nand his Lady and Children very much. Upon which they were thinking upon\nleaving the House. Sir _William_ was willing that they should, but\nunwilling to leave it himself, and thereupon they all continued. At this\ntime Sir _William_ had a Plummer putting up Lead about the House, to\nconvey the Rain which fell into a Cistern, and this knocking was often\nagainst the Lead, and often against the Iron that bore it, in imitation of\nthe Plummers knocking in the Day-time. He likewise had Carpenters at the\nsame time, and sometimes the Noise was like their Chopping at the Wood in\nthe Yard, insomuch that the head Carpenter said, That if he had not known\nhis Servants to be in the House, he would have thought they had been\nchopping. Sometimes it was like the Servants Chopping of Coals in the Coal\nYard; sometimes knocking at the Doors of Out-houses, at the Wash-house,\nBrew-house, and Stable-doors; and, as they followed it from place to\nplace, it was still immediately, and in one instant removed. These were\nthe usual Noises that were every Night when it came, which was 3 or 4\ntimes a Week.\u2019\n\nIt got worse until October, when Sir William had to go to London, to\nParliament, when it entirely ceased. As years went on, these\nmanifestations appear to have been of a much milder type. The belief in\nwitchcraft and the personal power of the Devil was much shaken in Queen\nAnne\u2019s reign, but _the Ghost_ began to be introduced. In the following the\ntwo are well mixed, but, as we have nothing to do with such silly things\nas ghosts, this narrative will not take up much time.\n\n\n\u2018AN EXACT NARRATIVE OF MANY SURPRIZING MATTERS OF FACT UNCONTESTABLY\nWROUGHT BY AN EVIL SPIRIT, OR SPIRITS, IN THE HOUSE OF MASTER _IAN\nSMAGGE_, FARMER IN _CANVY ISLAND_ NEAR _LEIGH_, IN _ESSEX_, UPON THE 10TH,\n13TH, 14TH, 15TH, AND 16TH OF _SEPTEMBER_ LAST, IN THE DAYTIME.\u2019 LONDON,\n1709.\n\n\u2018This now Dwelling-House of _Ian Smagge_, standing in _Canvy_ Island, in\nthe County of _Essex_, is said to have been Built, and for a great while\nInhabited by a certain Person deceased; who, with his Wife, were lookt\nupon in their Life-time, jointly to have scrap\u2019d together in the said\nHouse, by Fraudulent and Oppressive means, a considerable lump of Pelf.\nHaving for a long time carried on this groveling Employ, the Wife being in\na declining Condition, went to _London_ to be advis\u2019d for her Health; but\nSickness increasing, and she conceiving she should die, desir\u2019d the Man\nwith whom she lodg\u2019d, that happened to be the same Person that now lives\nin the said disturb\u2019d House, to acquaint her Husband, She would be Buried\nin a Place call\u2019d _Benfleet_, near _Canvy_-Island, where her deceased\nChildren lay: To which he answered, \u2019Twas all one where the Body was\ndispos\u2019d, so the Soul was Happy.\n\n\u2018This discourse passed about Six a Clock in the Evening in the Summer\ntime. Immediately on which, _Ian Smagge_ affirms, He received a hard\nStroke or Stroking on the Arm, from the Wrist upwards to his Shoulder; and\nthen felt the Chair, that he sat in, to shake in an extraordinary manner.\nHe lookt under the Chair, and about him, to see what caus\u2019d the Motion,\nbut discern\u2019d nothing. His Wife and the sick Person were in the Room, but\nboth distant from him.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018In two or three Days the said Person died, and her Husband was sent for,\nand acquainted with her Mind; but he, probably to save Charges, buried her\nin Town. The Funeral being over, he return\u2019d to his Habitation in _Canvy\nIsland_, and in a few Years made his _Exit_ also, which the old\nInhabitants compute to be upward of 20 Years since. Presently, upon his\ndeath, unaccountable Noises were frequently heard in the House, to the\ngreat trouble of those that succeeded him in it. Such as forcibly opening\nand Shutting the Doors at Noon-day, no one being near them, or the least\nWind or Breeze of Air stirring to do it. Nay, whilst the people have had\nthe Doors in their Hands, they have been violently snach\u2019d from them, and\nshut to and fro, with exceeding quickness, for many times together.\u2019\n\nThere were all sorts of noises and silly tricks, such as spirits seem to\ndelight in--breaking windows, throwing stones, etc., and a ghost or two\nthrown in. The local minister did all he could to quiet matters, and\n\u2018throughout this sore Visitation discharged his sacred Function in a ready\nand constant attendance, in advising Mrs. Smagge to a Fast, and Prayers in\nthe Family\u2019; and no doubt his remedies were effectual, for the\ndisturbances ceased.\n\nCases of this kind became scarce, possibly because the Devil got weary of\nsuch puerilities, and I shall only record one more case in which he,\ncertainly, made a house very lively:\n\n\n\u2018AN AUTHENTIC, CANDID, AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL NARRATIVE, OF THE ASTONISHING\nTRANSACTIONS AT _STOCKWELL_ IN THE COUNTY OF _SURRY_, ON MONDAY AND\nTUESDAY THE 6TH AND 7TH DAYS OF JANUARY 1772.\n\n\u2018On _Monday_, _January_ the 6th 1772, about ten o\u2019clock in the forenoon,\nas Mrs. _Golding_ was in her parlour, she heard the china and glasses in\nthe back kitchen tumble down and break; her maid came to her and told her\nthe stone plates were falling from the shelves: Mrs. _Golding_ went into\nthe kitchen, and saw them broke. Presently after, a row of plates from the\nnext shelf fell down likewise, while she was there, and nobody near them;\nthis astonished her much, and while she was thinking about it, other\nthings in different places began to tumble about, some of them breaking,\nattended with violent noises all over the house; a clock tumbled down, and\nthe case broke; a lanthorn that hung on the staircase was thrown down and\nthe glass broke to pieces; an earthen pan of salted beef broke to pieces,\nand the beef fell about.\u2019\n\nA carpenter gave it as his opinion that the house was going to tumble\ndown, so Mrs. Golding removed to Mrs. Gresham\u2019s, her next door neighbour,\nand her effects were also removed as quickly as possible; but the demon\nfollowed with them.\n\n\u2018Among the things that were removed to Mrs. _Gresham\u2019s_, was a tray full\nof china, &c. a japan bread basket, some mahogany waiters, with some\nbottles of liquors, jars of pickles &c., and a pier glass, which was taken\ndown by Mr. _Saville_, (a neighbour of Mrs. _Golding\u2019s_): he gave it to\none _Robert Hames_, who laid it on the grass-plat at Mrs. _Gresham\u2019s_;\nbut, before he could put it out of his hands, some parts of the frame on\neach side flew off. It raining at the time, Mrs. _Golding_ desired it\nmight be brought into the parlour, where it was put under a side-board,\nand a dressing glass along with it; it had not been there long, before the\nglasses and china which stood on the side board, began to tumble about and\nfall down, and broke both the glasses to pieces. Mr. _Saville_ and others,\nbeing asked to drink a glass of wine or rum, both the bottles broke in\npieces before they were uncorked.\u2019\n\nThis made the poor lady very nervous indeed, and she could no longer stop\nin a house where there were such doings, so moved to that of a niece, Mrs.\nPain, but while they were picking up some of her things to store away, \u2018a\njar of pickles that stood upon a table, turned upside down, then a jar of\nrasburry jam broke to pieces; next two mahogany waiters and a\nquadrille-box likewise broke to pieces.\u2019\n\nMrs. Golding doubtless thought that her troubles were ended, for\neverything was quiet in her new abode till about eight o\u2019clock in the\nevening, when there was \u2018the Devil to pay.\u2019\n\n\u2018The first thing that happened, was, a whole row of pewter dishes, except\none, fell from off a shelf to the middle of the floor, rolled about a\nlittle while, then settled, and what is almost beyond belief, as soon as\nthey were quiet, turned upside down; they were then put on the dresser,\nand went through the same a second time; next fell a whole row of pewter\nplates from off the second shelf over the dresser to the ground, and being\ntaken up, and put on the dresser one in another, they were thrown down\nagain.\n\n\u2018The next thing was two eggs that were upon one of the pewter shelves, one\nof them flew off, crossed the kitchen, struck a cat on the head, and then\nbroke to pieces.\n\n\u2018Next _Mary Martin_, Mrs. _Pain\u2019s_ servant, went to stir the kitchen fire,\nshe got to the right hand side of it, being a large chimney, as is usual\nin farm houses, a pestle and mortar that stood nearer the left hand end of\nthe chimney shelf, jumped about six feet on the floor. Then went\ncandlesticks and other brasses; scarce anything remaining in its place.\nAfter this, the glasses and china were put down on the floor for fear of\nundergoing the same fate, they presently began to dance and tumble about,\nand then broke to pieces. A tea-pot that was among them, flew to Mrs.\n_Golding\u2019s_ maid\u2019s foot, and struck it.\n\n\u2018A glass tumbler that was put on the floor jumped about two feet, and then\nbroke. Another that stood by it, jumped about at the same time, but did\nnot break for some hours after, when it jumped again, and then broke. A\nchina bowl that stood in the parlour jumped from the floor, to behind a\ntable that stood there. This was most astonishing, as the distance from\nwhere it stood was between seven and eight feet, but was not broke. It was\nput back by _Richard Fowler_, to its place, where it remained some time,\nand then flew to pieces.\n\n\u2018The next thing that followed was a mustard pot, that jumped out of a\nCloset, and was broke, A single cup that stood upon the table, (almost the\nonly thing remaining) jumped up, flew across the kitchen, ringing like a\nbell, and then was dashed to pieces against the dresser. A candle stick,\nthat stood on the Chimney shelf, flew cross the kitchen to the parlour\ndoor, at about fifteen feet distance. A tea-kettle, under the dresser, was\nthrown out about two feet, another kettle that stood at one end of the\nrange, was thrown against the iron that is fixed to prevent children\nfalling into the fire. A tumbler with rum and water in it, that stood upon\na waiter upon a table in the parlour, jumped about ten feet, and was\nbroke. The table then fell down, and along with it a silver tankard\nbelonging to Mrs. _Golding_, the waiter in which had stood the tumbler and\na candle stick. A case bottle then flew in pieces.\u2019\n\nThe food took to flying about, and it must have been heartbreaking for the\nladies to witness the destruction of their property, which must have been\naggravated by the conduct of Mrs. Golding\u2019s servant. \u2018At all the times of\naction, she was walking backwards and forwards, either in the kitchen or\nparlour, or wherever some of the family happened to be. Nor could they get\nher to sit down five minutes together, except at one time for about half\nan hour towards the morning, when the family were at prayers in the\nparlour; then all was quiet; but in the midst of the greatest confusion,\nshe was as much composed as at any other time, and, with uncommon coolness\nof temper, advised her mistress not to be alarmed or uneasy, as she said\nthese things could not be helped. Thus she argued, as if they were common\noccurrences which must happen in every family.\u2019\n\nNowadays, perhaps, she would have been termed a very powerful \u2018medium,\u2019\nbut as the property still continued in an abnormal condition, and its\ndestruction was proceeding at a very rapid rate, it was thought better to\ndischarge her, \u2018and no disturbances have happened since.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\n Possession by, and casting out, Devils--The Church and\n Exorcisms--Earlier Exorcists--\u2018The Strange and Grievous Vexation by\n the Devil of 7 Persons in Lancashire.\u2019\n\n\nThe New Testament, especially the Gospels, decidedly and authoritatively\nteach that the Devil, or Devils, had power to enter into and possess men,\nand Jesus not only cast them out, but gave His disciples power to do the\nsame; and, in order that this possession by the Devil should not be\nascribed to disease, it is expressly classified apart, Matt. iv. 24: \u2018And\nthey brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers\ndiseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and\nthose which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy, and He healed\nthem.\u2019 And even the Revised Version does not materially alter the text:\n\u2018And they brought unto Him all that were sick, holden with divers diseases\nand torments, _possessed with aevils_ (or, _demoniacs_) and epileptic and\npalsied; and He healed them.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe early Christian Church fully believed in its powers of casting out\ndevils, and holy-water, accompanied with the sign of the cross, was very\nefficacious in this matter. Now, in these latter days, it seems to be of\nno effect of itself. In Addis and Arnold\u2019s \u2018Catholic Dictionary,\u2019 a work\nwhich has received the _imprimatur_ of Cardinal Manning, we read, under\nthe heading \u2018Holy-water\u2019: \u2018Water and salt are exorcised by the priest, and\nso withdrawn from the power of Satan, who, since the fall, has corrupted\nand abused even inanimate things; prayers are said that the water and salt\nmay promote the spiritual and temporal health of those to whom they are\napplied, and may drive away the Devil with his rebel angels; and, finally,\nthe water and salt are mingled in the name of the Trinity. The water thus\nblessed becomes a means of grace.... The reader will observe that we do\nnot attribute to holy-water any virtue of its own. It is efficacious\nsimply because the Church\u2019s prayers take effect at the time it is used.\u2019\n\nBut this was not the belief of the Roman Catholic Church of the sixteenth\nand seventeenth centuries, as we may read in Boguet[13]: \u2018But it was a\nfrightful thing to hear the Demon cry and yell when the priest had\npronounced the holy name of Jesus, and when he invoked the assistance of\nthe holy Virgin Mary, or when he approached the Demoniac with the Cross,\nor when he sprinkled him with holy-water, or made him drink some. For he\nsaid sometimes _that they were burning him_, and at others, _that they had\ngiven him enough holy-water, and that if they persisted in throwing any\nmore over him, he would not go out, and would torment Roland\u2019s body still\nfurther_.\u2019\n\nBut, before the Church took up this good work, it would seem that there\nwere more or less effective agents for the purpose in existence, for\nReginald Scot tells us, in \u2018A Discourse upon Diuels and Spirits,\u2019 chap.\nxv.: \u2018But when Saule was releeued with the sound of the harpe, they say\nthat the departure of the diuell was by meanes of the signe of the Crosse\nimprinted in _Dauid\u2019s_ veines. Whereby we maie see how absurd the\nimaginations and deuises of men are, when they speake according to their\nown fansies, without warrant of the word of God. But methinks it is verie\nabsurd that _Josephus_ affirmeth: to wit, that the diuell should be thrust\nout of anie man by virtue of a root. And as vaine it is that _\u00c6lianus_\nwriteth of the magicall herbe _Cynospastus_, otherwise called\n_Aglaphotis_; which is all one with _Salomon\u2019s_ root, named _Baaros_, as\nhauing force to driue out anie diuell from a man possessed.\u2019\n\nNowadays we put some of those possessed with devils into prison, and we\nendeavour to purify them by work, diet, good counsel, and the absence of\ntemptations--a course which is sometimes, but not always, effective; but,\nthen, the character of devils has certainly changed during the last four\nor five centuries.\n\nThe reading of cases of possession is somewhat dreary work, and some are\nevidently catch-pennies, extremely goody-goody, consisting of long-winded\ntheological discussions between the possessed and the Devil, in which the\nformer invariably gets the best of the argument, so that I shall not tarry\nlong on this branch of my subject, giving only three or four cases in\nillustration.\n\n\n\u2018A TRUE NARRATION OF THE STRANGE AND GRIEVOUS VEXATION BY THE DEVIL OF 7\nPERSONS IN LANCASHIRE, BY JOHN DARRELL, MINISTER OF THE WORD OF GOD. 1600.\n\n\u2018At _Cleworth_ in _Lancashire_, within the parish of _Leigh_, there\ndweleth one _Nicholas Starchie_, gentleman, who, having only two children,\nit went thus with them, in the beginning of februari, 1594: first, _Anne_,\nhis daughter, being 9 Yeares olde, was taken with a dumpish and heauie\ncountenaunce, and with a certaine fearefull starting and pulling together\nof her body; about a weeke after, _Iohn Starchie_, his sonne, of the age\nof 10 yeares, as he was going to the schoole, was compelled to shout,\nneither was able to staie himself. After, they waxed worse and worse,\nfalling often into extreame fits, M. _Starchie_ seeking for remedy, after\n9 or 10 weekes, heard of one, _Edmund Hartlay_, a coniurer, to whom he\nrepaired, made knowne his greife, and with large profers craued his helpe.\n_Hartlay_ comes, and, after he had used certaine popish charmes and\nhearbs, by degrees the children were at quiet, and so continued, seeming\nto be well almost a yeare and halfe, all which time _Hartlay_ came often\nto visit them. At length, he fained as though he would have gone into\nanother country, but wether, M. _Starchie_ might not know. When he begane\nto goe his way, _Iohn_ fell of bleedinge; then, presently, he was sent for\nagain, who affirmed that if he had bene 40 rodes off, no man could have\nstanched him, and thus it fell out at other times.\n\n\u2018M. _Starchie_ hereupon fearing lest his children would be troubled in his\nabsence, and he uncertaine where to find him, offered to giue him his\ntable to tarie with them, and so he did for a certain space; but, after\ncouenaunted with him to giue him an annuel pension of 40s. for his\nassistance in time of neede; which pension was assured him in writing, and\nbegan at _Michael\u2019s_ day 1598; wherewith _Hartlay_ not being satisfied,\ndesiered more, an house and ground: whereunto, because M. _Starchie_ would\nnot accord, he threatned in a fume (M. _Starchie_ being absent, but in the\nhearing of diuers), that, if he would not fulfil his minde, he would make\nsuch a shout as never was at _Cleworth_; and so ther was indeed, not only\nupon the day, and at the instant of their dispossession, but also the day\nbefore: when 7 of them, both in the afternoone and in the evening, sent\nforth such a strange, supernaturall, and fearfull noyse, or loud\nwhupping,[14] as the like, undoubtedly, was neuer hard at _Cleworth_, nor\nit, I think, in _England_. This he said in September 1596, and on the 17\nday of Nouember folowing, they both began to be troubled againe after so\nlong rest.\n\n\u2018On a certaine time _Hartlay_ went with M. _Starchie_ to his father\u2019s\nhouse in _Whally_ parishe, where he was tormented sore all night. The next\nday, beinge recouered, he went into a little wood, not farr from the\nhouse, where he maide a circle about a yarde and halfe wyde, deviding it\ninto 4 partes, making a crosse at euery Diuision; and when he had finished\nhis worke, he came to M. _Starchie_, and desiered him to go and tread out\nthe circle, saying I may not treade it out my selfe; and further, I will\nmeete with them that went about my death. When M. _Starchie_ saw this\nwreched dealing of his, and his children still molested, he waxed wearie\nof him, howbeit he sought other helpe for his children.\n\n\u2018Then he tooke his sonnes water to a phisitian in _Manchester_, who sawe\nno signe of sicknes; after, he went to _Doctor Dee_, the warden of\n_Manchester_, whose helpe he requested, but he utterly refused, sayinge he\nwould not meddle, and aduised him that, settinge aside all other helpe, he\nshould call for some godlye preachers, with whom he should consult\nconcerning a Publicke or Privat fast. He also procured _Hartlay_ to come\nbefore him, whom he so sharply reproved, and straitly examined, that the\nchildren had more ease for 3 weekes space after; and this was upon the 8\nof December.\n\n\u2018About Newyeare\u2019s Day, the children (being in good case, as it seemed)\nwent to _Manchester_, invited to a kinsman\u2019s house, whom _Hartlay_\naccompanied as their overseer, and in their returne homewardes, they were\ndesirous to see _Doctor Dee_, according to their promise, and his request.\nBut _Hartlay_ withstood them, and, because they went to his house,\nnotwithstanding his prohibition, he told them, with an angri loke, that it\nhad bene better for them not to haue chaunged an old frend for a new, with\nother menacinge speaches, and so went before them in a rage, and neuer\ncame neare them all the way home.\n\n\u2018Upon the Tuseday after newyeares day Ianuarie 4. _Iohn Starchie_ was\nreadinge, somethinge gave him such a blowe on the necke, that he was\nsoddenlye stricken downe with an horrible scryke,[15] saying that _Satan_\nhad broken his necke and laye tormented pitifully for the space of two\nhowres. The same day, at night, being in bed, he lept out on the sudden,\nwith a terrible outcry, that amased all the familye. Then was he tossed\nand tumbled a long tyme, was very feirce like a mad-man, or a mad dogge,\nsnacted at and bite euery one that he layde hold on, with his teethe, not\nspareing his mother, smiting the next, and hurling Bed-staues, Pillowes,\nor whatsoeuer at them, and into the fire. From this day forwarde he had no\ngreat ease until the day of his deliuerance.\n\n\u2018His sister _Anne_ likewise began againe to be troubled, and 3 other yong\nchildren in the house, of whom M. _Starchie_ had the education and\ntuition, with there portiones committed unto him by ther parentes. The\nfirst was _Margaret Hardman_, of the age of 14 yeares, the 2. _Elizabeth_\nher sister of 10 yeares age, and the 3. _Ellinor Holland_ of 12 yeares.\nThe same day, at night, _Hartlay_ himself, was also tormented, and the\nnext day in like manner, where many held him, among whom one _Margaret\nByrom_ of _Salford_, by _Manchester_ 33 yeares olde, a poore kinswoman of\n_Mistris Starchies_, was one; who beinge come thither to make merrie, was\nrequested to sit downe behind _Hartlay_ to hold him, and did so; but, when\nhe was out of his fit, she endeuored to arise, was so benumb and giddi,\nthat shee could not stand, yet, being lifted up shee stroue to goe, but\nbeing unable, fell downe, and was sencelesse, and very unruly.\n\n\u2018Which, _Hartlay_ seeinge, saide, I feare I haue done her harme. Then she\nnicknamed and taunted all that were present, though she wyste not what she\nsaide, nor knewe or sawe _Hartlay_ onlye, whome she both knewe and saide\nshe sawe, albeit her eyes were shut close, that she could see nothing: at\nhim she rayled, and angerly smote. After her fit, _Hartlay_ came to\ncomforte her, for hee pretended to bere a louinge affection towards her:\nand it was thought he had kissed her. Nowe they iudged in the house that\nwhomsoeuer he kissed, on them he breathed the diuell. He often kissed\n_Iohn_ for loue, (as he saide) he kissed the little wenches in iest, he\npromised _Margaret Hardman_ a thrane[16] of kisses. He wrastled with one\n_Iohan Smyth_, a maide seruaunte in the house to kisse her, but he fayled\nof his purpose; whereupon _Elinor_ in a fitt saide, if hee had kissed her,\n3 men coulde not haue helde her. When he cam to comfort _Margaret_, she\ncould not abide his companye. He demaunded of her, why? She said for that\nshe thought he had bewitched her. He asked the reason why she thought so?\nShee answered, for thou art euer in myne eyes, absent and present.\n\n\u2018But let us returne to the other 5, who were first possessed, of whome we\nwill say very little, seeing we have much to say of _Margaret Byrom_: and\nit is sufficient to heare at large of one of them, and were too much to\ndiscourse fully of euery of them, considering the number.\n\n\u2018The 2. of February, in the night, _Iohn Starchie_ had verie shorte\nfittes, and thick; and at the recouery of euery one, gaue 3 Knockes with\nhis hand on the seeling, and said that he must haue 20 such fits. The next\nday he left knocking, and fell to washing his hands after euery short\nfitt, and when so euer he washed, he would have newe water; if it were the\nsame wherewith he washed before (for he could tell) he refused it. About\nthe 14 of Januarie, these 5 beinge in theire fits, one of them began to\nbarke and howle (according to theire custom); after that 2. then 3, lastly\nthey were all in, like a ring of 5 bells for order and tune, and so\ncontinued almost a quarter of an houre. After theer howling, they fell to\na tumbling, and after that became speachlesse, sencelesse, and as dead.\n\n\u2018On the 1. of February, 4. of them fell a dauncing; _Elizabeth Hardman_\nsinging and playinge the minstrell, whome _Anne Starchie_ (the 5 being\nwell) followed, laughing at their toyes; but, after a while, she fel down\nas dead. All the time of their dauncing, they wist not what they did. If\nothers called to them, they heard them not, answered not, and yet talked\none to another.\n\n\u2018The 1. or 2. weeke of Lent, Mistres Starchie required them all 5. to tell\nher how they were handled, that certaine knowledge might be had thereof to\nthe preachers: they all answered that an angell like a doue was come from\ngod, and that they must follow him to heauen, which way soeuer he would\nlead them, though it were through neuer so little a hole, for he toulde\nthem he could drawe them through, and soe they ran under the beds. And\n_Elizabeth Hardman_ was under a bedde making a hole, and beinge asked what\nshe did, she said that she must goe through the wall, for she on the one\nside, and her lad on the other, would soone make a hole.\n\n\u2018About a fortnight or three weekes before their delivery, _Elinor Holland_\nand _Elizabeth Hardman_ foretould how many fits they shoulde haue before\nthey slept, and, tomorrowe, quoth _Elinor Holland_ in the forenoon I must\nhaue a fit of 3 howers long. When the tyme came shee bad them set the\nhower glasse: they set it behind her, out of her sight; her eyes also was\nclosed. She was sencelesse and speachlesse, saue the noting of the time,\nwhich she truly noted, saying, there is a quarter, the halfe hower, and,\nas the glasse was runne out, she sayde, turne the glasse; and thus did she\n3 tymes, or 3 howers. After comming to herselfe, she said _Iesus, blesse\nmee_, which all of them usually said at the end of their fites. In like\nmanner did _Elizabeth Hardman_, for 2 howers, who beinge demaunded how she\nknewe this, answered that a white Doue told them so.\n\n\u2018About the 19 of March, the 4 youngest went on ther knees all morning\nuntil afternoone, and they fleed from all the familye and neighbours, into\nother chambers, calling them deuils with hornes, creeping under the bed,\nwhen they had the use of their feete; their tongues were taken from them.\n\n\u2018When _Maister Hopwood_, a Justice of peace, came of purpose to take their\ntestimony against _Edmund Hartlay_ to _Lancaster Assises_, and had them\nbefore him to that end, they were speachlesse, and that daye, he gott no\nanswer of them. Being called out of one chamber into another, they sank\ndown by the way speachlesse. When they spake, they complayned that\n_Edmund_ would not suffer them to speake against him.\n\n\u2018At the same time _Iane Ashton_, a maid seruant in the house (the 7th\npossessed person, of the age of 30 yeares) began to bark and houle when\nshe should haue gon to bear witnes against _Edmund Hartlay_, wherupon one\nof them in her fit said, Ah _Edmund_, dost thou trouble her now when she\nshold testify against thee? This was the second time she was troubled.\nAlmost a yeare before, it first tooke her in her throat, as if she had a\npyn sticking there, whereupon she strayned herselfe so sore that she got\nup bloud, and for two dayes was very sicke.\n\n\u2018About the 21 of March. _Ellinor Holland_ and _Elizabeth Hardman_ for 3\ndayes and 3 nights together could nether eate, nor drinke, nor speake to\nany except it were one to another, and to ther lads, saue that their lads\ngaue them leaue (as they said) the one to eate a toast and drink, the\nother a sower milk posset. And, notwithstanding that permission, thei said\nhe was angry that thei had eaten, and told them that thei should not be\nquiet, until they had cast it up againe. So thei vomited, saying, take it\nto thee, here it is agayne, for thou gauest us lisence to eate it, and\nnowe thou art angry. And if thei went about to swallow a little drink,\nthei were so taken by the throat, that thei pict it up againe. The 3\nnight, about 8 a cloke, _Elinor Holland_ being asked when she would or\ncould slepe, answered that ther were 4 howers yet to come before she could\nslepe. About an houre and halfe of that time she tooke a distafe and spane\nboth faster and finer than at any tym before. When she had done spinning,\nshe said unto them, now shall I worke you all, and thenceforth was so\nextreamly handled, that two could scarcely rule and hold her. At length\nreuerting, she said I haue bene sleeping 3 daies and 3 nights, and now I\nfaint with hunger.\n\n\u2018About a weeke before there deliverance some of the youngest used these\nkind of speaches: thou naughtie lad, thou makest us sicke, for thou\nknowest the preachers will come shortly.\n\n\u2018This generally was observed in the 5 youngest, that when they gaue\nthemselves to any sporte, they had rest and were pleasaunt though the time\nwas longe. Their parents report beyng at a playe in a neighbour\ngentleman\u2019s house many houres together, they were quyet all the tyme\n(_Hartlay_ boested that he had kept them so longe quyet); but on the\ncontrary, as soon as they went about any godly exercise, they were\ntrobled. And thus much brifly touching those 6 at _Cleworth_, and the\nstrange accedents which fell out there, as also how in all probabilitie it\ncame to be vexed, in like sort, by the appoyntment of God and by the same\nmediant hand, the devil, and _Hartlay_ the coniurer.\n\n\u2018The 10 of Ianuary (beyng the 4 day after her trouble begane), as\n_Margaret Byrom_ sate by the kitchyne fyre, shee was throwne towardes the\nfire, lyinge hard by the chimneye barres, as though shee should have bene\nrosted. Thence she drewe her, and hauinge continued a longe tyme in the\nfitte, and recouerynge, about halfe an houer after, as shee satte in a\nChaire, she was throwne headlonge under the boarde[17] but had no harme,\nand thus was she suddenly and violently cast sundrie times after.\n\n\u2018She, being desired to tel how her fits held her, said that she thought\nsomething rouled in her belly like a calfe, and laye euer on her left\nside, and when it rose up from her belly towardes her hart, she thought\nthat the head and nose thereof had bene full of nayles, wherwith being\npricked, she was compelled to scrike aloud with veri paine and feare.\nWhen her belly was swollen, it lift her up, and so bounded, that it would\npicke off the hand of him that held her downe, and sometyme the parti\nhimself, that held her, farr off. When her belly slaked, there went out of\nhir mouth a could breath (that made her mouth very coulde), which caused\nher to barke and houle; then plumpte it down into her body like a colde\nlonge whetstone, on her left side, when her belly was smale, wherewith\nshee so quaked, that her teeth chattered in her head, and, if she went to\nwarme her, she was presently pickt backward.\n\n\u2018About the end of Ianuary, from M. _Starchie\u2019s_, she went home to\n_Salford_, a towne adioyning to _Manchester_, accompanyed with _Hartlay_\nand one other. The next morninge as _Hartlay_ prayed ouer her in a fite,\ncame one M. _Palmer_, a preacher of _Manchester_, who asked him what he\nwas doinge: he answeared, Praying. Thou pray, thou cans\u2019t not pray, quoth\nhe, what prayer cans\u2019t thou say? None, saide he, but the Lorde\u2019s prayer.\nSay it, quoth he; the which, as I remember, he coulde not say. He then, as\na privat man, examined him, and, after, had him before two Iustices of\npeace; from whom he brought him by ther appointment, to _Margaret Byrom_,\nto heare what she could say against him; but, as soone as she saw him shee\nstraightwaye became speachlesse, and was cast downe backwardes, and so did\nshe the 2 tyme; and 5 tymes was dumbe when _Hartlay_ came in her sight.\n\n\u2018This morning as she came to the fier, she sawe a great blacke dogge,\nwith a monstrous taile, and a long chaine, Open mouth, comming apace\ntowardes her, and, running by her left side, cast her on her face hard by\nthe fier, houlding her tounge for halfe an hower, but leauinge at libertie\nher eyes and handes. A litle after, a bigge blacke catt, staringe\nfearfully at her, came runinge by her left side, and threwe her backward,\ntaking from her the use both of her eyes and handes, which with\nyesking[18] were euer losed. About halfe hower after that fit, it came\nlike a bige mouse, and lept upon her left knee, cast her backward, took\naway her tongue, eyes, and sences, that she lay as dead, and when she came\nto any feeling, it put up her bellye as before. These visions and fites\nordinarely troubled her for 6 weeks every day, on the daytime, as is said;\nand commonly everi night (as she thought) it sat on her head, very heavi,\nlaying (as it seemed to her) 4 great fingers on her browes, that she was\nnot able to open her eies. Often times she cried to her mother that she\nshould sit from off her Head, asking who it was that held her soe\nstraight, and, though she could not ster her head, hir kerchefe was pulled\noff her head commonly, she, notwithstanding, lying still as a stocke from\n9 to 3 in the morning, about which time it departed. In departing, it\nsomtimes gaue her a great thumpe, on the hinder parte of her head, that it\nwas verye sore for 2 dayes after.\n\n\u2018Sixe times within those 6 weekes, the sperit would not suffer her to eate\nor drincke; it tooke awaye, also, her stomake. If she offered to drincke\n(at the earnest motion of others) it cast her and the drincke downe\ntogether. At other tymes shee did eate greedily, slossinge up her meate\nlike a greedy dogge, or hogge, that her mother and her friendes were\nashamed of her. Styll shee was hungrye and cryed for more, saying shee had\nnothing, though she spared no kinde of meate: all was fish that cam to\nnett. After abundance of meate her belly semed neuer the fuller, that she\nmarueiled which waye it went.\n\n\u2018The 10 of februari, it pulled her, as she thought, in an hundred peeces.\nTher came out of her mouth such a stincking smoke and breath, that shee\ncould not endure it her selfe. Her voyce and crying were quite altered,\nand so continued till night. But her breath stank soe yll a day and a\nnyght after, that her neighboures could not endure to come neare her.\n\n\u2018Often, her sences were taken away, and she made as styfe as iron, and oft\nas dead, euen breathlesse: somtymes it made a loud noyse in her bellye,\nlike that in the bellye of a great troting horse.\n\n\u2018The two next nights before the day of her examination concerning\n_Hartlay_, appeared the deuill in the likenesse of _Hartlay_, requesting\nher to take heed what she sayd, and to speake the truth, for the time was\ncome: promising her siluer and gould. She answered (thinking it to be\n_Hartlay_) that the truth she had spoken already, and that she would not\nfavour him, neither for siluer nor gold. The 2 night he departed, saying,\ndoe as thou wilt. The day before _Hartlay_, his execution, was a sore day\nunto her, after which, euery day, she went to morning prayer, and was\nnever troubled in the Church, saue the 1 day, whereon it took her about\nthe middest of the sermon, in heauing up her shoulders, depriuing her of\nher sences. After the recouery of her sences, it tooke away the use of her\nleggs, and thus it molested her in the Church, to the admyration of the\npeople, about an hower and halfe.\n\n\u2018At the assises at _Lancaster_, was _Hartlay_ condemned and hanged. The\nmaking of his circle was chiefly his ouerthrowe, which he denyed; but\nbreaking the rope, he, after, confessed it.\n\n\u2018After this time, she had more ease in the day, than she was wont; but, in\nthe night, she lay stif and stark, quaking and trembling, till the day she\ncame to _Cleworth_.\n\n\u2018It going thus with the 6 at _Cleworth_ and the 7 at _Salford_, M.\n_Starchie_ according to the counsel before given him, procured first one\npreacher, then an other to see them, but they knew not well what to say to\ntheir affliction. After hauing intelligence, by D. _Dee_ his butler, of\nthe like greuous affliction of _Thomas Darling_, his uncle\u2019s son, and\nrecouery upon the aduice given by myself, he requested D. _Dee_ his letter\nunto me (though unacquainted) and obteyned it, wherwith he sent his owne\nalso, which preuayled not with me.\n\n\u2018Thereuppon, he procured other letters, whereof one was from a Iustice of\npeace therby, and sent the second time unto me. Then I, crauinge first the\naduice of many of my brethren in the ministery, met togither at an\nexercise, yealded to M. _Starchie\u2019s_ request, and, about 3 weekes after,\nwent thither.\n\n\u2018On the 16 of March \u201996 M. _George More_, pastor of _Cawlke_ in\n_Darbyshire_, and myself, came to _Cleworth_. Whither when we were come,\nM. _Starchie_ tould us, that his sonn had bene well about a fortnight, and\nhis daughter 4 dayes: and, surely, to see to, they were, at that instant,\nas well and free from any possession by Sathan, as any other; which we\nsuspected to procede from the subtilty of the _diuel_, and so it proved.\n\n\u2018Shortly after our comming, as we sat at dinner, came in _Margaret\nHardman_ and hir sister, and _Elinor Holland_, one after another, like\nplayers to bid us welcom. For as much as nobody sent for me, said one of\nthem, I am come of my owne accord. And, hauing thus spoken, shee was\nthrowen backward on a forme; and so all 3 were strangely and greuosly\ntormented. Their faces (as I remember) were disfigured, their bodyes (I am\nsure) greatly swelled, and such a sensible stiring and rumbling within\ntheir bodyes, as to one\u2019s sight and feling they had some quick thing\nwithin each of them; and not only so, but such a violent mouing there was\nalso in their inward parts, (especially in M. Hardman) as was easily\nhearde of us that were present. I remember, also, among the manifold\npleasant speaches they used, one or moe spake iocondly concerning _Edmund\nHartlay\u2019s_ hanging, who was then newly executed; and it was to this\neffect. Do they think they could hang the diuel? I wis no. They might hang\n_Edmund_, but they coulde not hang the diuel. No maruel though the rope\nbroke; for there were two, _Edmund_ and the diuel. By that which I heard\nof his fits (whereof we haue partly heard before) I, for my part, then\nthought, and doe so still, that in the end, he who had so sweetly (by\nkisses, forsooth,) sent the diuel into so many, had, by the iust iudgment\nof god, the diuell sent into him.\n\n\u2018Then hearde we _Iane Ashton_ howling, and perceiueing it was\nsupernaturall, and hearing also, other strange things concerning her,\nespeciallye that which was new fallen out of the swelling of her belly,\nwhereof you shal heare: we affirmed that we thought that she, also, was\npossessed, which neither the family, nor the mayd, herself, mistrusted or\nfeared; and ther was cause, for besides her first taking with the hoke and\nthe wordes _Hartlay_ used thereupon, and kisses before, with promis of\nmariage (which all were, perhaps, forgotten), she was taken with barking,\nas the rest were, when M. _Hopwoode_ cam to examine them. Againe, the\nchildren said no lesse in their fits, for, when she cam in their sight,\nthey would say, come and help us, for thou art one of our company. And\nthough they neither knew nor speake to any other, yet _Iane_ they knewe,\nand speake to her onlye in these wordes, thou wilt shortlye come in\namongst us. And shee, herself, acknowledged that somtimes, as she carrien\nup hot Ianoks,[19] she thought that she could haue eaten up a Ianoke, and\noften did eat much by stealth, being passing hungry like _Margaret Byrom_\nand the children, who, likewise, were sometymes exceedinglye greedye of\nmeate. This day, also, an hower or two before we came, her belly began to\nswell greatly, so that she compared her bellye to a woman\u2019s great with\nchild. When it abated a little, a breath came up her throat, which caused\nyelling: after, it fell downe into hir body like a cold stone, as it did\nwith _Margaret Byrom_. And, as soone as tydings came that we were come,\npresently her belly was fallne, and as litle as in former time, and so\ncontinued.\n\n\u2018Not long after our comming, all 7 being had in a chamber, the one of us\napplyed his speach according to the present occasion: and then, behold,\nall of them, even _Iane Ashton_, and M. _Starchie\u2019s_ children were\npresently greuiously tormented. Yea, Satan, in _Iohn Starchie_ exceeded\nfor crueltye.\n\n\u2018And thus they contynued all that afternoone. 3 or 4 of them gaue\nthemselves to Scoffing and Blasphemy, calling the holy Bible, being\nbrought up, _bible bable, bible bable_; and thus they did aloud and often.\nAll, or most of them ioyned together in a strange and supernatural loud\nwhupping, that the house and ground did sound therwith againe; by reason\nwhereof we were dryven (as I maye say) out of the chamber, and keept out\nfor that daye.\n\n\u2018This euening we did use some words of exhortation, for the sanctefying of\nourselues and the family, against the next daye\u2019s seruice: immediately\nbefore which, they all sent forth as they had before, a supernaturall loud\nwhupping and yellyng, such as would have amased one to haue gone into the\nroome wher they were, but, as one of us opened his mouth, they were\npresentlye silent, and so continued.\n\n\u2018The next morning, all 7 being had into a faire larg parlor, and laid ther\non couches, M. _More_, M. _Dickens_ (a preacher, and their pastor) and\nmyself, with about 30 more, assembled together, spent that day in prayer,\nwith fasting, and hearing the word; all the parties afflicted remayninge\nin their fits the said whole day. Towards the end wherof, they, all of the\nsudden, began to be most extreamly tormented, beting up and downe with\ntheir bodies being held by others, crying also (6 of them) aloud, in\nstrang and supernaturall manner; and, after, they lay as dead, where with\nthey which were present were so affected, that, leuing that good order,\nwhich all the day had ben kept, confusedly, euery one with voice and hands\nlifted up, cryed unto god for mercy in their behalf, and the lord was\npleased to heare us, so as 6 of them were shortly delyuered, wherein we,\nwith them, reioyced, and praised god for the same.\n\n\u2018The first that was dispossessed, was _Margaret Byrom_, then all the\nresidu (saue _Iane Ashton_) one shortly after another, between 5 and 6 at\nnight. She began to be vexed by Sathan about 4 or 5 in the morning, and\nneuer had rest until her deliuerance. All that day she heard only a\nhumming and a sound, but knewe nothing what was said: she could thus\nheare, but not see. Sometime she sawe, and then marueyled what the company\ndid ther, and how she got thither: howbeit, she heard euery idle word that\nthe children possessed had spoken: she was more extreamly handled that\ndaye than any before, though she had had many sore daies. She was euer\nfull of payne, and it semed to her, as though her hart would haue burst:\nshe strayned up much fleamy and bloudy matter. Lastly, she lay as dead for\nthe space of half an houre, taking no breath. Then start she up most\nioyfully, magnifying god, with such a cherefull countenance and voyce,\nthat we all reioyced with her, but were somwhat amazed at hir suddayn\nlauding of god, with such freedome and earnestnes in speach and gesture.\n\n\u2018_Iohn Starchie_, the next, was so miserably rent, that aboundance of blod\ngushed out, both at his nose and mouth. As the day before, so that day, he\ngnashed fearfully with his teeth; he, also, lay as dead about the like\ntime, soe that some sayd to us, he seemeth to be dead. Then start he up\nlikwise on the suddain, and prayed god in most cherful and comfortable\nmanner. And so did the rest, who also maide sundry tymes greate shewe of\nvomyting, and nowe and then vomyted indeede, somthing like fleam, thick\nspettle. These 4, especially 3 of them used much light behauiour and vayn\ngestures; sundry, also, filthy scurrilous speaches, but whispering them,\nfor the most part, among themselves, so that they were no let to that holy\nexercise we then had in hand. Somtimes, also, they spake blasphemy,\ncalling the word preached--_bible bable; he will neuer haue done prating;\nprittle prattle_. _Margaret Hardman_ whylest M. _More_ was preaching, used\nthese wordes. _I must goe, I must away; I cannot tarrie, whither shall I\ngoe? I am hot, I am too hot, I will not dye_; iterating them all: which\nwordes did greatly incourage us.\n\nWhen these 6 were deliuered, some desired to know how they assured\nthemselues thereof, and they answered as followeth. _Margaret Byrom_ said\nthat she felt it come up from her belly towardes her brest, thence to her\nthroat; when it left her throate it gaue her a sore lug, and all this\nwhyle a darke myst dazeled her eyes. Then she felt it to go out of her\nmouth, but it left behind it a sore throat and a filthy smel, that a weke\nafter, her meate was unsauary. It went out in the likenes of a crowe\u2019s\nhead, round, (as to her semed) and sate in the corner of the parlor, with\ndarknes about it a whyle. Then went it with such a flash of fyer out of\nthe windowe, that all the Parlor semed on fyer, to her onlye.\n\n\u2018_Iohn Starchie_ said it went from him like a man with a bulch[20] on his\nbacke, very yll fauored, and, presently, he returned to haue re-entered,\nbut he withstood hym strong in faith. The same, in effect, said _Margaret\nHardman_. _Anne Starchie_ said, he went like a foule ugly man, with a\nwhite beard, and a great bulch on his brest as big as a man\u2019s head, and\nstraightway returned to have re-entered, but she faithfully resisted. Euen\nso said _Elinor Holland_, the white beard excepted.\n\n\u2018_Elizabeth Hardman_ said, it was like an urchin,[21] and went through a\nvery little hole (as she thought) out of the parler, but, out of hand,\nreturned againe in a very foule shape, promising her gold, and whatsoeuer\nshee would desier, if she would giue him leaue to enter againe, but she\nyealded not; then he threatened to cast her into a pit, saying, somtime\nthou wilt go alone. He said also, he would cast her into the fyre, and\nbreak her neck, but she, resisting, he departed like an urchine.\n\n\u2018And thus the first dayes work was happily ended. But behold the\nslight[22] of the wyly serpent, for when we were all at rest, the sperits\nsett upon the 5 little children, like so many wolues the seely Lambes. The\npoore children being newly recouered, and suddenly inuaded, were so\nfrighted, that they clasped fast about their middles those that lay with\nthem, and hid their faces with their bed clothes. M. _Dickens_ was called\ndown, who comming, saw them resisting, and encouraged them to stand fast,\nneuer to yeald, but to pray and resist with faith, and shortly they were\nwell, and fell a slepe.\n\n\u2018The next day we inquired how they were assalted. _Margaret Byrom_ said it\ncam to her like an ugly black man with shoulders higher than his head,\npromysing her enough if she would consent, and that he would lye still;\nwhen she utterly denyed him, and prayed against him, he threatened to cast\nher into a pitt as she went home. But, when she resisted, he cast her to\nthe ground, and departed twise as byg and foule as hee came, with two\nflashes of fyer, one before and another after him, making a noyse like a\ngreat wynd among trees. She was not assaulted at midnight with the 5, but,\nafter supper, before she went to bed.\n\n\u2018_Iohn Starchie_ said he came in the former likenes, making many large\nproffers, baggs of gould &c. But, when he saw he nothing preuayled with\nsugred wordes, he used terrible menaces, saying he wold breake his necke\n&c. _Anne Starchie_ said he came in the former likenes.\n\n\u2018_Margaret Hardman_ said he came in the same forme he went out; proffering\ngolde, but she refusing, he threatned to breake her necke, cast her into a\npyt and drowne her, and so departed.\n\n\u2018_Elizabeth Hardman_ said he came like a beare with fyer in his mouth,\nwherwyth she was so terrifyed that she lept quite out of her bed, and rann\nfrom him, she wist not whither, but one of the company stayed her. Then he\ndesyred her to open her mouth, as he opened his, shewing her two bagges,\none of siluer, an other of gold, promising her 9 times as much: but not\npreuayling, he ran away as a beare that breakes loose from the stake. When\nshe was layd downe and prayed, he came agayn like an ape, promising her\ngolde &c, at her pleasure. Then he menaced to cast her out of the windowe\nand into the fyer, if euer she stood neare it, and so departed very foule\nand with an horrible scryke.\n\n\u2018_Ellinor Holland_ said he came like a great beare, with open mouth, upon\nher, and presently turned it selfe into the similytude of a white dove;\nbut she resisted, and it departed.\n\n\u2018Thus we have heard of the dispossession of 6. and what thinges fell out\ntherein, as also presently after the same. It resteth that we conuert our\nspeach to _Iane Ashton_, the 7. Sathan, upon the aforesaid day, towardes\neuening, put her to extreame payne, and continued the same longe very near\n2 houres after their deliuerance, intising her to say he was gon, and to\nmake shew of welfare, promising that he would not molest her at all. She,\nto be at ease, consented, and pretended, in wordes, to be as well as the\nrest; but we thought otherwise, as the signes of dispossession were\nwanting. After she had herein yelded to the diuell (which she concealed\nuntill after her deliuerance) she was as free from any vexation by him, as\nthe rest, notwithstanding that we prayed, or shee prayed: whereas before\nfor 3 houres togither, her fyt beinge ended, the shortest prayer that\nmight be, being used, she wold be in an other most greuous to beholde.\n\n\u2018All night shee was very well, the next morning also, untill we 3, (who\nwere to be the leaders that day, also, in that holy action we had in hand,\nhaving shut our doore,) had cast doune our selues before the throne of\ngrace, to craue the direction and assistance of god\u2019s spirit, in the worke\nwe were to enter upon. This (I say) we had no soner don, but, behold, the\nchamber wher we were, yea, the whol house did ring of her againe, whereby\nwe were not a little comforted, and incouraged, to enter the second tym\ninto the field, for thereby we were assured that we were not deceiued, and\nthat satan was certainly in her. After we cam downe into the parlor,\nwhither many more resorted that day, than the other, to the number of\nabout 50, we being all exercised as the day aforesaid. This morning she\nwas sore tormented. She often seemed to vomyt up all, and it got up only a\nlitle fleame; and when she hanged down her head to vomyt, often the sperit\nwould fall to shake her, as an angri mastife, a litle cur dogge, so that,\nafter her delivery, she was very hoarce and weake. About one of the\nclocke, she being very extreamly tormented, fel a weping, that teares\ntrickled downe, and after, lay as dead: a litle space reuerting, she said,\nhe is gon, and gaue thanks for her deliuerance. It went out like a great\nbreath, ugly like a toad, round like a ball, and within an houer after, it\nreturned like a foule big blacke man, but she resisted, and it departed.\nWhen we saw clearly that she was dispossessed, we asked her why she\ndissembled the other night? She told us that the said euening it was com\nup from her belly to her brest, thence to her throat, wher it held her as\nat her first taking, thence to her head. Then, she said, it desired her to\ntell us that he was gon, and promised her not to moue or hurt her, and\nthat she should lack nothing. Why, said we, would you harken to the\ndeuill? Because, (said she) I was very sore, and he promysed me ease, but\nhe hath deceaued me. Quoth M. _Dickens_, beleue the deuil againe, beware\nof lying, he teacheth to lye, and you are taught for lying.\n\n\u2018This day and 2 or 3 following, the uncleane spirits returned euer and\nanone in visible formes upon all 7, throwing some of them violently downe\nbefore us all, depriuing others for a litle space of the use of som member\nof their bodies, as arme or legg; seking also both by goodly promises, of\nsiluer, gold, veluit, (which they thought verily, they saw,) and such\nlike, and fearful threats, their consents to re-enter; without which, it\nwould seem satan cannot re-enter, though he can first enter. But from\ngiving such consent, and yealding unto satan, therein god, in mercy, keept\n6 of them: who, since that tyme, (praysed be God therfore) were neuer more\nnor lesse, they nor any of them molested by satan until this day. Neyther\nthe 7 _Iane Ashton_ untill a good space after, when she, leauing M.\n_Starchie\u2019s_ house, went and dwelt in a place of ignorance and among\npapists, and became popish herselfe, as I have heard. For which\nopertunitie and advantage, the deuill watching; and noe doubt compasing,\nhe then recouered her, and now dwelleth there: whose last estat with\n_Katherine Wrights_ and _Will. Somers_, shall be worse than their first.\u2019\n\nThe learned (!) divine, John Darrell, then follows on with the case of\nWill Somers, which is too long and prosy for reproduction.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\n James I. on Possession--The Vexation of Alexander Nyndge--\u2018Wonderful\n News from Buckinghamshire\u2019--Sale of a Devil.\n\n\nIn King James I.\u2019s \u2018Demonologie,\u2019 Philomathes asks Epistemon two\nquestions. \u2018The first is, whereby shall these possessed folks be discerned\nfra them that are troubled with a naturall Phrensie, or Magic? The next\nis, how can it be, that they can be remedied by the Papists Church, whom\nwe, counting as hereticks, it should appeare that one Diuell should not\ncast out another, for then would _his kingdome be diuided in itselfe_, as\nChrist said?\u2019\n\nEpistemon answers: \u2018As to your first question, there are diuers symptomes,\nwhereby that heauie trouble may be discerned from a naturall sicknesse,\nand specially three, omitting the diuers vaine signes that the Papists\nattributes unto it: such as the raging at holy water, their fleeing a\nbacke from the Crosse, their not abiding the hearing of God named, and\ninnumerable such like vaine things that were alike fashious and feckles to\nrecite. But to come to these three symptomes then, whereof I spake; I\naccount the one of them to be the incredible strength of the possessed\ncreature, which will farre exceed the strength of sixe of the wightest and\nwodest of any other men that are not so troubled. The next is the\nboldning up so far of the patients breast and bellie, with such an\nunnaturall sturring and vehement agitation within them: and such an ironie\nhardnesse of his sinewes so stiflely bended out, that it were not possible\nto pricke out, as it were, the skinne of any other person so far.... The\nlast is the speaking of sundrie languages, which the patient is knowen by\nthem that were acquaint with him, neuer to have learned, and that with an\nuncouth and hollow voice: and all the time of his speaking, a greater\nmotion being in his breast than in his mouth.... It is easie, then, to be\nunderstood, that the casting out of Diuelles is by the virtue of fasting\nand praier, and in calling of the name of God, suppose many imperfections\nbe in the person that is the instrument, as Christ himselfe teacheth us,\nof the power that false Prophets shall have to cast out Divels. It is no\nwonder, then, these respects of this action being considered, that it may\nbe possible to the _Papistes_, though erring in sundry pointes of\nReligion, to accomplish this, if they use the right forme prescribed by\nChrist herein.