Against

IENNET BIERLEY, ELLEN BIERLEY, _and_

IANE SOVTHWORTH, _prisoners at the Barre, vpon

their Arraignement and Triall_, viz.

The said _Grace Sowerbutts_ vpon her oath saith, That for the space

of some yeares now last past shee hath beene haunted and vexed with

some women, who haue vsed to come to her: which women, shee sayth,

were _Iennet Bierley_, this Informers Grand-mother; _Ellen Bierley_,

wife to _Henry Bierley_; _Iane Southworth_, late the wife of _Iohn

Southworth_, and one _Old Doewife_, all of Salmesburie aforesaid. And

shee saith, That now lately those foure women did violently draw her

by the haire of the head, and layd her on the toppe of a Hay-mowe, in

the said _Henry Bierleyes_ Barne. And shee saith further, That not

long after the said _Iennet Bierley_ did meete this Examinate neere

vnto the place where shee dwellleth, and first appeared in her owne

likenesse, and after that in the likenesse of a blacke Dogge, and as

this Examinate did goe ouer a Style, shee picked her off:[K4_b_]

howbeit shee saith shee had no hurt then, but rose againe, and went to

her Aunts in Osbaldeston, and returned backe againe to her Fathers

house the same night, being fetched home by her father. And she saith,

That in her way home-wards shee did then tell her Father, how shee

had beene dealt withall both then and at sundry times before that; and

before that time she neuer told any bodie thereof: and being examined

why she did not, she sayth, she could not speake thereof, though she

desired so to doe. And she further sayth, That vpon Saterday, being

the fourth of this instant Aprill, shee this Examinate going towards

Salmesbury bote, to meete her mother, comming from Preston, shee saw

the said _Iennet Bierley_, who met this Examinate at a place called

the Two Brigges, first in her owne shape, and afterwardes in the

likenesse of a blacke Dogge, with two legges, which Dogge went close

by the left side of this Examinate, till they came to a Pitte of

Water, and then the said Dogge spake, and persuaded this Examinate to

drowne her selfe there, saying, it was a faire and an easie death:

Whereupon this Examinate thought there came one to her in a white

sheete, and carried her away from the said Pitte, vpon the comming

whereof the said blacke Dogge departed away; and shortly after the

said white thing departed also: And after this Examinate had gone

further on her way, about the length of two or three Fields, the said

blacke Dogge did meete her againe, and going on her left side, as

aforesaid, did carrie her into a Barne of one _Hugh Walshmans_,[L_a_]

neere there by, and layed her vpon the Barne-floore, and couered this

Examinate with Straw on her bodie, and Haye on her head, and the Dogge

it selfe lay on the toppe of the said Straw, but how long the said

Dogge lay there, this Examinate cannot tell, nor how long her selfe

lay there: for shee sayth, That vpon her lying downe there, as

aforesaid, her Speech and Senses were taken from her: and the first

time shee knew where shee was, shee was layed vpon a bedde in the said

_Walshmans_ house, which (as shee hath since beene told) was vpon the

Monday at night following: and shee was also told, That shee was found

and taken from the place where shee first lay, by some of her friends,

and carried into the said _Walshmans_ house, within a few houres after

shee was layed in the Barne, as aforesaid. And shee further sayth,

That vpon the day following, being Tuesday, neere night of the same

day, shee this Examinate was fetched by her Father and Mother from the

said _Walshmans_ house to her Fathers house. And shee saith, That at

the place before specified, called the Two Brigges, the said _Iennet

Bierley_ and _Ellen Bierley_ did appeare vnto her in their owne

shapes: whereupon this Examinate fell downe, and after that was not

able to speake, or goe, till the Friday following: during which time,

as she lay in her Fathers house, the said _Iennet Bierley_ and _Ellen

Bierley_ did once appeare vnto her in their owne shapes, but they did

nothing vnto her then, neither did shee euer see them since. And shee

further sayth, That a good while before all this, this Examinate did

goe with the said _Iennet Bierley_, her Grand-mother, and the said

_Ellen Bierley_ her Aunt, at the bidding of her said Grand-mother, to

the house of one _Thomas Walshman_, in Salmesbury aforesaid. And

comming thither in the night, when all the house-hold was a-bed, the

doores being shut, the said _Iennet Bierley_ did open them, but this

Examinate knoweth not how: and beeing come into the said house, this

Examinate and the said _Ellen Bierley_ stayed there, and the said

_Iennet Bierley_ went into the Chamber where the said _Walshman_ and

his wife lay, & from thence brought a little child,[L2_a_1] which this

Examinate thinketh was in bed with it Father and Mother: and after the

said _Iennet Bierley_ had set her downe by the fire, with the said

child, shee did thrust a naile into the nauell of the said child: and

afterwards did take a pen and put it in at the said place, and did

suck there a good space, and afterwards laid the child in bed againe:

