The Tale of the Pendle Witches | Resting Witch Face Embroidered T Shirt
Grace Scott
Spooky tales and children’s costumes are plentiful as October 31st draws nearer. We have something for the adults... A true bone chilling tale and the t shirt to go with it…
If you want to embrace your resting witch face for Halloween, you need to order by the 29th October. Please don’t curse us if you order after that date and your embroidered t shirt isn’t there in time for Halloween!
THE PENDLE WITCHES
Not far from Langholm, where Rose’s Wardrobe is based, is Lancashire. In Lancashire you’ll find Lancaster Castle. A Castle with a dark past. On the 20th August, 1612, ten people were convicted of witchcraft and sentenced to the gallows. They would become known as the Pendle Witches.
It all started on the 18th March, 1612 when Alison Device, a young woman who was begging, claimed to have set her familiar - a spirit akin with witches - upon John Law, who’d denied her begging request for a pin. Law fell ill and Device admitted to her crimes, but asked for forgiveness. Law granted forgiveness but his son, Abraham, did not. Instead, Abraham took the matter to Roger Nowell, the local magistrate. From here, the so called crime developed into the arrest of nineteen people by the end of April. All were taken to Lancaster Castle to await trial at the August Assize.
The Pendle witches included Elizabeth Southerners (“Old Demdike”), who’d admitted to being a witch, but died before attending trial. In her guilty admission, she implicated many of her co-accused, including her own family, Elizabeth Device.
Defendents were accused of crimes ranging from murder to inciting madness to bewitching a neighbour’s horse.
THE TRIALS & EXECUTION
Sir Edward Bromley took the chair over the trials which commenced on Tuesday 18th August. Elizabeth Device, James Device, and Anne Whittle were all found guilty. Anne Redfearne was acquitted of one murder but found guilty of the murder Christopher Nutter eighteen years previously. Alice Nutter, Katherine Hewitt “Mouldheels”, Isobel Roby and Margaret Pearson were each found guilty of witchcraft.
Finally, Alison Device was the last to be tried with John Law as the key witness. Law was crippled, to which the court asked Device if she could cure him but she claimed she was not powerful enough. Device begged for Law’s forgiveness once again, which he granted. However, the court found her guilty.
Bromley referred to the 1604 Witchcraft Act that stated all found guilty of crimes were to be sentenced to death. On the 20th August, 1612, the ten condemned were hanged in the moors above town.
SO WHERE ARE WE NOW?
The Pendle Witches is one of the most famous of witchcraft trials in history. The account of what happened is plentiful, albeit biased. Thomas Potts, the Clerk of the Court, wrote and published “The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster”. Potts was writing for an audience that included King James I, a King ready to believe in the existence of witches and, according to him, their evil nature. As a result, we must take caution when reading Pott’s biased account. The deaths of ten people, found guilty of a crime that no longer exists, is the true Halloween horror.
Source: “The Pendle Witches” by Christine Goodier Ma, http://www.lancastercastle.com/history-heritage/further-articles/the-pendle-witches/, [Accessed 21/10/2019].
WITCHES NOT YOUR THING?
If our Resting Witch Face embroidered t shirt isn’t your thing, or we’ve put you off - sorry! - we have a selection of other t shirts that are just as magical. Our white embroidered t shirts are made in 100% organic cotton. Designed and embroidered/printed in the UK. Our t shirts are comfort fit and not slim, please see our size guide for measurements. All our packaging is mindfully sourced and 100% recyclable to prevent adding to the UK’s growing landfill problem.
THE TEAM
Rose’s Wardrobe was founded by Emma and Leanne after both having over 12 years of experience between them working in high street, vintage inspired, and fashion supplier backgrounds. The inspiration from Rose’s Wardrobe derived from Emma and Leanne’s muses - their grandmas and great grandma - Patricia, Edna, and Rose. The aim is to produce replicas of the beautiful clothes their grandmas wore, using colours, styles and prints from the 1940’s through to the 1960’s. You can connect with Rose’s Wardrobe on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. Have a look at where Rose’s Wardrobe will be here. Read our sustainability statement. Or, shop the collection.