1 00:00:02,440 --> 00:00:05,920 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. Mother Shipton got a random name dropped in 2 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,240 Speaker 1: our episode on Joseph Grimaldy, and we have an episode 3 00:00:09,280 --> 00:00:13,880 Speaker 1: on her. This originally came out October seventh, twenty twenty. 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:20,079 Speaker 1: Enjoy Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a 5 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: production of iHeartRadio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 6 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:34,479 Speaker 1: Tracy B. Wilson and I'm Holly Frye. October. It's a 7 00:00:34,520 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: great time to do episodes on people who may or 8 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:42,239 Speaker 1: may not have even been real. Hooray. Today it is 9 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton, who is described as living in sixteenth century 10 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: England and was everything from an oracle to a witch 11 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,479 Speaker 1: to the daughter of the devil, depending on which of 12 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:57,000 Speaker 1: the many sources you're reading. Why can't it be all 13 00:00:57,040 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: of this thing? I mean, it really can be all 14 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: of these things. And usually when we're doing an episode 15 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:04,720 Speaker 1: about a person, we start out with their birth or 16 00:01:04,880 --> 00:01:08,320 Speaker 1: maybe with some context about their life, but still getting 17 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: to their being born fairly quickly. Even if we don't 18 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,520 Speaker 1: know the details, we usually at least know for sure 19 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,520 Speaker 1: that the person was in fact born. But for mothershiped 20 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: him not so much. It's a little fuzzy. It is 21 00:01:21,120 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: not even clear whether the quote first written reference to 22 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 1: her is actually even about her. Yeah, that first reference 23 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: was penned by Henry the Eighth not long after England 24 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:37,240 Speaker 1: formally broke away from the Catholic Church. Part of the 25 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 1: aftermath of that split was an uprising in Yorkshire known 26 00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: as the Pilgrimage of Grace, which started in fifteen thirty 27 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: six and then continued into the following year. On February 28 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: twenty second of fifteen thirty seven, Henry the Eighth dictated 29 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,640 Speaker 1: a letter to the Duke of Norfolk, thanking him for 30 00:01:56,680 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: his services and helping to put down this insurrection. Before 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: giving this instruction quote, you shall send up to us 32 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: the trader's big God, the Friar of Nasborough, lets if 33 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: he may be taken, the Vicar of Penrith and Towneley, 34 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: late Chancellor to the Bishop of Carlile, who has been 35 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,200 Speaker 1: a great promoter of these rebellions, the Witch of York, 36 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:24,680 Speaker 1: and one doctor Pickering a Canon Birdlington. We really do 37 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 1: not have much to go on about whether that Witch 38 00:02:27,280 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: of York that Tracy just mentioned in the letter was 39 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:33,239 Speaker 1: actually Mother Shipton, but a lot of sources do make 40 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: that connection. And the next known reference to her in 41 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: writing does circle back to Henry the Eighth from a 42 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: little earlier in his reign. It's the prophecy of Mother 43 00:02:43,240 --> 00:02:46,440 Speaker 1: Shipton in the reign of King Henry the Eighth for 44 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: telling the death of Cardinal Wolsey, the Lord Percy and 45 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,320 Speaker 1: others as also what should happen in ensuing times. That 46 00:02:54,639 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: was published in sixteen forty one, one hundred and four 47 00:02:57,400 --> 00:02:59,840 Speaker 1: years after Henry the Eighth sent that letter to the 48 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:02,720 Speaker 1: Duke of Norfolk, in about one hundred and ten years 49 00:03:02,760 --> 00:03:06,880 Speaker 1: after the events it purportedly documents. Yeah, so time passed 50 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:10,160 Speaker 1: between when these things purportedly happened and when this was 51 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: written down. So when Henry the Eighth ascended to the 52 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: throne in fifteen o nine, Thomas Woolsey started out as 53 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:21,400 Speaker 1: his almoner, or the person who was responsible for distributing 54 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:26,200 Speaker 1: alms to the poor, but then Woolsey became increasingly influential. 55 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,360 Speaker 1: During Henry's early reign, he took on various matters of 56 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,160 Speaker 1: state and was named the Bishop of Lincoln, the Archbishop 57 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:37,040 Speaker 1: of York, and then Cardinal all by fifteen fifteen. He 58 00:03:37,160 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: kept growing in power and wealth from there, but then 59 00:03:40,040 --> 00:03:42,680 Speaker 1: he started to fall out of favor in fifteen twenty 60 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,160 Speaker 1: nine after he failed to convince the Pope to annul 61 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Not long afterward, 62 00:03:50,320 --> 00:03:53,600 Speaker 1: Cardinal Woolsey decided it would be prudent to leave London, 63 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:56,520 Speaker 1: and he headed for York. In spite of having been 64 00:03:56,600 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: named its archbishop, he had never actually been there, and 65 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:03,000 Speaker 1: according to this pamphlet, when Mother Shipton heard about this, 66 00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:05,960 Speaker 1: she declared that he would never come to the city. 67 00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: Word of this declaration got back to the Cardinal, who 68 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: sent the Duke of Suffolk, Lord Percy, and Lord Darcy 69 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: to York so they could question her. They demanded that 70 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,719 Speaker 1: she explain her statement that the King would never see 71 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: the city, and she answered, I said he might see York, 72 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: but never come at it. The Duke of Suffolk told 73 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: her that when the Cardinal came into York, he would 74 00:04:30,040 --> 00:04:34,840 Speaker 1: see her burned. In response, Mother Shipton took the handkerchief 75 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: off of her head and threw it into the fire 76 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,719 Speaker 1: and said that when it burned, she would burn. I 77 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 1: kind of love that the handkerchief did not catch fire, though, 78 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:46,160 Speaker 1: and then she pulled it out again and put it 79 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:49,400 Speaker 1: back onto her head. From there. Mother Shipton told the 80 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,120 Speaker 1: Duke of Suffolk, quote, the time will come, you will 81 00:04:52,160 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: be as low as I am, and that's a low one. Indeed. 82 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,120 Speaker 1: Then she told Lord Percy, quote, shoe your horse in 83 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:01,279 Speaker 1: the quick and you sh shall do well, but your 84 00:05:01,320 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: body will be buried in York pavement, and your head 85 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: shall be stolen from the bar and carried into France. 86 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,680 Speaker 1: And she told Lord Darcy, quote, you have made a 87 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,159 Speaker 1: great gun. Shoot it off, for it will do you 88 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: no good. You are going to war. You will pay 89 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,680 Speaker 1: many a man, but you will kill none. And then 90 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:24,240 Speaker 1: her questioners, all having been told some creepy and cagy things, 91 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:27,559 Speaker 1: went away. Yeah, her whole behavior had been a little 92 00:05:27,839 --> 00:05:29,880 Speaker 1: in addition to the things that we just said. When 93 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,320 Speaker 1: they got to the door, she knew who they were 94 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: without having looked outside. So this pamphlet goes on to 95 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: note that Cardinal Wolsey never came into York. On the 96 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,720 Speaker 1: way there. In November of fifteen thirty, he was arrested 97 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: on charges of treason, and he died of an illness 98 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:51,640 Speaker 1: before getting back to London to face those charges. According 99 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:54,840 Speaker 1: to the pamphlet, he climbed up the tower at Caywood 100 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: which was eight miles from York, and he saw the 101 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:00,560 Speaker 1: city from there at the top of the tower before 102 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:03,960 Speaker 1: he was arrested. So Mother Shipton's prophecy came true. He 103 00:06:04,040 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 1: had seen York, but he had not come at it. 104 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: This pamphlet then describes several other prophecies that Mother Shipton 105 00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:14,719 Speaker 1: related to a Master Besley. The first one was quote, 106 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,279 Speaker 1: when Ooh's Bridge and Trinity Church meet, they shall build 107 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:20,599 Speaker 1: on the day, and it shall fall in the night 108 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: until they get the highest stone of Trinity Church to 109 00:06:24,240 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: the low's stone of Osbridge. More prophecies followed for telling wars, 110 00:06:29,839 --> 00:06:33,560 Speaker 1: the comings of kings and queens, battles, many of the 111 00:06:33,600 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: battles between England and Scotland. And then the last prophecy 112 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:41,200 Speaker 1: quote after that a ship comes sailing up the Thames 113 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: until it come to London, and the master of the 114 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: ship shall weep, and the mariners shall ask him why 115 00:06:47,480 --> 00:06:51,120 Speaker 1: he weepeth, being he hath made so good a voyage, 116 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 1: And he shall say, ah, what a goodly city. This 117 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:58,520 Speaker 1: was none in the world comparable to it. And now 118 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,840 Speaker 1: there is scarce lefs any house that can let us 119 00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:05,040 Speaker 1: have a drink for our money. And then The brochure 120 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:09,680 Speaker 1: detailing all of these strange prophecies ends with a couplet 121 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:13,840 Speaker 1: unhappy he that lives to see these days, but happy 122 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: are the dead, Shipton's wife says. The title page of 123 00:07:17,720 --> 00:07:21,160 Speaker 1: this pamphlet is illustrated with a woodcut that depicts a woman, 124 00:07:21,280 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: presumably mother Shipton. She is wearing a gown from the 125 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:27,280 Speaker 1: late Tudor era, with a ruff at the neck and 126 00:07:27,360 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: billowy sleeves and a bum roll. Basically, it's a simpler 127 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 1: version of something that you might see on a portrait 128 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: of Queen Elizabeth. The first something that a respectable woman 129 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: would wear. Nothing seems particularly strange or unsettling or supernatural 130 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 1: in her appearance. Other additions of these prophecies followed in 131 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,040 Speaker 1: sixteen forty two, with woodcuts that shifted from someone who 132 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,000 Speaker 1: looked like a seer or a cunning woman, which was 133 00:07:55,040 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: a respectable woman who used magic for good, to looking 134 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: more like a witch, which was, of course a person 135 00:08:01,400 --> 00:08:05,000 Speaker 1: who used magic to do harm. In this case, first 136 00:08:05,440 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: she had a wart on her cheek, and then she 137 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: had a large, hooked nose and an incredibly wrinkled face. 138 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,960 Speaker 1: People also started publishing their interpretations of Mother Shipton's prophecies, 139 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: including how or whether they had come true. One of 140 00:08:20,520 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: the people who did this was astrologer William Lilly, who 141 00:08:23,880 --> 00:08:27,400 Speaker 1: published what he called the most exact copy of Mother 142 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,120 Speaker 1: Shipton's prophecies in a Collection of Ancient and Modern Prophecies 143 00:08:32,160 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 1: in sixteen forty five. He notes the outcomes of the prophecies, 144 00:08:37,160 --> 00:08:40,080 Speaker 1: starting with Mother Shipton telling the Duke of Suffolk that 145 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: he would be as low as she was. This was 146 00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: presumably Henry Gray, the first Duke of Suffolk, father of 147 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: Lady Jane Gray, who we've talked about on the show before. 148 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:54,680 Speaker 1: That was the Nine Day Queen. He was beheaded for 149 00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:58,560 Speaker 1: treason in fifteen fifty four. She had told Lord Percy 150 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: that he would be beheaded and his head stolen. Lily 151 00:09:02,080 --> 00:09:05,360 Speaker 1: seems to interpret this as being Thomas Percy, seventh Earl 152 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: of Northumberland, who was beheaded for treason after leading the 153 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,319 Speaker 1: Rising in the North, which was an attempt to overthrow 154 00:09:11,400 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the First, but that doesn't really make sense 155 00:09:15,600 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 1: that Lord Percy was beheaded in fifteen seventy two and 156 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:23,079 Speaker 1: was still a baby when Cardinal Woolsey set out for York, However, 157 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:27,360 Speaker 1: his father, Sir Thomas Percy, was executed but not beheaded, 158 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: in fifteen thirty seven for his role in the Pilgrimage 159 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:34,400 Speaker 1: of Grace. So was Thomas Darcy Lord Darcy. Although it 160 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,319 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like Lily specifically mentioned that, Yeah, I could 161 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: not find an actual scan of the entirety of Lily's writing, 162 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:45,680 Speaker 1: so I was like relying on quotations from it in 163 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: another work. Doesn't seem like he specifically said anything about 164 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,720 Speaker 1: Lord Darcy, but maybe he did. Lily also notes that 165 00:09:52,760 --> 00:09:56,680 Speaker 1: Trennity Steeple fell down in a storm and Oohsbridge washed 166 00:09:56,679 --> 00:09:59,840 Speaker 1: away in a flood in fifteen sixty four, and according 167 00:09:59,840 --> 00:10:03,880 Speaker 1: to account, the repaired bridge kept falling down until someone 168 00:10:03,960 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: remembered this prophecy and they used the stone from the 169 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:09,720 Speaker 1: top of the steeple as part of the bridge's foundation. 170 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,160 Speaker 1: He also notes that a few of the prophecies had 171 00:10:13,200 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: not been fulfilled when he wrote this, like that concluding 172 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: one about the ship sailing into London. This book came 173 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,160 Speaker 1: out during the English Civil Wars and Lily was a parliamentarian, 174 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:26,720 Speaker 1: so a lot of his interpretations on the prophecies that 175 00:10:26,720 --> 00:10:29,040 Speaker 1: were related to wars and battles have kind of a 176 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:33,080 Speaker 1: parliamentarian spin on things. Other editions of the prophecies that 177 00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 1: came out in the early sixteen sixties agreed that most 178 00:10:36,000 --> 00:10:39,040 Speaker 1: of them had already been fulfilled by them, but not 179 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:43,360 Speaker 1: that last one. But then, in September of sixteen sixty six, 180 00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:46,400 Speaker 1: the Great Fire of London gutted much of the central city. 181 00:10:47,160 --> 00:10:49,960 Speaker 1: On October twentieth of that year, Samuel Peeps wrote an 182 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,080 Speaker 1: entry in his diary about a conversation he had with 183 00:10:53,200 --> 00:10:57,120 Speaker 1: Colonel Thomas Middleton, Commissioner of the Navy. Quote he says 184 00:10:57,160 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: he was on board the Prince when the news come 185 00:10:59,840 --> 00:11:02,840 Speaker 1: of burning of London, and all the Prince said was 186 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:07,320 Speaker 1: that now Shipton's prophecy was out. So was that last 187 00:11:07,360 --> 00:11:11,240 Speaker 1: prophecy about the Great Fire of London? People sure did 188 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: seem to think it was. But not long after this 189 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:18,960 Speaker 1: the tone of the writing about Mother Shipton and her 190 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: prophecies changed a whole lot, And we will get to 191 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: that after a sponsor break. In sixteen sixty seven, a 192 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: new edition of Mother Shipton's Prophecies claimed to document her biography. 193 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,840 Speaker 1: This was written by Irish poet and satirist Richard Head 194 00:11:45,440 --> 00:11:49,360 Speaker 1: and the words of eighteenth century theater historian David Erskine Baker. 195 00:11:49,520 --> 00:11:53,440 Speaker 1: Head was a man quote up to pernicious passions biz 196 00:11:53,559 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: poetry and gaming, one of which is for the most 197 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:02,480 Speaker 1: part unprofitable, and the other almost most always destructive. Head's 198 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,679 Speaker 1: book is The Life and Death of Mother Shipton, being 199 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 1: not only a true account of her strange birth and 200 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 1: most important passages of her life, but also all her prophecies, 201 00:12:13,000 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 1: now newly collected and historically experienced, from the time of 202 00:12:16,800 --> 00:12:19,160 Speaker 1: her birth in the reign of King Henry the Seventh 203 00:12:19,480 --> 00:12:23,160 Speaker 1: until this present year sixteen sixty seven, containing the most 204 00:12:23,200 --> 00:12:26,160 Speaker 1: important passages of state during the reign of these Kings 205 00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:30,559 Speaker 1: and Queens of England. I once worked in a cataloging 206 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,560 Speaker 1: department of a library, and every time a weird title 207 00:12:33,600 --> 00:12:34,959 Speaker 1: like this would come up, I would be like, how 208 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,960 Speaker 1: does anyone make sense of whether they want to read this? 209 00:12:39,360 --> 00:12:43,440 Speaker 1: It is an incredibly sensational piece of writing, especially when 210 00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:47,079 Speaker 1: compared to the more straightforward accounts of Mother Shipton's prophecies 211 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:51,440 Speaker 1: from earlier in the seventeenth century. Head claimed that he 212 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:54,680 Speaker 1: had gotten an account of Mother Shipton's life from a 213 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:58,840 Speaker 1: monastery in Yorkshire. He said the manuscript was in such 214 00:12:58,920 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: poor condition that it was completely illegible, and he alleged 215 00:13:02,520 --> 00:13:07,840 Speaker 1: that he restored their readability by beating them, then soaking 216 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:11,920 Speaker 1: them with wine, then distilling them and the wine, and 217 00:13:11,960 --> 00:13:14,720 Speaker 1: then distilling them in the water that had come off 218 00:13:14,840 --> 00:13:18,600 Speaker 1: during that first distillation process. In the words of an 219 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:21,719 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one debunking of this whole thing, quote, chemists 220 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,720 Speaker 1: will appreciate the novelty of the distilling operation in which, 221 00:13:25,840 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: on the application of heat, as described, water came over 222 00:13:29,559 --> 00:13:35,520 Speaker 1: before alcohol. That's a yeah, that's not how it works. Also, 223 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,760 Speaker 1: I would just if you get some old manuscripts that 224 00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,400 Speaker 1: you say, if those like two hundred years old, please 225 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:44,840 Speaker 1: do not beat them and distill them in wine. Yeah, 226 00:13:44,880 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: I'm just I'm I'm maybe I'm being naive, but I'm 227 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: trying to envision any world in which someone would be like, yeah, 228 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: that sounds like the way to restore a manuscript. Yeah, 229 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: that sounds that sounds correct. Head's biography of mothershipton, which 230 00:13:59,320 --> 00:14:03,480 Speaker 1: to be clear, obviously seems entirely his own fabrication, begins 231 00:14:03,480 --> 00:14:06,560 Speaker 1: with her mother, Agatha, who he says lived near the 232 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,640 Speaker 1: dropping well in Yorkshire, England. This is a natural formation 233 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: in which mineral rich water slides down the face of 234 00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: the rock and drips into a pool below. If you 235 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: place something in the drip's mineral deposits seemed to petrify 236 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:24,600 Speaker 1: it over time. The dropping well is a tourist attraction today, 237 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,440 Speaker 1: and according to its website, it is the oldest visitor 238 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,240 Speaker 1: attraction in England, having been in operation since sixteen thirty. 239 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:33,040 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk a little bit more about 240 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:36,120 Speaker 1: it later. Yeah, honestly, it looks pretty cool. I would 241 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:38,600 Speaker 1: go there. Let's do it, rapple, We're possible. At the moment, 242 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:43,320 Speaker 1: according to Head, Agatha's parents had died. They had left 243 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,840 Speaker 1: her orphaned at the age of fifteen and forced to 244 00:14:45,880 --> 00:14:50,920 Speaker 1: rely on charity from the parish. Then the devil appeared 245 00:14:50,920 --> 00:14:53,760 Speaker 1: to her in the shape of a handsome man, whisking 246 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: her away to a lavish palace, where he gifted her 247 00:14:56,680 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: with sumptuous clothes and married her and p I missed 248 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: her all kinds of power and wealth. But it's the 249 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:07,479 Speaker 1: devil after all. So after the devil had gotten Agatha 250 00:15:07,760 --> 00:15:10,800 Speaker 1: to repeat a series of words that bound her to him, 251 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,200 Speaker 1: he clapped his hands and the whole thing disappeared. Agatha 252 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: was carried back home to her late parents cottage in 253 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 1: a chariot pulled by two dragons. Her neighbors came to 254 00:15:21,480 --> 00:15:24,520 Speaker 1: check on her and they found her surprisingly altered, saying 255 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: she looked as if a hag had rid her. Afterward, 256 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 1: the devil, still disguised as a handsome man, visited Agatha regularly, 257 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: and soon strange, supernatural things were happening around the house. 258 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: Her neighbors started to mistreat her because they started to 259 00:15:41,680 --> 00:15:44,480 Speaker 1: suspect that she was a witch, and soon they were 260 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: suffering misfortunes like suddenly having horns growing out of their heads, 261 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,920 Speaker 1: or finding that a horse that had died had a 262 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: stomach full of fish hooks. Unseen hands pelted the neighbors 263 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,920 Speaker 1: with rotten apples and garbage, and they found their house 264 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:08,520 Speaker 1: this is suddenly overrun by toads and adders. I'm gonna 265 00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:10,280 Speaker 1: talk about the thing I think about maybe in our 266 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:14,320 Speaker 1: casual Friday. So when Agatha became pregnant, she refused to 267 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 1: tell anyone who the father was. She was taken before 268 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:20,120 Speaker 1: a judge and she told him that her pregnancy was 269 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: quote by no mortal white. The judge concluded that she 270 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: was an ignorant, seduced woman, and prepared to set bail 271 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:31,760 Speaker 1: for her. But then two gentlemen appeared out of nowhere, 272 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,880 Speaker 1: paid her bail and vanished. Agatha gave birth to a 273 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:40,280 Speaker 1: daughter not long after. This daughter was mother shipt In. So, 274 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: according to Head, she was not just a witch, she 275 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:47,800 Speaker 1: was the daughter of the devil. Then his account goes 276 00:16:47,840 --> 00:16:52,560 Speaker 1: on at length about how unusual her appearance was. Quote, 277 00:16:52,720 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: she was of an indifferent height, but very morose and 278 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,880 Speaker 1: big boned, her head very long, with very great goggling, 279 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: but sharp and fiery eyes, her nose of an incredible 280 00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 1: and unproportionable length, having in it many crooks and turnings, 281 00:17:09,320 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 1: adorned with many strange pimples of diverse colors as red, blue, 282 00:17:14,520 --> 00:17:18,479 Speaker 1: and mixed, which like vapors of brimstone, gave such a 283 00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:22,719 Speaker 1: luster to her affrighted spectators in the dead time of 284 00:17:22,760 --> 00:17:25,879 Speaker 1: the night that one of them confessed several times in 285 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,439 Speaker 1: my hearing that her nurse needed no other light to 286 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: assist her in the performance of her duty. Um, that's 287 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:41,119 Speaker 1: only about a third of the physical description. Head goes 288 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,280 Speaker 1: on and on to talk about a jaundiced complexion and 289 00:17:44,359 --> 00:17:48,080 Speaker 1: wrinkles and snaggled teeth and a chin that turned up 290 00:17:48,119 --> 00:17:51,280 Speaker 1: toward her mouth in a distorted neck, and a twisted 291 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:54,800 Speaker 1: body and legs. If you've listened to last year's episode 292 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,479 Speaker 1: on Matthew Hopkins, who named himself England's witch Finder General 293 00:17:58,560 --> 00:18:01,920 Speaker 1: during the sixteen forties, there is a lot of overlap 294 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:07,400 Speaker 1: between the description and the purportedly unnatural physical features of witches. Yeah, 295 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,600 Speaker 1: the tone of the purely fantastical things that were happening 296 00:18:10,640 --> 00:18:13,320 Speaker 1: around the house also kind of reminds me of some 297 00:18:13,400 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: of the things that we read in that episode. Head 298 00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:18,920 Speaker 1: goes on to say that Agatha could not take care 299 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 1: of her daughter, so a nurse took over. And one 300 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,399 Speaker 1: day the nurse went to see the overseers of the poor, 301 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: and she came home to find the cottage door standing open. 302 00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:31,159 Speaker 1: She called for help from the neighbors, thinking something was wrong, 303 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:34,840 Speaker 1: and soon they were beset by all kinds of supernatural mischief. 304 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:38,520 Speaker 1: There was a strange noise quote as if it had 305 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:43,800 Speaker 1: been a consort of cats. Yokes spontaneously appeared around their necks. 306 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:46,600 Speaker 1: Two of the men suddenly found that they had a 307 00:18:46,680 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: staff for carrying loads that was resting across both of 308 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,399 Speaker 1: their shoulders, and then hanging from it was a naked 309 00:18:52,520 --> 00:18:55,080 Speaker 1: old woman who was sort of dancing around in a 310 00:18:55,160 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: variety of postures. The women were flung down onto the 311 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,479 Speaker 1: floor with their clothes turned up over their heads, and 312 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:08,880 Speaker 1: then everyone was compelled to chase one another around the room. 313 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,760 Speaker 1: Eventually they found the apparent culprit in all of this, 314 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:16,600 Speaker 1: the baby in her cradle, which was hanging with no 315 00:19:16,760 --> 00:19:20,920 Speaker 1: visible support, several feet up the chimney. As this baby 316 00:19:21,000 --> 00:19:24,399 Speaker 1: grew up, the devil visited regularly in the form of 317 00:19:24,440 --> 00:19:29,440 Speaker 1: an animal, and the supernatural mischief continued. In Head's words 318 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: quote to be sure, the nurse was so continually terrified 319 00:19:33,240 --> 00:19:37,040 Speaker 1: by these apparitions that she resolved to complain to the parish. And, 320 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: having made known the truth of what had passed, and 321 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: commiseration to the woman almost distracted, they removed mothershipped into 322 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: another place where she was put to school. Being of 323 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,520 Speaker 1: an age now fitting for it. I love the idea 324 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 1: that this child of the devil, who was causing all 325 00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,360 Speaker 1: kinds of supernatural mischief was just going to be sent 326 00:19:59,400 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: to school. Now, Oh, it'll be fine, I'll straighten it 327 00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:06,159 Speaker 1: right out soon. The young mother Shipton was developing a 328 00:20:06,200 --> 00:20:10,240 Speaker 1: reputation for being able to foretell the future. People started 329 00:20:10,280 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: coming to her with small questions like when they might 330 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,880 Speaker 1: get married, and then they moved on to bigger things, 331 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:19,159 Speaker 1: like whether someone's sick father was going to survive, and 332 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:23,160 Speaker 1: then even larger questions like whether or not a war 333 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,240 Speaker 1: was coming. Head's book includes some version of many of 334 00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:30,560 Speaker 1: the prophecies that had been published earlier in the seventeenth