\u2019\n\nA far more acute case of possession is the following:\n\n\n\u2018A TRVE AND FEAREFULL VEXATION OF ONE _ALEXANDER NYNDGE_: BEING MOST\nHORRIBLY TORMENTED WITH THE DEUILL, FROM THE 20 DAY OF _IANUARY_ TO THE 23\nOF _IULY_. AT _LYERINGSWELL_ IN _SUFFOCKE_: WITH HIS PRAYER AFTER HIS\nDELIUERANCE.\n\n\u2018Written by his owne brother _Edwn Nyndge_, Master of Arts, with the names\nof the Witnesses that were at his vexation. London, 1615.\n\n\u2018... You shall understand therefore that the first fit, and vexation\nwherewith this _Alexander Nyndge_ was so fearefully perplexed, began about\nseaven of the clocke at night. His father, mother, and brethren, with the\nresidue of the household being at that time in presence. And it was in\nthis manner. His chest and body fell a swelling, his eies a staring, and\nhis backe bending inwards to his belly, which did strike the beholders\ninto a strange wonder, and admiration at the first, yet, one of his\nbrothers, then also present, named _Edward Nyndge_, a Master of Arts,\nbeing boulder than others were of the company, certainly perswading\nhimselfe that it was some euill spirit that so molested him, gaue him\ncomfortable words of mercy from the holy Scriptures, and also charged the\nspirit by the death and passion of Jesus Christ, that it should declare\nthe cause of the torment. At which, the countenance of the same\n_Alexander_ turned more strange, and full of amazement and feare than it\nwas before, and so returned to his former state againe.\n\n\u2018This _Alexander Nyndge_ having his speech then at liberty, said unto the\nsame _Edward, Brother, he is marvellous afraid of you, therefore I pray\nyou, stand by me_.\n\n\u2018With which words the same _Edward_ was the more bold, and said to\n_Alexander_. _If thou dost earnestly repent thee of thy sins, and pray to\nGod for the forgivenesse of the same (my life for thine) the Diuell cannot\nhurt thee. No, rather than he should, I will goe to hell with thee._ Then\nthe Spirit, (for a small time) racked the said _Alexander_ in a far more\ncruell manner, for he did use such strange and idle kinds of gestures in\nlaughing, dancing, and such like light behavioure, that he was suspected\nto be mad: sundry times he refused all kinds of meat, for a long space\ntogether, insomuch as he seemed to pine away. Sometimes he shaked as if he\nhad had an ague. There was heard, also, a strange noise or flapping from\nwithin his body. Hee would gather himselfe on a rounde heape under his bed\ncloathes, and, being so gathered, he would bounse up a good height from\nthe bed, and beat his head and other parts of his body against the ground\nand bedstead, in such earnest manner, that the beholders did feare that he\nwould thereby haue spoiled himselfe, if they had not, by strong hand,\nrestrained him, and yet thereby he receiued no hurt at all.\n\n\u2018In most of his fits he did swell in his body, and, in some of them, did\nso greatly exceed therein, as he seemed to be twice so big as his naturall\nbody. He was often seene to haue a certaine swelling or variable lumpe, to\na great bignesse, swiftly running up and downe betweene the flesh and the\nskin.\n\n\u2018Then would they carry the same _Alexander_ downe the Chamber, willing him\nto call upon God for grace, and earnestly to repent him, and to put his\ntrust only in Christ Jesus. And, setting him in a chaire, desired his\nFather to send for all his neighbours, to helpe to pray for him. And, on a\nsuddaine, he would be strangely handled, for, (sitting in a chaire when\nthe fit came) he would be cast headlong upon the ground, or fall downe,\ndrawing then his lips away, gnashing with his teeth, wallowing and foming,\nand the Spirit would uexe him monstrously, and transforme his body, and\nalter the same by many violences. Then the said _Edward_, his brother,\nwith one _Thomas Wakefield_, would lay hands on _Alexander_, and set him\nin the Chaire againe, and there hold him. All that were in the house\npraying earnestly.\n\n\u2018And the said _Edward_ charging the Spirit with these words, _Thou fowle\nFiend, I coniure thee, in the name of Iesus our Sauiour, the Sonne of\nAlmighty God, that thou speake unto us_.\n\n\u2018Whereat the Spirit transformed him very ugly against his Chest, swelling\nupwards to his throat, plucking his belly iust to his backe, and so ceased\nfor a time.\n\n\u2018The partie tormented, being somewhat restored, uttered these words,\n_Sirs, He will speake with me, I pray you let him not speak with mee_.\nWhereupon all that were present did pray earnestly, at which the Spirit\nbegan to vexe him very grieuously, and swelled sore in his Chest, and, in\na base sounding, and hollow voyce, uttered these words, _I will, I will, I\nwill_. Then replyed the said _Edward_, and said, _Thou shalt not, and I\ncharge thee in the Name of Jesus Christ that thou speak unto us, and not\nunto him_. Then the Spirit, in a hollow voyce said, _Why didst thou tell\nthem?_ Then the said _Edward_ did charge the Spirit, (as aforesaid) to\ntell them the cause of his comming, and why he did torment his brother? To\nthe which the Spirit answered, _I come for his Soule_. Then the said\n_Edward_ said unto the Spirit, _Wee have a warrant in the Holy Scriptures,\nthat such as doe earnestly repent them of their sins, and turn unto God,\nwith the only hope of Saluation, through the merits of Iesus Christ, thou\nmayest not have them, for Christ is his Redeemer_. The Spirit uttered (in\na base, hollow sounding voyce) these words, _Christ, that was my\nRedeemer_. Then _Edward_ said, _Christ that is his Redeemer, not thy\nRedeemer but my brother_ Alexander, _his Redeemer_.\n\n\u2018Then the Spirit said in his hollow voyce, _I will haue his Soule and body\ntoo_, and so began to torment and racke the same _Alexander_, and\ndisfigure him more horribly than before, forcing him to such strange and\nfearefull skriking, as cannot bee uttered by man\u2019s power, and was of such\nstrength, as, sometimes, foure or fiue men, though they had much aduantage\nagainst him by binding him to a chaire, yet could they not rule him. And\nin shewing that strength, he was not perceiued to pant or blow, no more\nthan he had not strained his strength, nor strugled at all. Sometimes he\nwould cry extreamly, so as teares would come from him in great aboundance.\nPresently, afterwards, hee would laugh aloude and shrill, his mouth being\nshut close. And sometimes, he was heaued up from the ground by force\ninuisible, the said _Edward Nyndge_, _Thomas Nyndge_, _Thomas Wakefield_,\n_Thomas Goldsmith_, _William Miles_ and _William Nyndge, Iunior_ hanging\nupon the said _Alexander_, unto the middest of the house, and the said\n_Edward_ putting his mouth unto the eare of the said disfigured body of\nhis brother _Alexander_, said, _Brother, continue in your faith, and if\nyou goe to hell, wee will goe with you_. Then the force did somewhat\nfaile, and the hangers on drew him to the Chaire againe. Then one of his\nyounger brothers, named _William Nyndge_ said, _Wee will Keepe him from\nthee, thou foule Spirit, in despite of thy Nose_.\n\n\u2018Whereat the transformed body looked very terribly against the said\n_William_, and turned his most ugly looks unto his brother _Edward_,\nstanding on the other side, uttering these hollowe sounding words, _Will\nyou, Sir, will you, Sir_. To which the said _Edward_ answered; _Not I,\nSir, but the merits of Iesus Christ will, we earnestly pray, keepe him\nfrom thee_. Then all that were present, to the number of 20 persons, and\nmore, fell downe and said the Lord\u2019s Prayer, with other sentences, every\none seuerally, and one of the Company uttered worde ioyning _God_ and the\nblessed virgin _Mary_ together, whereat there came a voyce much like\n_Alexander\u2019s_ voyce, saying twice, _There bee other good Prayers_.\nWhereunto the said _Edward_ made answere, and said, _Thou lyest, for there\nis no other Name under Heauen whereby wee may challenge Saluation but the\nonely name of Christ Iesus_. And then the Spirit roares with a fearefull\nvoice, and stretched out his necke long to the Fyre; and then the saide\n_Edward_ desired _Peter Bencham_, Curate of the Towne, to coniure and\ncharge him in the Name of _Iesus_ the Sonne of the Almightie, that the\nSpirit should declare unto them from whence hee came? And what was his\nName? To which the Spirit made answere in this mumbling manner, _I would\ncome out, I would come out_. Then _Edward_ charged him (as before) that he\nshould declare his name. And the Spirit said _Aubon, Aubon_. They charged\nhim then (as is aforesaid) to make knowne unto them whence hee came; and\nthe Spirit made answere in a hollow uoyce; _From Ireland, From Ireland_.\nThen they laide the fourth Chapter of Saint Matthew against him, where\nChrist said, _It is written Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him\nonely shalt thou serue_. Which sentence, as it was pronounced, the hollow\nvoyce sounded. _My Master, My Master, I am his Disciple, I am his\nDisciple._ Then they answered, _Thy Master we graunt he is, but thou\nlyest, thou art none of his Disciple. Thou art onely an instrument and\nscourge to punish the wicked, so farre as pleaseth him._ And then they\nlayd unto him the eight Chapter of S. Luke, whereas Christ himselfe did\ncast out Deuils. And the Spirit answered hollowly, _Baw-wawe, baw-wawe_.\nAnd within a little space after, the body of the saide _Alexander_ being\nas monstrously transformed as it was before, much like the picture of the\nDeuill in a play, with an horrible roaring voyce, sounding _Hellhound_,\nwas most horribly tormented. And they that were present, fell to prayer,\ndesiring God earnestly to take away the foule Spirit from him. The said\n_Edward_ then desired to haue the window opened, for _I trust in God_,\n(said hee) _the fowle Spirit is wearie of our company_. The windowes being\nopened accordingly, within two Minuts after, the tormented body returned\nto the true shape againe, the said _Alexander_ leaping up, and holding up\nhis hands, and saying _Hee is gone, hee is gone, Lord, I thanke thee_.\nWhereat all the people that were there present, fell downe on their knees\nwith due reuerence, and yeelded unto God exceeding praise and\nthanksgiving. This fit ended about eleven of the clocke the same night,\nand so they went to Supper with great ioy and gladnesse.\u2019\n\nHe seems to have had two or three fits afterwards, but they were of a very\nmild type, and the last we hear of the afflicted Alexander is: \u2018After\nthis, they took the said _Alexander_, and all of them ioyfully accompany\nhim to his brother _Thomas Nyndge_, his house, where, after his comming\nthither, hee was not knowne to be perplexed with the like terrible\nvexations.\u2019\n\nOne more example of this branch of the devil\u2019s work in Britain must\nsuffice. We find it in\n\n\n\u2018WONDERFUL NEWS FROM BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, OR A PERFECT RELATION HOW A YOUNG\nMAID HATH BEEN FOR TWELVE YEARS AND UPWARDS POSSEST WITH THE DEVIL, AND\nCONTINUES SO TO THIS VERY DAY IN A LAMENTABLE CONDITION. LONDON, 1677.\n\n\u2018This unhappy Maid, whose strange Afflictions this sheet undertakes to\ngive a true and impartial account of, lives at _Great Gadsdon_ in the\nCounty of Bucks. She is descended of honest Parents of good repute, and by\nthem carefully educated in the Principles of Christianity; nor was there a\nyoung maid of more lovely innocent Beauty, sweet Carriage, or virtuous\nDisposition; or one that might have expected fairer preferment in Marriage\nthan she: So that as there is no room for the Censures of the\nuncharitable, so neither, any place for the Surmises of the incredulous,\nit being impossible she or any of her Relations could imagine any\nadvantage to themselves by counterfeiting or pretending a Possession;\nwhich on the Contrary brings them onely trouble, loss, vexation, and\ninconveniences, and that for a dozen years together. The beginning of her\naffliction was thus.\n\n\u2018In the year 1664, there happened to be some difference between this\nmaid\u2019s Father and a certain woman who had an evil name, but whether\nCauselessly or not, I shall not here determine, nor assert any dubious\nopinions of any kind; onely relate the principal Circumstances that have\noccurred, being matter of Fact, to which, as well myself, as scores of\nother people, were Eye and Ear-witnesses; and so leave every one to judge\nas they shall see cause, touching the Maid\u2019s being Possest or not, and the\nevil Instruments that are suspected to have been accessory thereunto, when\nthey have duely weighed the whole Discourse. This is certain, soon after\nthe before mentioned Difference, this maid being then about Sixteen or\nSeventeen years of age, was taken with strange Fits, and something would\nrise in her throat like two great bunches, about the bigness of an Egg;\nand a strange voice was frequently heard within her, speaking _Blasphemous\nwords_, not fit here to be repeated: And if the Hearers and Bystanders did\nreply to such voice, by asking any Questions that pleased him, he would\nanswer and discourse with them; and that with a voice as different from\nhers as any two voices, I verily believe, in the world; she having a\ncleer, smooth, pleasant voice, and that being very rough, guttural, and\ncoming, as it were from the _Abdomen_, or hollow of her belly, but yet\nintelligible: and, though I am not ignorant of a certain sort of Jugglers\nof old, called in Latine _Ventriloqui_, yet as no such Art nor designe\ncould be imagined in this innocent creature, so the things he declared\n(impossible, many times, for her to know) wipes off all suspitions of that\nkind: So that those about her generally concluded she was really and\nexactly possessed with the Devil, and took occasion to ask him, _How he\ncame there?_ to which the Evil Spirit or voice answered, _Here are two of\nus_, and _that they were sent thither by two women_. The voice further\nsaid, _That they were sent first to the Maid\u2019s Father; but when they came,\nthey found him at Prayer, and returned to those two women, and told them,\nthey could have no permission to enter into him; whereupon they sent them\nto his Daughter, and that such a night, as she sat by the fire, they\nentred into her_. Now, the Family did remember that that very night, she\nhad, as she declared, a sudden pain that seized her, and, ever since, had\ncontinued in a bad condition, and, after a little time, the Swellings and\nVoice happen\u2019d as aforesaid.\n\n\u2018By which the whole Neighbourhood and Country round about, were so alarmed\nat the strangeness of it, that multitudes of people went to See her, and\nreturned full of wonder and amazement, at what they had seen and heard:\nThe report whereof coming to my ears, I did not at first believe it, but\nhearing it still confirmed, did, at last, go to see her myself, resolving\nto make my observations as warily and curiously as I could. There were, I\nbelieve, at that time, Forty or Fifty Spectators present, and in strict\nobservation two or three hours. I was, for my own part, fully satisfied\nthat it was a Possession, it being, as I conceive utterly impossible that\nthose things should be acted by her or any other person living, either by\nthe force of Nature or power of the most afflicting Distemper.\n\n\u2018Her Father, being of the same opinion, and willing to use all lawful\nmeans for his only Child\u2019s recovery, having read that passage of our\nSaviour\u2019s--_That kinde comes not out but by Prayer and Fasting_; he\nresolves to use that means, and to that purpose, desired some Ministers to\nkeep a day with him on that occasion. Having sent for them, the Devil told\nhim, _He expected five men to come, but there should only four come_. This\nthe Girl could not know of herself; yet so it happened: for one, by an\nunexpected accident, was prevented from coming. These _four_ desired the\nassistance of several Godly Ministers and Christians in the Neighbourhood,\nwho accordingly, met, and kept several days in Fasting and Prayer; and,\naccording to the best judgment that could be made, one of the evil Spirits\nthen departed, as was supposed from some accidents I shall relate by and\nby. I, myself, was present several of these days; First she had two great\nbunches rose up in her throat, and then a voice followed, uttering\nabominable Blasphemies; upon which, a godly Minister present, and since\ndeceased, being stirred up with great Zeal and Indignation, going to\nPrayer, did earnestly beg of God, that he would plague and torment Satan\nfor such of his Blasphemies; upon which the Spirit made a most dreadful\ncrying, and bemoaning his condition, and said, _I will do so no more_: To\nwhich the Minister replied, _Satan, that shall not serve thy turn_: and,\ncontinuing his Prayer to God as before, the Devil again cried and roared\nmost hideously, to the great amazement of all the people present; and,\nfrom that time, it was observed that there was but one bunch rose up in\nher throat, from whence it was conjectured that one of the Spirits was\ndeparted. However, one continued his possession still, and, after they had\ndone Prayer, and were about to refresh themselves, he shewed strange\ntricks before them, tossing her up and down, and when she was going, took\naway the use of her legs, on a sudden. When she sate in a great Wicker\nchair, he would cause the Chair to fall down backwards, almost to the\nground, and then lift it up again. One of the company bid her read in the\nBible; the Devil said aloud, _She shall not read_: It was answered, _She\nshall read, Satan, for all thee, and read thy Condemnation too_.\nWhereupon, he plaid more tricks by tossing her about, and drawing her face\nto one side, as if it had been placed to look over her shoulder, and drawn\nin a very deformed manner; but, at last she read part of the 20 Chapter of\nthe _Revelations_, though not without much opposition.\n\n\u2018When she got upon the Horse to go home, it was a great while before she\nwas able to get upon him, and was flung sometimes backwards, other whiles\nturn\u2019d with her face to the horse\u2019s tail, and handled very sadly; yet,\n\u2019tis observed, that he hath not much power to hurt her: for she often\ndeclares, that, being now accustomed to his tricks, and consequently not\nso much affrighted, the temptations he injects into her minde, are far\nworse than all the mischiefs he does her body.\n\n\u2018At another time I was with them, when in the time of Prayer, he barked\nlike a Dog, bellowed like a Bull, and roar\u2019d after a wonderful frightful\nmanner, and, on a sudden, would fling her up a great height, yet without\nhurte; whereupon, she, being placed in a low Chair, a man sate upon the\nTable side, endeavouring to hold down her head, and myself and another\nstood on each side, pressing down her shoulders; and though it could not\nbe imagined so weakly a creature could naturally have half the strength of\nany one of us, yet she was tossed up, do what we could, and, at length,\nthe Spirit in a desperate rage cries out, _If I come out, I will kill you\nall. I will throw down the house, and kill you all._ I answered, _Satan,\ncome out and try_. He continued raging till they concluded Prayer, and\nthen was pretty quiet.\n\n\u2018There have since hapned many things considerable; I was once in her\ncompany at a house, where I was wholly unacquainted, and for aught I know,\nso was she; the people of the house gave us drink, and I drinking to her,\nshe rising to make a Curtsey, he took away the use of her legs, and said,\nshe should not drink. But when he found we were resolved to force the Cup\nof Beer on her, he said, _There is a Well in the yard, go and drown\nthyself_; when none of us that were strangers, knew there was such a Well.\n\n\u2018He will often talk to some of the Family, or those that come to see her,\nand many times utter blasphemous filthy words to their great trouble:\nsometimes tell strange Stories to move laughter; sometimes be sullen and\nnot speak a great while together; sometimes, he jumps her up and down, and\ndraws her Body into a multitude of strange postures, too tedious here to\nbe related.\u2019\n\nThe pamphlet winds up with some pious and moral reflections, of no\ninterest to the reader.\n\nThere is no doubt but that people verily believed that the Devil lived\namong them in a material shape, and we have throughout England divers of\nhis punchbowls, dykes, quoits, and even the prehistoric flint arrow-heads\nwere known as \u2018Devil\u2019s arrows.\u2019 But a most singular instance of this\nbelief is to be found in Blount\u2019s \u2018Law Dictionary\u2019 (ed. 1717), under the\nword _Conventio_, an agreement or covenant. It is Latin, and is an extract\nfrom the Court Rolls of the Manor of Hatfield, near the isle of Axholme,\nin Yorkshire. It is also mentioned in the \u2018Antiquarian Repertory,\u2019 vol.\nii., p. 395. The following is a translation:\n\n\u2018At a court held at Hatfield on the Wednesday next after the Festival--In\nthe 11th Year of Edward III. (1337).\n\n\u2018Robert de Roderham appeared against John de Ithow, for that he had not\nkept the agreement made between them, and therefore complains that on a\ncertain day and year, at Thorne, there was an agreement between the\naforesaid Robert and John, whereby the said John sold to the said Robert,\nthe Devil, bound in a certain bond, for three pence farthing, and\nthereupon, the said Robert delivered to the said John, one farthing, as\nearnest money, by which the property of the said Devil rested in the\nperson of the said Robert, to have livery of the said Devil, on the fourth\nday next following: at which day the said Robert came to the forenamed\nJohn, and asked delivery of the said Devil according to the agreement\nbetween them made. But the said John refused to deliver the said Devil,\nnor has he yet done it, etc., to the great damage of the said Robert to\nthe amount of 60 shillings, and he has therefore brought his suit, etc.\n\n\u2018The said John came, etc., and did not deny the said agreement; and\nbecause it appeared to the Court that such a suit ought not to subsist\namong Christians, the aforesaid parties are therefore adjourned to the\ninfernal regions, there to hear their judgment, and both parties were\namerced, etc., by William De Scargell, Seneschal.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\n The Witch of Endor--The \u2018Mulier Malefica\u2019 of Berkeley--Northern\n Witches.\n\n\nOf all the extraordinary popular delusions that have existed, the wave of\nbelief in witchcraft which flowed over this land in the sixteenth and\nseventeenth centuries is one of the most remarkable. The belief that some\npeople have the power of exercising supernatural control over their\nfellow-creatures is not confined to any land, and dates from remote\nantiquity. But it is with the witches of Britain, and those of the Britons\nwho emigrated from their country, that it is my province to deal.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe earliest English pictorial representation of a witch that I know of is\nin the Harleian MSS., 1776 (94, b), where the witch of Endor is\nrepresented as showing the ghost of Samuel to Saul. But she was a\nPythoness, and did not at all come up to our idea of a witch. Nor can we\nexactly class in the same category the \u2018Mulier Malefica\u2019 of Berkeley, who\nis supposed to have been exhumed by the Devil about A.D. 852. She has been\nimmortalized by William of Malmesbury, who says he had the story from an\neye-witness, by Matthew of Westminster, by Schedel in the Nuremberg\nChronicle, from whom this illustration is taken, and a short account of\nher is given by Olaus Magnus in his \u2018Historia de Gentibus\nSeptentrionalibus\u2019 (lib. iii., c. 21), when he treats of the punishment of\nwitches. Berkeley, however, in his hands becomes Bethelia. Southey also\nwrote about her.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nTHE OLD WOMAN OF BERKELEY.\n\nA BALLAD, SHEWING HOW AN OLD WOMAN RODE DOUBLE, AND WHO RODE BEFORE HER.\n\nWilliam of Malmesbury thus gives the story: \u2018(A.D. 1065) There resided at\nBerkeley, a woman addicted to Witchcraft, as it afterwards appeared, and\nskilled in ancient augury: she was excessively gluttonous, perfectly\nlascivious, and setting no bounds to her debaucheries, as she was not old,\nthough fast declining in life. On a certain day, as she was regaling, a\njackdaw, which was a very great favourite, chattered a little more loudly\nthan usual. On hearing which, the woman\u2019s knife fell from her hand, her\ncountenance grew pale, and, deeply groaning, \u201cThis day,\u201d said she, \u201cmy\nplough has completed its last furrow; to-day, I shall hear of, and suffer,\nsome dreadful calamity.\u201d\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018While yet speaking, the messenger of her misfortunes arrived: and, being\nasked why he approached with so distressed an air, \u201cI bring news,\u201d said\nhe, \u201cof the death of your son, and of the whole family, by a sudden\naccident.\u201d At this intelligence the woman, sorely afflicted, immediately\ntook to her bed, and, perceiving the disorder rapidly approaching her\nvitals, she summoned her surviving children, a monk and a nun, by hasty\nletters; and, when they arrived, with faltering voice, addressed them\nthus: \u201cFormerly, my children, I constantly administered to my wretched\ncircumstances by demoniacal arts: I have been the sink of every vice, the\nteacher of every allurement: yet, while practising these crimes, I was\naccustomed to soothe my hapless soul with the hope of your piety.\nDespairing of myself, I rested my expectations on you: I advanced you as\nmy defenders against evil spirits, my safeguards against my strongest\nfoes. Now, since I have approached the end of my life, and shall have\nthose eager to punish, who lured me to sin, I entreat you, by your\nmother\u2019s breast, if you have any regard, any affection, at least to\nendeavour to alleviate my torments; and, although you cannot revoke the\nsentence already passed upon my soul, yet you may, perhaps, rescue my body\nby these means.\n\n\u2018\u201cSew up my Corpse in the skin of a stag; lay it on its back in a stone\nCoffin; fasten down the lid with lead and iron; on this lay a stone, bound\nround with three iron chains of enormous weight; let there be psalms sung\nfor fifty nights, and masses said for an equal number of days, to allay\nthe ferocious attacks of my adversaries. If I lie thus secure for three\nnights; on the fourth day, bury your mother in the ground; although, I\nfear, lest the earth, which has been so often burdened with my crimes,\nshould refuse to receive and cherish me in her bosom.\u201d\n\n\u2018They did their utmost to comply with her injunctions: but, alas! vain\nwere pious tears, vows, or entreaties; so great was the woman\u2019s guilt, so\ngreat the devil\u2019s violence. For, on the two first nights, while the choir\nof priests was singing psalms around the body, the devils, one by one,\nwith the utmost ease bursting open the door of the Church, though closed\nwith an immense bolt, broke asunder the two outer chains: the middle one,\nbeing more laboriously wrought, remained entire. On the third night, about\ncock-crow, the whole monastery seemed to be overthrown from its very\nfoundation, by the clamour of the approaching enemy.\n\n\u2018One devil, more terrible in appearance than the rest, and of loftier\nstature, broke the gates to shivers by the violence of his attack. The\npriests grew motionless with fear, their hair stood on end, and they\nbecame speechless. He proceeded, as it appeared, with haughty steps,\ntowards the Coffin; and, calling on the woman by name, commanded her to\nrise. She, replying that she could not, on account of the chains: \u201cYou\nshall be loosed,\u201d said he, \u201cand to your cost;\u201d and, directly, he broke the\nchain, which had mocked the ferocity of the others, with as little\nexertion as though it had been made of flax. He also beat down the cover\nof the Coffin with his foot; and, taking her by the hand, before them all,\nhe dragged her out of the church.\n\n\u2018At the doors appeared a black horse, proudly neighing, with iron hooks\nprojecting over his whole back; on which the wretched creature was\nplaced, and, immediately, with the whole party vanished from the eyes of\nthe beholders: her pitiable cries for assistance being heard for nearly\nthe space of four miles.\u2019\n\nThe Northern witches came nearer to our modern ones, and seem, if we can\nbelieve Olaus Magnus, to have been very powerful.[23]\n\n\n\u2018OF WOMAN WITCHES.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018I shall shew you by a few Examples, how cunning some Women were formerly\namongst the _Northern_ people in _Magical Art_. _Hugbert_, Daughter to\n_Vagnostus_ the Giant, was wont to change her stature at pleasure;\nsometimes she was very great; sometimes less; sometimes exceeding small;\nsometimes wither\u2019d faced; sometimes beautiful: sometimes she was as tall\nas the sky; sometimes so short as a Pygmy; and she was supposed to be able\nto pull down the Heavens, to lift up the Earth; to harden Fountains, to\nmelt Mountains; to lift ships into the Ayr; to pull down the Gods; to\nextinguish the Stars, and to make Hell a light place.\n\n\u2018When _Hadingus_ the King was at Supper, another Woman of the same Art,\nwho carried pipes, was seen to lift up her head above the ground before\nthe fire; and stretching out her bosome, she seemed to ask in what part of\nthe World so new green Reeds grew; the King, that desired to know the\nmatter, was carryed by her under ground, wrapt in his own Cloak: and,\nhaving shewn unto him the Monsters of the Infernal Regions, she restored\nhim back to the Earth again.\n\n\u2018_Cvaca_, a Woman of _Norway_, that desired to know the future fortune of\nher Son _Rollerus_, provided Water-grewel, and into this, she dropt the\nvenemous moysture of three Land-Snakes, that were hung up above by a small\nTwig. But _Ericus_, son in law to _Cvaca_ took to himself the Dish that\nwas provided for her son _Rollerus_, and he, being refreshed with this\nhappy meat, by the internal operation of it, arrived to the highest pitch\nof man\u2019s wisdome. For the force of this meat bred in him the Knowledge of\nall Sciences beyond belief; so that he could understand the meaning of the\ncryes of Birds and Wild Beasts. Besides, he was so eloquent and curious in\nhis speech, that whatsoever he pleased to discourse of, he would\nconstantly illustrate it with pleasant Proverbs. By his counsel King\n_Frotho_ overcame the Army of the mighty _Huns_, that was assisted by 170\nKings. And, at length, _Gestilblindus_, King of the _Goths_, made this\n_Ericus_ heir to himself, and to the Kingdome of _Sweden_; and that about\nthe time of Christ\u2019s Nativity.\n\n\u2018But King _Frotho_, being lunged at by a Witch that turned into an Oxe,\nwas slain by her upon a certain Sea-coast. _Guthruna_ suddenly blinded the\nforces of King _Larmericus_, and made them fight one against another. An\nearthen pot useth to be the common Instrument of Witches, wherein they\nboyl their Myces, Herbs, Worms, and Entrals, and by that Witchery meat,\nthey allure idle persons to them, and make ships, horses, and horsemen, to\nbe as swift as a boyling pot.\u2019\n\n\n\u2018OF THE CONJURERS AND WITCHES IN FINLAND.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018Also, I shall show very briefly what force Conjurers and Witches have in\nconstraining the elements, enchanted by them or others, that they may\nexceed or fall short of their Natural Order: premising this, that the\nextream land of the _North Finland_ and _Lapland_, was so taught\nWitchcraft formerly in the Heathenish times, as if they had learned this\nCursed Art from _Zoroastes_ the _Persian_; though other inhabitants by the\nSea Coasts are reported to be bewitched with the same madness; and in\nthis, and other such-like mischief, they commonly agree. The\n_Finlanders_[24] were wont formerly, amongst their other Errors of Gentil\nissue, to sell Winds to Merchants that were stopt on their Coasts by\ncontrary weather; and, when they had their price, they knit three Magical\nKnots, not like to the Laws of _Cassius_, bound up with a Thong, and they\ngave them unto the Merchants; observing that rule, that when they unloosed\nthe first, they should have a good gale of wind; when the second, a\nstronger wind; but, when they untied the third, they should have such\ncruel Tempests, that they should not be able to look out of the\nForecastle, to avoid the Rocks, nor move a foot to pull down the Sails,\nnor stand at the helm to govern the ship: and they made an unhappy trial\nof the truth of it, who denied that there was any such power in those\nknots.\u2019[25]\n\n\nOF THE MAGICAL INSTRUMENTS OF BOTHNIA.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018They that desire to know the state of their Frends or Foes, at a very\ngreat distance from them, five hundred be it, or a thousand miles off,\nthey enquire of a _Laplander_ or _Finlander_, who is skilled in this\nmatter, giving him a gift (namely, some Linnen Garment, or Girdle;)\nWhereupon he goes into his Conclave, content with one companion, or his\nwife, and he beats upon a frog of brass, or Serpent, with a hammer upon an\nanvil, so many strokes as are prescribed; and, by mumbling of charms he\nturns it up and down; and, presently falling, he is ravished into an\nextasie, and he lies a short time, as if he were dead. In the meanwhile he\nis safely guarded by his fore said Companion, lest any Living Creature,\nGnat or Fly, or other Animal might touch him; for by the power of his\nCharms, his spirit, by the misleading of Devils, brings from far some\ntoken (namely, a Ring or a Knife), for a testimony of his Embassie or\nCommission fulfilled. And, presently, rising up, he declares the same\nsigns to him that hired him, with the rest of the Circumstances.\u2019\n\nThis illustration is from \u2018The History of Witches and Wizards\u2019 (1700 ?),\nand shows a Northern witch raising a storm by means of a pump, whilst a\nLaplander in his _kayack_ rides in safety.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\n The Legal Witch--James I. on Witches--Reginald Scot on\n Witches--Addison on Witches.\n\n\nThe legal witch, as defined by our statute law (1 James I., cap. 12), is\nas follows:\n\n\u2018One that shall use, practise, or exercise any invocation, or conjuration\nof any evill or wicked spirit; or consult, covenant with, entertaine, or\nemploy, feede, or reward any evill or wicked spirit, to or for any intent\nor purpose; or take up any dead man, woman or child, out of his, her, or\ntheir grave, or any other place, where the dead body resteth, or the skin,\nbone, or other part of any dead person, to be employed or used in any\nmanner of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Charme, or Enchantment; or shall use,\npractise, or exercise any Witchcraft, Enchantment, Charme or Sorcery,\nwhereby any person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or\nlamed in his or her body, or any part thereof. Such offenders, duly and\nlawfully convicted and attainted, shall suffer death.\n\n\u2018If any person shall take upon him by Witchcraft, Inchantment, Charme or\nSorcery, to tell or declare in what place any treasure of Gold or Silver,\nshould or might be found, or had in the Earth, or other secret places, or\nwhere Goods, or things lost, or stolen, should be found, or become: Or to\nthe intent to provoke any person to unlawfull love, or whereby any Cattell\nor Goods of any person shall be destroyed, wasted or impaired, or to\ndestroy or hurt any person in his, or her body, though the same be not\neffected, &c, a yeares Imprisonment and Pillory, &c, and the second\nconviction, Death.\u2019\n\nHere, then, we have a clear definition of what a witch is, and as it does\nnot state anything as to sex, we may imagine that it includes both male\nand female, both wizards and witches. But the softer sex undoubtedly\npredominated in the commission of this crime, wizards being very seldom\nbrought to justice. And King James I.[26] gives us the reason:\n\n\u2018_Philomathes._ But before yee goe further, permit me, I pray you, to\ninterrupt you one worde, which yee haue put mee in memory of, by speaking\nof Women. What can be the cause that there are twentie women giuen to that\ncraft, where there is one man?\n\n\u2018_Epistemon._ The reason is easie, for, as that sexe is frailer than man\nis, so is it easier to be intrapped in these grosse snares of the Diuell,\nas was ouer well proued to be true, by the Serpent\u2019s deceiving of _Eua_ at\nthe beginning, which makes him the homelier with that sex sensine.\n\nReginald Scot, than whom there can be no better English authority, tells\nus[27] \u2018who they be that are called witches.\u2019\n\n\u2018The sort of such as are said to bee witches, are women which be commonly\nold, lame, bleare-eied, pale, fowle, and full of wrinkles; poore, sullen,\nsuperstitious, and papists; or such as knowe no religion: in whose drousie\nminds the diuell hath gotten a fine seat; so as, what mischeefe,\nmischance, calamitie, or slaughter is brought to passe, they are easilie\npersuaded the same is doone by themselues; imprinting in their minds an\nearnest and constant imagination thereof. They are leane and deformed,\nshewing melancholie in their faces, to the horror of all that see them.\nThey are doting, scolds, mad, diuelish; and not much differing from them\nthat are thought to be possessed with spirits: so firme and stedfast in\ntheir opinions, as whosoeuer shall onelie haue respect to the constancie\nof their words uttered, would easilie belieue they were true indeed.\n\n\u2018These miserable wretches are so odious unto all their neighbours, and so\nfeared, as few dare offend them, or denie them anie thing they aske;\nwhereby they take upon them; yea, and sometimes thinke, that they can doo\nsuch things as are beyond the abilitie of humane nature. These go from\nhouse to house, and from doore to doore for a pot full of milke, yest,\ndrinke, pottage, or some such releefe; without the which they could\nhardlie liue: neither obtaining for their seruice and paines, nor by their\nart, nor yet at the diuel\u2019s hands (with whome they are said to make a\nperfect and visible bargaine) either beautie, monie, promotion, welth,\nworship, pleasure, honor, knowledge, learning, or anie other benefit\nwhatsoeuer.\n\n\u2018It falleth out many times, that neither their necessities, nor their\nexpectation is answered or serued, in those places where they beg or\nborrowe; but rather their lewdnesse is by their neighbors reproued. And\nfurther, in tract of time, the witch waxeth odious and tedious to her\nneighbors; and they, againe, are despised and despited of hir; so as\nsometimes she cursseth one, and sometimes another; and that from the\nmaister of the house, his wife, children, cattell &c to the little pig\nthat lieth in the stie. Thus, in processe of time they have all displeased\nhir, and she hath wished euill lucke unto them all: perhaps with cursses\nand imprecations made in forme. Doubtlesse (at length) some of hir\nneighbors die or fall sicke; or some of their children are visited with\ndiseases that vex them strangelie; as apoplexies, epilepsies, conuulsions,\nhot feuers, wormes &c. Which by ignorant parents are supposed to be the\nvengeance of witches. Yea, and their opinions and conceits are confirmed\nand maintained by unskilful physicians: according to the common saieing;\n_Insciti\u00e6 pallium maleficio et incantatio_. Witchcraft and inchantment is\nthe cloke of ignorance: whereas, indeed, euill humors, and not strange\nwords, witches or spirits are the Causes of such diseases. Also some of\ntheir cattell perish, either by disease or mischance. Then they, upon whom\nsuch aduersities fall, weighing the same that goeth upon this woman (hir\nwords, displeasure and cursses meeting so iustlie with their misfortune)\ndo not onelie conceiue, but, also, are resolued, that all their mishaps\nare brought to passe by hir onelie meanes.\n\n\u2018The witch, on the other side, expecting her neighbors\u2019 mischances, and\nseeing things sometimes come to passe according to her wishes, cursses and\nincantations (for _Bodin_ himselfe confesseth that not aboue two in a\nhundred of their witchings or wishings take effect) being called before a\nIustice, by due examination of the circumstances, is driuen to see hir\nimprecations and desires, and hir neighbors\u2019 harmes and losses, to\nconcurre, and, as it were, to take effect; and so confesseth that she (as\na goddes) hath brought such things to passe. Wherein, not onelie she, but\nthe accuser, and also the Iustice, are fowlie deceiued and abused; as\nbeing, thorough hir confession and other circumstances, persuaded (to the\niniurie of God\u2019s glory) that she hath done, or can doo that which is\nproper onelie to God himselfe.\u2019\n\nThis is a good definition of a witch, and was published in 1584 when the\nwitch mania was becoming a cult. Let us hear what Addison[28] writes of it\nin 1711, when it was decidedly on the wane:\n\n\u2018... It is with this Temper of Mind that I consider the Subject of\nWitchcraft. When I hear the Relations that are made from all parts of the\nWorld, not only from _Norway_ and _Lapland_, from the _East_ and _West\nIndies_, but from every particular Nation in _Europe_, I cannot forbear\nthinking that there is such an Intercourse and Commerce with Evil Spirits,\nas that which we express by the name of Witchcraft. But, when I consider\nthat the ignorant and credulous Parts of the World abound most in these\nRelations, and that the Persons among us who are supposed to engage in\nsuch an Infernal Commerce, are People of a weak Understanding and crazed\nImagination, and, at the same time, reflect on the many Impostures and\nDelusions of this Nature that have been detected in all Ages, I endeavour\nto suspend my Belief, till I have more certain Accounts than any which\nhave yet come to my Knowledge. In short, when I consider the Question,\nWhether there are such Persons in the World as those we call Witches? My\nMind is divided between the two opposite Opinions, or rather (to speak my\nThoughts freely) I believe, in general, that there is, and has been such a\nthing as Witchcraft; but, at the same time, can give no Credit to any\nParticular Instance of it.\n\n\u2018I am engaged in this speculation, by some Occurrences that I met with\nYesterday, which I shall give my Reader an Account of at large. As I was\nwalking with my Friend Sir _Roger_, by the side of one of his Woods, an\nold Woman applied herself to me for my Charity. Her Dress and Figure put\nme in mind of a Description in Ottway, which I could not forbear repeating\non this Occasion.\n\n \u2018\u201cIn a close Lane as I pursu\u2019d my Journey,\n I spy\u2019d a wrinkled Hag, with Age grown double,\n Picking dry Sticks, and mumbling to her self.\n Her Eyes with Scalding Rheum were gall\u2019d and red,\n Cold Palsy shook her Head; her Hands seem\u2019d wither\u2019d;\n And on her crooked Shoulders had she wrap\u2019d\n The tatter\u2019d Remnants of an old Striped Hanging,\n Which serv\u2019d to keep her Carcass from the Cold:\n So there was nothing of a-piece about her.\n Her lower Weeds were all o\u2019er coarsly patch\u2019d\n With diff\u2019rent colour\u2019d Rags, black, white, red, yellow,\n And seem\u2019d to speak Variety of Wretchedness.\u201d\n\n\u2018The Knight told me, upon hearing the Description, that this very old\nWoman had the Reputation of a Witch all over the Country, that her Lips\nwere observed to be always in Motion, and that there was not a Switch\nabout her House, which her Neighbours did not believe had carried her\nseveral hundreds of Miles. If she chanced to stumble, they always found\nSticks or Straws that lay in the Figure of a Cross before her. If she made\nany Mistake at Church, and cryed _Amen_ in a wrong place, they never\nfailed to conclude that she was saying her Prayers backwards. There was\nnot a Maid in the Parish that would take a Pinn of her, though she should\noffer a Bag of Mony with it. She goes by the Name of _Moll White_, and has\nmade the Country ring with several imaginary Exploits that are palmed upon\nher. If the Dairy Maid does not make the Butter come so soon as she would\nhave it, _Moll White_ is at the bottom of the Churne. If a Horse sweats in\nthe Stable, _Moll White_ has been upon his Back. If a Hare makes an\nunexpected Escape from the Hounds, the Huntsman curses _Moll White_. Nay,\n(says Sir _Roger_) I have known the Master of the Pack, upon such an\nOccasion, send one of his Servants to see if _Moll White_ had been out\nthat Morning.\n\n\u2018This Account raised my Curiosity so far, that I beg\u2019d my Friend, Sir\n_Roger_, to go with me into her Hovel, that stood by it self under the\nSide of the Wood. Upon our first entering, Sir _Roger_ winked to me, and\npointed to something that stood behind the Door, which, upon looking that\nway, I found to be an old Broom-staff. At the same time he whispered me\nin the Ear, to take notice of a Tabby-Cat that sate in the Chimney-Corner,\nwhich, as the Knight told me, lay under as bad a Report as _Moll White_\nherself; for, besides that _Moll_ is said often to accompany her in the\nsame Shape, the Cat is reported to have spoken twice or thrice in her\nLife, and to have played several Pranks above the Capacity of an ordinary\nCat.\n\n\u2018I was secretly concerned to see Human Nature in so much Wretchedness and\nDisgrace, but, at the same time, could not forbear smiling, to hear Sir\n_Roger_, who is a little puzzled about the old Woman, advising her, as a\nIustice of the Peace, to avoid all Communication with the Devil, and never\nto hurt any of her Neighbours\u2019 Cattle. We concluded our Visit with a\nBounty, which was very acceptable.\n\n\u2018In our Return Home, he told me that old _Moll_ had, often, been brought\nbefore him for making Children spit Pins, and giving Maids the Night-Mare;\nand that the Country People would be tossing her into a Pond, and trying\nExperiments with her every Day, if it was not for him and his Chaplain.\n\n\u2018I have since found, upon Enquiry, that Sir _Roger_ was several times\nstaggered with the Reports that had been brought him concerning this old\nWoman, and would, frequently, have bound her over to the County Sessions,\nhad not his Chaplain, with much ado, persuaded him to the contrary.\n\n\u2018I have been the more particular in this Account, because I hear there is\nscarce a Village in _England_ that has not a _Moll White_ in it. When an\nold Woman begins to doat, and grow chargeable to a Parish, she is\ngenerally turned into a Witch, and fills the whole Country with\nextravagant Fancies, imaginary Distempers, and terrifying Dreams. In the\nmean time, the poor Wretch that is the innocent Occasion of so many Evils,\nbegins to be frighted at herself, and, sometimes, confesses secret\nCommerces and Familiarities that her Imagination forms in a delirious old\nAge. This, frequently, cuts off Charity from the greatest Objects of\nCompassion, and inspires People with a Malevolence towards those poor\ndecrepid Parts of our Species, in whom Human Nature is defaced by\nInfirmity and Dotage.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\n How a Witch was made--Her Compact with the Devil--Hell Broth--Homage\n and Feasting--The Witches\u2019 Sabbat.\n\n\nBut how did a woman become a witch, and attain to the full possession of\nher wicked powers? There is no doubt but that she must have been a\n_mauvais sujet_ to start with, or else the Devil would not have thought of\nmeeting her, and introducing himself to her. According to the witches\u2019\nconfessions, of which we shall have many, they generally first meet the\nDevil by chance, and their differing testimonies affirm that he was\nsomewhat protean in shape, appearing to one as a great black man, to\nanother in the form of some animal. Others, again, were regularly\nintroduced to him by some perfected witch at one of their meetings, for it\nwas part of their duty to beat up recruits for his Satanic majesty.\n\nTheir agreement with the Devil is forcibly described by Reginald Scot,[29]\nwho quotes as his authorities such crushing names as the \u2018Malleus\nMaleficarum,\u2019 Bodin, Nider, Dan\u00e6us, Psellus, Erastus, Hemingius, Cumanus,\nAquinas, Bartholom\u00e6us Spineus, etc., so that doubtless he is correct.\n\n\u2018The order of their bargaine or profession is double; the one solemne and\npublike; the other secret and priuate. That which is solemne or publike,\nis where witches come togither at certaine assemblies, at the times\nprefixed, and doo not onelie see the diuell in visible forme; but confer\nand talke familiarlie with him. In which conference the diuell exhorteth\nthem to obserue their fidelitie unto him promising them long life and\nprosperitie. Then the witches assembled, commend a new disciple (whom they\ncall a nouice) unto him; and, if the diuell findeth that young witch apt\nand forward in renunciation of the christian faith, in despising anie of\nthe seuen sacraments, in treading upon Crosses, in spitting at the time of\nthe elevation, in breaking their fast on fasting daies, and fasting on\nsundaies, then the diuell giveth foorth his hand, and the nouice ioining\nhand in hand with him, promiseth to obserue and keepe all the diuel\u2019s\ncommandements.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018This done the diuell beginneth to be more bold with hir, telling hir\nplainelie, that all this will not serue his turne; and therefore requireth\nhomage at hir hands: yea, he also telleth hir, that she must grant him\nboth hir bodie and soule to be tormented in everlasting fire, which she\nyeeldeth unto. Then he chargeth her, to procure as many men, women and\nchildren also, as she can, to enter into this societie. Then he teacheth\nthem to make ointments of the bowels and members of children, whereby they\nride in the aire, and accomplish all their desires. So as, if there be\nanie children unbaptised, or not garded with the signe of the crosse, or\norisons; then the witches may and doo catch them from their mothers sides\nin the night, or out of their cradles, or otherwise kill them with their\nceremonies; and, after buriall, steale them out of their graves, and seeth\nthem in a caldron, untill their flesh be made potable. Of the thickest\nwhereof they make ointments, whereby they ride in the aire; but the\nthinner potion they put into flaggons, whereof whosoever drinketh,\nobserving certeine ceremonies, immediatlie becommeth a maister, or rather,\na mistresse in that practise and facultie.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut there were other hell broths used by witches, as we may see by the\naccompanying illustration from Molitor\u2019s \u2018Die Hexen\u2019 (1489?), in which a\ncock and serpent form part of the ingredients of the broth, which is\nbeing brewed during a violent hailstorm. In \u2018The Witch: a Tragi-comedie,\u2019\nby Thomas Middleton, we have good notices of the component parts of these\nmixtures:\n\n \u2018HECCAT. Goe feed the vessell for the second houre.\n STADLIN. Where be the magical herbes?\n HEC. They\u2019re downe his throate.\n His mouth cramb\u2019d full; his eares, and nosthrills stufft.\n I thrust in Eleoselinum--lately\n Aconitum, frondes populeus, and soote,\n Then Sium, Acharum, Volgaro too,\n Dentaphillon, the blood of a flitter-mouse,[30]\n Solanum somnificum, et oleum.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nWe all know the Witches scene in \u2018Macbeth,\u2019 but few are probably aware to\nwhat extent Shakespeare was indebted to this play of Middleton\u2019s for its\ntelling effect and language.\n\n \u2018HECCAT. Give me some lizard\u2019s braine: quickly, _Firestone_.\n Where\u2019s grannam Stadlin, and all the rest o\u2019 th\u2019 sisters?\n FIRESTONE. All at hand, forsooth.\n HEC. Give me Marmaritin; some Bear-Breech; when?\n FIRE. Heer\u2019s Bear-breech, and lizard\u2019s braine, forsooth.\n HEC. Into the vessell;\n And fetch three ounces of the red-haired girle\n I kill\u2019d last midnight.\n FIRE. Whereabouts, sweet Mother?\n HEC. Hip; hip or flanck. Where is the Acopus?\n FIRE. You shall have Acopus, forsooth.\n HEC. Stir, stir about; whilst I begin to charme.\n\n A CHARME SONG, ABOUT A VESSEL.\n\n Black spiritts, and white; Red spiritts and gray;\n Mingle, mingle, mingle, you that mingle may.\n Titty, Tiffin, keepe it stiff in;\n Fire-drake, Puckey, make it luckey;\n Liard, Robin, you must bob in.\n Round, around, around, about, about.\n All ill come running in, all good keepe out!\n\n 1 WITCH. Heer\u2019s the blood of a bat.\n HEC. Put in that; oh put in that.\n 2 WITCH. Heer\u2019s libbard\u2019s bane.\n HEC. Put in againe.\n 1 WITCH. The juice of toad; the oile of adder.\n 2 WITCH. Those will make the yonker madder.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n HEC. Put in; there\u2019s all, and rid the stench.\n FIRE. Nay, heer\u2019s three ounces of the red-haired wench.\n ALL. Round, around, around, about, about.\n All ill come running in, all good keepe out!\n HEC. So, soe, enough: into the vessell with it.\n There, \u2019t hath the true perfection: I am so light\n At any mischief; there\u2019s no villany\n But is a tune methinkes.\n FIRE. A Tune! \u2019tis to the tune of dampnation then, I warrant\n You that that song hath a villainous burthen.\n HEC. Come my sweet sisters; let the aire strike our tune,\n Whilst we show reverence to yond peeping moone.\n\n _Here they daunce. The Witches daunce and Ex{t}._\u2019\n\nAfter this introduction to and instruction from the Devil, the novice has\nto do homage to her master. Still quoting Reginald Scot:\n\n\u2018Sometimes their homage, with their oth and bargaine is receiued for a\ncerteine number of yeares; sometimes for euer. Sometimes it consisteth in\nthe deniall of the whole faith, sometimes in part. The first is, when the\nsoule is absolutelie yeelded to the Diuell and hell fier; the other is,\nwhen they have but bargained to obserue certeine ceremonies and statutes\nof the Church; as to conceale faults at shrift, to fast on sundaies, &c.\nAnd this is doone, either by oth, protestation of words, or by obligation\nin writing, sometimes sealed with wax, sometimes signed with bloud,\nsometimes by kissing the Diuell\u2019s bare buttocks; as did a Doctor called\n_Edlin_, who (as _Bodin_ saith) was burned for witchcraft.