Mist Over Pendle

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The situation has been described by one historian as ″ a trial in which one family destroyed the other and then turned suicidally on itself, with children betraying siblings and parents.

The 'old fashioned' language is so evocative of the time period that the book draws you in further so you can really imagine being alone on a windy cold hillside, terrified of what you may find. As I’m fascinated by the history of the Pendle witch trials I have read many novels based on this subject and find that each story is told from a different angle. The appellation "Demdike" derives from "demon woman", suggesting that she was "feared and loathed within the community". None of the sighs and shrugs usually abundant in historical romance, but plenty of crinkled foreheads. Published in 1951, Mist Over Pendle is a series of fictional events leading up to the historic witch trials of 1612.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. Although written as an apparently verbatim account, The Wonderfull Discoverie is not a report of what was actually said at the trial but is instead reflecting what happened. The story of the Pendle witches is particularly relevant in 2012 as it is the four hundredth anniversary of the Lancashire witches. She made no statement either before or during her trial, except to enter her plea of not guilty to the charge of murdering Henry Mitton by witchcraft.

Until its dissolution, the spiritual needs of the people of Pendle and surrounding districts had been served by nearby Whalley Abbey, but its closure in 1537 left a moral vacuum.

We build and maintain all our own systems, but we don’t charge for access, sell user information, or run ads. Shortly after, we began the process of moving house and building the dream - creating a wonderful new environment which would inspire all that we do in the future.

Neill fleshed out the historical record by supposing motive and character and (I assume) adding the wholly fictional Margery Whittaker.For the last few years, I have travelled up to Scotland with my partner Jo and we have stayed at Watercolour Cottage in Ardgour on the Ardnamurchan Peninsula. This book was really difficult to get into until about halfway through when it picked up to a decent pace. Potts does not provide an account of Alice Grey's trial, simply recording her as one of the Samlesbury witches – which she was not, as she was one of those identified as having been at the Malkin Tower meeting – and naming her in the list of those found not guilty.

It may therefore be significant that Potts dedicated The Wonderfull Discoverie to Thomas Knyvet and his wife Elizabeth; Knyvet was the man credited with apprehending Guy Fawkes and thus saving the King. Since arriving, I have familiarised myself with our local landscape and have taken thousands of photographs as inspiration for paintings. I liked the feel of this book and the setting of the Lancashire hills and moors that our protagonist finds herself in. The only evidence against Alice seems to have been that James Device claimed Demdike had told him of the murder, and Jennet Device in her statement said that Alice had been present at the Malkin Tower meeting.The main character, Margery, and her cousin, Roger, were interesting at first but pretty much one-dimensional. Potts records that "this odious witch" [50] suffered from a facial deformity resulting in her left eye being set lower than her right. A life-size statue of Alice Nutter, by sculptor David Palmer, was unveiled in her home village, Roughlee. Jennet was charged with the murder by witchcraft of a local landowner, Thomas Lister of Westby Hall, [38] to which she pleaded not guilty. 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.