century, 335 00:20:31,200 --> 00:20:33,399 Speaker 1: but it also includes some that just don't seem to 336 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,280 Speaker 1: be in any of those earlier documents, like quote a 337 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 1: prince that never shall be born shall make the shaved 338 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:45,080 Speaker 1: heads Forlorn that's read as being about Edward the sixth, 339 00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:48,600 Speaker 1: commonly believed to have been born by Caesarean section, although 340 00:20:48,600 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: that's unsubstantiated. His making the shaved heads Forlorn is read 341 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 1: as a reference to his making England into a more 342 00:20:56,320 --> 00:21:01,200 Speaker 1: specifically Protestant nation. Head also include a more direct reference 343 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:04,480 Speaker 1: to Lady Jane Gray the nine Day Queen quote by 344 00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:08,680 Speaker 1: parents too ambitious pride, the scaffold shall with blood be dyed. 345 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,639 Speaker 1: A virtuous lady then shall die for being raised up 346 00:21:12,640 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: too high. Her death shall cause another's joy, who wills 347 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,520 Speaker 1: a kingdom much annoy. That last little bit is about 348 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:23,879 Speaker 1: Mary the First, otherwise known as Bloody Mary. Here is 349 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 1: a longer passage which to me almost feels like a 350 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:32,359 Speaker 1: tour of old episodes of our show. Quote the Lion 351 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:36,560 Speaker 1: Fierce being dead and gone, a maiden queen shall reign Anon. 352 00:21:36,920 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: Those who sighed then shall sing, and the bells shall 353 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:45,360 Speaker 1: changes ring. The papal tower shall bear no sway. Rome's 354 00:21:45,440 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: trash shall hince be swept away, the locusts sent from 355 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: the seven hills. The English Rose shall seek to kill. 356 00:21:53,960 --> 00:21:58,439 Speaker 1: The Western Monarch's wooden horses shall be destroyed by the 357 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:03,439 Speaker 1: Drake's forces. Troy Novant's triumphant spire shall be consumed with 358 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: flames of fire. More wonders, yet, a widowed queen in 359 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,080 Speaker 1: England shall be headless. Scene the harp shall give a 360 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:16,000 Speaker 1: better sound. An earl without a head be found. Soon after, 361 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:20,560 Speaker 1: shall the English Rose, unto a mail her place dispose. 362 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,600 Speaker 1: So there's a whole stretch of British history here. Queen 363 00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:27,960 Speaker 1: Mary being the lion Fierce, followed by Elizabeth the First, 364 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,440 Speaker 1: the maiden Queen, and the bell shall change his ring, 365 00:22:31,600 --> 00:22:35,280 Speaker 1: kicking off a series of references to the rise of Protestantism. 366 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,639 Speaker 1: There's the Spanish Armada being destroyed by Sir Francis Drake, 367 00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:41,600 Speaker 1: the collapse of the spire of Saint Paul's Cathedral in 368 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:45,200 Speaker 1: fifteen sixty one, the beheading of Mary, Queen of Scott's, 369 00:22:45,359 --> 00:22:48,680 Speaker 1: the tutor conquest of Ireland, and James the sixth of 370 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:52,800 Speaker 1: Scotland becoming James the First of England. Head's book contains 371 00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:56,760 Speaker 1: a prophecy about the Gunpowder plot, quote Hell's power, by 372 00:22:56,800 --> 00:23:00,440 Speaker 1: a fatal blow shall seek the lands to overthrow, which 373 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:05,320 Speaker 1: by mistake shall be reversed, and heads from shoulders be dispersed. 374 00:23:05,800 --> 00:23:08,600 Speaker 1: Also the great plague and the fire of London, with 375 00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,160 Speaker 1: quote great death in London shall be though, and men 376 00:23:12,240 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 1: on tops of houses go. Head's book ends with a 377 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:19,320 Speaker 1: series of prophecies that he claims are referring to future times. 378 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:23,640 Speaker 1: One the Eagle droops and molts his wings, and feuds 379 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:29,000 Speaker 1: shall grow between northern kings. Holland has threatened Spain doth Pine, 380 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,480 Speaker 1: and blood shall swell the rapid Rhne. Two, when once 381 00:23:33,560 --> 00:23:37,240 Speaker 1: the Orange and the Rose unite beware Old England's foes. 382 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: Three tis done no more, shall Monster's pride triumphant over 383 00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,840 Speaker 1: nations ride, the meteor falls, and scarce shall have a 384 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:52,160 Speaker 1: morning tear or Christian grave. Four. The lilies now bewail 385 00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:56,080 Speaker 1: their loss and serve but to adorn the cross. Five 386 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: The work's begun, But would you see the harvest ripe join? 387 00:24:00,080 --> 00:24:03,600 Speaker 1: Eight to three the Northern star at last appears, and 388 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: in all conquering banner rears. Sixth, how how you miscreants? 389 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: All your deeds shall now receive their worthy needs. But 390 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,960 Speaker 1: long air, this poor Shipton sleeps in her grave, and 391 00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: Europe weeps. Head's book was reprinted in sixteen eighty six 392 00:24:22,560 --> 00:24:27,320 Speaker 1: with similar but even more sensational text. The sixteen eighty 393 00:24:27,359 --> 00:24:32,080 Speaker 1: six version clarifies that Mother Shipton's name was Ursula Soothtell, 394 00:24:32,240 --> 00:24:36,119 Speaker 1: and that her mother was Agatha or Amantha, and that 395 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:40,640 Speaker 1: Ursula became Mother Shipton after marrying a carpenter named Toby Shipton. 396 00:24:41,400 --> 00:24:44,560 Speaker 1: It also adds the detail that Mother Shipton foretold her 397 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:47,560 Speaker 1: own death at the age of seventy three in sixteen 398 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:51,000 Speaker 1: fifty one. The sixteen eighty six version also has a 399 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:56,960 Speaker 1: more obvious thread of misogyny than Head's earlier version, generally 400 00:24:57,080 --> 00:25:01,440 Speaker 1: depicting women as slothful and immoral and conniving and gossipy. 