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018You must also understand, that after they have delicatlie banketted with\nthe Diuell and the ladie of the fairies; and have eaten up a fat oxe, and\nemptied a butt of malmesie, and a binne of bread, at some nobleman\u2019s\nhouse, in the dead of night, nothing is missed of all this in the morning.\nFor the ladie _Sibylla_, _Minerua_, or _Diana_, with a golden rod striketh\nthe vessell and the binne, and they are fullie replenished againe. Yea,\nshe causeth the bullock\u2019s bones to be brought and laid togither upon the\nhide, and lappeth the foure ends thereof togither, laieing her golden rod\nthereon; and then riseth up the bullocke againe, in his former estate and\ncondition: and yet, at their returne home, they are like to starve for\nhunger; as _Spineus_ saith. And this must be an infallible rule, that\neuerie fortnight, or at the least, euerie moneth, each witch must kill one\nchild, at the least, for hir part.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018And this is to be noted, that the inquisitors affirme, that during the\nwhole time of the witch\u2019s excourse, the Diuell occupieth the roome and\nplace of the witch, in so perfect a similitude, as hir husband in his bed,\nneither by feeling, speech, nor countenance can discerne hir from his\nwife. Yea, the wife departeth out of hir husbands armes insensiblie, and\nleaueth the Diuell in her roome visiblie.\u2019\n\nThe novice is now a full-fledged witch, and according to the best\nauthorities may, and must, commit certain crimes, of which the following\nare some:\n\n\u2018They denie God, and all religion.\n\n\u2018They cursse, blaspheme, and provoke God with all despite.\n\n\u2018They give their faith to the diuell, and they worship and offer sacrifice\nto him.\n\n\u2018They doo solemnelie vow and promise all their progenie unto the diuell.\n\n\u2018They sacrifice their owne children to the diuell before baptisme, holding\nthem up in the aire unto him, and then thrust a needle into their\nbraines.\n\n\u2018They burne their children when they have sacrificed them.\n\n\u2018They sweare to the diuell to bring as manie into that societie, as they\ncan.\n\n\u2018They sweare by the name of the diuell.\n\n\u2018They boile infants (after they have murthered them unbaptized) untill\ntheir flesh be made potable.\n\n\u2018They eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of men and children openlie.\n\n\u2018They kill men with poison.\n\n\u2018They kill men\u2019s Cattell.\n\n\u2018They bewitch men\u2019s corne, and bring hunger and barrennes into the\ncountrie; they ride and flie in the aire, bring stormes, make tempests,\n&c.\u2019\n\nScot, quoting Sprenger, gives yet a wider range to the wickedness of\nwitches.[31] \u2018Although it be quite against the haire, and contrarie to the\ndiuel\u2019s will, contrarie to the witch\u2019s oth, promise, and homage, and\ncontrarie to all reason that witches should helpe anie thing that is\nbewitched; but rather set forward their Maister\u2019s businesse; yet we read\n_In Malleo Maleficarum_, of three sorts of witches; and the same is\naffirmed by all the writers hereupon, new and old. One sort, they say, can\nhurt and not helpe, the second can helpe and not hurt, the third can both\nhelpe and hurt. And, among the hurtful witches, he saith there is one sort\nmore beastlie than any kind of beasts, saving woolues: for these usuallie\ndeuoure and eate yong children and infants of their owne kind. These be\nthey (saith he) that raise haile, tempests, and hurtfull weather; as\nlightening, thunder, &c. These be they that procure barrennesse in man,\nwoman and beast. These can throwe children into waters, as they walke with\ntheir mothers, and not be seene. These can make horses kicke, till they\ncast their riders. These can so alter the mind of iudges, that they can\nhaue no power to hurt them. These can procure to themselves and to others,\ntaciturnitie and insensibilitie in their torments. These can bring\ntrembling to the hands, and strike terror into the minds of them that\napprehend them. These can manifest unto others, things hidden and lost,\nand foreshow things to come; and see them as though they were present.\nThese can alter men\u2019s minds to inordinate love or hate. These can kill\nwhom they list, with lightening and thunder. These can take awaie man\u2019s\ncourage, and the power of generation. These can make a woman miscarrie in\nchildbirth, and destroie the child in the mother\u2019s wombe, without any\nsensible meanes either inwardlie or outwardlie applied. These can, with\ntheir looks, kill either man or beast.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\n Familiar Spirits--Matthew Hopkins, the \u2018Witch-finder\u2019--Prince Rupert\u2019s\n dog Boy--Unguents used for transporting Witches from Place to\n Place--Their Festivities at the Sabbat.\n\n\nIn order to enable the witch to carry out her benevolent intentions, the\nDevil supplied her with one or more familiar spirits, of which we shall\nhear much in the accounts of cases of witchcraft, and in this old English\nillustration we see the Devil presenting one to a young witch. They were\nof all kinds of shapes--perhaps the commonest was a cat or dog; but\nsometimes they took strange forms.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThese familiars could talk and hold conversations with their mistresses,\nas witness the following story told by Giffard. A witch had confessed she\nhad killed a man. \u2018And upon the ladder she seemed very penitent, desiring\nall the world to forgive her. She sayd she had a spirit in the likeness of\na yellow dun Cat. This Cat came unto her, as she sayd, as she sat by her\nfire, when she was fallen out with a neighbour of hers, and wished that\nthe vengeance of God might light upon him and his. The Cat bad her not be\nafraid, she would do her no harme, she had served a dame five yeares in\nKent, that was now dead, and if she would, she would be her servant. And\nwhereas, sayd the Cat, such a man hath misused thee, if thou wilt I will\nplague him in his cattell. She sent the Cat, she killed three hogs and one\nCow. The man, suspecting, burnt a pig alive, and, as she sayd, her Cat\nwould never go thither any more. Afterward, she fell out with that Man;\nshe sent her Cat, who told her, that she had given him that, which he\nshould never recover; and, indeed, the man died.\u2019[32]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn \u2018The Lawes against Witches and Coniuration,\u2019 etc., the attention of\njustices of the peace is thus directed to these familiar spirits:\n\n\u20181. These Witches have ordinarily a familiar, or spirit, which appeareth\nto them; sometimes in one shape, sometimes in another, as in the shape of\na Man, Woman, Boy, Dogge, Cat, Foale, Fowle, Hare, Rat, Toad, etc. And to\nthese their spirits they give names, and they meet together to christen\nthem.\n\n\u20182. Their said Familiar hath some big or little teat upon their body,\nwhere he sucketh them; and besides their sucking, the Devil leaveth other\nmarks upon their bodies, sometimes like a Blew-spot, or Red-spot, like a\nflea-biting, sometimes the flesh sunk in and hollow, all which, for a\ntime, may be covered, yea, taken away, but will come againe to their old\nforme; and these the Devil\u2019s markes be insensible, and being pricked will\nnot bleed; and be often in their secret parts, and therefore require\ndiligent and carefull search....\n\n\u2018So likewise, if the suspected be proved to have been heard to call upon\ntheir Spirit, or to talk to them, or of them, or have offered them to\nothers.\n\n\u2018So, if they have been seen with their Spirits, or seen to feed something\nsecretly, these are proofes that they have a familiar, &c.\u2019\n\nMatthew Hopkins (of whom more anon) was a past master in the matter of\nfamiliars, and thus relates his experience of some of them.[33] He is\nsupposed to be asked where he had gained his experience.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018The Discoverer never travelled far for it, but in _March 1644_, he had\nsome seven or eight of that horrible sect of Witches living in the Towne\nwhere he lived, a Towne in _Essex_ called _Maningtree_, with divers other\nadjacent Witches of other towns, who every six weeks, in the night (being\nalwayes on the Friday night) had their meeting close by his house, and had\ntheir severall solemne sacrifices there offered to the _Devill_, one of\nwhich this discoverer heard speaking to her _Imps_ one night, and bid them\ngoe to another Witch, who was thereupon apprehended, and searched by\nwomen, who for many yeares had knowne the Devill\u2019s marks, and found to\nhave three teats about her, which honest women have not; so upon command\nfrom the _Justice_, they were to keep her from sleep, two or three nights,\nexpecting in that time to see her familiars, which the fourth night she\ncalled in by their severall names, and told them what shapes, a quarter of\nan houre before they came in, there being ten of us in the roome; the\nfirst she called was:\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u20181. _Holt_, who came like a white kitling.\n\n\u20182. _Jarmara_, who came in like a fat Spaniel, without any legs at all;\nshe said she kept him fat, for she clapt her hand on her belly, and said\nhe suckt good blood from her body.\n\n\u20183. _Vinegar Tom_, who was like a long-legg\u2019d Greyhound, with an head like\nan Oxe, with a long taile and broad eyes, who, when the discoverer spoke\nto, and bade him goe to the place provided for him and his Angels,\nimmediately transformed himselfe into the shape of a child of foure yeeres\nold, without a head, and gave halfe a dozen turnes about the house, and\nvanished at the doore.\n\n\u20184. _Sack and Sugar_, like a black Rabbet.\n\n\u20185. _Newes_, like a Polcat. All these vanished away in a little time.\nImmediately after, this Witch confessed several other Witches, from whom\nshe had her _Imps_, and named to divers women where their markes were, the\nnumber of their _Marks_, and _Imps_, and _Imps\u2019_ names, as _Elemanzer_,\n_Pyewacket_, _Peck in the Crown_, _Grizzel Greedigut_, &c., which no\nmortall could invent.\u2019\n\nWitches, however, were not the sole proprietors of familiar spirits, for\nthe Roundheads declared that Prince Rupert had one, in the shape of a\nlarge white poodle dog, a present from Lord Arundel, whose name was Boy.\nBoy accompanied his master in many an engagement, but seemed to bear a\ncharmed life, even having the credit given him of catching bullets and\nbringing them to his master. This evidently must be a dog of no common\nbreed, and it was not thought so, as we read in one of the Commonwealth\ntracts, which was a reputed dialogue between Tobie\u2019s and Prince Rupert\u2019s\ndogs:\n\n \u2018TOBIE\u2019S DOG. ... I heare you are Prince _Rupert\u2019s_ White Boy.\n\n P. RUP. DOG. I am none of his White Boy, my name is _Puddle_.\n\n TOB. DOG. A dirty name, indeed, you are not pure enough for my\n company; besides, I hear on both sides of my eares that you are a\n Laplander, or Fin Land Dog, or, truly, no better than a Witch in the\n shape of a white Dogge.\n\n * * * * *\n\n P. RUP. DOG. No, Sirrah, I am of high Germain breed.\n\n TOB. DOG. Thou art a Reprobate and a lying Curre; you were either\n whelpt in Lapland, or in Finland; where there is none but divells and\n Sorcerers live.\u2019\n\nPoor Boy met his fate at Marston Moor, by a silver bullet fired \u2018by a\nvalliant Souldier, who had skill in Necromancy.\u2019 Judging by the hail of\nbullets by which he is surrounded, he must indeed have borne a charmed\nlife, the loss of which an old witch deplores.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nOne of the duties of the familiar was to acquaint the witch with the next\nmeeting between the witches and the Devil. This always (although\nauthorities differ) took place on Fridays, after midnight, and was called\nthe Sabbath or Sabbat. But Scot, quoting Dan\u00e6us, says: \u2018The Divell\noftentimes, in the likenes of a sumner, meeteth them at markets and\nFaires, and warneth them to appeare in their assemblies, at a certaine\nhoure in the night, that he may understand whom they have slaine, and how\nthey have profited.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBut these meetings might be many miles distant, and, consequently, the\nwitches had to be provided with means of conveyance; which was effected\nwith the aid of an unguent, as to the composition of which authorities\nvary. This was rubbed over the body, or upon a broomstick or dungfork, and\nhey, presto! they were in mid-air. But they must not make their exit by\nthe door, only by such illegitimate ways as the chimney or the keyhole.\nOr, as we see, a wizard might mount his cat, or a witch a sheep; or, if a\ngreat favourite, the Devil himself would carry her, taking the form of a\nhe-goat, in which shape he frequently presided at the Sabbat.\n\nThe broomstick was the orthodox old English style of a\u00ebrial courses; but,\nas I have before said, an unguent was necessary. In \u2018The Witch,\u2019 before\nquoted, Heccat says:\n\n \u2018Here take this unbaptized brat:\n Boile it well; preserve the fat;\n You know \u2019tis pretious to transfer\n Our \u2019noynted flesh into the ayre,\n In moonelyght nights, on steeple topps,\n Mountains, and pine trees, that like pricks or stopps,\n Seeme to our height, high towres, and roofes of princes\n Like wrinckles in the earth.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nScot, on the authority of John Bapt. Neap, gives the following recipes for\nointments, which are singularly like those in \u2018The Witch\u2019:\n\n\u2018\u211e. The fat of yoong children, and seeth it with water in a brasen\nvessell, reseruing the thickest of that which remaineth boiled in the\nbottome, which they laie up and keepe, untill occasion serueth to use it.\nThey put hereunto _Eleoselinum_, _Aconitum_, _Frondes populeas_, and\nSoote.\u2019\n\nAnother receipt to the same purpose.\n\n\u2018\u211e. _Sium_, _acarum vulgare_, _pentaphyllon_, the blood of a flitter\nmouse, _solanum somniferum_ and _oleum_. They stampe all these togither,\nand then they rubbe all parts of their bodies exceedinglie, till they\nlooke red, and be verie hot, so as the pores may be opened, and their\nflesh soluble and loose. They ioine herewithall either fat, or oil in\nsteed thereof, that the force of the ointment maie the rather pearse\ninwardly, and so be more effectuall. By this means (saith he) in a\nmoonlight night they seeme to be carried in the aire.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThus, then, their means of conveyance being assured, they all meet\ntogether, at some appointed place, it may be hundreds of miles away--in a\nsocial congress of a very mixed character, Continental writers giving a\nfuller and more detailed report of their transactions than do the English.\nOne Henri Boguet, a French _Grand Juge_, in his \u2018Discours des Sorciers,\u2019\nLyons, 1608, is particularly lucid on this subject.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nHe says that at this assembly the first thing the witches do is to adore\nSatan, who appears in the form, either of a huge black man or as a\nhe-goat, and by way of doing homage to him they offer him candles which\nburn with a blue flame, and kiss his back, some kissing his shoulders.\nSometimes he holds a black image which the witches kiss, at the same time\noffering a candle or burning brand which they light at a candle, which the\nDevil carries between his horns. They next proceed to dance a curious\ncircular dance, in which they are placed back to back, whilst the lame\nwitches incite them to leap and dance. The music of the hautboy is not\nwanting, someone always being found who will thus oblige the company,\nbesides which Satan himself sometimes plays the flute; but if no orchestra\nis forthcoming, the witches and devils sing each their own song, making a\nsort of \u2018Dutch medley.\u2019 Sometimes they dance two and two, at other times\nthey perform _pas seuls_, but always in confusion, and they dance back to\nback, so that they may not be recognised; indeed, it is for that reason\nthat they hold their assemblies at night.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nAfter the dance they break into couples, and indescribable orgies take\nplace.\n\nThe next part of the programme is a banquet, composed of different kinds\nof viands, according to the place of meeting and the quality of the\nguests; but, according to the illustrations, the _pi\u00e8ce de r\u00e9sistance_ was\na dead child. The table was covered with butter, cheese, and meat, and\naccording to some authorities a large copper was provided, from which each\nwitch could take her meat. They drank wine out of wooden goblets, but the\nchief drink was water. But at these feasts there was never any salt,\nbecause it is an emblem of immortality, which the Devil hates more than\nanything. Besides, it is put in holy-water, and the Apostles were called\nthe \u2018salt of the earth\u2019--sufficient reasons to disgust any Devil.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nBefore commencing the meal, and on finishing it, the witches say\ngrace--not exactly as we do, but paraphrasing the benediction, filling it\nwith blasphemies, and making Satan author and preserver of all things. And\nit is a curious thing that all authorities agree that the viands served at\nthese feasts have no flavour or taste, and the meat is only horseflesh;\nalso when the witches rise from table they are as hungry as when they sat\ndown.\n\nThis highly unsatisfactory repast being finished, the witches tell Satan\nwhat they have done since their last meeting, and those are most welcome\nwho have caused the greatest number of deaths among human beings and\ncattle, or the most illness, or spoilt most corn; in short, those who have\ncommitted the most wickednesses and abominations. The others, who have\nbehaved rather more humanely, are hissed at and mocked by all; they are\nset on one side, and are often beaten and ill-treated by their master.\n\nThey then renew their renunciation of God and the Sacraments of the\nChurch, as also their oath never to speak of God, of the Virgin Mary, or\nthe Saints, unless in mockery and derision; they give up all hope of\nheaven, and swear that they will always hold him to be their master, and\nbe faithful to him. He then exhorts them to all evil deeds, such as\nharming their neighbours, making them ill, killing their cattle, and\nrevenging themselves on their enemies, and even uses these words, _Revenge\nyourselves, or you shall die_. Moreover, he promises them to lay waste and\nspoil the fruits of the earth, and gives them powders and ointments for\nthat purpose; at least, he makes them believe so. He also makes them swear\nsolemnly that they should accuse each other, and never reveal anything\nwhich had passed between them.\n\nThe witches then cause a hailstorm, in order to spoil the crops and the\nfruit.\n\nBut they also celebrate a parody of the Mass, the celebrant being vested\nin a black chasuble, without a cross on it; and after having put water in\nthe chalice, he turns his back on the altar, and then elevates a slice of\nblack radish instead of the Host, and all the witches cry with a loud\nvoice, \u2018_Master, help us!_\u2019 The Devil at the same time makes sham\nholy-water, with which he who celebrates the Mass sprinkles the\ncongregation, using a black _asperge_.\n\nFinally, the Devil, after having taken the form of a he-goat, is consumed\nby fire, and reduced to ashes, which the witches collect and hide, in\norder that they may assist them in their diabolical designs.\n\nOf the English _Sabbat_ we shall hear enough when we come to the various\ncases of witchcraft. Scot quotes Bodin, the great French exponent of\nwitchcraft, \u2018who saith, at these magical assemblies the witches never fail\nto danse, and in their danse they sing these words: _Har, har, diuell,\ndiuell, danse here, danse here, plaie here, plaie here, Sabbath, Sabbath_.\nAnd whiles they sing and danse, euerie one hath a broome in hir hand, and\nholdeth it up aloft. Item he saith that these night-walking, or rather,\nnight-dansing witches, brought out of _Italie_ into _France_ that danse\nwhich is called _La Volta_.\u2019\n\nHe also says that, according to Dan\u00e6us, if the witches \u2018be lame, the\ndiuell deliuereth them a staffe, to conueie them thither inuisiblie\nthrough the aire; and that then they fall a dansing and singing of foule\nsongs, wherein he leadeth the danse himselfe; which danse, and other\nconferences being ended, he supplieth their wants of powders and roots to\nintoxicate withall; and giueth to euerie nouice a marke, either with his\nteeth, or with his clawes, and so they kisse the diuell\u2019s bare buttocks,\nand depart; not forgetting euery daie afterwards to offer to him, dogs,\ncats, hens, or bloud of their owne.\u2019\n\n[Illustration]\n\nIn \u2018A Pleasant Treatise of Witches,\u2019 London, 1673, we have the following\naccount of the _Sabbat_: \u2018They [witches] are likewise reported to have\neach of them a Spirit or Imp attending on, and assigned to them, which\nnever leave those to whom they are subject, but assist and render them all\nthe service they command. These give the witches notice to be ready on all\nsolemn appointments and meetings, which are ordinarily on _Tuesday_ or\n_Wednesday_ night, and then they strive to separate themselves from the\ncompany of all other creatures, not to be seen by any; and, night being\ncome, they strip themselves naked, and anoint themselves with their\nOyntments. Then they are carryed out of the house, either by the Window,\nDoor, or Chimney, mounted on their Imps in the form of a Goat, Sheep, or\nDragon, till they arrive at their meeting-place, whither all the other\nWizards and Witches, each one upon his Imp, are also brought. Thus brought\nto the designed place, which is sometimes many hundred miles from their\ndwellings, they find a great number of others arrived there by the same\nmeans; who, before _Lucifer_ takes his place on his Throne, as King, do\nmake their accustomed homage, adoring and proclaiming him their Lord, and\nrendring him all Honour.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018This solemnity being finished they sit to Table, where no delicate meats\nare wanting to gratifie their appetites, all dainties being brought in the\ntwinkling of an eye, by those spirits that attend the assembly. This done,\nat the sound of many pleasant instruments (for we must expect no Grace in\nthe company of Devils,) the table is taken away, and the pleasing consort\ninvites them to a _Ball_; but the dance is strange and wonderful, as well\nas diabolical, for, turning themselves back to back, they take one\nanother by the arms and raise each other from the ground, then shake their\nheads to and fro like Anticks, and turn themselves as if they were mad.\nThen, at last, after this Banquet, Musick, and Ball, the lights were put\nout....\n\n\u2018At last, before _Aurora_ brings back the day, each one mounts on his\nSpirit, and so returns to his respective dwelling place, with that\nlightness and quickness, that, in little space, they find themselves to be\ncarryed many hundred miles; but are charged by their spirit on the way,\nnot to call in any wise on the name of God, or to bless themselves with\nthe sign of the Cross, upon pain of falling, with peril of their lives,\nand being grievously punished by their Demon.\n\n\u2018Sometimes, at their solemn assemblies, the Devil commands that each tell\nwhat wickedness he hath committed, and, according to the hainousness and\ndetestableness of it he is honoured and respected with a general applause.\nThose, on the contrary, who have done no evill, are beaten and punished.\nAt last, when the assembly is ready to break up, and the Devil to despatch\nthem, he publisheth this law with a loud voice, _Revenge yourselves, or\nelse you shall dye_: then each one, kissing the posteriors of the Devil,\nreturns upon their aiery Vehicles to their habitations.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\n Waxen Figures--Witches change into Animals--Witch Marks--Testimony\n against Witches--Tests for, and Examination of, Witches.\n\n\nAmong other things done at the Sabbat, the Devil instructed witches in the\nart of making waxen images, the use of which is to torment those against\nwhom they have a spite. King James I. (\u2018Demonologie,\u2019 lib. ii., cap. v.)\nsays:\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018To some others, at these times, he teacheth how to make pictures of waxe\nor clay: That by the roasting thereof, the persons that they beare the\nname of, may be continually melted or dried away by continuall\nsickenesse.... They can bewitch and take the life of men or women, by\nroasting of the pictures, which, likewise, is verie possible to their\nMaister to performe, for, although that instrument of waxe haue no vertue\nin that turne doing, yet may hee not very well, euen by the same measure\nthat his coniured slaves melts that waxe at the fire, may hee not, I say,\nat these same times, subtily, as a spirite, so weaken and scatter the\nspirites of life of the patient, as may make him, on the one part, for\nfaintnesse, to sweate out the humour of his bodie. And on the other part,\nfor the not concurrence of these spirites which cause his digestion, so\ndebilitate his stomache, that this humour radicall, continually sweating\nout on the one part, and no good sucke being put in the place thereof, for\nlacke of digestion, on the other, he, at last, shall vanish away, euen as\nhis picture will doe at the fire? And that knauish and cunning workeman,\nby troubling him, onely at sometimes, makes a proportion, so neere betwixt\nthe working of the one and the other, that both shall end, as it were, at\none time.\u2019\n\nIn \u2018The Witch\u2019 we find the following:\n\n \u2018HECCAT. Is the hart of Wax\n Stuck full of magique needles?\n STADLIN. \u2019Tis done, Heccat.\n HEC. And is the Farmer\u2019s picture, and his wives,\n Lay\u2019d downe to th\u2019 fire yet?\n STAD. They are a roasting both too.\n HEC. Good:\n Then their marrowes are a melting subtelly,\n And three monethes sicknes sucks up life in \u2019em.\n They denide me often floure, barme and milke,\n Goose-greaze and tar, when I nere hurt their churnings,\n Their brew-locks, nor their batches, nor fore spoake\n Any of their breedings. Now I\u2019ll be meete with \u2019em.\n Seaven of their yong piggs I have bewitch\u2019d already,\n Of the last litter; nine ducklyngs, thirteene goselings, and a hog,\n Fell lame last Sonday after evensong too.\n And mark how their sheepe prosper; or what soupe\n Each milch-kine gives to th\u2019 paile: I\u2019le send these snakes\n Shall milke \u2019em all before hand; the dew\u2019d skirted dayrie wenches\n Shall stroak dry duggs for this, and goe home cursing:\n I\u2019ll mar their sillabubs, and swathie feastings\n Under cowes bellies with the parish-youthes.\u2019\n\nSome witches had the power of transforming themselves into divers animals,\nand Boguet gives a long list of witches who confessed to so doing, having\nbecome, for the nonce, wolves, pigs, asses, cats, horses, frogs or toads,\nand hares. Indeed, in France and Germany, the belief in _loup-garou_ and\n_w\u00e4hrwolf_ has hardly yet died out. But not only could they change\nthemselves into beasts, but others also, quite after the fashion of the\nenchantments in the \u2018Arabian Nights.\u2019 Reginald Scot tells a story (lib.\nv., cap. iii.) too good to be omitted:\n\n\u2018It happened in the citie of _Salamin_ in the kingdome of _Cyprus_\n(wherein is a good hauen) that a ship loaden with merchandize staied there\nfor a short space. In the meane time many of the souldiers and mariners\nwent to shoare, to prouide fresh victuals. Among which number, a certaine\nEnglish man, being a sturdie young fellowe, went to a woman\u2019s house, a\nlittle waie out of the citie, and not farre from the sea side, to see\nwhether she had anie eggs to sell. Who, perceiuing him to be a lustie\nyoong fellowe, a stranger, and farre from his countrie, so as upon the\nlosse of him there would be the lesse misse or inquirie, she considered\nwith hirselfe how to destroie him; and willed him to staie there awhile,\nwhilest she went to fetch a few eggs for him. But she tarried long, so as\nthe yoong man called unto hir, desiring hir to make hast: for he told hir\nthat the tide would be spent, and by that meanes his ship would be gone\nand leaue him behind. Howbeit, after some detracting of time, she brought\nhim a few eggs, willing him to returne to hir, if his ship were gone when\nhe came.\n\n\u2018The yoong fellowe returned towards his ship; but before he, went aboord,\nhee would needs eat an egg or twaine to satisfie his hunger, and, within\nshort space, he became dumb and out of his wits, (as he afterwards said.)\nWhen he would haue entred into the ship, the marriners beat him backe with\na cudgell, saieing: What a murren lacks the asse? Whither the Diuell will\nthis asse? The asse, or yoong man, (I cannot tell by which name I should\nterme him,) being many times repelled, and understanding their words that\ncalled him asse, considering that he could speake neuer a word, and yet\ncould understand euerie bodie; he thought that he was bewitched by the\nwoman, at whose house he was. And, therefore, when by no means he could\nget into the boate, but was driuen to tarrie and see hir departure; being\nalso beaten from place to place, as an asse; he remembered the witches\nwords, and the words of his owne fellowes that called him asse, and\nreturned to the witches house, in whose seruice he remained by the space\nof three yeares, dooing nothing with his hands all that while, but carried\nsuch burthens as she laied on his backe; haueing onely this comfort, that,\nalthough he were reputed an asse among strangers and beasts, yet that\nboth this witch, and all other witches knew him to be a man.\n\n\u2018After three yeares were passed ouer, in a morning betimes he went to\ntowne before his dame; who, upon some occasion, staied a little behind. In\nthe meane time, being neere to a church, he heard a little saccaring bell\nring to the eleuation of a morrowe masse, and, not daring to go into the\nchurche, least he should have beene beaten and driuen out with cudgells,\nin great deuotion he fell downe in the churchyard, upon the knees of his\nhinder legs, and did lift his forefeet ouer his head, as the preest doth\nhold the sacrament at the eleuation. Which prodigious sight, when certeine\nmerchants of _Genua_ espied, and with woonder beheld; anon commeth the\nwitch with a cudgell in hir hand, beating foorth the asse. And bicause (as\nit hath beene said) such kinds of witchcrafts are verie usuall in those\nparts; the merchants aforesaid made such meanes, as both the asse and the\nwitch were attached by the iudge. And she, being examined and set upon the\nracke, confessed the whole matter, and promised that, if she might have\nlibertie to go home, she would restore him to his old shape: and, being\ndismissed, she did, accordinglie. So, as notwithstanding, they apprehended\nhir againe, and burned hir: and the yoong man returned into his countrie\nwith a ioifull and merrie hart.\u2019\n\nCredulous as James I. was, yet he could not swallow lycanthropy:\n\n\u2018But to tell you simply my opinion in this, if any such thing hath beene,\nI take it to haue proceeded but of a naturall super-aboundance of\nMelancholie, which, as we reade, that it hath made some thinke themselues\nPitchers, and some, horses, and some, one kinde of beast or other. So\nsuppose I, that it hath so viciat the imagination and memory of some, as\n_per lucida interualla_, it hath so highly occupied them, that they haue\nthought themselues very Woolfes indeed, at these times: and so haue\ncounterfeited their actiones in going on their hands and feete, preassing\nto deuoure women and barnes,[34] fighting and snatching with all the towne\ndogges, and in using such like other bruitish actiones, and so to become\nbeastes by a strong apprehension as _Nabucad-netzar_ was seuen yeares.\u2019\n\nBut popular opinion still inclined to the belief in the ability of witches\nto change their form: and we will take only one instance, which occurs in\nthe play of \u2018The Late Lancashire Witches,\u2019 by Heywood and Broome (London,\n1634):\n\n \u2018MEG. Then list yee well, the hunters are\n This day, by vow, to kill a hare,\n Or else the sport they will forsweare;\n And hang their dogs up.\n MAWD. Stay, but where\n Must the long threatened hare be found?\n GIL. They\u2019l search in yonder meadow ground.\n MEG. There will I be, and like a wily wat,\n Untill they put me up, ile squat.\u2019\n\nAnd this belief has descended to quite modern times, for Mr. E. J. Wood,\nwriting in _Notes and Queries_, October 25, 1862, says:\n\n\u2018In a certain hollow, or \u201cbottom,\u201d not many miles from Sevenoaks, lived an\nold woman (now deceased) who had the local reputation of being a witch,\nand who could, according to the vulgar belief, convert herself into a hare\nat will. Her cottage had a drain-hole, or aperture, through which hole the\nso-called witch used to pass when she had metamorphosed herself into a\n\u201cpuss.\u201d\u2019\n\nTo the outside world, a witch, be she young or old, looked like another\nwoman, but to the _cognoscenti_ there were certain marks about her which\nproclaimed her as a servant to the devil. All authorities agree that a\nwitch had certain marks upon her which no one could mistake, and Scot sums\nit up very tersely:\n\n\u2018Item, if she haue anie priuie mark under hir arme pokes, under hir haire,\nunder hir lip, or in hir buttocke, &c., it is a presumption for the iudge\nto proceed and giue sentence of death upon hir.\u2019\n\nBut perhaps we find the fullest details of these marks in the abominable\nbook \u2018The Discovery of Witches,\u2019 by the wretch Matthew Hopkins, the\nprofessional \u2018witch-finder.\u2019\n\n\u2018_Query 5._ Many poore People are condemned for having a Pap or Teat about\nthem, whereas many People, (especially antient People) are, and have been,\na long time, troubled with naturall wretts[35] on severall parts of their\nbodies, and other natural excresscencies, and these shall be judged only\nby one man alone, and a woman, and so accused or acquitted?\n\n\u2018_Answer._ The parties so judging can justifie their skill to any, and\nshew good reasons why such markes are not meerly naturall, neither that\nthey can happen by any such naturall cause as is before expressed, and for\nfurther answer for their private judgements alone, it is most false and\nuntrue, for never was any man tryed by search of his body, but commonly a\ndozen of the ablest men in the parish or else where were present, and most\ncommonly as many ancient skilfull matrons and midwives present when the\nwomen are tryed, which marks, not only he and his company attest to be\nvery suspitious, but all beholders, the skilfulest of them, doe not\napprove of them, but likewise assent that such tokens cannot, in their\njudgements proceed from any of the above-mentioned Causes.\n\n\u2018_Query 6._ It is a thing impossible for any man or woman to judge rightly\non such marks, they are so neare to naturall excressencies, and they that\nfinde them, durst not presently give Oath they were drawne by evill\nspirits, till they have used unlawfull courses of torture to make them say\nanything for ease and quiet, as who would not do? but I would know the\nreasons he speakes of, and whereby to discover the one from the other, and\nso be satisfied in that.\n\n\u2018_Answer._ The reasons, in breefe, are three, which, for the present, he\njudgeth to differ from naturall marks; which are\n\n\u20181. He judgeth by the unusualnes of the place where he findeth the teats\nin or on their bodies, being farre distant from any usuall place, from\nwhence such naturall markes proceed; as, if a witch plead the markes found\nare Emerods, if I finde them on the back bone, shall I assent with him?\nKnowing they are not neere that veine, and so, others, by child-bearing,\nwhen it may be, they are in the contrary part?\n\n\u20182. They are most commonly insensible, and feele neither pin, needle,\naule, &c, thrust through them.\n\n\u20183. The often variations and mutations of these marks into severall\nformes, confirmes this matter; as, if a Witch hear a month or two before\nthat the _Witch-finder_, (as they call him) is comming, they will, and\nhave, put out their Imps to others to suckle them, even to their owne\nyoung and tender children; these upon search are found to have dry skinnes\nand filmes only, and be close to the flesh. Keepe her 24 houres with a\ndiligent eye, that none of her Spirits come in any visible shape to suck\nher; the women have seen, the next day after, her Teats extended to their\nformer filling strength, full of corruption, ready to burst; and, leaving\nher alone then one quarter of an houre, and let the women go up againe,\nand shee will have them drawn, by her Imps, close againe: _Probatum est_.\u2019\n\nThis seems hard enough upon the poor friendless witch, but it is nothing\nto what Scot writes on the subject, giving his authorities, which, at the\ntime he wrote, on behalf of the witch, was good law. As it is a very\ncurious bit of history, and one, as far as I know, that has never been\nreproduced, I make a long extract bearing thereon:\n\n\u2018Excommunicat persons, partakers of the salt, infants, wicked servants,\nand runawaies are to be admitted to beare witness against their dames in\nthe mater of witchcraft, bicause, (saith _Bodin_, the champion of witch\nmongers) none that be honest are able to detect them. Heretikes, also, and\nwitches shall be received to accuse, but not to excuse a witch. And,\nfinallie, the testimonie of all infamous persons in this case is good and\nallowed. Yea, one lewd person, (saith _Bodin_) may be received to accuse\nand condemne a thousand suspected witches. And although by lawe, a\ncapitall enimie may be challenged; yet _James Sprenger_ and _Henry\nJustitor_ (from whom _Bodin_, and all the writers that euer I haue read,\ndoo receiue their light, authorities and arguments) saie, (upon this point\nof lawe) that The poore frendlesse old woman must proue that hir capitall\nenemie would haue killed hir, and that hee hath both assalted and wounded\nhir; otherwise she pleadeth all in vaine. If the iudge aske hir, whether\nshe haue anie capitall enemies; and she rehearse other, and forget her\naccuser, or else answer that he was hir capitall enemie, but now she\nhopeth that he is not so; such a one is neuertheles admitted for a witnes.\nAnd though by law, single witnesses are not admittable; yet, if one depose\nshe hath witched hir cow, another hir sow; and the third hir butter; these\nsaith, are no single Witnesses bicause they agree that she is a witch.\n\n\u2018Women suspected to be witches, after their apprehension may not be\nsuffered to go home, or to other places, to seek suerties; for feare least\nat their returne home, they worke reuenge upon them. In which respect\n_Bodin_ commendeth much the _Scottish_ custome and order in this behalfe;\nwhere, (he saith) a hollowe piece of wood, or a chest is placed in the\nchurch, into the which anie bodie may freelie cast a little scroll of\npaper, wherein may be conteined the name of the witch, the time, place and\nfact &c. And the same chest being locked by three inquisitors or officers\nappointed for that purpose; which keepe three seuerall kaies. And then the\naccuser need not be knowne, nor shamed with the reproch of slander or\nmalice to his poore neighbour.\n\n\u2018Item. there must be great persuasions used to all men, women and\nchildren, to accuse old women of witchcraft.\n\n\u2018Item. there may alwaies be promised impunitie and fauour to witches that\nconfesse and detect others; and for the contrairie, there may be\nthreatnings and violence practised and used.\n\n\u2018Item. the little children of witches, which will not confesse, must be\nattached; who (if they be craftilie handled saith _Bodin_) will confesse\nagainst their owne mothers.\n\n\u2018Item. witches must be examined as suddenlie, and as unawares as is\npossible; the which will so amaze them, that they will confesse anything,\nsupposing the diuell hath forsaken them; whereas, if they should first be\ncommitted to prison, the diuell would tamper with them, and informe them\nwhat to doo.\n\n\u2018Item. the inquisitor, iudge, or examiner, must begin with small matters\nfirst.\n\n\u2018Item. they must be examined whether their parents were witches or no; for\nwitches (as these Doctors suppose) came by propagation. And _Bodin_\nsetteth downe this principle in witchcraft, to wit, _Si saga sit mater,\nsic etiam est filia_: howbeit the lawe forbiddeth it _Ob sanguinis\nreuerentiam_.\n\n\u2018Item. the examiner must looke stedfastlie upon their eies: for they\ncannot looke directlie upon a man\u2019s face, (as _Bodin_ affirmeth in one\nplace, although in another he saith, that they kill and destroie both men\nand beasts by their lookes).\n\n\u2018Item. she must be examined of all accusations, presumptions and faults,\nat one instant: least sathan should afterwards dissuade hir from\nconfession.\n\n\u2018Item. a witch may not be put in prison alone, least the diuell dissuade\nher from confession, through promises of her indemnitie. For (saith\n_Bodin_) some that haue been in the gaole haue proued to flie awaie, as\nthey were woont to doo when they met with _Diana_ and _Minerua_ &c, and so\nbrake their owne necks against the stone walles.\n\n\u2018Item. if anie denie hir owne confession made without torture, she is\nneuerthelesse by that confession to be condemned, as in anie other crime.\n\n\u2018Item, the iudges must seeme to put on a pittifull countenance and to moue\nthem; saieing that It was not they, but the diuell that committed the\nmurther, and that he compelled them to doo it; and must make them beleeue\nthat they think them to be innocents.\n\n\u2018Item. if they will not confesse nothing upon the racke or torture; their\napparell must be changed, and euerie haire in their bodie must be shauen\noff with a sharpe razor.\n\n\u2018Item, if they have charmes for taciturnitie, so as they feele not the\ncommon tortures, and therefore confesse nothing; then some sharpe\ninstrument must be thrust betwixt euerie naile of their fingers and toes;\nwhich (as _Bodin_ saith) was King _Childebert\u2019s_ devise, and is, to this\ndaie, of all others the most effectuall. For by meanes of that extreme\npaine, they will (saith he) confesse anie thing.\n\n\u2018Item. _Paulus Grillandus_, being an old doer in these matters, wisheth\nthat when witches sleepe, and feele no paine upon the torture, _Domine\nlabia mea aperies_ should be said, and so, (saith he) both the tormentt\nwill be felt, and the truth will be uttered.\n\n\u2018Item. _Bodin_ saith, that at the time of examination there should be a\nsemblance of a great a doo, to the terrifieing of the witch; and that a\nnumber of instruments, gieues,[36] manacles, ropes, halters, fetters &c be\nprepared, brought foorth, and laid before the examinate; and, also, that\nsome be procured to make a most horrible and lamentable crie, in the place\nof torture, as though he or she were upon the racke, or in the tormentor\u2019s\nhands: so as the examinate may heare it whiles she is examined, before she\nhir selfe be brought into the prison; and perhaps (saith he) she will by\nthis meanes, confesse the matter.\n\n\u2018Item. there must be subborned some craftie spie, that may seeme to be a\nprisoner with hir in the like case; who, perhaps, may, in Conference,\nundermine hir, and so bewraie and discouer hir.\n\n\u2018Item. if she will not yet confesse, she must be told that she is\ndetected, and accused by other of hir companions; although in truth there\nbe no such matter; and so, perhaps, she will confesse, the rather to be\nreuenged upon hir aduersaries and accusers.\n\n\u2018If an old woman threaten or touch one, being in health, who dieth shortly\nafter; or else is infected with the leprosie, apoplexie, or anie strange\ndisease; it is (saith _Bodin_) a permanent fact, and such an euidence, as\ncondemnation or death must insue, without further proofe; if anie bodie\nhaue mistrusted hir, or said before that she was a witch.\n\n\u2018Item. if anie come in, or depart out, of the chamber or house, the doores\nbeing shut; it is an apparent and sufficient euidence to a Witches\nCondemnation, without further triall:\n\n\u2018Item, if a woman bewitch anie bodies eies, she is to be executed without\nfurther proofe.\n\n\u2018Item. if anie inchant or bewitch men\u2019s beasts, or come, or flie in the\naire, or make a dog speake, or cut off anie man\u2019s members, and unite them\nagaine to men or children\u2019s bodies; it is sufficient proofe to\ncondemnation.\n\n\u2018Item. presumptions and coniectures are sufficient proofes against\nwitches.\n\n\u2018Item. if three witnesses doo but saie, Such a woman is a witch: then it\nis a cleere case that she is to be executed with death. Which matter\n_Bodin_ saith is not onelie certeine by the canon and civill lawes, but by\nthe opinion of pope _Innocent_, the wisest pope, (as he saith) that ever\nwas.\n\n\u2018Item. the complaint of anie one man of credit is sufficient to bring a\npoore woman to the racke or pullie.\n\n\u2018Item. a condemned or infamous person\u2019s testimonie is good and allowable\nin matters of witchcraft.\n\n\u2018Item a witch is not to be deliuered, though she endure all the tortures,\nand confesse nothing; as all other are in anie criminall cases.\n\n\u2018Item, though the depositions of manie women at one instant are disabled,\nas insufficient in lawe; bicause of the imbecillitie and frailtie of their\nnature or sex: yet, in this matter, one woman, though she be a partie,\neither accuser or accused, and be also infamous and impudent (for such are\nBodin\u2019s words) yea, and alreadie condemned; she may, neverthelesse serue\nto accuse and condemne a witch.\n\n\u2018Item, a witness uncited, and offering himselfe in this case, is to be\nheard, and in none other.\n\n\u2018Item, a Capitall enimie (if the enimitie be pretended to grow by meanes\nof witchcraft) may obiect against a witch; and none exception is to be had\nor made against him.\n\n\u2018Item, although the proofe of periurie may put back a witnesse in other\ncauses; yet in this, a periured person is a good and a lawfull witnesse.\n\n\u2018Item, the proctors and advocates in this case are compelled to be\nwitnesses against their clients, as in none other case they are to be\nconstrained thereunto.\n\n\u2018Item, none can giue euidence against witches, touching their assemblies,\nbut witches onelie; bicause, (as _Bodin_ saith) none other can do it.\u2019\n\nThus we see that the poor witch had everything against her, which will\naccount in a great way for those marvellous confessions we read of, when\nthe poor, weary, baited and tortured woman would confess to anything to\nget a few hours\u2019 respite from pain, well knowing that execution would\nfollow, whether she confessed or no. In fact, no other hypothesis is\npossible, when we read of the extraordinary matters to which these poor\nwomen confessed.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\n Legislation against Witches--Punishment--Last Executions for\n Witchcraft--Inability to weep and sink--Modern Cases of Witchcraft.\n\n\nThere has not been much legislation against witches in England, the Acts\nsimply keeping in force. It is said that Athelstane in 928 made witchcraft\na capital crime, but our \u2018statutes at large\u2019 give 33 Henry VIII., cap. 8\n(1541), as the first Act really touching witchcraft, as coming within the\nken of this book. Next comes 5 Elizabeth, cap. 16 (1562), and then 1 James\nI., cap. 12 (1604), previously substantially quoted. This was the law of\nthe land until it was abolished in 1736, 9 George II., cap. 5, which did\naway with capital punishment for witchcraft, and the present law on the\nsubject dates from 1822, 3 George IV., where the word \u2018witchcraft\u2019\ncertainly disappears, and only \u2018All Persons pretending to be Gipsies: all\nPersons pretending to tell Fortunes, or using any subtle Craft, Means, or\nDevice, by Palmistry, or other wise, to deceive or impose upon any of His\nMajestys subjects,\u2019 shall be adjudged \u2018Common Rogues and Vagabonds,\u2019 and\nsentenced as such.\n\nFormerly the poor wretches were burned, a fearful fate, as Scot says,\nquoting Bodin. \u2018Item, if a woman confesse freelie herein, before\nquestion[37] be made; and yet afterward denie it; she is neuerthelesse to\nbe burned.\u2019 Possibly the last case of burning for witchcraft is one I\nshall record later on, at Bury St. Edmunds, in 1644; but the same year one\nAlice Hudson was burned at York for receiving small sums of money from the\nDevil.[38]\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe last case of burning in Scotland was in Sutherland, in 1722, and the\nlast in Ireland at Glarus, a servant being burnt as a witch in 1786.\nProbably the last burning for witchcraft, in any so-called civilized\ncountry, is the following, taken from the Steamer Edition of the _Panama\nStar and Herald_ of June 5, 1871: \u2018According to the _Porvenir_ of Callao\n(Peru), 29th ult., a woman has been burnt in the public square of a town\nin the province of Guavina, about thirty-four leagues from the port of\nIquique, for being a witch. This punishment, worthy of the flourishing\ndays of the Spanish Inquisition, was ordered by the Lieutenant-Governor\nand Judge of the Province.\u2019\n\nHutchinson, a very careful writer, whose \u2018Historical Essay concerning\nWitchcraft,\u2019 etc., was first published in 1718, and the second edition in\n1720, says, referring to a case we shall hear of anon: \u2018_Susan Edwards_,\n_Mary Trembles_, and _Temperance Lloyd_, hanged at _Exeter_, confess\u2019d\nthemselves Witches, but died with good Prayers in their Mouths. I suppose\nthese are the last Three that have been hanged in _England_. 1682.\u2019\n\nJames I. was ruthless against witches, _vide_ the following:\n\n \u2018PHILOMATHES. Then to make an ende of our conference, since I see it\n drawes late, what forme of punishment thinke yee merites these\n _Magicians_ and _Witches_? For I see that yee account them to be al\n alike guiltie.\n\n EPISTEMON. They ought to be put to death according to the Law of God,\n the civill and imperiall Law, and municipall Law of all Christian\n nations.\n\n PHI. But what kinde of death, I pray you?\n\n EPI. It is commonly used by fire, but that is an indifferent thing to\n be used in every countrey, according to the Law or custome thereof.\n\n PHI. But ought no sexe, age, nor ranke to bee exempted?\n\n EPI. None at al (being so used by the lawful magistrate) for it is the\n highest point of Idolatry, wherein no exception is admitted by the Law\n of God.\n\n PHI. Then bairnes may not be spared?\n\n EPI. Yea, not a haire the lesse of my conclusion. For they are not\n that capable of reason as to practise such things.\u2019\n\nBefore quitting the subject of witches for cases of witchcraft, it occurs\nto me that I have omitted one or two peculiarities relating to them. First\nof all, one personal peculiarity they had, according to the infallible\nauthority Bodin--an inability to weep, or, at all events, they could only\nscrew out three tears. And this was a great test, so much so that a form\nof conjuration is given in the \u2018Malleus Maleficarum,\u2019 and translated by\nScot, which bears strongly upon this point: \u2018I coniure thee by the amorous\nteares, which Jesus Christ our Saviour shed upon the crosse for the\nsaluation of the world; and by the most earnest and burning teares of his\nmother the most glorious virgine _Marie_, sprinkled upon his wounds late\nin the euening; and by all the teares which euerie saint and elect vessell\nof God hath poured out heere in the world, and from whose eies he hath\nwiped away all teares; that, if thou be without fault, thou maist poure\ndowne teares abundantlie; and, if thou be guiltie, that thou weepe in no\nwise: In the name of the father, of the sonne, and of the holie ghost:\nAmen. And note (saith he) that the more you coniure, the lesse she\nwepeth.\u2019\n\nBut the same authority says: \u2018She must be well looked unto, otherwise she\nwill put spettle priuilie upon hir cheeks, and seeme to weepe.\u2019 King James\nsays, \u2018Not so much as their eies are able to shead teares, (threaten and\ntorture them as yee please) ... albeit the women kinde especially, be able\notherwaies to shead teares at every light occasion when they will, yea,\nalthough it were dissemblingly like the _Crocodiles_.\u2019\n\nHe also says, with reference to their inability to sink in water: \u2018It\nappeares that God hath appointed (for a supernatural signe of the\nmonstrous impiety of Witches) that the water shall refuse to receive them\nin her bosome, that have shaken off them the sacred Water of Baptisme, and\nwilfully refused the benefite thereof.\u2019\n\nThis ordeal by water has been practised to a very late date, and \u2018swimming\nher for a witch\u2019 has been often heard in this century. The scientific and\nproper method of preparing the witch is by tying her right thumb to her\nleft great toe, and _vice vers\u00e2_, and this ordeal had this simplicity: If\nthe putative witch sank well, she was innocent; and if she swam, she could\neither be ducked and ill treated till she died, as too often was the case,\nor she was _ipso facto_ a confessed witch.\n\nAnother ordeal was, to take a piece of the thatch from off the reputed\nwitch\u2019s cottage, and set fire to it; if she came to the person so burning\nthe thatch, her witchcraft was incontestable.\n\nAnother was, to weigh the witch against the church Bible, and this test,\ntoo, has come down to modern times. One instance will suffice. \u2018One\n_Susana Hannokes_, an elderly woman of _Wingrove_, near _Aylesbury_, was\naccused by a neighbour for bewitching her spinning wheel, so that she\ncould not make it go round, and offered to make oath of it before a\nmagistrate; on which, the husband, in order to justify his wife, insisted\nupon her being tried by the church Bible, and that the accuser should be\npresent: accordingly, she was conducted to the parish church, where she\nwas stript of all her cloathes to her shift and under-coat, and weighed\nagainst the Bible; when, to the no small mortification of her accuser,\nshe out-weighed it, and was honourably acquitted of the charge.\u2019[39]\n\nBut in this nineteenth century of ours, with all its boasted civilization,\nwitchcraft is still believed in in England, as the following two or three\ninstances will testify:\n\nS. A. S., writing in _Notes and Queries_, June 25, 1853, says, \u2018A\ncottager, who does not live five minutes\u2019 walk from my house, found his\npig seized with a strange and unaccountable disorder. He, being a sensible\nman, instead of asking the advice of a veterinary surgeon, immediately\nwent to the white witch (a gentleman who drives a flourishing trade in\nthis neighbourhood). He received his directions, and went home, and\nimplicitly followed them. In perfect silence, he went to the pigsty; and,\nlancing each foot and both ears of the pig, he allowed the blood to run\ninto a piece of common dowlas. Then, taking two large pins, he pierced the\ndowlas in opposite directions; and, still keeping silence, entered his\ncottage, locked the door, placed the bloody rag upon the fire, heaped up\nsome turf over it, and, reading a few verses of the Bible, waited till the\ndowlas was burned. As soon as this was done, he returned to the pigsty;\nfound his pig perfectly restored to health, and, _mirabile dictu!