Discovery of Witches Part 22

The said Examinate vpon her Examination saith, that vpon Good-friday last there was about twenty persons, whereof only two were men, to this Examinats remembrance, at her said Grand-mothers house, called Malking-Tower aforesaid, about twelue of the clocke: all which persons, this Examinates said mother told her were Witches, and that she knoweth the names of diuers of the said Witches.

After all these Examinations, Confessions, and Euidence, deliuered in open Court against her, His Lords.h.i.+p commanded the Iurie to obserue the particular circ.u.mstances;[Z2_a_] first, Master _Lister_ in his great extremitie, to complaine hee saw her, and requested them that were by him to lay hold on her.

After he cried out shee lay heauie vpon him, euen at the time of his death.

But the Conclusion is of more consequence then all the rest, that _Iennet Preston_ being brought to the dead corps, they bled freshly.

And after her deliuerance in Lent, it is proued shee rode vpon a white Foale, and was present in the great a.s.sembly at _Malkin Tower_ with the Witches, to intreat and pray for aide of them, to kill Master _Lister_, now liuing, for that he had prosequuted against her.

And against these people you may not expect such direct euidence, since all their workes are the workes of darkenesse, no witnesses are present to accuse them, therefore I pray G.o.d direct your consciences.

After the Gentlemen of the Iurie of Life and Death had spent the most part of the day, in consideration of the euidence against her, they returned into the Court and deliuered vp their Verdict of Life and Death.

_The Verdict of Life and Death._

Who found _Iennet Preston_ guiltie of the fellonie and murder by Witch-craft of _Thomas Lister_, Esquire; conteyned in the Indictment against her, &c.

Afterwards, according to the course and order of the Lawes, his Lords.h.i.+p p.r.o.nounced Iudgement against her to bee hanged for her offence. And so the Court arose.

Here was the wonderfull discouerie of this _Iennet Preston_, who for so many yeares had liued at Gisborne in Crauen, neare Master _Lister_: one thing more I shall adde to all these particular Examinations, and euidence of witnesses, which I saw, and was present in the Court at Lancaster, when it was done at the a.s.sizes holden in August following.

My Lord _Bromley_ being very suspicious of the accusation of _Iennet Deuice_, the little Wench, commanded her to looke vpon the Prisoners that were present, and declare which of them were present at _Malkin Tower_, at the great a.s.sembly of Witches vpon Good-Friday last: shee looked vpon and tooke many by the handes, and accused them to be there, and when shee had accused all that were there present, shee told his Lords.h.i.+p there was a Woman that came out of Crauen that was amongst the Witches at that Feast, but shee saw her not amongst the Prisoners at the Barre.

What a singular note was this of a Child, amongst many to misse her, that before that time was hanged for her offence, which shee would neuer confesse or declare at her death? here was present old _Preston_ her husband, who then cried out and went away: being fully satisfied his wife had Iustice, and was worthie of death.

To conclude then this present discourse, I heartilie desire you, my louing Friends and Countrie-men, for whose particular instructions this is added to the former of the wonderfull discouerie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster: And for whose particular satisfaction this is published; Awake in time, and suffer not your selues to be thus a.s.saulted.

Consider how barbarously this Gentleman hath been dealt withall; and especially you that hereafter shall pa.s.se vpon any Iuries of Life and Death, let not your conniuence, or rather foolish pittie, spare such as these, to exequute farther mischiefe.

Remember that shee was no sooner set at libertie, but shee plotted the ruine and ouerthrow of this Gentleman, and his whole Familie.

Expect not, as this reuerend and learned Iudge saith, such apparent proofe against them, as against others, since all their workes, are the workes of darkenesse: and vnlesse it please Almightie G.o.d to raise witnesses to accuse them, who is able to condemne them?

Forget not the bloud that cries out vnto G.o.d for reuenge, bring it not vpon your owne heads.

Neither doe I vrge this any farther, then with this, that I would alwaies intreat you to remember, that it is as great a crime (as _Salomon_ sayth, _Prov._ 17.) to condemne the innocent, as to let the guiltie escape free.

Looke not vpon things strangely alledged, but iudiciously consider what is justly proued against them.

