HISTORICAL AND LITERARY REMAINS
CONNECTED WITH THE PALATINE COUNTIES OF
LANCASTER & CHESTER.
Patrons.
The Right Honourable The EARL OF DERBY.
The Right Honourable The EARL OF BALCARRES.
The Right Honourable The EARL OF WILTON.
The Right Honourable The EARL OF BURLINGTON.
The Right Honourable the EARL GROSVENOR.
The Right Honourable LORD FRANCIS EGERTON, M.P.
The Right Honourable LORD STANLEY.
The Right Reverend The Lord BISHOP OF CHESTER.
The Right Reverend The Lord BISHOP OF ELY.
The Right Reverend The Lord BISHOP OF NORWICH.
The Right Reverend The Lord BISHOP OF CHICHESTER.
The Right Honourable LORD DELAMERE.
The Right Honourable LORD DE TABLEY.
The Right Honourable LORD SKELMERSDALE.
The Right Honourable SIR ROBERT PEEL, Bart., M.P.
SIR PHILIP DE MALPAS GREY EGERTON, Bart., M.P.
GEORGE CORNWALL LEGH, Esq., M.P.
JOHN WILSON PATTEN, Esq., M.P.
Council.
Edward Holme, M.D., President.
Rev. Richard Parkinson, B.D., Canon of Manchester, Vice-President.
The Hon. and Very Rev. William Herbert, Dean of Manchester.
George Ormerod, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S.
Sam. Hibbert Ware, M.D. F.R.S.E.
Rev. Thomas Corser, M.A.
Rev. George Dugard, M.A.
Rev. C.G. Hulton, M.A.
Rev. J. Piccope, M.A.
Rev. F.R. Raines, M.A., F.S.A.
James Crossley.
James Heywood, F.R.S.
Treasurer.
William Langton.
Hon. Secretary.
William Fleming, M.D.
RULES OF THE CHETHAM SOCIETY.
1. That the Society shall be limited to three hundred and fifty members.
2. That the Society shall consist of members being subscribers of one pound annually, such subscription to be paid in advance, on or before the day of general meeting in each year. The first general meeting to be held on the 23rd day of March, 1843, and the general meeting in each year afterwards on the 1st day of March, unless it should fall on a Sunday, when some other day is to be named by the Council.
3. That the affairs of the Society be conducted by a Council, consisting of a permanent President and Vice-President, and twelve other members, including a Treasurer and Secretary, all of whom, with the exception of the President and Vice-President, shall be elected at the general meeting of the Society.
4. That any member may compound for his future subscriptions, by the payment of ten pounds.
5. That the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the Society be audited annually, by three auditors, to be elected at the general meeting; and that any member who shall be one year in arrear of his subscription, shall no longer be considered as belonging to the Society.
6. That every member not in arrear of his annual subscription, be entitled to a copy of each of the works published by the Society.
7. That twenty copies of each work shall be allowed to the Editor of the same, in addition to the one to which he may be entitled as a member.
LIST OF MEMBERS
For the Year 1844.
Ackers, James, M.P., Heath House, Ludlow
Addey, H.M., Liverpool
Ainsworth, Ralph F., M.D., Manchester
Ainsworth, Rev. Thomas, M.A., Hartford Hall, Cheshire
Ainsworth, W.H., Kensal Manor House, Harrow-road, London
Alexander, Edward N., F.S.A., Halifax
Allen, Rev. John Taylor, M.A., Stradbrooke Vicarage, Suffolk
Ambery, Charles, Manchester
Armstrong, Thomas, Higher Broughton, Manchester
Ashton, John, Warrington
Atherton, Miss, Kersal Cell, near Manchester
Atherton, James, Swinton House, near Manchester
Atkinson, F.R., Pendleton, near Manchester
Atkinson, William, Weaste, near Manchester
Balcarres, The Earl of, Haigh Hall, near Wigan
Baldwin, Rev. John, M.A., Dalton, near Ulverstone
Bannerman, Alexander, Didsbury, near Manchester
Bannerman, Henry, Burnage, near Manchester
Bannerman, John, Swinton, near Manchester
Bardsley, Samuel Argent, M.D., Green Heys, near Manchester
Barker, John, Manchester
Barker, Thomas, Oldham
Barratt, James, Jun., Manchester
Barrow, Miss, Green Bank, near Manchester
Barrow, Rev. Andrew, President of Stonyhurst College, near Blackburn
Barrow, Peter, Manchester
Bartlemore, William, Castleton Hall, Rochdale
Barton, John, Manchester
Barton, R.W., Springwood, near Manchester
Barton, Samuel, Didsbury, Manchester
Barton, Thomas, Manchester
Bayne, Rev. Thos. Vere, M.A., Broughton, Manchester
Beamont, William, Warrington
Beard, Rev. John R., D.D., Stony Knolls, near Manchester
Beardoe, James, Manchester
Beever, James F., Manchester
Bellairs, Rev. H.W., M.A., London
Bentley, Rev. T.R., M.A., Manchester
Birley, Hugh Hornby, Broom House, near Manchester
Birley, Hugh, Didsbury, near Manchester
Birley, Richard, Manchester
Birley, Thos. H., Manchester
Bohn, Henry G., London
Booth, Benjamin W., Manchester
Booth, John, Barton-upon-Irwell
Booth, William, Manchester
Boothman, Thomas, Ardwick, near Manchester
Botfield, Beriah, M.P., Norton Hall, Northamptonshire
Bower, George, London
Brackenbury, Ralph, Manchester
Bradbury, Charles, Salford
Bradshaw, John, Weaste House, near Manchester
Brooke, Edward, Manchester
Brooks, Samuel, Manchester
Broome, William, Manchester
Brown, Robert, Preston
Buckley, Edmund, M.P., Ardwick, near Manchester
Buckley, Rev. Thomas, M.A., Old Trafford, near Manchester
Buckley, Nathaniel, F.L.S., Rochdale
Burlington, The Earl of, Holkar Hall
Calvert, Robert, Salford
Cardwell, Rev. Edward, D.D., Principal of St. Alban's Hall and Camden Professor, Oxford
Cardwell, Edward, M.P., M.A., Regent's Park, London
Chadwick, Elias, M.A., Swinton Hall, near Manchester
Chesshyre, Mrs., Pendleton, near Manchester
Chester, The Bishop of
Chichester, The Bishop of
Chippindall, John, Chetham Hill, near Manchester
Clare, Peter, F.R.A.S., Manchester
Clarke, George, Crumpsall, near Manchester
Clayton, Japheth, Pendleton, near Manchester
Clifton, Rev. R.C., M.A., Canon of Manchester
Consterdine, James, Manchester
Cook, Thomas, Gorse Field, Pendleton, near Manchester
Cooper, William, Manchester
Corser, George, Whitchurch, Shropshire
Corser, Rev. Thomas, M.A., Stand, near Manchester
Cottam, S.E., F.R.A.S., Manchester
Coulthart, John Ross, Ashton-under-Lyne
Crook, Thomas A., Rochdale
Cross, William Assheton, Redscar, near Preston
Crossley, George, Manchester
Crossley, James, Manchester
Crossley, John, M.A., Scaitcliffe House, Todmorden
Currer, Miss Richardson, Eshton Hall, near Skipton
Daniel, George, Manchester
Darbishire, Samuel D., Manchester
Darwell, James, Manchester
Darwell, Thomas, Manchester
Davies, John, M.W.S., Manchester
Dawes, Matthew, F.G.S., Westbrooke, near Bolton
Dearden, James, The Orchard, Rochdale
Dearden, Thomas Ferrand, Rochdale
Delamere, The Lord, Vale Royal, near Northwich
Derby, The Earl of, Knowsley
Dilke, C.W., London
Dinham, Thomas, Manchester
Driver, Richard, Manchester
Dugard, Rev. George, M.A., Birch, near Manchester
Dyson, T.J., Tower, London
Earle, Richard, Edenhurst, near Prescott
Eccles, William, Wigan
Egerton, The Lord Francis, M.P., Worsley Hall
Egerton, Sir Philip de Malpas Grey, Bart., M.P., Oulton Park, Tarporley
Egerton, Wilbraham, Tatton Park
Ely, The Bishop of
Eyton, J.W.K., F.S.A. L. & E., Elgin Villa, Leamington
Faulkner, George, Manchester
Feilden, Joseph, Witton, near Blackburn
Fenton, James, Jun., Lymm Hall, Cheshire
Fernley, John, Manchester
Ffarrington, J. Nowell, Worden, near Chorley
Ffrance, Thomas Robert Wilson, Rawcliffe Hall, Garstang
Fleming, Thomas, Pendleton, near Manchester
Fleming, William, M.D., Ditto
Fletcher, John, Haulgh, near Bolton
Fletcher, Samuel, Broomfield, near Manchester
Fletcher, Samuel, Ardwick, near Manchester
Flintoff, Thomas, Manchester
Ford, Henry, Manchester
Fraser, James W., Manchester
Frere, W.E., Rottingdean, Sussex
Gardner, Thomas, Worcester College, Oxford
Garner, J.G., Manchester
Garnett, William James, Quernmore Park, Lancaster
Germon, Rev. Nicholas, M.A., High Master, Free Grammar School, Manchester
Gibb, William, Manchester
Gladstone, Robertson, Liverpool
Gladstone, Robert, Withington, near Manchester
Gordon, Hunter, Manchester
Gould, John, Manchester
Grant, Daniel, Manchester
Grave, Joseph, Manchester
Gray, Benjamin, B.A., Trinity Coll. Cambridge
Gray, James, Manchester
Greaves, John, Irlam Hall, near Manchester
Greenall, G., Walton Hall, near Warrington
Grey, The Hon. William Booth
Grosvenor, The Earl
Grundy, George, Chetham Fold, near Manchester
Hadfield, George, Manchester
Hailstone, Edward, F.S.A., Horton Hall, Bradford, Yorkshire
Hardman, Henry, Bury, Lancashire
Hardy, William, Manchester
Hargreaves, George J., Hulme, Manchester
Harland, John, Manchester
Harrison, William, Brearey, Isle of Man
Harter, James Collier, Broughton Hall, near Manchester
Harter, William, Hope Hall, near Manchester
Hately, Isaiah, Manchester
Hatton, James, Richmond House, near Manchester
Hawkins, Edward, F.R.S., F.S.A., F.L.S., British Museum, London
Heelis, Stephen, Manchester
Henshaw, William, Manchester
Herbert, Hon. and Very Rev. Wm., Dean of Manchester
Heron, Rev. George, M.A., Carrington, Cheshire
Heywood, Sir Benjamin, Bart., Claremont, near Manchester
Heywood, James, F.R.S., F.G.S., Acresfield, near Manchester
Heywood, John Pemberton, near Liverpool
Heywood, Thomas, F.S.A., Hope End, Ledbury, Herefordshire
Heywood, Thomas, Pendleton, near Manchester
Heyworth, Lawrence, Oakwood, near Stockport
Hibbert, Mrs., Salford
Hickson, Charles, Manchester
Hinde, Rev. Thomas, M.A., Winwick, Warrington
Hoare, G.M., The Lodge, Morden, Surrey
Hoare, P.R., Kelsey Park, Beckenham, Kent
Holden, Thomas, Summerfield, Bolton
Holden, Thomas, Rochdale
Holme, Edward, M.D., Manchester
Hughes, William, Old Trafford, near Manchester
Hulme, Davenport, M.D., Manchester
Hulme, Hamlet, Medlock Vale, Manchester
Hulton, Rev. A.H., M.A., Ashton-under-Lyne
Hulton, Rev. C.G., M.A., Chetham College, Manchester
Hulton, H.T., Manchester
Hulton, W.A., Preston
Hunter, Rev. Joseph, F.S.A., London
Jackson, H.B., Manchester
Jackson, Joseph, Ardwick, near Manchester
Jacson, Charles R., Barton Lodge, Preston
James, Rev. J.G., M.A., Habergham Eaves, near Burnley
James, Paul Moon, Summerville, near Manchester
Jemmett, William Thomas, Manchester
Johnson, W.R., Manchester
Johnson, Rev. W.W., M.A., Manchester
Jones, Jos., Jun., Hathershaw, Oldham
Jones, W., Manchester
Jordan, Joseph, Manchester
Kay, James, Turton Tower, Bolton
Kay, Samuel, Manchester
Kelsall, Strettle, Manchester
Kendrick, James, M.D., F.L.S., Warrington
Kennedy, John, Ardwick House, near Manchester
Ker, George Portland, Salford
Kershaw, James, Green Heys, near Manchester
Kidd, Rev. W.J., M.A., Didsbury, near Manchester
Langton, William, Manchester
Larden, Rev. G.E., M.A., Brotherton Vicarage, Yorkshire
Leeming, W.B., Salford
Legh, G. Cornwall, M.P., F.G.S., High Legh, Cheshire
Legh, Rev. Peter, M.A., Newton in Makerfield
Leigh, Rev. Edward Trafford, M.A., Cheadle, Cheshire
Leigh, Henry, Moorfield Cottage, Worsley
Leresche, J.H., Manchester
Lloyd, William Horton, F.S.A., L.S., Park-square, London
Lloyd, Edward Jeremiah, Oldfield House, Altringham
Lomas, Edward, Manchester
Lomax, Robert, Harwood, near Bolton
Love, Benjamin, Manchester
Lowndes, William, Egremont, Liverpool
Loyd, Edward, Green Hill, Manchester
Lycett, W.E., Manchester
Lyon, Edmund, M.D., Manchester
Lyon, Thomas, Appleton Hall, Warrington
McClure, William, Peel Cottage, Eccles
McFarlane, John, Manchester
McKenzie, John Whitefoord, Edinburgh
McVicar, John, Manchester
Mann, Robert, Manchester
Marc, E.R. Le, School Lodge, Cheshire
Markland, J.H., F.R.S., F.S.A., Bath
Markland, Thomas, Mab Field, near Manchester
Marsden, G.E., Manchester
Marsden, William, Manchester
Marsh, John Fitchett, Warrington
Marshall, Miss, Ardwick, near Manchester
Marshall, William, Penwortham Hall, Preston
Marshall, Frederick Earnshaw, Ditto
Marshall, John, Ditto
Mason, Thomas, Copt Hewick, near Ripon
Master, Rev. Robert M., M.A., Burnley
Maude, Daniel, M.A., Salford
Millar, Thomas, Green Heys, near Manchester
Molyneux, Edward, Chetham Hill, Manchester
Monk, John, Manchester
Moore, John, F.L.S., Cornbrook, near Manchester
Mosley, Sir Oswald, Bart., Rolleston Hall, Staffordshire
Murray, James, Manchester
Nield, William, Mayfield, Manchester
Nelson, George, Manchester
Neville, James, Beardwood, near Blackburn
Newall, Mrs. Robert, Littleborough, near Rochdale
Newall, W.N., Wellington Lodge, Littleborough
Newbery, Henry, Manchester
Nicholson, William, Thelwall Hall, Warrington
Norris, Edward, Manchester
Norwich, The Bishop of
Ormerod, George, D.C.L., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., Sedbury Park, Gloucestershire
Ormerod, George Wareing, M.A., F.G.S., Manchester
Ormerod, Henry Mere, Manchester
Owen, John, Manchester
Parkinson, Rev. Richard, B.D., Canon of Manchester
Patten, J. Wilson, M.P., Bank Hall, Warrington
Pedley, Rev. J.T., M.A., Peakirk-cum-Glinton, Market Deeping
Peel, Sir Robert, Bart., M.P., Drayton Manor
Peel, George, Brookfield, Cheadle
Peel, Joseph, Singleton Brook, near Manchester
Peet, Thomas, Manchester
Pegge, John, Newton Heath, near Manchester
Percival, Stanley, Liverpool
Philips, Mark, M.P., The Park, Manchester
Philippi, Frederick Theod., Belfield Hall, near Rochdale
Phillips, Shakspeare, Barlow Hall, near Manchester
Phillipps, Sir Thomas, Bart., Middle Hill, Worcestershire
Piccope, Rev. John, M.A., Farndon, Cheshire
Pickford, Thomas, Mayfield, Manchester
Pickford, Thomas E., Manchester
Pierpoint, Benjamin, Warrington
Pilkington, George, Manchester
Pilling, Charles R., Caius College, Cambridge
Plant, George, Manchester
Pooley, Edward, Manchester
Pooley, John, Hulme, near Manchester
Porrett, Robert, Tower, London
Prescott, J.C., Summerville, near Manchester
Price, John Thomas, Manchester
Radford, Thomas, M.D., Higher Broughton, near Manchester
Raffles, Rev. Thomas, D.D., LL.D., Liverpool
Raikes, Rev. Henry, M.A., Hon. Can., and Chancellor of Chester
Raines, Rev. F.R., M.A., F.S.A., Milnrow Parsonage, Rochdale
Reiss, Leopold, High Field, near Manchester
Rickards, Charles H., Manchester
Ridgway, Mrs., Ridgemont, near Bolton
Ridgway, John Withenshaw, Manchester
Robson, John, Warrington
Roberts, W.J., Liverpool
Roby, John, M.R.S.L., Rochdale
Royds, Albert Hudson, Rochdale
Samuels, John, Manchester
Sattersfield, Joshua, Manchester
Scholes, Thomas Seddon, High Bank, near Manchester
Schuster, Leo, Weaste, near Manchester
Sharp, John, Lancaster
Sharp, Robert C., Bramall Hall, Cheshire
Sharp, Thomas B., Manchester
Sharp, William, Lancaster
Sharp, William, London
Simms, Charles S., Manchester
Simms, George, Manchester
Skaife, John, Blackburn
Skelmersdale, The Lord, Lathom House
Smith, Rev. Jeremiah, D.D., Leamington
Smith, Junius, Strangeways Hall, Manchester
Smith, J.R., Old Compton-street, London
Sowler, R.S., Manchester
Sowler, Thomas, Manchester
Spear, John, Manchester
Standish, W.J., Duxbury Hall, Chorley
Stanley, The Lord, Knowsley
Sudlow, John, Jun., Manchester
Swain, Charles, M.R.S.L., Cheetwood Priory, near Manchester
Swanwick, Josh. W., Hollins Vale, Bury, Lancashire
Tabley, The Lord De, Tabley, Cheshire
Tattershall, Rev. Thomas, D.D., Liverpool
Tatton, Thos., Withenshaw, Cheshire
Tayler, Rev. John James, B.A., Manchester
Taylor, Thomas Frederick, Wigan
Teale, Josh., Salford
Thomson, James, Manchester
Thorley, George, Manchester
Thorpe, Robert, Manchester
Tobin, Rev. John, M.A., Liscard, Cheshire
Townend, John, Polygon, Manchester
Townend, Thomas, Polygon, Manchester
Turnbull, W.B., D.D., Edinburgh
Turner, Samuel, F.R.S, F.S.A., F.G.S., Liverpool
Turner, Thomas, Manchester
Vitrè, Edward Denis De, M.D., Lancaster
Walker, John, Weaste, near Manchester
Walker, Samuel, Prospect Hill, Pendleton
Wanklyn, J.B., Salford
Wanklyn, James H., Crumpsall House, near Manchester
Warburton, R.E.E., Arley Hall, near Northwich
Ware, Samuel Hibbert, M.D., F.R.S.E., Edinburgh
Wareing, Ralph, Manchester
Westhead, Joshua P., Manchester
Whitehead, James, Manchester
Whitelegg, Rev. William, M.A., Hulme, near Manchester
Whitmore, Edward, Jun., Manchester
Whitmore, Henry, Manchester
Wilson, William James, Manchester
Wilton, The Earl of, Heaton House
Winter, Gilbert, Stocks, near Manchester
Worthington, Edward, Manchester
Wray, Rev. Cecil Daniel, M.A., Canon of Manchester
Wright, Rev. Henry, M.A., Mottram, St. Andrew's, near Macclesfield
Wroe, Thomas, Manchester
Yates, Joseph B., West Dingle, Liverpool
Yates, Richard, Manchester
WORKS PUBLISHED BY THE CHETHAM SOCIETY FOR THE YEAR 1843.
Brereton's Travels.
The Lancashire Civil War Tracts.
Chester's Triumph in Honor of her Prince.
WORKS IN THE PRESS.
Pott's Discovery of Witches in the County of Lancaster, from the edition of 1613.
The Life of the Rev. Adam Martindale, Vicar of Rostherne, in Cheshire, from the MS. in the British Museum. (4239 Ascough's Catalogue.)
Dee's Compendious Rehearsal, and other Autobiographical Tracts, not included in the recent Publication of the Camden Society edited by Mr. Halliwell, with his Collected correspondence.
Iter Lancastrense, by Dr. Richard James; an English Poem, written in 1636, containing a Metrical Account of some of the Principal Families and Mansions in Lancashire; from the unpublished MS. in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
WORKS SUGGESTED FOR PUBLICATION.
Selections from the Unpublished Correspondence of the Rev. John Whittaker, Author of the History of Manchester, and other Works.
More's (George) Discourse concerning the Possession and Dispossession of Seven Persons in one Family in Lancashire, from a Manuscript formerly belonging to Thoresby, and which gives a much fuller Account of that Transaction than the Printed Tract of 1600; with a Bibliographical and Critical Review of the Tracts in the Darrel Controversy.
A Selection of the most Curious Papers and Tracts relating to the Pretender's Stay in Manchester in 1745, in Print and Manuscript.
Proceedings of the Presbyterian Classis of Manchester and the Neighbourhood, from 1646 to 1660, from an Unpublished Manuscript.
Catalogue of the Alchemical Library of John Webster, of Clitheroe, from a Manuscript in the Rev. T. Corser's possession; with a fuller Life of him, and List of his Works, than has yet appeared.
Correspondence between Samuel Hartlib (the Friend of Milton), and Dr. Worthington, of Jesus College, Cambridge (a native of Manchester), from 1655 to 1661, on various Literary Subjects.
"Antiquities concerning Cheshire," by Randall Minshull, written A.D. 1591, from a MS. in the Gough Collection.
Register of the Lancaster Priory, from a MS. (No. 3764) in the Harleian Collection.
Selections from the Visitations of Lancashire in 1533, 1567, and 1613, in the Herald's College, British Museum, Bodleian, and Caius College Libraries.
Selections from Dodsworth's MSS. in the Bodleian Library, Randal Holmes's Collections for Lancashire and Cheshire (MSS. Harleian), and Warburton's Collections for Cheshire (MSS. Lansdown).
Annales Cestrienses, or Chronicle of St. Werburgh, from the MS. in the British Museum.
A Reprint of Henry Bradshaw's Life and History of St. Werburgh, from the very rare 4to of 1521, printed by Pynson.
The Letters and Correspondence of Sir William Brereton, from the original MSS., in 5 vols. folio, in the British Museum.
A Poem, by Laurence Bostock, on the subject of the Saxon and Norman Earls of Chester.
Bishop Gastrell's Notitia Cestriensis, on the subject of the Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the Diocese of Chester, from the original MS.
History of the Earldom of Chester, collected by Archbishop Parker, entitled De Successione Comitum Cestriæ a Hugone Lupo ad Johannem Scoticum, from the original MS. in Ben'et College Library, Cambridge.
Volume of Funeral Certificates of Lancashire and Cheshire.
Volume of Early Lancashire and Cheshire Wills.
A Selection of Papers relating to the Rebellion of 1715, including Clarke's Journal of the March of the Rebels from Carlisle to Preston.
A Memoir of the Chetham Family, from original documents.
The Diary of the Rev. Henry Newcome, M.A., from the original MS. in the possession of his descendant, the Rev. Thomas Newcome, M.A., Rector of Shenley, Herts.
Lucianus Monacus de laude Cestrie, a Latin MS. of the 13th century, descriptive of the walls, gates, &c., of the City of Chester, formerly belonging to Thomas Allen, DD., and now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
Richard Robinson's Golden Mirrour, Bk. lett. 4to. Lond., 1580. Containing Poems on the Etymology of the names of several Cheshire Families; from the exceedingly rare copy formerly in the collection of Richard Heber, Esq., (see Cat. pt. iv. 2413,) and now in the British Museum.
A volume of the early Ballad Poetry of Lancashire.
The Coucher Book of Whalley Abbey.
[FOOTNOTES]
[1] Take, as an instance, the children of Mr. Throgmorton, of Warbois, for bewitching whom, Mother Samuels, her husband, and daughter, suffered in 1593. No veteran professors "in the art of ingeniously tormenting" could have administered the question with more consummate skill than these little incarnate fiends, till the poor old woman was actually induced, from their confident asseverations and plausible counterfeiting, to believe at last that she had been a witch all her life without knowing it. She made a confession, following the story which they had prompted, on their assurances that it was the only means to restore them, and then was hanged upon that confession, to which she adhered on the scaffold. Few tracts present a more vivid picture of manners than that in which the account of this case of witchcraft is contained. It is perhaps the rarest of the English tracts relating to witchcraft, and is entitled "The most strange and admirable Discoverie of the three Witches of Warboys, arraigned, convicted, and executed at the last Assizes at Huntingdon, for the bewitching of the five daughters of Robert Throckmorton, Esquire, and divers other persons with sundrie Devilish and grievous torments. And also for the bewitching to Death of the Lady Crumwell, the like hath not been heard of in this age. London, Printed by the Widdowe Orwin for Thomas Man and John Winnington, and are to be sold in Paternoster Rowe at the Signe of the Talbot." 1593, 4to. My copy was Brand's, and formed Lot 8224 in his Sale Catalogue.
[2] Lord Bacon thinks (see his Sylva Sylvarum) that soporiferous medicines "are likeliest" for this purpose, such as henbane, hemlock, mandrake, moonshade, tobacco, opium, saffron, poplar leaves, &c.
[3] See his History of the World.
[4] See his Table Talk, section "Witches."
[5] Sir Thomas Browne's evidence at the trial of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender at Bury St. Edmunds in 1664, is too well known to need an extract from the frequently reprinted report of the case. To adopt the words of an able writer, (Retros. Review, vol. v. p. 118,) "this trial is the only place in which we ever meet with the name of Sir Thomas Browne without pleasurable associations."
[6] Those who wish to have presented to them a faithful likeness of Sir Matthew Hale must not consult Burnet or Baxter, for that great judge, like Sir Epicure Mammon, sought "for his meet flatterers the gravest of divines," but will not fail to find it in the pages of Roger North, who has depicted his character with a strength and accuracy of outline which no Vandyck or Lely of biography ever surpassed. Would that we could exchange some of those "faultless monsters" with which that fascinating department of literature too much abounds, for a few more such instantly recognised specimens of true but erring and unequal humanity, which are as rare as they are precious. In the unabridged life of Lord Guildford by Roger North, which, with his own most interesting and yet unpublished autobiography, are in my possession in his autograph, are found some additional touches which confirm the general accuracy of the portrait he has sketched of Hale in the work which has been printed. (Vide North's Life of Lord Guildford, by Roscoe, vol. i. p. 119.)
[7] See his Dialogue on the Common Laws of England.
[8] Dr. Cudworth was the friend whom More refers to without naming, Collections of Relations, p. 336, edit. 1726, 8vo.
[9] There is no name in this catalogue that excites more poignant regret than that of Dr. Henry More. So exalted was his character, so serene and admirable his temper, so full of harmony his whole intellectual constitution, that, irradiated at once by all the lights of religion and philosophy, and with clearer glimpses of the land of vision and the glories behind the veil than perhaps uninspired mortality ever partook of before, he seems to have reached as near to the full standard of perfection as it is possible for frail and feeble humanity to attain. Dr. Outram said that he looked upon Dr. More as the holiest person upon the face of the earth; and the sceptical Hobbes, who never dealt in compliment, observed, "That if his own philosophy were not true, he knew of none that he should sooner like than More's of Cambridge." His biographer, Ward, concludes his life in the following glowing terms:—"Thus lived and died the eminent Dr. More: thus set this bright and illustrious star, vanishing by degrees out of our sight after, to the surprise and admiration of many, (like that which was observed in Cassiopeia's chair,) it had illuminated, as it were, both worlds so long at once." At the lapse of many years I have not forgotten the impassioned fondness with which the late and most lamented Robert Southey dwelt upon the memory of the Cambridge Plato, or the delight with which he greeted some works of his favourite author which I was fortunate enough to point out to him, with which he had not been previously acquainted. The sad reverse of the picture will be seen by those who consult the folio of More's philosophical works and Glanville's Sadducismus Triumphatus, the greatest part of which is derived from More's Collections. His hallucinations on the subject of witchcraft, from which none of the English writers of the Platonic school were exempt, are the more extraordinary, as a sister error, judicial astrology, met in More with its most able oppugner. His tract, which has excited much less attention than its merit deserves, (I have not been able to trace a single quotation from it in any author during the last century,) is entitled "Tetractys Anti-astrologica, or a Confutation of Astrology." Lond. 1681, 4to. I may mention while on the subject of More, that the second and most valuable part of the memoir of him by Ward, his devoted admirer and pupil, which was never printed, is in my possession, in manuscript.
[10] See Boyle's letter on the subject of the latter, in the 5th vol. of the folio edition of his works.
