The Pendle Witch Child

shillelagh · 18-08-2011, 22:10

watched this last night .. it was very good .. on bbc 4 ... anyway its being repeated at the minute on bbc 4 its on the bbc iplayer as well

some good shots of pendle hill and lancaster castle ..

tis about a 9 year old girl jennet who denounced her whole family and neighbours as witches ... and sent them to the gallows ... and then 20 years later she was tried as a witch .. and was declared innocent ...

cashman · 18-08-2011, 22:44

was she a distant relative jen?

shillelagh · 18-08-2011, 22:52

nope cashy ... mine are in ireland ... is she one of yours?

katex · 18-08-2011, 23:40

Watched it Jen .. amazing the power of a child's imaginations then, eh.

shillelagh · 19-08-2011, 00:41

i did learn something from it ... dont let kids under the age of 10 into my house .....

garinda · 19-08-2011, 08:07

Interesting.

Although the stupid cartoons of people got on my nerves.

Never knew that Jennet Devis was the grandaughter of Old Mother Demdike.

Had family living around Pendle then, some shamefully in what was then Yorkshire. We even have a Jennet, but she was a Horner/Cottam.

Also interesting to learn that Malkin Towers wasn't as grand as it sounded.

In fact it was a poor midden of a smallholding, and the name translates as 'sh-it heap'.

Was also interesting to learn that Jennet's testimony at the subsequent trial at Lancaster Castle entered the law books, about child witnesses at trials, and was used as a precedent at the Salem witch trials, because at that time America was still ruled by Britain.

When we were children one of our most favourite walks was when Dad took us to see what are supposedly witches graves at St. Mary's Church, at Newchurch in Pendle.

Enjoyable programme.

Balbus · 19-08-2011, 08:37

The correct meaning of "malkin" (as used by Shakespeare) is "a slut or sloven".

jaysay · 19-08-2011, 08:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balbus

The correct meaning of "malkin" (as used by Shakespeare) is "a slut or sloven".

Ar Bill had a way wi words

garinda · 19-08-2011, 09:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Balbus

The correct meaning of "malkin" (as used by Shakespeare) is "a slut or sloven".

They did mention the slattern meaning in the programme.

'Sh-it heap' was more a descriptive translation of the dwelling Malkin Tower, rather than a literal one.

Malkin is first recorded as being used in literature by Chaucer, long before Shakespeare's time.

Malkin \Mal"kin\, n. [Dim. of Maud, the proper name. Cf. Grimalkin.] [Written also maukin.] 1. Originally, a kitchenmaid; a slattern. --Chaucer. 2. A mop made of clouts, used by the kitchen servant. 3. A scarecrow. [Prov. Eng.] 4. (Mil.) A mop or sponge attached to a jointed staff for swabbing out a cannon.

Article: Chaucer's 'Malkin' and Dafydd AP Gwilym's 'Mald y Cwd.' | AccessMyLibrary - Promoting library advocacy

garinda · 19-08-2011, 09:53

Available on BBC iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer - The Pendle Witch Child

kestrelx · 19-08-2011, 10:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by shillelagh

watched this last night .. it was very good .. on bbc 4 ... anyway its being repeated at the minute on bbc 4 its on the bbc iplayer as well

some good shots of pendle hill and lancaster castle ..

tis about a 9 year old girl jennet who denounced her whole family and neighbours as witches ... and sent them to the gallows ... and then 20 years later she was tried as a witch .. and was declared innocent ...

Fascinating factual story to show how dumb people often are particularly when they follow a religion. Jennet was only declared innocent because the boy who made the allegations that got another 20 people arrested (including her) for allegations of witchcraft retracted his story when he confessed that his father was black mailing some of the people arrested and he basically lied for those reasons, because they wouldn't pay up.

Effectively there were no witches - and indicates to me that those who were supposed to stand for good Christians values were actually doing the "Devils" work!

MargaretR · 19-08-2011, 11:20

Too many herbal healers got labelled as witches.
Things haven't changed all that much - now some call them 'nutters'
...interesting use of an old surname

garinda · 19-08-2011, 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

Things haven't changed all that much - now some call them 'nutters'

One major difference.

They were well-known for their cunning...and wisdom.

mobertol · 19-08-2011, 15:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by MargaretR

Too many herbal healers got labelled as witches.
Things haven't changed all that much - now some call them 'nutters'
...interesting use of an old surname

You are right there Margaret in every way, take a look at this link
/www.lauriecabot.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout= blog&id=9&Itemid=11

Am thinking about a career change -I have always kept cats and am a lover of nature with a Botany degree, I can be very persuasive ....could i be in with a chance? (Forgot to mention that i have blonde hair and green eyes too and use a willow broom for sweeping up outside

...)

mobertol · 19-08-2011, 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by garinda

Available on BBC iPlayer.

BBC iPlayer - The Pendle Witch Child

Thanx for putting this link -would love to have watched it but it's not available outside the UK

Found out having gone through the whole rigmarole of registering...never mind i can see a range of BBC news items which might come in useful.