And that as well all you that were witnesses, present at the Arraignement and Triall of her, as all other strangers, to whome this Discourse shall come, may take example by this Gentlemen to prosecute these h.e.l.lish Furies to their end:[Z3_b_1] labor to root them out of the Commonwealth, for the common good of your Countrey. The greatest mercie extended to them, is soone forgotten.

G.o.d graunt vs the long and prosperous cotinuance of these Honorable and Reuerend Iudges, vnder whose Gouernment we liue in these North parts: for we may say, that G.o.d Almightie hath singled them out, and set him on his Seat, for the defence of Iustice.

And for this great deliuerance, let vs all pray to G.o.d Almightie, that the memorie of these worthie Iudges may bee blessed to all Posterities.[Z3_b_2]

_FINIS._

NOTES.

[The references are to the alphabetical letters or signatures at the bottom of each page: _a_ is intended for the first and _b_ the second page, marked with such letter or signature.]

[Transcriber's Note: In the original text, a single note reference sometimes applies to more than one note. For clarity's sake, in this e-text a number has been added to the end of such references to distinguish among the notes.]

DEDICATION. "_The Right Honorable Thomas Lord Knyvet._"] Sir Thomas Knivet, or Knyvet, Gentleman of the Privy Chamber to James the First, was afterwards created Baron of Escricke, in the county of York. He it was who was intrusted to search the vaults under the Parliament House, and who discovered the thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, and apprehended Guido Fawkes, who declared to him, that if he had happened to be within the house when he took him, as he was immediately before, he would not have failed to blow him up, house and all. (Howell's _State Trials_, vol. ii., p. 202.) His courage and conduct on this occasion seem to have recommended him to the especial favour of James.

Dying without issue, the t.i.tle of Lord Howard of Escrick was conferred on Sir Edward Howard, son of Thomas Howard, Earl of Suffolk, who had married the eldest daughter and co-heir of Sir H. Knivet; and, having been enjoyed successively by his two sons, ended in his grandson Charles, in the beginning of the last century. It must be admitted that the writer has chosen his patron very felicitously. Who so fit to have the book dedicated to him as one who had acted so conspicuous a part on the memorable occasion at Westminster? The blowing up of Lancaster Castle and good Mr. Covel, by the conclave of witches at Malkin's Tower, was no discreditable imitation of the grand metropolitan drama on provincial boards.

A 2. FIRST IMPRIMATUR. "_Ja. Altham, Edw. Bromley._"] These two judges were Barons of the Court of Exchequer, but neither of them seems to have left a name extraordinarily distinguished for legal learning.

Altham was one of the a.s.sistants named in the commission for the trial of the Countess of Somerset for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury in 1616. Bromley appears, from incidental notices contained in the diary of Nicholas a.s.sheton, (see Whitaker's _Whalley_, third edition, page 300,) and other sources, to have frequently taken the northern circuit. He was not of the family of Lord Chancellor Bromley, but of another stock.

A 3. SECOND IMPRIMATUR: "_Edward Bromley. I took upon mee to reuise and correct it._"] This revision by the judge who presided at the trial gives a singular and unique value and authority to the work. We have no other report of any witch trial which has an equal stamp of authenticity. How many of the rhetorical flourishes interspersed in the book are the property of Thomas Potts, Esquier, and how many are the interpolation of the "excellent care" of the worthy Baron, it is scarcely worth while to investigate. Certainly never were judge and clerk more admirably paired. The _Shallow_ on the bench was well reflected in the _Master Slender_ below.

B _a_. "_The number of them being knowen to exceed all others at any time heretofore at one time to be indicted, arraigned, and receiue their tryall._"] Probably this was the case, at least in England; but a greater number had been convicted before, even in this country, at one time, than were found guilty on this occasion, as it appears from Scot, (_Discovery of Witchcraft_, page 543, edition 1584,) that seventeen or eighteen witches were condemned at once, at St. Osith, in Ess.e.x, in 1576, of whom an account was written by Brian Darcy, with the names and colours of their spirits.

B _b_. "_She was a very old woman, about the age of fourescore._"] Dr.