_ as the\nwhite witch had predicted, the old woman, who it was supposed had\nbewitched the pig, came to inquire after the pig\u2019s health. The animal\nnever suffered a day\u2019s illness afterwards. My informant was the owner of\nthe pig himself.\n\n\u2018Perhaps, when I heard this story, there may have been a lurking\nexpression of doubt upon my face, so that my friend thought it necessary\nto give me farther proof. Some time ago, a lane in this town began to be\nlooked upon with a mysterious awe, for every evening a strange white\nrabbit would appear in it, and, running up and down, would mysteriously\ndisappear. Dogs were frequently put on the scent, but all to no purpose,\nthe white rabbit could not be caught; and rumours began to assert pretty\nconfidently that the white rabbit was nothing more nor less than a witch.\nThe man whose pig had been bewitched was all the more confident, as, every\nevening when the rabbit appeared, he had noticed the bedroom window of his\nold enemy\u2019s window open! At last, a large party of bold-hearted men, one\nevening, were successful enough to find the white rabbit in a garden, the\nonly egress from which is through a narrow passage between two cottages,\nall the rest of the garden being securely surrounded by brick walls.\n\n\u2018They placed a strong guard in this entry, to let nothing pass, while the\nremainder advanced as skirmishers among the cabbages: one of these was\nsuccessful, and caught the white rabbit by the ears, and, not without some\ntrepidation, carried it towards the reserve in the entry. But, as he came\nnearer to his friends, his courage grew, and gradually, all the wrongs his\npoor pig had suffered took form and vigour in a powerful kick at the poor\nlittle rabbit. No sooner had he done this than, he cannot tell how, the\nrabbit was out of his grasp; the people in the entry saw it come, but\ncould not stop it; through them all it went, and has never been seen\nagain.\n\n\u2018But now to the proof of the witchcraft. The old woman, whom all\nsuspected, was laid up in her bed for three days afterwards, unable to\nwalk about, all the consequence of the kick she had received in the shape\nof a white rabbit!\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\n Commencement of Witchcraft in England--Dame Eleanor Cobham--Jane\n Shore--Lord Huntingford--Cases from the Calendars of State\n Papers--Earliest Printed Case, that of John Walsh--Elizabeth\n Stile--Three Witches tried at Chelmsford--Witches of St.\n Osyth--Witches of Warboys--Witches of Northamptonshire.\n\n\nAt what date the higher cult of sorcery or magic became the drivel known\nas witchcraft is uncertain. I am almost inclined to place it (in England)\nat 1441; but then the charge was purely political, and I think that the\nCalendars of State Papers for nearly a century afterwards bear the\nstatement out, that for some time afterwards they were so. The case of\nDame Eleanor Cobham is very tersely told in \u2018Baker\u2019s Chronicle.\u2019[40]\n\n\u2018Whilst these Alterations passed in _France_, a more unnatural (_sic_)\npassed in _England_; the Uncle riseth against the Nephew, the Nephew\nagainst the Uncle; the Duke of _Gloucester_ brings Articles against the\nCardinal, charging him with affecting Preheminence, to the Derogation of\nthe King\u2019s Prerogative, and Contempt of his Laws; which Articles are\ndelivered to the King, and by him to his Council, who, being most of the\nClergy, durst not meddle in them, for fear of offending the Cardinal. On\nthe other Side, the Cardinal, finding nothing whereof directly to accuse\nthe Duke of _Gloucester_ himself, accuseth his other self, the Lady\n_Eleanor Cobham_, the Duke\u2019s Wife, of Treason for attempting, by Sorcery\nand Witchcraft, the Death of the King, and Advancement of her Husband to\nthe Crown: For which, tho\u2019 acquitted of the Treason, she is adjudged to\nopen Penance, namely, to go with a Wax Taper in her hand, Hoodless (save\nthrough a Kerchief) through _London_, divers Days together, and after, to\nremain in perpetual imprisonment in the _Isle of Man_. The Crime objected\nagainst her was, procuring _Thomas Southwel_, _John Hunne_, Priests,\n_Roger Bolingbroke_, a supposed Necromancer, and _Margery Jordan_, called\nthe Witch of _Eye_, in _Suffolk_, to devise a Picture of Wax in Proportion\nof the King, in such sort by Sorcery, that, as the Picture consumed, so\nthe King\u2019s body should consume: For which they were all condemned. The\nWitch was burnt at _Smithfield_, _Bolingbroke_ was hanged, constantly\naffirming upon his Death, That neither the Duchess, nor any other from\nher, did ever require more of him, than only to know, by his Art, how long\nthe King should live. _John Hunne_ had his Pardon, and _Southwel_ died the\nNight before he should have been executed.\u2019\n\nShakespeare takes up the common tale about the bewitchment of Richard III.\n(Act III., scene 4):\n\n \u2018GLOUCESTER. Then be your eyes the witness of their evil;\n Look how I am bewitch\u2019d; behold my arm\n Is, like a blasted sapling, wither\u2019d up:\n And this is Edward\u2019s wife, that monstrous witch,\n Consorted with that harlot-strumpet Shore,\n That, by their witchcraft, thus have mark\u00e8d me.\u2019\n\nMonarchs in the sixteenth century were especially jealous (for their own\nsakes) of this trafficking with the foul fiend. According to Hutchinson,\nin 1541, \u2018The Lord _Hungerford_ beheaded for procuring certain Persons to\nconjure, that they might know how long _Henry_ VIII. would live.\u2019 Another\nauthority, however, states that \u2018Lord Hungerford was attainted and\nexecuted, for keeping an heretical chaplain.\u2019\n\nQueen Elizabeth in 1562 being suspicious of the Countess of Lenox, had her\nimprisoned on a trumped-up case of sorcery and witchcraft. But the Devil\nevidently had a spite against this Protestant Princess, for in the\nCalendar of State Papers for 1584 we read, \u2018The Names of the Confederates\nagainst Her Majesty, who have diverse and sundry times conspired her life,\nand do daily confederate against her.\u2019 Among others we find Lord Paget,\nSir Geo. Hastings, Sir Thos. Hamner, \u2018Ould Birtles the great devel,\nDarnally the sorcerer, Maude Twogood enchantresse, the ould witch of\nRamsbury, several other olde witches, Gregson the north tale teller, who\nwas one of them 3 that stole awaye the Earle of Northumberlande\u2019s head\nfrome one of the turrettes of York &c.\u2019\n\nWe can scarcely wonder at the hatred of James I. of England to witches,\nseeing how he had been pestered with them in his realm of Scotland, two\ninstances of which are recorded in the Calendars of State Papers. \u20181591.\n21 May. Witches have been discovered in Scotland, who practised the King\u2019s\ndeath, with the privity of Bothwell.\u2019 \u20181600 16/20 Ap. The Queen of\nScotland is said to be a zealous Catholic, and the King inclined thereto,\nbecause an _Agnus Dei_ given him by the Queen had miraculously saved him\nin a tempest at sea, stirred up by witches, as the Witches themselves\nconfess.\u2019\n\nIt is a curious fact, well worthy the thinking over, that England and\nEurope had a comparative immunity from the assaults of the Devil, until\nafter the Reformation, when for a time he became rampagious, troubling\neven the arch-Reformer Luther himself.\n\nThe earliest English printed book on witchcraft, pure and simple, that I\ncan find is \u2018The Examination of John Walsh,\u2019 London, 1566. He confessed to\nhaving trafficked with \u2018Feries\u2019 and learned much from them respecting\nstolen goods and bewitched people; but in replying to his eighth\ninterrogatory, \u2018He being demaunded whether he had euer any Familiar or no;\nhe sayth that he had one of his sayde mayster. Which Familiar (after his\nbooke of Circles was taken from him by one Robert Baber of Crokehorne,\nthen being Constable, in the yeare 1565) he could neuer do anything\ntouching his Familiar, nor the use thereof, but hys Familiar dyd then\ndepart from him, and wyll neuer come to him agayne, as he sayth. And\nfurther, he sayth upon his oth, that his familiar would sometyme come unto\nhym lyke a gray blackish Culuer,[41] and somtyme lyke a brended Dog, and\nsometimes lyke a man in all proportions, sauinge that he had clouen feete.\n\n\u2018Ninthly, he being demaunded howe long he had the use of the Familiar; he\nsayd one yeare by his sayd masters life, and iiii yeres after his death.\nAnd when he would call him for a horse stollen, or for any other matter\nwherein he would use him; he sayth hee must geue hym some lyuing thing, as\na Chicken, a Cat, or a Dog. And further he sayth he must geue hym twoo\nlyuing thynges once a yeare. And at the first time when he had the\nSpirite, hys sayd maister did cause him to deliuer him one drop of his\nblud, whych bloud the Spirite did take away upon hys paw.\n\n\u2018Tenthly, he sayth that when the Familiar should doo anything at his\ncommaundment, in going any arrant; he would not go, except fyrst two wax\ncandels of Virgin Waxe should first haue bene layd a crosse upon the\nCircle, wyth a little Frankensence, and saynt John\u2019s woorte, and once\nlighted, and so put out agayne: which Frankensence must be layd then at\neuery end of the Candel, as he sayth a crosse, and also a litle\nFrankensence with saynt John\u2019s woort burned upon the grounde, or euen the\nFamiliar would go the message, and returne agayne at the houre\nappoynted....\n\n\u2018... He being further demaunded to what end y{e} Spirits, in the likenes\nof Todes and the pictures of man or woman made in wax or clay, doo serue?\nHe sayde, that Pictures made in wax wyll cause the partye (for whom it is\nmade) to continue sycke twoo whole yeares ere the wax will be consumed.\nAnd, as for the Pictures of Claye, their confection is after this maner.\nThey use to take the earth of a new made graue, the rib bone of a man or\nwoman burned to ashes: if it be for a woman, they take the bone of a\nwoman, if for a man, the bone of a man, and a blacke Spider, with an inner\npith of an elder, tempered all in water, in which water the sayd Todes (?\nImages) must fyrst be washed. And after all ceremonies ended, they put a\npricke, that is a pyn or a thorne in any member wher they wold haue the\nparty greued. And if the sayde prycke be put to the harte, the party dieth\nwithin nine daies. Which Image they burne in the moste moystest place they\ncan finde. And, as touching the using of the Todes, the which he sayth\nhaue seueral names; soon they cal great Brownyng, or little Brownyng, or\nBoune, great Tom Twite, or litle Tom Twite, with other like names; Which\nTodes being called, the Witches strike with II withie sperres on both\nsydes of y{e} head, and saieth to the Spirit, their Pater noster backward,\nbeginning at the ende of the Pater noster, but they wyll neuer say their\nCreede. And when he is stricken, they commaunde the Tode, to hurt such a\nman or woman as he would haue hurted. Whereto, if he swell, he will goo\nwher he is apointed, either to the deiry, brewhouse, or to the dry kill of\nmalt, or to the Cattell in the field, to the stable, to the shepefold, or\nto any other like places, and so returne agayne to his place.\n\n\u2018The bodies of men or women bee hurt by the Images before named, and mens\ngoods and cattels be hurt by the Todes, in commaunding and using them, as\naforesaid as he sayth. And if the Tode Called forth, as afore said, do not\nswell, then will the Witch that useth them call forth an other to do the\nact, which, if he do not, then will they spy another tyme when they may\ncause the partye to be found lacking fayth, or els to bee more voide of\ngrace, whereby he or they may be hurt. Furthermore he saith, that whoso\ndoth, once a day saye the Lorde\u2019s prayer and his Creede in perfite\ncharitie, the Witch shall haue no power on his body or goodes for that\nday.\u2019\n\nThe witchcrafts of Elizabeth Stile[42] and her four companions were\ndecidedly malicious according to her printed confession, but according to\nher own account they did not prosper, and her state before their trial and\nexecution seems to have been most pitiable.\n\n\u2018Also this is not to be forgotten, that the said Mother Stile, beeyng at\nthe tyme of her apprehension, so well in healthe of bodie and limmes, that\nshe was able, and did goe on foote from Windsor unto Readyng unto the\nGaile, which are twelue miles distant. Shortly after that she had made the\naforesaid confession, the other Witches were apprehended, and were brought\nto the said Gaile, the said Mother Deuell did so bewitche her and others,\n(as she confessed unto the Iailer) with her Enchantments, that the use of\nall her limmes and senses were taken quite from her, and her Toes did\nrotte offe her feete, and she was laied uppon a Barrowe, as a moste uglie\ncreature to beholde, and so brought before the Iudges, at such tyme as\nshe was arraigned.\u2019\n\nIn the next little book of the same year \u2018A Detection of damnable driftes,\npractized by three Witches arraigned at Chelmissforde in Essex, at the\nlate Assizes there holden, whiche were executed in Aprill 1579.\u2019 In\nreality there were four witches, but one was not convicted, as no\nmanslaughter could be found about her. I propose to give one little\nanecdote of each, whereby we shall find out something of the Devil\u2019s\nappearance to witches, their families, and their extreme malice in petty\nthings.\n\n\u2018Imprimis, the saied Elizabeth Fraunces confessed that about Lent last,\n(as she now remembreth) she came to one Poole\u2019s wife, her neighbour, and\nrequired some old yest of her, but beyng denied the same, she departed\ntowardes one good wife Osborne\u2019s house, a neighbour dwelling thereby, of\nwhome she had yest; and, in her waie, going towards the saied good wife\nOsborne\u2019s house, she cursed Poole\u2019s wife, and badde a mischief to light\nuppon her, for that she would giue her no yest. Whereuppon, sodenly, in\nthe waie, she heard a greate noise; and, presently there appered unto her\na Spirite of a white colour, in seemyng like to a little rugged Dogge,\nstandyng neere her uppon the grounde, who asked her whether she went? shee\naunswered for such thinges as she wanted, and she tolde him therewith that\nshe could gette no yeest of Poole\u2019s wife, and therefore wished the same\nSpirite to goe to her and plague her, whiche the Spirite promised to doe;\nbut, first he bad her giue him somewhat; then, she, hauing in her hand a\ncrust of white bread, did bite a peece thereof, and threwe it uppon the\ngrounde, whiche she thinketh he tooke up, and so went his waie: but,\nbefore he departed from her, she willed hym to plague Poole\u2019s wife in the\nhead, and since that she neuer sawe him, but she hath hearde by her\nneighbours that the same Poole\u2019s wife was greuously pained in her head not\nlonge after, and remayneth very sore payned still, for on saterdaie last\npast this Examinate Talked with her.\u2019\n\nIn \u2018The euidence giuen against Elleine Smithe of Maldon\u2019 we find:\n\u2018Besides, the sonne of this Mother Smith confessed that his mother did\nkeepe three Spirites, whereof the one called by her great Dicke, was\nenclosed in a Wicker Bottle; the seconde named little Dicke, was putte\ninto a Leather Bottle; And the third, termed Willet, she kept in a\nWollepacke. And thereupon the house was commaunded to be searched. The\nBottles and packe were found, but the Spirites were vanished awaie.\u2019\nNevertheless this charming Master Smith had done his little utmost to\nhasten his mother\u2019s immortality.\n\nMother Staunton, of Wimbishe, was the one who was not convicted, but\nthings must have looked rather black against her. \u2018Item, she came on a\ntyme to the house of one Richard Saunder of Brokewalden; and, beeyng\ndenied Yeest, which she required of his wife, she went hir waie murmuryng,\nas offended with her answere, and, after her departure, the yonge child in\nthe Cradle was taken vehemently sicke, in a merveilous strange maner,\nwhereuppon the mother of the Childe tooke it up in her armes to comforte\nit, whiche beynge done, the Cradle rocked of it self, five or seuen tymes,\nin presence of one of the Earle of Surreis gentilmen; who, seying it,\nstabbed his dagger three or fower tymes into the Cradle ere it staied;\nmerily jesting and saiyng, that he would kill the Deuill, if he would be\nrocked there.\u2019\n\nThe worst I know about Mother Nokes, the last of this quatrain of witches,\nis as follows: \u2018A Certaine Seruant to Thomas Spycer of Lamberd Ende, in\nEssex, yoman, sporting and passing away the time in play with a great\nnumber of youth, chaunced to snatche a paire of Gloues out of the pockette\nof this Mother Nokes\u2019 Daughter, being a yong woman of the age of xxviij\nyeres, which he protesteth to haue done in iest. Her mother perceiuyng it,\ndemaunded the Gloues of him, but he, geuing no greate eare to her wordes,\ndeparted towardes the feeldes to fetch home certeine Cattell. Immediately\nupon his departure, quoth the same Mother Nokes, to her Daughter, lette\nhim alone, I will bounce him well enough; at which time he, being\nsodainely taken, and losing the use of his limmes, fell downe. There was a\nboye then in his Companie, by whome he sent the Gloues to Mother Nokes.\nNotwithstanding, his Maister was faine to cause him to be sent home in a\nWheele Barrowe, and to bee laide into a bedde, wherewith his legges a\ncrosse he lay bedred eight daies, and as yet hath not attayned to the\nright use of his lymmes.\u2019\n\nIn 1582 were the witches of St. Osyth, in Essex,[43] but, as they are too\nmany to particularize, a summary, which appears at the end of the book,\nmay best be given:\n\n\n\u2018THE NAMES OF XIII WITCHES AND THOSE THAT HAUE BEEN BEWITCHED BY THEM.\n\n\u2018The Names of those persons that haue been bewitched and thereof haue\ndyed, and by whome, and of them that haue receiued bodyly harme &c. As\nappeareth upon sundrye Enformations, Examinations and Confessions, taken\nby the worshipfull Bryan Darcy, Esq{re}: And by him certified at large\nunto the Queene\u2019s Maiesties Justices of Assise of the Countie of Essex,\nthe xxix of March, 1582.\n\n\u20181. Ursley Kempe, alias Grey, bewitched to death Kempes Wife, Thorlowes\nChilde, Strattons Wife.\n\n\u2018The said Ursley Kemp had foure spyrites, viz. their names, _Tetty_ a hee,\nlike a gray Cat; _Jack_, a hee, like a black Cat: _Pygin_, a she, like a\nblack Toad, and _Tyffyn_, a she, like a white Lambe. The hees were to\nplague to death, and the shees to punish with bodily harme and to destroy\ncattell. _Tyffyn_, Ursley\u2019s white spirit did tell her alwayes (when she\nasked) what the other witches had done: And by her, the most part were\nappelled, which spirit telled her alwayes true. As is well approued by the\nother Witches Confession.\n\n\u20182. Ales Newman and Ursley Kempe bewitched to death Letherdailes Childe\nand Strattons Wife.\n\n\u2018The sayd Ales Newman had the said Ursley Kemps spirits to use at her\npleasure.\n\n\u2018The sayd Ales and Ursley Kempe bewitched Strattons Childe and Grace\nThorlowe, whereof they did languish.\n\n\u20183. Elizabeth Bennet bewitched to death William Byet and Joan his wife,\nand iii of his beasts. The Wife of William Willes and William Willingalle.\n\n\u2018Elizabeth Bennet bewitched William Bonners Wife, John Batler, Fortunes\nChilde, whereof they did languish.\n\n\u2018Elizabeth Bennet had two Spirits, viz. their name Suckyn, a hee, like a\nblacke Dog: and Lyard, red lyke a Lyon or Hare.\n\n\u2018Ales Newman bewitched to death John Johnson and his Wife, and her owne\nhusband, as it is thought.\n\n\u20184. Ales Hunt bewitched to death Rebecca Durrant and vi beasts of one\nHaywardes.\n\n\u2018Ales Hunt had two spirits lyke Coltes, the one blacke, the other white.\n\n\u20185. Cysley Celles bewitched to death Thomas Deaths Child. And bewitched\nRosses mayde, Mary Death, whereof they did languish.\n\n\u20186. Cysley Celles and Ales Manfielde bewitched Richard Rosses horse and\nbeasts, and caused their Impes to burne a barne with much corne.\n\n\u2018Cysley Celles had two Spirits by severall names, viz. Sothrons, Herculus,\nJack, or Mercury.\n\n\u20187. Ales Manfielde and Margaret Greuell bewitched to death Robert Cheston\nand Greuell Husband to Margaret.\n\n\u2018Ales Manfielde and Margaret Greuell bewitched the widdow Cheston and her\nhusband\u2019s v beasts, and one bullocke, and seuerall brewinges of beere and\nbatches of bread.\n\n\u2018Ales Manfield and Margaret Greuell had in common, by agreement, iiii\nspirits, viz. their names, Robin, Jack, Will, Puppet, alias Magnet,\nwhereof two were hees, and two shees, lyke unto black Cats.\n\n\u20188. Elizabeth Eustace bewitched to death Robert Stanneuette\u2019s Childe and\nThomas Crosse. And bewitched Robert Stannevette\u2019s vii milch beasts, which\ngaue blood insteede of milke, and seuerall of his Swine dyed.\n\n\u2018Elizabeth Eustace had iii Impes or Spirits, of coulour white, grey and\nblack.\n\n\u20189. Annys Herde bewitched to death Richard Harrison\u2019s wife and two wives\nof William Dowsing, as it is supposed. And bewitched Cartwright two\nbeasts. Wade, sheep and lambs, &c. West, swine and pigs. Osborne, a\nbrewing of beere, and seuerall other losses of milke and creame.\n\n\u201810. Annis Herd had vi Impes or spirites like auises and black byrdes, And\nvi other like Kine, of the bygnes of Rats, with short hornes: the Auises\nshee fed with wheat, barly, Otes and bread, the Kine with straw and hey.\n\n\u201811. Margery Sammon had two spirits like Toads, their names Tom and Robyn.\n\n\u201812. Annis Glascoke bewitched to death Mychell Steuens Childe, The base\nChilde at Pages, William Pages Childe.\n\n\u201813. Annis Glascocke, Joan Pechey, Joan Robinson. These haue not confessed\nany thing touching the hauing of spirits.\u2019\n\nSo we see that eleven out of fourteen women confessed not only all that\nwas alleged against them; but many of them went out of their way to oblige\nQueen Elizabeth\u2019s judges, by confessing more. It seems incredible,\nnevertheless it is true.\n\nNot half so interesting is \u2018The most strange and admirable discouerie of\nthe three Witches of Worboys,\u2019 etc., London, 1593. And, besides, it is\nsuch a hackneyed case that it is not worth mentioning, save for the fact\nthat three people were done to death for it, and that money was left for a\nsermon to be preached in Huntingdon, annually, in commemoration of the\nfact--a bequest that has now lapsed, the money, of course, disappearing\ninto someone\u2019s pocket.\n\nFar rarer is the story of \u2018The Witches of Northamptonshire, Agnes Browne,\nJoane Vaughan, Arthur Bill, Hellen Ienkenson, and Mary Barber, Witches,\nwho were all executed at Northampton, the 22 of Iuly last, 1612.\u2019\nUnfortunately, it is too long for reproduction here in its entirety, which\nis a pity, as the story is told by one who would have shone as a\npolice-court reporter to a certain section of modern journals; but a\nportion of it I may give:\n\n\u2018This _Agnes Browne_ led her life at _Gilsborough_ in the county of\n_Northampton_, of poore parentage, and poorer education, one that, as shee\nwas borne to no good, was, for want of grace neuer in the way to receiue\nany; euer noted to bee of an ill nature and wicked disposition, spightful\nand malitious, and many yeares before she died, both hated and feared\namong her neighbours: Being long suspected in the Towne where she dwelt,\nof that crime, which afterwards proved true. This _Agnes Browne_ had a\ndaughter whose name was _Ioane Vaughan_ or _Varnham_, a maide (or at least\nunmarried) as gratious as the mother, and both of them as farre from grace\nas Heauen from Hell.\n\n\u2018This _Ioane_ was so well brought up under her mother\u2019s elbow, that shee\nhangd with her for company under her mother\u2019s nose. But to the purpose.\nThis _Ioane_ one day happening into the company of one Mistris _Belcher_,\na vertuous and godly Gentlewoman of the same towne of _Gilsborough_, this\n_Ioane Vaughan_, whether of purpose to giue occasion of anger to the said\nMistris _Belcher_, or but continue her vile and ordinary custome of\nbehauiour, committed something either in speech or gesture, so unfitting\nand unseeming the nature of womanhood, that it displeased the most that\nwere there present: But especially it touched the modesty of this\nGentlewoman, who was much mooued with her bold and impudent demeanor, that\nshe could not contain herselfe, but sodainely rose up and strooke her;\nhowbeit hurt her not, but forced her to auoid the Company: which this\nChicken of the Damme\u2019s hatching, taking disdainfully, and beeing also\nenraged (as they that in this kind having power to harme, have neuer\npatience to beare) at her going out, told the Gentlewoman that shee would\nremember this iniury, and revenge it: To whom Mistris _Belcher_ answered,\nthat shee neither feared her, nor her mother; but bad her doe her worst.\n\n\u2018This trull holding herselfe much disgraced, hies home in all hast to her\nmother; and telles her the wrong which shee suggested Mistris _Belcher_\nhad done unto her: Now was the fire and the tow all enflamed: Nothing but\nrage and destruction: Had they had an hundred Spirits at command, the\nworst and the most hurtfull had been called to this counsell, and imployed\nabout this businesse. Howbeit upon advise (if such a sinne may take or\ngive aduise) they staied three or foure daies before they practised\nanything, to aduoid suspition, whether the mother aduised the daughter, or\nthe daughter the mother, I know not, but I am sure the deuill neuer giues\nadvise to any man or any woman in any act to be wary.\n\n\u2018The matter thus sleeping (but rage and reuenge doe neuer rest) within a\nwhile was awaked, which Mistris _Belcher_, to her intollerable paine too\nsoone felt: For being alone in her house, she was sodainely taken with\nsuch a griping and gnawing in her body, that shee cried out, and could\nscarce bee held by such as came unto her. And being carried to her bed,\nher face was many times so disfigured by beeing drawn awrie, that it both\nbred feare, and astonishment to all the beholders; and euer as shee had\nbreath she cried, _Here comes Ioane Vaughan, away with Ioane Vaughan_.\n\n\u2018This Gentlewoman being a long time thus strangely handled, to the great\ngriefe of her friends, it happened that her brother, one Master _Auery_,\nhearing of his Sisters sicknesse and extremity, came to see her, and,\nbeing a sorrowfull beholder of that which before hee had heard, was much\nmoued in his minde at his Sisters pitifull condition, and the rather, for\nthat as hee knew not the nature of her disease, so hee was utterly\nignorant of any direct way to minister cure or helpe to the same. Hee\noften heard her cry out against _Ioane Vaughan_ alias _Varnham_, and her\nmother, and heard by report of the neighbours that which before had\nhappened betwixt his Sister and the said _Ioane_. In so much as having\nconfirmed his suspition that it was nothing else but Witch-craft, that\ntormented his Sister, following Rage rather than Reason, ran sodainly\ntowards the house of the said _Agnes Browne_ with purpose to draw both the\nmother and the daughter to his Sister for her to draw blood on; But, still\nas he came neere the house, hee was sodainely stopped, and could not\nenter, whether it was an astonishment thorough his feare, or that the\nSpirits had that power to stay him, I cannot iudge, but he reported at his\ncomming backe that hee was forcibly stayed, and could not, for his life,\ngoe any further forward; and they report, in the Country, that hee is a\nGentleman of a stoute courage. Hee tried twice or thrice afterwards to goe\nto the house, but in the same place where he was staied at first, he was\nstill staied: Belike, the Deuill stood there Centinell, kept his station\nwell.\n\n\u2018Upon this Master _Auery_ beeing sory and much agrieued, that he could\nnot helpe his Sister in this tormenting distresse; and, finding also that\nno physicke could doe her any good or easement, tooke a sorrowfull leaue\nand heauily departed home to his owne house.\n\n\u2018The Impe of this Damme, and both Impes of the Deuill, being glad that\nthey were both out of his reach, shewed presently that they had longer\narmes than he, for he felt, within a short time after his comming home,\nthat hee was not out of their reach, beeing, by the deuilish practises of\nthese two hel-houndes sodenly and grieuously tormented in the like kinde\nand with the like fits of his sister, which continued untill these two\nwitches either by the procurement of Maister _Auery_ and his friends (or\nfor some other Deuilish practise they had committed in the Countrey) were\napprehended and brought to _Northampton_ Gaole by Sir _William Saunders_\nof _Codesbrooke_, Knight.\n\n\u2018To which place the Brother and the Sister were brought, still desirous to\nscratch the Witches. Which Act, whether it be but superstitiously obserued\nby some; or, that experience hath found any power for helpe in this kind\nof Action by others, I list not to enquire, onely this I understand that\nmany haue attempted the practising thereof, how successfully, I know not.\nBut this Gentleman and his Sister beeing brought to the gaole where these\nWitches were detained, hauing once gotten sight of them, in their fits the\nWitches being held, by scratching, they drew blood of them, and were\nsodainely deliuered of their paine. Howbeit, they were no sooner out of\nsight, but they felle againe into their old traunces, and were more\nviolently tormented than before: for when Mischiefe is once a foote, she\ngrowes in short time so headstrong, that she is hardly curbed.\n\n\u2018Not long after, Maister _Auery_ and his Sister hauing beene both in\n_Northampton_, and hauing drawne blood of the Witches, ryding both\nhomewards in one Coach, there appeared to their view a man and a woman\nryding both upon a blacke horse. M. _Auery_ hauing spyed them a farre off,\nand noting many strange gestures from them, sodainely spake to them that\nwere by, and (as it were Prophetically) cryed out in these words, That\neither they, or their Horses should presently miscarry. And, immediately,\nthe horses fell downe dead. Whereupon Maister _Auery_ rose up praysing\ny{e} grace and mercies of God, that he had so powerfully deliuered them,\nand had not suffered the foule spirits to worke the uttermost of their\nmischiefe upon men made after his image, but had turned their fury against\nBeasts. Upon this, they both hyed them home, still praysing God for their\nescape, and were neuer troubled after.\n\n\u2018I had almost forgotten to tell you before, that M. _Auery_ was by the\nJudges themselves in y{e} Castle Yard of _Northampton_, seene in the\nmiddest of his fits, and that he strangely continued in them untill this\n_Ioane Vaughan_ was brought to him.\n\n\u2018But now to draw neere unto their ends, this _Agnes Browne_ and her\ndaughter _Ioane Vaughan_, being brought to their Arraignment, were there\nindicted for that they had bewitched the bodies of Maister _Auery_ and his\nsister Mistris _Belcher_ in manner and forme aforesayd. Together with the\nbody of a young Child to the death; (the true relation whereof came not to\nmy hands). To all which they pleaded not guilty, and, putting themselues\nuppon the countrey, were found guilty. And when they were asked what they\ncould say for themselves, why y{e} sentence of death should not be\npronounced against them, they stood stiffely upon their Innocence.\nWhereupon, Judgement beeing giuen, they were carried backe unto the Gaole,\nwhere they were neuer heard to pray, or to call uppon God, but with bitter\nCurses and execrations, spent that little time they had to liue, untill\nthe day of their Execution, when neuer asking pardon for their offences,\neither of God, or the world, in this their daungerous and desperate\nresolution, dyed.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018It was credibly reported that some fortnight before their apprehension,\nthis _Agnes Browne_, one _Katherine Gardiner_, and one _Ioane Lucas_, all\nbirdes of a winge, and all abyding in the Towne of _Gilsborough_ did ride\none night to a place (not aboue a mile off) called _Rauenstrop_ all upon a\nSowes back, to see one mother _Rhoades_, an old Witch that dwelt there;\nbut, before they came to the house the old Witch died; and, in her last\ncast cried out, that there were three of her old friends comming to see\nher, but they came too late. Howbeit, shee would meete with them in\nanother place within a month after.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\n The Lancashire Witches--Janet Preston--Margaret and Philip\n Flower--Anne Baker, Joane Willimot, and Ellen Greene--Elizabeth\n Sawyer--Mary Smith--Joan Williford, Joan Cariden, and Jane Hott.\n\n\nThe foregoing sample must serve for the witches of Northamptonshire, nor\nwill I touch on the Lancashire witches, whose story appears in nearly\nevery modern work on witchcraft, and has been vulgarized by Harrison\nAinsworth, except to give a portion of the evidence of one James Device,\nof the forest of Pendle, labourer, in the case of Janet or Jennet Preston,\nwho was condemned as a witch, and executed at York in 1612.\n\n\u2018And he also further saith, That the said _Prestons_ wife had a Spirit\nwith her like unto a white Foale, with a blacke spot in the forehead. And\nfurther this Examinate saith, That since the said meeting, as aforesaid,\nthat he hath been brought to the house of one _Preston_ in _Gisburne_\nParish aforesaid, by _Henry Hargreiues_ of _Goldshey_, to see whether shee\nwas the woman that came amongst the said Witches, on the said last Good\nFriday, to crave their aide and assistance for the killing of the said\nMaster _Lister_; and hauing had full view of her, hee, this Examinate\nconfesseth, That she was the selfe-same woman which came amongst the said\nWitches on the said last Good Friday for their aide for the killing of the\nsaid Master _Lister_; and that brought the Spirit with her, in the shape\nof a White Foale, as aforesaid.\n\n\u2018And this Examinate further saith, that all the said Witches went out of\nthe said house in their owne shapes and likenesses, and they all, by that\nthey were forth of the doores, were gotten on horse-backe like unto\nFoales, some of one colour, some of another, and _Preston\u2019s_ wife was the\nlast; and when she got on horse-backe, they all presently vanished out of\nthis Examinate\u2019s sight; and before their said parting away, they all\nappointed to meete at the said _Preston\u2019s_ wife\u2019s house that day twelve\nmonth; at which time the said _Preston\u2019s_ wife promised to make them a\ngreat feast; and, if they had occasion to meet in the meane time, then\nshould warning be giuen that they should all meet upon _Romles Moore_. And\nthis Examinate further saith, That at the said feast at _Malkin Tower_,\nthis Examinate heard them all giue their consents to put the said Master\n_Thomas Lister_ of _Westby_ to death; and after Master Lister should haue\nbeen made away by Witchcraft, then al the said Witches gaue their consents\nto ioyne altogether to hancke Master _Leonard Lister_, when he should come\nto liue at the Sowgill, and so put him to death.\u2019\n\nThen we have \u2018The Wonderful Discouerie of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and\nPhilip Flower daughters of Ioan Flower, neere Beuer Castle: Executed at\nLincoln March 11, 1618. Who were specially arraigned and condemned before\nSir Henry Hobart, and Sir Edward Bromley, Iudges of Assise, for confessing\nthemselues actors in the destruction of Henry, Lord Rosse, with their\ndamnable practices against others the Children of the Right Honourable\nFrancis Earle of Rutland. Together with the seuerall Examinations and\nConfessions of Anne Baker, Ioan Willimot, and Ellen Greene, Witches in\nLeicestershire.\u2019 London, 1611.\n\n[Illustration]\n\nThe first case is a very ordinary one. The Flowers were discharged\nservants, and the children, after their leaving, sickened and died. The\nonly remarkable part about it is, that \u2018_Ioane Flower_, the Mother, before\nconviction (as they say) called for Bread and Butter, and wished it might\nneuer goe through her, if she were guilty of that, whereupon she was\nexamined; so, mumbling it in her mouth, neuer spake more wordes after, but\nfell downe and died as she was carried to _Lincolne_ Gaole, with a\nhorrible excruciation of soule and body, and was buried at _Ancaster_.\u2019\n\nThe portraits of the three witches do not prepossess us in their favour,\nand their confessions, on examination, fully bear out the feeling. Of the\nfirst: \u2018Further, she saith that shee saw a hand appeare unto her, and that\nshee heard a voyce in the ayre say unto her: _Anne Baker_, saue thyselfe,\nfor to-morrow, thou and thy maister must be slaine; and the next day her\nmaister and shee were in a Cart together; and suddainely shee saw a flash\nof fire, and said her prayers, and the fire went away; and shortly after,\na Crow came and picked upon her cloathes, and she said her prayers againe,\nand bad the Crow go to whom he was sent, and the Crow went unto her\nMaister, and did beat him to death, and shee, with her prayers recouered\nhim to life; but hee was sicke for a fortnight after, and saith, that if\nshee had not had more knowledge than her maister, both he and shee, and\nall the Cattell had been slaine.\u2019\n\nJoan Willimot tells the following extraordinary story: \u2018That shee hath a\nSpirit which shee calleth _Pretty_, which was given unto her by _William\nBerry_ of _Langholme_, in _Rutlandshire_, whom she serued three yeares:\nand that her Master, when hee gaue it unto her, willed her to open her\nmouth, and hee would blow into her a Fairy which should do her good; and\nthat shee opened her mouth, and hee did blow into her mouth; and that,\npresently, after his blowing, there came out of her mouth a Spirit, which\nstood upon the ground in the shape and forme of a Woman, which Spirit did\naske of her her Soule, which shee then promised unto it, being willed\nthereunto by her Master.\u2019\n\nThe third, Ellen Green, said \u2018that one _Ioan Willimot_ of _Goadby_ came\nabout sixe yeares since to her in the Wowlds, and purswaded this Examinate\nto forsake God, and betake her to the diuel, and she would give her two\nspirits; to which she gave her consent, and thereupon, the said _Ioan\nWillimot_ called two spirits, one in the likenesse of a Kitlin, and the\nother of a Moldiwarp:[44] the first the said _Willimot_ called _pusse_,\nthe other _hisse, hisse_, and they presently came to her, and she,\ndeparting, left them with this Examinate, and they leapt on her shoulder,\nand the Kitlin suckt under her right eare on her neck, and the Moldiwarp\non the left side, in the like place. After they had suckt her, shee sent\nthe Kitlin to a Baker of that Towne, whose name shee remembers not, who\nhad called her Witch and stricken her; and bad her said spirit goe and\nbewitch him to death: The Moldiwarpe shee then bad go to _Anne Dawse_, of\nthe same towne, and bewitch her to death, because she had called this\nexaminate witch, jade, &c., and within one fortnight after, they both\ndyed.\u2019\n\nThe case of Elizabeth Sawyer, known as the Witch of Edmonton, executed at\nTyburn, April 19, 1621, is so extraordinary that I give a large portion of\nthe tract _in extenso_:[45]\n\n\u2018A true relation of the confession of _Elizabeth Sawyer_, spinster, after\nher conviction of Witchery, taken on Tuesday the 17 day of _Aprill, Anno\n1621, in the Gaole of Newgate_, where she was prisoner, then in the\npresence and hearing of diuers persons whose names to verifie the same are\nhere subscribed to this ensuyng confession, made unto me, _Henry\nGoodcole_, Minister of the word of God, _Ordinary and Visiter for the\nGaole of Newgate_. In dialogue manner are here expressed the persons that\nshe murthered, and the Cattell that she destroyed by the helpe of the\nDiuell.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018In this manner was I inforced to speake unto her, because she might\nunderstand me, and giue unto me answere, according to my demands, for she\nwas a very ignorant woman.\n\n\u2018_Question._ By what meanes came you to have acquaintance with the Diuell,\nand when was the first time that you saw him, and how did you know that it\nwas the Diuell?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ The first time that the Diuell came unto me was when I was\ncursing, swearing, and blaspheming: he then rushed in upon me, and never\nbefore that time did I see him, or he me: and when he, namely the Diuell,\ncame to me, the first words that he spake unto me were these: _Oh! have I\nnow found you cursing, swearing, and blaspheming? now you are mine_.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018_Question._ What sayd you to the Diuell, when he came unto you and spake\nunto you, were you not afraide of him? If you did feare him, what sayd the\nDiuell then unto you?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ I was in a very greate feare when I saw the Diuell, but hee\ndid bid me not to feare him at all, for hee would do me no hurt at all,\nbut would do for mee whatsoeuer I would require of him; and as he promised\nunto me, he alwayes did such mischiefes as I did bid him to do, both on\nthe bodies of Christians and beastes: if I did bid him vexe them to death,\nas oftentimes I did so bid him, it was presently by him done.\n\n\u2018_Question._ Whether would the Diuell bring unto you word or no, what he\nhad done for you, at your command; and if he did bring you word, how long\nwould it bee, before he would come unto you againe, to tell you?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ He would alwayes bring unto me word what he had done for me\nwithin the space of a weeke; he neuer failed me at that time; and would\nlikewise do it to Creatures and beastes two manners of wayes, which was by\nscratching or pinching of them.\n\n\u2018_Question._ Of what Christians and Beastes, and how many were the number\nthat you were the cause of their death, and what moued you to prosecute\nthem to the death?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ I have been by the helpe of the Diuell the meanes of many\nChristians\u2019 and beasts\u2019 death; the cause that moued mee to do it was\nmalice and enuy; for, if anybody had angred me in any manner, I would be\nso revenged of them, and of their Cattell. And do now further confesse\nthat I was the cause of those two nurse children\u2019s death, for the which I\nwas now indicted, and acquited by the Iury.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018_Question._ How long is it since the Diuell and you had acquaintance\ntogether, and how oftentimes in the weeke would hee come and see you, and\nyou Company with him?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ It is eight yeares since our first acquaintance; and three\ntimes in the weeke the Diuell would come and see me, after such his\nacquaintance gotten of me; he would come sometimes in the morning, and\nsometimes in the evening.\n\n\u2018_Question._ In what shape would the Diuell come unto you?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ Alwayes in the shape of a dogge, and of two collors, sometimes\nof blacke, and sometimes of white.\n\n\u2018_Question._ What talke had the Diuel and you together, when that he\nappeared to you, and what did he aske of you--and what did you desire of\nhim?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ He asked of me when he came unto me, how I did, and what he\nshould doe for mee, and demanded of mee my soule and body; threatning then\nto tear me in pieces if I did not grant unto him my soule and my body,\nwhich he asked of me.\n\n\u2018_Question._ What did you after such the Diuel\u2019s asking of you, to have\nyour Soule and Body, and after this his threatning of you, did you for\nfeare grant unto the Diuell his desire?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ Yes; I granted for feare unto the Diuell his request of my\nsoule and body; and, to seale this my promise made unto him, I then gave\nhim leave to sucke of my bloud, the which hee asked of me.\n\n\u2018_Question._ In what place of your body did the Diuell sucke of your\nbloude and whether did hee himselfe chuse the place, or did you yourselfe\nappoint him the place?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ The place where the Diuell suckt my bloud was chosen by\nhimselfe, and in that place, by continuall drawing, there is a thing in\nthe forme of a Teate, at which the Diuell would sucke mee. And I asked the\nDiuell why he should sucke my bloud, and he sayd, it was to nourish him.\n\n\u2018_Question._ Whether did you pull up your Coates or no, when the Diuell\ncame to sucke you?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ No. I did not, but the Diuell would put his head under my\ncoates, and I did willingly suffer him to doe what he would.\n\n\u2018_Question._ How long would the time bee, that the Diuell would continue\nsucking of you, and whether did you endure any paine, the time that hee\nwas sucking of you?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ He would be suckinge of me the continuance of a quarter of an\nhoure, and when he suckt me I then felt no paine at all.\n\n\u2018_Question._ What was the meaning that the Diuell, when he came unto you,\nwould sometimes speake, and sometimes barke?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ It is thus: when the Diuell spake to me, then hee was ready to\ndoe for me what I bid him to doe; and when he came barking to mee, he then\nhad done the mischiefe that I did bid him to doe for me. I did call the\nDiuell by the name of Tom.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018_Question._ Did you euer handle the Diuell when he came unto you?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ Yes, I did stroake him on the backe, and then he would becke\nunto me, and wagge his tayle as being therewith contented.\n\n\u2018_Question._ Would the Diuell come unto you all in one bignesse?\n\n\u2018_Answere._ No; when hee came unto mee in the blacke shape, he then was\nbiggest, and in the white the least; and when that I was praying, hee then\nwould come unto me in the white colour.\u2019\n\nIn another narrative[46] we have a different description of the devil, and\nof his protean powers:\n\n\u2018_Marie_ wife of _Henrie Smith_, Glouer, possessed with a wrathfull\nindignation against some of her neighbours, in regard that they made gaine\nof their buying and selling Cheese, which shee (using the same trade)\ncould not doe, or they better, (at the least in her opinion than she\ndid,) often times cursed them, and became incensed with unruly passions,\narmed with a setled resolution to effect some mischieuous proiects and\ndesigns against them. The diuell, who is skilfull, and reioyceth of such\nan occasion offered, and knoweth how to stirre up the euill affected\nhumours of corrupt mindes, appeared unto her amiddes these\ndiscontentments, in the shape of a blacke man, and willed that she should\ncontinue in her malice, enuy, hatred, banning and cursing, and then he\nwould be reuenged for her upon all those to whom she wished euill: and\nthis promise was uttered in a lowe murmuring and hissing voyce: and, at\nthat present, they entred tearmes of a compact, he requiring that she\nshould forsake God, and depend upon him; to which she condescended in\nexpresse tearmes, renouncing God, and betaking herselfe unto him.\n\n\u2018After this, hee presented himselfe againe at sundrie times, and in other\nformes, as of a mist, and of a ball of fire, with some dispersed spangles\nof blacke, and at the last in prison (after the doome of iudgement, and\nsentence of condemnation was passed against her) two seuerall times, in\nthat figure as at the first: only at the last he seemed to haue a pair of\nhorns upon his head.\u2019\n\nMary Smith, if what is written about her be true, was a very powerful\nwitch. Many instances of her bewitching are given; but I think her spells\non one John Orkton, a sailor, were the worst. She cursed him, \u2018Whereupon,\npresently, hee grew weake, distempered in stomacke, and could digest no\nmeate, nor other nourishment receiued, and this discrasie, or feeblenesse\ncontinued for the space of three quarters of a yeare; which time expired,\nthe fore mentioned griefe fel downe from the stomacke into his hands and\nfeete, so that his fingers did corrupt and were cut off; as also his toes\nputrified and consumed in a very strange and admirable manner.\nNeverthelesse, notwithstanding these calamities, so long as he was able,\nwent still to Sea, in the goods and shippes of sundry Merchants (for it\nwas his onely meanes of living) but neuer could make any prosperous\nvoyage, eyther beneficiall to the Owners, or profitable to himselfe.\n\n\u2018Whereupon, not willing to bee hindrance to others, and procure no good\nfor his owne maintenance by his labours, left that trade of life, and kept\nhome, where his former griefe encreasing, sought to obtaine help and\nremedie by Chirurgerie; and, for this end, went to Yarmouth, hoping to be\ncured by one there, who was accompted very skilfull: but no medicines\napplyed by the Rules of Arte and Experience, wrought any expected or hoped\nfor effect; for both his hands and feete, which seemed in some measure,\neuery euening, to be healing, in the morning were found to have gone\nbackeward, and growne far worse than before. So that the Chirurgian,\nperceiuing his labour to bee wholly frustrate, gaue ouer the cure, and the\ndiseased patient still continueth in a most miserable and distressed\nestate, unto the which hee was brought by the hellish practises of this\nmalitious woman, who, long before, openly in the streetes, (when, as yet,\nthe neighbours knew of no such thing,) reioycing at the Calamity, said,\n_Orkton_ now lyeth a rotting.\u2019 She was executed January 12, 1616.\n\n\u2018The Examination, Confession, Triall and Execution of Joane Williford,\nJoan Cariden, and Jane Hott, who were executed at Faversham in Kent, for\nbeing Witches, on Munday, the 29 of September, 1645,\u2019 furnish us with\nother particulars, especially as they all confessed their crimes.\n\nJoan Williford confessed \u2018That the divell, about seven yeeres ago, did\nappeare to her in the shape of a little dog, and bid her to forsake God,\nand leane to him; who replied that she was loath to forsake him. Shee\nconfessed also that shee had a desire to be revenged upon _Thomas\nLetherland_ and _Mary Woodrufe_, now his wife. She further said that the\ndivell promised her that she should not lacke, and that she had money\nsometimes brought her, she knew not whence, sometimes one shilling,\nsometimes eightpence, never more at once: shee called her Divell by the\nname of _Bunne_. She further saith, that her retainer _Bunne_ carried\n_Thomas Gardler_ out of a window, who fell into a back side. She further\nsaith, that neere twenty years since, she promised her soule to the\nDivell. She further saith that she gave some of her blood to the Divell,\nwho wrote the covenant betwixt them. She further saith that the Divell\npromised to be her servant about twenty yeeres, and that the time is now\nalmost expired. She further saith that the Divell promised her that she\nshould not sinke, being throwne into the water, and that the Divell\nsucked twice since she came into the prison; he came to her in the forme\nof a Muce.\u2019\n\nJoan Cariden\u2019s confession was commonplace, but Jane Hott said that \u2018a\nthing like a hedge hog had usually visited her, and came to her a great\nwhile agoe, about twenty yeares agoe, and that if it sucked her, it was in\nher sleep, and the paine thereof awaked her, and it came to her once or\ntwice in the moneth, and sucked her, and when it lay upon her breast, she\nstrucke it off with her hand, and that it was as soft as a Cat.\n\n\u2018At her first coming into the Gaole, she spake very much to the other that\nwere apprehended before her, to confesse if they were guilty; and stood to\nit very perversely that she was cleare of any such thing, and that, if\nthey put her into the Water to try her, she should certainly sinke. But\nwhen she was put into the Water it was apparent that she did flote upon\nthe Water. Being taken forth, a Gentleman to whom, before, she had so\nconfidently spake, and with whom she offered to lay twenty shillings to\none that she could not swim, asked her how it was possible she could be so\nimpudent as not to confesse herselfe? To whom she answered, That the\nDivell went with her all the way, and told her that she should sinke; but\nwhen she was in the Water, he sate upon a Crosse beame and laughed at\nher.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\n Confessions of Witches executed in Essex--The Witches of\n Huntingdon--\u2018Wonderfull News from the North\u2019--Trial of Six Witches at\n Maidstone--Trial of Four Witches at Worcester--A Lancashire Witch\n tried at Worcester--A Tewkesbury Witch.\n\n\nA sickening story is told in \u2018A true and exact Relation of the seuerall\nInformations, Examinations, and Confessions of the late Witches, arraigned\nand executed in the County of Essex. Who were arraigned and condemned at\nthe late Sessions, holden at Chelmesford before the Right Honorable Robert\nEarle of Warwicke and severall of his Majesties Iustices of Peace, the 29\nof July 1645,\u2019 etc., London, 1645. In this veritable \u2018bloody assize,\u2019 the\nrascally Matthew Hopkins appears, and it would almost seem as if the poor\nwomen confessed anything in order to have the luxury of dying. The charges\nagainst them were so frivolous, and the confessions so silly, that they\nmust have either been imbecile or reckless. The following is a list of\nthem:\n\n Elizabeth Clarke confessed executed.\n Elizabeth Gooding denied do.\n Anne Leech confessed do.\n Helen Clark confessed executed.\n Rebecca West do. acquitted.\n Mary Greenleife denied fate unknown.\n Mary Johnson do. do.\n Anne Cooper confessed executed.\n Elizabeth Hare denied condemned, but reprieved.\n Margaret Moon do. died on the way to execution.\n Marian Hocket do. executed.\n Sarah Hating do. do.\n Rose Hallybread died in gaol.\n Elizabeth Harvie confessed executed.\n Joyce Boanes do. do.\n Susan Cock do. do.\n Margaret Landishe do. do.\n Rebecca Jones do. do.\n Joan Cooper do. died in gaol.\n Anne Cate do. executed.\n\nThe confession (!) of this latter will serve as an example of the\npuerility of them all.\n\n\u2018This Examinant saith, that she hath four Familiars, which shee had from\nher mother, about two and twenty yeeres since; and that the names of the\nsaid Imps are _James_, _Pricke eare_, _Robyn_, and _Sparrow_; and three of\nthese Imps are like Mouses, and the fourth like a Sparrow. And this\nExaminant saith, that to whomsoever shee sent the said Imp called\n_Sparrow_, it killed them presently; and that, first of all, she sent one\nof her three Imps like Mouses, to nip the Knee of one _Robert Freeman_,\nof _Little Clacton_, in the County of _Essex_, aforesaid, whom the said\nImp did so lame, that the said _Robert_ dyed on that lamenesse within half\na yeere after: And this Examinant saith, that she sent her said Imp,\n_Prickeare_ to kill the daughter of _John Rawlins_ of _Much-Holland_\naforesaid, which died accordingly within a short time after; and that she\nsent her said Imp _Prickeare_ to the house of one John Tillet; which did\nsuddenly kill the said Tillet.