John Ashton

“ Thus we see that the poor witch had everything against her, which will account in a great way for those marvellous confessions we read of, when the poor, weary, baited and tortured woman would confess to anything to get a few hours’ respite from pain, well knowing that execution would follow, whether she confessed or no. In fact, no other hypothesis is possible, when we read of the extraordinary matters to which these poor women confessed. ”

“ When I hear the Relations that are made from all parts of the World, not only from Norway and Lapland, from the East and West Indies, but from every particular Nation in Europe, I cannot forbear thinking that there is such an Intercourse and Commerce with Evil Spirits, as that which we express by the name of Witchcraft. ”

“ That the Devil could show himself to man, in a tangible form, was, for many centuries, an article of firm belief, but, when it came to be argued out logically, it was difficult of proof. The only evidence that could be adduced which could carry conviction was from the Bible, which, of course, was taken as the ipsissima verba of God, and, on that, the old writers based all their proof. ”

“ Cockaine let fall his hand, and Crook embracing Cockaine desired his reconcilement: giving him many thanks for his deliverance, then rose they all and came together, discoursed sometimes godly, and sometimes praied, for all this while was there such stamping over the roof of the house, as if 1,000 horse had there been trotting. This night, all the stones brought in the night before, and laid up in the withdrawing room, were all carried away again by that which brought them in, which at the wonted time, left off, and, as it were, went out, and so away. ”

“ The Witch of Endor—The ‘Mulier Malefica’ of Berkeley—Northern Witches.
Of all the extraordinary popular delusions that have existed, the wave of belief in witchcraft which flowed over this land in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is one of the most remarkable. The belief that some people have the power of exercising supernatural control over their fellow-creatures is not confined to any land, and dates from remote antiquity. But it is with the witches of Britain, and those of the Britons who emigrated from their country, that it is my province to deal. ”

“ Edward Ellins, the Father of the said Mary, is also yet living, and a Man of honest Repute, and utterly free (as is also the said Mary, and all the rest of her Friends) from the least Suspition of any Fraud or Cheat in the whole business: This was known to hundreds of People in the said Town, and parts Adjacent, and many of them, yet living, are ready to attest to the truth of it.’
In the case of Anne Bodenham, [50] which is too long and intricate to give even a résumé of, we have some entirely new features, partaking more of the magician than the witch. ”

“ In the foregoing examples we have seen the Devil in human form, and properly apparelled, but occasionally he showed himself in his supposed proper shape—when, of course, his intentions were at once perceived; and on one occasion we find him called upon by an Angel, to execute justice on a bad man. ”

“ The New Testament, especially the Gospels, decidedly and authoritatively teach that the Devil, or Devils, had power to enter into and possess men, and Jesus not only cast them out, but gave His disciples power to do the same ”

“ The Queen of Scotland is said to be a zealous Catholic, and the King inclined thereto, because an Agnus Dei given him by the Queen had miraculously saved him in a tempest at sea, stirred up by witches, as the Witches themselves confess.’
It is a curious fact, well worthy the thinking over, that England and Europe had a comparative immunity from the assaults of the Devil, until after the Reformation, when for a time he became rampagious, troubling even the arch-Reformer Luther himself. ”

“ Or, as we see, a wizard might mount his cat, or a witch a sheep; or, if a great favourite, the Devil himself would carry her, taking the form of a he-goat, in which shape he frequently presided at the Sabbat. ”

“ The Egyptians had their Typho, the Assyrians their Ti-a-mat (the Serpent) , the Hebrews their Beelzebub, or Prince of Flies, [1] and the Scandinavians their Loki. And many religions teach that the evil influence has a stronger hold upon mankind than the good influence—so great, indeed, as to nullify it in a large degree. Christianity especially teaches this: ‘Enter ye by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they that enter in thereby. ”

“ Captain Crooke came not untill Tuesday night, and how he sped that night, the gate-keeper’s wife can tell, if she dareth; but, what she hath whispered to her gossips, shall not be made a part of this our Narrative, nor any more particulars which have fallen from the Commissioners themselves, and their servants to other persons; they are all, or most of them alive, and may add to it when they please, and, surely, have not a better way to be revenged of him who troubled them, than according to the Proverb, tell truth and shame the Devil. ”

“ The man in black sits at the hither End, and Anne Bishop usually sat next to him: He useth some words before meat, and none after; his voice is audible, but very low.
‘That they are sometimes carried in their bodies and their clothes, sometimes without, and, as the examinant thinks, only their spirits are present; yet they know one another.... The man in black sometimes plays on a pipe or cittern, and the company dances: at last the Devil vanisheth, and all are carried to their several homes, in a short space. ”

“ The Commissioners had not yet done their work, wherefore they must stay, and, being all men of the sword, they must not seem afraid to encounter with anything, though it be the Devill, therefore, with pistols charged, and drawn swords laied by their bed sides, they applied themselves to take some rest, when something, in the midst of night, so opened and shut the window casements, with such claps, that it awakened all that slept; some of them peeping out to look what was the matter with the windows, stones flew about the rooms as if hurled with many hands ”

“ This night they awaked, not until the midst of the night, they perceived the room to shake, [Pg 31] with something that walkt about the bed-chamber, which, having done so for a while, it walkt into a withdrawing room, where it took up a Brasse warming-pan, and returning with it into the bed-chamber, therein made so loud a noise, in these Captains’ own words, it was as loud and scurvie as a ring of five untuned Bells rang backward, but the Captains, not to seem afraid, next day made mirth of what had past, and jested at the Devil in the pan. ”

