Wicked Company

Thu 23 August 2012

Wicked Company

Filed under: #satscene —— Sylvia @ 22:43

She lived in the Forest of Pendle, amongst this wicked company of dangerous witches.

On the 18th of August in 1612, the final day of one of the most famous witch trials in history took place in Lancashire. The Pendle witches, a dozen men and women who lived in the area around Pendle Hill, were charged with murders by witchcraft. Half of the accused came from two families who may have been feuding. Both families were headed by matriarchs in their eighties. On the one hand, Elizabeth Southerns (aka Demdike), her daughter Elizabeth Device and her grandchildren James and Alizon Device; on the other, Anne Whittle (aka Chattox) and her daughter Anne Redferne. The others accused were Jane Bulcock and her son John Bulcock, Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt, Alice Gray and Jennet Preston.

Nine witches were hung at Lancaster and one at York. A further died in prison. Only one witch was found not guilty. Most of the witches confessed and gave testimony which condemned the others.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of THE WONDERFVLL DISCOVERIE OF WITCHES IN THE COVNTIE OF LANCASTER. by Thomas Potts

And she further sayth, that one Iohn Nutter of the Bulhole in Pendle aforesaid, had a Cow which was sicke, & requested this examinats Grand-mother to amend the said Cow; and her said Graund-mother said she would, and so her said Graund-mother about ten of the clocke in the night, desired this examinate to lead her foorth; which this Examinate did, being then blind: and her Graund-mother did remaine about halfe an houre foorth: and this Examinates sister did fetch her in againe; but what she did when she was so foorth, this Examinate cannot tell. But the next morning this Examinate heard that the sayd Cow was dead. And this Examinate verily thinketh, that her sayd Graund-mother did bewitch the sayd Cow to death.

Pratchett and Gaiman populated Good Omens with names from this trial: Anathema Device was a Practical Occultist and the descendent of Agnes Nutter, the author of The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter

Four hundred years later, there are still plenty of feuding families striving to take the best Saturday scene on Twitter! Here’s the results: