The True Story vs. Myth of Witchcraft. William Godwin
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The confession (!) of this latter will serve as an example of the puerility of them all.
‘This Examinant saith, that she hath four Familiars, which shee had from her mother, about two and twenty yeeres since; and that the names of the said Imps are James, Pricke eare, Robyn, and Sparrow; and three of these Imps are like Mouses, and the fourth like a Sparrow. And this Examinant saith, that to whomsoever shee sent the said Imp called Sparrow, it killed them presently; and that, first of all, she sent one of her three Imps like Mouses, to nip the Knee of one Robert Freeman, of Little Clacton, in the County of Essex, aforesaid, whom the said Imp did so lame, that the said Robert dyed on that lamenesse within half a yeere after: And this Examinant saith, that she sent her said Imp, Prickeare to kill the daughter of John Rawlins of Much-Holland aforesaid, which died accordingly within a short time after; and that she sent her said Imp Prickeare to the house of one John Tillet; which did suddenly kill the said Tillet.
‘And this Examinant saith that shee sent her said Imp Sparrow, to kill the childe of one George Parby of Much-Holland aforesaid, which child the said Imp did presently kill; and that the offence this Examinant took against the said George Parby to kill his said childe, was, because the wife of the said Parby denyed to give this Examinant a pint of Milke; and this Examinant further saith that shee sent her said Imp Sparrow to the house of Samuel Ray, which, in a very short time did kill the wife of the said Samuel; and that the cause of this Examinant’s malice against the said woman was, because shee refused to pay to this Examinant two pence which she challenged to be due to her; And that, afterwards, her said Imp Sparrow killed the said Childe of the said Samuel Ray: and this Examinant confesseth, that as soon as shee had received the said four Imps from her said mother, the said Imps spake to this Examinant, and told her, shee must deny God and Christ, which this Examinant did then assent unto.’
In ‘The Witches of Huntingdon, their Examinations and Confessions,’ etc., London, 1646, we have eight cases of witchcraft which were tried at different times early in 1646. Among these eight, two were men; but there is no record of the fate of any of them. They are the same old story, the one with the most originality being that of Jane Willis, of Keiston, in the county of Huntingdon.
‘This Examinate saith, as she was making of her bedde in her Chamber, there appeared in the shape of a man in blacke cloaths, and blackish cloaths about six weeks past, and bid her good morrow, and shee asked what his name was, and he said his name was Blackeman, and asked her if she were poore, and she said I:47 then he told her he would send one Grissell and Greedigut to her, that shall do anything for her: Shee looking upon him, saw hee had ugly feete, and then she was very fearfull of him, for that sometimes he would seem to be tall, and sometimes lesse, and suddenly vanished away.
‘And being demanded whether he lay with her, shee said hee would have lain with her, but shee would not suffer him: and after Blackeman was departed from her, within three or 4 dayes, Grissell and Greedigut came to her, in the shape of dogges, with great brisles of hogges haire upon their backs, and said to her they were come from Blackeman to do what she would command them, and did aske her if shee did want any thing, and they would fetch it: and shee said she lacked nothing. Then they prayed her to give them some victuals, and she said she was poore and had none to give them; and so they departed: Yet she confessed that Blackeman, Grissel and Greedigut divers times came to her afterwards, and brought her two or three shillings at a time, and more saith not.’
Another type of witchcraft is to be found in ‘Wonderfull 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,’ etc. London, 1650. It begins thus:
‘First in harvest, some two Months before Michaelmas, about four or five of the Clock in the afternoone, Mistris Margaret Muschamp suddainly fell into a great Trance; her Mother being frighted, called Company, and with much adoe recovered her; as soone as the childe looked up, cryed out, deare Mother, weepe not for me; for I have seene a happy Sight, and heard a blessed sound, for the Lord hath loved my poore Soule, that he hath caused his blessed Trumpet to sound in my eares, and hath sent two blessed Angels to receive my sinfull soule. O weepe not for me, but rejoyce, that the Lord should have such respect to so sinfull a wretch as I am, as to send his heavenly Angels to receive my sinfull soule: with many other divine expressions.’
After this she continued pretty well till Candlemas Eve, when she was taken very bad indeed, losing the use of her limbs and speech, ‘and such torments, that no eyes could looke on her without compassion.’ For 16 weeks she refused all food, saying ‘that God fed her with Angel’s food: for truely all the 16 weekes fast she did not appeare to diminish her fatness or favour anything at all.
‘On Whitsun Eve in the morning, she had eight hours bitter torment. In the afternoone, her mother being abroad, left her Husband’s Brother’s Daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Muschamp with her, who made signes to her to carry her into the Garden, in her mother’s absence; her Cozen, casting a mantle about her, gave her her desire, and sate in the Garden with her on her knee; who, in the bringing down, had so little strength in her neck, that her head hung wagging downe; but was not set a quarter of an houre, till showing some signes to her Cozen, bolted off her knee, ran thrice about the Garden, expressing a shrill voyce, but did not speake presently: she that was brought down in this sad condition came up stairs on her owne legs.’
However, this improvement did not last long; she had more illnesses, and in one of them she made signs that she wished to write; so ‘they layd paper on her brest, and put a pen with inke in her hand, and she, not moving her eyes, writ, Jo. Hu. Do. Swo. have been the death of one deare friend, consume another, and torment mee.’ The wiseacres puzzled over this, and at last came to the conclusion that Mistress Dorothy Swinnow, then wife to Col. Swinnow, who subsequently died, had bewitched her. At another time this Margaret Muschamp wrote the same words with the addition, ‘two drops of his or her bloud would save my life; if I have it not, I am undone; for seven yeares to be tormented before death come.’
On this they sent to one John Hutton, a reputed wizard, who told them that it was Mistress Swinnow who was the culprit, and he gave them two drops of his own blood, which he wiped off his arm, with the paper on which the girl had written. Returning home, they applied this remedy, in some way unstated, and ‘On Munday night she fell into a heavenly rapture, rejoycing that ever she was borne, for these two drops of blood had saved her life.’ The girl was afterwards very ill, and Dorothy Swinnow, now a widow, was arrested, and committed to prison, where the narrative leaves off, with the addition of the confession of one Margaret White, who ‘Confesseth and saith, That she hath beene the Divells servant these five