\n\n\u2018And this Examinant saith that shee sent her said Imp _Sparrow_, to kill\nthe childe of one _George Parby_ of _Much-Holland_ aforesaid, which child\nthe said Imp did presently kill; and that the offence this Examinant took\nagainst the said _George Parby_ to kill his said childe, was, because the\nwife of the said _Parby_ denyed to give this Examinant a pint of Milke;\nand this Examinant further saith that shee sent her said Imp _Sparrow_ to\nthe house of _Samuel Ray_, which, in a very short time did kill the wife\nof the said _Samuel_; and that the cause of this Examinant\u2019s malice\nagainst the said woman was, because shee refused to pay to this Examinant\ntwo pence which she challenged to be due to her; And that, afterwards, her\nsaid Imp _Sparrow_ killed the said Childe of the said _Samuel Ray_: and\nthis Examinant confesseth, that as soon as shee had received the said four\nImps from her said mother, the said Imps spake to this Examinant, and told\nher, shee must deny God and Christ, which this Examinant did then assent\nunto.\u2019\n\nIn \u2018The Witches of Huntingdon, their Examinations and Confessions,\u2019 etc.,\nLondon, 1646, we have eight cases of witchcraft which were tried at\ndifferent times early in 1646. Among these eight, two were men; but there\nis no record of the fate of any of them. They are the same old story, the\none with the most originality being that of Jane Willis, of Keiston, in\nthe county of Huntingdon.\n\n\u2018This Examinate saith, as she was making of her bedde in her Chamber,\nthere appeared in the shape of a man in blacke cloaths, and blackish\ncloaths about six weeks past, and bid her good morrow, and shee asked what\nhis name was, and he said his name was _Blackeman_, and asked her if she\nwere poore, and she said I:[47] then he told her he would send one\n_Grissell_ and _Greedigut_ to her, that shall do anything for her: Shee\nlooking upon him, saw hee had ugly feete, and then she was very fearfull\nof him, for that sometimes he would seem to be tall, and sometimes lesse,\nand suddenly vanished away.\n\n\u2018And being demanded whether he lay with her, shee said hee would have lain\nwith her, but shee would not suffer him: and after _Blackeman_ was\ndeparted from her, within three or 4 dayes, _Grissell_ and _Greedigut_\ncame to her, in the shape of dogges, with great brisles of hogges haire\nupon their backs, and said to her they were come from _Blackeman_ to do\nwhat she would command them, and did aske her if shee did want any thing,\nand they would fetch it: and shee said she lacked nothing. Then they\nprayed her to give them some victuals, and she said she was poore and had\nnone to give them; and so they departed: Yet she confessed that\n_Blackeman_, _Grissel_ and _Greedigut_ divers times came to her\nafterwards, and brought her two or three shillings at a time, and more\nsaith not.\u2019\n\nAnother type of witchcraft is to be found in \u2018Wonderfull News from the\nNorth; or, a true relation of the sad and grievous torments inflicted upon\nthe Bodies of three Children of Mr. George Muschamp, late of the County of\nNorthumberland, by Witchcraft,\u2019 etc. London, 1650. It begins thus:\n\n\u2018First in harvest, some two Months before _Michaelmas_, about four or five\nof the Clock in the afternoone, Mistris _Margaret Muschamp_ suddainly fell\ninto a great Trance; her Mother being frighted, called Company, and with\nmuch adoe recovered her; as soone as the childe looked up, cryed out,\ndeare Mother, weepe not for me; for I have seene a happy Sight, and heard\na blessed sound, for the Lord hath loved my poore Soule, that he hath\ncaused his blessed Trumpet to sound in my eares, and hath sent two blessed\nAngels to receive my sinfull soule. O weepe not for me, but rejoyce, that\nthe Lord should have such respect to so sinfull a wretch as I am, as to\nsend his heavenly Angels to receive my sinfull soule: with many other\ndivine expressions.\u2019\n\nAfter this she continued pretty well till Candlemas Eve, when she was\ntaken very bad indeed, losing the use of her limbs and speech, \u2018and such\ntorments, that no eyes could looke on her without compassion.\u2019 For 16\nweeks she refused all food, saying \u2018that God fed her with Angel\u2019s food:\nfor truely all the 16 weekes fast she did not appeare to diminish her\nfatness or favour anything at all.\n\n\u2018On Whitsun Eve in the morning, she had eight hours bitter torment. In the\nafternoone, her mother being abroad, left her Husband\u2019s Brother\u2019s\nDaughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Muschamp with her, who made signes to her to\ncarry her into the Garden, in her mother\u2019s absence; her Cozen, casting a\nmantle about her, gave her her desire, and sate in the Garden with her on\nher knee; who, in the bringing down, had so little strength in her neck,\nthat her head hung wagging downe; but was not set a quarter of an houre,\ntill showing some signes to her Cozen, bolted off her knee, ran thrice\nabout the Garden, expressing a shrill voyce, but did not speake presently:\nshe that was brought down in this sad condition came up stairs on her owne\nlegs.\u2019\n\nHowever, this improvement did not last long; she had more illnesses, and\nin one of them she made signs that she wished to write; so \u2018they layd\npaper on her brest, and put a pen with inke in her hand, and she, not\nmoving her eyes, writ, _Jo. Hu. Do. Swo. have been the death of one deare\nfriend, consume another, and torment mee_.\u2019 The wiseacres puzzled over\nthis, and at last came to the conclusion that Mistress Dorothy Swinnow,\nthen wife to Col. Swinnow, who subsequently died, had bewitched her. At\nanother time this Margaret Muschamp wrote the same words with the\naddition, \u2018_two drops of his or her bloud would save my life; if I have it\nnot, I am undone; for seven yeares to be tormented before death come_.\u2019\n\nOn this they sent to one John Hutton, a reputed wizard, who told them that\nit was Mistress Swinnow who was the culprit, and he gave them two drops\nof his own blood, which he wiped off his arm, with the paper on which the\ngirl had written. Returning home, they applied this remedy, in some way\nunstated, and \u2018On Munday night she fell into a heavenly rapture, rejoycing\nthat ever she was borne, for these two drops of blood had saved her life.\u2019\nThe girl was afterwards very ill, and Dorothy Swinnow, now a widow, was\narrested, and committed to prison, where the narrative leaves off, with\nthe addition of the confession of one Margaret White, who \u2018Confesseth and\nsaith, That she hath beene the Divells servant these five yeares past, and\nthat the Divell came to her in the likenes of a man in blew cloaths, in\nher owne house, and griped her fast by the hand, and told her she should\nnever want, and gave her a nip on the shoulder, and another on her back;\nand confesseth her Familiar came to her in the likenesse of a black\nGray-hound. She also Confesseth upon Oath that Mrs. _Swinnow_ and her\nsister _Jane_, and herselfe were in the Divels company in her sister\n_Jane\u2019s_ house, where they did eate and drinke together, and made merry.\n\n\u2018And Mrs. _Swinnow_, and her the sayd _Margaret\u2019s_ sister, with her selfe,\ncame purposely to the house of Mr. _Edward Moore_ of _Spittle_, to take\naway the life of _Margaret Muschamp_ and _Mary_, and they were the cause\nof the Children\u2019s tormenting, and that they were three several times to\nhave taken away their lives, and especially upon St. John\u2019s day at night\ngone twelve moneths: and sayth that God was above the Divell, for they\ncould not get their desires perfected; and saith that Mrs. _Swinnow_\nwould have consumed the childe that Mrs. _Moore_ had last in her wombe,\nbut the Lord would not permit her; and that after the childe was borne,\nMrs. _Swinnow_ was the occasion of its death; and that she and her sister\nwere also the occasion, and had a hand in the death of the sayd child; and\nfurther confesseth that she and her sayd sister were the death of _Thomas\nYong_ of _Chatton_ (by reason) a kill full of Oates watched against her\nsister\u2019s minde; And further saith that the Divell called her sister _Jane_\n(Besse); She confesseth that her sister _Jane_ had much troubled _Richard\nStanley_ of _Chatton_, and that she was the occasion of his sore leg.\u2019\n\nIn \u2018A Prodigious and Tragicall History of the Arraignment, Tryall,\nConfession and Condemnation of six Witches at Maidstone in Kent, at the\nAssizes there held in July, Fryday 30, this present year 1652,\u2019 a new\nfeature is introduced.\n\n\u2018The said _Anne Ashby_ further confessed, that the Divell had given them a\npiece of flesh, which whensoever they should touch, they should thereby\neffect their desires.\n\n\u2018That this flesh lay hid amongst grasse, in a certain place which she\nnamed, where, upon search, it was found accordingly.\n\n\u2018The flesh was of a sinnewy substance, and scorched, and was seen and felt\nby this Observator, and reserved for publique view at the sign of the Swan\nin _Maidstone_.\u2019\n\nThey were duly hanged, but \u2018Some there were that wished rather they might\nbe burnt to Ashes; alledging, that it was a received opinion amongst\nmany, that the body of a witch being burnt, her bloud is prevented thereby\nfrom becomming hereditary to her Progeny in the same evill, which by\nhanging is not.\u2019\n\nHowever, in the case of four witches tried at Worcester on March 4,\n1647,[48] they \u2018received Sentance to be Burnt at the Stak all Four\ntogether.\n\n\u2018When being come to the Place of Execution, they made a strange and\nlamentable Yeling and Howling, after which they Confessed the Crimes for\nwhich they Suffered, and also declared how they had kill\u2019d abundance of\nCattle for several years past, and that it was extream Pride, Malice, and\nRevenge, that caused them to enter into such a curssed and Hellish League\nwith the Devil, who told them to the last, that he would secure them from\nPublic Punishment, but now, too late, they found him a Lyer, as he was\nfrom the beginning of the World. _Cock_ and _Landish_ seemed penitent,\ndesiring all young Women to take Warning by their Devilish Lives, and\nShameful Deaths, assuring the Spectators, that as Satan in the first\nInfancy of the World, prevail\u2019d on the Woman to bring his Hellish attempts\nto pass, so he still strives with that Sex, as the weaker Vessels, to Work\ntheir Distructions; they both said the Lord\u2019s Prayer very distinctly, but\n_Rebecca West_ and _Rose Hallybread_ dyed very Stuburn and Refractory,\nwithout any remorss, or seeming Terror of Conscience for their abominable\nWitch-craft.\u2019\n\n\n\u2018A RELATION OF A LANCASHIRE WITCH, TRYED AT WORCESTER, IN THE YEAR\n1649.[49]\n\n\u2018At _Droitwich_ in the County of _Worcester_, a poor Woman\u2019s Boy in the\nMonth of _May_, looking for his Mother\u2019s Cow, espied some Bushes in a\nBrake to shake; and, supposing the Cow to be Brousing there, went to the\nPlace, where he found no Cow, but an Old Woman, who, upon his approach,\nsaid _Boh_ to him: whereupon he presently lost his speech, and could only\nmake a Noise, but could not speak any thing articulately, so as could be\nunderstood. In this condition he came home to his Mother, made a great\nNoise, but no body could understand what ailed him, or what he meant. A\nwhile after, he ran out, and, at Sir _Edward Barret\u2019s_ door, found, about\nOne a Clock, amongst other poor People, the same old Woman supping up a\nMess of hot Pottage, and ran furiously upon her, and threw her Pottage in\nher Face, and offered some other Violence to her. Whereupon the Neighbours\nwondering at the condition of the Boy, and his rage against the old Woman,\nand suspecting that she had done him some hurt, Apprehended her, and she\nwas committed to the Prison, which they call the _Checker_. At Night the\nBoy\u2019s Mother Lodged him in a Garret over her own Lodging; and, in the\nMorning, hearing a great Bussle over her, ran up, and found the Boy gotten\nout of his Bed, with the Leg of a Form in his hand, striking furiously at\nsomething in the Window; but saw nothing there that he should strike at.\nThe Boy presently put on his Cloaths, and ran downe into the Street\ntowards the Prison; and, as he was going, endeavouring to speak, found his\nSpeech restored.\n\n\u2018When he came to the Prison, he asked for the old Woman, and told the\nGaoler how she had served him, and how his Speech came to him again in the\nWay. The Gaoler, in the mean time, suspecting that she had Bewitched the\nBoy, would not let her have either Meat or Drink, unless she would first\nsay the Lord\u2019s Prayer, and bid God bless the Boy: which, at last, her\nHunger forced her to do; and it appeared to be at the same instant, as\nnear as can be guessed, that the Boy had his Speech restored to him. The\nBoy asked the Gaoler, why he did not keep her faster, but let her come\nout, and trouble him? The Gaoler answered, he had kept her very safe. The\nBoy replied No, he had not; for she came and sat in his Chamber Window,\nand grinned at him; and that, thereupon, he took up a Form Leg, and\ntherewith gave her two good bangs upon the Back, as she would have scutled\nfrom him, before she could get away. Whereupon the Gaoler caused some\nWomen to search her, who found the Marks of two such Strokes upon her, as\nthe Boy said he had given her. All this was Sworn upon her Tryal by the\nBoy, his Mother, the Gaoler, and the Women. Upon Examination she was found\nto be a _Lancashire_ Woman; who, upon the Scarcity in those Parts, after\nthe Defeat of Duke _Hamilton_, wandred abroad to get Victuals.\u2019\n\n\n\u2018ANOTHER RELATION OF A TEUKSBURY WITCH, TRYED AT GLOUCESTER ABOUT THE SAME\nTIME.\n\n\u2018At _Teuksbury_, about the same time, a Man, who had a Sow and Pigs,\nobserving his Sow to have great store of Milk, and yet the Pigs to be\nalmost Famished, and consulting with his Neighbours about it, they all\nconcluded that she must needs be Sucked by something else, and so the Pigs\nbe robbed of their milk. Whereupon he resolved to watch till he found out\nthe Matter: and, having placed himself conveniently for that purpose, at\nlast he saw a black Four footed Creature, like a Pole Cat, come and beat\naway the pigs, and having a pitchfork in his Hand, he ran the Prongs into\nthe Thigh of it, and ran it to the ground. Yet it struggled so as to get\noff from him at last. There were some Neighbours not far off, but they saw\nno such creature, but saw a Wench go away, and that Blood fell from her as\nshe went: whereupon they searched her, and found her so Wounded, as the\nMan said he had wounded the thing which he found Sucking: And, thereupon,\nshe was Apprehended and Tryed at _Gloucester_ Assizes, where this Matter\nwas given in Evidence against her.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\n A Case of Vomiting Stones, etc., at Evesham--Anne Bodenham--Julian\n Cox--Elizabeth Styles--Rose Cullender and Amy Duny.\n\n\nBaxter, in his \u2018Certainty of the Worlds of Spirits,\u2019 etc. (London, 1691),\ngives what he considers an indisputably authentic case of witchcraft, as\nfollows:\n\n\u2018But the certaintest and fullest Instance of Witchcraft that ever I knew,\nI shall here give you in the words of others: Only adding that about\ntwenty years ago, at the time it was doing, my worthy and dear Friend, Mr.\n_George Hopkins_, the then Faithful Minister of the Gospel at _Evesham_,\ntold it me himself, and told me of their Care and Watchfulness, to see\nthat there were no Fraud committed in it. And the Witch was hanged at\n_Worcester_, and the Woman herself is yet living in _Evesham_, and the\nthing never there doubted of: But, having occasion lately to instance the\nfact against some Unbelievers, I sent to _Evesham_, to a Godly, Credible\nFriend to send me word, whether any doubt had, in these years past, risen\nconcerning it, and to send me some of the Flint Stones which were voided\nby the Girl; who sent me word, that there were no doubt of the thing, and\nprocured the now Minister of the Place to write me the Narrative which I\nhere subjoin. And he sent me _One stone_, about the breadth of a small\nGroat, and the thickness of a Half-crown, which, he said, was all that is\nthere kept of them, taken by the Major\u2019s Wife her self, and kept by her,\nand, therefore, I must send it back again: Many had sent for the Stones,\nand so many troubled the House about them, that they threw away, or buried\nthe rest: And Mr. _Boyle_ told me that the Earl of _South Hampton_, Lord\nTreasurer, for his Satisfaction, had got a great number of them. I carried\nthis about me, a quarter of a year, and then sent it home. But that which\nI chiefly inform the Reader of, is, that the thing was so long in doing,\nand so Famous, and so many Pious, Understanding Persons minded it, that\nsuspition of Fraud was by their Diligence avoided.\n\n\u2018_The Narrative as lately sent me from most Credible Persons in_ Evesham,\n_is as followeth_:\n\n\u2018About the Month of _April_ 1652 _Mary_, the daughter of _Edward Ellins_,\nof the Burrough of _Evesham_, in the County of _Worcester_, Gardner, then\nabout nine or ten years old, went in the fields on a _Saturday_, with some\nother Children, to gather Cowslips, and, finding in a Ditch by the\nway-side, at the said Town\u2019s end, one _Catherine Huxley_, a single Woman,\naged then about forty years, the Children called her Witch, and took up\nstones to throw at her, the said _Mary_ also called her Witch, and took up\na stone, but was so affrighted that she could not throw it at her; then\nthey all run away from her, and the said _Mary_ being hindmost, this\n_Huxley_ said to her (_Ellins_ you Shall have enough stones in you.)\nWhereupon _Mary_ fell that day very ill, and continued so weak and\nLanguishing that her Friends feared she would not recover; but, about a\nMonth after, she began to void stones by the urinary passages, and some\nlittle urine came away from her; also, when she voided any stone, the\nstone she voided was heard by those that were by her, to drop into the Pot\nor Basin; and she had most grievous pains in her Back and Reins, like the\npricking of Pins. The number of the stones she voided was about eighty,\nsome plain pebbles, some plain flints, some very small, and some about an\nounce weight. This she did for some space, (a month or two, or there\nabouts) until, upon some strong suspitions of Witchcraft, the forenamed\n_Huxley_ was Apprehended, Examined and Searched, (at whose Bed\u2019s Head\nthere was found several Stones such as the said _Mary_ Voided) and was\nsent to _Worcester_, where, at the Summer _Assizes_ in the said year 1652\n(then at hand) she was, at the Prosecution of the Friends of the said\n_Mary_, Condemned and Executed: upon whose Apprehension and Commitment,\n_Mary_ ceased to void any more stones; but, for a while, voided much\nblackish and muddy Sand, and also, in short time, perfectly recovered, and\nis yet living in the Town, in good and honest Repute, and hath been many\nyears Marryed, and hath had seven Children; but never voided any stones\nsince, nor been troubled with the pain fore mentioned. Abundance of people\nyet living, know the Substance of this to be true, and her Mother in Law\n(since dead) kept the stones till she was tired with the frequent Resort\nof people to see them, and the said _Mary_, and to hear the Relation of\nthe matter, and beg the stones; (for though many offered Money for them,\nyet she always refused it, nor did they ever take any, but it cost them\nmuch upon the Girl, and the Prosecution of the said _Huxley_) and then she\nburied them in her Garden. _Edward Ellins_, the Father of the said _Mary_,\nis also yet living, and a Man of honest Repute, and utterly free (as is\nalso the said _Mary_, and all the rest of her _Friends_) from the least\nSuspition of any Fraud or Cheat in the whole business: This was known to\nhundreds of People in the said Town, and parts Adjacent, and many of them,\nyet living, are ready to attest to the truth of it.\u2019\n\nIn the case of Anne Bodenham,[50] which is too long and intricate to give\neven a r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of, we have some entirely new features, partaking more of\nthe magician than the witch. She lived at Fisherton-Auger, Wilts, was a\nmarried woman, and at the time of her malpractices kept a small elementary\nschool. She was considered a \u2018cunning,\u2019 or \u2018wise,\u2019 woman, and was resorted\nto by the people round about, for consultation as to the recovery of lost\nor stolen property, and, according to this pamphlet, her doings were\nmarvellous. The first case records a woman going to consult her as to the\nloss of some gold money.\n\n\u2018The Witch put on her Spectacles, and, demanding seven shillings of the\nMaid, which she received, she opened three Books, in which there seemed\nto be severall pictures, and amongst the rest, the picture of the Devill,\nto the Maid\u2019s appearance, _with his Cloven feet and Claws_; after the\nWitch had looked over the book, she brought a round green glass, which\nglass she layd down on one of the books, upon some picture therein, and\nrubbed the glass, and then took up the book with the glass upon it, and\nheld it up against the Sun, and bid the Maid come and see who they were\nthat she could shew in that glass, and the Maid, looking in the glass, saw\nthe shape of many persons, and what they were doing of in her Master\u2019s\nhouse, in particular, shewed Mistriss _Elizabeth Rosewel_ standing in her\nMistriss Chamber, looking out of the Window with her hands in her sleeves,\nand another walking alone in her Master\u2019s Garden, one other standing in a\nroom within the kitchen, one other standing in a matted room of her\nMasters, against the window, with her Apron in her hand, and shewed others\ndrinking, with glasses of Beer in their hands. After the Witches shewing\nthis to the Maid, she then bad her go home; which, when she came home, she\nasked the people (she so saw in the Witches glass) what they had been\ndoing while she had been wanting, and by their answers to her, she found\nthat they had been doing what she saw they were in the glass: and the Maid\nrelating this to _Elizabeth Rousewel_, she replyed, that Mistriss\n_Boddenham_ (meaning the said Witch) was either a Witch, or a woman of\nGod.\u2019\n\nShe was also able to raise devils, and had several at her command,\n_Beelzebub_, _Tormentor_, _Satan_, and _Lucifer_, and one scene with them\nis thus described: \u2018And, presently, the back Door of the house flying\nopen, there came five spirits, as the Maid supposed, in the likeness of\nragged Boys, some bigger than others, and ran about the house, where she\nhad drawn the Staff, and the Witch threw down upon the ground Crumbs of\nBread, which the Spirits picked up, and leapt over the Pan of Coals\noftentimes, which she set in the middest of the circle, and a Dog and a\nCat of the Witches danced with them; and, after some time, the Witch\nlooked again in her book, and threw some great white seeds on the ground,\nwhich the said Spirits picked up, and so, in a short time, the wind was\nlayd, and the Witch, going forth at her back Door, the Spirits vanished.\u2019\n\nBut she also dabbled in poisoning: \u2018And in a short time after, Mistress\n_Rosewel_ sent her again to the Witch, to know of her when the day should\nbe, that Mistris _Goddard_ should be poysoned, and delivered her eight\nshillings to give the Witch; so the Maid went again to the Witch\naccordingly, and gave her the eight shillings, and the Witch replyed she\ncould not tell her then, but gave the Maid one shilling, and bid her go to\nan Apothecary, and buy some white _Arsenick_, and bring it to her to\nprevent it, which the Maid did, and carried it to the Witch, who said to\nher she would take it and burn it, to prevent the poysoning, but she burnt\nit not, as the Maid could see, at all....\n\n\u2018The next day following, the Maid was sent again to the Witch, to get some\nexample shewen upon the Gentlewoman that should procure the poyson, upon\nwhich the Maid went again to the Witch, and told her for what she was\nsent. Then the Witch made a Circle, as formerly, and set her pan of Coles,\nas formerly, and burnt something that stank extremely, and took her book\nand Glass, as before is related, and said _Beelzebub_, _Tormentor_,\n_Lucifer_, and _Satan_, appear! And then appeared five Spirits as she\nconceived, in the shapes of little ragged Boyes, which the Witch commanded\nto appear, and go along with the Maid to a meadow at _Wilton_, which the\nWitch shewed in the Glass, and there to gather Vervine and Dill, and,\nforthwith, the ragged Boys ran away before the Maid, and she followed them\nto the said meadow; and, when they came thither the ragged Boys looked\nabout for the Herbs, and removed the Snow in two or three places, before\nthey could find any; and, at last, they found some, and brought it away\nwith them, and then the Maid and the Boys returned back to the Witch, and\nfound her in the Circle paring her Nayls, and then she took the said\nHerbs, and dryed the same, and made powder of some, and dried the leaves\nof other, and threw Bread to the Boys, and they eat and danced as\nformerly; and then the Witch, reading in a book, they vanished away. And\nthe Witch gave the Maid in one paper the powder, in another the leaves,\nand in the third, the paring of the Nayls; all which the Maid was to give\nto her Mistress. The powder was to put in the young Gentlewomens Mistriss\n_Sarah_ and Mistriss _Ann Goddard\u2019s_ drink or broth, to rot their Guts in\ntheir Bellies; the leaves to rub about the rims of the Pot, to make their\nTeeth fall out of their Heads; and the parings of the Nayls to make them\nmad and drunk. And the Witch likewise told the Maid, that she must tell\nher Mistriss, and the rest, that, when they did give it to them, they must\ncross their Breasts, and then say, _In the name of our Lord Jesu Christ,\ngrant that this may be_, and that they must say the Creed backward and\nforward.\u2019\n\nThe death of this wicked woman was worthy of her life: \u2018Afterwards, she\nfell into a rage, and wished for a Knife: she said she would run it into\nher heart-blood. Being replyed unto by some, _Oh M{ris} Boddenham, you\nwould not offer to doe such wickednesse? would you?_ She swore by the Name\nof God, but she would, had she but a Knife. She then went forth to the\nplace of her Execution, where a numerous company were spectators; and, as\nshe went along towards the gallows, by every house she went by, she went\nwith a small piece of silver in her hand, calling for Beer, and was very\npassionate when denyed. One of the men that guarded her on the way, told\nher that Mr. Sheriff would not let her be buryed under the gallows, upon\nwhich she railed at the man extremely that told her so, and said she would\nbe buryed there. When she came to the place of execution, she went\nimmediately to goe up the Ladder, but she was pulled back again and\nrestrained: I then pressed her to confesse what she promised me she would,\nnow before she dyed, but she refused to say anything. Being asked whether\nshe desired the prayers of any of the people, she answered, she had as\nmany prayers already, as she intended or desired to have, but cursed\nthose that detained her from her death, and was importunate to goe up the\nLadder, but was restrained for a while, to see whether she would confesse\nany thing, but she would not. They then let her goe up the Ladder, and\nwhen the rope was about her neck, she went to turn herself off, but the\nExecutioner stayed her, and desired her to forgive him: she replyed.\nForgive thee? a pox on thee, turn me off: which were the last words she\nspake. She was never heard, all the while she was at the place of\nExecution, to pray one word, or desire any others to pray for her, but the\ncontrary.\u2019\n\n\u2018_Julian Cox_, aged 70 years, was indicted at _Taunton_ in\n_Somersetshire_, about summer assizes, 1663, before Judge _Archer_, then\njudge of assize there, for witchcraft.[51]\n\n\u2018For the proof of the first particular. The first witness was a huntsman,\nwho swore that he went out with a pack of hounds to hunt a hare, and not\nfar off from Julian Cox\u2019s house, he, at last, started a hare. The Dogs\nhunted her very close, and the third ring hunted her in view, till, at\nlast, the huntsman, perceiving the hare almost spent, and making towards a\ngreat bush, he ran on the other side of the bush to take her up, and\npreserve her from the dogs; but, as soon as he laid hands on her, it\nproved to be Julian Cox, who had her head grovelling on the ground. He,\nknowing her, was affrighted, so that the hair on his head stood on end,\nand he spake to her, and asked her what brought her there? But she was so\nfar out of breath that she could not make him any answer: his dogs also\ncame up, with full cry, to recover the game, and smelt at her, and so left\noff hunting any farther. And the huntsman, with the dogs, went home\npresently, sadly affrighted.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018Thirdly, Another swore that Julian passed by his yard while his beasts\nwere in milking, and stooping down, scored upon the ground for some small\ntime. During which time his cattle ran mad, and some ran their heads\nagainst trees, and some of them died speedily: Whereupon, concluding they\nwere bewitched, he was, after, advised to this experiment, to find out the\nWitch, _viz._ to cut off the ears of the bewitched beasts, and burn them;\nand that the witch would be in misery, and could not rest till they were\nplucked out. Which he tried; and while they were burning, Julian Cox came\ninto the house, raging and scolding, that they had abused her without a\ncause; but she went presently to the fire, and took the ears which were\nburning and then she was quiet.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018The prisoner was called for up to the next bar in the court, and demanded\nif she could say the _Lord\u2019s Prayer_? She said, she could, and went over\nthe prayer readily till she came to that petition. Then she said _And lead\nus into temptation_, or, _And lead us not into no temptation_, but could\nnot say, _And lead us not into temptation_, though she was directed to say\nit after one that repeated it to her, distinctly, but she could not\nrepeat it otherwise than is expressed already; though tried to do it near\nhalf a score times in the open Court. After all which the Jury found her\nguilty, and, judgement having been given, within three or four days, she\nwas executed without any confession of the fact.\u2019\n\n\u2018Elizabeth Styles, her confession of her Witchcraft _January_ 26 and 30\nand _Feb._ 7, 1664. before _Robert Hunt_ Esqre.[52] She then confessed,\nThat the Devil, about ten years since, appeared to her in the shape of a\nhandsome man, and after, of a black dog. That he promised her money, and\nthat she should live gallantly, and have the pleasure of the world for 12\nYears, if she would with her own blood, sign his paper, which was to give\nher soul to him, and observe his laws, and that he might suck her blood.\nThis, after four solicitations, the examinant promised him to do. Upon\nwhich, he pricked the fourth finger of her right Hand, between the middle\nand upper joint (where the sign, at the Examination, remained) with a drop\nor two of blood, she signed the paper with an O. Upon this, the Devil gave\nher Sixpence, and vanished with the paper.\n\n\u2018That, since, he hath appeared to her in the shape of a man, and did so on\n_Wednesday_ seven night past: but more usually, he appears in the likeness\nof a dog, or cat, or a Fly like a Miller; in which last (_shape_) he\nusually sucks her on the Poll, about four of the Clock in the morning; and\ndid so Jan. 27, and that it usually is pain to her to be so sucked.\n\n\u2018That when she hath a desire to do harm, she calls the Spirit by the name\nof _Robin_; to whom, when he appeareth, she useth these words, _O Satan,\ngive me my purpose_. She then tells him that he should so appear to her,\nwas part of her contract with him.\n\n\u2018That about a Month ago, he appearing, she desired him to torment one\n_Elizabeth Hill_, and to thrust thorns unto her Flesh, which he promised\nto do, and the next Time he appeared, he told her he had done it.\n\n\u2018That a little above a month since, this Examinant, _Alice Duke_, _Ann\nBishop_, and _Mary Penny_, met about nine of the clock, in the night, in\nthe common near _Trister Gate_, where they met a man in black Cloaths,\nwith a little band, to whom they did courtesie and due observance; and the\nexaminant verily believes that this was the Devil. At that time _Alice\nDuke_ brought a picture in Wax, which was for _Elizabeth Hill_: The man in\nblack took it in his Arms, anointed it\u2019s Forehead, and said, _I baptize\nthee with this oyl_, and used some other words. He was God father, and the\nexaminant and _Anne Bishop_, God mothers; they called it _Elizabeth_ or\n_Bess_. Then the man in black, this examinant, _Anne Bishop_, and _Alice\nDuke_, stuck thorns into several places of the Neck, Hand wrist, Fingers,\nand other parts of the said picture. After which they had wine, cakes and\nroast meat, (all brought by the man in black,) which they did eat and\ndrink; they danced and were merry, were bodily there, and their cloaths.\n\n\u2018... She saith, before they are carried to their meetings, they anoint\ntheir foreheads and hand wrists with Oyl the Spirit brings them, (which\nsmells raw) and then they are carried in a very short time; using these\nwords as they pass, _Thout, tout a tout, tout, throughout and about_; and\nwhen they go off from their meetings, they say, _Rentum Tormentum_.\n\n\u2018That, at their first meeting the man in black bids them welcome, and they\nall make low obeysance to him, and he delivers some wax candles, like\nlittle torches, which they give back again at parting. When they anoint\nthemselves, they use a long form of words, and when they stick thorns in\nthe picture of any they would torment, they say, _A pox on thee, I\u2019ll\nspite thee_.\n\n\u2018That, at every meeting, before the Spirit vanishes away, he appoints the\nnext meeting, place and time; and at his departure there is a foul smell.\nAt their meeting, they have usually Wine or good beer, cakes, meat or the\nlike; they eat and drink really; when they meet in their bodies, dance\nalso, and have musick. The man in black sits at the hither End, and _Anne\nBishop_ usually sat next to him: He useth some words before meat, and none\nafter; his voice is audible, but very low.\n\n\u2018That they are sometimes carried in their bodies and their clothes,\nsometimes without, and, as the examinant thinks, only their spirits are\npresent; yet they know one another.... The man in black sometimes plays on\na pipe or cittern, and the company dances: at last the Devil vanisheth,\nand all are carried to their several homes, in a short space. At their\nparting, they say, _Hey boy, merry meet, merry part_.\u2019\n\nThe story of the trial of Rose Cullender and Amy Duny at Bury St.\nEdmund\u2019s, before Sir Matthew Hale in 1664, has been often told, but in one\nparticular it differs from other cases of witchcraft.\n\n\u2018_Diana Bocking_ Sworn and Examined, Deposed. That she lived in the same\nTown of _Leystoff_, and that her said Daughter having been formerly\nAfflicted with swooning fits, recovered well of them, and so continued for\na certain time; and, upon the First of _February_ last, she was taken,\nalso, with great pain in her Stomach, like pricking with Pins; and,\nafterwards, fell into swooning fitts, and so continued till the Deponents\ncoming to the Assizes, having during the same time taken little or no\nfood, but daily vomiting crooked Pins; and, upon Sunday last, raised Seven\nPins. And, whilst her fits were upon her, she would spread both her Arms,\nwith her hands open, and use postures as if she catched at something, and\nwould instantly close her hands again; which being immediately forced\nopen, they found several Pins diversely crooked, but could neither see nor\nperceive how, or in what manner they were conveyed thither. At another\ntime, the same _Jane_ being in another of her fitts, talked as if she were\ndiscoursing with some persons in the Room (though she would give no\nanswer, nor seem to take notice of any person then present) and would in\nlike manner cast abroad her Arms, saying, _I will not have it, I will not\nhave it_; and at last, she said, _Then I will have it_, and so waving her\nArm with her hand open, she would presently close the same; which,\ninstantly forced open, they found in it a _Lath-Nail_.\u2019\n\nThe two witches were executed, neither confessing.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\n The Case of Mary Hill of Beckington--The Confession of Alice\n Huson--Florence Newton of Youghal--Temperance Lloyd (or Floyd), Mary\n Trembles, and Susannah Edwards.\n\n\nBut this case of vomiting pins is as nothing compared with the following,\nwhich is taken from Baxter\u2019s \u2018Certainty of the World of Spirits,\u2019 etc.:\n\n\u2018Mr. _John Humphreys_ brought Mr. _May Hill_ to me, with a Bag of Irons,\nNails and Brass, vomited by the Girl. I keep some of them to shew: Nails\nabout three or four inches long, double crooked at the end, and pieces of\nold Brass doubled, about an Inch broad, and two or three Inches long, with\ncrooked edges. I desired him to give me the Case in Writing, which he hath\ndone as followeth. Any one that is incredulous, may now, at _Beckington_,\nreceive Satisfaction from him, and from the Maid her self.\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\u2018In the Town of _Beckington_, by _Froome_ in _Somersetshire_, liveth _Mary\nHill_, a Maid of about Eighteen years of Age, who, having lived very much\nin the Neglect of her Duty to God, was some time before _Michaelmas_ last\npast, was Twelve-Month, taken very ill, and, being seized with violent\nFits, began to Vomit up about two hundred crooked Pins. This so Stupendous\nan Accident, drew a numerous Concourse of People to see her: To whom, when\nin her Fits, she did constantly affirm, that she saw against the Wall of\nthe Room wherein she lay, an old Woman, named _Elizabeth Currier_, who,\nthereupon, being Apprehended by a Warrant from a Justice of Peace, and\nConvicted by the Oaths of two Persons, was committed to the County Goal.\n\n\u2018About a Fortnight after, she began to Vomit up Nails, Pieces of Nails,\nPieces of Brass, Handles of Spoons, and so continued to do for the space\nof six Months and upwards. And, in her fits, she said there did appear to\nher an old Woman, Named _Margaret Coombes_, and one _Ann Moore_; who,\nalso, by a Warrant from two Justices of the Peace, were Apprehended and\nbrought to the Sessions, held at _Brewton_, for the County; and, by the\nBench, committed to the County Gaol. The former of these dyed as soon as\nshe came into Prison: the other two were tryed at _Taunton Assizes_, by my\nLord Chief Justice _Holt_, and for want of Evidence, were acquitted by the\nJury. The Persons bound over to give Evidence, were _Susanna Belton_, and\n_Ann Holland_, who, upon their Oaths, Deposed, that they hookt out of the\nNavel of the said _Mary Hill_, as she lay in a dead fit, crooked Pins,\nsmall Nails, and small pieces of Brass, which were produced in Court\nbefore the Judge; and, from him, handed to the Jury to look upon them.\nWhereupon Mr. _Francis Jesse_, and Mr. _Christopher Brewer_ declared, that\nthey had seen the said _Mary Hill_, to Vomit up, at several times, Crooked\nPins, Nails, and Pieces of Brass, which they, also, produced in open\nCourt; and to the end, they might be ascertained it was no Imposture, they\ndeclared they searched her Mouth with their Fingers before she did Vomit.\n\n\u2018Upon which, the Court thought fit to call for me, who am the Minister of\nthe Parish, to testifie the knowledge of the Matter, which I did to this\nEffect, That I had seen her, at several times, after having given her a\nlittle small Beer, Vomit up Crooked Pins, Nails, and Pieces of Brass.\nThat, to prevent the Supposition of a Cheat, I had caused her to be\nbrought to a Window; and, having lookt into her Mouth, I searcht it with\nmy Finger, as I did the Beer before she drank it. This I did, that I might\nnot be wanting in Circumstantial Answers to what my Lord and Court might\npropose.\n\n\u2018I well remember a Gentleman, on a _Saturday_, came to my House\n(_Incognito_) to know of me the truth of the Country Report about this\nMaid, having seen some of the Nails &c she had Vomited up. I told him it\nwas very true; and, if he would stay in Town till the Morning, he might\nsee it himself, for his own Satisfaction. Which he did; and, early in the\nMorning, was called to see her. But, because Beer was not given her when\nshe wanted it, she lay in a very Deplorable Condition, till past two in\nthe Afternoon; when, with much Difficulty, she brought up a piece of\nBrass, which the said Gentleman took away with him. Though, before the\nsaid Piece of Brass came up, he told me he was satisfied of the Truth of\nthe thing, because it was impossible for any Mortal to Counterfeit her\nmiserable Condition. She, sometimes, lying in a dead Fit, with her Tongue\nswelled out of her Head, and then reviving, she would fall to Vomiting,\nbut nothing came up till about two a Clock in the Afternoon.\n\n\u2018Nay, so curious was he to Anticipate any Cheat, that he searcht her Mouth\nhimself, gave her the Beer, held her up in his hand, and likewise the\nBason into which she Vomited, and continued with her all this time,\nwithout eating and drinking, which was about eight hours, that he might be\nan Eye-Witness of the Truth of it. Nay, further, he found the maid living\nonly with a Brother, and three poor Sisters, all young Persons, and very\nhonest, and the Maid kept at the Charge of the Parish, were sufficient\ntestimonies that they were incapable of making a Cheat of it. The\nGentleman I now mentioned, was (as I afterwards learnt) Esquire _Player_\nof _Castle-Cary_.\n\n * * * * *\n\n\u2018After the Assizes afore mentioned was ended, and she was turned home, she\ngrew worse than ever, by Vomiting of Nails, pieces of Glass, &c. And,\nfalling, one day, into a Violent Fit, she was swelled to an extraordinary\nbigness; some Beer being given her, she throws up several Pieces of Bread\nand Butter, besmeared with a Poysonous matter, which I judged to be white\nMercury. This so affrighted the Neighbours, that they would come no more\nnear her, and Compassionating the Deplorableness of her Condition; I, at\nlast, resolved to take her into my own House; where, in some short time,\nthe Vomiting ceased; though, for some space, her Distorting Fits followed\nher. But, blessed be God, is now, and has been, for a considerable time\nlast past, in very good health, and fit for Service.\n\n \u2018MAY HILL,\n \u2018Minister of Beckington in the county of Somerset.\n\n\u2018_April 4, 1691._\u2019\n\nHere is one of those extraordinary confessions, for which, nowadays, no\none can account, except upon the supposition that the poor woman was\ninsane:\n\n\n\u2018THE CONFESSION OF ALICE HUSON, 28 OF APRIL 1664 TO MR. TIM. WELLSET,\nVICAR OF BURTON AGNES (IN HER OWN WORDS) AS IT WAS GIVEN IN TO THE JUDGES\nAT YORK ASSIZES.[53]\n\n\u2018Three Years I have had to do with, and for the Devil: He appeared to me\nlike a _Black Man_ on a Horse upon the Moor; He told me I should never\nwant, if I would follow his ways: He bid me give myself to him, and\nforsake the Lord; and I promised him I would. He did, upon that, give me\nfive Shillings; and another time he gave me seven Shillings: And for six\nseveral times he did so; and _Thom. Ratle_ had 20s. of the Mony I had of\nhim. He appeared like a _Black Man_ upon a Black Horse, with Cloven Feet:\nand then I fell down, and did Worship upon my Knees, because I promised\nhim I would do so. I have hurt Mrs. _Faith Corbet_ by my Evil Spirit: I\ndid, in my Apprehension, ride her: And, when I was Examined by Mr.\n_Wellset_, our Minister, the Devil stood by, and gave me my Answer. I was\nunder the Window like a Cat, when Mrs. _Corbet_ said I was; and _Doll\nBilby_ had a hand in this tormenting Mrs. _Corbet_. _Doll Bilby_ said, Let\nus make an end of her; and I said it was pity to take away her Life, for\nwe had done her overmuch hurt already. The Devil did appear to me and\n_Doll Bilby_ both together: _Doll Bilby_ had of the Devil on _Thursday_ or\n_Friday_, some Mony: I had, about a Fortnight ago, ten shillings of the\nDevil at _Ratle\u2019s_ door, about Twi-light, or Day-gate: and I gave two\nShillings of this Mony for two Pecks of Barly, Pease and Wheat mix\u2019d, to\n_Will. Parkly_. He told me, if I would kill Mrs. _Alice Corbet_, I should\nnever Want: He twitches me at the Heart, as if it were drawn together with\nPincers. I have, I confess, a Witch-pap, which is sucked by the Unclean\nSpirit: This Sucking lasteth from Supper time, till after Cock Crowing.\nThe Devil did bid me deny to Mr. _Wellset_ that he was sent by me. I had a\npurpose to practice Witchcraft when I begg\u2019d a piece of Cloth and\nBlack-hood. I confess that I did, by this Evil Spirit, kill _Dick Warren_;\nwhich was done by my wicked Heart, and wicked Eyes: If I had not employ\u2019d\nthis wicked Spirit, I had not hurt him. I lent _Lancelot Harrison_ eight\nShillings of the ten Shillings the Devil gave me. I did forsake God,\nbecause I promised the Devil to serve him.\u2019\n\nBut most incredible of all were the doings of an Irish witch, one Florence\nNewton of Youghal, who was tried at the Cork Assizes, 1661. One extract,\nshowing her power, must suffice:[54]\n\n\u2018_John Pyne_ being likewise sworn and examin\u2019d, said, That about _January_\nlast, _Mary Longdon_, being his Servant, was much troubl\u2019d with little\nStones that were thrown at her, wherever she went, and that he hath seen\nthem come, as if they were thrown at her, others, as if they dropp\u2019d on\nher; and that he hath seen very great quantities of them, and that they\nwould, after they had hit her, fall on the Ground, and then vanish, so\nthat none of them could be found. And farther, That the Maid once caught\none of them, and he himself another; and one of them, with a Hole in it,\nshe ty\u2019d to her Purse, but it vanish\u2019d in a little time, but the Knot of\nthe Leather that ty\u2019d it, remain\u2019d unalter\u2019d. That, after the Stones had\nthus haunted her, she fell into most grievous Fits, wherein she was so\nviolently distracted, that four Men would have very much to do to hold\nher; and that, in the greatest of her Extremities, she would cry out of\nGammer _Newton_ for hunting and tormenting of her. That sometimes the\nMaid would be reading in a Bible, and on the sudden he hath seen the Bible\nstruck out of her Hand into the Middle of the Room, and she, immediately,\nwas cast into a violent Fit. That, in the Fits he hath seen two Bibles,\nlaid on her Breasts, and in the Twinkling of an Eye, they would be cast\nbetween the two Beds the Maid lay upon; sometimes thrown into the middle\nof the Room; and that _Nicholas Pyne_ held the Bible in the Maid\u2019s Hand so\nfast, that it being suddenly snatch\u2019d away, two of the Leaves were torn.\nThat in many other Fits, the Maid was remov\u2019d strangely, in the Twinkling\nof an Eye, out of the Bed, sometimes into the Bottom of a Chest with\nLinnen, and the Linnen not at all disorder\u2019d; sometimes betwixt the two\nBeds she lay on; sometimes under a Parcell of Wooll, sometimes betwixt his\nBed and the Mat of it in another Room; and, once, she was laid on a small\nDeal Board which lay on the top of an House between two solar[55] Beams,\nwhere he was forc\u2019d to rear up Ladders to have her fetch\u2019d down. That, in\nher Fits she hath often vomited up Wooll, Pins, Horse nails, Stubs, Straw,\nNeedles and Moss, with a kind of white Foam or Spittle, and hath had\nseveral Pins stuck into her Arms and Hands, that, sometimes, a Man must\npull three or four times before he could pull one of them out, and some\nhave stuck between the Flesh and the Skin, where they might be perfectly\nseen, but not taken out, nor any Place seen where they were put in.\u2019\n\nThe confessions of Temperance Lloyd (or Floyd), Mary Trembles, and\nSusannah Edwards, who were executed at Exeter, August 25, 1682, are\ncurious, as showing how it is possible for three persons to have similar\nhallucinations.\n\n\u2018Temperance Lloyd saith, That about the 30th day of _September_ last past,\nshe met with the Devil in the shape or likeness of a black Man, about the\nmiddle of the Afternoon of that day, in a certain Street or Lane in the\nTown of _Biddiford_ aforesaid, called _Higher Gunstone Lane_: And then and\nthere he did tempt and sollicite her to go with him to the house of the\nsaid _Thomas Eastchurch_ to torment the Body of the said _Grace Thomas_;\nwhich this Examinant, at first, did refuse to do: But, afterwards, by the\ntemptation and perswasion of the Devil in the likeness of a Black Man, as\naforesaid, she did go to the house of the said _Thomas Eastchurch_, and\nthat she went up the stairs after the said black Man; and confesseth that\nboth of them went up into the Chamber where she the said _Grace Thomas_\nwas, and that there they found one _Anne Wakely_, the wife of _William\nWakely_ of _Biddiford_, rubbing and stroaking one of the Arms of the said\n_Grace Thomas_.\n\n\u2018And the said Examinant doth further confess that she did then and there\npinch with the Nails of her Fingers, the said _Grace Thomas_ in the\nShoulders, Arms, Thighs and Legs; and that, afterwards, they came down\nfrom the said _Grace Thomas_ her Chamber, into the Street together; and\nthat there this Examinant did see some thing in the form or shape of a\nGrey or Braget Cat; and saith that the said Cat went into the said\n_Thomas Eastchurch\u2019s_ shop.\n\n\u2018The said Examinant, being further demanded whether she went any more unto\nthe said Thomas Eastchurch\u2019s house, saith and confesseth that the day\nfollowing she came again to the said _Thomas Eastchurch\u2019s_ house,\ninvisible, and was not seen by any person; but there this Examinant did\nmeet with the Braget Cat as aforesaid, and the said Cat did retire and\nleap back into the said _Thomas Eastchurch\u2019s_ Shop.\n\n\u2018The said Examinant, being further demanded when she was at the said\n_Thomas Eastchurch\u2019s_ house, the last time, saith, that she was at the\nsaid Mr. _Eastchurch\u2019s_ house upon Friday the 30th day of _June_ last\npast; and that the Devil, in the shape of the said black Man was there\nwith her: And that they went up again into the said Chamber, where she\nfound the said _Grace Thomas_ lying in her Bed in a very sad condition.\nNotwithstanding which, she, this Examinant and the said Black Man did\ntorment her again: And saith and confesseth that she, this Examinant had\nalmost drawn her out of her Bed, and that on purpose to put her, the said\n_Grace_ out of her Life.\n\n\u2018And further saith, that the black Man (or rather the Devil) did promise\nthis Examinant that no one should discover her.\n\n\u2018And further confesseth that the said black Man (or rather the Devil) as\naforesaid, did suck her Teats, and that she did kneel down to him in the\nStreet, as she was returning to her own house, and after that they had\ntormented the said _Grace Thomas_ in manner as last above mentioned.\n\n\u2018Being demanded of what stature the said black Man was, saith, that he was\nabout the length of her Arm: And that his Eyes were very big; and that he\nhopt or leapt in the way before her, and, afterwards, did suck her again\nas she was lying down; and that his sucking was with a great pain unto\nher, and, afterwards vanish\u2019d clear away out of her sight.\n\n\u2018This Examinant doth further confess, That upon the first day of _June_\nlast past, whilst the said Mr. _Eastchurch_ and his Wife were absent, that\nthe said Examinant did pinch and prick the said _Grace Thomas_ (with the\naid and help of the black Man) in her Belly, Stomach and Breast; and that\nthey continued so tormenting of her, about the Space of two or three\nhours, with an intent to have killed her.\u2019\n\nShe also confessed to have tortured several others to death.\n\nMary Trembles said that about three years since Susannah Edwards persuaded\nher to become a witch, and that the Devil appeared to her in the shape of\na lion.\n\n\u2018_Susannah Edwards_ being brought before us, and accused for practising of\nWitchcraft upon the Body of _Grace Barnes_, the wife of _John Barnes_ of\n_Biddiford_, Yeoman, was demanded by us how long since she had Discourse\nor Familiarity with the Devil; saith, That about two years ago she did\nmeet with a Gentleman in a Field called the _Parsonage Close_ in the Town\nof _Biddiford_, and that his Apparel was all of black. Upon which she did\nhope to have a Piece of Money of him. Whereupon, the Gentleman drawing\nnear unto this Examinant, she did make a Curchy, or Courtesie unto him, as\nshe did use to do to Gentlemen.\n\n\u2018Being demanded what and who the Gentleman she spake of, was, the said\nExaminant answered and said, that it was the Devil.\n\n\u2018And confessed, that the Devil did ask of her whether she was a Poor\nwoman? unto whom she answered that she was a Poor woman; and that,\nthereupon, the Devil, in the shape of the Gentleman, did say unto her,\nthat if this Examinant would grant him one request, that she should\nneither want for Meat, Drink, nor Clothes: Whereupon this Examinant did\nsay unto the said Gentleman, In the Name of God, what is it I shall have?\nUpon which the said Gentleman vanished clear away from her.\n\n\u2018And further confesseth, That, afterwards, there was something in the\nshape of a little Boy, which she thinks to be the Devil, came into her\nhouse, and did lie with her, and that he did suck at her breast. And\nconfesseth that she did afterwards meet him in a place call\u2019d\n_Stambridge-lane_ in this Parish of _Biddiford_, leading towards\n_Abbotisham_, (which is the next Parish on the west of _Biddiford_\naforesaid), where he did suck blood out of her breast.\n\n\u2018And further confesseth, That on Sunday, which was the 16th day of _July_\ninstant, she, this Examinant, together with _Mary Trembles_, did go unto\nthe house of _John Barnes_, and that nobody did see them: and that they\nwere in the same room where _Grace_, the wife of the said _John Barnes_\nwas, and that there they did prick and pinch the said _Grace_ with their\nfingers, and put her to great pain and torment, insomuch that the said\n_Grace Barnes_ was nearly dead.\n\n\u2018And confesseth that this present day, she did prick and torment the said\n_Grace_ again, (intimating with her Fingers how she did it). And also\nconfesseth that the Devil did intice her to make an end of the said\n_Grace_; and that he told her he would come again to her once more before\nshe should go out of Town. And confesseth that she can go into any place\ninvisible, and yet her Body shall be lying in her Bed. And further\nconfesseth that the Devil hath appeared unto her in the shape of a Lyon,\nas she supposed.