Mist Over Pendle

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Below is one of the newly framed pieces for the Harrogate Art Fair (which is just a week away!). 'Through the Veil' is an original acrylic moodscape evoking a misty mountain scene inspired by my travels through the West Coast of Scotland. Often my paintings reflect something of the 'inner landscape' at the same time as the outer landscape. As I return to the world of art after a break, the way forward is not always clear and I have this sense of great opportunities, shrouded in mystery. Sometimes, as with the Harrogate art Fair, I have to take the next step in faith and trust that all will unfold in positive and exciting ways. Many of the allegations made in the Pendle witch trials resulted from members of the Demdike and Chattox families making accusations against each other. Historian John Swain has said that the outbreaks of witchcraft in and around Pendle demonstrate the extent to which people could make a living either by posing as a witch, or by accusing or threatening to accuse others of being a witch. [18] Although it is implicit in much of the literature on witchcraft that the accused were victims, often mentally or physically abnormal, for some at least, it may have been a trade like any other, albeit one with significant risks. [77] There may have been bad blood between the Demdike and Chattox families because they were in competition with each other, trying to make a living from healing, begging, and extortion. [24] The Demdikes are believed to have lived close to Newchurch in Pendle, and the Chattox family about 2 miles (3.2km) away, near the village of Fence. [33] Aftermath and legacy [ edit ] A "The Witch Way" Transdev in Burnley & Pendle bus Witches", Lancashire County Council Museums, archived from the original on 3 October 2012 , retrieved 13 May 2012

Lumby, Jonathan (2002), " 'Those to whom evil is done': family dynamics in the Pendle witch trials", in Poole, Robert (ed.), The Lancashire Witches: Histories and Stories, Manchester University Press, pp.58–69, ISBN 978-0-7190-6204-9 I went on a bit of an artistic journey this week - out of my comfort zone and into the land of portraiture. I was working from an old photograph of my wife Jo's great grandad Edward Lowndes Aldersley who died in the Somme in 1916. In studying the image, I was moved by the slightly haunted expression in the eyes which seemed to me to reflect fear, uncertainty, sadness, determination and courage, among other things. The challenge was to somehow reflect these things through accuracy and sensitivity in the handling of the pencil. As I worked, I was reminded of the privilege of being an artist, in that we have the capacity to let the Spirit flow through us, breathing life into our work. In this case, I felt Edward emerged from the paper as the drawing progressed and became somehow present. There is something about the qualities of a soft pencil and a slightly textured paper that can help to bring out the depth in a study like this and to reflect the 'otherness' of Edwards expression. New statue gives Pendle 'witch' the respect she deserves", Lancashire Telegraph, 30 July 2012 , retrieved 3 August 2012Publications in 2012 inspired by the trials include two novellas, The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson and Malkin Child by Livi Michael. Blake Morrison published a volume of poetry, A Discoverie of Witches. [100] See also [ edit ] 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.

that was a very... abrupt ending, and pretty anti-climatic. the entire plot had a lot less energy than i was expecting - to be honest, after a while, it all started to drag. Altham continued with his judicial career until his death in 1617, and Bromley achieved his desired promotion to the Midlands Circuit in 1616. Potts was given the keepership of Skalme Park by James in 1615, to breed and train the king's hounds. In 1618, he was given responsibility for "collecting the forfeitures on the laws concerning sewers, for twenty-one years". [78] Having played her part in the deaths of her mother, brother, and sister, Jennet Device may eventually have found herself accused of witchcraft. A woman with that name was listed in a group of 20 tried at Lancaster Assizes on 24 March 1634, although it cannot be certain that it was the same Jennet Device. [79] The charge against her was the murder of Isabel Nutter, William Nutter's wife. [80] In that series of trials the chief prosecution witness was a ten-year-old boy, Edmund Robinson. All but one of the accused were found guilty, but the judges refused to pass death sentences, deciding instead to refer the case to the king, Charles I. Under cross-examination in London, Robinson admitted that he had fabricated his evidence, [79] but even though four of the accused were eventually pardoned, [81] they all remained incarcerated in Lancaster Gaol, where it is likely that they died. An official record dated 22 August 1636 lists Jennet Device as one of those still held in the prison. [82] These later Lancashire witchcraft trials were the subject of a contemporary play written by Thomas Heywood and Richard Brome, The Late Lancashire Witches. [83] Deep in the Forest of Pendle, people have been dying in mysterious circumstances. The locals whisper of witchcraft, but local justice Roger Nowell, in charge of investigating the deaths, dismisses the claims as ridiculous. Daily Express 4 in 1 Condensed Books: The Cardinal; Surfeit of Lampreys; Commando; Mist over Pendle Scholar Catherine Spooner argues in an article for Hellebore magazine that with the 400-year anniversary of the Pendle witch trials, the notion of the witches as folk heroes caught the popular imagination. With new cultural productions revisiting the witches' story (Mary Sharratt's Daughters of the WItching Hill (2011) or Jeanette Winterson's The Daylight Gate (2012)), Spooner argues that the Pendle witches have been transformed from "folk devil to folk heroes", and that "their history has become a model of resistance for the disenchanted and disenfranchised". [86]Hopefully his mind is expanding little by little as I expose him to my narrow tastes! lucyjoy go to album