Page:Notes and Queries - Series 11 - Volume 5.djvu/273

 ii s. v. MAR. 23, 1912.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

2-21

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 3-3, 1913.

CONTENTS. No. 117.

NOTES : Sir Thomas Browne and Witchcraft, 221 Charles Dickens, 223 St. Leonard's Hospital, York, 224 "The Thames," 225 Sir Benjamin Brodie on Ventila- tion Roman Coins " You may go look " George Washington Memorial in Ireland, 226 " Jimmy" Gordon, the Cambridge Eccentric Scott's ' Pirate ' : Two Readings, 227.

QUERIES : G. K. Matthews, 227 Shepherd's Market, Mayfair A. Boy (Army) Bandmaster Defoe : ' Royal .Gin' "The memorable lady": Meredith Napoleon I. and Robert Fulton Maurepas on Madame de Pompadour Meriet Arms, 228 Dean Stanley : Easter Day Sermons- Lorraine Legend : " Pays bleu "Biographical Informa- tion Wanted Abbey of Aumone Signet Rings The Royal Charlotte' Lady Gordon,' by John Downman T. F. Erskine Chevet's Popularization of Music, 229 Authors or Explanations Wanted Sir John Jefferson, 230.

REPLIES : Drummond of Hawthornden, 230 Latter Lammas Montaigne on the Suppression of Tacitus, 232 " United States Security "Top-Hat in Sculpture, 233 Capt. Freney Spurrier-gate Lucius, 234 Col. J. H. Belli Crowned by a Pope, 235 Jeffrey s's Colleague Rev. Samuel Greatheed The Lumber Troopers Locwella Abbey Selkirk Family, 236 " Sung by Reynolds in 1820" 'The Brides of Mavis Knderby' Curious Staff Nottingham as a Surname Authors of <Quotations Wanted Gretna Green Records, 237 Bishop Thomas Tanner, 238.

NOTES ON BOOKS : 'The Cambridge Medieval History,' Vol. I. "The People's Books."

Booksellers' Catalogues.

JElofes.

SIR THOMAS BROWNE AND WITCHCRAFT.

IN ' N. & Q.' in 1864 (3 S. v. 400) there is a reference to the trial of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender for witchcraft in 1664 at Bury St. Edmunds, and a query is raised as to the suggestion contained in Hutchinson's "* Historical Essay concerning Witchcraft ' {1st ed., 1718 ; 2nd ed., 1720) that Sir Thomas Browne was really responsible for the hanging of the two women. This query is a very interesting one, and it does not seem to have been dealt with so fully as it deserved. In reply to it, reference is made to the contemporary report of the trial published in 1682, and there the matter appears to have dropped. I have recently had occasion to examine the history of this particular witch trial in detail (see ' The Lowestoft Witch Trials,' Norfolk Chronicle, 23 and 30 Dec.. 1911), and it is hoped that j some account of these investigations may be of interest to readers of ' N. & Q.'

Hutchinson was the first who ever put iorward the suggestion that Sir Thomas

Browne was responsible for the hanging of Amy Duny and Rose Cullender, and since then Sir Thomas Browne's biographers have been content to keep the accusation alive, on Hutchinson's authority, without attempt- ing to justify it. Aikin, in his account of Browne ('Biographical Dictionary"), relies upon Hutchinson, so does the writer in the ' D.N.B.' ; and Mr. Edmund Gosse, Browne's latest biographer, not only relies on him exclusively, but quotes him in many instances word for word. Wilkin makes some attempt at a defence, but he is more concerned with Browne's belief in witchcraft than with the way in which the facts connected with the trial have been misrepresented (see his edition of Browne's ' Works,' Bohn, i. p. lv.). The 1682 report has always been accessible in some form or other it is reprinted verbatim in Cobbett and Howell's ' State Trials,' vi. 647-702 but no one seems to have troubled to make use of it. It was taken in Court by the Judge's Marshal, and had the approval of the judge (Sir Matthew Hale) himself (see ' Preface to a Collection of Modern Relations of Matters of Fact concerning Witchcraft,' London, 1693) ; and there is, I believe, no other report of the trial in existence. It is clear, therefore, that we must look to this for the only authentic account of the proceedings. Hutchinson had it before him when he wrote his book (see 1st ed., p. 109), but on examina- tion it appears that his statements as to Sir Thomas Browne's share in the proceedings are wholly unvouched for by it.

The prisoners were indicted on thirteen different counts of practising sorcery to the hurt of their neighbours' children. There seems to have been some local prejudice against the women, and the witnesses tell the customary stories about spectres, and children afflicted with fits and " swounding." Crooked pins to the number of forty and more, a twopenny nail with a very broad head, and a lath nail were all produced in Court as having been cast up by the victims of the prisoners' sorceries. One witness deposed to the fact that a toad found in one of the children's blankets had exploded like a pistol when thrown into the fire. As far as the evidence itself is concerned, there is no material conflict between Hutchinson and the report, though Hutchinson ii frequently misleading as to details. But towards the end of Hutchinson's narrative, so placed as to lead one to suppose that the whole case was then before the jury, it is stated that Sir Thomas Browne, " the famous physician of his time," was in Court, and that he was