Mist Over Pendle

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Robert Neill's novel is a classic tale of witchcraft set in a wild inaccessible corner of Lancashire and in a time when the ancient fear of demons and witches was still a part of life... and death. Read more Details

It was perhaps difficult for the judges charged with hearing the trials – Sir James Altham and Sir Edward Bromley – to understand King James's attitude towards witchcraft. The king was head of the judiciary, and Bromley was hoping for promotion to a circuit nearer London. Altham was nearing the end of his judicial career, but he had recently been accused of a miscarriage of justice at the York Assizes, which had resulted in a woman being sentenced to death by hanging for witchcraft. The judges may have been uncertain whether the best way to gain the King's favour was by encouraging convictions, or by "sceptically testing the witnesses to destruction". [12] Events leading up to the trials [ edit ] Elizabeth Southerns' family [13] Anne Whittle's family [13] When Margery Whittaker is sent to live with a distant cousin in the wilds of Lancashire she is little prepared for the superstitious happenings which take place within days of her arrival. A man dies in suspicious circumstances and the finger of blame is pointed towards the old crone Demdike and her gaggle of strange relatives. See also: European witchcraft Pendle Hill from the northwest. On the right is the eastern edge of Longridge Fell, which is separated from Pendle Hill by the Ribble valley. The novel The Familiars (2019) by Stacey Halls includes historical figures as characters in a story that is based at the time of the Pendle witch trials. The story focusses on Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a noblewoman who becomes pregnant at the age of seventeen, and becomes involved in the trial of her midwife Alice Gray who is accused of witchcraft. [94] 2012 anniversary [ edit ] Pendle Hill marked with the date 1612 on the 400th anniversary of the trials The Lancashire Witch trials of 1612 were the basis for this story. We have a young puritan girl, Margery, sent to her cousin Roger Nowell because her family doesn’t know what to do with her (she is distinctly un-puritan) and nobody can provide her with a dowry to marry her off. Roger’s way of life is more to Margery’s taste and, freed of the restrictions her upbringing had imposed on her, we see her blossom into an intelligent young woman. She accompanies her cousin, a Justice of the Peace, on his investigations into increasingly frequent accusations of witchcraft, soon becoming an integral part of the inquiries, her actions leading to at least one incidence of romance and several incidences of execution.

Anne Redferne was not so fortunate the following day, when she faced her second trial, for the murder of Robert Nutter's father, Christopher, to which she pleaded not guilty. Demdike's statement to Nowell, which accused Anne of having made clay figures of the Nutter family, was read out in court. Witnesses were called to testify that Anne was a witch "more dangerous than her Mother". [56] But she refused to admit her guilt to the end, and had given no evidence against any others of the accused. [57] Anne Redferne was found guilty. [58] Hasted, Rachel A. C. (1993), The Pendle Witch Trial 1612, Lancashire County Books, ISBN 978-1-871236-23-1

Being a HUGE fan of robert neill's 'mist over pendle', i was wondering if anyone had read kate mulhollands 'A cry of Innocence' ? Apparently it's a diferent take on the pendle witches but no less interesting ( fiction). I would appreciate your thoughts The committal and subsequent trial of the four women might have been the end of the matter, had it not been for a meeting organised by Elizabeth Device at Malkin Tower, the home of the Demdikes, [30] held on Good Friday 10 April 1612. [31] To feed the party, James Device stole a neighbour's sheep. [30] The minor elements of romance (after all, she was there to find a dowry if not a husband) were handled delicately and left me smiling More recently, I have been experimenting with 'moodscapes' and 'happenings', where I turn up at the canvas or paper and see what wants to come through.I live in the area too. I have just finished reading The Mist Over Pendle. You can see my thoughts on my reading list. Maybe I should take a look at this book too. urn:lcp:mistoverpendle0000neil:epub:18bf40de-286d-4ea9-b65d-78b3cf3e06ff Foldoutcount 0 Identifier mistoverpendle0000neil Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t5w78f99f Invoice 1652 Isbn 0090017900 Margery is a young woman of uncommon intelligence, raised in penury by a strict Puritan family which views her as disobedient and dangerous. Sent away to live with her distant cousin Roger in Pendle, Margery soon becomes Roger's partner in investigation, as a series of hideous desecrations force Roger to look further into the rumours of witchcraft. All the other accused lived in Lancashire, so they were sent to Lancaster Assizes for trial, where the judges were once again Altham and Bromley. The prosecutor was local magistrate Roger Nowell, who had been responsible for collecting the various statements and confessions from the accused. Nine-year-old Jennet Device was a key witness for the prosecution, something that would not have been permitted in many other 17th-century criminal trials. However, King James had made a case for suspending the normal rules of evidence for witchcraft trials in his Daemonologie. [44] As well as identifying those who had attended the Malkin Tower meeting, Jennet also gave evidence against her mother, brother, and sister. The trials of the Pendle witches in 1612 are among the most famous witch trials in English history, and some of the best recorded of the 17th century. The twelve accused lived in the area surrounding Pendle Hill in Lancashire, and were charged with the murders of ten people by the use of witchcraft. All but two were tried at Lancaster Assizes on 18–19 August 1612, along with the Samlesbury witches and others, in a series of trials that have become known as the Lancashire witch trials. One was tried at York Assizes on 27 July 1612, and another died in prison. Of the eleven who went to trial – nine women and two men – ten were found guilty and executed by hanging; one was found not guilty.

Anne Whittle (Chattox) was accused of the murder of Robert Nutter. [47] She pleaded not guilty, but the confession she had made to Roger Nowell—likely under torture—was read out in court, and evidence against her was presented by James Robinson, who had lived with the Chattox family 20 years earlier. He claimed to remember that Nutter had accused Chattox of turning his beer sour, and that she was commonly believed to be a witch. Chattox broke down and admitted her guilt, calling on God for forgiveness and the judges to be merciful to her daughter, Anne Redferne. [48] Statue of Alice Nutter in Roughlee

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