Witch trials in The Daylight Gate

Transcription

1 Witch trials in The Daylight Gate -Julie Steffensen Stand on the flat top of Pendle Hill and you can see everything of the county of Lancashire. Some say you can see other things too. This is a haunted place. The living and the dead come together on the hill. Winterson 2012, p. 158 The Daylight Gate is a dark story based on the witch trials that occurred in Lancashire England in year The opening paragraph of this story reflects the dark place in which this tale is portrayed. Pendle Hill is a hill with a big flat top located near the Forest of Bowland (Wikipedia 2013b). It is known as a haunted place, people say that it is one of the most haunted places in England. The story of the Lancashire witch trials is well known and documented by many through the years. It is also known as The witch, The pedlar and the pedlars son, Lancaster witches and Thomas Potts' book The wonderful Discovrie of witches in the countie Lancaster (Gibson 2013, p. 1; Potts 2006). It was a witch trial that accused, convicted and executed a number of women and men that were accused of witchcraft causing harm, raising spirits, using familiars and holding a black mass on Easter Friday. The start of this particular story is a young woman named Alizon Device. She was accused of bewitching a pedlar, John Law. It was said that she used her familiar in the form a dog to lame him because he would not sell her any pins (Winterson 2012, pp. 3-4). Some believed it to be true and an actual account of witchery, others were skeptical of the occurrence. Among the Lancaster witches there was a well-respected and wealthy landowner Alice 148

2 Nutter. The real Alice Nutter professed her innocence through the whole trial and right up until the day she was hung with the others (Wikipedia 2013a). In the Introduction Winterson (2012, pp. vii-viii) states that she based the characters in her story on true people and real events. The people and events are real but the true story and motives of Alice Nutter, her heroine in the book, to this day are unknown. Winterson's version of the witch trials is told from a different perspective than what has been done in the past. She writes of rituals, dark spirits and the poor and abusive incarceration that the people accused of witchcraft were subjected too. People were accused and imprisoned before they were even put on trial and convicted. Winterson describes through the character of Roger Nowell how this process could be seen as merciful 'pack them off to Lancaster to await trial or hand them over to the mob for a ducking that would certainly have meant a drowning' (Winterson 2012, p. 17). These witch trials where originally documented by Thomas Potts in his famous book The wonderful discovrie of witches in the countie of Lancaster in This was a written account of events from an eyewitness point of view and a collection of documents from the examinations to the trials. Thomas Potts was the Prosecutor's Clerk and present at the trial as well as being involved with the interview process that lead to the convections (Gibson 2013). The truth behind witchcraft and dark magic is a bit hard to swallow. There is controversy regarding whether the men and women that were prosecuted and hanged were actually witches or normal people surrounded by superstition. As discussed earlier The Daylight Gate is a version of the Lancaster witches from There were plays and other stories written about these same events involving the Device and Chattox families. Winterson uses 149

3 Thomas Potts' documentation as a reference to her version of the story. She describes Thomas Potts as a 'proud little cockerel of a man' (Winterson 2012, p. 17). Winterson also goes on to imply that Potts is a troublemaker looking for reasons to incriminate more women in Lancashire. He was sent from London to Lancashire as a Recording Clerk for the Prosecution and the Crown (Winterson 2012, p. 17). After reading King James's Daemonology, he states that he was an expert on all things witchcraft, and was there to hunt all of the other members of the Device and Chattox families. His reasoning and belief is that where there is one witch, there are many. Four women (the main conspirators) may be in prison but the rest of their family is not. This is putting them under suspicion of witchcraft with no just cause (Winterson 2012, pp ). The portrayal of Thomas Potts as a troublemaker is highlighted again in Winterson's book with the arrest of Jane Southworth. Winterson is using the Gunpowder Plot and suspected fellow conspirators that supposedly fled to Lancashire, to show that some of the accusations of witchcraft were falsified or fabricated to get people out of the way. Imprisoning them in Lancaster Castle until which time they gave the Crown information they were after, and so set free or sentenced to death. While Roger Nowell is hunting Christopher Southworth, known to practice the old religion and suspected part of the Gunpowder Plot, Thomas Potts sought out to arrest and incarcerate his sister Jane. He claims that she is guilty of witchcraft in the form of using a poppet to cause harm (Winterson 2012, pp ). Roger Nowell is outwardly appalled by this and questions the accusation. This shows the reader that maybe Thomas Potts is a puppet for the Crown and using witchcraft to bring people to justice or torture them for information. Such entrapments cloud the truth behind witchcraft accusation and play on the superstitions of the small population of Lancashire and more 150

4 widely, England. Winterson implies that the motives and honesty of the real Potts, in relation to his writing of Alizon's story, is under question. Therefore his portrayal of other witches and uses of witchcraft in his book is also questionable. Potts clearly wasn't an innocent third party in the trials, he was commissioned to be there and also had his own agenda of publishing his book (Gibson 2013, pp. 1-2). This may be seen as the first bias and reasoning for the untrue accounts of what happened to John Law and Alizon Device. Also his documents include three different versions of the cursing by Alizon Device. There is Alizon's confession, John Law's accounts of the event and also John's son Abraham (Gibson 2013, pp. 1-2). Alizon's version of events was that she asked to buy pins from John Law and he refused. A dog then appeared to her and asked what she wanted it to do to him; she then asked it to lame him (Gibson 2013, p. 1). John then fell ill and was said to be under a witch's curse. Winterson draws some inspiration from this version of the event by both writing of the black dog, and Alizon asking it to make the pedlar lame. But Winterson embellished the story to include Alizon's 'grand-dam' and possibly another woman, as well as John Law making it to town and holding up three fingers and saying 'Demdike' (Winterson 2012, p. 4). This was then taken as true and the ladies were hunted, examined and incarcerated to await trial. Another version that was written by Potts was that of John Law himself. He states in court that Alizon was begging for pins, not wanting to buy them. This is one contradiction of events. It was said later that Alizon was known to be out that day begging, not buying goods. Once John had refused her she got angry, he went to walk past her and then fell ill. Abraham (John's son) described his father's illness in a way that seems like it would have been a stroke (only with the knowledge today we can make that conclusion) and states that his father gave Alizon pins even though she had no money (Potts 2006). This account is also different as it shows that 151

