it might be certain whether he did really live without Meat or not, my Lord Chief Justice put him into the House of Mr. Kensy, a Surgeon, in November following, that he might make Tryal of him.
‘March 25, 1702, this Hathaway was tried before Lord Chief Justice Holt, and Mr. Baron Hatfell, in Southwark, the Place in which the Fact was best known, and where any witnesses might appear without Charge.
‘On Hathaway’s side, these things were sworn that I have mentioned already.
‘To convict him of Imposture, it was deposed, That on purpose for an Experiment, Dr. Martin, Minister of the Parish, had contrived that he scratch’d another Woman, when he thought he had scratch’d this Sarah Morduck; and upon that, he opened his Eyes; but, being told he had scratch’d the wrong Woman, he pretended to be blind and dumb again. And the manner of his doing it was such, as showed him a crafty fellow, taking care of himself; for he felt her Arm four times over, before he would scratch her.
‘To prove that his vomiting Pins was by a Trick, it was deposed, That immediately after he had vomited great Numbers in appearance upon the Ground, and was going to vomit more, Care being taken that he should vomit into a Basin, and his Hands being kept down below it, there was not a Pin in the Basin, but a great many crooked ones in his Pockets, in readiness to have play’d his Tricks with.
‘Some of the Noises that were said to be made in the Bed, were shewed to be made by his own Feet scratching the Bed Post.
‘Besides what he got by Gifts and Collections, it was proved that he had tried to make a Gain, by printing a Narrative of his own Case.
‘With respect to his Fasting, it was said by one of his own Witnesses, that there came from him five Times more than he took. After two Days fasting, and refusing to take any thing from Mr. Kensy, for fear he should really starve himself, rather than own his knavery, Mr. Kensy contrived to let him have Meat in a private Way, by this Device. He pretended to fall out with his Maid in Hathaway’s hearing, and said she gave him Meat; and therefor he gave her Warning to be gone. She carried on the Design, and told him she was as ready to be gone as he was to have her go; and, after this feigned Quarrell, she spake kindly to Richard, and bad him take nothing from her Master; for, while she stay’d she would take Care of him. After this, he took Meat from her; but a Child being in the Room, he pointed that it might not see him. He eat and drank any Thing she gave him, Ale, Brandy, Fish, Pudding, Mutton, &c. Once he was drunk, and spew’d, and covered his Vomit with Ashes; But if either Mr. Kensy, or anyone else offered him any, he refused to take it; and, when he had eaten heartily, he would shew them his Belly clung up to his Back, as though there had been nothing in it. The Maid saw this openly, Mr. Kensy saw it through a private Hole; and, once, he had four Neighbours with him, that saw it as well as he. He eat in this manner for eleven Days together, and yet pretended to continue his Fast. If they asked him how many Weeks he had fasted before he came to Mr. Kensy’s House? he counted Ten upon his Fingers. If they asked him how many Weeks he had fasted since his coming thither? he counted Two, tho’ they had seen him eat eleven Days of the two Weeks.
‘When they had Proof enough, Mr. Kensy told him he was discover’d, and said his Friends were in Custody, and had confess’d the whole Matter. Upon that he cried passionately and said he would tell the Lord Chief Justice the whole Truth, and asked, If his Mother was safe? But, my Lord not being at his Chamber, he, in about an Hour after, recanted, and said again that he was bewitched.
‘These Things were deposed at large by many and substantial Witnesses; insomuch that the Jury, without going from the Bar, returned him Guilty.
‘Some Months after, my Lord Chief Justice Holt past Sentence upon him, That he should suffer Imprisonment a Year, and stand in the Pillory three Times.’
The last case of witchcraft in England, where a so-called witch was tried and condemned by judge and jury (although she was not executed), was that of Jane Wenham in 1712. I am aware that another and later case is cited in 1716 of one Mrs. Hicks and her daughter, said to have been executed at Huntingdon, for ‘selling their souls to the devil, making their neighbours vomit pins, and raising a storm by which a certain ship was almost lost’; but as no one yet has been able to find any record of this case, I beg leave to doubt its existence.
But Jane Wenham’s was a cause célèbre. She lived at Walkern, a village in Hertfordshire, about four miles from Stevenage. The account of the proceedings at her trial is very long, so that I shall only give two or three of the informations laid against her:
‘Matthew Gilston, of the Parish of Walkerne, says upon Oath, that, on New Years Day last past, he carrying Straw upon a Fork from Mr. Gardiner’s Barn, met Jane Wenham, who asked him for some Straw, which he refused to give her; then she said she would take some, and accordingly took some away from this Informant.
‘And farther, this Informant saith, that on the 29th of Jan. last, when this Informant was threshing in the Barn of his Master, John Chapman, an Old Woman in a Riding-hood, or Cloak, he knows not which, came to the Barn Door, and asked him for a Penyworth of Straw; he told her he could give her none, and she went away, Muttering.
‘And this Informant saith, that after the Woman was gone, he was not able to work, but ran out of the Barn, as far as a place called Munders-Hill, (which is about Three Miles from Walkerne) and asked at a House there for a Penyworth of Straw, and they, refusing to give him any, he went farther, to some Dung-heaps, and took some Straw from thence, and pull’d off his Shirt, and brought it Home in his Shirt; he knows not what mov’d him to this, but says he was forc’d to it, he knows not how.
‘Susan Aylott, the Wife of William Aylott, of the Parish of Walkerne, saith upon Oath, that about 12 Years ago last Christmas, she, this Informant, was sent for to the Wife of Richard Harvey, lying very Ill in a strange Condition; and, as soon as she came thither, Jane Wenham followed her, and she, this Informant, wonder’d that Jane Wenham followed her, since Richard Harvey’s Wife had told her that she, the said Jane Wenham had bewitched her: Then Jane Wenham went under the Window where the sick Woman lay, and said, Why do they let this Creature lye there? Why don’t they take her and hang her out of the way? At which she, this Informant, had some Words with Jane Wenham, saying, Take you, and hang you out of the Way: and then Jane Wenham answer’d, Hold you your Tongue, I don’t meddle with you, and that Night, the sick Woman, aforesaid, died.
‘And this Informant farther saith, That, soon after, Jane Wenham came to this Informant’s House, and look’d upon a Child which was in her Lap, and stroaked it; and said, Susan, you have a curious Child; you and I had some Words, but I hope we are Friends; and asked this Informant to lend her a Glass to carry some Vinegar in from the Shop; then this Informant sent Jane Wenham a Glass, who went away. And this Informant was afraid of her Child, remembering she was thought to have bewitched Richard Harvey’s Wife.
‘This Informant further saith, That on Sunday following, she was at her brother Jeremy Harvey’s House, with her Child, and that her Child was taken in a grievous Condition, stark Distracted, and so died on the Thursday following; and this Informant saith, she thinks Jane Wenham bewitched her Child; and saith also, that Jane Wenham has had the Reputation of a Witch for several Years before.
‘Thomas Adams, Junior, of Walkerne, maketh Oath, that about Three Weeks, or a month before Christmas last, he met Jane Wenham in his Turnip Field, with a few of his Turnips, which she was carrying away; and upon his Threatning her, she threw them down; he, this Informant, told her she might keep them, for she should pay dear for them; then she was very submissive, and begg’d Pardon, saying, she
