Lancashire Folk-lore Part 19

[117] Dr. Whitaker's _History of Whalley_.

[118] Mr. Baines, in his _History of Lancashire_ (vol. iii. p. 760), says that in Wavertree is an ancient well with a rude, unintelligible inscription, of the date of 1414, which is thus _charitably_ rendered by the villagers:--

"He that hath, and won't bestow, The Devil will reckon with him below."

Or,

"He who here does not bestow, The Devil laughs at him below."

[119] "Agmond," in _Notes and Queries_, vol. vi. p. 305.

[120] Baines's _History of Lancashire_, vol. iii. p. 497.

[121] _Medii aevi Kalendarium._

WITCHES AND WITCHCRAFT.

In the lore of these subjects no county in England is richer than Lancashire. The subject is a large one, and may even be said to include all the cases of demoniacal possession described in the earlier pages of this volume, since all these alleged possessions were the result of malice and (so-called) witchcraft. Indeed it is not easy to separate these two superst.i.tious beliefs in their practical operation; witchcraft being the supposed cause, and demoniacal possession the imagined effect.

The reader will find much, bearing on both branches of the subject, under both t.i.tles.

WITCHCRAFT IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.

The first distinct charge of witchcraft in any way connected with this county, is that of the wife of the good Duke Humphrey, Eleanor, d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester, the a.s.sociate of Roger Bolingbroke, the priest and necromancer, and Margery Jourdain, the witch of Eye. The Duke of Gloucester, uncle and protector to the king, having become obnoxious to the predominant party, they got up in 1441 a strange prosecution. The d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester, Eleanor, the daughter of Lord Cobham, a lady of haughty carriage and ambitious mind, being attached to the prevailing superst.i.tions of the day, was accused of the crime of witchcraft "for that she, by sorcery and enchantment, intended to destroy the king, to the intent to advance and promote her husband to the crown."[122] It was alleged against her and her a.s.sociates, Sir Roger Bolingbroke, a priest, and chaplain to the Duke, (who was addicted to astrology,) and Margery Jourdain, the witch of Eye, that they had in their possession a wax figure of the king, which they melted by a magical device before a slow fire, with the intention of wasting away his force and vigour by insensible degrees. The imbecile mind of Henry was sensibly affected by this wicked invention; and the d.u.c.h.ess of Gloucester, on being brought to trial (in St. Stephen's Chapel, before the Archbishop of Canterbury) and found guilty of the design to destroy the king and his ministers by the agency of witchcraft, was sentenced to do public penance in three places within the city of London, and to suffer perpetual imprisonment.

Her confederates were condemned to death and executed, Margery Jourdain being burnt to death in Smithfield. The d.u.c.h.ess, after enduring the ignominy of her public penance, rendered peculiarly severe by the exalted state from which she had fallen, was banished to the Isle of Man, where she was placed under the ward of Sir Thomas Stanley. On the way to her place of exile, she was confined for some time, first in Leeds Castle, and afterwards in the Castle of Liverpool;[123] the earliest and the n.o.blest witch on record within the county of Lancaster.

Another account states that amongst those arrested as accomplices of the d.u.c.h.ess were a priest and canon of St. Stephen's, Westminster, named Southwell, and another priest named John Hum or Hume. Roger Bolingbroke, the learned astronomer and astrologer (who died protesting his ignorance of all evil intentions), was drawn and quartered at Tyburn; Southwell died in prison before the time of execution; and John Hum received the royal pardon. The worst thing proved against the d.u.c.h.ess was that she had sought for love-philters to secure the constancy of her husband.[124] Shakspere, in the _Second Part of King Henry VI._, Act 1, Scene 4, represents the d.u.c.h.ess, Margery Jourdain, Hume, Southwell, and Bolingbroke, as engaged in raising an evil spirit in the Duke of Gloucester's garden, when they are surprised and seized by the Dukes of York and Buckingham and their guards. The d.u.c.h.ess, after remaining in the Isle of Man some years, was transferred to Calais, under the ward of Sir John Steward, knight, and there died.