\n\n\u2018Being demanded whether she had done any bodily hurt unto any other person\nbesides the said _Grace Barnes_, saith and Confesseth, that she did prick\nand torment one _Dorcas Coleman_, the wife of _John Coleman_ of\n_Biddiford_ Mariner. And saith that the said _Mary Trembles_ was a Servant\nunto her, in like manner as she was a Servant unto the Devil.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\n Elizabeth Horner--Pardons for Witchcraft--A Witch taken in\n London--Sarah Mordike--An Impostor convicted--Case of Jane Wenham--The\n Last Witch hanged in England.\n\n\nHutchinson gives an account of a very curious case of witchcraft in 1696:\n\n\u2018_Elizabeth Horner_ was tried before the Lord Chief Justice _Holt_ at\n_Exeter_. Three Children of _William Bovet_ were thought to have been\nbewitched by her, whereof one was dead. It was deposed that another had\nher Legs twisted, and yet from her Hands and Knees, she would spring five\nFoot high. The children vomited Pins, and were bitten (if the Depositions\nwere true) and pricked, and pinched, the Marks appearing. The Children\nsaid _Bess Horner\u2019s_ Head would come off from her Body, and go into their\nBellies. The Mother of the Children deposed, that one of them walked up a\nsmooth plaistered Wall, till her Feet were nine Foot high, her Head\nstanding off from it. This, she said, she did five or six times, and\nlaughed and said, _Bess Horner_ held her up. This poor Woman had something\nlike a Nipple on her Shoulder, which the Children said was sucked by a\nToad. Many other odd things were deposed, but the Jury brought her in _Not\nGuilty_ and no Inconvenience hath followed from her Acquittal.\u2019\n\nShe was lucky, not only inasmuch as the belief in witchcraft was on the\nwane, as also to have been tried by so enlightened a judge as Sir John\nHolt, of whom the story is told (of which, however, I can find no\nauthentication) that a witch was once brought before him, and a charm,\nwritten on parchment, was adduced against her. This charm, which consisted\nof a line or two of Greek verse, Sir John recognised as having been\nwritten by himself in his student days at Oxford to cure a poor woman\u2019s\ndaughter of the ague.\n\nBut although the majority of so-called witches were executed after trial\nand sentence, all were not, for we find in the Calendars of State Papers\nseveral instances of pardons:\n\n 1597. 30 Ap. Pardon for Elizabeth Melton, late of Collingham, co.\n York, condemned for witchcraft.\n\n 1597. 3 May. Pardon to Alice Brerely of Castleton, co. Lanc.,\n spinster, condemned for killing Jas. Kirshaw and Rob. Scolefield by\n witchcraft.\n\n 1604. 16 Ap. Grant to Christian, wife of Thomas Weech, co. Norfolk, of\n pardon for witchcraft.\n\n She was one of the extremely fortunate, for she was again accused of\n this crime.\n\n 1610. 3 Ap. Grant to Christian Weech of pardon for the murder of Mary\n Freeston by witchcraft.\n\n 1608. 15 Feb. Grant to Simon Reade of pardon for conjuration and\n invocation of unclean spirits.\n\n 1611. 7 May. Grant of pardon to Wm. Bate, indicted twenty years since,\n for practising invocation of spirits for finding treasure, the\n evidence being found weak, etc.\n\nWith the beginning of the eighteenth century, the belief in witchcraft was\ndying out rapidly, and very few are the cases narrated. I give the\nfollowing from a broadsheet; but to my mind it has not the true ring of\nformer cases, and I doubt its authenticity; still, I give it as amongst\nthe few reported cases in this century.\n\n\n\u2018A FULL AND TRUE RELATION OF THE DISCOVERING, APPREHENDING, AND TAKING OF\nA NOTORIOUS WITCH, WHO WAS CARRIED BEFORE JUSTICE BATEMAN IN WELL-CLOSE,\nON SUNDAY JULY THE 23RD, TOGETHER WITH HER EXAMINATION AND COMMITMENT TO\nBRIDEWELL, CLERKENWELL.\u2019\n\n\u2018_Sarah Griffith_ who Lived in a Garret in _Rosemary lane_, was a long\ntime suspected for a bad Woman, but nothing could be prov\u2019d against her,\nthat the Law might take hold of her: Tho\u2019 some of the Neighbors Children\nwould be strangely affected with unknown Distempers, as Vomiting of Pins,\nthere Bodies turn\u2019d into strang Postures, and such like; many were\nfrighted with strange Apperitions of Cats, which, of a sudden, would\nvanish away; these, and such like, made those who lived in the\nNeighbourhood, both suspicious and fearful of her: Till, at last, the\nDevil (who always betrays those that deal with him) thus brought the Truth\nto Light. One, Mr. John ---- at the Sugarloaf, had a good jolly fellow for\nhis Apprentice: This Old Jade came into his shop to buy a quartern of\nSope. The Young fellow happened to Laugh; and the Scales not hanging\nright, cryed out he thought that they were be-Witched; The Old Woman\nhearing him say so, fell into a great Passion, judging he said so to\nridicule her, ran out of the Shop, and threatened revenge. In the Night\nwas heard a lumbring noise in the Shop, and the Man, coming down to see,\nfound a strang confusion; every thing turn\u2019d topsy turvy; all the goods\nout of order. But, what was worse, the next day, the poor fellow was\ntroubled with a strange Disease, but [by] the good prayers of some\nNeighboring Divines, the power of the Devil was restrain\u2019d.\n\n\u2018Two or three days after, it happened that the Young Man, with two or\nthree more, walking up to the New River Head, who should they see, but\nMother _Griffith_ walking that way. They consulted together to try her;\nand one of them said, Let us toss her into the River, for I have heard,\nthat if she Swims, \u2019tis a certain sign of a Witch. In short, they put\ntheir design in execution; for, coming up to her, they tossed her in; but,\nlike a Bladder when forc\u2019d under Water, pops up again, so this Witch was\nno sooner in, but Swam like a Corke; they kept her in some time, and, at\nlast, let her come out again. She was no sooner out, but she smote that\nYoung man on the Arm, and told him he should pay dear for what he had\ndone. Immediately, he found a strange pain in his Arm, and, looking on it,\nfound the exact mark of her hand and Fingers as black as a Cole. He went\nhome, where he lay much tormented, and wonderfully affrighted with the Old\nWoman coming to afflict him; and, at last, died with the pain, and [was]\nBuried in St. _Pulchres_ Church Yard.\n\n\u2018Mr. John ---- fearing some further mischief, takes a Constable, and goes\nto her Lodging, where he finds the Old Woman, and charges the Constable\nwith her. She made many attempts to escape, but the Devil, who owed her a\nshame, had now left her, and she was apprehended. As she was conducted\ntowards the Justice\u2019s house, she tried to leap over the Wall, and had done\nit, had not the Constable knocked her down. In this manner she was carried\nbefore the Justice. There was Evidence that was With him in his Sickness\ncould Witness that he had unaccountable Fits, Vomitted up Old Nails, Pins\nand such like, his body being turned into strange postures, and, all the\nwhile, nothing but crying out of Mother _Griffith_, that she was come to\ntorment him. His Arm rotted almost off, Gangreen\u2019d, and kill\u2019d him. When\nshe came before the Justice, she pleaded innocence, but the circumstances\nappeared so plainly, that she was committed to _Bridewell_, where she now\nremains.\n\n\u201824 July, 1704.\u2019\n\nIf we needed any evidence to show the decadence of witchcraft, it can be\nfound in the case of Sarah Mordike, who was (luckily for her) tried by\nLord Chief Justice Holt in 1701. Hutchinson gives the best report of this\ncase that I can find.\n\n\u2018_Richard Hathaway_, Apprentice to _Thomas Wellyn_, a Blacksmith in\n_Southwark_, had either real Convulsions, or counterfeit Fits; at the time\nwhen he was bound first to his Master. When he had served about three\nYears, he was thought to be so ill, that he was put into the Hospital, and\nwas judged to be a very miserable Spectacle, lying in strange Fits, and\ngoing double; and, after seven Weeks was turned out as incurable.\n\n\u2018In September 1690 (?1700) he said he was bewitched, and vomited great\nNumbers of Pins, and seemed to be dumb and blind, and was thought to live\nwithout Meat for ten Weeks together, tho\u2019 he was put with Keepers into an\nempty House a great part of the Time, and had a bed bought on purpose, and\nwas watched Day and Night by Persons that were Strangers to him. One of\nhis Watchers deposed, That a Lump of Hair, loose Pins, a Stump of a Nail,\nhalf a Nutshel, and two or three pieces of Stone came from him. A second\nWitness confirmed this, and added, That he stood over him at the Time,\nwith a drawn Sword in his Hand. His Face would be drawn on one side, He\nfoamed at the Mouth, and crooked Pins were found in the Foam. His Head was\nbent to the Reins of his Back, and he went, sometimes, almost upon his\nAnkles. He would lie as if he was dead; and, once, was brought to himself\nby Cupping Glasses. Screeking and other Noises were heard in the Bed, and\nabout the House, and Charms were applied to him, and were said to do him\ngood. It was also deposed, That he barked like a Dog, and in his Fits\nburnt like a Flame of Fire.\n\n\u2018The Person that he accused of the Witchcraft was one _Sarah Morduck_, of\nthe same Parish. He intimated by Signs, that, if he might scratch her, he\nshould be well. He did scratch her, and then he eat and drank, and had his\nSight, and was well for six Weeks together.\n\n\u2018After that, he seemed to be ill again, and signified that she had\nbewitched him again, and he must scratch her again. Upon this, the said\n_Sarah Morduck_ was assaulted in her own House, and grievously abused; her\nHair and Face torn; she, was kicked, thrown to the Ground, stamped on, and\nthreatened to be put into a Horse-Pond, to be tried by Swimming, and very\nhardly escaped with her Life. In hopes to avoid these Dangers, she removed\nout of _Southwark_, and lodged in _London_; but, still, she was not\nsuffered to be in safety, but was followed in the Streets, and often\nthought herself in danger of being pulled in Pieces.\n\n\u2018About _Easter_, 1701, she was carried before Sir _Thomas Lane_, and was\nstript and searched by his Order, and _Hathaway_ scratched her before him,\nand then he eat and drank, and was thought to be well. Sir _Thomas_\ncommitted her, and _Hathaway_ continued free from his Fits. Near the Time\nof Tryal, the Prayers of several Churches were desired, and Money was\ngathered for him: between six and seven Pounds at one Collection; and\nother Sums at other Times, to bear his Charges to the Assizes.\n\n\u2018In the latter end of _July_, at _Guildford_ Assizes, this _Sarah Morduck_\nwas tried before the Right Honourable, the Lord Chief Justice _Holt_, and\nwas acquitted, and _Richard_, himself, was committed as a Cheat and\nImpostor: But both Judge, and Jury, and Witnesses were slandered, as if\nthey had not done fairly.\n\n\u2018For several Days after his Commitment to the _Marshalsea_, he eat, and\ndrank, and slept: but, some time after, he was again as if under the Power\nof Witchcraft, dumb and fasting.\n\n\u2018That it might be certain whether he did really live without Meat or not,\nmy Lord Chief Justice put him into the House of Mr. _Kensy_, a Surgeon, in\n_November_ following, that he might make Tryal of him.\n\n\u2018_March 25, 1702_, this _Hathaway_ was tried before Lord Chief Justice\n_Holt_, and Mr. Baron _Hatfell_, in _Southwark_, the Place in which the\nFact was best known, and where any witnesses might appear without Charge.\n\n\u2018On _Hathaway\u2019s_ side, these things were sworn that I have mentioned\nalready.\n\n\u2018To convict him of Imposture, it was deposed, That on purpose for an\nExperiment, Dr. _Martin_, Minister of the Parish, had contrived that he\nscratch\u2019d another Woman, when he thought he had scratch\u2019d this _Sarah\nMorduck_; and upon that, he opened his Eyes; but, being told he had\nscratch\u2019d the wrong Woman, he pretended to be blind and dumb again. And\nthe manner of his doing it was such, as showed him a crafty fellow, taking\ncare of himself; for he felt her Arm four times over, before he would\nscratch her.\n\n\u2018To prove that his vomiting Pins was by a Trick, it was deposed, That\nimmediately after he had vomited great Numbers in appearance upon the\nGround, and was going to vomit more, Care being taken that he should vomit\ninto a Basin, and his Hands being kept down below it, there was not a Pin\nin the Basin, but a great many crooked ones in his Pockets, in readiness\nto have play\u2019d his Tricks with.\n\n\u2018Some of the Noises that were said to be made in the Bed, were shewed to\nbe made by his own Feet scratching the Bed Post.\n\n\u2018Besides what he got by Gifts and Collections, it was proved that he had\ntried to make a Gain, by printing a Narrative of his own Case.\n\n\u2018With respect to his Fasting, it was said by one of his own Witnesses,\nthat there came from him five Times more than he took. After two Days\nfasting, and refusing to take any thing from Mr. _Kensy_, for fear he\nshould really starve himself, rather than own his knavery, Mr. _Kensy_\ncontrived to let him have Meat in a private Way, by this Device. He\npretended to fall out with his Maid in _Hathaway\u2019s_ hearing, and said she\ngave him Meat; and therefor he gave her Warning to be gone. She carried on\nthe Design, and told him she was as ready to be gone as he was to have her\ngo; and, after this feigned Quarrell, she spake kindly to _Richard_, and\nbad him take nothing from her Master; for, while she stay\u2019d she would take\nCare of him. After this, he took Meat from her; but a Child being in the\nRoom, he pointed that it might not see him. He eat and drank any Thing she\ngave him, Ale, Brandy, Fish, Pudding, Mutton, &c. Once he was drunk, and\nspew\u2019d, and covered his Vomit with Ashes; But if either Mr. _Kensy_, or\nanyone else offered him any, he refused to take it; and, when he had eaten\nheartily, he would shew them his Belly clung up to his Back, as though\nthere had been nothing in it. The Maid saw this openly, Mr. _Kensy_ saw it\nthrough a private Hole; and, once, he had four Neighbours with him, that\nsaw it as well as he. He eat in this manner for eleven Days together, and\nyet pretended to continue his Fast. If they asked him how many Weeks he\nhad fasted before he came to Mr. _Kensy\u2019s_ House? he counted Ten upon his\nFingers. If they asked him how many Weeks he had fasted since his coming\nthither? he counted Two, tho\u2019 they had seen him eat eleven Days of the two\nWeeks.\n\n\u2018When they had Proof enough, Mr. _Kensy_ told him he was discover\u2019d, and\nsaid his Friends were in Custody, and had confess\u2019d the whole Matter. Upon\nthat he cried passionately and said he would tell the Lord Chief Justice\nthe whole Truth, and asked, If his Mother was safe? But, my Lord not being\nat his Chamber, he, in about an Hour after, recanted, and said again that\nhe was bewitched.\n\n\u2018These Things were deposed at large by many and substantial Witnesses;\ninsomuch that the Jury, without going from the Bar, returned him Guilty.\n\n\u2018Some Months after, my Lord Chief Justice _Holt_ past Sentence upon him,\nThat he should suffer Imprisonment a Year, and stand in the Pillory three\nTimes.\u2019\n\nThe last case of witchcraft in England, where a so-called witch was tried\nand condemned by judge and jury (although she was not executed), was that\nof Jane Wenham in 1712. I am aware that another and later case is cited in\n1716 of one Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, said to have been executed at\nHuntingdon, for \u2018selling their souls to the devil, making their neighbours\nvomit pins, and raising a storm by which a certain ship was almost lost\u2019;\nbut as no one yet has been able to find any record of this case, I beg\nleave to doubt its existence.\n\nBut Jane Wenham\u2019s was a _cause c\u00e9l\u00e8bre_. She lived at Walkern, a village\nin Hertfordshire, about four miles from Stevenage. The account of the\nproceedings at her trial is very long, so that I shall only give two or\nthree of the informations laid against her:\n\n\u2018_Matthew Gilston_, of the Parish of _Walkerne_, says upon Oath, that, on\n_New Years Day_ last past, he carrying Straw upon a Fork from Mr.\n_Gardiner\u2019s_ Barn, met _Jane Wenham_, who asked him for some Straw, which\nhe refused to give her; then she said she would take some, and accordingly\ntook some away from this Informant.\n\n\u2018And farther, this Informant saith, that on the 29th of _Jan._ last, when\nthis Informant was threshing in the Barn of his Master, _John Chapman_, an\nOld Woman in a Riding-hood, or Cloak, he knows not which, came to the Barn\nDoor, and asked him for a Penyworth of Straw; he told her he could give\nher none, and she went away, Muttering.\n\n\u2018And this Informant saith, that after the Woman was gone, he was not able\nto work, but ran out of the Barn, as far as a place called _Munders-Hill_,\n(which is about Three Miles from _Walkerne_) and asked at a House there\nfor a Penyworth of Straw, and they, refusing to give him any, he went\nfarther, to some Dung-heaps, and took some Straw from thence, and pull\u2019d\noff his Shirt, and brought it Home in his Shirt; he knows not what mov\u2019d\nhim to this, but says he was forc\u2019d to it, he knows not how.\n\n\u2018_Susan Aylott_, the Wife of _William Aylott_, of the Parish of\n_Walkerne_, saith upon Oath, that about 12 Years ago last _Christmas_,\nshe, this Informant, was sent for to the Wife of _Richard Harvey_, lying\nvery Ill in a strange Condition; and, as soon as she came thither, _Jane\nWenham_ followed her, and she, this Informant, wonder\u2019d that _Jane Wenham_\nfollowed her, since _Richard Harvey\u2019s_ Wife had told her that she, the\nsaid _Jane Wenham_ had bewitched her: Then _Jane Wenham_ went under the\nWindow where the sick Woman lay, and said, Why do they let this Creature\nlye there? Why don\u2019t they take her and hang her out of the way? At which\nshe, this Informant, had some Words with _Jane Wenham_, saying, Take you,\nand hang you out of the Way: and then _Jane Wenham_ answer\u2019d, Hold you\nyour Tongue, I don\u2019t meddle with you, and that Night, the sick Woman,\naforesaid, died.\n\n\u2018And this Informant farther saith, That, soon after, _Jane Wenham_ came to\nthis Informant\u2019s House, and look\u2019d upon a Child which was in her Lap, and\nstroaked it; and said, _Susan_, you have a curious Child; you and I had\nsome Words, but I hope we are Friends; and asked this Informant to lend\nher a Glass to carry some Vinegar in from the Shop; then this Informant\nsent _Jane Wenham_ a Glass, who went away. And this Informant was afraid\nof her Child, remembering she was thought to have bewitched _Richard\nHarvey\u2019s_ Wife.\n\n\u2018This Informant further saith, That on _Sunday_ following, she was at her\nbrother _Jeremy Harvey\u2019s_ House, with her Child, and that her Child was\ntaken in a grievous Condition, stark Distracted, and so died on the\nThursday following; and this Informant saith, she thinks _Jane Wenham_\nbewitched her Child; and saith also, that Jane Wenham has had the\nReputation of a Witch for several Years before.\n\n\u2018_Thomas Adams_, Junior, of _Walkerne_, maketh Oath, that about Three\nWeeks, or a month before _Christmas last_, he met _Jane Wenham_ in his\nTurnip Field, with a few of his Turnips, which she was carrying away; and\nupon his Threatning her, she threw them down; he, this Informant, told her\nshe might keep them, for she should pay dear for them; then she was very\nsubmissive, and begg\u2019d Pardon, saying, she had no Victuals all that day,\nand had no money to buy any; afterwards, they parted, and he saw her not\nafter; But, on _Christmas-Day_ Morning, One of his best Sheep died without\nany Signs of Illness found upon the Body after it was open\u2019d, and Nine or\nTen Days after, died another Sheep, in an unaccountable Manner; and,\nshortly after, Two more Sheep died also, some of them having no Marks of\nDisease upon \u2019em, but being sound in all their Parts, as his Shepherd\ninforms him. He also saith that his Shepherd tells him that one other\nSheep was taken strangely, skipping and standing upon its Head, but in\nhalf an Hour was well, and continues so; and another Sheep was likewise\nIll, Two or Three Days, but it is now well again: And _Jane Wenham_ having\nthe Common Fame of a Witch, he does believe that if they were bewitch\u2019d,\nshe did bewitch them.\u2019\n\nAll these charges convinced the jury that she was indeed a witch, and the\njudge had no option but to sentence her; but he got her a reprieve, and\nshe was let out of prison, when she was kindly befriended by Colonel\nPlummer, of Gilston, who gave her a cottage in which she harmlessly lived\nthe remainder of her days.\n\nBut although this was the last capital conviction in England, the belief\nin witchcraft was far from dead; nay, it is still living in some remote\ndistricts, but cannot long exist, as education makes its way.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\n Scotch Witches--Bessie Dunlop--Alesoun Peirson--Dr. John Fian--The\n Devil a Preacher--Examination of Agnes Sampson--Confession of Issobel\n Gowdie.\n\n\nBut Scotland was the real home of the witch. Comparatively speaking, the\nEnglish hardly knew what a witch was, and the reports of trials are so\nnumerous that space prohibits my making more than a selection of them.\nWitches were important personages--at least, in the sixteenth century--for\nwe read in the trial of Bessie Dunlop, 1576, how many noble ladies\nconsulted her. \u2018And demandit,--To quhom sche applyit the powder in drink?\nDeclarit,--That the Lady Johnstoune the elder, send to hir ane servand of\nthe said ladies, &c ... Interrogat--Quhair sche gaif the gentile woman the\ndrink? Answerit--In hir awin sisteris hous, the young Ladye Blakhallis....\nDemandit--Gif ony uther personnes had bene at hir for the lyke caus?\nDeclarit--That the Lady Kilbowye elder, send for hir &c....\nDemandit--Quhat personnes thar wer? Answerit--The Ladye Thridpairt in the\nbarronye of Renfrew, send to hir, and sperit at her, Quha was it that had\nstollin from hir twa hornis of gold, and are croune of the sone, out of\nhir pyrse?... The Ladye Blaire sundrie times had spokin with hir, about\nsum claise that was stollin fra hir.\u2019\n\nAgain, in the trial of Alesoun Peirson, May 28, 1588: \u2018And in speciall,\nscho said, that he tauld hir that the Bischop of Sanct Androus[56] had\nmony seiknessis, as the trimbling fewer,[57] the palp,[58] the\nrippilis,[59] and the flexus;[60] and baid hir mak ane faw,[61] and rub it\non his cheikis, his craig, his breist, stommak and sydis.\u2019\n\nA favourite place of meeting, where they held their Sabbat, was at North\nBerwick-Kirk. In the trial of Johnne Feane, alias Cwninghame, December 26,\n1590, we find: \u2018Item. Fylit, ffor being in cumpany with Satan in the Kirk\nof North Berwick, quhair he apperit to him in the forme of ane blak maun\nwithin the pulpett thairof; and efter his out-cuminge of the Kirk, poyntit\nthe graues and stwid aboue thame; quhilkis wer opnit in thre sindrie\npairtis, twa within and ane without; quhilk the wemen demembrit the deid\ncorps and bodeis being thairin, with thair galleis;[62] and in contment\nwes transportit, without wordis.... Item. Fylit. for being in North\nBerwick Kirk, at ane conventioune with Sathan and utheris witches; quhair\nSathan maid ane dewelisch sermon, quhair the said Johnne satt uponne the\nleft syde of the pulppett, narrest him; And the sermon being endit, he\ncame doune and tuke the said Johnne be the hand; and led him\nwidderschinnis[63] about.\u2019\n\nIn \u2018A True Discourse of the apprehension of Sundrie Witches lately taken\nin Scotland,\u2019 etc., 1591, is the following \u2018Item. The said Agnis Tompson\n(Sampson) was after brought againe before the Kinges Majestie and his\nCouncell, and beeing examined of the meetings and detestable dealings of\nthose witches, she confessed, that upon the night of Allhollow Even last,\nshee was accompanied, as well with the persons aforesaide, as also with a\ngreat many other witches, to the number of two hundreth, and that all they\ntogether went to Sea, each one in a riddle or cive, and went into the same\nvery substantially, with flaggons of wine, making merrie and drinking by\nthe way, in the same riddles or cives, to the Kirk of North Barrick in\nLowthian; and that after they had landed, tooke handes on the lande, and\ndaunced this reill or short daunce, singing all with one voice,\n\n \u2018\u201cCommer goe ye before, commer goe ye,\n Gif ye will not goe before, commer let me.\u201d\n\n\u2018At which time shee confessed, that this Geillis Duncane did goe before\nthem, playing this reill or daunce, uppon a small trumpe, called a Jewe\u2019s\ntrump, untill they entred into the Kirk of North Barrick.\u2019\n\nThis Agnes Sampson was tried on January 27, 1591, for conspiring the\nKing\u2019s death, witchcraft, sorcery, incantation, etc., and her ultimate\nfate was \u2018to be tane to the Castle (hill) of Edinburgh, and thair bund to\nane staik and werreit (strangled), quhill sche wes deid; and thairefter\nher body to be brunt in assis.\u2019\n\n\u2018Item, fylit and convict, ffor as mekle as sche confest before his\nMaiestie, That the Dewill, in mannis liknes, mett hir going out in the\nfieldis frome hir awin hous att Keyth, betwix fyve and sax at ewin, being\nhir allane; and commandit hir to be at North Bervick Kirk the nixt nycht:\nAnd she passit thair on horsbak, and lychtit at the Kirk yaird. Or a\nlytill before sche come to itt, about ellewin houris att ewin, they\ndanceit alangis the Kirk yaird, Gelie Duncan playit to thame one a trump.\u2019\n\nShe then gives the names of many who were present. \u2018Quhairof thair wes sax\nmen, and all the rest wemen. The wemen maid fyrst thair homage, and nixt\nthe men. The men wer turnit nyne tymes widderschinnes about, and the wemen\nsax tymes. Johnne Fien blew up the duris, and blew in the lychtis,\nquhilkis wer lyke mekle blak candillis, stiking round about the pulpett.\nThe Devill start up himselff in the pulpett, lyke are mekle blak man, and\ncallit ewerie man be his name, and ewerie ane ansuerit: \u201cHeir, Mr.\u201d The\nfyrst thing he demandit, was \u201cGif thay kepit all promeis, and bene guid\nservandis?\u201d and \u201cQuhat thay had done since the last tyme thay had\nconvenit?\u201d--One his command, thay opnit up the graves, twa within and ane\nwithout the kirk, and tuik of the jountis of thair fingaris, tais and\nneife,[64] and partit thame amangis thame: and the said Agnes Sampsoune\ngatt for hir pairt, ane windene scheit and twa jountis, quhilk sche tint\nnegligentlie. The Devill commandit thame to keip the jountis upoun thame,\nquhill thay wer dry, and thane to mak ane powder of thame, to do ewill\nwithall. Then he commandit thame to keip his commandmentis, quhilkis war,\nto do all the ewill they could.\u2019\n\nTheir initiation was similar to their English sisters\u2019, as the aforesaid\nAgnes Sampson affirms. \u2018The fyrst tyme sche begane to serue the Dewill,\nwas eftir the death of hir husband; and that he apperit to hir, in liknes\nof ane man, quha commandit hir to acknowledge him as hir maister, and to\nrenunce Chryste; quhairunto sche grant it, being movit be pouertie and his\npromesis, that sche and hir bairnis sould be maid ritch, and sould gif hir\npower to be revangeit of hir inimeis; and eftir that, he appointit tyme\nand place for thair nycht meting; and that tyme, in signe that sche wes\nbecum his seruand, he markit hir in the rycht kne, quhilk mark sche\nbelevit to haif bene ane hurt ressavit be hir fra ane of hir bairnies that\nwes lyand in the bed with hir; quhilk hurt wes nocht haill for half ane\nyeir.\u2019\n\nBefore finishing with this lady, I must give another portion of her most\nextraordinary confession. \u2018Moreover she confessed, that, at the time when\nhis Majestie was in Denmarke, shee being accompanied by the parties before\nspeciallie named, took a cat, and christened it, and afterwards bounde to\neach part of that cat, the cheefest part of a dead man, and severall\njoyntis of his bodie: And that, in the night following, the saide cat was\nconvayed into the middest of the sea by all these witches, sayling in\ntheir riddles or cives, and so left the saide cat right before the towne\nof Leith in Scotland. This doone, there did arise such a tempest in the\nsea, as a greater hath not beene seene.\u2019\n\nThis was the way they baptized the cat: \u2018In the wobstaris[65] hous, in\nmaner following: Fyrst, twa of thame held ane fingar,[66] in the ane syd\nof the chimnay cruik, and ane uther held ane uther fingar in the uther\nsyd, the twa nebbis[67] of the fingaris meeting togidder; than thay patt\nthe catt thryis throw the linkis of the cruik, and passit itt thryis under\nthe chimnay.\u2019\n\nThe confession of Issobell Gowdie, May 3, 1662, although it is somewhat\nmutilated, gives us a good insight into the manners and customs of Scotch\nwitches:\n\n\u2018Efter that tym ther vold meit bot sometymes a _Coven_, somtymes mor,\nsomtymes les; bot a Grand Meitting vold be about the end of ilk Quarter.\nTher is threttein persones in ilk _Coven_; and ilk on of us has a _Spirit_\nto wait wpon us, quhan ve pleas to call wpon him. I remember not all the\nSpritis names; bot thair is on called _Swein_, quhilk waitis wpon the said\nMargaret Wilson in Aulderne; he is still[68] clothed in grass grein; and\nthe said Margret Wilson hes an niknam called _Pikle neirest the Wind_. The\nnixt Sprit is called _Rorie_ who waitis wpon Bessie Wilsone, in Aulderne;\nhe is still clothed in yallow; and hir nikname is _Throw the Corne yaird_.\nThe third Sprit is called _The Roring Lyon_, who waitis wpon Issobell\nNicoll in Locklow; and [he is still clothed] in sea grein; her niknam is\n_Bessie Rule_. The fowrth Sprit is called _Mak Hector_, qwho waitis wpon\nJean Martein, dawghter to the said Margaret Wilson; he is a yowng-lik\nDevill, clothed still in grass [green. Jean Martein is] _Maiden_ to the\nCoven that I am of; and hir nikname is _Over the Dyke with it_, becaws the\n_Divill_ [alwayis takis the] Maiden in his hand nix him, quhan ve daunce\nGillatrypes, and quhan he vold lowp from ...[69] he and she will say,\n\u201cOwer the dyk with it.\u201d The name of the fyft Sprit is _Robert the_ [_Rule_\nand he is still clothed in] sadd dun, and seimis to be a Comander of the\nrest of the Spiritis; and he waittis wpon Margret Brodie, in Aulderne.\n[The name of the saxt Spirit] is called _Thieff of Hell wait upon hir\nselfe_, and he waitis also on the said Bessie Wilson. The name of the\nsevinth [Sprit is called] _The Read Reiver_, and he is my owin Spirit,\nthat waittis on my selfe, and is still clothed in blak. The aught Spirit\n[is called] _Robert the Jackis_, still clothed in dune, and seimes to be\naiged. He is ane glaiked gowked Spirit! The woman\u2019s [nikname] that he\nwaitis on, is _Able and Stowt_! The nynth Spirit is called _Laing_, and\nthe womans nikname that he vaitis wpon is _Bessie Bauld_. The Tenth Spirit\nis named _Thomas a Fearie_, &c.--Ther wil be many uther Divellis, waiting\nwpon [our] _Maister Divell_; bot he is bigger and mor awfull than the rest\nof the Divellis, and they all reverence him. I will ken them all, on by\non, from utheris, quhan they appeir lyk a man.\n\n\u2018Quhan we rease the wind, we tak a rag of cloth, and weitts[70] it in\nwater; and we take a beetle[71] and knokis the rage on a stone, and we\nsay thryse ower:\n\n \u2018\u201cI _knok_ this ragg wpon this stane,\n To raise the wind, in _the Divellis_ name;\n It sall not lye,[72] untill I please againe!\u201d\n\n\u2018[Whan] we wold lay the wind, we dry the ragg, and say [thryse ower]:\n\n \u2018\u201cWe lay the wind in _the Divellis_ name,\n [It sall not] ryse quhill we lyk to rease it again!\u201d\n\n\u2018And if the wind will not lye instantlie [after we say this] we call wpon\nowr Spirit, and say to him:\n\n \u2018\u201cThieffe! Thieffe! conjure the wind, and caws it to [lye ...]\u201d\n\n\u2018We haw no power of rain, bot ve will rease the wind quhan ve pleas.--He\nmaid us beliew [...] that ther wes no _God_ besyd him.\n\n\u2018As for Elf-arrow-heidis, _the Diuell_ shapes them with his awin hand, and\nsyne deliueris thame to Elf-boyes, who whyttis and dightis[73] them with a\nsharp thing lyk a paking neidle; bot [quhan I was in Elfland?] I saw them\nwhytting and dighting them. Quhan I wes in the Elfes howssis, they will\nhaw werie ... them whytting and dighting: and _the Diwell_ giwes them to\nws, each of ws so many, quhen.... Thes that dightis thaim ar litle ones,\nholow, and boss baked![74] They speak gowstie[75] lyk. Quhen _the Divell_\ngiwes them to ws, he sayes:\n\n \u2018\u201cShoot thes in my name,\n And they sall not goe heall hame!\u201d\n\n\u2018And quhan we shoot these arrowes we say:\n\n \u2018\u201cI _shoot_ yon man in _the Divellis_ name,\n He sall not win heall hame!\n And this sal be alswa trw;\n Thair sall not be an bit of him on lieiw.\u201d[76]\n\n\u2018We haw no bow to shoot with, but spang[77] them from the naillis of our\nthowmbes. Som tymes we will misse, bot if thay twitch[78] be it beast, or\nman, or woman, it will kill, tho\u2019 they haid an jack[79] wpon them. Qwhen\nwe goe in the shape of an haire, we say thryse owr:\n\n \u2018\u201cI sall goe intill ane haire,\n With sorrow, and sych, and meikle caire;\n And I sall goe in _the Divellis_ nam,\n Ay whill I com hom [againe]!\u201d\n\n\u2018And instantlie we start in an hair, And when we wold be owt of that\nshape, we vill say:\n\n \u2018\u201cHaire [haire, God send the caire!]\n I am in an hairis liknes just now,\n But I sal be in a womanis liknes ewin [now]!\u201d\n\n\u2018When we vold goe in the liknes of an Cat, we say thryse ower:\n\n \u2018\u201cI sall go [intill ane catt,]\n [With sorrow, and sych, and a blak] shot!\n And I sall goe in _the Divellis_ nam,\n Ay quhill I com hom again!\u201d\n\n\u2018And if ve [wold goe in ane Craw,[80] then] we say thryse ower:\n\n \u2018\u201cI sall goe intill a craw,\n With sorrow and sych, and a blak [thraw!\n And I sall goe in _the Divellis_ nam,]\n Ay quhill I com hom again!\u201d\n\n\u2018And quhen ve vold be owt of thes shapes, we say:\n\n \u201cCatt, catt, (or craw, craw,) [God] send the a blak shott! (or thraw)\n I wes a catt (or craw) just now,\n Bot I sal be [in a woman\u2019s liknes evin now.]\n Catt, catt, (or craw, craw,) God send the a blak shot! (or thraw).\u201d\n\n\u2018Giff we in the [shape of an catt, an craw, an] haire, or ony uther\nliknes, &c., go to any of our neighbouris howssis, being Witches, we will\n[say]:\n\n \u201c[I (or we) _conjure_] the Goe with ws (or me)!\u201d\n\n\u2018And presentlie they becom as we ar, either cats, hearis, crowes, &c., and\ngoe [with ws whither we wold. Quhan] we wold ryd, we tak windlestrawes, or\nbean stakes,[81] and put them betwixt owr foot, and say thryse:\n\n \u2018\u201c[Horse] and hattok, horse and goe,\n Horse and pellatis, ho! ho!\u201d\n\n\u2018And immediatlie we flie away whair [evir we wold]; and least our\nhusbandis sould miss vs owt of owr beddis, we put in a boosom,[82] or a\nthrie [leggit stoole besyde thame] and say thryse ower:\n\n \u201cI _lay_ down this boosom (or stooll) in _the Devillis_ name\n Let it not steir ... [Quhill I] com again!\u201d\n\n\u2018And immediatlie it seimis a voman, besyd our husbandis.\n\n\u2018Ve can not turn in the lik[nes of ...] Quhen my husband sold beeff, I\nused to put a swellowes feather in the hyd of the beast, and [say thryse]:\n\n \u201c[I] _putt_ out this beeff in _the Divellis_ nam,\n That meikle silver and good pryce com hame!\u201d\n\n\u2018I did ewin so [quhenevir I putt] furth either horse, noat,[83] vebs,[84]\nor any uther thing to be sold, and still put in this feather, and said the\n[samin wordis thryse] ower, to caws the comodities sell weill.\n\n \u201cOur Lord to hunting he [is gone]\n ... marble stone,\n He sent vord to Saint Knitt....\u201d\n\nQuhan we vold heall ony sor or brokin limb, we say thryse ower\n\n \u201cHe pat the blood to the blood, Till all up stood!\n The lith to the lith, Till all look with;\n Owr Ladie charmed her deirlie Sone, with hir tooth and her townge,\n And her ten fingeris----\n In the name of _the Father_, _the Son_, and _the Halie Ghaist_!\u201d\n\n\u2018And this we say thryse ower, straiking[85] the sor, and it becomes heall.\n\n\u20182{dli} For the Bean-straw,[86] or pain in the heaunce,[87] _Wee_ ar heir\nthrie _Maidens_ charming for the bean-straw; y{e} man of the Midle-earth,\nblew beaver, land-feaver, maneris of stooris, The Lord fleigged[88] the\nFeind with his holy candles and yeird foot stone!--Thair she sittis, and\nheir she is gon!--Let hir nevir com heir again!\n\n3{dli} For _the Feaveris_, we say thrise ower, I _forbid_ the\nqwaking-feavers, the sea-feaveris, the land-feaveris, and all the feaveris\nthat ewir God ordained, owt of the head, owt of the heart, owt of the bak,\nowt of the sydis, owt of the kneyis, owt of the thieghes, fra the pointis\nof the fingeris, to the nebes[89] of the toes; owt fall the feaveris goe,\n[som] to the hill, som to the hap, som to the stone, som to the stok. In\nSaint Peiteris nam, Saint Paullis nam, and all the Saintis of Hevin: In\nthe nam of _The Father_, _the Sone_, and _The Halie Gost_!\n\n\u2018And when we took the frwit of the fishes from [the] fisheris, we went to\nthe shore, before the boat wold com to it; and we wold say, on the shore\nsyd, thrie seuerall tymes ower,\n\n \u2018\u201cThe fisheris ar gon to the sea,\n And they vill bring hom fishe to me;\n They will bring them hom intill the boat,\n Bot they sall get of thaim bot the smaller sort!\u201d\n\nSo we either steall a fish, or buy a fish, or get a fish from them [for\nnowght] an or ma.[90] And with that we haw all the fruit of the heall\nfishes in the boat; and the fishes that the fishermen thamselues will haw,\nwill be bot froath &c.\n\n\u2018The first woyag that ewer I went with the rest of owr _Covens_ wes to\nPlewghlandis; and thair we shot an man betwixt the plewgh-stiltis, and he\npresentlie fell to the ground, wpon his neise and his mowth; and then _the\nDivell_ gaw me an arrow, and cawsed me shoot an voman in that fieldis;\nquhilk I did, and she fell down dead. In Winter 1660, quhen Mr. Harie\nForbes, Minister at Aulderne, was seik, we maid an bagg of the gallis,\nflesh, and guttis of toadis, pickles of bear,[91] pairingis of the nailis\nof fingeris and toes, the liewer of ane hair, and bittis of clowtis. We\nsteipit this all together, all night among watter, all haked[92] throw\nuther. And whan we did put it among the water, _Satan_ wes with ws, and\nlearned ws the wordis following, to say thryse ower. They ar thus.\n\n \u2018\u201c_He_ is lying in his bed,--he is lyeing seik and sair;\n Let him lye intill his bed two monethes and [thrie] dayes mair!\n 2{li}. Let him lye intill his bed--let him lye intill it seik and sore;\n Let him lye intill his bed, monthis two and thrie dayes mor!\n 3{li}. He sall lye intill his bed, he sall lye in it seik and sore;\n He sall lye intill his bed, two monethis and thrie dayes mor!\u201d\n\n\u2018Quhan we haid learned all these wordis from _the Devill_, as said is, we\nall fell down [wpon owr] kneis, with owr hear down ower owr showlderis and\neyes, and owr handis lifted wp, and owr eyes [stedfastlie fixed wpon] _the\nDivell_; and said the forsaidis wordis thryse ower to _the Divell_,\nstriktlie, against Maister Harie Forbes [his recowering from the said\nseiknes]. In the night tym we cam into Mr. Harie Forbes chalmer, quhair he\nlay, with owr handis all smeared [... out] of the bagg to swing it upon\nMr. Harie, quhair he wes seik in his bed; and, in the day tyme [... ane of\nowr] nwmber, quho wes most familiar and intimat with him, to wring or\nswing the bagg wpon the said Mr. Harie, as we could not prevaill in the\nnight tym against him; quhilk wes accordinglie done.\u2019\n\n\u2018_Johne Taylor_ and his wyff, _Bessie_, and _Margret Wilsones_, and I,\nmaid a pictur for the _Laird of Parkis_ maill children. _Johnne Taylor_\nbrought hom the clay in his plaid newk;[93] his wyff sifted it; we poured\nin water in a cowg[94] amongst it, and wrought it sor,[95] and maid a\npictor of it, lyk a child, als big as a pow. It vanted no mark of the imag\nof a bairn, eyes, nose, mouth, little lippies, and the hands of it folded\ndown by its sydis. The vordis, quhan we maid it, ver thes:\n\n \u2018\u201cWe put this water among this meall,\n For long divining,[96] and ill heall;\n We put it intill the fyr,\n To burn them up both stik and stour,\n That be burnt with our will,\n As any stikill[97] on a kill!\u201d\n\n_The Divell_ sitton on an blak kist. Ve wer al on owr kneyis, and owr hair\nabout our eyes, looking on _the Divell_ stedfastlie, and our handis lifted\nup to him, saying the vordes ower. And by this the bairnis died.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXII.\n\n Early Witchcraft in Scotland--Lady Glamys--Bessie Dunlop--Lady\n Foulis--Numerous Cases.\n\n\nWitchcraft in Scotland began early, for we hear of some dozen or more\npeople being burnt at Edinburgh in 1479, for attempting to bewitch the\nKing, James III., to death, by means of a waxen image. In the proclamation\nof 1510, for regulating the proceedings at circuit courts the judges are\ninstructed to ask the question, \u2018Gif thair be ony Wichecraift or Soffary\nwsit in y{e} realme?\u2019 but it was not until the passing of the Act of 1563\nthat the regular persecution of these deluded people began.\n\nThe first recorded case of witchcraft that I can find in Pitcairn\u2019s\n\u2018Criminal Trials in Scotland,\u2019 is that of Lady Glamys, where we read:\n\n\u201831 Jan. 1532. _Jonet, Lady Glammys_ found _John Drummond_ of\n_Innerpeffery_ as surety for her appearance at the next Justice-aire of\n_Forfar_, to underly the law for art and part of the Intoxication of\n_John, Lord Glammys_, her husband.\u2019\n\nThat considerable sympathy was felt with her is shown by the number of\ngentlemen who preferred being fined to giving evidence in her case. But\nthis can scarcely be called a case of witchcraft. She was certainly\naccused of trying to poison her husband by means of charmed drinks, but\nthe chief accusation brought against her at her trial in 1537, by the\nmalice of her husband\u2019s brother, was attempting to poison the King, a\ncharge which she disposed of easily in her defence. Said she:\n\n\u2018I am here accus\u2019d for purposing to kill _the King_; and, to make my\npretended crime appear more frightful, it is given out that the way was to\nbe by poison. With what strange impudence can any accuse me of such\nwickedness who never saw any poison, nor know I anything about the\npreparation of it? Let them tell where I bought it, or who procur\u2019d it for\nme? Or, though I had it, how could I use it, since I never come near _the\nKing\u2019s_ person, his table, nor Palace? It is well known, that, since my\nlast marriage with this unfortunate gentleman, I have liv\u2019d in the\ncountry, at a great distance from the Court. What opportunity could I have\nto poison _the King_?\u2019\n\nBut it was of no avail, she was to die, and this is her sentence:\n\n\u2018For the quhilkis tressonable crimes, the said Jonet, Lady of Glammys hes\nfoirfallit to oure souerane lord, hir life, hir landis, gudis movable and\nunmovable: And that scho sall be had to Castell hill of Edinburghe, and\ntheir BRYNT in ane fyre to the deid, as ane Traytour. And that I gif for\nDome.\u2019\n\nAn historian[98] says: \u2018She heard the sentence pronounced without the\nleast signe of terrour or concern. On the day appointed for her\nExecution, she suffered on the _Castle-Hill_ of _Edinburgh_, where she\nappear\u2019d with so much beauty and little concern, that all the spectators\nwere so deeply afflicted for her, that they burst out with tears and loud\nlamentations for her untimely end, and were so confident of her Innocence,\nthat they design\u2019d to rescue her. But _the King\u2019s_ Officers and Guards\nbeing present, hinder\u2019d their attempting anything that way.\u2019\n\nThe foregoing is evidently more a political case than one of witchcraft,\nthe earliest of which existing in the records of the High Court of\nJusticiary in Scotland is June 26, 1563: \u2018_Agnes Mullikine_, alias _Bessie\nBoswell_, in Dunfermeling, wes _Banist_ and _exilit_ for Witchcraft.\u2019 The\nnext is December 29, 1572: \u2018_Jonet Boyman_, spous to _Williame Steill_,\nDelatit of diuerse crymes of Witchcraft. _Convict and Brint._\u2019\n\nThe next is most interesting, although it savours more of Elfland than of\n_diablerie_, and is dated November 8, 1576:\n\n\u2018_Elizabeth_, or _Bessie Dunlop_, spous to _Andro Jak_ in _Lyne_.[99]\nDilatit of the using of Sorcerie, Witchcraft, and Incantatione of spretis\nof the devill; continewand in familiaritie with thame, at all sic tymes as\nsche thocht expedient: deling with charmes, and abusing the peple with\ndevillisch craft of sorcerie foresaid, be the meanis after specefeit; usit\nthir diuerse geiris bypast; specialie, at the tymes and in the maner\nfollowing.\n\n\u2018In the first, That fforsamekle as the said Elizabeth being demandit, be\nquhat art and knaulege sche could tell diuerse personnes of thingis thai\ntynt, or was stollin away, or help seik personnes? Ansuerit and declarit,\nthat sche hirself had na kynd of art nor science swa to do; but diuerse\ntymes, quhen onye sic personnes come ather to hir, sche wald inquire at\nane Thome Reid, quha deit at Pinkye,[100] as he himselff affirmit; wha\nwald tell hir, quhen euer sche askit.--\n\n\u2018(2) Item. Sche being inquirit, quhat kynd of man this Thom Reid was?\nDeclarit, he was ane honest wele elderlie man, gray beardit, and had ane\ngray coitt with Lumbart slevis of the auld fassoun; ane pair of gray\nbrekis, and quhyte schankis, gartanit aboue the kne: ane blak bonet on his\nheid, cloise behind and plane befoir, with silkin laissis drawin throw the\nlippis thairof; and ane quhyte wand in his hand.\n\n\u2018(3) Item. Being interrogat, how and in quhat maner of place the said\nThome Reid came to hir? Ansuerit, as sche was gangand betwix hir awin\nhous, and the yard of Monk castell, dryvand hir ky to the pasture; and\nmakand hevye sair dule[101] with hir self, gretand[102] verrie fast for\nhir kow that was deid, hir husband and chyld, that wer lyand seik in the\nland, and sche new rissine out of gissane.[103] The forsaid Thom mett her\nby the way, healsit[104] hir, and said, \u201cGude day, Bessie;\u201d and sche said,\n\u201cGod speid yow, gude man.\u201d \u201c_Sancta Marie_\u201d saide he, \u201cBessie quhy makis\nthow sa grit dule and sair greting for ony warldlie thing?\u201d Sche ansuerit,\n\u201cAllace! haif I nocht grit caus to mak grit dule? ffor our geir is\ntrakit;[105] and my husband is on the point of deid, and ane babie of my\nawin will nocht leve; and myself at ane waik point; haif I nocht gude caus\nthane to haif ane sair hart?\u201d But Thom said, \u201cBessie, thow hes crabit[106]\nGod, and askit sum thing you suld nocht haif done; and, thairfor, I\ncounsell thee to mend to him: for I tell thee thy barne sall die, and the\nseik kow, or you cum hame; thy twa scheip sall de to; bot thy husband sall\nmend, and be als haill and feir as euir he was.\u201d And, than, I was sum\nthing blyther, fra he tauld me that my gudeman wald mend. Than Thome Reid\nwent away fra me, in throw the yard of Monk castell; and I thocht he gait\nin at ane naroware hoill of the dyke, nor ony erdlie man culd haif gane\nthrow, and swa I was sum thing fleit.[107]\n\n\u2018(4) Item. The thrid [? second] tyme, he apperit to hir, as sche was\ngangand betwix hir awin hous and the Thome of Damwstarnok, quhair he\ntareit ane gude quhyle with hir, and sperit at hir, \u201cGif sche wald nocht\ntrow[108] in him?\u201d Sche said, \u201cSche wald trow in ony bodye did her gude.\u201d\nAnd Thom promeist hir baith geir, horsis, and ky, and uther graith, gif\nscho wald denye hir Christindome, and the faith sche tuke at the funt\nstane?[109] Quhairunto sche ansuerit, \u201cThat gif sche suld be revin[110] at\nhorsis-taillis sche suld neuir do that:\u201d bot promeist to be leill and\ntrew to him in onye thing sche culd do. And, forder, he was sumthing\nangrie with hir that sche wald nocht grant to him that quhilk he spak.\n\n\u2018(5) Item. The ferd tyme he apperit in hir awin hous to hir, about the XII\nhour of the day, quhair thair was sittand thre tailyeouris, and hir awin\ngudeman; and he tuke hir apperoun and led hir to the dure with him, and\nsche followit, and geid[111] up with him to the kill end, quhair he\nforbaid hir to speik or feir for ony thing sche hard or saw; and quhene\nthai had gane ane lytle pece fordwerd, sche saw twelf personnes, aucht\nwemene and four men: The men wer clad in gentlemennis clething, and the\nwemene had all plaiddis round about thame, and wer verrie semelie lyke to\nse; and Thome was with theme: And demandit, \u201cGif sche knew ony of thame?\u201d\nAnsuerit, \u201cNane, except Thom.\u201d Demandit, \u201cWhat said thai to hir?\u201d\nAnsuerit, \u201cThai baid hir sit doun, and said, Welcome Bessie, will thow go\nwith ws?\u201d Bot sche ansuerit nocht; because Thom had forbidden hir. And,\nforder, declarit, That sche knew nocht quhat purpois thai had amangis\nthaime, onlie sche saw thair lippis move; and within a schort space thai\npairtit all away; and ane hiddeous uglie sowche of wind followit thame;\nand sche lay seik quhill Thom came agane bak fra thame.\n\n\u2018(6) Item. Sche being demandit, Gif sche sperit at Thom quhat personnes\nthai war? Ansuerit, That thai war the gude wychtis that wynnit in the\nCourt of Elfame,[112] quha come thair to desyre hir to go with thame;\nand, forder, Thom desyrit hir to do the sam; quha ansuerit, \u201cSche saw na\nproffeit to gang thai kynd of gaittis, unles sche kend quhairfor!\u201d Thom\nsaid, \u201cSeis thow nocht me, baith meit-worth, claith-worth, and gude eneugh\nlyke in personn; and he suld make hir far better nor euer sche was?\u201d Sche\nansuerit, \u201cThat sche duelt with hir awin husband and bairnis, and culd\nnocht leif thame.\u201d And swa Thom began to be verrie crabit with hir, and\nsaid, \u201cGif swo sche thocht, sche wald get lytill gude of him.\u201d\n\n\u2018(7) Interrogat. Gif sche had socht ony thing at Thom, to help hir self,\nor ony uther with? Ansuerit, That quhen sundrie personnes cam to hir to\nseik help for thair beist, their kow, or yow,[113] or for ane barne that\nwas tane away with ane evill blast of wind, or elf-grippit, she gait[114]\nand sperit at Thom, Quhat mycht help thame? And Thom wald pull ane herb,\nand gif hir out of his awin hand; and baid hir scheir[115] the samin with\nonye uthir kynd of herbis, and oppin the beistis mouth, and put thame in,\nand the beist wald mend.\u2019\n\nAltogether, she seems to have been a kindly-disposed and beneficent witch;\nbut that did not save her from the sentence--\u2018Convict and Brynt.\u2019\n\nThe annals of Scotch witchcraft are tame until we come to the case of\nKatherine Ross, Lady Foulis, July 22, 1590, who had enough to answer for,\nas she was accused of witchcraft, incantation, sorcery, and poisoning, her\nobject being to poison her stepson, Robert Munro, then Lord Foulis, and\nMargery Campbell, wife to George Ross, Lord of Balnagowan. Several of her\nconfederates had been tried and burnt, confessing the plot, before Lady\nFoulis\u2019s trial; but she had great interest, and both she and her stepson\nHector Munro were acquitted. Her accusation is very long, so that I must\nleave all mention of the poisoning, and only take a portion of that\nrelating to the witchcraft:\n\n\u2018Thou art now accusit, for the making of twa pictouris of clay, in cumpany\nwith the said Cristiane Roiss and Marionne Neyne M{c}Allester, alias\n_Loskie Loucart_, in the said Cristian Roissis westir chalmer in Canorth;\nthe ane, maid for the distructioune and consumptioune of the young Laird\nof Fowlis, and the uthir for the young Ladie Balnagoune; to the effect\nthat the are thairof sould be putt at the Brigend of Fowles, and the uther\nat Ardmoir, for distructioun of the saidis young Laird and Lady: And this\nsould haif bene performit at Allhallow-mes, in the year of God\nI{m}V{c}lxxvij yeiris: Quhilkis twa pictouris, being sett on the north syd\nof the Chalmer, the said Loskie Loucart tuik twa elf arrow heides, and\ndelyuerit ane to you Katherene, and the uther, the said Cristian Rois\nMalcumsone held in her awin hand; and thow schott twa schottis with the\nsaid arrow held, att the said Lady Balnagowne, and Loskie Loucart schott\nthrie schottis at the said young Laird of Fowlis. In the meanetyme, baith\nthe pictouris brak, and thou commandit Loskie Loucart to mak of new uthir\ntwa pictouris thereaftir, for the said personnes: quhilk the said Loskie\nLoucart tuik upon hand to do.... Thou art now accusit, for assisting the\nsaid Thomas, Cristaine Malcomsone and Marionne Nieyn M{c}Allaster, upoun\nthe secund day of Julij, anno threscoir sevintene yeiris, for making of\nane pictur of butter to the said young Robert Munro, Laird of Fowlis, in\nthe said house of Caynort, be the devyse and consultatioune of the said\nDonald and Williame M{c}Gilleuerie, and the said pictur of buttir, aftir\nit wes maid, wes set at the wall-syd, in the vester chalmer of the said\nhous of Coynard, and wes schot at with ane elf-arrow-heid be the said\nMarionne Neyuen M{c}Alester, alias _Loske Loucart_, aucht tymes; quhilk\npictur scho mist, and haid hit no pairt thairof: And thow and Cristane\nMalcomsoune being present in the said chalmer, att the schotting of the\nsaid pictur, thinkand gane[116] the pictur were hit, it wald be for the\ndistructioune of the young Laird of Fowlis: Lykas,[117] said Thomas was\nconvict for the samin, and sufferit the deid.\n\n\u2018Als. thow art accusit, for being in cumpanie with Cristaine Malcomsonne\nand Marionne Neyn M{c}Allester, _alias Loske Loucart_, with the deuyse and\nconsultatioune of Donald and William M{c}Gilliourois, made ane uther\npictur of clay to the said Robert Munro, young Laird of Fowlis, in the\nsaid hous of Conord; and so it was maid upoune the morne, the vj day of\nJulij anno lxxvij yeiris; They sat the pictur at the wall-syd of the\nchalmer of the said hous, and wes schott be the said Loske Loucart, with\nthe said elf-arrow, tuelf tymes, and mist the said pictur: And persauing\nthat ye mist the samin efter euerie schott, and maid the said pictur\ndiuerse and sindrie tymes, yit the samin tuk nocht effect to thair\npurpoise; thow and the said tua womene, thy collegis, being present for\nthe tyme, and uising[118] ane takin of the samin; the said Cristaine Ross\nMalcomsoune haid provydeit thre quarteris of fine linning claithe for the\npicturis, gif thay haid bene hit with the elf-arrow-heid, and the linning\nto be bound about the said picturis, and the picturis to haue bene\nerdit[119] under the Brig end of the Stauk of Fowlis, fornent the\nget,\u2019[120] etc.\n\nThe Scotch stories of witchcraft are quite as many as the English, and the\nso-called witches executed are far more numerous; the last one being\nburnt, as I have said, in 1727. In June, 1736, the Acts anent witchcraft\nwere repealed; but I much fear that there is still a hankering after\nbelief in it in many parts of Scotland.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIII.\n\n Witchcraft in America--In Illinois: Moreau and Emmanuel--In Virginia:\n Case of Grace Sherwood--In Pennsylvania: Two Swedish Women--In South\n Carolina--In Connecticut: Many Cases--In Massachusetts: Margaret\n Jones; Mary Parsons; Ann Hibbins; Other Cases.\n\n\nNorth America has been colonized by the British long enough to have\nenjoyed the visitations of the Devil. And the present Americans, judging\nby the amount of literature written thereon,[121] seem rather proud of his\nhaving dwelt among them; it gives an air of antiquity, and an old-world\ntone, to the favoured States, which is sadly lacking, and not otherwise\nprocurable, in those unvisited by his Satanic Majesty. As far as I know,\nthere have been but six or seven States troubled with witchcraft:\nVirginia, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and\nIllinois.\n\nThe latter is somewhat remarkable, as it was only received into the Union,\nas a State, in 1818; yet I read, in \u2018The Pioneer History of Illinois,\u2019 by\nex-Governor John Reynolds (Bellville, Ill., 1852), pp. 142, 143, the\nfollowing:\n\n\u2018In early times the inhabitants of Illinois were in a small degree\ntinctured with the absurdity and nonsense of witchcraft and\nfortune-telling; but in after-days this ignorant superstition has entirely\ndisappeared.... It was the belief of some people, and families, that an\nold woman living on Silver Creek, Illinois, had the power of witchcraft,\nto take milk from her neighbours\u2019 cows, without seeing or touching\nthem....\n\n\u2018In Cahokia, about the year 1790, this superstition [witchcraft] got the\nupper hand of reason, and several poor African slaves were immolated at\nthe shrine of ignorance for this imaginary offence. An African negro,\nnamed Moreau, was hung for this crime on a tree not far south-east of\nCahokia. It is stated that he had said, \u201che poisoned his master, but his\nmistress was too strong for his necromancy.\u201d Another slave, Emmanuel, was\nshot, in Cahokia, for this crime, and an old woman, Janette, was supposed\nto have the power to destroy persons and property by her incantations.\nMany grown people, and all the children, were terrified at her approach.\u2019\n\nThese two cases are verified by extracts from the \u2018Record Book\u2019 of Colonel\nJohn Todd, Lieutenant-Commandant of the County of Illinois, under Governor\nPatrick Henry, of the Commonwealth of Virginia:\n\n\u2018Illinois to wit.\n\n\u2018_To Richard Winston, Esq{re}, Sheriff in chief of the District of\nKaskaskia._\n\n\u2018Negro Manuel, a Slave, in your custody, is condemned by the Court of\nKaskaskia, after having made honorable fine at the door of the church, to\nbe chained to a post at the water side, and then to be burnt alive, and\nhis ashes scattered, as appears to me by record. This sentence you are\nhereby required to put in execution, on tuesday next at 9 o\u2019clock in the\nmorning, and this shall be your warrant.\n\n \u2018Given under my hand and seal at Kaskaskia, the 13{th} day of June, in\n the 3{rd} year of the Commonwealth.\u2019\n\n \u2018_To Cap{t}. Nicolas Janis._\n\n \u2018You are hereby required to call upon a party of your militia to guard\n Moreau, a slave condemned to execution, up to the town of Kohos. Put\n them under an officer. They shall be entitled to pay, rashions and\n refreshment during the time they shall be upon duty, to be certifyed\n hereafter by you.\n\n \u2018I am, Sir, your hble servant,\n \u2018JOHN TODD.\n\n \u201815{th} June 1779.\u2019\n\nVirginia, I believe, can only boast of one witch, and her case is not very\nwidely known. Princess Anne is the southernmost county of Virginia,\nbounded on the north by Chesapeake Bay, and on the east by the Atlantic.\nLynhaven Bay is on the Chesapeake River; and there lived, in the days of\n\u2018good Queen Anne,\u2019 a young woman named Grace Sherwood, who was somewhat\nshy in her dealings with her neighbours, probably because they invested\nher with uncanny powers, and even said that she had voyaged across the\nAtlantic, as far as the Mediterranean, in an eggshell; that on her\narrival, at the end of her journey, she had been so pleased with the smell\nof the rosemary she had found growing there, that she brought back some of\nthe plants with her, and set them about her cottage. These evil rumours\nwere brought to the ears of the authorities, and Grace Sherwood was haled\nbefore the justices assembled at Princess Anne Court House; and the entry\nof her examination, etc., in the court record is as follows:\n\n \u2018Princess Annes.\n\n \u2018At a Court held y{e} 10th July 1706.\n\n { Col{o} Moseley Capt. Moseley }\n Present { Cap{t} Woodhouse Jno. Cormick } Justices.\n { Capt. Chapman Capt. W{m} Smyth }\n Richason--come late.\n\n [Sidenote: Grace Sherwood to be Ducked.]\n\n \u2018Whereas Grace Sherwood being Suspected of Witchcraft--have a long\n time waited for a fit opportunity for a further Examination--and by\n her Consent, & Approbation of y{e} Court, it is ordered y{t} y{e}\n Sherr take all such Convenient assistance of boats and men, as shall\n be by him thought fit to meet & at John Harper\u2019s plantation, in order\n to take y{e} said Grace Sherwood forthwith, & put her into water above\n man\u2019s Debth & try her how she swims. Therein always having Care of her\n life to preserve her from Drowning & as soon as she comes Out y{t} he\n request as many Ancient and Knowing women as possible to come to Serch\n her Carefully for teat spotts and marks about her body not usual on\n Others & y{t} as they find y{e} same to make report on Oath To y{e}\n truth ther of to the Court; and, further, it is ordered y{t} Four\n women be requested to Shift and Serch her before she goo into y{e}\n water y{t} she carry nothing about her to cause any further Suspicion.\n\n [Sidenote: Order XX.]\n\n [Sidenote: Grace Sherwood Ducked, etc.]\n\n \u2018Whereas on Complaint of Luke Hill in behalf of her Majesty y{t} now\n is ag{t} Grace Sherwood for a person Suspected of Witch craft & having\n had Sundry Evidences sworn ag{t} her, proving many Circumstances to\n which She could not make any Excuse, Little or Nothing to say in her\n own behalf, only Seamed to Rely on w{t} y{e} Court should doo, and\n there upon Consented to be tryed in y{e} Water, & Like-wise to be\n Serched again Bodily. Experiment being tried, She swiming w{en}\n therein, and bound Contrary to Custom & y{e} judg{t} of all y{e}\n Spectators, & afterward, being Serched, & five Ancient weomen who have\n all Declared on Oath y{t} she is not like y{em} nor noo Other women\n y{t} they know of ... all w{ch} Circumstances y{e} Court weighing in\n their Consideration, Doo there fore ord{r} y{t} y{e} Sherr take y{e}\n s{d} Grace Into his custody, and to comm{t} her body to ye Common Gaol\n of this County, there to secure her by irons or other Wise, there to\n Remain till Such time as shall be otherwise Directed in order for her\n comming to y{e} Common Gaol of y{e} County, to be brought to a future\n tryall there.\n\n \u2018Edw{d} Moseley &\n \u2018Jno Richason.\u2019\n\nAs nothing more can be found respecting her, she was probably let go.\n\nAs a justice of the peace, William Penn had to sit in judgment upon two\nSwedish women who were indicted as witches, and true bills were found\nagainst them; but they got off, owing to some flaw in the indictment. And\nthis, as far as I know, is the sole instance of a trial for witchcraft in\nPennsylvania.\n\nDrake, in \u2018Annals of Witchcraft,\u2019 p. 215, says: \u2018About this period [1712],\nin the Colony of South Carolina, some suspected of witchcraft were seized\nupon by a sort of ruffianly Vigilance Committee, and condemned to be\nburnt, and were actually roasted by fire, although we do not learn that\nthe injuries thus inflicted proved fatal. The parties so tortured, or\ntheir friends, brought action in the regular courts, for the recovery of\ndamages; but the jury gave them nothing.\u2019\n\nIn the early days of Connecticut there were twelve crimes punishable by\ndeath, according to the \u2018Capitall Lawes, established by the General Court\nthe First of December 1642,\u2019 the second of which is: \u2018Yf any man or woman\nbe a witch (that is) hath, or consulteth w{th} a familliar spirit, they\nshall be put to death. Ex. xxii. 18. Lev. xx. 27. Deu. xxvij. 10,\n11.\u2019[122] And they had not to wait long for a victim, for the last entry\nin John Winthrop\u2019s Journal for 1646 is, \u2018One ... of Windsor arraigned and\nexecuted at Hartford for a witch,\u2019 Nothing more is _certainly_ known of\nthis case, which is memorable as being the first execution for witchcraft\nin New England.\n\nThe Connecticut Legislature also applied the same law, somewhat modified,\nto the Pequot Indians, on May 31, 1675:[123] \u2018(2) That whosoever shall\n_powau_, or use witchcraft, or any worship to the divill, or any fals god,\nshall be convented and punished.\u2019\n\nThe following are the known cases of witchcraft in Connecticut; but, as\nfar as I can see, none present any particular features of interest for the\nreader.[124]\n\n 1646. Winthrop\u2019s \u2018One ... of Windsor\u2019 executed.\n\n 1648. Mary Jonson, of Hartford or Wethersfield do.\n\n 1651. Mr. and Mrs. Carrington, of Wethersfield do.\n\n \" Goody Bassett, of Stratford do.\n\n 1653. Goody Knapp, of Fairfield do.\n\n 1658. Goody Garlick, of Easthampton, L.I. acquitted.\n\n 1661. Mr. and Mrs. Jennings, of Laybrook freed by\n disagreement\n of jury.\n\n 1662. Mr. and Mrs. Greensmith, of Hartford executed.\n\n 1663. Mary Barnes, of Farmington do.\n\n \" Mrs. Elizabeth Seager, of Hartford (?) acquitted.\n\n \" Mrs. Elizabeth Seager, of Hartford (2nd trial) do.\n\n 1665. Mrs. Elizabeth Seager, of Hartford (3rd trial) convicted, but\n freed by the\n court.\n\n 1670. Katharine Harrison, of Wethersfield convicted; the\n court refused to\n sentence, and\n dismissed the\n accused.\n\n 1692. Mrs. Staples, of Fairfield acquitted.\n\n \" Goody Miller, of Fairfield do.\n\n \" Elizabeth Clawson, of Fairfield do.\n\n \" Mercy Disborough, of Fairfield convicted, but\n probably pardoned\n by the general\n court.\n\n 1697. Mrs. Denham and daughter acquitted, perhaps\n accused only\n before the\n grand jury.\n\nBut it was in Massachusetts that witchcraft was rampant. The Pilgrim\nFathers when they landed at Plymouth, on December 22, 1620, brought with\nthem from England the belief in witchcraft and the personality of the\nDevil, which was then the creed of the majority of those living in the\nmother country, and therefore they were no worse than their brethren or\nparents. So that we must not blame them if we find among their early\nrecords, dated New Plymouth, November 15, 1636, that they considered\nwitchcraft a capital crime, and enumerated as such directly after treason\nand murder; and they defined the crime so punishable as \u2018Solemne\ncompaction, or conversing with the divell, by way of witchcraft,\nconjuration, or the like.\u2019\n\nThe Devil, however, had got somehow into Massachusetts, for we read in\nGovernor Winthrop\u2019s Journal that in 1639 \u2018The Indians near Aquiday being\npawwawing in this tempest, the Devil came and fetched away five of them.\nQuery.\u2019\n\nThe first instance of witchcraft in this Colony is recorded in Winthrop\u2019s\nJournal in 1648, but he gives no specific date of the court being held,\nbut most likely it was that of May 13, 1648, of which a record remains:\n\u2018That This Court, being desirous that the same Course which hath been\ntaken in England for the discovery of witches, by watching, may also be\ntaken here, with the witch now in question, and therefore do order that a\nstrict watch be set about her, every night, and that her husband be\nconfined in a private room, and watched also.\u2019\n\nThe entry in the Journal is as follows: \u2018At this Court, one Margaret Jones\nof Charlestown was indicted and found guilty of witchcraft, and hanged\nfor it. The evidence against her was: 1. that she was found to have such a\nmalignant touch, as many persons (men, women and children), whom she\nstroaked or touched with any affection or displeasure, or etc., were taken\nwith deafness, or vomiting, or other violent pains or sickness. 2. The\npractising physic, and her medicines being such things as (by her own\nconfession) were harmless, as aniseed, liquors, &c., yet had extraordinary\nviolent effects. 3. She would use to tell such as would not make use of\nher physic, that they would never be healed, and, accordingly, their\ndiseases and hurts continued, with relapse against the ordinary course,\nand beyond the apprehension of all physicians and surgeons. 4. Some things\nwhich she foretold, came to pass accordingly; other things she could tell\nof (as secret speeches, etc.) which she had no ordinary means to come to\nthe knowledge of. 5. She had, upon search, an apparent teat, as fresh as\nif it had been newly sucked, and, after it had been scanned; upon a forced\nsearch, that was withered, and another began on the opposite side. 6. In\nthe prison, in the clear daylight, there was seen, in her arms, she,\nsitting on the floor, and her clothes up, etc., a little child, which ran\nfrom her into another room, and the officer following it, it was vanished.\nThe like child was seen in two other places, to which she had relation;\nand one maid that saw it, fell sick upon it, and was cured by the said\nMargaret, who used means to be employed to that end. Her behaviour at her\ntrial was very intemperate, lying notoriously, and railing upon the jury\nand witnesses, etc., and in the like distemper she died. The same day and\nhour she was executed, there was a very great tempest in Connecticut,\nwhich blew down many trees, etc.\u2019\n\nThe next authentic instance is that of Mary Parsons, whose case seems to\nhave been somewhat urgent, as on May 8, 1651, there is a minute on the\ncourt records:[125] \u2018The Court, understanding that Mary Parsons, now in\nprison, accused for a witch, is likely, through weakness to die before\ntrial, if it be deferred, do order, that on the morrow, by eight o\u2019clock\nin the morning, she be brought before and tried by the General Court, the\nrather that Mr. Pynchon may be present to give his testimony in the Case.\u2019\n\nThis \u2018Mr. Pynchon\u2019 came from England with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and\nwas named in the charter granted by Charles II. to Massachusetts, as one\nof the Governor\u2019s eighteen assistants. He returned to England in 1652,\nsettled at Wraysbury, Bucks, where he died October 29, 1662. Hutchinson\nsays of him: \u2018Mr. Pynchon was a gentleman of learning, as well as\nreligion. He laid the foundation of Roxbury, but soon removed to\nConnecticut River; was the father of the town of Springfield, where his\nfamily hath flourished ever since.\u2019\n\nFor some reason, she was not brought before the court till May 13, when\nthe following is recorded: \u2018Mary Parsons, wife of Hugh Parsons of\nSpringfield, being committed to prison for suspicion of witchcraft, as\nalso for murdering her own child, was, this day, called forth, and\nindicted for Witchcraft. \u201cBy the name of Mary Parsons, you are here,\nbefore the General Court, charged, in the name of this Commonwealth, that,\nnot having the fear of God before your eyes, nor in your heart, being\nseduced by the Devil, and yielding to his malicious motion, about the end\nof February last at Springfield, to have familiarity, or consulted with, a\nfamiliar spirit, making a covenant with him; and have used divers devilish\npractices by witchcraft, to the hurt of the persons of Martha and Rebecca\nMoxon, against the Word of God, and the laws of this jurisdiction, long\nsince made and published.\u201d To which indictment she pleaded \u201cNot guilty.\u201d\nAll evidences brought in against her being heard and examined, the Court\nfound the evidences were not sufficient to prove her a witch, and\ntherefore she was cleared in that respect.\u2019\n\nBut she was indicted for the murder of her child, found guilty, and\nsentenced to be hanged; it is doubtful, however, whether the sentence was\never carried out. Her husband, \u2018One Hugh Parsons of Springfield, was tried\nin 1652 for witchcraft, and found guilty by the jury. The Magistrate\nrefused to consent to the verdict, and the case, as the law provided, came\nto the General Court, who determined that he was not legally guilty of\nwitchcraft.\u2019[126]\n\n\u2018The most remarkable occurrence in the Colony in the year 1655 was the\ntrial and condemnation of Mrs. Ann Hibbins for witchcraft. Her husband,\nwho died in the year 1654, was an agent for the Colony in England, several\nyears one of the assistants, and a merchant of note in the town of Boston;\nbut losses in the latter part of his life had reduced his estate and\nincreased the natural crabbedness of his wife\u2019s temper, which made her\nturbulent and quarrelsome, and brought her under church censures; and, at\nlength, rendered her so odious to her neighbours, as to cause some of them\nto accuse her of witchcraft. The Jury brought her in guilty, but the\nmagistrates refused to accept the verdict, so the cause came to the\nGeneral Court, where the popular clamour prevailed against her, and the\nmiserable old woman was condemned and executed. Search was made upon her\nbody for tetts, and in her chests for puppets, images, etc., but there is\nno record of anything of that sort being found. Mr. Beach, a minister in\nJamaica, in a letter to Doctor Increase Mather in the year 1684, says,\n\u201cYou may remember what I have sometimes told you your famous Mr. Norton\nonce said at his own table, before Mr. Wilson the pastor, elder Penn and\nmyself and wife, etc., who had the honour to be his guests. That one of\nyour magistrate\u2019s wives, as I remember, was hanged for a witch, only for\nhaving more wit than her neighbours. It was his very expression, she\nhaving, as he explained it, unhappily guessed that two of her persecutors,\nwhom she saw talking in the street, were talking of her; which, proving\ntrue, cost her her life, notwithstanding all he could do to the contrary,\nas he, himself, told us.\u201d[127]\n\n\u2018It fared with her as it did with Joan of Arc in France; some counted her\na saint, and some a witch, and some observed solemn marks of Providence\nset upon those who were very forward to condemn her, and to brand others\nupon the like ground, with the like reproach. This was the second instance\nupon record of any persons being executed for witchcraft in New England.\nShe was not executed until June, 1656. She disposed of her estate by will\nexecuted May 27, 1656, and a codicil June 16. She appointed several of the\nprincipal gentlemen overseers, and hoped they would show her so much\nrespect, as to see her decently interred. There was no forfeiture of goods\nfor felony.\u2019\n\nThere was a case of witchcraft in Hartford in 1662, when three women were\ncondemned, and one, at least, executed. In 1669 Susanna Martin, of\nSalisbury, was tried on this charge, \u2018but escaped at that time.\u2019 Another\ncase at Groton in 1671, and yet another at Hampton in 1673. In 1658, in\nEssex County, an attempt was made to convict one John Godfrey, of Andover,\nas a witch, and at the County Court of Salem, June 29, 1659, he was bound\nin one hundred pounds to appear when called upon. But he turned the tables\nagainst his accusers, bringing actions against them for slander. In one\ncase he got twopence damages and twenty-nine shillings costs, in another\nten shillings damages and costs fifty shillings.\n\nIn November, 1669, Goody Burt, a widow, was prosecuted, but acquitted. In\n1673 Eunice Cole, of Hampton, was tried, but her sentence was \u2018to depart\nfrom, and abide out of, this jurisdiction.\u2019 On November 24, 1674, at\nSalem, which even then was coming to the fore with its witches,\nChristopher Browne was had up before the County Court, for \u2018having\nreported that he had been treating or discoursing with one whom he\napprehended to be the Devil, which came like a gentleman, in order to his\nbinding himself to be a servant to him. Upon his examination, his\ndiscourse seeming inconsistent with truth, etc., the Court giving him good\ncounsel and caution, for the present dismiss him.\u2019\n\nOn March 30, 1680, Caleb Powell was brought before the court at Ipswich,\nunder an indictment of witchcraft, in molesting one William Morse, of\nNewbury, stones being thrown, furniture behaving abnormally, bedclothes\nsnatched off, and many other inconveniences; but it could not be proved,\nand the wind-up of the affair was: \u2018Though this court cannot find any\nevident ground of proceeding against the said Caleb Powell, yet we\ndetermine that he hath given such ground of suspicion of his so dealing,\nthat we cannot so acquit him, but that he justly deserves to bear his own\nshare, and the costs of the prosecution of the complaint.\u2019 Elizabeth\nMorse, wife of the above, was next, on May 20, 1680, tried and convicted\nof witchcraft. On May 27 she was sentenced to death, was twice reprieved,\nand ultimately allowed to return home.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXIV.\n\n Cotton and Increase Mather--The Case of Goodwin\u2019s Daughter--That of\n Mr. Philip Smith--The Story of the Salem Witchcrafts--List of\n Victims--Release of Suspects--Reversal of Attainder, and Compensation.\n\n\nWe now come to the time of Cotton Mather, whose name is a \u2018household word\u2019\nin connection with witchcraft in Massachusetts. He was the son of Increase\nMather, D.D., one of the early presidents of Harvard College, was born in\n1633, studied at Harvard, and at the age of twenty was appointed co-pastor\nwith his father at Boston. He begins his first witch story thus: \u2018There\ndwells at this time, in the _south_ part of _Boston_, a sober and pious\nman, whose name is _John Goodwin_, whose _Trade_ is that of a _Mason_, and\nwhose _Wife_ (to which a _Good Report_ gives a share with him in all the\nCharacters of _Virtue_) has made him the Father of _six_ (now living)\n_Children_. Of these Children, all but the _Eldest_, who works with his\nFather at his Calling, and the _Youngest_, who lives yet upon the Breast\nof its mother, have laboured under the direful effects of a no less\n_palpable_ than stupendous WITCHCRAFT.\u2019[128]\n\nAs the reader will see that it is impossible to quote Cotton Mather very\nmuch at length, on account of his excessively rotund style, I must tell\nthe story as briefly as possible. Sometimes these unhappy children would\nbe by turns either deaf, dumb, or blind, or all three at once, their jaws\nbe dislocated, and then close sharply with a loud snap. \u2018They would bark\nat one another like _Dogs_, and again purr like so many _Cats_.... Yea\nthey would _fly_ like _Geese_; and be carried with an incredible\n_Swiftness_ thro\u2019 the _air_, having but just their _Toes_ now and then\nupon the ground, and their _Arms_ waved like the Wings of a _Bird_. One of\nthem, in the House of a Kind Neighbour, _flew_ the length of the Room,\nabout 20 foot, and flew into an Infant\u2019s high armed Chair; none seeing her\nfeet all the way touch the floor.\u2019\n\nCotton Mather took the eldest daughter home to live with them, in order\nthat he \u2018might be furnished with _Evidence_ and _Argument_ as a Critical\nEye Witness, to confute the Saducism of this debauched Age.\u2019 For some days\nall went well, but on November 20 she was once more possessed. She tried\nto fly, to dive, her eyes sunk into her head, so that they thought they\nwould never return to their normal position, and she complained that Goody\nGlover, a poor crazy Irish woman, had put an invisible but very potent\nchain round her leg. She could not read the Bible, but a Quaker book she\nwas able to read, with the exception of the names of God and Christ. Queer\nbooks, like the \u2018Oxford Jests\u2019 and \u2018Cambridge Jests,\u2019 she could read well\nenough, but could only pronounce the words \u2018Devils\u2019 or \u2018Witches\u2019 with\nextreme difficulty.\n\n\u2018Every now and then an _Invisible Horse_ would be brought unto her by\nthose whom she only called _them_, and, _Her Company_: upon the Approach\nof Which, her eyes would be still closed up; for, (said she) _They say I\nam a_ Tell-Tale, _and, therefore, they will not let me see them_. Upon\nthis would she give a Spring as one mounting an _Horse_, and Settling her\nself in a _Riding Posture_, she would, in her Chair be agitated as one\nsometimes _Amble-ing_ sometimes _Trotting_, and sometimes _Galloping_ very\nfuriously.\u2019\n\nThis state of things would not do, so divers ministers and devout friends\nfell to a-praying, but all to no purpose, her invisible adversaries on one\noccasion dragging her to an oven which was heating, and another time\nchoking her, till she was black in the face, with an invisible rope and\nnoose; she even began to torment good Mr. Mather. \u2018When I had begun to\nstudy my Sermon, her _Tormentors_ again seized upon her; and all _Fryday_\nand _Saturday_ did _they_ manage her with a special Design, as was plain,\nto disturb me in what I was about. In the worst of her extravagancies,\nformerly, she was more dutiful to myself than I had reason to Expect, but,\n_now_, her _whole_ carriage to me, was with a Sauciness that I had not\nbeen us\u2019d to be treated with. She would knock at my Study _Door_,\naffirming _That some below would be glad to see me_; when there was none\nthat ask\u2019t for me. She would call to me with multiplyed Impertinences, and\nthrow small things at me, wherewith she could not give me any hurt.\nShee\u2019d Hector me at a strange rate for the _work_ I was at, and threaten\nme with _I know not what_ mischief for it.\u2019\n\nBy dint of energetic prayer she began to amend, but she had one more very\nbad breakout. \u2018Moreover, Both she at my house, and her Sister _at home_,\nat the time which they call _Christmas_, were by the _D\u00e6mons_, made very\n_drunk_, though they had no _strong_ Drink (as we are fully sure) to make\nthem so. When she began to feel herself thus _drunk_, she complain\u2019d, _O,\nthey say they will have me to keep Christmas with them! They will disgrace\nme when they can do nothing else!_ And, immediately the Ridiculous\nBehaviour of one _drunk_, were with a wonderful exactness represented in\nher Speaking, and Reeling, and Spewing, and anon Sleeping, till she was\nwell again.\u2019\n\nThe next example Cotton Mather gives us is that of \u2018_Mr. Philip Smith_,\naged about Fifty years, a Son of eminently vertuous Parents, a _Deacon_ of\nthe Church at _Hadley_, a _Member_ of our General Court, an _Associate_ in\ntheir County Court, a _Select-man_ for the affairs of the Town, a\n_Lieutenant_ in the Troop; and, which crowns all, a man for _Devotion_ and\n_Gravity_, and all that was _Honest_, exceeding exemplary. _Such_ a man,\nin the Winter of the year 1684 was murdered with an hideous _Witchcraft_,\nwhich filled all those parts with a just astonishment.\n\n\u2018He was concerned about Relieving the Indigencies of a wretched woman in\nthe Town; who, being dissatisfied at some of his _just cares_ about her,\nexpressed her self unto him in such a manner, that he declared himself\napprehensive of receiving _mischief_ at her hands; he said he doubted she\nwould attempt his Hurt.\u2019\n\nIn the beginning of the following January he fell sick, and took to his\nbed; but he could not rest, he was delirious and spoke in sundry voices\nand languages, and felt hundreds of pins pricking him all over. Sometimes\nthere was a strange smell of musk about the place. As, in his agony, he\ncalled upon the supposed witch, his kind friends \u2018did three or four times\nin one Night go and give _Disturbance_ to the Woman that we have spoken\nof: all the while they were doing of it, the good man was at ease, and\nslept as a weary man; and these were all the times they perceived him to\ntake any sleep at all.\u2019\n\nSometimes fire was seen on the bed, but when attention was called to it,\nit vanished. Something as big as a cat moved in the bed, but no one could\ncatch it; and \u2018a discreet and sober Woman, resting on the Bed\u2019s Feet, felt\nas it were, a _Hand_, the _Thumb_ and the _Finger_ of it, taking her by\nthe side and giving her a Pinch; but turning to see What it might be,\nnothing was to be seen.\u2019 Many more marvels occurred, and at last the poor\nman died, yet even then his bed moved of itself more than once, and at\nnight, when they were preparing for his funeral, noises were heard in the\nroom \u2018as though there had been a great _Removing_ and _Clattering_ of\n_stools_ and chairs.\u2019 I cannot find that the witch was punished.\n\nHe next gives an instance of a boy at Tocutt, who held a great deal of\ncommunication with the Devil without absolutely resigning his soul to\nhim, and who must have lived a very uncomfortable existence. \u2018He speaks of\nmen coming to him before they come in Sight; and, once, _two_ being with\nhim, their _Backs_ turned, the Devil carried him away, they knew not how,\nand after _search_, they found him in a _Cellar_, as _dead_, but, after a\nlittle space, he came to Life again. And another time, threw him up into a\n_Chamber_, stopped him up into a _Hole_ where they after found him.\nAnother time, he carried him about a _Bowshot_, and threw him into a\n_Hog-Stye_ amongst _Swine_, which ran away with a terrible noise.\u2019\n\nHe gives two more instances of possession by the Devil; but they are mild\ncases which yielded to prayer. There are other minor cases of witchcraft\nwhich I have omitted, because I would fain have space to tell of the works\nof the Devil at Salem in 1692.\n\nSalem was then a small village, about sixteen miles north-east of Boston,\nand its minister was the Rev. Samuel Parris, born in London in 1653. He\nentered Harvard College, but could not take a degree, went to Barbados,\nwhere he engaged in mercantile pursuits, and finally turned religious, and\nwas ordained minister of Salem congregation in 1689, naturally taking a\nleading part in the little community.\n\nAt his house, during the winter of 1691-92, a society of girls met,\ncuriously enough, for the purpose of practising palmistry,\nfortune-telling, necromancy, magic, and spiritualism; and they soon became\nso far advanced in these arts as to be seized with unnatural spasms,\nfalling insensible on the floor, writhing in agony, and uttering piercing\ncries. As this conduct was decidedly abnormal, as was their amusement, it\nwas settled that they were bewitched, and they were sympathized with as\nbeing \u2018afflicted Children.\u2019 Fasting and prayer were tried, but with no\ngood result. On being questioned as to who had bewitched them, they\nanswered \u2018Good,\u2019 \u2018Osborn,\u2019 and \u2018Tituba.\u2019 Sarah Good was a woman generally\ndisliked, Sarah Osborn was a bed-ridden woman who did not bear a very good\ncharacter, and Tituba was an Indian woman in Mr. Parris\u2019 service.\n\nOn March 1, 1692, they were brought before the court charged with\nbewitching the children. One indictment must serve as a specimen for all:\n\n\u2018The Jurors for our Sovereigne Lord & Lady King William & Queen Mary Doe\npresent: That Sarah Good, ye wife of William Good of Salem Village, In the\nCounty of Essex, husbandman, upon y{e} first day of March in y{e} fourth\nyear of y{e} Reigne of our Sovereigne Lord & Lady W{m} & Mary, by y{e}\nGrace of God, of England, Scotland, ffrance & Ireland King & Queen,\ndefend{rs} of y{e} faith etc & Divers other days & times as well before as\nafter, Certaine Detestable Arts, Called Witchcrafts & Sorceries, wickedly\n& ffeloniously hath used, practised & Exercised at & within y{e} Township\nof Salem aforesaid, In, upon & against An Puttman, Single woman of Salem\nVillage, by which said Wicked arts, the said An Puttman y{e} said first\nday of March, in y{e} fourth year abovesaid & divers other other days &\ntimes, as well before as after, was & is hurt, Tortured, afflicted, Pined,\nConsumed, wasted & Tormented, & also for Sundry acts of Witchcraft by said\nGood Committed & done before & since that time against y{e} peace of our\nSoveraigne Lord & Lady y{e} King & Queen Their Crowne & dignity & against\ny{e} forme of Statues In that Case made & provided.\n\n\u2018Witness. Ann Putman. Jurat. Eliz. Hubbard. Abigail Williams. Jurat.\u2019\n\nOn examination, Good and Osborn denied the accusation _in toto_, but\nTituba, the Indian woman, gave damning evidence against them, and it is\nworthy of being given _in extenso_:\n\n\n\u2018THE EXAMINATION OF TITIBE.\n\n\u2018Titibe what evil Spirit have you familiarity with?--None.\n\n\u2018Why do you hurt these children?--I do not hurt them.\n\n\u2018Who is it then?--The Devil for ought I know.\n\n\u2018Did you never see the Devil?--The Devil came to me and bid me serve him.\n\n\u2018Who have you seen?--Four women sometimes hurt the children.\n\n\u2018Who were they?--Goode Osburn and Sarah Good, and I doe not know who the\nother were. Sarah Good and Osburne would have me hurt the children, but I\nwould not. She further saith there was a tall man of Boston that she did\nsee.\n\n\u2018When did you see them?--Last night at Boston.\n\n\u2018What did they say to you?--They said, hurt the children.\n\n\u2018And did you hurt them?--No, there is 4 women and one man. They hurt the\nchildren, and they lay all upon me, and they tell me if I will not hurt\nthe children, they will hurt me.\n\n\u2018But you did not hurt them?--Yes, but I will hurt them no more.\n\n\u2018Are you not sorry you did hurt them?--Yes.\n\n\u2018And why then doe you hurt them?--They say hurt children or wee will doe\nworse to you.\n\n\u2018What have you seen?--An man come to me and say serve me.\n\n\u2018What service?--Hurt the children; and, last night, there was an\nappearance that said kill the children; and if I would not go on hurting\nthe children, they would do worse to me.\n\n\u2018What is this appearance you see?--Sometimes it is like a hog, and\nsometimes like a great dog; this appearance shee saith shee did see 4\ntimes.\n\n\u2018What did it say to you?--It, the black dog said, serve me, but I said, I\nam afraid. He said, if I did not, he would doe worse to me.\n\n\u2018What did you say to it?--I will serve you no longer; then he said he\nwould hurt me; and then he looked like a man, and threatened to hurt me.\nShee said that this man had a yellow bird that kept with him, and he told\nme he had more pretty things that he would give me if I would serve him.\n\n\u2018What were those pretty things?--He did not show me them.\n\n\u2018What, also, have you seen?--Two rats--a red rat and a black rat.\n\n\u2018What did they say to you?--They said, serve me.\n\n\u2018When did you see them?--Last night, and they said, serve me, but I would\nnot.\n\n\u2018What service?--Shee said, hurt the children.\n\n\u2018Why did you goe to Thomas Putnams last night, and hurt his child?--They\npull and hall me, and make me goe.\n\n\u2018And what would they have you doe?--Kill her with a knife.\n\n\u2018Left. Fuller and others said at this time when the child saw these\npersons, and was tormented by them, that she did complayn of a knife, that\nthey would have her cut her head off with a knife.\n\n\u2018How did you go?--We ride upon stickes, and are there presently.\n\n\u2018Do you goe through the trees, or over them?--We see nothing, but are\nthere presently.\n\n\u2018Why did you not tell your Master?--I was afraid they would cut off my\nhead if I told.\n\n\u2018Would you have hurt others if you could?--They said they would hurt\nothers, but they could not.\n\n\u2018What attendants hath Sarah Good?--A yellow bird, and she would have given\nme one.\n\n\u2018What meate did she give it?--It did suck between her fingers.\n\n\u2018Did you not hurt Mr. Currin\u2019s child?--Goode Good and Goode Osborn told\n[me] that they did hurt Mr. Curren\u2019s child, and would have me hurt him\ntoo, but I did not.\n\n\u2018What hath Sarah Osburn?--Yellow dog. Shee had a thing with a head like a\nwoman, with 2 legges, and wings. Abigail Williams that lives with her\nUncle Parris said that she did see the same creature, and it turned into\nthe shape of Goode Osburn.\n\n\u2018What else have you seen with Osburn?--Another thing, hairy; it goes\nupright like a man; it hath only 2 legges.\n\n\u2018Did you not see Sarah Good upon Elizabeth Hubbard, last Satterday?--I did\nsee her set a wolfe upon her to afflict her. The persons with this maid\ndid say that she did complain of a wolfe. Shee further saith that she saw\na cat with Good, at another time.\n\n\u2018What cloathes doth the man go in?--He goes in black cloathes, a tal man\nwith white hair, I think.\n\n\u2018How doth the woman go?--In a white whood, and a black whood with a top\nknot.\n\n\u2018Doe you see who it is that torments these children now?--Yes, it is Goode\nGood, shee hurts them in her own shape.\n\n\u2018And who is it that hurts them now?--I am blind now, I cannot see.\u2019\n\nIn the end, all three were sent to gaol. Mrs. Osburn died in gaol on May\n16. Sarah Good was hanged, and Tituba lay in prison for thirteen months,\nand was then sold to pay her gaol fees.\n\nEvidently the taste for notoriety in the \u2018afflicted children\u2019 was\ndeveloping. One of them, Ann Putnam, denounced one Martha Corey for\npricking and tormenting her. Mrs. Corey seems to have been a harmless\nchurch-member, and denied all the imputations of witchcraft cast on her;\nbut even her husband bore testimony against her anent an ox which he\nthought had been bewitched. She was hanged. Her husband was afterward\narrested on a similar charge, and his was a most singular case. By law, if\nfound guilty, his goods, etc., were forfeited. He had the singular courage\nto defeat the law by the law itself. He caused a deed to be drawn up, duly\nwitnessed, etc., by which he left his property to two out of his four\nsons-in-law, who befriended his wife (the other two gave witness against\nher). He then refused to plead either guilty or not guilty. He was had up\nthe legal three times before the judge, but as he continued dumb he was\nsentenced to the _Peine forte et dure_, that of \u2018pressing\u2019 until he\npleaded or died. If he died under the punishment his goods were not\nforfeited.\n\nThe punishment was that he was stretched out upon his back, his arms and\nlegs drawn out by cords and fastened to the four corners of his dungeon. A\nboard, or plate of iron, was laid upon his stomach, and upon this was\nplaced a certain weight. Next day he was given, at three different times,\nthree little morsels of barley bread, and nothing to drink. The next day,\nthree little glasses of water, and nothing to eat, and if he continued\nobstinate and dumb, he was left uncared for till he died. Corey begged\nthem to add weights until they killed him, and they mercifully did so.\nVerily, he expiated his testimony against his wife.\n\nIt would be impossible to give, within the limits of this volume, an\naccount of all the trials of the Salem witches. Suffice it to say that the\nlittle clique who met at the house of the Rev. S. Parris continued to\naccuse their neighbours all round. The following is a list taken from the\n\u2018Records of Salem Witchcraft, copied from the original Documents.\nPrivately printed for W. Elliot Woodward, Roxbury;\u2019 Massachusetts, 1864.\nThose in italics were hanged; the fate of the others except in two or\nthree instances I know not:\n\n_Sarah Good_,* Sarah Osburn (died in gaol), Tituba, Indian (sold), _Martha\nCorey_,* _John Procter_,* Dorcas Good, _Rebecca Nurse_,* Elizabeth\nProcter,* (pleaded she was _enceinte_), Mary Warren, Bridget Bishop,\n_Abigail Hobbs_,* _Sarah Wilds_,* Philip English, _Susannah Martin_,\nElizabeth Hart, _Dorcas Hoar_,* _George Jacobs_,* _John Willard_,* _Ann\nPudeater_, Rebecca Jacobs, Roger Toothaker, _Mary Eastey_,* Sarah Procter,\nSusannah Roots, Benjamin Procter, _Martha Carrier_,* _Elizabeth How_,*\nWilliam Procter, _Wilmott Reed_, Elizabeth Fosdick, Elizabeth Paine, Mary\nIreson, _George Burroughs_,* _Abigail Faulkner_,* _Ann Foster_,* _Mary\nLacey_,* _Rebecca Eames_,* _Samuel Wardwell_,* _Mary Parker_,* _Mary\nBradbury_,* Giles Corey,* (pressed to death), _Alice Parker_, _Margaret\nScot_.\n\nWho can say, after reading the above list, that, if the Devil were in\nanyone at Salem, he was not in that precious lot of \u2018afflicted children\u2019?\nIn fact, people began to fight shy of them; they even accused a member of\nIncrease Mather\u2019s family, and made charges against Mrs. Hale, wife of the\nMinister of the First Church in Beverley, so that their testimony at last\nreceived no credence. After the Sessions of September 22, no one was\nhanged, even if convicted; and in April, 1693, the Governor-General, by\nproclamation, gave freedom to all suspects that were in confinement, and\nin 1711 a reversal of attainder was granted in those cases marked with an\nasterisk, and compensation made to their representatives to the amount of\n\u00a3578 12s.\n\n\n\n\nAPPENDIX.\n\nLIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED AND USED IN THIS WORK.\n\n\nHarl. MSS., 1766, f. Dan John Lydgate\u2019s Translation (or Paraphrase) of\nJohn Boccace de Casu Principum, in English Verse: done by the command of\nDuke Humfrey, about the beginning of the Reign of Henry the Sixth.\n\nTboeck van den leuen ons heeren ihesu christi. Gheraert de leeu.\nTantwerpen, 1487, 4to.\n\nVon den unholden oder hexen. Molitor (Ulrich). R\u00fctlingen, 1489, 4to.\n\nRegistrum hujus operis libri cronicarum in figuris et ijmagibus ab inicio\nm\u016bdi. Schedel (Hartmannus), A. Koberger. Nuremberge, 1493, fol.\n\nIntroductio in Chaldaicam Lingu\u0101, Syriac\u0101, atq Armenic\u0101, & dec\u0113 alias\nlinguas. Characterum Differenti\u016b Alpha beta, circiter quadraginta, &\neor\u016bdem innicem c\u014dformatio. Mystica et Cabalistica qu\u0101 plurima scitu\ndigna. Et descriptio ac simulachr\u016b Phagoti Afranij. Theseo Ambrosio ex\nComitibus Albonesii IV. Doct. Papie\u00f1. Canonico Regulari Lateranensi, ac\nSancti Petri in C\u00e6lo Aureo. Papi\u00e6 Pr\u00e6posito Authore. 1539.\n\nHexen Meysterey. Dess ... F\u00fcrsten ... Sigmunds von Ostereich mit U.\n(Ulrich) M. (Molitor) und C. Schatz, wielandt Burgermeister zu Costentz\n... ein sch\u00f6n Gesprech von den Onholden ... Weitleuffiger mit mer Exempeln\nder Alten, dann vor nie kains aussgangen, &c. Costentz, 1545.\n\nHistoria de Gentibus Septentrionalibus, earum que diversis statibus,\nconditionibus, moribus, ritibus, superstitionibus, disciplinis,\nexercitiis, regimine, victu, bellis, structuris, instrumentis, ac mineris\nmetallicis, & rebus mirabilibus, nec non universis pen\u00e8 animalibus in\nSeptentrione de gentibus eorumque natura ... Autore Olao Magno Gotho\nArchiepiscopo Upsalensi. Sueti\u00e6 & Gothi\u00e6 Primate. Rom\u00e6, 1555.\n\nThe Examination of John Walsh before Master Thomas Williams, Commissary to\nthe Reverend father in God, William, bishop of Excester, upon certayne\nInterrogatories touchyng Wytchcrafte and Sorcerye, in the presence of\ndiuers g\u0113tlemen and others. \u00b6 The xx of August, 1566. \u00b6 Imprynted at\nLondon by John Awdely, dwelling in litle Britain streete without\nAldersgate 1566. The xxiij of December.\n\nThe disclosing of a late counterfeyted possession by the deuyl in two\nmaydens within the Citie of London. Printed at London by Richard Watkins.\n1574.\n\nA Dialogue of Witches, in foretime named Lottellers, and now commonly\ncalled Sorcerers. Wherein is declared breefely and effectually, what\nsoeuer may be required, touching that argument. A treatise very\nprofitable, by reason of the diuerse and sundry opinions of men in this\nquestion, and right necessary for Judges to understande, which sit upon\nlyfe and death. Written in Latin by Lambertus Dan\u00e6us, And now translated\ninto English. Printed by R. W. 1575.\n\nA most strange and rare example of the iust iudgement of God executed upon\na lewde and wicked Coniurer the xvij day of Januarie 1577. In the parish\nchurch of S. Mary Overis in Southwark, in the presence of divers credible\nand honest persons. \u00b6 Imprinted at London by Henrie Bennyman.\n\nA Rehearsall both straung and true, of hainous and horrible actes\ncommitted by Elizabeth Stile, Alias Rockingham, Mother Dutten, Mother\nDeuell, Mother Margaret. Fower notorious Witches apprehended at Winsore in\nthe Countie of Barks, and at Abbington arraigned, condemned and executed,\non the 26 daye of Februarie last, Anno 1579. Imprinted at London for\nEdward White at the little North-doore of Paules, at the signe of the Gun,\nand are there to be sold.\n\nA Detection of damnable driftes practized by three Witches arraigned at\nChelmissforde in Essex, at the laste Assizes there holden, whiche were\nexecuted in Aprill 1579. Set forthe to discouer the Ambushementes of\nSathan, whereby he would surprise us, lulled in securitie, and hardened\nwith contempte of God\u2019s vengeance threatened for our offences. Imprinted\nat London for Edward White at the little North-doore of Paules.\n\nDe la Demonomanie des Sorciers ... par J. Bodin. Angevin. A Paris, Chez\nJacques du Puys Libraire Jur\u00e9, \u00e0 la Samaritaine. 1580.\n\n\u00b6 A true and iust Recorde of the Information, Examination and Confession\nof all the Witches, taken at S. Oses, in the countie of Essex: whereof\nsome were executed, and other some entreated according to the\ndetermination of lawe. Wherein all men may see what a pestilent people\nWitches are, and how unworthy to lyue in a Christian Commonwealth. Written\norderly, as the cases were tryed by evidence. By W. W. \u00b6 Imprinted in\nLondon at the three Cranes in the Vinetree by Thomas Dawson. 1582.\n\nThe Discouerie of witchcraft. Wherein the lewde dealing of witches and\nwitchmongers is notablie detected, the knauerie of coniurors, the impietie\nof inchantors, the folie of soothsaiers, the impudent falshood of\ncousenors, the infidelitie of atheists, the pestilent practises of\nPythonists, the curiositie of figure casters, the varietie of dreamers,\nthe beggerlie art of Alcumystrie, the abhomination of idolatrie, the\nhorrible art of poisoning, the vertue and power of naturall magicke, and\nall the conueiances of Legierdemaine and iuggling are deciphered: and many\nother things opened, which haue long lien hidden, howbeit verie necessarie\nto be knowne. Hereunto is added a treatise upon the nature and substance\nof spirits and diuels, &c.: all latelie written by Reginald Scot Esquire,\n1 John 4. 1. \u2018Beleeue not euerie spirit, but trie the spirits, whether\nthey are of God; for manie false prophets are gone out into the world,\u2019\n&c. 1584.\n\nA true and most Dreadfull discourse of a woman possessed with the Deuill:\nwho in the likeness of a headlesse Beare fetched her out of her Bedd, and\nin the presence of seuen persons, most straungely roulled her thorow three\nChambers, and downe a high paire of staiers, on the fower and twentie of\nMay last, 1584. At Dichet in Sommersetshire. A matter as miraculous as\neuer was seen in our time. Imprinted at London for Thomas Nelson.\n\nIIII Livres des Spectres ou Apparitions et Visions d\u2019Esprits, Anges et\nDemons se monstrans sensiblement aux hommes. Par Pierre le Loyer C\u014dseiller\nau Siege presidial d\u2019Angers. A Angers, pour Georges Nepuen, Libraire\ndemeurant \u00e0 la Chauss{e} Sainct Pierre. 1586.\n\nA Discourse of the subtill Practises of Deuilles by Witches and Sorcerers.\nBy which men are and haue bin greatly deluded: the antiquitie of them:\ntheir diuers sorts and Names. With an Aunswer unto diuers friuolous\nReasons which some doe make to prooue that the Deuils did not make those\nAperations in any bodily shape. By G. Gyfford. Imprinted at London for\nToby Cooke. 1587.\n\nA true Discourse, Declaring the damnable life and death of one Stubbe\nPeeter, a most wicked Sorcerer, who, in the likenes of a Woolfe, committed\nmany murders, continuing this diuelish practise 25 yeeres, killing and\ndeuouring Men, Women and Children. Who for the same fact was taken and\nexecuted the 31 of October last past in the Towne of Bedbur neer the\nCittie of Collin in Germany. Trulye translated out of the high Duch\naccording to the Copie printed in Collin, brought ouer into England by\nGeorge Bore\u2019s ordinary Poste, the xj daye of this present Moneth of June\n1590, who did both see and heare the same. At London: Printed for Edward\nVenge, and are to be sold in Fleet-street, at the signe of the Vine.\n\nThe most strange and admirable discouerie of the three Witches of Warboys,\narraigned, conuicted and executed at the last Assizes at Huntington for\nthe bewitching of the fine daughters of Robert Throckmorton Esqre., and\ndiuers other persons, with sundrie Diuellish and grieuous torments. And\nalso for bewitching to death of the Lady Crumwell, the like hath not been\nheard of in this age. London: Printed by the Widdowe Owin, for Thomas Man,\nand Iohn Winnington, and are to be solde in Paternoster Rowe, at the signe\nof the Talbot. 1593.\n\nA True Discourse, upon the matter of Martha Brossier of Romorantin,\npretended to be possessed by a Deuill. Translated out of French into\nEnglish by Abraham Hartwell. Ecclesiastie 19. \u2018He that is hastie to giue\ncredite, is light minded; and shall be held as one that sinneth against\nhis owne Soule.\u2019 London: Imprinted by Iohn Wolfe, 1599.\n\nMalleus Maleficarum: De lamiis et strigibus, et sagis aliisque Magis &\nDemoniacis, eorumque arte, potestate, & p\u0153na ... Tractatus aliquot tam\nveterum quam recentiorum auctorum, &c. 2 tom. Francofurti, 1600, 8vo.\n\nA true Narration of the strange and grevous vexation by the Devil of 7\npersons in Lancashire, and William Somers of Nottingham. Wherein the\ndoctrine of Possession and Dispossession of Demoniakes out of the word of\nGod, is particularly applyed unto Somers and the rest of the persons\ncontrouerted: together with the use we are to make of these workes of God.\nBy Iohn Darrell, Minister of the word of God. \u2018He that is not with me, is\nagainst me: and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth.\u2019 Matth. xii.\n30. Printed 1600.\n\nA Dialogue concerning Witches and Witchcrafts. In which is layed open how\ncraftily the Diuell deceiueth not onely the Witches, but many other, and\nso leadeth them awrie into manie great errours. By George Giffard,\nMinister of God\u2019s word in Maldon. London: Printed by R. F. and F. K. and\nare to be sold by Arthur Iohnson, at the signe of the Flower-de-Luce and\nCrowne in Paules Church-Yard. 1603.\n\nDemonologie. In forme of a Dialogue. Diuided into three books. Written by\nthe High and mightie Prince, Iames, by the grace of God, King of England,\nScotland, France and Ireland. Defender of the Faith, &c. London: Printed\nby Arnold Hatfield for Robert Wald-graue. 1603.\n\nA Treatise of Specters or Straunge Sights, Visions and Apparitions\nappearing sensibly unto men. Wherein is deliuered the Nature of Spirites,\nAngels and Divels: their power and properties: as also of Witches,\nSorcerers, Enchanters and such like.... Newly done out of French into\nEnglish. London: Printed by Val. S. for Mathew Lownes. 1605.\n\nDiscours, et Histoires des Spectres, Visions et Apparitions des Esprits,\nAnges, Demons et Ames, se monstrans visibles aux hommes. Divisez en huict\nlivres. Esquels par les Visions Merveilleuses, et prodigieuses Apparitions\navenu\u00ebs en tous siecles, tirees et recuillies des plus celebres autheurs\ntant Sacrez que Prophanes ... Aussi est traict\u00e9 des Extases et\nrauissements &c. Par Pierre le Loyer, Conseiller du Roy au siege Presidial\nd\u2019Angers. A Paris, Chez Nicolas Buon, demeurant au mont Sainct Hilaire a\nl\u2019enseigne Sainct Claude. 1605.\n\nA Full and True Account Both of the Life; and also of the Manner and\nMethod of carrying on the Delusions, Blasphemies and Notorious Cheats of\nSusan Fowls, as the same was Contrived, Plotted, Invented, and Managed by\nwicked Popish Priests, and other Papists, with a Design to scandalize our\nChurch and Ministers, by insinuating that the Virtue of Casting out\nDevils, and Easing Persons Possess\u2019d was only in the Power of their\nChurch. As also, Of her Tryal and Sentence at the Old Baily, the 7th of\nthis instant May, for blaspheming Jesus Christ, and cursing the Lord\u2019s\nPrayer. London: Printed for J. Read in Fleet Street. 1608.\n\nStrange and Wonderful News. Being a True, tho\u2019 Sad Relation of Six Sea Men\n(Belonging to the _Margaret_ of Boston) who Sold Themselves to the Devil,\nAnd were Invisibly Carry\u2019d away. With an Account of the said Ship being\nSunk under Water, where She continued full Eleuen Weeks: All which Time,\nto Admiration, the rest of the Ship\u2019s Crew Liv\u2019d, and Fed upon Raw Meat,\nand Live Fish that Swam over their Heads. The Names of the Three Persons\nthat were, (thro\u2019 Mercy) Preserv\u2019d so long under water, were William\nDavies (a Man very well known to the Merchants in London) Mr. William\nKadner, and Mr. William Bywater. There was only One Boy Drowned. \u261e The\nTruth of which Strange and Miraculous Relation will be Attested at Mr.\nLoyd\u2019s Coffee House, near the General Post Office in Lombard-Street: where\nthe original Letter, at large, will be shewn to any Person that desires to\nbe further satisfy\u2019d in the Truth hereof; and by several Eminent Merchants\nupon the Exchange. London: Printed for H. Marston in Cornhill. No date.\n\nA Discourse of the damned Art of Witchcraft, so farre forth as it is\nrevealed in the Scriptures and manifest by true experience. By William\nPerkins. O. Legge, Cambridge, 1608, 8vo.\n\nDiscours des Sorciers, avec six Advis en faict de Sorcelerie. Et une\nInstruction pour un Juge en semblable matiere: Par Henry Boguet Dolanois,\ngrand Juge en la terre S. Oyan de Ioux, ditte de S. Claude, au Comte de\nBourgongne.... Seconde Edition. A Lyon, Chez Pierre Rigaud en ru\u00eb\nMerciere, au coing de ru\u00eb Ferrandiere, a l\u2019Horloge. 1608.\n\nThe wonderful discouerie of Elizabeth Sawyer, a Witch, late of Edmonton,\nher conuiction and condemnation and Death. Together with the relation of\nthe Diuels accesse to her, and their conference together. Written by Henry\nGoodcole, Minister of the Word of God, and her continuall Visiter in the\nGaole of Newgate. London: Printed for William Butler, and are to be sold\nat his Shop in Saint Dunstons Church Yard Fleet Street. 1611.\n\nThe Witches of Northamptonshire. Agnes Browne, Joane Vaughan, Arthur Bill,\nHellen Ienkenson, Mary Barber, Witches. Who were all executed at\nNorthampton the 22 of Iuly last 1612. London: Printed by Tho: Purfoot, for\nArthur Iohnson. 1612.\n\nThe Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster. With the\nArraignement and Triall of Nineteene notorious Witches, at the Assizes and\ngenerall Gaole deliuerie, holden at the Castle of Lancaster, upon Munday,\nthe seuenteenth of August last 1612. Before Sir Iames Altham, and Sir\nEdward Bromley, Knights; Barons of his Maiesties Court of Exchequer: And\nJustices of Assize, Oyer and Terminor, and generall Gaole deliuerie in the\nCircuit of the North Parts. Together with the Arraignement and Triall of\nIennet Preston, at the Assizes holden at the Castle of Yorke, the seuen\nand twentieth day of Iulie last past, with her Execution for the murther\nof Master Lister, by Witchcraft. Published and set forth by the\nCommandement of his Maiesties Iustices of Assize in the North Parts. By\nThomas Potts, Esquier. London: Printed by W. Stansby for Iohn Barnes,\ndwelling neare Holborne Conduit. 