[11] I have always considered the conclusion of Bodin's book, De Republica, the accumulative grandeur of which is even heightened in Knolles's admirable English translation, as the finest peroration to be found in any work on government. Those who are fortunate enough to possess a copy of his interdicted Examination of Religions, the title of which is, "Colloquium heptaplomeres de abditis sublimium rerum arcanis, libris 6 digestum," which was never printed, and of which very few MSS. copies are in existence, are well aware how little he felt himself shackled in the spirit of examination which he carried into the most sacred subjects by any respect for popular notions or received systems or great authorities. My MS. copy of this extraordinary work, which came from Heber's Collection, is contained in two rather thick folio volumes.
[12] Few authors are better deserving of an extended biography, a desideratum which, in an age characterised by its want of literary research, is not likely to be soon supplied, than Thomas Erastus, whose theological, philosophical, and medical celebrity entitle him to rank with the greatest men of his century. At present we have to collect all that is known of his life from various scattered and contradictory sources. John Webster, in his Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, contrary to the usual candour and fairness of his judgments, speaks slightingly of Erastus. There was, however, a sufficient reason for this. Erastus had shown up the empiricism of Webster's idol Paracelsus, and was in great disfavour with the writers of the Anti-Galenic school.
[13] I cannot concur with Mr. Hallam in the extremely low estimate he forms of the literary merit of Bodin's Demomanie, which he does not seem to have examined with the care and impartiality which he seldom is deficient in. Like all Bodin's works, it has a spirit peculiarly his own, and is, in my opinion, one of the most entertaining books to be found in the circle of Demonology.
[14] Reginald Scot.
[15] Sir R. Filmer.
[16] John Wagstaffe.
[17] John Webster.
[18] In the epistle to his kinsman Sir Thomas Scot, prefixed to his Discoverie, he observes:—
"I see among other malefactors manie poore old women conuented before you for working of miracles, other wise called witchcraft, and therefore I thought you also a meet person to whom I might commend my booke."—And he then proceeds, in the following spirited and gallant strain, to run his course against the Dagon of popular superstition:—
"I therefore (at this time) doo onelie desire you to consider of my report, concerning the euidence that is commonlie brought before you against them. See first whether the euidence be not friuolous, & whether the proofs brought against them be not incredible, consisting of ghesses, presumptions, & impossibilities contrarie to reason, scripture, and nature. See also what persons complaine vpon them, whether they be not of the basest, the vnwisest, & most faithles kind of people. Also may it please you to waie what accusations and crimes they laie to their charge, namelie: She was at my house of late, she would haue had a pot of milke, she departed in a chafe bicause she had it not, she railed, she curssed, she mumbled and whispered, and finallie she said she would be euen with me: and soone after my child, my cow, my sow, or my pullet died, or was strangelie taken. Naie (if it please your Worship) I haue further proofe: I was with a wise woman, and she told me I had an ill neighbour, & that she would come to my house yer it were long, and so did she; and that she had a marke aboue hir waste, & so had she: and God forgiue me, my stomach hath gone against hir a great while. Hir mother before hir was counted a witch, she hath beene beaten and scratched by the face till bloud was drawne vpon hir, bicause she hath beene suspected, & afterwards some of those persons were said to amend. These are the certeinties that I heare in their euidences.
"Note also how easilie they may be brought to confesse that which they neuer did, nor lieth in the power of man to doo: and then see whether I haue cause to write as I doo. Further, if you shall see that infidelitie, poperie, and manie other manifest heresies be backed and shouldered, and their professors animated and hartened, by yeelding to creatures such infinit power as is wrested out of Gods hand, and attributed to witches: finallie, if you shall perceiue that I haue faithfullie and trulie deliuered and set downe the condition and state of the witch, and also of the witchmonger, and haue confuted by reason and lawe, and by the word of God it selfe, all mine aduersaries obiections and arguments: then let me haue your countenance against them that maliciouslie oppose themselues against me.
"My greatest aduersaries are yoong ignorance and old custome. For what follie soeuer tract of time hath fostered, it is so superstitiouslie pursued of some, as though no error could be acquainted with custome. But if the lawe of nations would ioine with such custome, to the maintenance of ignorance, and to the suppressing of knowledge; the ciuilest countrie in the world would soone become barbarous, &c. For as knowledge and time discouereth errors, so dooth superstition and ignorance in time breed them."
The passage which I next quote, is a further specimen of the impressive and even eloquent earnestness with which he pleads his cause:—
"In the meane time, I would wish them to know that if neither the estimation of Gods omnipotencie, nor the tenor of his word, nor the doubtfulnes or rather the impossibilitie of the case, nor the small proofes brought against them, nor the rigor executed vpon them, nor the pitie that should be in a christian heart, nor yet their simplicitie, impotencie, or age may suffice to suppresse the rage or rigor wherewith they are oppressed; yet the consideration of their sex or kind ought to mooue some mitigation of their punishment. For if nature (as Plinie reporteth) haue taught a lion not to deale so roughlie with a woman as with a man, bicause she is in bodie the weaker vessell, and in hart more inclined to pitie (which Ieremie in his lamentations seemeth to confirme) what should a man doo in this case, for whome a woman was created as an helpe and comfort vnto him? In so much as, euen in the lawe of nature, it is a greater offense to slea a woman than a man: not bicause a man is not the more excellent creature, but bicause a woman is the weaker vessell. And therefore among all modest and honest persons it is thought a shame to offer violence or iniurie to a woman: in which respect Virgil saith, Nullum memorabile nomen fœminea in pœna est.
"God that knoweth my heart is witnes, and you that read my booke shall see, that my drift and purpose in this enterprise tendeth onelie to these respects. First, that the glorie and power of God be not so abridged and abased, as to be thrust into the hand or lip of a lewd old woman: whereby the worke of the Creator should be attributed to the power of a creature. Secondlie, that the religion of the gospell may be seene to stand without such peeuish trumperie. Thirdlie, that lawfull fauour and christian compassion be rather vsed towards these poore soules, than rigor and extremitie. Bicause they, which are commonlie accused of witchcraft, are the least sufficient of all other persons to speake for themselues; as hauing the most base and simple education of all others; the extremitie of their age giuing them leaue to dote, their pouertie to beg, their wrongs to chide and threaten (as being void of anie other waie of reuenge) their humor melancholicall to be full of imaginations, from whence cheefelie proceedeth the vanitie of their confessions; as that they can transforme themselues and others into apes, owles, asses, dogs, cats, &c: that they can flie in the aire, kill children with charmes, hinder the comming of butter, &c.
"And for so much as the mightie helpe themselues together, and the poore widowes crie, though it reach to heauen, is scarse heard here vpon earth: I thought good (according to my poore abilitie) to make intercession, that some part of common rigor, and some points of hastie iudgement may be aduised vpon. For the world is now at that stay (as Brentius in a most godlie sermon in these words affirmeth) that euen as when the heathen persecuted the christians, if anie were accused to beleeue in Christ, the common people cried Ad leonem: so now, if anie woman, be she neuer so honest, be accused of witchcraft, they crie Ad ignem."
[19] In the intervening period between the publication of Soot's work and the advertisement of Filmer, several books came out on the subject of witchcraft. Amongst them it is right to notice "A Dialogue concerning Witches and Witchcraft, by George Giffard, Minister of God's Word in Maldon," 1593, 4to. This tract, which has been reprinted by the Percy Society, is not free from the leading fallacies which infected the reasonings of almost all the writers on witchcraft. It is, nevertheless, exceedingly entertaining, and well deserves a perusal, if only as transmitting to us, in their full freshness, the racy colloquialisms of the age of Elizabeth. It is to be hoped that the other works of Giffard, all of which are deserving of attention, independently of their theological interest, as specimens of pure and sterling English, may appear in a collected form. The next tract requiring notice is "The Trial of Witchcraft, by John Cotta," 1616, 4to, of which a second and enlarged edition was published in 1624. Cotta, who was a physician of great eminence and experience, residing at Northampton, has supplied in this very able, learned, and vigorous treatise, a groundwork which, if pursued to its just results, for he writes very cautiously and guardedly, and rather hints at his conclusions than follows them out, would have sufficed to have overthrown many of the positions of the supporters of the system of witchcraft. His work has a strong scholastic tinge, and is not without occasional obscurity; and on these accounts probably produced no very extensive impression at the time. He wrote two other tracts—1. "Discovery of the Dangers of ignorant practisers of Physick in England," 1612, 4to; 2. "Cotta contra Antonium, or An Ant-Anthony," Oxford, 1623, 4to; the latter of which, a keen satire against the chymists' aurum potabile, is exceedingly rare. Both are intrinsically valuable and interesting, and written with great vigour of style, and are full of curious illustrations derived from his extensive medical practice. I cannot conclude this note without adverting to Gaule's amusing little work, ("Select Cases of Conscience touching Witches and Witchcraft, by John Gaule, Preacher of the Word at Great Haughton, in the county of Huntingdon," 1646, 24mo.) which gives us all the casuistry applicable to witchcraft. We can almost forgive Gaule's fundamental errors on the general question, for the courage and spirit with which he battled with the villainous witchfinder, Hopkins, who wanted sorely to make an example of him, to the terror of all gainsayers of the sovereign power of this examiner-general of witches. Gaule proved himself to be an overmatch for the itinerating inquisitor, and so effectually attacked, battled with, and exposed him, as to render him quite harmless in future. The minister of Great Haughton was made of different metal to the "old reading parson Lewis," or Lowes, to whose fate Baxter refers with such nonchalance. As the only clergyman of the Church of England, that I am aware of, who was executed for witchcraft, Lewis's case is sufficiently interesting to merit some notice. Stearne's (vide his Confirmation of Witchcraft, p. 23,) account of it, which I have not seen quoted before, is as follows:—
"Thus was Parson Lowis taken, who had been a Minister, (as I have heard) in one Parish above forty yeares, in Suffolke, before he was condemned, but had been indited for a common imbarriter, and for Witchcraft, above thirty yeares before, and the grand Jury (as I have heard) found the bill for a common imbarriter, who now, after he was found with the markes, in his confession, he confessed, that in pride of heart, to be equall, or rather above God, the Devill tooke advantage of him, and hee covenanted with the Devill, and sealed it with his bloud, and had three Familiars or spirits, which sucked on the markes found upon his body, and did much harme, both by Sea and Land, especially by Sea, for he confessed, that he being at Lungarfort in Suffolke, where he preached, as he walked upon the wall, or workes there, he saw a great saile of Ships passe by, and that as they were sailing by, one of his three Impes, namely his yellow one, forthwith appeared to him, and asked him what hee should doe, and he bade it goe and sinke such a Ship, and shewed his Impe a new Ship, amongst the middle of the rest (as I remember) one that belonged to Ipswich, so he confessed the Impe went forthwith away, and he stood still, and viewed the Ships on the Sea as they were a sayling, and perceived that Ship immediately, to be in more trouble and danger then the rest; for he said, the water was more boystrous neere that then the rest, tumbling up and down with waves, as if water had been boyled in a pot, and soone after (he said) in a short time it sanke directly downe into the Sea, as he stood and viewed it, when all the rest sayled away in safety, there he confessed, he made fourteen widdowes in one quarter of an houre. Then Mr. Hopkin, as he told me (for he tooke his Confession) asked him, if it did not grieve him to see so many men cast away, in a short time, and that he should be the cause of so many poore widdowes on a suddaine, but he swore by his maker, no, he was joyfull to see what power his Impes had, and so likewise confessed many other mischiefes, and had a charme to keep him out of Goale, and hanging, as he paraphrased it himselfe, but therein the Devill deceived him; for he was hanged, that Michaelmas time 1645. at Burie Saint Edmunds, but he made a very farre larger confession, which I have heard hath been printed: but if it were so, it was neither of Mr. Hopkins doing nor mine owne; for we never printed anything untill now."
Hutchinson gives the explanation of this confession. What can be more atrocious than the whole story, which is yet but the common story of witch confessions?
"Adv. Then did not he confess this before the Commissioners, at the Time of his Tryal?
"Clerg. No, but maintained his Innocence stoutly, and challenged them to make Proof of such Things as they laid to his Charge. I had this from a Person of Credit, who was then in Court, and heard his Tryal. I may add, that tho' his Case is remembered better than others that suffered, yet I never heard any one speak of him, but with great Compassion, because of his Age and Character, and their Belief of his Innocence: And when he came to his Execution, because he would have Christian Burial, he read the Office himself, and that way committed his own Body to the Ground, in sure and certain Hope of the Resurrection to eternal Life.
"In the Notes upon those Verses that I quoted out of Hudibras, it is said, that he had been a painful Preacher for many Years, I may add for Fifty, for so long he had been Vicar of Brandeston in the County of Suffolk, as appears by the Time of his Institution. That I might know the present Sense of the Chief Inhabitants of that Place, I wrote to Mr. Wilson, the Incumbent of that Town, and by his Means received the following Letter from Mr. Rivett, a worthy Gentleman who lived lately in the same Place, and whose Father lived there before him.
"'SIR,
"'In Answer to your Request concerning Mr. Lowes, my Father was always of the opinion, that Mr. Lowes suffered wrongfully, and hath often said, that he did believe, he was no more a Wizzard than he was. I have heard it from them that watched with him, that they kept him awake several Nights together, and run him backwards and forwards about the Room, until he was out of Breath: Then they rested him a little, and then ran him again: And thus they did for several Days and Nights together, till he was weary of his Life, and was scarce sensible of what he said or did. They swam him at Framlingham, but that was no true Rule to try him by; for they put in honest People at the same Time, and they swam as well as he."
[20] I allude to his little tract on Usury.
[21] Between the period of the publication of Filmer's Advertisement and the appearance of Wagstaffe's work, a tract was published too important in this controversy to be passed over without notice. It is entitled A Candle in the Dark, or a Treatise concerning the Nature of Witches and Witchcraft; being Advice to Judges, Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace, and Grand Jurymen, what to do before they passe sentence on such as are arraigned for their lives as Witches. By Thomas Ady, M.A. London, printed for R.J., to be sold by Thomas Newberry, at the Three Lions in Cornhill, by the Exchange, 1656, 4to. Ady, of whom, unfortunately, nothing is known, presses the arguments against the witchmongers and witchfinders with unanswerable force. In fact, this tract comprises the quintessence of all that had been urged against the popular system, and his "Candle" was truly a burning and a shining light. His Dedication is too curious to be omitted:—
"To the Prince of the Kings of the Earth. It is the manner of men, O heavenly King, to dedicate their books to some great men, thereby to have their works protected and countenanced among them; but thou only art able, by thy holy Spirit of Truth, to defend thy Truth, and to make it take impression in the heart and understanding of men. Unto thee alone do I dedicate this work, entreating thy Most High Majesty to grant, that whoever shall open this book, thy holy Spirit may so possess their understanding, as that the Spirit of errour may depart from them, and that they may read and try thy Truth by the touchstone of thy Truth, the holy Scriptures; and finding that Truth, may embrace it and forsake their darksome inventions of Antichrist, that have deluded and defiled the nations now and in former ages. Enlighten the world, thou that art the Light of the World, and let darkness be no more in the world, now or in any future age; but make all people to walk as children of the Light for ever; and destroy Antichrist, that hath deceived the nations, and save us the residue by thyself alone; and let not Satan any more delude us, for the Truth is thine for ever." He then puts his "Dilemma that cannot be answered by Witchmongers." It is too long to quote, but it is a dilemma that would pose the stoutest Coryphæus of the party to whom he addressed himself.
[22] I have not seen his earlier work, "Historical Reflections on the Bishop of Rome, &c." Oxford, 1660, 4to. If it be written with any portion of the power evinced in his "Question of Witchcraft Debated," the ridicule with which Wood says it was received by the wits of the university, and the oblivion into which it subsequently fell, were both equally undeserved.
[23] "Poems, by the Rev. R. Parkinson, Canon of Manchester," 1845, 12mo. (Hunter's Song.) A most pleasing volume of a very accomplished author. Long may he survive to add honours to the ancient stock of which he has given so interesting an account, by well-earned trophies gathered from the fair fields of literature and theology, and by a most exemplary discharge of the appropriate duties of his own sacred profession.
[24] "The Saints' Guide, or Christ the Rule and Ruler of Saints. Manifested by way of Positions, Consectaries, and Queries. Wherein is contained the Efficacy of Acquired Knowledge; the Rule of Christians; the Mission and Maintenance of Ministers; and the Power of Magistrates in Spiritual Things. By John Webster, late Chaplain in the Army." London, 1653, 4to.
"The Judgement Set, and the Bookes Opened. Religion Tried whether it be of God or of men. The Lord cometh to visit his own, For the time is come that Judgement must begin at the House of God.
| { | The Sheep from the Goats, | |
| To separate | { | and |
| { | The Precious from the Vile. |
And to discover the Blasphemy of those that say,
| { | Apostles, | } | { | Found Lyars, | ||
| { | Teachers, | } | { | Deceivers, | ||
| They are | { | Alive, | } | but are | { | Dead, |
| { | Rich, | } | { | Poore, blind, naked, | ||
| { | Jewes, | } | { | The Synagogue of Satan. |
In severall Sermons at Alhallows Lumbard-street, By John Webster, A servant of Christ and his Church. Micah 3. 5. &c. Thus saith the Lord, concerning the Prophets that make my people erre, that bite with their teeth, and cry peace: and he that putteth not into their mouths, they prepare war against him: Therefore night shall be upon them, that they shall not have a vision, &c. The Sun shall goe down over the prophets, and the Day shall be dark. Their seers shall be ashamed, and the Deviners confounded: yea, they shall All cover their lips, for there is no answer of God." London, 1654. 4to.
[25] Athen. Oxon., Vol. ii., p. 175. Edit. 1721.
[26] Old Anthony chronicles this battle of the kerchiefs with a sly humour very different from his usual solemn matter-of-fact style.
[27] What would Dr. Whitaker have thought of the following explosion, in which Webster sounds the tocsin with a vehemence and vigour which no Macbriar or Kettledrumle of the period could have surpassed. The extract is from his Judgment Set and Books Opened:—
"All those that claim an Ordination by Man, or from Man, that speak from the Spirit of the World, from Wit, Learning and Humane Reason, who Preach for Hire, and make Merchandize of the Souls of Men; I witness they are all Baal's Priests and Idol-Shepherds, who destroy the Sheep, and are Theives and Robbers, who came not in by the Door of the Sheep-fold, but climbed up another way, and are the Magicians, Sorcerers, Inchanters, Soothsayers, Necromancers, and Consulters with Familiar Spirits, which the Lord will cut off out of the Land, so that his People shall have no more Soothsayers; and as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these resist the Truth; Men of corrupt Minds, reprobate concerning the Faith; but they shall proceed no farther, for their Folly shall be manifest to all Men, as theirs also was. Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the Errors of Balaam, for Reward, and Perished in the Gainsaying of Core. These are Spots in your Feasts of Charity, when they Feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: Clouds they are without Water, carried of Winds; Trees, whose Fruit withered, without Fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the Roots: Raging Waves of the Sea, foaming out their own Shame, wandring Stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of Darkness for ever."
[28] "Metallographia: or, An History of Metals. Wherein is declared the signs of Ores and Minerals both before and after digging, the causes and manner of their generations, their kinds, sorts and differences; with the description of sundry new Metals or Semi-Metals, and many other things pertaining to Mineral knowledge. As also, the handling and shewing of their Vegetability, and the discussion of the most difficult Questions belonging to Mystical Chymistry, as of the Philosophers Gold, their Mercury, the Liquor Alkahest, Aurum potabile, and such like. Gathered forth of the most approved Authors that have written in Greek, Latine, or High Dutch; With some Observations and Discoveries of the Author himself. By John Webster, Practitioner in Physick and Chirurgery. Qui principia naturalia in seipso ignoraverit, hic jam multum remotus est ab arte nostra, quoniam non habet radicem veram supra quam intentionem suam fundet. Geber. Sum. perfect. l. c. i. p. 21.
Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire,
Auricomos quam quis discerpserit arbore fœtus.
Virg. Æneid. l. 6.
London, Printed by A.C. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-Head in Duck-lane, 1671, 4to."
[29] Dr. Whitaker's assertion, that Webster was "neglected alike by the wise and unwise," seems to be a mere gratis dictum. The age of folios was rapidly passing away; but few folios of the period appear to have been more generally read, if we are to judge at least from its being frequently mentioned and quoted, than Webster's Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft. The same able writer's "Doubt whether Sir Matthew Hale ever read Webster's Discovery of Supposed Witchcraft," might easily have been satisfied by a reference to any common life of that great judge, which would have shown the historian of Whalley that Hale died before the book was published. Nor is Dr. Whitaker correct in stating that all tradition of Webster is now lost in the neighbourhood where he resided. The following anecdote, which would have delighted him, I had from an old inhabitant of Burnley, to whom it had been handed down by his grandfather:—In the days of Webster's fanaticism, during the usurpation, he is stated, in the zealous crusade then so common against superstitious relics, to have headed a party by whom the three venerable crosses, now set up in the churchyard of Whalley, commonly called the Crosses of Paulinus, and supposed to be coeval with the first preaching of Christianity in the North of England, were removed and taken away from their site and appropriated as a boundary fence for some adjoining fields. After the Restoration, and when his religious views had become sobered and settled, he is said, in an eager desire to atone for the desecration of which he had been guilty, to have purchased the crosses from the person who was then in possession of them, and to have been at the cost of re-erecting them on their present site, from which no sacrilegious hand will, I trust, ever again remove them. It is further said, that Webster's favourite and regular walk, in the latter part of his life, till his infirmities rendered him unable to take exercise of any kind, was to the remains of Whalley Abbey; and that a path along the banks of the stream which glides by those most picturesque and pleasing ruins, was long called "Webster's Walk." If this tradition be founded in fact, and I give it as I received it, John Webster, of Clitheroe, if not identical, as Mr. Collier has contended, with the dramatic poet of that name, must have felt something assimilated in spirit to the fine inspiration of those noble lines of the latter:—
"I do love these ancient ruins.
We never tread upon them but we set
Our foot upon some reverend history;
And, questionless, here in this open court,
Which now lies naked to the injuries
Of stormy weather, some men lie interred that
Lov'd the Church so well and gave so largely to't,
They thought it should have canopied their bones
Till doomsday: but all things have their end.
Churches and cities, which have diseases like to men,
Must have like death that we have."
[30] Webster's death took place on the 18th June, 1682. He left an extensive library, composed principally of chemical, hermetical, and philosophical works, of which the MSS. catalogue is now in the possession of my friend, the Rev. T. Corser. I have two books which appear to have at one time formed part of his collection, from having his favourite signature, Johannes Hyphantes, in his autograph, on the title pages. Before I conclude with Webster, I ought perhaps to observe, that in the valuable edition of the works of Webster, the dramatic poet, published by the Rev. A. Dyce, that most accurate and judicious editor has proved indisputably, by an elaborate argument, that the John Webster, the writer of the Examen Academiarum, and John Webster, the author of the Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft, were one and the same person, who was not identical with the dramatic writer of the same name. Mr. Dyce does not, however, appear to have been aware, that the identity of the author of the Examen Academiarum and the writer on witchcraft is distinctly stated by Dr. Henry More, in his Præfatio Generalissima, to the Latin edition of his works, whose testimony being that of a contemporary, who was, like Webster, "a Cambridge scholar," may perhaps be considered sufficient, without resorting to internal and circumstantial evidence. The inscription on Webster's monument in the chapel of St. Mary Magdalen, at Clitheroe, is too characteristic and curious to be omitted. I give it entire:—
"Qui hanc figuram intelligunt
Me etiam intellexisse, intelligent.
Hic jacet ignotus mundo, mersusque tumultu
Invidiæ, semper mens tamen æqua fuit,
Multa tulit veterum ut sciret secreta sophorum
Ac tandem vires noverit ignis aquæ.
Johannes Hyphantes sive Webster,
In villa Spinosa supermontana, in
Parochia silvæ cuculatæ, in agro
Eboracensi, natus 1610 Feb. 3,
Ergastulum animæ deposuit 1682, Junii 18,
Annoq. ætatis suæ 72 currente.
Sicq. peroravit moriens mundo huic valedicens,
Aurea pax vivis, requies æterna sepultis."
[31] It was my good fortune to visit this wizard-haunted spot within the last few weeks, in company with the able and zealous Archdeacon[A] within whose ecclesiastical cure it is comprized, and to whose singularly accurate knowledge of this district, and courteous communication of much valuable information regarding it, I hold myself greatly indebted. Following, with unequal steps, such a guide, accompanied, likewise, by an excellent Canon of the Church[B] with all the "armamentaria cœli" at command against the powers of darkness, and a lay auxiliary[C], whose friendly converse would make the roughest journey appear smooth, I need scarcely say, I passed through
"The forest wyde,
Whose hideous horror and sad trembling sownd
Full griesly seem'd,"
unscathed by the old lords of the soil, and needed not Mengus's Fuga, Fustis et Flagellum Dæmonum, as a triple coat of mail.
[A] The Venerable the Archdeacon of Manchester, the Rev. John Rushton, who is also the Incumbent of New Church, in Pendle.
[B] The Rev. Canon Parkinson.
[C] J.B. Wanklyn, Esq.
[32] The Archdeacon of Manchester suggests that this is merely a corruption of Chadwick or Chadwicks, and not, as explained in the Note, [p. 19], from her chattering as she went along.
[33] These bickerings were no doubt exasperated by the robbery committed upon old Demdike and Alizon Device, which is detailed in the examinations, some of the opima spolia abstracted on which occasion she detected on the person of old Chattox's daughter.
[34] Of an aghendole of meal. Since writing the Note, [p. 23], I am indebted to Miss Clegg, of Hallfoot, near Clitheroe, for information as to the exact quantity contained in an aghendole, which is eight pounds. This measure, she informs me, is still in use in Little Harwood, in the district of Pendle. The Archdeacon of Manchester considers that an aghendole, or more properly, as generally pronounced, a nackendole, is a kneading-dole, the quantity of meal, &c. usually taken for kneading at one time. There can be no doubt that this is the correct derivation.
[35] Baines confounds Malking-Tower with Hoar-stones, a place rendered famous by the second case of pretended witchcraft in 1633, but at some distance from the first-named spot, the residence of Mother Demdike, which lies in the township of Barrowford. The witch's mansion—
"Where that same wicked wight
Her dwelling had—
Dark, doleful, dreary, like a greedy grave
That still for carrion carcases doth crave,
On top whereof ay dwelt the ghastly owle,
Shrieking his baleful note, which ever drave
Far from that haunt all other cheerful fowl,
And all about it wandering ghosts did wail and howle"—
is now, alas! no more. It stood in a field a little elevated, on a brow above the building at present called Malking-Tower. The site of the house or cottage is still distinctly traceable, and fragments of the plaster are yet to be found imbedded in the boundary wall of the field. The old road to Gisburne ran almost close to it. It commanded a most extensive prospect in front, in the direction of Alkincoates, Colne, and the Yorkshire moors; while in another direction the vast range of Pendle, nearly intercepted, gloomed in sullen majesty. At the period when Mother Demdike was in being, Malking-Tower would be at some distance from any other habitation; its occupier, as the vulgar would opine—
"So choosing solitarie to abide
Far from all neighbours, that her devilish deedes
And hellish arts from people she might hide,
And hurt far off unknown whomever she envide."
[36] In a scarce little book, "The Triumph of Sovereign Grace, or a Brand plucked out of the Fire, by David Crosly, Minister, Manchester," 1743, 12mo., which I owe to the kindness of the very able historian of Cheshire, George Ormerod, Esq., Dr. Whitaker, to whom the volume formerly belonged, has been at the pains of chronicling the superstitions connected with a family, ranking amongst the more opulent yeomen of Cliviger, of the name of Briercliffe, on the execution of one of whom for murder the tract was published. The Briercliffe's, from the curious anecdotes which the Doctor gives with great unction, appear to have been one of those gloomy and fated races, dogged by some unassuageable Nemesis, in which crime and horror are transmitted from generation to generation with as much certainty as the family features and name.
[37] We yet want a full, elaborate, and satisfactory history of witchcraft. Hutchinson's is the only account we have which enters at all at length into the detail of the various cases; but his materials were generally collected from common sources, and he confines himself principally to English cases. The European history of witchcraft embraces so wide a field, and requires for its just completion a research so various, that there is little probability, I fear, of this desideratum being speedily supplied.
[38] The explorer of Pendle will find the mansion of Alice Nutter, Rough Lee, still standing. It is impossible to look at it, recollecting the circumstances of her case, without being strongly interested. It is a very substantial, and rather a fine specimen of the houses of the inferior gentry in the time of James the first, and is now divided into cottages. On one of the side walls is an inscription, almost entirely obliterated, which contained the date of the building and the initials of the name of its first owner. At a little distance from Rough Lee, pursuing the course of the stream, he will find the foundations of an ancient mill, and the millstones still unremoved, though the building itself has been pulled down long ago. This was, doubtless, the mill of Richard Baldwin, the miller, who, as stated in Old Demdike's confession, ejected her and Alizon Device her daughter, from his land so contumeliously; immediately after which her "Spirit or divell called Tibb appeared, and sayd Revenge thee of him." Greenhead, the residence of Robert Nutter, one of the reputed victims of the prisoners tried on this occasion, is at some distance from Rough Lee, and is yet in good preservation, and occupied as a farmhouse.
[39] The instances are very few in England in which the statute of James the first was brought to bear against any but the lowest classes of the people. Indeed, there are not many attempts reported to attack the rich and powerful with weapons derived from its provisions. One of such attempts, which did not, like that against Alice Nutter, prove successful, is narrated in a curious and scarce pamphlet, which I have now before me, with this title—"Wonderful News from the North, or a true Relation of the sad and grievous Torments inflicted upon the Bodies of three children of Mr. George Muschamp, late of the County of Northumberland, by Witchcraft, and how miraculously it pleased God to strengthen them and to deliver them; as also the prosecution of the say'd Witches, as by Oaths and their own Confessions will appear, and by the Indictment found by the Jury against one of them at the Sessions of the Peace held at Alnwick, the 24th day of April, 1650. London, printed by T.H., and are to be sold by Richard Harper at his Shop in Smithfield. 1650," 4to. This was evidently a diabolical plot, in which these children were made the puppets, and which was got up to accomplish the destruction of a person of condition, Mrs. Dorothy Swinnow, the wife of Colonel Swinnow, of Chatton, in Northumberland, and from which she had great difficulty in escaping.
[40] The copy in Baines is from the Harl. MSS., cod. 6854, fo. 26 b, and though inserted in his history as more correct than that in Whitaker's Whalley, is so disfigured by errors, particularly in the names of persons and places, as to be utterly unintelligible. From what source Whitaker derived his transcript does not appear; for the confession of Margaret Johnson he cites Dodsworth MSS. in Bodleian Lib., vol. 61, p. 47.
[41] "The informer was one Edmund Robinson (yet living at the writing hereof, and commonly known by the name of Ned of Roughs) whose Father was by trade a Waller, and but a poor Man, and they finding that they were believed and had incouragement by the adjoyning Magistrates, and the persons being committed to prison or bound over to the next Assizes, the boy, his Father and some others besides did make a practice to go from Church to Church that the Boy might reveal and discover Witches, pretending that there was a great number at the pretended meeting whose faces he could know, and by that means they got a good living, that in a short space the Father bought a Cow or two, when he had none before. And it came to pass that this said Boy was brought into the Church of Kildwick a large parish Church, where I (being then Curate there) was preaching in the afternoon, and was set upon a stall (he being but about ten or eleven years old) to look about him, which moved some little disturbance in the Congregation for a while. And after prayers I inquiring what the matter was, the people told me that it was the Boy that discovered Witches, upon which I went to the house where he was to stay all night, where I found him, and two very unlikely persons that did conduct him, and manage the business; I desired to have some discourse with the Boy in private, but that they utterly refused; then in the presence of a great many people, I took the Boy near me, and said: Good Boy tell me truly, and in earnest, did thou see and hear such strange things of the meeting of Witches, as is reported by many that thou dost relate, or did not some person teach thee to say such things of thy self? But the two men not giving the Boy leave to answer, did pluck him from me, and said he had been examined by two able Justices of the Peace, and they did never ask him such a question, to whom I replied, the persons accused had therefore the more wrong."—Webster's Displaying of Witchcraft, p. 276.
[42] This was Richard Shuttleworth of Gawthorp, Esq., who married the daughter and heiress of R. Fleetwood, Esq., of Barton, and died June 1669, aged 82.
[43] John Starkie, Esq., of the family of Starkie of Huntroyd, the same probably who was sheriff of Lancashire 9 Charles I, and one of the seven demoniacs at Cleworth in the year 1595, on whose evidence Hartley was hanged for witchcraft. Having commenced so early, he must by this time have qualified himself, if he only improved the advantages of his Cleworth education, to take the chair and proceed as professor, in all matters appertaining to witchcraft.
[44] Wheatley-lane is still a place of note in Pendle.
[45] Wild plums.
[46] It would seem as if a case of witchcraft in Pendle, without a Nutter in some way connected with it, could not occur.
[47] What Mr. Robinson is intended does not appear. It was a common name in Pendle. It is, however, a curious fact, that a family of this name, with the alias of Swyer, (see Potts, confession of Elizabeth Device,) is even now, or very recently was, to be met with in Pendle, of whom the John Robinson, alias Swyer, one of the supposed victims of Witchcraft, was probably an ancestor. There are few instances of an alias being similarly transmitted in families for upwards of two centuries.
[48] Mother Dickenson, as Sir Walter Scott remarks, brings to mind the magician Queen in the Arabian Tales.
[49] This house is still standing, and though it has undergone some modernizations, has every appearance of having been built about this period.
[50] The old barn, so famous as the scene of these exploits, is no longer extant. A more modern and very substantial one has now been erected on its site.
[51] Syleing, from the verb sile or syle, to strain, to pass through a strainer. See Jamieson, under "sile."
[52] Frightened.
[53] Boggard Hole lies in a hollow, near to Hoarstones, and is still known by that name.
[54] "It is the sport to see the engineer hoist with his own petar." Her old occupation as witness having got into other hands, Janet or Jennet Davies, or Device, for the person spoken of appears to be the same with the grand-daughter of Old Demdike, on whose evidence three members of her family were executed, has now to take her place amongst the witnessed against.
[55] Seale, from sele, s. a yoke for binding cattle in the stall. Sal (A.S.) denotes "a collar or bond." Somner. Sile (Isl.) seems to bear the very same sense with our sele, being exp. a ligament of leather by which cattle and other things are bound. Vide Jamieson, under "sele."
[56] Heywood and Broome, in their play, "The late Lancashire Witches," 1634, 4to, follow the terms of this deposition very closely. It is very probable that they had seen and conversed with the boy, to whom, when taken up to London, there was a great resort of company. The Lancashire dialect, as given in this play, and by no means unfaithfully, was perhaps derived from conversations with some of the actors in this drama of real life, a drama quite as extraordinary as any that Heywood's imagination ever bodied forth from the world of fiction.
"Enter Boy with a switch.
Boy. Now I have gathered Bullies, and fild my bellie pretty well, i'le goe see some sport. There are gentlemen coursing in the medow hard by; and 'tis a game that I love better than going to Schoole ten to one.
Enter an invisible spirit. J. Adson[D] with a brace of greyhounds.
What have we here a brace of Greyhounds broke loose from their masters: it must needs be so, for they have both their Collers and slippes about their neckes. Now I looke better upon them, me thinks I should know them, and so I do: these are Mr. Robinsons dogges, that dwels some two miles off, i'le take them up, and lead them home to their master; it may be something in my way, for he is as liberall a gentleman, as any is in our countrie, Come Hector, come. Now if I c'ud but start a Hare by the way, kill her, and carry her home to my supper, I should thinke I had made a better afternoones worke of it than gathering of bullies. Come poore curres along with me.
Exit."
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
"Enter Boy with the Greyhounds.
A Hare, a Hare, halloe, halloe, the Divell take these curres, will they not stir, halloe, halloe, there, there, there, what are they growne so lither and so lazie? Are Mr. Robinsons dogges turn'd tykes with a wanion? the Hare is yet in sight, halloe, halloe, mary hang you for a couple of mungrils (if you were worth hanging,) and have you serv'd me thus? nay then ile serve you with the like sauce, you shall to the next bush, there will I tie you, and use you like a couple of curs as you are, and though not lash you, yet lash you whilest my switch will hold, nay since you have left your speed, ile see if I can put spirit into you, and put you in remembrance what halloe, halloe meanes.
As he beats them, there appeared before him Gooddy Dickison, and the Boy upon the dogs, going in.
Now blesse me heaven, one of the Greyhounds turn'd into a woman, the other into a boy! The lad I never saw before, but her I know well; it is my gammer Dickison.
G. Dick. Sirah, you have serv'd me well to swindge me thus. You yong rogue, you have vs'd me like a dog.
Boy. When you had put your self into a dogs skin, I pray how c'ud I help it; but gammer are not you a Witch? if you bee, I beg upon my knees you will not hurt me.
Dickis. Stand up my boie, for thou shalt have no harme,
Be silent, speake of nothing thou hast seene.
And here's a shilling for thee.
Boy. Ile have none of your money, gammer, because you are a Witch; and now she is out of her foure leg'd shape, ile see if with my two legs I can out-run her.
Dickis. Nay sirra, though you be yong, and I old, you are not so nimble, nor I so lame, but I can overtake you.
Boy. But Gammer what do you meane to do with me
Now you have me?
Dickis. To hugge thee, stroke thee, and embrace thee thus,
And teach thee twentie thousand prety things,
So thou tell no tales; and boy this night
Thou must along with me to a brave feast.
Boy. Not I gammer indeed la, I dare not stay out late,
My father is a fell man, and if I bee out long, will both
chide and beat me.
Dickis. Not sirra, then perforce thou shalt along,
This bridle helps me still at need,
And shall provide us of a steed.
Now sirra, take your shape and be
Prepar'd to hurrie him and me.
Exit.
Now looke and tell mee wher's the lad become.
Boy. The boy is vanisht, and I can see nothing in his stead
But a white horse readie sadled and bridled.
Dickis. And thats the horse we must bestride,
On which both thou and I must ride,
Thou boy before and I behinde,
The earth we tread not, but the winde,
For we must progresse through the aire,
And I will bring thee to such fare
As thou ne're saw'st, up and away,
For now no longer we can stay.
She catches him up, and turning round.
Boy. Help, help.
Exit."
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
"Rob. What place is this? it looks like an old barne: ile peep in at some cranny or other, and try if I can see what they are doing. Such a bevy of beldames did I never behold; and cramming like so many Cormorants: Marry choke you with a mischiefe.
Gooddy Dickison. Whoope, whurre, heres a sturre,
Never a cat, never a curre,
But that we must have this demurre.
Mal. A second course.
Mrs. Gen. Pull, and pull hard
For all that hath lately him prepar'd
For the great wedding feast.
Mall. As chiefe
Of Doughtyes Surloine of rost Beefe.
All. Ha, ha, ha.
Meg. 'Tis come, 'tis come.
Mawd. Where hath it all this while beene?
Meg. Some
Delay hath kept it, now 'tis here,
For bottles next of wine and beere,
The Merchants cellers they shall pay for't.
Mrs. Gener. Well,
What sod or rost meat more, pray tell.