THE FAMOUS HISTORY OF THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES:

Containing the manner of their becoming such; their enchantments, spells, revels, merry pranks, raising of storms and tempests, riding on winds, &c. The entertainments and frolics which have happened among them. With the loves and humours of Roger and Dorothy. Also, a Treatise of Witches in general, conducive to mirth and recreation.

The like never before published.[125]

CHAPTER I.--_The Lancashire Witch's Tentation, and of the Devil's appearing to her in sundry shapes, and giving her money._

Lancashire is a famous and noted place, abounding with rivers, hills, woods, pastures, and pleasant towns, many of which are of great antiquity. It has also been famous for witches, and the strange pranks they played. Therefore, since the name of Lancashire Witches has been so frequent in the mouths of old and young, and many imperfect stories have been rumoured abroad, it would doubtless tend to the satisfaction of the reader, to give some account of them in their merry sports and pastimes.

Some time since lived one Mother Cuthbert, in a little hovel at the bottom of a hill, called Wood-and-Mountain Hill, in Lancashire.

This woman had two l.u.s.ty daughters, who both carded and spun for their living, yet was very poor; which made them often repine at and lament their want. One day, as Mother Cuthbert was sauntering about the hill-side, picking the wool off the bushes, out started a thing like a rabbit, which ran about two or three times, and then changed into a hound, and afterwards into a man, which made the old beldame to tremble, yet she had no power to run away. So, putting a purse of money in her hand, and charging her to be there the next day, he immediately vanished away, and old Mother Cuthbert returned home, being somewhat disturbed between jealousy and fear.

Such is the first chapter of this marvellous story, which, it is clear, is a fiction based upon real narratives. It relates the witcheries of Mother Cuthbert and her two daughters, Margery and Cicely, under the auspices of an arch-witch, "Mother Grady, the Witch of Penmure [Penmaen-mawr] a great mountain of Wales." Here is "_The Description of a Spell._--A spell is a piece of paper written with magical characters, fixed in a critical season of the moon, and conjunction of the planets; or sometimes by repeating mystical words. Of these there are many sorts." As showing what was the popular notion as to witches, take the following:--"About this time great search was made after witches and many were apprehended, but most of them gave the hangman and the gaoler the slip; though some hold that when a witch is taken she hath no power to avoid justice. It happened, as some of them were going in a cart to be tried, a coach pa.s.sed by, in which appeared a person like a judge, who, calling to one, bid her be of good comfort, for neither she nor any of her companions should be harmed. In that night all the prison locks flew open, and they made their escape; and many, when they had been cast into the water for a trial, have swam like a cork. One of them boasted she could go over the sea in an egg-sh.e.l.l. It is held on all hands they adore the devil, and become his bond-slaves, to have for a term of years their pleasure and revenge. And indeed many of them are more mischievous than others in laming and destroying cattle, and in drowning ships at sea, by raising storms. But the Lancashire witches, we see, chiefly divert themselves in merriment, and are therefore found to be more sociable than the rest." The closing chapter in this chap-book, contains "A short description of the famous Lapland Witches."

DR. DEE CHARGED WITH WITCHCRAFT.

On the usual proclamation of a general pardon, on the accession of James I., the crime of witchcraft was specially excepted from the general amnesty; and the credulous King's belief in this superst.i.tion encouraged witch-finders and numerous accusations in all parts of the country.

Amongst others, it was remembered that Dr. Dee, then warden of the Collegiate Church of Manchester, had in the preceding reign predicted a fortunate day for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth, and had also undertaken to render innocuous the waxen effigy of that Queen, found in Lincoln's Inn-fields. He was also known to have made various predictions, to be the possessor of a magic crystal or stone,[126] and to have held a close intimacy with Edward Kelly, _alias_ Talbot, a noted seer, conjuror and necromancer of the time. Accordingly Dr. Dee was formally accused of practising witchcraft, and a pet.i.tion from him, dated 5th January, 1604, (preserved in the _Lansdowne MSS._, Cod. 161,) praying to be freed from this revolting imputation, even at the risk of a trial for his life, sufficiently indicates the horror excited by the charge. The doctor's pet.i.tion sets forth that "It has been affirmed that your Majesty's supplicant was the conjuror belonging to the most honourable privy council of your Majesty's predecessor of famous memory, Queen Elizabeth, and that he is, or hath been, a caller or invocator of devils or d.a.m.ned spirits. These slanders, which have tended to his utter undoing, can no longer be endured; and if, on trial, he is found guilty of the offence imputed to him, he offers himself willingly to the punishment of death, yea, either to be stoned to death, or to be buried quick, or to be burned unmercifully." He seems to have escaped scatheless, save in reputation; and in 1594, when applied to for the purpose of exorcising seven demons who held possession of five females and two of the children of Mr. Nicholas Starkie, of Leigh, he refused to interfere; advising they should call in some G.o.dly preachers, with whom he would, if they thought proper, consult concerning a public or private fast. He also sharply reproved Hartlay, a conjuror, for his practices in this case.

THE LANCASHIRE WITCHES.

Come, gallant sisters, come along, Let's meet the devil ten thousand strong; Upon the whales' and dolphins' backs, Let's try to choak the sea with wracks, Spring leaks, and sink them down to rights.

[_Line wanting._]

And then we'll scud away to shour, And try what tricks we can play more.

Blow houses down, ye jolly dames, Or burn them up in fiery flames; Let's rowse up mortals from their sleep, And send them packing to the deep, Let's strike them dead with thunder-stones, With lightning search [? scorch] to skin and bones; For winds and storms, by sea and land, You may dispose, you may command.

Sometimes in dismal caves we lie, Or in the air aloft we flie; Sometimes we caper o'er the main, Thunders and lightnings we disdain; Sometimes we tumble churches down, And level castles with the ground; We fire whole cities, and destroy Whole armies, if they us annoy.

We strangle infants in the womb, And raise the dead out of their tomb; We haunt the palaces of kings, And play such pranks and pretty things And this is all our chief delight, To do all mischief in despight; And when we've done, to shift away, Untoucht, unseen, by night or day.

When imps do * * *

We make them act unlucky feats; In puppets' wax, sharp needles' points We stick, to torture limbs and joints.

With frogs' and toads' most poys'nous gore Our grizly limbs we 'noint all o'er, And straight away, away we go, Sparing no mortal, friend or foe.

We'll sell you winds, and ev'ry charm Or venomous drug that may do harm; For beasts or fowls we have our spells Laid up in store in our dark cells; For there the devils used to meet, And dance with horns and cloven feet; And when we've done, we frisk about, And through the world play revel-rout.

We ride on cows' and horses' backs, O'er lakes and rivers play nice knacks; We grasp the moon and scale the sun, And stop the planets as they run.

We kindle comets' whizzing flames, And whistle for the winds by names; And for our pastimes and mad freaks, 'Mongst stars we play at barley-breaks.[127]

We are amba.s.sadors of state, And know the mysteries of fate; In Pluto's bosom there we ly, To learn each mortal's destiny.

As oracles their fortunes show, If they be born to wealth or wo, The spinning Sisters' hands we guide, And in all this we take a pride.

To Lapland, Finland, we do skice, Sliding on seas and rocks of ice, T' old beldames there, our sisters kind, We do impart our h.e.l.lish mind; We take their seals and hands in blood For ever to renounce all good.

And then, as they in dens do lurk, We set the ugly jades a-work.

We know the treasures and the stores Lock'd up in caves with brazen doors; Gold and silver, sparkling stones, We pile on heaps, like dead men's bones.

There the devils brood and hover, Keep guards, that none should them discover; Put upon all the coasts of h.e.l.l, 'Tis we, 'tis we, stand sentinel.

SUPERSt.i.tIOUS FEAR OF WITCHCRAFT.

During the sixteenth century whole districts in some parts of Lancashire seemed contaminated with the presence of witches; men and beasts were supposed to languish under their charm, and the delusion which preyed alike on the learned and the vulgar did not allow any family to suppose that they were beyond the reach of the witch's power. Was the family visited by sickness? It was believed to be the work of an invisible agency, which in secret wasted the image made in clay before the fire, or crumbled its various parts into dust. Did the cattle sicken and die?