Henry More would have styled old Demdike "An eximious example of Moses, his Meca.s.sephah, the word which he uses in that law,--Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." Margaret Agar and Julian c.o.x, (see Glanvill's _Collection of Relations_, p. 135, edition 1682,) on whom he dwells with such delighted interest, were very inferior subjects to what, in his hands, Elizabeth Sothernes would have made. They had neither of them the finis.h.i.+ng attribute of blindness, so fearful in a witch, to complete the sketch; nor such a fine foreground for the painting as the forest of Pendle presented; nor the advantage, for grouping, of a family of descendants in which witchcraft might be transmitted to the third generation.

B 2 _a_. "_Roger Nowell, Esquire._"] This busy and mischievous personage who resided at Read Hall, in the immediate neighbourhood of Pendle, was sheriff of Lancas.h.i.+re in 1610. He married Katherine, daughter of John Murton, of Murton, and was buried at Whalley, January 31st, 1623. He was of the same family as Alexander Nowell, the Dean of St. Paul's, and Lawrence Nowell, the restorer of Saxon literature in England; and tarnished a name which they had rendered memorable, by becoming, apparently, an eager and willing instrument in that wicked persecution which resulted in the present trial. His ill-directed activity seems to have fanned the dormant embers into a blaze, and to have given aim and consistency to the whole scheme of oppression. From this man was descended, in the female line, one whose merits might atone for a whole generation of Roger Nowells, the truly n.o.ble-minded and evangelical Reginald Heber.

B 2 _b_ 1. "_Gouldshey_,"] so commonly p.r.o.nounced, but more properly Goldshaw, or Goldshaw Booth.

B 2 _b_ 2. "_The spirit answered, his name was Tibb._"] Bernard, who is learned in the nomenclature of familiar spirits, gives, in his _Guide to Grand Jurymen_, 1630, 12mo, the following list of the names of the more celebrated familiars of English witches. "Such as I have read of are these: Mephistophiles, Lucifer, Little Lord, Fimodes, David, Jude, Little Robin, Smacke, Litefoote, Nonsuch, Lunch, Makes.h.i.+ft, Swash, Pluck, Blue, Catch, White, Callico, Hardname, Tibb, Hiff, Ball, Puss, Rutterkin, d.i.c.ke, Prettie, Grissil, and Jacke." In the confession of Isabel Gowdie, a famous Scotch witch, (in _Pitcairne's Trials_, vol. iii. page 614,) we have the following catalogue of attendant spirits, rather, it must be confessed, a formidable band. "The names of our Divellis, that waited upon us, ar thes: first, Robert the Jakis; Sanderis, the Read Roaver; Thomas the Fearie; Swain, the Roaring Lion; Thieffe of h.e.l.l; Wait upon Hirself; Mak Hectour; Robert the Rule; Hendrie Laing; and Rorie. We would ken them all, on by on, from utheris. Some of theim apeirit in sadd dunn, som in gra.s.se-grein, som in sea-grein, and some in yallow." Archbishop Harsnet, in his admirable _Declaration of Popish Impostures, under the pretence of casting out Devils_, 1605, 4to, a work unsurpa.s.sed for rich humour and caustic wit, clothed in good old idiomatic English, has a chapter "on the strange names of these devils," in which he observes, (p. 46,) "It is not amiss that you be acquainted with these extravagant names of devils, least meeting them otherwise by chance you mistake them for the names of tapsters, or juglers." Certainly, some of the names he marshalls in array smell strongly of the tavern.

These are some of them: Pippin, Philpot, Modu, Soforce, Hilco, Smolkin, Hillio, Hiac.l.i.to, l.u.s.tie Huffe-cap, Killico, Hob, Frateretto, Fliberdigibbet, Hoberdidance, Tocobatto, and l.u.s.tie Jollie Jenkin.

B 2 _b_ 3. "_About Day-light Gate._"] Day-light Gate, i.e. Evening, the down gate of daylight. See _Promptuarium Parvulorum_, (edited by Way for the Camden Society,) page 188, "Gate down, or downe gate of the Sunne or any other planet."--Occasus. Palgrave gives, "At the sonne gate downe; sur le soleil couchant."