5 Alizon got what she wanted so there was no need to get angry, or curse John Law. They thought this would show her as a cold-hearted witch that cursed for the sake of cursing. You can now see how this story, even to this day, is a true mystery; no one account seems truthful or the same as another. In Winterson's book she uses Potts' book and the different versions of the story to rewrite the Lancaster witches from a different angle. She writes of their witchcraft and the meeting at Malkin Tower on Good Friday to discuss breaking Alizon and Old Demdike out of jail (Winterson 2012, p. 29). She uses Alice Nutter as her heroine in the piece, and involves stories of the Gunpowder Plot which enhances the view of a suspicious England. Alice Nutter was part of the trial at the August Assizes and hanged for being a witch even though she was wealthy and not part of the two families accused (Winterson 2012, p. vii). In Winterson's version of the story, the character of Alice Nutter is not like the true one from history. Winterson (2012, p. vii) tries to unravel the mystery of why Alice was convicted and hung for witchcraft alongside the likes of the Chattox and Demdike families. In The Daylight Gate and in the history books the true Alice Nutter was a wealthy gentlewoman. She stayed silent through her trials except in pleading not guilty. But with the confession of the young Jennet Device, and being found at the famous Easter Friday meeting held in Malkin Tower, she was convicted and hanged with the others at Gallows Hill Lancaster ('Statue of Pendle Witch Alice Nutter Unveiled', 2012). Winterson describes Alice's past as being involved with whom we know as Old Demdike and the Queen's own astrologer, occultist and mathematician John Dee. This plants the idea that maybe Alice was a witch and more involved in the Dark magic more than was thought. 152

6 As can be seen it is an intriguing story and a well-known page in England's history. Winterson chooses to use Alice Nutter as her heroine. She writes of Alice's noble and strong demeanor: 'Her wealth. And she had not been born to it nor had she inherited it' (Winterson 2012, p. 5). This shows her strength and that she made her own way in the world. This can be seen as a true representation of the real Alice Nutter. But Winterson writes of her relationship with Elizabeth Southern (Old Demdike). Winterson's writes of Alice's past in relation to Elizabeth. 'Her family were from Pendle Forest as mine are, but separated by the hill' (Winterson 2012, p. 57). Also Elizabeth's family was already associated with witchcraft. Alice married young and became a widow quite young also. Leaving to find her fortune her path crossed with Elizabeth's once more. John Dee, Edward Kelley and Elizabeth were working together and asked Alice to join them. She and Elizabeth fell in love and lived for a year together. 'Elizabeth and I were lovers, and we lived as lovers, sharing one bed and one body' (Winterson 2012, p. 60). So sets the scene for Alice in Winterson's book. This is the mystery solved on how and why Alice was involved with the witch trials. Winterson places Alice with Old Demdike in their younger years. They were both involved in science and magic. Alice was still oblivious to the true happenings surrounding her, she just knew she was finding her fortune and loving living with Elizabeth. It was Elizabeth that truly opened Alice's eyes to witchcraft. Growing jealous of Alice, Elizabeth turns to the dark side claiming that she sold her soul to the dark one and sealing the contract with her own blood (Winterson 2012, p. 62). This is what started a dark chapter in the book and brought to life magic, witchcraft and Satan (known as the dark one). After Alizon and her grand-dam are incarcerated in Lancaster Castle the rest of the family is under suspicion. Early on in the story Alice comes 153

7 across 2 men and a boy raping and attacking Sarah Device. As she is family of Demdike she is automatically accused of witchcraft. The true story of the Pendle Witches mainly involved two families in the area, The Device (Demdike) and the Chattox. Alice Nutter was a wealthy landowner, well dressed and well connected socially at the time of the trials. The start of the trouble for Alice is when she is caught at a meeting in Malkin Tower on Good Friday by a magistrate Roger Nowell. There were 13 people at that meeting and all were imprisoned and accused of witchcraft. There are many ways to conclude this piece, I could have easily researched and written more about Winterson's excellent version of the famous Lancaster witch trials and all the people involved. It is a fantastic read and depicts the age and place in a dark yet compelling story. I will finish with a quote from the book that sums up Lancaster England in the 1600s: 'The North is the dark place The north of England is untamed. Lancashire is the wild part of the untamed' (Winterson 2012, p. 1). References Gibson, M 2013, READING WITCHCRAFT, Taylor and Francis. Poole, R 2002, The Lancashire witches: histories and stories, Manchester University Press, Manchester; New York. Potts, T 2006, Discovery of witches, Project Gutenberg. Shilling, J 2012, 'Witching hour', New Statesman, vol. 141, no. 5118, pp , retrieved 25 May , 'Statue of Pendle witch Alice Nutter unveiled', retrieved 4 July 2013 < Winterson, J 2012, The Daylight Gate, Arrow Books, London. 154

8 Wikipedia, 2013, 'Pendle witches', retrieved 19 July 2013, < Wikipedia, 2013, 'Pendle Hill', retrieved 4 July 2013, <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/pendle_hill>. HOW TO CITE: Julie Steffensen, Witch Trials in The Daylight Gate, The Journal of Supernatural Literature 1 (2013):