The witch and the wizard were the authors of the calamity. Did the yeast refuse to ferment, either in the bread or the beer? It was the consequence of a "bad wish." Did the b.u.t.ter refuse to _come_? The "familiar" was in the churn. Did the ship founder at sea? The gale or hurricane was blown by the lungless hag who had scarcely sufficient breath to cool her own pottage. Did the Ribble overflow its banks? The floods descended from the congregated sisterhood at Malkin tower. The blight of the season, which consigned the crops of the farmer to destruction, was the saliva of the enchantress, or distillations from the blear-eyed dame who flew by night over the field on mischief bent.

To refuse an alms to a haggard mendicant, was to incur maledictions soon manifest in afflictions of body, mind, and estate, in loss of cattle and other property, of health, and sometimes even of life itself. To escape from evils like these no sacrifice was thought too great. Superst.i.tions begat cruelty and injustice; the poor and the rich were equally interested in obtaining a deliverance; and the magistrate in his mansion, no less than the peasant in his cot, was deeply interested in abating the universal affliction. The Lancashire witches were princ.i.p.ally fortune-tellers and conjurors. The alleged securities against witchcraft were numerous, the most popular being the horse-shoe; hence we see in Lancashire so many thresholds ornamented with this counter-charm. Under these circ.u.mstances the situation of the reputed witch was not more enviable than that of the individuals or families over whom she exerted her influence. Linked by a species of infernal compact to an imaginary imp, she was shunned as a common pest, or caressed only on the same principle which leads some Indian tribes to pay homage to the devil. The reputed witches themselves were frequently disowned by their families, feared and detested by their neighbours, and hunted by the dogs as pernicious monsters. When apprehended they were cast into ponds in the belief that witches swim; so that to sink or swim was almost equally perilous to them; they were punctured by bodkins to discover the witch imp or devil marks; they were subjected to hunger and kept in perpetual motion till confessions were obtained from a distracted mind. On their trials they were listened to with incredulity and horror, and consigned to the gallows with as little pity as the basest of malefactors. Their imaginary crimes created a thirst for their blood; and people of all stations, from the highest to the lowest, attended their trials at Lancaster with an intensity of interest that such mischievous persons, now divested of their sting, naturally excited. It has been said that witchcraft and kingcraft in England came in and went out with the Stuarts. This is not true. The doctrine of necromancy was in universal belief in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, and there was not perhaps a man in Lancashire who doubted its existence. The belief in witchcraft and in demoniacal possession was confined to no particular sect or persuasion; the Roman Catholics, the members of the Church of England, the Presbyterians, Independents, and even the Methodists (though a sect of more recent standing) have all fallen into this delusion; and yet each denomination has upbraided the other with gross superst.i.tion, and not unfrequently with wilful fraud.

It is due, however, to the ministers of the Established Church to say that they were among the first of our public writers to denounce the belief in witchcraft with all its attendant mischiefs; and the names of Dr. Harsnett, afterwards Archbishop of York, of Dr. John Webster (who detected Robinson, the Lancashire witch-hunter), of Zach. Taylor, one of the king's preachers for Lancashire, and of Dr. Hutchinson, the chaplain in ordinary to George I., are all ent.i.tled to the public grat.i.tude for their efforts to explode these pernicious superst.i.tions. For upwards of a century the sanguinary and superst.i.tious laws of James I. disgraced the English statute-book; but in the ninth year of George II. (1735) a law was enacted repealing the statute of James I., and prohibiting any prosecution, suit, or proceeding against any person for witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment, or conjuration. In this way the doctrine of witchcraft, with all its attendant errors, was finally exploded, except among the most ignorant of the vulgar.[128]

A HOUSEHOLD BEWITCHED.

(From the _Late Lancashire Witches_, a comedy, by Thomas Heywood.)

My Uncle has of late become the sole Discourse of all the country; for a man respected As master of a govern'd family; The house (as if the ridge were fix'd below, And groundsills lifted up to make the roof), All now's turn'd topsy turvy In such a retrograde, preposterous way As seldom hath been heard of, I think never.

The good man In all obedience kneels unto his Son; He, with an austere brow, commands his Father.

The Wife presumes not in the Daughter's sight Without a prepared curtsey; the Girl, she Expects it as a duty, chides her mother, Who quakes and trembles at each word she speaks; And what's as strange, the Maid, she domineers O'er her young Mistress, who is awed by her.