B 3 _a_ 1. "_The said Deuill did get blood vnder her left arme._"] It would seem (see Elizabeth Device's Examination afterwards) as if some preliminary search were made, in the case of this poor old woman, for the marks which were supposed to come by the sucking or drawing of the Spirit or Familiar. Most probably her confession was the result of this and other means of annoyance and torture employed in the usual unscrupulous manner, upon a blind woman of eighty. Of those marks supposed to be produced by the sucking of the Spirit or Familiar, the most curious and scientific (if the word may be applied to such a subject) account will be found in a very scarce tract, which seems to have been unknown to the writers on witchcraft. Its t.i.tle is "A Confirmation and Discovery of Witchcraft, containing these several particulars; That there are Witches called bad Witches, and Witches untruly called good or white Witches, and what manner of people they be, and how they may be knowne, with many particulars thereunto tending. Together with the Confessions of many of those executed since May, 1645, in the several Counties hereafter mentioned. As also some objections Answered. By John Stearne, now of Lawshall, neere Burie Saint Edmunds in Suffolke, sometimes of Manningtree in Ess.e.x. Prov.

xvii. 15, He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, even they both are an abomination to the Lord. Deut. xiii. 14, Thou shall therefore enquire, and make search, and aske diligently whether it be truth and the thing certaine. London, Printed by William Wilson, dwelling in Little Saint Bartholomews, neere Smithfield, 1648, pages 61, besides preface." Stearne, in whom Remigius and De Lancre would have recognized a congenial soul, had a sort of joint commission with Hopkins, as Witch-finder, and tells us (see address to Reader) that he had been in part an agent in finding out or discovering about 200 witches in Ess.e.x, Suffolk, Northamptons.h.i.+re, Huntingtons.h.i.+re, Bedfords.h.i.+re, Norfolk, Cambridges.h.i.+re, and the Isle of Ely. He deals with the subject undoubtedly like a man whose extensive experience and practice had enabled him to reduce the matter to a complete system.

(See his account of their marks, pp. 43 to 50.) He might, like John Kincaid in Tranent, (see Pitcairne's _Criminal Trials_, vol. iii. p.

599,) have a.s.sumed the right of Common p.r.i.c.ker, i.e. Searcher for the devil's marks, and had his own tests, which were infallible. He complains, good man, "that in many places I never received penny as yet, nor any am like, notwithstanding I have hands for satisfaction, except I should sue; [he should have sued by all means, we might then have had his bill of particulars, which would have been curious;] but many rather fall upon me for what hath been received, but I hope such suits will be disannulled, and that where I have been out of moneys for Towns in charges and otherwise such course will be taken that I may be satisfied and paid with reason." He was doubtless well deserving of a recompense, and his neighbours were much to blame if he did not receive a full and ample one. Of the latter end of his coadjutor, Hopkins, whom Sir Walter Scott (see Somers's Tracts, vol.

iii. p. 97, edit. 1810,) and several other writers represent as ultimately executed himself for witchcraft, he gives a very different, and no doubt more correct account; which, singularly enough, has. .h.i.therto remained entirely unnoticed. "He died peaceably at Manningtree, after a long sicknesse of a consumption, as many of his generation had done before him, without any trouble of conscience for what he had done, as was falsely reported of him. He was the son of a G.o.dly minister, and therefore, without doubt, within the Covenant."

Were not the interests of truth too sacred to be compromised, it might seem almost a pity to demolish that merited and delightful retribution which Butler's lines have immortalized.

B 3 _a_ 2. "_I will burne the one of you and hang the other._"] The following extracts from that fine old play, "The Witch of Edmonton,"

bear a strong resemblance to the scene described in the text. Mother Sawyer, in whom the milk of human kindness is turned to gall by dest.i.tution, imbittered by relentless outrage and insult, and who, driven out of the pale of human fellows.h.i.+p, is thrown upon strange and fearful allies, would almost appear to be the counterpart of Mother Demdike. The weird sisters of our transcendant bard are wild and wonderful creations, but have no close relations.h.i.+p to the plain old traditional witch of our ancestors, which is nowhere represented by our dramatic writers with faithfulness and truth except in the Witch of Edmonton:--

_Enter_ ELIZABETH SAWYER, _gathering sticks._