401 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: It notes that at sixteen, Agatha was still a maid, 402 00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:08,879 Speaker 1: because back then you could still find women who were maids. 403 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:13,639 Speaker 1: At sixteen. That implies that Ursula either bewitched Toby to 404 00:25:13,680 --> 00:25:16,679 Speaker 1: get him to marry her, or bewitched herself some money 405 00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:20,399 Speaker 1: to lure him into it. Mother Shipton catches a thief 406 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 1: in this version, with the theft having happened while the 407 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:26,760 Speaker 1: victim was at a neighbor's house quote telling a gossip's 408 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:32,879 Speaker 1: tale of an hour long she was off yappin' and 409 00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:37,720 Speaker 1: then yeah, that's it happened. Head's account really set the 410 00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,840 Speaker 1: standard for Mother Shipton lore in the late seventeenth century. 411 00:25:41,280 --> 00:25:44,000 Speaker 1: It kicked off a huge explosion of books about her 412 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: life and purported prophecies, and many many fictional depictions, including plays, songs, 413 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,639 Speaker 1: and even puppet shows. Mother Shipton became something of a 414 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,159 Speaker 1: stock character, featured in at least sixteen books and a 415 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,760 Speaker 1: play before seventeen hundred. One of those books was Mother 416 00:26:00,840 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 1: Shipton's Christmas Carols, which came out in sixteen sixty eight 417 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,760 Speaker 1: and was the first book to focus only on this 418 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,800 Speaker 1: character's life rather than on her prophecies. By this point 419 00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: her appearance was solidified as what we would consider very witchy, 420 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 1: with a downturned nose and upturned chin, lots of wrinkles 421 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: in a hunched posture, so like caricature witchy. Yes, And 422 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:26,639 Speaker 1: she also as being a character in these puppet shows 423 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:30,360 Speaker 1: and also pantomimes you can see evidence of today. There 424 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:33,840 Speaker 1: is a very creepy Mother Shipton puppet head in the 425 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: Victoria and Albert Museum collection that you can see online. 426 00:26:38,040 --> 00:26:40,640 Speaker 1: In addition to appearing as a character and these kinds 427 00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:43,359 Speaker 1: of things, she was also used as a descriptor, so 428 00:26:43,440 --> 00:26:47,360 Speaker 1: people would describe other characters as looking like or being 429 00:26:47,440 --> 00:26:50,440 Speaker 1: as ugly as Mother Shipton. But none of this made 430 00:26:50,480 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: mention of what was probably Mother Shipton's most famous prophecy. 431 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:56,000 Speaker 1: And we're going to talk about that after a sponsor break. 432 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:08,720 Speaker 1: In eighteen sixty two, so some time has passed since 433 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:12,320 Speaker 1: before the break, Charles Henley released a new edition of 434 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,919 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton's prophecies, and by this point Mother Shipton had 435 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:20,400 Speaker 1: been associated with multiple cities and towns around Yorkshire, England, 436 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,280 Speaker 1: most of them now in North Yorkshire. But by the 437 00:27:24,359 --> 00:27:28,920 Speaker 1: time Henley's book came out. She was mostly connected to Naresborough. 438 00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:32,800 Speaker 1: Henley marks her place of birth in this book as Naresborough. 439 00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 1: In fourteen eighty six, Henley claimed that this book was 440 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 1: a word for word reprinting of a manuscript from sixteen 441 00:27:40,119 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: eighty seven, but it includes a collection of prophecies that 442 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,920 Speaker 1: had never appeared in print before because he made him up. 443 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,360 Speaker 1: Some of the new editions seemed to foretell more modern 444 00:27:50,400 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: inventions that would be easily identifiable to readers, like quote 445 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:58,240 Speaker 1: carriages without horses shall go and accidents fill the world 446 00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: with woe, or quote around the world thoughts shall fly 447 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,960 Speaker 1: in the twinkling of an eye. But the most famous 448 00:28:05,960 --> 00:28:09,479 Speaker 1: of these new editions was by far, the world to 449 00:28:09,560 --> 00:28:13,919 Speaker 1: an end shall come. In eighteen hundred and eighty one, 450 00:28:14,040 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 1: after some of Hendley's new prophecies were printed in Notes 451 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:21,080 Speaker 1: and Queries, somebody from that journal contacted him about them, 452 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,280 Speaker 1: and on April twenty sixth of eighteen seventy three, Notes 453 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:28,880 Speaker 1: and Queries printed this statement quote mister Charles Hendley of Brighton, 454 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 1: in a letter to us, has made a clean breast 455 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:36,080 Speaker 1: of having fabricated the prophecy quoted at page four hundred 456 00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: and fifty of our last volume, with some ten others 457 00:28:39,840 --> 00:28:43,120 Speaker 1: included in his reprint of a chatbook version published in 458 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,120 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two. Even though Hindley admitted that he had 459 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:50,520 Speaker 1: fabricated all this and that fabrication was made public in 460 00:28:50,560 --> 00:28:55,440 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy three, sensational books reached a much broader audience 461 00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,080 Speaker 1: than the more scholarly notes and Queries, so as eighteen 462 00:28:59,120 --> 00:29:02,640 Speaker 1: eighty one approached, people started to panic about the possible 463 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,360 