Witches Galore of Newchurch in Pendle, Lancashire, United Kingdom

<h1>Witches Galore of Newchurch in Pendle, Lancashire, United Kingdom - The Pendle Witches!</h1> <table width="792" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr> <td width="792" height="1" bgcolor="232323"><img src="images/shim.gif" width="1" height="1"></td> </tr> <tr> <td height="33"><a href="homepage.html" target="_self">Homepage</a>  |  <a href="aboutus.html" target="_self">About us</a>  |  <a href="mailorder.html">Mail Order</a>  |  <a href="pendle.html" target="_self">Pendle</a>  |  <a href="thewitches.html" target="_self">The Witches</a>  |  <a href="contactus.html" target="_self">Contact us</a></td> </tr> </table> In the late 1500s and early 1600s, rumours of witchcraft were rampant throughout Britain. Poor sanitation and nutrition levels produced many early deaths but if the deceased had been cursed, or threatened by a common person, the death was nearly always attributed to witchcraft. When King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England, a new wave of persecution against all those who practiced witchcraft was introduced. As the new sovereign traveled south to meet his rejoicing subjects, he announced the customary pardon to all offenders. He made one exception; those who practiced witchcraft. James was a strong believer in witchcraft, and he believed that all those who practiced it were evil. Thus, the door was opened for the ‘intolerant, the superstitious and the unscrupulous’. It was a time when an over- zealous magistrate could make his name by seeking out witches. One such magistrate was Roger Nowell, the man that tried the infamous Pendle witches. According to the historian Richard Catlow, the case of the Pendle Witches involved two peasant families, the Demdikes and the Chattoxes. Both families were led by old women- Old Demdike, whose official name was Elizabeth Southern, and Anne Whittle, alias Chattox. Demdike, a woman of about 80, lived with her widowed daughter, Elizabeth Device and her three children, Alizon, James and Jennet. Chattox was also a widow; she lived with her daughters, Elizabeth or Bessie, and Anne. Some years earlier a quarrel had broken out between the two families. The Demdikes family home was robbed and Alizon Chaddox was the prime suspect. As punishment, Elizabeth Device's husband, John Device, arranged for Bessie to pay a yearly tribute of meal if she would do no more harm. John died a short time later, reducing the Demdikes to a life of poverty. The yearly tribute stopped being paid and thus, Old Mother Demdike and Alizon were forced to look for alms. Richard Catlow believes that alms were more forthcoming in the Pendle and subsequently, rumours spread about alleged misdeeds of both the Demdikes and the Chattoxs. In the words of Richard Catlow, "The Demdikes and the Chattoxes were sitting on a powder keg. It needed only a spark to set it alight". The spark came on March 18th, 1612, when Alizon was returning home after a day’s begging. She met an old pedlar, John Law of Halifax. Alizon asked him for some pins, but he refused. In her anger she cursed him and he fell to the ground. Today, this would have been diagnosed as a stroke; but back then it was attributed to witchcraft. Alizon was charged with bewitching him. In court, she confessed to laming the pedlar. She also described, in great detail, her family’s involvement in witchcraft. She confessed that when out begging, Old Demdike often asked her to let a familiar demon come to her. Alizon also described how Old Demdike had tried to cure a sick cow belonging to John Nutter, how she had turned milk into butter, and how she had killed the daughter of Richard Baldwin. Nowell acted quickly by imprisoning those who had been accused who had not had the chance to escape. The trials began on Monday August 17th, and mainly depended on the testimony of Jennet Device, who accused her own mother of witchcraft as well as others. Elizabeth on hearing her daughter's accusations pleaded guilty to the claims. At the trials, all of the people accused were claimed to have taken part in several murders as a result of practicing witchcraft. After the trial, those who had been on trial were urged to confess their sins, and then all were sentenced to be hung. They were all taken out and hanged on Thursday August 20th, the entire trial lasted only three days. This kind of trial was not uncommon during this period. A suspected witch was stripped and searched, and examined for a special ‘witches mark’. Needles were also used to find out if the ‘witch’ was insensitive to pain. These special marks and insensitive places were believed to be the spots where the witch’s demon had sucked her blood. Other evidence of witchcraft was decided by ‘trial by water’. The floaters were hung as witches, and the sinkers were considered innocents. However, many of these suspected witches drowned even before they could be hung. In Scotland witches were burned at the stake, England used the system of hanging. The first book written on the subject was published in 1613. Written by Thomas Potts, a court clerk, it was entitled ‘The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster’. Since then, numerous books have been written about the witches including Pendle Witches by R Callow (1994) and P Rego and B Morrison's, Pendle Witches, published in 1996.