“ In the next little book of the same year ‘A Detection of damnable driftes, practized by three Witches arraigned at Chelmissforde in Essex, at the late Assizes there holden, whiche were executed in Aprill 1579.’ In reality there were four witches, but one was not convicted, as no manslaughter could be found about her. I propose to give one little anecdote of each, whereby we shall find out something of the Devil’s appearance to witches, their families, and their extreme malice in petty things. ”

“ Besides, it is put in holy-water, and the Apostles were called the ‘salt of the earth’—sufficient reasons to disgust any Devil.
Before commencing the meal, and on finishing it, the witches say grace—not exactly as we do, but paraphrasing the benediction, filling it with blasphemies, and making Satan author and preserver of all things. And it is a curious thing that all authorities agree that the viands served at these [Pg 170] feasts have no flavour or taste, and the meat is only horseflesh; also when the witches rise from table they are as hungry as when they sat down. ”

“ There was not a Maid in the Parish that would take a Pinn of her, though she should offer a Bag of Mony with it. She goes by the Name of Moll White, and has made the Country ring with several imaginary Exploits that are palmed upon her. If the Dairy Maid does not make the Butter come so soon as she would have it, Moll White is at the bottom of the Churne. If a Horse sweats in the Stable, Moll White has been upon his Back. If a Hare makes an unexpected Escape from the Hounds, the Huntsman curses Moll White. ”

“ Tob. Dog. Thou art a Reprobate and a lying Curre; you were either whelpt in Lapland, or in Finland; where there is none but divells and Sorcerers live.’
Poor Boy met his fate at Marston Moor, by a silver bullet fired ‘by a valliant Souldier, who had skill in Necromancy.’ Judging by the hail of bullets by which he is surrounded, he must indeed have borne a charmed life, the loss of which an old witch deplores.
One of the duties of the familiar was to acquaint the witch with the next meeting between the witches and the Devil. ”

“ Finally, the Devil, after having taken the form of a he-goat, is consumed by fire, and reduced to ashes, which the witches collect and hide, in order that they may assist them in their diabolical designs.
Of the English Sabbat we shall hear enough when we come to the various cases of witchcraft. Scot quotes Bodin, the great French exponent of witchcraft, ‘who saith, at these magical assemblies the witches never fail to danse, and in their danse they sing these words: Har, har, diuell, diuell, danse here, danse here, plaie here, plaie here, Sabbath, Sabbath. ”

“ These can procure to themselves and to others, taciturnitie and insensibilitie in their torments. These can bring trembling to the hands, and strike terror into the minds of them that apprehend them. These can manifest unto others, things hidden and lost, and foreshow things to come; and see them as though they were present. These can alter men’s minds to inordinate love or hate. These can kill whom they list, with lightening and thunder. These can take awaie man’s courage, and the power of generation. ”

“ Familiar Spirits—Matthew Hopkins, the ‘Witch-finder’—Prince Rupert’s dog Boy—Unguents used for transporting Witches from Place to Place—Their Festivities at the Sabbat.
In order to enable the witch to carry out her benevolent intentions, the Devil supplied her with one or more familiar spirits, of which we shall hear much in the accounts of cases of witchcraft, and in this old English illustration we see the Devil presenting one to a young witch. ”

“ Tho’ some of the Neighbors Children would be strangely affected with unknown Distempers, as Vomiting of Pins, there Bodies turn’d into strang Postures, and such like; many were frighted with strange Apperitions of Cats, which, of a sudden, would vanish away; these, and such like, made those who lived in the Neighbourhood, both suspicious and fearful of her: [Pg 276] Till, at last, the Devil (who always betrays those that deal with him) thus brought the Truth to Light. ”

“ When an old [Pg 147] Woman begins to doat, and grow chargeable to a Parish, she is generally turned into a Witch, and fills the whole Country with extravagant Fancies, imaginary Distempers, and terrifying Dreams. ”

“ After the Devil had twice set this poor man’s house on fire, and ‘the persons within the family suffering many losses, as the Cutting of their Coaths, the throwing of Peits, the pulling down of Turf and Feal from the Roof and Walls of the House, and the stealing of their Apparel, and the pricking of their Flesh and Skin with pins, the Presbytery set apart a day for a solemn humiliation, which seems to have had some effect upon Satan, for soon after he found a voice. ”

“ The infernall Angels are, for their strength called principalityes and powers: those blessed ones applye all their might to set up and aduaunce the glory of God, to defend and succour his children: the deuils bend all their force against God, agaynst his glory, his truth and his people. And this is done with such fiercenes, rage and cruelty, that the holy ghost paynteth them out under the figure of a great red or fiery dragon, and roaring lyon, in very deed anything comparable to them. He hath such power and autority indeede, that hee is called the God of the world. ”

“ In ‘A Pleasant Treatise of Witches,’ London, 1673, we have the following account of the Sabbat: ‘They [witches] are likewise reported to have each of them a Spirit or Imp attending on, and assigned to them, which never leave those to whom they are subject, but assist and render them all the service they command. These give the witches notice to be ready on all solemn appointments and meetings, which are ordinarily on Tuesday or Wednesday night, and then they strive to separate themselves from the company of all other creatures, not to be seen by any ”

“ This was coincident with a belief in his personality; and it is only in modern times that that personality takes an alluring form. In the olden days the Devil was always depicted as ugly and repulsive as the artist could represent him, and yet he could have learned a great deal from the modern Chinese and Japanese. ”

“ In short, when I consider the Question, Whether there are such Persons in the World as those we call Witches? My Mind is divided between the two opposite Opinions, or rather (to speak my Thoughts freely) I believe, in general, that there is, and has been such a thing as Witchcraft ”