1613.\n\nTableau de l\u2019Inconstance des Mauvais Anges et Demons. Ou il est amplement\ntraict\u00e9 des Sorciers, et de la Sorcellerie. Livre tres-utile et\nnecessaire, non seulement aux Iuges, mais \u00e0 tous ceux qui viuent sous les\nloix Chrestiennes. Avec un Discours contenant la Procedure faite par les\nInquisiteurs d\u2019Espagne et de Nauarre, \u00e0 53 Magiciens, Apostats, Iuifs et\nSorciers, en la ville de Logrogne en Castille, le 9 Novembre 1610. En\nlaquelle on voit combien l\u2019exercice de la Iustice en France, est plus\niuridiquement traict\u00e9, et auec de plus belles formes qu\u2019en tous autres\nEmpires, Royaumes, Republiques et Estats. Par Pierre de Lancre, Conseiller\ndu Roy au Parlement de Bordeaux ... A Paris, Chez Nicolas Buon, ru\u00eb sainct\nIacques, \u00e0 l\u2019enseigne de sainct Claude, et de l\u2019Homme Sauuage. 1613.\n\nA True and Feareful Vexation of one Alexander Nyndge: being most horribly\ntormented with the Deuill, from the 20 day of Ianuary to the 23 of Iuly.\nAt Lyeringswell in Suffocke; with his Prayer after his Deliuerance.\nWritten by his owne brother, Edward Nyndge Master of Arts, with the Names\nof the Witnesses that were at his Vexature. \u00b6 Imprinted at London for W.\nB. and are to bee sold by Edward Wright at Christ Church Gate. 1615.\n\nLe Fleau des Demons et Sorciers par J. B. (Bodin). Angevin. Derniere\nEdition, \u00e0 Nyort, par Dauid du Terroir. 1616.\n\nThe Triall of Witch-craft, shewing the true and right methode of the\nDiscouerie: with A Confutation of Erroneous wayes. By Iohn Cotta, Doctor\nin Physicke. London: Printed by George Purslowe for Samuel Rand, and are\nto be solde at his shop neere Holburne-Bridge. 1616.\n\nA Treatise of Witchcraft. Wherein sundry Propositions are laid downe,\nplainely discouering the wickednesse of that damnable Art, with diuerse\nother speciall points annexed, not impertinent to the same, such as ought\ndiligently of euery Christian to be considered. With a true Narration of\nthe Witchcrafts which Mary Smith, wife of Henry Smith, Glouer, did\npractise: Of her contract vocally made between the Deuill and her, in\nsolemn termes, by whose meanes she hurt sundry persons whom she enuied:\nWhich is confirmed by her owne confession, and also from the publique\nRecords of the Examination of diuerse upon their oathes: And, lastly, of\nher death and execution, for the same, which was on the twelfth day of\nIanuarie last past. By Alexander Roberts, B.D. and Preacher of Gods Word\nat Kings-Linne in Norffolke.... London: Printed by N. O. for Samuel Man,\nand are to be sold at his Shop in Pauls Church-Yard, at the signe of the\nBall. 1616.\n\nThe Merry Devil of Edmonton. As it hath beene sundry times Acted by his\nMaiesties Seruants, at the Globe on the Bankside. At London. Printed by G.\nEld, for Arthur Iohnson, dwelling at the signe of the white-Horse in\nPaules Church-yard, ouer against the great North Doore of Paules. 1617.\n\nThe Mystery of Witchcraft. Discouering the Truth, Nature, Occasions,\nGrowth and Power thereof. Together with the Detection and Punishments of\nthe same. As Also, the seuerall Stratagems of Sathan, ensnaring the poore\nSoule by this desperate practize of annoying the bodie: with the seuerall\nUses thereof to the Church of Christ. Very necessary for the redeeming of\nthese Atheisticall and secure (_sic_) times. By Thomas Cooper. London:\nPrinted by Nicholas Okes. 1617.\n\nThe Wonderful Discoverie of the Witchcrafts of Margaret and Philip Flower,\ndaughters of Ioan Flower, neere Beuer Castle, Executed at Lincolne March\n11, 1618. Who were specially arraigned and condemned before Sir Henry\nHobart, and Sir Edward Bromley, Iudges of Assise, for confessing\nthemselues actors in the destruction of Henry, Lord Rosse, with their\ndamnable practises against others the Children of the Right Honourable\nFrancis, Earle of Rutland. Together with the seuerall Examinations and\nConfessions of Anne Baker, Ioan Willimot, and Ellen Greene, Witches in\nLeicestershire. Printed at London by G. Eld for I. Barnes, dwelling in\nthe long Walke, neere Christ-Church. 1619.\n\nThe Boy of Bilson: or a true Discovery of the late notorious Impostures of\ncertaine Romish Priests in their pretended Exorcisme, or expulsion of the\nDiuell out of a young Boy, named William Perry, sonne of Thomas Perry of\nBilson in the County of Stafford, Yeoman. Upon which occasion, hereunto is\npremitted A briefe Theologicall Discourse, by way of Caution, for the more\neasie discerning of such Romish Spirits; and iudging of their false\npretences, both in this, and the late Practises ... at London. Imprinted\nby F. K. for William Barret. 1622.\n\nThe Infallible and Assured Witch: or the Second Edition of the Tryall of\nWitch craft. Shewing the right and true methode of the discouerie; with a\nconfutation of erroneous waies carefully reviewed and more fully cleared\nand Augmented. By Iohn Cotta, Doctor in Physicke. London: Printed by I. L.\nfor R. H. and are to be sold at the signe of the Grey hound in Pauls\nChurch Yard. 1625.\n\nThe late Lancashire Witches. A well received Comedy, lately Acted at the\nGlobe on the Banke-side, by the King\u2019s Majesties Actors. Written by Thom\nHeywood, and Richard Broome Aut prodesse solent, aut delectare. London:\nPrinted by Thomas Harper for Benjamin Fisher, and are to be Sold at his\nShop at the Signe of the Talbot, without Aldersgate. 1634.\n\nA Relation of the Devill Balams departure out of the body of the Mother\nPrioresse of the Ursuline Nuns of Loudun. Her fearefull motions and\ncontorsions during the Exorcisme, with the Extract of the Proces verball,\ntouching the Exorcismes wrought at Loudun, by order of the Bishop of\nPoictiers, under the authority of the King. Printed at Orleans 1635. Or\nthe first part of the Play acted at Loudun by two Divels, a Frier, and a\nNun. Faithfully translated out of the French Copie, with some Observations\nfor the better illustration of the Pageant. London: Printed by R. B. and\nare to be sold in S. Pauls Church-yard, and in S. Dunstans Church Yard in\nFleet Street, at the Shop turning up to Clifford\u2019s Inn. 1636.\n\nA Dog\u2019s Elegy, or Rupert\u2019s Tears, for the late Defeat given him at Marston\nmoore, neer York by the Three Renowned Generalls: Alexander, Earl of\nLeven, Generall of the Scottish Forces. Fardinando Lord Fairfax, and the\nEarle of Manchester, Generalls of the English Forces in the North. Where\nhis beloved Dog, named Boy, was killed by a Valiant Souldier, who had\nskill in Necromancy. Likewise the strange breed of this Shagg\u2019d Cavalier,\nwhelp\u2019d of a Malignant Water Witch; With all his Tricks and Feats.\n\n \u2018Sad Cavaliers, _Rupert_ invites you all\n That doe survive, to his Dogs Funerall.\n Close mourners are the Witch, Pope, & Devill,\n That much lament yo\u2019r late befallen evill.\u2019\n\nPrinted at London, for G. B. July 27, 1644.\n\nA true and exact Relation of the severall Informations, Examinations, and\nConfessions of the late Witches, arraigned and executed in the County of\nEssex. Who were arraigned and condemned at the late Sessions, holden at\nChelmesford before the Right Honorable Robert Earle of Warwicke, and\nseverall of his Majesties Justices of Peace, the 29 of July 1645. Wherein\nthe severall murthers, and devillish Witchcrafts committed on the bodies\nof men, women and children, and divers cattell, are fully discovered....\nLondon: Printed by M. S. for Henry Overton and Benj. Allen, and are to be\nsold at their Shops in Popes head Alley. 1645.\n\nThe Lawes against Witches and Coniuration, and Some brief Notes and\nObservations for the Discovery of Witches. Being very usefull for these\nTimes, wherein the Devil reignes and prevailes over the soules of poor\nCreatures, in drawing them to that crying Sin of Witchcraft. Also the\nConfession of Mother Lakeland, who was arraigned and condemned for a\nWitch, at Ipswich in Suffolke.... London: Printed for R. W. 1645.\n\nThe Examination, Confession, Triall and Execution of Joane Williford, Joan\nCariden, and Jane Hott: Who were executed at Feversham in Kent, for being\nWitches, on Munday the 29 of September 1645. Being a true Copy of their\nevill lives and wicked deeds, taken by the Maior of Feversham and Jurors\nfor the said Inquest. With the Examination and Confession of Elizabeth\nHarris, not yet executed. All attested under the hand of Robert\nGreenstreet, Maior of Feversham. London: Printed for J. G., October 2,\n1645.\n\nThe Discovery of Witches in answer to severall Queries, lately delivered\nto the Judges of Assize for the County of Norfolk, and now published M.\n[Matthew] H. [Hopkins] Witch finder, for the benefit of the whole Kingdom.\nLondon, 1647, 4to.\n\nThe full Tryals, Examination and Condemnation of Four Notorious Witches,\nAt the Assizes held at Worcester, on Tuseday the 4th of March. With the\nmanner, how they were found guilty of Bewitching several Children to\nDeath. As also, Their Confessions, and last Dying Speeches at the Place of\nExecution; with other Amazing Particulars concerning the said\nWitchcraft.... London: Printed by I. W., near Fleet-street. No date.\n\nThe Woodstock Scuffle, or, Most Dreadfull Apparitions that were lately\nseene in the Mannor-House of Woodstock, neere Oxford, to the great Terror\nand wonderfull Amazement of all there that did Behold them. Printed in the\nyeere 1649.\n\nWonderfull News from the North, or a true Relation of the sad and grievous\nTorments Inflicted upon the Bodies of three Children of Mr. George\nMuschamp, late of the County of Northumberland, by Witchcraft; and how\nmiraculously it pleased God to strengthen them, and to deliver them. As\nalso the prosecution of the sayd Witches, as by Oaths, and their own\nConfessions will appear, and by the indictment found by the Jury against\none of them, at the Sessions of the Peace held at Alnwick, the 24 day of\nApril, 1650.... London: Printed by T. H., and are to be sold by Richard\nHarper, at his shop in Smithfield. 1650.\n\nDoctor Lamb Revived, or Witchcraft condemn\u2019d in Anne Bodenham, a Servant\nof his, who was Arraigned and Executed the Lent Assizes last at Salisbury,\nbefore the Right Honourable the Lord Chief Baron Wild, Judge of the\nAssise. Wherein is set forth her strange and wonderful Diabolical usage of\na Maid, Servant to Mr. Goddard, as also, hir attempt against his\nDaughters, but by Providence delivered. Being necessary for all good\nChristians to Read, as a Caveat to look to themselves that they be not\nseduced by such Inticements. By Edmond Bower, an eye and ear Witness of\nher Examination and Confession. London: Printed by T. W. for Richard Best\nand John Place, and are to be Sold at their Shops at Grays Inn Gate and\nFurnival\u2019s Inn Gate in Holburn. 1653.\n\nAn Advertisement to the Jury-men of England touching Witches. Together\nwith a Difference between an English and Hebrew Witch. London: Printed by\nI. G. for Richard Royston. At the Angel in Ivie-lane. 1653.\n\nA Compendious History of the Goths, Swedes and Vandals and Other Northern\nNations. Written by Olaus Magnus, Arch-Bishop of Upsall, and Metropolitan\nof Sweden. London: Printed by I. Streeter, and are to be sold by Humphrey\nMosely, &c. 1658.\n\nStrange and Terrible Newes from Cambridge, being A true Relation of the\nQuakers bewitching of Mary Philips out of the Bed from her Husband in the\nNight, and transformed her into the shape of a Bay Mare, riding her from\nDinton towards the University. With the manner how she became visible\nagain to the People in her own Likeness and Shape, with her sides all rent\nand torn, as if they had been spur-gal\u2019d, her hands and feet worn as black\nas a Coal, and her mouth slit with the Bridle Bit. Likewise, her Speech to\nthe Scholars and Country-men, upon this great and wonderful Change, her\nOath before the Judges and Justices, and the Names of the Quakers brought\nto tryal on Friday last at the Assises held at Cambridge. With the\nJudgment of the Court. As also, the Devil\u2019s snatching of one from his\nCompany, and hoisting of him up into the Air, with what hapned thereupon.\nLondon: Printed for C. Brooks, and are to be sold at the Royal Exchange in\nCornhill. 1659.\n\nThe Just Devil of Woodstock, Or, A True Narrative of the Several\nApparitions, the Frights and Punishments inflicted upon the Rumpish\nCommissioners Sent thither, to Survey the Mannors and Houses belonging to\nhis Majestie. London: Printed in the Year 1660.\n\nA Philosophical Endeavour towards the Defence of the Being of Witches and\nApparitions. In a letter to ... R. Hunt. Esq. By a Member of the Royal\nSociety. J. G. [Glanvill] London, 1666.\n\nSome Philosophical Considerations Touching the Being of Witches and\nWitchcraft written in a Letter to the much Honour\u2019d Robert Hunt Esq: By J.\nG. a Member of the Royal Society. London: Printed by E. C. for James\nCollins at the King\u2019s Head in Westminster Hall. 1667.\n\nA Blow at Modern Sadducism. In some Philosophical Considerations about\nWitchcraft. And the Relation of the Famed Disturbance at the House of M.\nMompesson, with Reflections on Drollery, and Atheisme. The Fourth Edition\nCorrected and Inlarged. By Jos Glanvill. Fellow of the Royal Society.\nLondon: Printed by E. Cotes for James Collins at the King\u2019s Head in\nWestminster Hall. 1668.\n\nThe Question of Witchcraft Debated; Or, a discourse against their Opinion\nthat affirm Witches.... London: Printed in the Year 1669.\n\nThe Opinion of Witchcraft Vindicated. In an Answer to a Book Intituled the\nQuestion of Witchcraft Debated. Being a letter to a Friend by R. T.\nLondon: Printed by E. O. for Francis Haley, and are to be sold at his Shop\nat the corner of Chancery Lane in Holborn. 1670.\n\nThe Witch of the Woodlands, Or, The Coblers New Translation. Written by L.\nP.\n\n \u2018Here Robin the Cobler for his former evils\n Was punisht worse than Faustus with his devils.\u2019\n\nPrinted by A. P. for W. Thackeray at the Angel in Duck Lane neer West\nSmithfield. 1670?\n\nThe Question of Witchcraft debated. Or a Discourse against their Opinion\nthat affirm Witches, considered and enlarged. The Second Edition. By the\nAuthor John Wagstaffe.... London: Printed for Edw. Millington, at the\nPelican in Duck Lane. 1671.\n\nThe D\u00e6mon of Burton. Or a true Relation of Strange Witchcrafts or\nIncantations lately practised at Burton in the Parish of Weobley in\nHerefordshire. Certified in a Letter from a Person of Credit in Hereford.\nLondon: Printed for C. W. in the year 1671.\n\nA Treatise proving Spirits, Witches and Supernatural Operations, by\nPregnant Instances and Evidences: Together with other Things worthy of\nNote. By Meric Casaubon D.D. London: Printed for Brabazon Aylmer, at the\nTree Pigeons in Cornhill. 1672.\n\nA Pleasant Treatise of Witches, Their Imps, and Meetings, Persons\nbewitched, Magicians, Necromancers, Incubus, and Succubus\u2019s, Familiar\nSpirits, Goblings, Pharys, Specters, Phantasms, Places Haunted, and\nDevillish Impostures. With the difference between Good and Bad Angels, and\na true Relation of a good Genius. By a Pen near the Covent of Eluthery.\nLondon: Printed by H. B. for C. Wilkinson at the Black Boy in Fleet\nstreet, and Tho. Archer and Tho. Burrell under St. Dunstan\u2019s Church. 1673.\n\nThe Wonder of Wonders, or Strange News from Newton in York-shire. Being a\nTrue and Perfect Relation of a Gentleman turn\u2019d into a statue of Stone,\nwhich Statue stands now in the Garden of Goodman Wilford, a sufficient\nFarmer living in the same Town. Together With the occasion of the Fright\nupon Himself, Wife, and Maid, by four Persons, upon the 12th of May 1675.\nSet forth to prevent Surreptitious Reports. Printed in the Year 1675.\n\nThe Displaying of supposed Witchcraft, Wherein is affirmed that there are\nmany sorts of Deceivers and Impostors, and Divers persons under a passive\nDelusion of Melancholy and Fancy. But that there is a Corporeal League\nmade betwixt the Devil and the Witch, Or that he sucks on the Witches\nBody, has Carnal Copulation, or that Witches are turned into Cats, Dogs,\nraise Tempests, or the like, is utterly denied and disproved. Wherein also\nis handled, The Existence of Angels and Spirits, the truth of Apparitions,\nthe Nature of Astral and Sydereal Spirits, the force of Charms and\nPhilters; with other abstruse matters. By John Webster, Practitioner in\nPhysick.... London: Printed by J. M. and are to be sold by the Booksellers\nin London. 1677.\n\nWonderful News from Buckinghamshire, or a perfect Relation How a young\nMaid hath been for Twelve years and upwards, possest with the Devil; And\ncontinues so to this very day in a Lamentable Condition. With an Account\nof several Discourses with the said Evil Spirit, and his Answers: attested\nby Ear-witnesses; and other strange Circumstances from time to time\nrelating there unto. Published for the Awaking and Convincing of Atheists\nand modern Sadducees, who dream that there is neither Angel nor Spirit.\nLicensed according to Order. London: Printed for D. M. 1677.\n\nA Discovery of the Impostures of Witches and Astrologers.... By John\nBrinly, Gent. London: Printed for John Wright, at the Crown on Ludgate\nHill, and sold by Edward Milward, Book Seller in Leitchfield. 1680.\n\nMelampron\u0153a: or a Discourse of the Polity and Kingdom of Darkness.\nTogether With a Solution of the chiefest Objections brought against the\nBeing of Witches. By Henry Hallywell, Master of Arts, and sometime Fellow\nof Christs Colledge in Cambridge.... London: Printed for Walter Kettilby,\nat the Bishops Head in S. Paul\u2019s Church Yard. 1681.\n\nStrange and wonderful News from Yowel in Surry; Giving a True and Just\nAccount of One Elizabeth Burgiss, Who was most strangely Bewitched and\nTortured at a sad rate, having several great lumps of Clay pulled forth\nfrom her Back, full of Pins and Thorns, which pricked so extreamly, that\nshe cry\u2019d and roar\u2019d in a vehement and outragious manner, to the great\namazement of all the Beholders. As also. How great Stones, as big as a\nMan\u2019s Fist, were thrown at her in the Dwelling House of Mr. Tuers, which\ncame flying into the House, and that none of the Family was any ways hurt,\nbut this Maid; Also how the Bellows was thrown at her. Mr. Tuers. her\nMaster, finding his House thus troubled, after some time, sent her home to\nher Mothers House at Asteed, about three Miles off from Yowel, where by\nthe way She was most strangely assaulted with Stones as before; and after\nShe came to her Fathers House, the throwing of the Pewter Dishes,\nCandlesticks, and other clattering of Household-Goods at her, besides the\ndisplacing of a Musical Instrument, hanging up her Grand Fathers Breeches\non the top of the Sealing. With many more strange and miraculous things,\nfilling the Spectators with Wonder and amazement. Printed for J. Clarke,\nSeignor; at the Bible and Harp in West Smithfield. 1681.\n\nThe Tryal, Condemnation and Execution of three Witches, viz: Temperance\nFloyd, Mary Floyd, and Susanna Edwards. Who were Arraigned at Exeter on\nthe 18th of August 1682. And, being prov\u2019d Guilty of Witch Craft, were\nCondemned to be Hang\u2019d, which was accordingly Executed in the view of many\nSpectators, whose strange and much to be lamented Impudence, is never to\nbe forgotten. Also, how they Confessed what Mischiefs they had done, by\nthe assistance of the Devil, who lay with the above named Temperance\nFloyd, nine nights together. Also, how they Squeezed one Hannah Thomas to\ndeath in their Arms; How they also caused several Ships to be cast away,\ncausing a Boy to fall from the top of a Main Mast into the Sea. With many\nWonderful Things, worth your Reading. Printed for J. Deacon at the sign of\nthe Rainbow, a little beyond St. Andrews Church in Holborn. 1682.\n\nA Tryal of Witches at the Assizes held at Bury St. Edmonds for the County\nof Suffolk; on the Tenth day of March, 1664. Before Sir Matthew Hale, Kt.\nthen Lord Chief Baron of his Majesties Court of Exchequer. Taken by a\nPerson then Attending the Court. London: Printed for William Shrewsbery\nat the Bible in Duck Lane. 1682.\n\nA Strange, True, and Dreadful Relation of the Devil\u2019s appearing to Thomas\nCox, a Hackney Coach-Man; Who lives in Cradle Alley in Baldwin\u2019s Garden,\nFirst in the habit of a Gentleman with a Roll of Parchment in his hand,\nand then in the shape of a Bear, which afterwards vanish\u2019d away in a flash\nof Fire, at Eight of the Clock on Friday Night. October the 31st, 1684.\nLondon: Printed by E. Mallet. 1684.\n\nPandemonium, or the Devil\u2019s Cloyster, Being a further Blow to Modern\nSadduceism, Proving the Existence of Witches and Spirits, in A Discourse\ndeduced from the Fall of the Angels, the Propagation of Satan\u2019s Kingdom\nbefore the Flood; The Idolatry of the Ages after, greatly advancing\nDiabolical Confederacies. With an Account of the Lives and Transactions of\nseveral Notorious Witches. Also A Collection of several Authentick\nRelations of Strange Apparitions of D\u00e6mons and Spectres, and Fascinations\nof Witches, never before Printed. By Richard Bovet, Gent., London. Printed\nfor J. Walthoe, at the Black Lion, Chancery Lane, over against Lincoln\u2019s\nInn. 1684.\n\nSatan\u2019s Invisible World discovered; or A choice Collection of Modern\nRelations, proving evidently against the Saducees and Atheists of this\npresent Age, that there are Devils, Spirits, Witches, and Apparitions,\nfrom Authentick Records, Attestations of Famous Witnesses, and undoubted\nVerity. To all which is added, The Marvellous History of Major Weir, and\nhis Sister; with two Relations of Apparitions at Edinburgh. By Mr. George\nSinclar, late Professor of Philosophy in the Colledge of Glasgow....\nEdinburgh: Printed by John Reid. 1685.\n\nA Discourse, proving by Scripture and Reason, And the Best Authours,\nAncient and Modern, that there are Witches: and How far their Power\nextends to the doing of Mischief both to Man and Beast: And likewise the\nUse and Abuse of Astrology laid open.... London: Printed by J. M. and sold\nby John Weld, at the Crown in Fleet Street, between the Two Temple Gates.\n1686.\n\nNews from Pannier Alley: or, a True Relation of Some Pranks the Devil hath\nlately play\u2019d with a Plaster-Pot there. London: Printed and Publish\u2019d by\nRandal Taylor. 1687.\n\nMemorable Providences, Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions. A Faithful\nAccount of many Wonderful and Surprising Things, that have befallen\nseveral Bewitched and Possessed Persons in New-England. Particularly, A\nNarrative of the marvellous Trouble and Releef Experienced by a pious\nFamily in Boston, very lately and sadly molested with Evil Spirits.\nWhereunto is added A Discourse delivered unto a Congregation in Boston, on\nthe Occasion of that Illustrious Providence. As also A Discourse\ndelivered unto the same Congregation, on the occasion of an horrible\nSelf-Murder Committed in the Town. With an Appendix in vindication of a\nChapter in a late Book of Remarkable Providences, from the Calumnies of a\nQuaker at Pen-silvania. Written by Cotton Mather, Minister of the Gospel,\nAnd Recommended by the Ministers of Boston and Charleston. Printed at\nBoston in N. England by R. P. 1689. Sold by Joseph Brunning, at his Shop\nat the Corner of the Prison Lane next the Exchange.\n\nThe Certainty of the World of Spirits, fully evinced by unquestionable\nHistories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts, Operations, Voices, &c. Proving\nthe Immortality of Souls, the Malice and Misteries of the Devils and the\nDamned, and the Blessedness of the Justified. Written for the Conviction\nof Sadduces and Infidels by Richard Baxter.... London: Printed for T.\nParkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside; and J. Salusbury at\nthe Rising Sun over against the Royal Exchange. 1691.\n\nThe Wonders of the Invisible World. Observations As well Historical as\nTheological, upon the Nature, the Number, and the Operations of the\nDevils. Accompany\u2019d with (I.) Some Accounts of the Grevious Molestations,\nby D\u00e6mons and Witchcrafts, which have lately annoy\u2019d the Countrey: and the\nTrials of some eminent Malefactors Executed upon occasion thereof: with\nseveral Remarkable Curiosities therein occurring. (II.) Some Counsils,\nDirecting a due Improvement of the terrible things, lately done, by the\nUnusual and Amazing Range of Evil Spirits, in Our Neighbourhood: and the\nmethods to prevent the Wrongs which those Evil Angels may intend against\nall sorts of people among us; especially in Accusations of the Innocent.\n(III.) Some Conjectures upon the great Events likely to befall the World\nin General, and New England in Particular; as also upon the Advances of\nthe Time when we shall see Better Dayes. (IV.) A short Narrative of a late\nOutrage committed by a knot of Witches in Swedeland, very much Resembling,\nand so far Explaining, That under which our parts of America have\nlaboured! (V.) The Devil discovered: In a Brief Discourse upon those\nTemptations, which are the more Ordinary Devices of the Wicked One. By\nCotton Mather. Boston: Printed by Benj. Harris for Sam Phillips. 1693.\n\nA further Account of the Tryals of the New-England Witches. (Collected by\nD. [Deodat] L. [Lawson]) ... To which is added Cases of Conscience\nconcerning Witchcrafts, and Evil Spirits personating Men. Written ... by\nI. [Increase] Mather. 2 parts, London. 1693.\n\nA Collection of Modern Relations of Matter of Fact, concerning Witches and\nWitchcraft Upon the Persons of People. To Which is prefixed a Meditation\nconcerning the Mercy of God, in preserving us from the Malice and Power\nof Evil Angels. Written by the late Lord Chief Justice Hale upon Occasion\nof a Tryal of several Witches before him, Part 1. London: Printed for John\nHarris, at the Harrow in the Poultry. 1693.\n\nA Faithful Narrative of the Wonderful and Extraordinary Fits which Mr.\nTho. Spatchet (Late of Dunwich and Cookly) was under by Witchcraft: or A\nMysterious Providence in his even Unparalleled Fits. With an Account of\nhis first Falling into, Behaviour under, and (in part) deliverance out of\nthem. Wherein are several Remarkable Instances of the Gracious Effects of\nFervent Prayer. The whole drawn up and written by Samuel Petto, Minister\nof the Gospel at Sudbury in Suffolk, who was an Eye-witness of a great\npart. With a Necessary Preface.... London: Printed for John Harris at the\nHarrow in the Poultrey. 1693.\n\nMiscellanies. Collected by J. Aubrey, Esqre. London: Printed for Edward\nCastle next Scotland Yard Gate, by Whitehall. 1696.\n\nA Sad, Amazing, and Dreadful Relation of a Farmer\u2019s Wife, near Wallingford\nin Barkshire, who Abusing her Husband for selling Corn cheap to the Poor,\nand wishing the Devil might Thrash, the next Day found him Thrashing in\nthe Barn, and was, by him, thrown on the Mow, remaining there in a pitious\nmanner, not to be removed, feeding on the Ears of Corn, and refusing all\nother Food. With her Description of the Devil; how he vanished from her,\nand a great Quantity of Corn he had Thrashed was found black and burned.\nLondon: Printed and Sold by J. W. 1697.\n\nA Relation of the Diabolical Practices of above Twenty Wizards and Witches\nof the Sheriffdom of Renfrew in the Kingdom of Scotland, contain\u2019d in\ntheir Tryalls, Examinations, and Confessions; And for which several of\nthem have been Executed this present Year, 1697. London: Printed for Hugh\nNewman, at the Grasshopper in the Poultry.\n\nSadducismus Debellatus: Or a True Narrative of the Sorceries and\nWitchcrafts exercis\u2019d by the Devil and his Instruments upon Mrs. Christian\nShaw, Daughter of Mr. John Shaw of Bargarran in the County of Renfrew in\nthe West of Scotland, from Aug. 1696 to Apr. 1697. Containing the Journal\nof her Sufferings, as it was Exhibited and Prov\u2019d by the Voluntary\nConfession of some of the Witches, and other Unexceptionable Evidence,\nbefore the Commissioners Appointed by the Privy Council of Scotland to\nEnquire into the same. Collected from the Records. Together with\nReflexions upon Witchcraft in General, and the Learned Arguments of the\nLawyers on both Sides, at the Trial of Seven of those Witches, who were\nCondemned; And some Passages which happened at their Execution.... London:\nPrinted for H. Newman, and A. Bell, at the Grasshopper in the Poultry,\nand at the Cross Keys and Bible in Cornhill near Stocks Market. 1698.\n\nThe Second Part of the Boy of Bilson; or, a True and Particular Relation\nof the Impostor Susanna Fowles, Wife of John Fowles of Hammersmith, in the\nCounty of Middlesex, who pretended her self Possess\u2019d with the Devil.\nGiving an Exact Account of the Beginning, Progress, Conferences,\nDiscovery, Commitment, Confession, &c., of the said Impostor.... London:\nPrinted, and are to be sold by E. Whitlock, near Stationers Hall. 1698.\n\nA Strange and True Relation of One Mr. John Leech, Who lived in\nHuntington-Shire, at a place called Ravely, not farre distant from\nHuntington Town, who was (about ten dayes agoe) Carried twelve miles in\nthe Ayre, by two Finnes, and also of his sad and lamentable death....\nLondon. 1700?\n\nThe History of Witches and Wizards: Giving a True Account of all their\nTryals in England, Scotland, Sweedland, France, and New England; with\ntheir Confession and Condemnation.... By W. P. London. 1700?\n\nMore Wonders of the Invisible World. Display\u2019d in Five Parts. Part I. An\nAccount of the Sufferings of Margaret Rule, Written by the Reverend Mr. C.\n[Cotton] M. [Mather]. P. II. Several Letters to the Author, &c. And his\nReply relating to Witchcraft. P. III. The Differences between the\nInhabitants of Salem Village and Mr. Parris their Minister, in New\nEngland. P. IV. Letters of a Gentleman uninterested, Endeavouring to prove\nthe received Opinions about Witchcraft to be Orthodox. With short Essays\nto their Answers. P. V. A short Historical Account of Matters of Fact in\nthat Affair. To which is added A Postscript relating to a Book intitled\nThe Life of Sir William Phips. Collected by Robert Calef, Merchant, of\nBoston in New England.... London: Printed for Nath. Hillar, at the Princes\nArms, in Leaden-Hall Street, over against St. Mary Ax, and Joseph Collyer\nat the Golden Bible on London Bridge. 1700.\n\nMagnalia Christi Americana: or, the Ecclesiastical History of New England\nfrom its First Planting in the Year 1620 unto the Year of our Lord 1698.\nIn Seven Books.... By the Reverend and Learned Cotton Mather, M.A. And\nPastor of the North Church in Boston, New-England. London: Printed for\nThomas Parkhurst at the Bible and Three Crowns in Cheapside. 1702.\n\nA True and Full Relation of the Witches at Pittenweem. To which is added\nby way of Preface, An Essay for proving the Existence of Good and Evil\nSpirits, relating to the Witches at Pittenween, now in Custody, with\nArguments against the Sadducism of the Present Age. Edinburgh: Printed by\nJohn Reid Junior, and are to be Sold at his Printing House in Libertouns\nWynd. 1704.\n\nA Full and True Relation of the Discovering, Apprehending and taking of a\nNotorious Witch, who was carried before Justice Bateman in Well-Close, on\nSunday July the 23d. Together with her Examination and Commitment to\nBridewell, Clerkenwel. London: Printed by H. Hills in Blackfryars near the\nWaterside. 1704.\n\nChrist\u2019s Fidelity the only Shield against Satan\u2019s Malignity. Asserted in a\nSermon Delivered at Salem-Village the 24th of March, 1692. Being\nLecture-day there, and a time of Publick Examination, of some Suspected\nfor Witchcraft. By Deodat Lawson, Minister of the Gospel. The Second\nEdition.... Printed at Boston in New England, and Reprinted in London by\nR. Jockey for the Author; and are to be sold by T. Parkhurst, at the Bible\nand Three Crowns in Cheapside; and F. Lawrince at the Angel in the\nPoultry. 1704.\n\nAn Exact Narrative and many Surprizing Matters of Fact Uncontestably\nwrought by an Evil Spirit or Spirits in the House of Master Jan Smagge,\nFarmer in Canvy-Island near Leigh in Essex, upon the 10th, 13th, 14th,\n15th and 16th of September last, in the Day-time: In the Presence of The\nReverend Mr. Lord Curate to the said Island, Jan Smagge, Master of the\nHouse, and of several Neighbours, Servants and Strangers, who came at\ndifferent times, as Mr. Lord\u2019s particular Care to discharge his Duty, and\ntheir Curiosity led them to this place of Wonders. Together with a Short\nAccount of some of the Extraordinary Things credibly said to have formerly\ndisturb\u2019d the House, both before and since Mr. Smagge came into it: The\nutmost Caution being used not to exceed the Truth in the minutest\nCircumstance. In a Letter from Maiden in Essex to a Gentleman in London\nLondon: Printed and Sold by John Morphew near Stationer\u2019s Hall. 1709.\n\nA Terrible and seasonable Warning to young Men; Being a very particular\nand True Relation of one Abraham Joiner, a young Man about 17 or 18 Years\nof Age.... London, 1710?\n\nA Full and Impartial Account of the Discovery of Sorcery and Witchcraft\nPractised by Jane Wenham of Walkerne, in Hertfordshire, upon the Bodies of\nAnne Thorn, Anne Street, &c. The Proceedings against Her from Her being\nfirst Apprehended, till she was Committed to Gaol by Sir Henry Chauncy.\nAlso Her Tryal at the Assizes at Hertford before Mr. Justice Powell, where\nshe was found Guilty of Felony and Witchcraft, and receiv\u2019d Sentence of\nDeath for the same. March 4, 1711-12.... London: Printed for E. Curll at\nthe Dial and Bible against St. Dunstan\u2019s Church in Fleet street. 1712.\n\nWitchcraft Farther Display\u2019d. Containing I. An Account of the Witchcraft\npractis\u2019d by Jane Wenham of Walkerne in Hertfordshire, since her\nCondemnation, upon the Bodies of Anne Thom, and Anne Street, and the\ndeplorable Condition in which they still remain. II. An Answer to the most\ngeneral Objections against the Being and Power of Witches: With some\nremarks upon the Case of Jane Wenham in particular, and on Mr. Justice\nPowel\u2019s Procedure therein. To which are added The Tryals of Florence\nNewton, a famous Irish Witch, at the Assizes held at Cork, Anno 1661: as\nalso of two Witches at the Assizes held at Bury St. Edmunds, in Suffolk,\nin 1664, before Sir Matthew Hale (then Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer)\nwho were found guilty and executed.... London: Printed for E. Curll, at\nthe Dial and Bible against St. Dunstans Church in Fleet street. 1712.\n\nA full Confutation of Witchcraft: More particularly of the Depositions\nAgainst Jane Wenham, Lately Condemned for a Witch, at Hertford. In which\nthe Modern Notion of Witches are overthrown, and the Ill Consequences of\nsuch Doctrines are exposed by Arguments; proving that Witchcraft is\nPriestcraft.... In a Letter from a Physician in Hertfordshire, to his\nFriend in London. London: Printed for J. Baker, at the Black-Boy in\nPater-Noster Row. 1712.\n\nThe Case of the Hertfordshire Witchcraft consider\u2019d. Being an Examination\nof a Book entitled A Full and Impartial Account of the Discovery of\nSorcery and Witchcraft, Practis\u2019d by Jane Wenham of Walkern, upon the\nBodies of Anne Thom, Anne Street, &c. London: Printed for John Pemberton,\nat the Buck and Sun against St. Dunstan\u2019s Church in Fleet-street. 1712.\n\nThe Impossibility of Witchcraft. Plainly proving from Scripture and Reason\nThat there never was a Witch, and that it is both Irrational and Impious\nto believe there ever was. In which the Depositions against Jane Wenham,\nLately Try\u2019d and Condemned for a Witch at Hertford, are Confuted and\nExpos\u2019d.... London: Printed and Sold by J. Baker at the Black-Boy in\nPater-Noster-Row. 1712.\n\nThe Belief of Witchcraft Vindicated: proving from Scripture, there have\nbeen Witches; and from Reason that there may be Such still. In Answer to a\nlate Pamphlet, Intituled, The Impossibility of Witchcraft: Plainly proving\nthat there never was a Witch, &c. By G. R., A.M. London: Printed for J.\nBaker, at the Black-Boy in Pater-Noster-Row. 1712.\n\nA Compleat History of Magick, Sorcery and Witchcraft: Containing I. The\nmost Authentick and best attested Relations of Magicians, Sorcerers,\nWitches, Apparitions, Spectres, Ghosts, D\u00e6mons, and other preternatural\nAppearances. II. A Collection of several very scarce and valuable Tryals\nof Witches, particularly that famous one, of the Witches of Warboyse. III.\nAn Account of the first Rise of Magicians and Witches; shewing the\nContracts they make with the Devil, and what Methods they take to\naccomplish their Infernal Designs. IV. A full Confutation of all the\nArguments that have ever been produced against the Belief of Apparitions,\nWitches, &c, with a Judgment concerning Spirits, by the late Learned Mr.\nJohn Locke. 2 vols. London: Printed for E. Curll at the Dial and Bible, J.\nPemberton at the Buck and Sun, both against St. Dunstan\u2019s Church in Fleet\nStreet and W. Taylor at the Ship in Pater-Noster-Row. 1715.\n\nAn historical essay concerning Witchcraft with observations ... tending to\nConfute the Vulgar errors about that point. As also two sermons: one [on\nJohn xv. 24] in proof of the Christian Religion: the other [on Ps.\ncxlviii. 2] concerning ... good and evil angels by Francis Hutchinson\nBishop of Down and Connor. London, 1718.\n\n_British Magazine_ for 1747.\n\nThe History of the Colony of Massachusets-Bay, from the first settlement\nthereof in 1628. Until its Incorporation with the Colony of Plimouth,\nProvince of Main, &c, by the Charter of King William and Queen Mary in\n1691.... By Mr. Hutchinson Lieutenant Governor of the Massachusets\nProvince. Boston, New England: Printed by Thomas and John Fleet at the\nHeart and Crown in Cornhill. 1749.\n\nAn Authentic, Candid, and Circumstantial Narrative of the Astonishing\nTransactions at Stockwell in the County of Surry. On Monday and Tuesday,\nthe 6th and 7th Days of January 1772. Containing A Series of the most\nsurprising and unaccountable Events that ever happened, which continued\nfrom first to last, upwards of Twenty Hours, and at different Places....\nThe Second Edition. London: Printed for J. Marks, Bookseller, in St.\nMartin\u2019s Lane. 1772.\n\nA Narrative of the Sufferings and relief of a Young Girl; Strangely\nMolested by Evil Spirits and their Instruments, in the West: Collected\nfrom Authentic Testimonies, with a Preface and Postscript. Containing\nReflections on what is most Material or Curious, either in the History or\nTrial of the Seven Witches who were Condemned and Burnt in the Gallow\nGreen of Paisley.... Paisley: Printed and Sold by Alexander Weir. 1775.\n\nA Tragi-Coomodie called The Witch, Long since acted by His Ma{ties}\nServants at the Black-Friers. Written by Tho Middleton. 1778. [The\nfollowing note in pen and ink will explain how a play by a contemporary of\nMassinger, Ben Jonson, etc., bears this date; for until this copy the play\nwas never printed: \u2018This play was given me by Mr. Reid, who printed 100\nCopies for the use of his friends, from a M.S. in Mr. Pearsons[129]\nlibrary.\u2019]\n\nA Collection and Abridgement of Celebrated Criminal Trials in Scotland,\nfrom A.D. 1536 to 1784, with Historical and Critical Remarks. By Hugo\nArnot, Esq., Advocate.... Edinburgh: Printed for the Author by William\nSmellie. 1785.\n\nA Journal of the Transactions and Occurrences in the Settlement of\nMassachusetts and other New-England Colonies, from the year 1630 to 1644.\nWritten by John Winthrop, Esq., First Governor of Massachusetts; and now\nfirst published from a correct copy of the original Manuscript. Hartford:\nPrinted by Elisha Babcock. 1790.\n\nA Narrative of some extraordinary things that happened to Mr. Richard\nGiles\u2019s Children, at the Lamb, without Lawford\u2019s Gate, Bristol; supposed\nto be the effect of Witchcraft. By the late Mr. Henry Durbin, Chymist, Who\nwas an Eye and Ear Witness of the principal Facts herein related. To which\nis added A Letter from the Rev. Mr. Bedford, late Vicar of Temple, to the\nBishop of Gloucester, Relative to one Thomas Perks of Mangotsfield, who\nhad Dealings with Familiar Spirits. Bristol: Printed and Sold by R.\nEdwards, Broad Street; Sold also by T. Hurst and W. Baynes, Paternoster\nRow, London; and by Hazard and Browne, Bath. 1800.\n\nThe Magus, or Celestial Intelligencer, being a complete system of Occult\nPhilosophy.... By Francis Barrett, F.R.C.... London: Printed for\nLackington, Allen and Co., Temple of the Muses, Finsbury Square. 1801.\n\nA Collection of Scarce and Valuable Tracts, on the most Interesting and\nEntertaining Subjects: but chiefly such as relate to the History and\nConstitution of these Kingdoms. Selected from an infinite number in print\nand manuscript, in the Royal, Cotton, Sion, and other public, as well as\nprivate, Libraries; particularly that of the late Lord Somers. The Second\nEdition, revised, augmented, and arranged by Walter Scott, Esqre....\nLondon: Printed for T. Cadell and W. Davies, Strand; W. Miller, Albemarle\nStreet; R. H. Evans, Pall Mall; J. White and J. Murray, Fleet Street; and\nJ. Harding, St James\u2019s Street. 1809.\n\nNewes from Scotland, Declaring the damnable life of Doctor Fian, a notable\nSorcerer, who was burned at Edenborough in Ianuarie last 1591. Which\nDoctor was register to the deuill, that sundrie times preached at North\nBaricke Kirke, to a number of notorious Witches. With the true\nexaminations of the said Doctor and witches, as they uttered them in the\npresence of the Scottish king. Discouering how they pretended to bewitch\nand drowne his Maiestie in the sea comming from Denmarke, with such other\nwonderfull matters as the like hath not bin heard at anie time. Published\naccording to the Scottish copie. Printed for William Wright. [This is a\nreprint of a rare tract by H. Freeling, for the members of the Roxburghe\nClub, 1816.]\n\nMemorialls, or The Memorable Things that fell out within this island of\nBrittain from 1638 to 1684. By the Rev. Mr. Robert Law. Edited from the\nMS. by Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Esqre.... Edinburgh: Printed for\nArchibald Constable and Co. 1818.\n\nThe History and Antiquities of the Parish of Edmonton in the County of\nMiddlesex.... By William Robinson Gent, F.S.A.... London: Printed for the\nAuthor.... 1819.\n\nA Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second\nSight; with an Original Essay on Witchcraft. Edinburgh: Printed for D.\nWebster, 35, West College Street. 1820.\n\nLetters on Demonology and Witchcraft, addressed to J. G. Lockhart, Esqre.,\nby Sir Walter Scott, Bart. London: John Murray, Albemarle Street. 1830.\n\nLectures on Witchcraft. Comprising a History of the Delusion in Salem in\n1692. By Charles W. Upham, Junior Pastor of the First Church in Salem.\nBoston: Carter, Hender and Babcock. 1831.\n\nCriminal Trials in Scotland, from A.D. 1488 to 1624. Embracing the entire\nReigns of James IV. and V., Mary, Queen of Scots, and James VI. Compiled\nfrom the Original Records and MSS., with Historical Notes and\nIllustrations, by Robert Pitcairn, Esq., Writer to his Majesty\u2019s Signet,\nF.S.A. Scot, and Hon. F.S.A. Perth, etc. Edinburgh: William Tait, Princes\nStreet; and Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longman, London. 1833.\n\nThe Darker Superstitions of Scotland, illustrated from History and\nPractice. By John Graham Dalyell, F.A.S.E. Edinburgh: Waugh and Innes; W.\nCurry Junior and Co., Dublin; and Whittaker and Co., London. 1834.\n\nA Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts relating to Witchcraft in the\nCounties of Kent, Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincoln, between the years\n1618 and 1664. Reprinted verbatim from the Original Editions.... London:\nJohn Russell Smith, 4, Old Compton Street, Soho. 1838.\n\nMemoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions. By Charles Mackay.... London:\nRichard Bentley, New Burlington Street.... 1841.\n\nThe Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut.... By J. Hammond\nTrumbull.... Hartford: Brown and Parsons. 1850.\n\nThe Pioneer History of Illinois, containing the Discovery, in 1673, and\nthe History of the Country to the Year 1818, when the State Government was\norganized. By John Reynolds. Belleville, Ill.: Published by N. A. Randall.\n1852.\n\nThe History of New England, from 1630 to 1649. By John Winthrop, Esq.,\nFirst Governor of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, from his Original\nManuscripts, with Notes.... By James Savage, President of the\nMassachusetts Historical Society. Boston: Little, Brown and Co. 1853.\n\nDomestic Annals of Scotland, from the Reformation to the Revolution. By\nRobert Chambers.... W. and R. Chambers, Edinburgh and London. 1858.\n\nWitch Stories. Collected by E. Lynn Linton.... London: Chapman and Hall,\n193, Piccadilly. 1861.\n\nLa Sorci\u00e8re. J. Michelet. Deuxi\u00e8me \u00c9dition, revue et augment\u00e9e. Bruxelles\net Leipzig: A. Lacroix, Verboeckhoven et Cie, \u00c9diteurs, Rue Royale, 3,\nImpasse du Parc. 1863.\n\nLa Sorci\u00e8re: The Witch of the Middle Ages. From the French of J. Michelet,\nby L. J. Trotter.... London: Simpkin, Marshall and Co., Stationer\u2019s Hall\nCourt. 1863.\n\nRecords of Salem Witchcraft. Copied from the Original Documents. Privately\nprinted for W. Elliot Woodward. Roxbury, Mass. 1864.\n\nSalem Witchcraft; with an Account of Salem Village, and a History of\nOpinions on Witchcraft and Kindred Subjects. By Charles W. Upham. Boston:\nWiggin and Lunt. 1867.\n\nSome Miscellany Observations on our present Debates respecting\nWitchcrafts, in a Dialogue between S. and B. By P. E. and J. A.\nPhiladelphia: Printed by William Bradford for Hezekiah Usher. 1692. Boston\n_Congregational Quarterly_ reprints, No 1. 1869. [This tract is by the\nRev. Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church, Boston. S. and B. probably\nstand for Salem and Boston. S. takes the part of the magistrates, B. that\nof the clergy. This tract is mentioned by Calef in his \u2018More Wonders of\nthe Invisible World.\u2019]\n\nCotton Mather and Witchcraft. Two Notices of Mr. Upham his Reply. [By\nCharles Wentworth]. Boston: T. R. Marvin and Son, 131, Congress Street;\nLondon, Henry Stevens, 4, Trafalgar Square. May, 1870.\n\nDemonology and Devil Lore. By Moncure Daniel Conway, M.A.... London:\nChatto and Windus, Piccadilly. 1879.\n\nThe Mysteries of All Nations: Rise and Progress of Superstition, Laws\nagainst, and Trials of, Witches, Ancient and Modern Delusions, together\nwith Strange Customs, Fables, and Tales relating to Mythology, Days and\nWeeks, Miracles, Poets and Superstition, Monarchs, Priests and\nPhilosophers, Druids, Demonology, Magic and Astrology, Divination, Signs,\nOmens and Warnings, Amulets and Charms, Trials by Ordeal, Curses and Evil\nWishes, Dreams and Visions, Superstition in the Nineteenth Century. By\nJames Grant. Leith: Reid and Son, 35, Shore; Edinburgh: W. Paterson;\nLondon: Simpkin, Marshall and Co. 1880.\n\nBibliographical Notes on Witchcraft in Massachusetts. By George H. Moore,\nLL.D., Superintendent of the Lenox Library. Read before the American\nAntiquarian Society, April 25th, 1888. Worcester: Printed for the Author.\n1888.\n\n_Scottish Review_, October, 1891, Edinburgh.\n\n_Boston Monthly Magazine_, vol. i., p. 251.\n\n_Congregational Quarterly_, vol. x., p. 154.\n\n_Putnam\u2019s Monthly Magazine_, vol. ii., p. 249; vol. vii., p. 505; vol.\nxiv., p. 207.\n\n_The Galaxy_, vol. xix., p. 358.\n\n_Christian Examiner_, vol. xi., p. 240.\n\n_American Monthly Review_, vol. i., p. 140.\n\n_American Whig Review_, vol. iii., p. 60.\n\n_North American Review_, vol. cvi., p. 176.\n\n_New England Historical and Genealogical Register_, vol. xiii., p. 193.\n\n_Southern Review_, N.S., vol. iii., p. 306.\n\n_The Hesperian_, vol. i., p. 191.\n\n_Congregational Review_, vol. ix., p. 201.\n\n_Harper\u2019s Magazine_, vol. lxix., p. 99.\n\n_Magazine of American History_, vol. xiv., p. 458.\n\n_New Englander_, vol. xliv., p. 788.\n\n\nTHE END.\n\n\nBILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[1] The old writers and the old maps probably meant mosquitoes when they\nsaid \u2018Here be Divells.\u2019\n\n[2] \u2018A Discourse of the Subtill Practises of Deuilles by Witches and\nSorcerers,\u2019 etc. By G. Gyfford. Lond., 1587.\n\n[3] Chap. iv.\n\n[4] \u2018The Discouerie of Witchcraft, etc., by Reginald Scot, Esq{re},\u2019 1584,\np. 377.\n\n[5] \u2018The Just Devil of Woodstock; or, a True Narrative of the Several\nApparitions, the Frights and Punishments, inflicted upon the Rumpish\nCommissioners Sent thither, to Survey the Mannors and Houses belonging to\nHis Majestie.\u2019 London; printed in the year 1660.\n\n[6] \u2018The Woodstock Scuffle; or Most Dreadfull Apparitions that were lately\nseene in the Mannor-House of Woodstock, neere Oxford, to the great Terror\nand Wonderful Amazement of all there, that did Behold them.\u2019 1649.\n\n[7] \u2018Palpable Evidence of Spirits and Witchcraft, in an Account of the\nFam\u2019d Disturbance by the Drummer, in the House of M. Mompesson, etc.\u2019\nLondon, 1668.\n\n[8] The writer was the Rev. Joseph Glanville, M.A., F.R.S., Chaplain in\nOrdinary to King Charles II., Rector of the Abbey Church, Bath, and a\nPrebendary of Worcester.\n\n[9] \u2018The D\u00e6mon of Burton; or, A True Relation of Strange Witchcrafts, or\nIncantations, lately practised at Burton, in the Parish of Weobley, in\nHerefordshire. Certified in a Letter from a Person of Credit in Hereford.\u2019\nLondon, 1671.\n\n[10] Herefordshire.\n\n[11] Ewell.\n\n[12] \u2018Strange and Wonderful News from Yowel in Surry, giving a True and\nJust Account of One Elizabeth Burgiss, who was most strangely Bewitched,\u2019\netc. London, 1681.\n\n[13] \u2018Discours des Sorciers,\u2019 by Henry Boguet (Lyon, 1608), p. 417.\n\n[14] Whooping.\n\n[15] Shriek.\n\n[16] A sheaf or bundle.\n\n[17] Table.\n\n[18] Hiccoughing.\n\n[19] Or bannocks, oat cakes.\n\n[20] A hump.\n\n[21] A hedgehog.\n\n[22] Sleight, cunning.\n\n[23] These extracts are from an English translation of Olaus Magnus, 1658.\n\n[24] A Finn is even now reckoned to be a very uncanny person on board\nship, and to be able to control the weather.\n\n[25] The same selling of winds used to be done both in the Isle of Man and\nthe Orkneys.\n\n[26] \u2018Demonologie,\u2019 lib. ii., cap. v.\n\n[27] \u2018The Discouerie of Witchcraft,\u2019 lib. i., cap. iii.\n\n[28] _The Spectator_, No. cxvii.\n\n[29] Lib. iii., cap. i.\n\n[30] A bat.\n\n[31] Lib. i., cap. iv.\n\n[32] \u2018A Dialogue concerning Witches and Witchcrafts,\u2019 by George Giffard.\nLondon, 1603.\n\n[33] \u2018The Discovery of Witches,\u2019 etc., by Matthew Hopkins, Witch-finder.\nLondon, 1647.\n\n[34] Bairns, or children.\n\n[35] Warts.\n\n[36] Gyves or fetters.\n\n[37] Torture.\n\n[38] _Notes and Queries_, Series IV., vol. viii., p. 44.\n\n[39] _Gentleman\u2019s Magazine_, 1759, p. 93.\n\n[40] Ed. 1730, p. 187.\n\n[41] A dove or wood-pigeon.\n\n[42] \u2018A Rehearsall both Straung and true, of hainous and horrible acts\ncommitted by Elizabeth Stile, alias Rockingham, Mother Dutten, Mother\nDeuell, Mother Margaret, Fower notorious Witches, apprehended at Winsore\nin the Countie of Barks, and at Abbington arraigned, condemned and\nexecuted on the 26 daye of Februarie last, Anno 1579.\u2019\n\n[43] \u2018A true and iust Recorde of the Information, Examination and\nconfession of all the Witches, taken at S. Oses in the Countie of Essex:\nwhereof some were executed, and other some entreated according to the\ndetermination of lawe,\u2019 etc. London, 1582.\n\n[44] A mole.\n\n[45] \u2018The Wonderful Discouerie of Elizabeth Sawyer, a Witch, late of\nEdmonton,\u2019 etc. London, 1621.\n\n[46] \u2018A Treatise of Witchcraft,\u2019 etc., by Alex. Roberts, B.D. London,\n1616.\n\n[47] Ay.\n\n[48] \u2018The full Tryals, Examination, and Condemnation of four Notorious\nWitches at the Assizes held at Worcester on Tuseday the 4th day of March,\u2019\netc. London, 1647.\n\n[49] \u2018A Collection of Modern Relations of Matter of Fact concerning\nWitches and Witchcraft upon the Persons of People,\u2019 etc. London, 1693.\n\n[50] \u2018Doctor Lamb revived; or, Witchcraft condemned in Anne Bodenham.\u2019\nLondon, 1653.\n\n[51] \u2018The History of Witches and Wizards,\u2019 etc., by W. P. London, 1700\n(?).\n\n[52] \u2018The History of Witches and Wizards,\u2019 etc., by W. P. London, 1700\n(?).\n\n[53] \u2018A Collection of Modern Relations of Matter of Fact concerning\nWitches and Witchcraft upon the Persons of People,\u2019 etc. London, 1693.\n\n[54] \u2018Witchcraft Farther Display\u2019d.\u2019 London, 1712.\n\n[55] A solar was an upper chamber.\n\n[56] Patrick Adamsone, Archbishop of St. Andrew\u2019s.\n\n[57] Fever and ague.\n\n[58] Palpitation of the heart.\n\n[59] Weakness of the back and loins.\n\n[60] Flux.\n\n[61] A salve.\n\n[62] Large clasp-knives.\n\n[63] Contrary to the course of the sun.\n\n[64] Hand.\n\n[65] Weaver\u2019s.\n\n[66] Paw.\n\n[67] Tips.\n\n[68] Always.\n\n[69] Mutilated.\n\n[70] Wet.\n\n[71] A piece of flat wood, somewhat like a cricket bat, with which, in\nwashing, the clothes are beaten.\n\n[72] Be allayed.\n\n[73] Shapes and trims.\n\n[74] Hollow-backed.\n\n[75] Gruffly.\n\n[76] Alive.\n\n[77] Jerk.\n\n[78] Touch.\n\n[79] A coat of mail.\n\n[80] Crow.\n\n[81] Bean-straws.\n\n[82] Besom.\n\n[83] Cattle.\n\n[84] Webs of cloth.\n\n[85] Stroking or rubbing.\n\n[86] Sciatica.\n\n[87] Haunch.\n\n[88] Frightened.\n\n[89] Ends.\n\n[90] One or more.\n\n[91] Grains of barley.\n\n[92] Chopped up together.\n\n[93] In a fold of his plaid.\n\n[94] A _quaigh_, or cup.\n\n[95] Hard.\n\n[96] Lingering sickness.\n\n[97] Stubble.\n\n[98] \u2018History of Scotland,\u2019 by David Scott. London, 1727.\n\n[99] Lyne, or Linne, in Ayrshire.\n\n[100] Battle of Pinkie, September 10, 1547.\n\n[101] Grieving much.\n\n[102] Weeping.\n\n[103] Child-bed; in old French, _gisante_, a woman that lies in.\n\n[104] Hailed.\n\n[105] Dwindled away.\n\n[106] Provoked.\n\n[107] Frightened.\n\n[108] Trust.\n\n[109] In baptism.\n\n[110] Riven, drawn asunder.\n\n[111] Went.\n\n[112] Fairyland.\n\n[113] Ewe.\n\n[114] Went.\n\n[115] Sift or strain.\n\n[116] Thinking if.\n\n[117] Likewise.\n\n[118] Wishing.\n\n[119] Buried.\n\n[120] Gate.\n\n[121] I have before me at this present writing seventeen volumes of\nAmerican magazines containing articles on witchcraft in America, and that\nis not an exhaustive list.\n\n[122] \u2018The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, prior to the Union\nwith New Haven Colony, May, 1665,\u2019 by J. Hammond Trumbull (Hartford,\n1850), vol. i. p. 77.\n\n[123] \u2018Records,\u2019 vol. ii., p. 575.\n\n[124] The _New Englander_, November, 1885, p. 817.\n\n[125] For this and much else relating to witchcraft in Massachusetts, I am\nindebted to that most exhaustive book, \u2018Salem Witchcraft,\u2019 etc., by\nCharles W. Upham (Boston, 1867).\n\n[126] Hutchinson, \u2018History of Massachusetts Bay,\u2019 1767, vol. i., p. 179.\n\n[127] Hutchinson, \u2018History of Massachusetts Bay,\u2019 1767, vol. i., p. 187.\n\n[128] \u2018Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possession,\u2019\netc., by Cotton Mather (Boston, 1689), p. 1.\n\n[129] Major Pearson, at the sale of whose library the British Museum\nacquired the \u2018Roxburghe Ballads.\u2019\n\n\n\n\nTranscriber\u2019s Notes:\n\nPassages in italics are indicated by _italics_.\n\nSuperscripted characters are indicated by {superscript}.","title":"The Devil in Britain and America","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":95270}