Good. Dick. Pul for the Poultry, Foule, and Fish,
For emptie shall not be a dish.
Robin. A pox take them, must only they feed upon hot meat, and I upon nothing but cold sallads.
Mrs. Gener. This meat is tedious, now some Farie,
Fetch what belongs unto the Dairie,
Mal. Thats Butter, Milk, Whey, Curds and Cheese,
Wee nothing by the bargaine leese.
All. Ha, ha, ha.
Goody Dickison. Boy, theres meat for you.
Boy. Thanke you.
Gooddy Dickis. And drinke too.
Meg. What Beast was by thee hither rid?
Mawd. A Badger nab.
Meg. And I bestrid
A Porcupine that never prickt.
Mal. The dull sides of a Beare I kickt.
I know how you rid, Lady Nan.
Mrs. Gen. Ha, ha, ha, upon the knave my man.
Rob. A murrein take you, I am sure my hoofes payd for't.
Boy. Meat lie there, for thou hast no taste, and drinke there, for thou hast no relish, for in neither of them is there either salt or savour.
All. Pull for the posset, pull.
Robin. The brides posset on my life, nay if they come to their spoone meat once, I hope theil breake up their feast presently.
Mrs. Gen. So those that are our waiters nere,
Take hence this Wedding cheere.
We will be lively all,
And make this barn our hall.
Gooddy Dick. You our Familiers, come.
In speech let all be dumbe,
And to close up our Feast,
To welcome every gest
A merry round let's daunce.
Meg. Some Musicke then ith aire
Whilest thus by paire and paire,
We nimbly foot it; strike.
Musick.
Mal. We are obeyd.
Sprite. And we hels ministers shall lend our aid.
Dance and Song together. In the time of which the Boy speakes.
Boy. Now whilest they are in their jollitie, and do not mind me, ile steale away, and shift for my selfe, though I lose my life for't.
Exit."
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
"Dought. He came to thee like a Boy thou sayest, about thine own bignesse?
Boy. Yes Sir, and he asked me where I dwelt, and what my name was.
Dough. Ah Rogue!
Boy. But it was in a quarrelsome way; Whereupon I was as stout, and ask'd him who made him an examiner?
Dough. Ah good Boy.
Mil. In that he was my Sonne.
Boy. He told me he would know or beat it out of me,
And I told him he should not, and bid him doe his worst;
And to't we went.
Dough. In that he was my sonne againe, ha boy; I see him at it now.
Boy. We fought a quarter of an houre, till his sharpe nailes made my eares bleed.
Dough. O the grand Divell pare 'em.
Boy. I wondred to finde him so strong in my hands, seeming but of mine owne age and bignesse, till I looking downe, perceived he had clubb'd cloven feet like Oxe feet; but his face was as young as mine.
Dought. A pox, but by his feet, he may be the Club-footed Horse-coursers father, for all his young lookes.
Boy. But I was afraid of his feet, and ran from him towards a light that I saw, and when I came to it, it was one of the Witches in white upon a Bridge, that scar'd me backe againe, and then met me the Boy againe, and he strucke me and layd mee for dead.
Mil. Till I wondring at his stay, went out and found him in the Trance; since which time, he has beene haunted and frighted with Goblins, 40 times; and never durst tell any thing (as I sayd) because the Hags had so threatned him till in his sicknes he revealed it to his mother.
Dough. And she told no body but folkes on't. Well Gossip Gretty, as thou art a Miller, and a close thiefe, now let us keepe it as close as we may till we take 'hem, and see them handsomly hanged o'the way: Ha my little Cuffe-divell, thou art a made man. Come, away with me.
Exeunt."
Heywood and Broome's Late Lancashire Witches, Acts 2 and 3.
[D] Sic in orig.
[57] These names are thus given in Baines's Transcript:—
"Dickensons
Henrie Priestleyes wife and his ladd
Alice Hargrave, widdowe
Jane Davies (als. Jennet Device)
William Davies
The wife of Henrie Offep and her sonnes
John and Myles
The wife of Duckers
James Hargrave of Maresden
Loyards wife
James wife
Sanders wife, And as hee beleeveth
Lawnes wife
Sander Pynes wife of Baraford
One Foolegate and his wife
And Leonards of the West Close."
And thus in Webster:—
"Dickensons Wife, Henry Priestleys Wife, and his Lad, Alice Hargreene Widow, Jane Davies, William Davies, and the Wife of Henry Fackes, and her Sons John and Miles, the Wife of —— Denneries, James Hargreene of Marsdead, Loynd's Wife, one James his Wife, Saunders his Wife, and Saunders himself sicut credit, one Laurence his Wife, one Saunder Pyn's Wife of Barraford, one Holgate and his Wife of Leonards of the West close."
[58] The learned "practitioner in physick," Mr. William Drage, in his "Treatise of Diseases from Witchcraft," published Lond. 1668, 4to. p. 22, recommends "birch" in such cases, "as a specifical medicine, antipathetical to demons." One can only lament that this valuable remedy was not vigorously applied in the present instance, as well as in most others in which these juvenile sufferers appear. I doubt whether, in the whole Materia Medica, a more powerful Lamia-fuge could have been discovered, or one which would have been more universally successful, if applied perseveringly, whenever the suspicious symptoms recurred. The following is, however, Drage's great panacea in these cases, a mode of treatment which must have been vastly popular, judging from its extensive adoption in all parts of the country: "Punish the witch, threaten to hang her if she helps not the sick, scratch her and fetch blood. When she is cast into prison the sick are some time delivered, some time he or she (they are most females, most old women, and most poor,) must transfer the disease to other persons, sometimes to a dog, or horse, or cow, &c. Threaten her and beat her to remove it."—Drage, p. 23.
[59] The omission here is thus supplied in Baines's Transcript; but the actual names are scarcely to be recognised, from the clerical errors of the copy:—
"One Pickerne and his wife both of Wyndwall,
Rawson of Clore and his wife
Duffice wife of Clore by the water side
Cartmell the wife of Clore
And Jane of the hedgend in Maresden."
[60] Webster gives the sequel of this curious case of imposture:—"Four of them, to wit Margaret Johnson, Francis Dicconson, Mary Spenser, and Hargraves Wife, were sent for up to London, and were viewed and examined by his Majesties Physicians and Chirurgeons, and after by his Majesty and the Council, and no cause of guilt appearing but great presumptions of the boys being suborned to accuse them falsely. Therefore it was resolved to separate the boy from his Father, they having both followed the women up to London, they were both taken and put into several prisons asunder. Whereupon shortly after the Boy confessed that he was taught and suborned to devise, and feign those things against them, and had persevered in that wickedness by the counsel of his Father, and some others, whom envy, revenge and hope of gain had prompted on to that devillish design and villany; and he also confessed, that upon that day when he said that they met at the aforesaid house or barn, he was that very day a mile off, getting Plums in his Neighbours Orchard. And that this is a most certain truth, there are many persons yet living, of sufficient reputation and integrity, that can avouch and testifie the same; and besides, what I write is the most of it true, upon my own knowledge, and the whole I have had from his own mouth."—Displaying of Witchcraft, p. 277.
[61] The confession in the "Amber Witch" is a true picture, drawn from the life. What is there, indeed, unlike truth in that wonderful fiction?
[62] Male.
[63] In the nook, or corner, of his plaid.
[64] Pounded, or powdered it, like meal.
[65] To make the plaster fine, and free from earthy particles.
[66] Probably a sort of stir-about, or hasty-pudding, made of rye-flour.
[67] In another deposition it is thus expressed, 'lyk a pow or feadge.' A feadge was a sort of scone, or roll, of a pretty large size. Perhaps this term signifies, as large as the quantity of dough or paste necessary for making this kind of bread.
[68] A flayed sucking pig, after being scalded and scraped.
[69] Shrivelled with the heat.
[70] Red like a coal.
[71] Each alternate day.
[72] Knew.
[73] It is written meall in the other Confession; and the metre (such as it is) requires this liberty. Mowld signifies 'earth' or 'dust.'
[74] Stubble.
[75] Parched; shrivelled.
[76] Until.
[77] Harm; injury.
[78] There is a grave relation, in Delrio, of a witch being shot flying, by a Spanish centinel, at the bridge of Nieulet, near Calais, after that place was taken by the Spaniards. The soldier saw a black cloud advancing rapidly, from which voices issued: when it came near, he fired into it; immediately a witch dropped. This is undoubted proof of the meetings!—Disq. Mag., p. 708.
[79] See Dr. Hibbert's "History of Orkney," &c., to which this remarkable Trial is appended.
[80] The name left blank.
[81] Rede; advice.
[82] Malicious.
[83] The name given at her baptism by the Devil. From "Collection of Original Documents," belonging to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, MS. As a specimen of the other charges, take the following: "Williame Richardsone, in Dalkeith, haiving felled ane hen of the said Cristianes with ane stone, and wpone her sight thereof did imediatly threatne him, and with ane frowneing countenance told him, that he 'should newer cast ane vther stone!' And imediatly the said Williame fell into ane franicie and madnes, and tooke his bed, and newer rose agane, but died within a few dayes: And in the tyme of his sicknes, he always cryed owt, that the said Cristiane was present befor him, in the likeness of ane grey catt! And some tyme eftir his death, James Richardsone, nephew to the said Williame, being a boy playing in the said Cristiane her yaird, and be calling her Lantherne, shoe threatned, that, if he held not his peace, shoe sowld cause him to die the death his nephew (uncle) died of!' Whairby it would appeare that shoe tooke wpon hir his nepheas (uncle's) death."
[84] Wonder; amazement.
[85] Until. That is, many previous trials had been made of other persons suspected, or of those who were near neighbours, perhaps living at enmity with the deceased, who had voluntarily offered themselves to this solemn ordeal, or had been called upon thus publicly to attest their innocence of his blood.
[86] Holding the lyke-wake.
[87] Can be proved, by testimony or probation.
[88] The large collar which goes about a draught-horse's neck.