Blood and Clay Read online

  Jennet Device

  Jennet, in this story Alizon’s precious little Nettie, was actually aged around nine when she gave testimony against her family and gave enough evidence to Justice Roger Nowell to ensure their hanging. Whether this was done because of naivety, for attention or because she was led by Justice Nowell is unclear. The interesting twist to Jennet’s tale is that she herself was also sent to the gallows as a witch many years later.

  Roger Nowell

  Though there are theories that Roger Nowell’s hunt for the Pendle Witches had a political aim, he did seem to genuinely believe in witchcraft. There is no evidence that he ever used any tortures to elicit confessions (though tortures were used by many across England). In fact it seems that many of the confessions, Alizon’s and Jennet’s in particular, were given to him quite freely. There have been speculations, however, that Jennet Device was led by Roger in her testimony and her youth and wanting for attention made her a more than eager witness. Roger Nowell did not usually work alone, as he did in this novel, but with another local magistrate called Nicholas Bannister to oversee the large and small legal issues that occurred in the county.

  Thomas Potts

  Who? Thomas Potts? I don’t remember that name. Wait.... before you start to scour this book for that name let me reassure you that you only met him in passing. Thomas Potts only makes a fleeting appearance in Blood and Clay yet without him the book would not exist. The trial of the Pendle Witches could have disappeared un-noticed like so many other trials had it not been for the unusual occurrence of his court notes being published.

  Thomas Potts was the clerk of the court during the witch trials and his notes were published in a book called The Wonderful Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster. Without these trial notes we would not have known the rich amount of information about the Pendle Witches which we know today. In Blood and Clay the offences and the descriptions of the Device family come straight from the notes of Thomas Potts.

  King James I

  King James was the son of Queen Mary I, Mary Queen of Scotts. He ascended to the throne in 1603. In 1605 a man named Guy Fawkes was arrested whilst trying to blow up Parliament. This reinforced King James’ fear and oppression of English Catholics. This fear radiated into all areas of King James’s life and encouraged him further in the hunt for and execution of witches.

  In 1597, before he became King, James published his book The Daemonologie which was a study of witchcraft. Following the Gunpowder Plot the drive to hunt down witches increased and perhaps had some impact upon the Pendle Witch Trials. Many scholars think that the paranoia of King James lent some inspiration to the witches scene in Macbeth.

  Gabriel

  Unfortunately Gabriel never existed and was invented purely for this book. As Alizon was thought to be just eleven years old at the time of her death it is unlikely that romance ever crossed her mind.

  Further Reading

  The Lancashire Witches, William Harrison Ainsworth, Publisher: Alan Rodgers Books (1 Nov 2006), ISBN-10: 1598183494

  The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, Thomas Potts, Publisher: Carnegie Publishing Ltd; Facsimile of 1612 ed edition (10 May 2007), ISBN-10: 1859361005

  The Lancashire Witch Craze: Jennet Preston and the Lancashire Witches, 1612, Jonathan Lumby, Publisher: Carnegie Publishing Ltd; New edition edition (10 Feb 1995), ISBN-10: 1859360254

  Mist Over Pendle, Robert Neill, Publisher: Arrow Books Ltd; New edition edition (Mar 1981), ISBN-10: 0099067803, ISBN-13: 978-0099067801

  Websites

  One Guy From Barlick, http://oneguyfrombarlick.co.uk/

  The Pendle Witches, http://www.pendlewitches.co.uk/

  Local Attractions

  Pendle Heritage Centre, Barrowford, Lancashire

  Witches Galore, Newchurch in Pendle, Pendle, Lancashire, BB12 9JR

  Pendle Witch Experience Tour, Lingmoor Drive, Burnley, Lancashire, BB12 8UY

  Judges' Lodgings in Lancaster, Church Street, Lancaster, Lancashire, LA1 1YS

  St Mary's Parish Church, Sunnymede, Newchurch-in-Pendle, Lancashire, BB12 9JH

  Author Bio

  Dulcinea can be found at http://www.dulcineanortonsmith.co.uk where you will also find links to her work both online and in print.