A Sarah Griffith was long expected to be a bad woman, but the town became especially suspicious when the children started vomiting pins, experiencing fits, and seeing apparitions of cats, Mother Griffith went to buy something when the man accused her of bewitching his scales, she said she would get revenge, after his shop was in disorder and he had a strange disease, later a group of young men spotted Sarah and threw her in the water to find that she floats, she cursed on of the man’s arms and his fingers went black, and died of pain, Mother Griffith was apprehended, she pleaded innocent but was committed to Bridewel.
Tag: NotGuilty
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A tryal of witches at the assizes
Rose and Amy were arranged for bewitching several men and women, to which they pled not guilty, several witnesses were unable to testify after going into fits, Amy suckled her mistress’s baby against demands, he later broke out in fits and was taken to a doctor, a toad appeared in their house which they threw in the fire, they found Amy to be scorched the next day, Amy was found guilty, and Elizabeth Pacy, giving her testimony, was mute until she was put near Amy when she scratched her face, the daughter of Elizabeth also fell into fits, they would cry out the names of Rose and Amy, they were sent to their Aunts where the accused also arrived, throwing up pins, they sent several imps to torment them, they were found guilty, they were hanged but did not confess.
Includes accounts of robberies and other crimes, in addition to the trial of Iane Kent, who bewitched to death a five-year old after first bewitching her father’s swine, tried to make a business transaction with him but wouldn’t pay, after which his daughter’s body started swelling, he was advised by a doctor to boil his wife’s hair and other things, which caused the witch pain and made her swell the next day, one women found a teat on her back and holes behind her ears but she was found not guilty.
Joan Buts bewitched a Mary Farmer to death, and did the same to an Elizabeth Burrige, the Farmers went to a Dr. Bourn who advised them to burn their child’s clothes to make the witch appear, and she did, Elizabeth reported leaving her master’s house to see a goose coming towards her, bringing her mistress outside they were attacked with stones, she pulled a piece of clay out of her mistress’ back, the next morning she saw Joan Buts, she plead innocent and was found not guilty.
A Report of how the Devil had recruited hundred of children, the whole town was examined by the King’s Commission, many confessed and were sentenced to death, most those who pled not guilty were similarly executed, others were lashed, about 300 were seduced by the devil, the town used to go to ‘Blockula,’ where the witches and devil met, the devil had sons and daughters by the town, includes an account of a boy who had colored rocks voiding from his penis.
Joan Butts was indicted for the bewitching to death of Mary Farmer and Elizabeth Burrige, she plead not guilty, when Mary’s clothes were burnt Butts appeared, clay was pulled from Elizabeth’s back, apparently Butts used to go around begging, she was found not guilty.
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The power of vvitchcraft
Mr. William Harrison, steward to Lady Nowell, hired a son of a widow named Perry to be his servant, she was thought to be a witch, she and her two sons encountered Harrison, beat, and robbed him, his family thought him to be murdered when they couldn’t find him, the three were suspected, examined, and hanged at the Assizes in Glocester, they would not confess however, and said he was not murdered, he was at the time was apprehended by a Turkish ship and employed as a servant there until his master died and he returned to England, this was apparently caused by witchcraft.
Some elderly women were being arranged for witchcraft, two of the chief witness fell into fits in front of the Judges, they then vomited knives, wool, pins, and marble on the floor, the Judges were satisfied with the evidence against the witches but decided to give more time before deciding if the vomit was from the devil or something artificial produced by the women, and then contains a translation from Latin of physician’s notes about the disease.
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The witch of Wapping
Joan Peterson was accused of poisoning a doctor, bewitching cows, bewitched a man to near death for not giving her all her money, she was executed.
Abraham Vandenbemde, Thomas Crompton, and Thomas Collet got a warrant for a Jone Peterson for bewitching to death Lady Powell, who was searched with no findings and examined pleading not guilty, but was still executed and retained her innocence till death.