Trial of a Pendle Witch

(York Assizes, 20th August 1612) Judge Sir James Altham, Speyks, Tha wi power t’ eeal wi power t’ cumfort logic an’ knowledge ney i’ t’ nivver t’ be, nobbut God grants ‘is holy wesdom t’ select few. T’ thee wi nooa gumption livin’ i’ t’ rural backwatter I’ t’ meant t’ be, larned yan mun nivver tarnish t’ simple i’ t’ mind. Yit t’day ton tha ‘eead afoora cursin’ starts een t’ een mun nivver unite. Lanky Geeate wi dawters of Pendle, Demdike,Chattox,Alice Nutter, condeem’d as durst ‘ere at Yoork. wun Jennet Preston guilty t’ b’ ung afoora sowl t’ burn i’ t’ell, tha wi oout regal Status a threeat t’ man’s rule ‘ere on t’earth God i’ t’ ‘is heaven. © Harry J Horsman 2010 “One here in this trial, at York sees one of the first ever recorded aspects of man’s sheer fear of woman power, not too much is made of witchcraft here, only the street-wise education these women professed, with the power to heal, also the enterprise and commerce they created, their earnings in far excess of the average man in the district, their fame soon to spread far and wide. A total of twelve woman were tried, one here in York, eleven at Lancaster Gate, where ten were found guilty and hung.”