Speaker 1: arrival of Doomsday. Most of the copies of his book 464 00:29:06,400 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 1: were sold from Hindley's bookshop in Brighton, so most of 465 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:12,440 Speaker 1: the panic was centered there, but it also spread to 466 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 1: rural areas. According to reports, people abandoned their work and 467 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:20,160 Speaker 1: crops and started sleeping out in the fields, anticipating the 468 00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:22,959 Speaker 1: end of the world. This may have been stoked by 469 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: the appearance of two comets that were visible to the 470 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,720 Speaker 1: naked eye that year, and an Aurora borealis that was 471 00:29:28,800 --> 00:29:32,280 Speaker 1: visible in northern England. In response to all of this, 472 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:36,360 Speaker 1: the British Library got William Henry Harrison, which is a 473 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,600 Speaker 1: different William Henry Harrison than the one who served as 474 00:29:39,640 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 1: the ninth President of the United States, to investigate and 475 00:29:43,240 --> 00:29:48,000 Speaker 1: debunk it. The result was mothershipped and investigated. The result 476 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: of critical examination in the British Museum Library of the 477 00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:55,600 Speaker 1: literature relating to the Yorkshire sybyl which was published in 478 00:29:55,600 --> 00:29:59,600 Speaker 1: eighteen eighty one, Harrison concluded that most of what had 479 00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:03,479 Speaker 1: been ret about Mother Shipton had been fabricated, but that 480 00:30:03,600 --> 00:30:07,880 Speaker 1: quote there may be some foundation for the incident narrated 481 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: about Cardinal Wolsey. Eventually, the eighteen eighty one Doomsday panic passed, 482 00:30:13,320 --> 00:30:17,600 Speaker 1: although there were editions of Henley's prophecies and quotation marks 483 00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:20,280 Speaker 1: that were published in the twentieth century and claimed that 484 00:30:20,320 --> 00:30:21,960 Speaker 1: the date for the end of the world was actually 485 00:30:22,080 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety one. The end of the world is big 486 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: business today. Mother Shipton's Cave in Naresborough, England is a 487 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: tourist attraction. It's part of a park that also includes 488 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,000 Speaker 1: the dropping Well that we mentioned earlier, which is now 489 00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 1: called the Petrifying Well. The dropping Well has been a 490 00:30:38,320 --> 00:30:41,720 Speaker 1: tourist attraction for centuries, but the cave is a relatively 491 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,320 Speaker 1: new addition, at least in terms of its being described 492 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:48,440 Speaker 1: as Mother Shipton's birthplace. Until nineteen oh eight, the Mother 493 00:30:48,520 --> 00:30:52,040 Speaker 1: Shipton's Birthplace attraction was a house and not a cave. 494 00:30:52,560 --> 00:30:55,560 Speaker 1: There's also a Mother Shipton moth, named for the blotches 495 00:30:55,600 --> 00:30:57,720 Speaker 1: on its wings that look like the profile of a 496 00:30:57,760 --> 00:31:00,920 Speaker 1: witchy looking head with a long note that curves down 497 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:04,040 Speaker 1: in a chin that turns up. So in terms of 498 00:31:04,040 --> 00:31:07,200 Speaker 1: that facial profile, it actually has a lot in common 499 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:10,800 Speaker 1: with another figure from English popular culture, and that is 500 00:31:10,840 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: the character of Punch. William Henry Harrison's report on his 501 00:31:15,240 --> 00:31:20,280 Speaker 1: investigation into Mothershipton lists a long series of visual similarities 502 00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:24,000 Speaker 1: between the prevailing depictions of Mother Shipton and of Punch. 503 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:29,600 Speaker 1: Quote one, the hooked nose and chin, two, the peaked cap, three, 504 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 1: the hump for the dress with prominent lines, five, the 505 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,040 Speaker 1: uplifted hand six the grasping of a weapon with the 506 00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:41,080 Speaker 1: other hand. Seven. Each of them faces an important individual 507 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,760 Speaker 1: in a peculiar cap perched upon an elevated structure, Cardinal 508 00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: Wolsey in one instance, Toby in the other. Depictions of 509 00:31:49,160 --> 00:31:51,560 Speaker 1: Mother Shifton and Punch can look so much alike that 510 00:31:51,600 --> 00:31:54,280 Speaker 1: there are items in museum collections that are marked as 511 00:31:54,320 --> 00:32:00,640 Speaker 1: possibly being either of them, or maybe Mother Hubbard. However, 512 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen, a new statue of Mother Shipton was 513 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:07,520 Speaker 1: unveiled in Naresborough, which does not look like this at all. 514 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: She has a wrinkled but almost kindly face, and she's 515 00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:14,160 Speaker 1: sitting on a bench with an illustrated scroll across her lap. 516 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:17,840 Speaker 1: There are still some nods to witchiness, though. There's a 517 00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:21,440 Speaker 1: strange creature reading the scroll, a hat with feet, and 518 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:24,080 Speaker 1: what looks like a clam with teeth eating a frog. 519 00:32:24,680 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: The statue was funded through a crowdfunding campaign and sculpted 520 00:32:28,160 --> 00:32:31,240 Speaker 1: by Christopher Kelly. Yeah. I actually like this sculpture quite 521 00:32:31,280 --> 00:32:35,920 Speaker 1: a lot. So was this a real person? In the 522 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: words of her entry and the Oxford Dictionary of National 523 00:32:39,400 --> 00:32:44,280 Speaker 1: Biography quote, although almost everything written about Mother Shipton and 524 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:48,760 Speaker 1: attributed to her has been invented, she was in all 525 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:53,520 Speaker 1: probability of a ritical woman living in York about fifteen thirty. 526 00:32:54,560 --> 00:33:02,120 Speaker 1: That's Mother Shipton. I told Holly couple weeks ago, I'm 527 00:33:02,160 --> 00:33:04,400 Speaker 1: gonna do something on Mother Shipton if I can find enough. 528 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:14,520 Speaker 1: Then I found way more than I was expecting. Thanks 529 00:33:14,520 --> 00:33:17,160 Speaker 1: so much for joining us on this Saturday. 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