and then the said _Iennet_ and the said _Ellen_ returned to their owne

houses, and this Examinate with them. And shee thinketh that neither

the said _Thomas Walshman_, nor his wife knew that the said child was

taken out of the bed from them. And shee saith also, that the said

child did not crie when it was hurt, as aforesaid: But shee saith,

that shee thinketh that the said child did thenceforth languish, and

not long after dyed. And after the death of the said child; the next

night after the buriall thereof, the said _Iennet Bierley_ & _Ellen

Bierley_, taking this Examinate with them, went to Salmesburie Church,

and there did take vp the said child, and the said _Iennet_ did carrie

it out of the Church-yard in her armes, and then did put it in her lap

and carryed it home to her owne house, and hauing it there did boile

some therof in a Pot, and some did broile on the coales, of both which

the said _Iennet_ & _Ellen_ did eate, and would haue had this

Examinate and one _Grace Bierley_, Daughter of the said _Ellen_, to

haue eaten with them, but they refused so to doe: And afterwards the

said _Iennet_ & _Ellen_ did seethe the bones of the said child in a

pot, & with the Fat that came out of the said bones, they said they

would annoint themselues,[L2_a_2] that thereby they might sometimes

change themselues into other shapes. And after all this being done,

they said they would lay the bones againe in the graue the next night

following, but whether they did so or not, this Examinate knoweth not:

Neither doth shee know how they got it out of the graue at the first

taking of it vp. And being further sworne and examined, she deposeth &

saith, that about halfe a yeare agoe, the said _Iennet Bierley_,

_Ellen Bierley_, _Iane Southworth_, and this Examinate (who went by

the appointment of the said _Iennet_ her Grand mother) did meete at a

place called Red banck, vpon the North side of the water of Ribble,

euery Thursday and Sonday at night by the space of a fortnight, and at

the water side there came vnto them, as they went thether, foure black

things, going vpright, and yet not like men in the face: which foure

did carrie the said three women and this Examinate ouer the Water, and

when they came to the said Red Banck they found some thing there which

they did eate. But this Examinate saith, shee neuer saw such meate;

and therefore shee durst not eate thereof, although her said Grand

mother did bidde her eate. And after they had eaten, the said three

Women and this Examinate danced, euery one of them with one of the

blacke things aforesaid, and after their dancing the said black things

did pull downe the said three Women, and did abuse their bodies, as

this Examinate thinketh, for shee saith, that the black thing that was

with her, did abuse her bodie.

The said Examinate further saith vpon her Oth, That about ten dayes

after her Examination taken at Blackborne, shee this Examinate being

then come to her Fathers house againe, after shee had beene certaine

dayes at her Vnckles house in Houghton: _Iane Southworth_ widow, did

meet this Examinate at her Fathers house dore and did carrie her into

the loft,[L3_a_] and there did lay her vppon the floore, where shee

was shortly found by her Father and brought downe, and laid in a bed,

as afterwards shee was told: for shee saith, that from the first

meeting of the said _Iane Southworth_, shee this Examinate had her

speech and senses taken from her. But the next day shee saith, shee

came somewhat to her selfe, and then the said Widow _Southworth_ came

againe to this Examinate to her bed-side, and tooke her out of bed,

and said to this Examinate, that shee did her no harme the other time,

in respect of that shee now would after doe to her, and thereupon put

her vpon a hey-stack, standing some three or foure yards high from the

earth, where shee was found after great search made, by a neighbours

Wife neare dwelling, and then laid in her bedde againe, where she

remained speechlesse and senselesse as before, by the space of two or

three daies: And being recouered, within a weeke after shee saith,

that the said _Iane Southworth_ did come againe to this Examinate at

her fathers house and did take her away, and laid her in a ditch neare

to the house vpon her face, and left her there, where shee was found

shortly after, and laid vpon a bedde, but had not her senses againe of

a day & a night, or thereabouts. And shee further saith, That vpon

Tuesday last before the taking of this her Examination, the said _Iane

Southworth_ came to this Examinates Fathers house, and finding this

Examinate without the doore, tooke her and carried her into the Barne,

and thrust her head amongst a companie of boords that were there

standing, where shee was shortly after found and laid in a bedde, and

remained in her old fit till the Thursday at night following.

And being further examined touching her being at Red-bancke, shee

saith, That the three women, by her before named, were carried backe

againe ouer Ribble, by the same blacke things that carried them

thither; and saith that at their said meeting in the Red-bancke, there

did come also diuers other women, and did meete them there, some old,

some yong, which this Examinate thinketh did dwell vpon the North-side

of Ribble, because she saw them not come ouer the Water: but this

Examinate knew none of them, neither did she see them eat or dance, or

doe anything else that the rest did, sauing that they were there and

looked on.

These particular points of Euidence being thus vrged against the

Prisoners: the father of this _Grace Sowerbutts_ prayed that _Thomas

Walshman_, whose childe they are charged to murther, might be examined

as a witnes vpon his oath, for the Kings Maiestie, against the

Prisoners at the Barre: who vpon this strange deuised accusation,

deliuered by this impudent wench, were in opinion of many of that

great Audience guilty of this bloudie murther, and more worthy to die

then any of these Witches.

* * * * *

_The Examination and Euidence of_

THOMAS WALSHMAN, _of Salmesbury, in the

Countie of Lancaster, Yeoman._