In the late 1500s and early 1600s in the English county of Lancashire in Pendle Forest a cunning woman known by the nickname Old Demdike served the local populace. Demdike, whose real name was Elizabeth Southerne, lived in the ruins of Malkin Tower with her daughter Liza and her grandchildren James (Jamie), Alizon, and Jennet. In 1612 a local magistrate who wished to attain favour with the witch-hating King James mounted a witchhunt in Lancashire. Demdike, along with nineteen others including her daughter and two of her grandchildren, were charged and jailed. While four were acquitted and set free, one was found guilty of bewitching a horse and sentenced to stand in the pillory; Demdike died in prison before her trial and the remaining fourteen accused, including Demdike’s daughter and two of her grandchildren, were hung. (more…)
