1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,360 --> 00:00:13,800 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,840 --> 00:00:18,120 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. October. It's 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:20,240 Speaker 1: a great time to do episodes on people who may 5 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:25,840 Speaker 1: or may not have even been real. Hooray Today it 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:29,960 Speaker 1: is Mother Shipton, who was described as living in sixteenth 7 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:33,680 Speaker 1: century England and was everything from an oracle to a 8 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:37,080 Speaker 1: witch to the daughter of the devil, depending on which 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,559 Speaker 1: of the many sources you're reading. Why can't it be 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:42,400 Speaker 1: all of this thing? I mean, it really can be 11 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 1: all of these things. And usually when we're doing an 12 00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 1: episode about a person, we start out with their birth 13 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: or maybe with some context about their life, but still 14 00:00:51,760 --> 00:00:54,560 Speaker 1: getting to their being born fairly quickly. Even if we 15 00:00:54,600 --> 00:00:56,920 Speaker 1: don't know the details, we usually at least know for 16 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,560 Speaker 1: sure that the person was in fact born. But for 17 00:01:01,720 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: Mother Ship did not so much. It's a little fuzzy. 18 00:01:04,440 --> 00:01:07,600 Speaker 1: It is not even clear whether the quote first written 19 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 1: reference to her is actually even about her. Yeah, that 20 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: first reference was penned by Henry the Eighth, not long 21 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,559 Speaker 1: after England formally broke away from the Catholic Church. Part 22 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:24,000 Speaker 1: of the aftermath of that split was an uprising in 23 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,880 Speaker 1: Yorkshire known as the Pilgrimage of Grace, which started in 24 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,160 Speaker 1: fifteen thirty six and then continued into the following year. 25 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: On February fifty seven, Henry the Eighth dictated a letter 26 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: to the Duke of Norfolk, thanking him for his services 27 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,600 Speaker 1: and helping to put down this insurrection. Before giving this 28 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: instruction quote, you shall send up to us the traders 29 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: Bigod the Friar of Nasborough. Let's if he may be taken, 30 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: the Vicar of Penrith and Townily late Chancellor to the 31 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: Bishop of Carlisle, who has been a great promote order 32 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: of these rebellions, the Witch of York, and one doctor 33 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,280 Speaker 1: Pickering a cannon Birdlington. We really do not have much 34 00:02:09,280 --> 00:02:11,560 Speaker 1: to go on about whether that which of York that 35 00:02:11,639 --> 00:02:15,040 Speaker 1: Tracy just mentioned in the letter was actually Mother Shipton, 36 00:02:15,560 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: but a lot of sources do make that connection, and 37 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:21,320 Speaker 1: the next known reference to her in writing does circle 38 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: back to Henry the Eighth from a little earlier in 39 00:02:23,760 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: his reign. It's the prophecy of Mother Shipton in the 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: reign of King Henry the Eighth, for telling the death 41 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:34,520 Speaker 1: of Cardinal Wolsey, the Lord Percy, and others, as also 42 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 1: what should happen in ensuing times? That was published in 43 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: sixty one, hundred and four years after Henry the Eighth 44 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: sent that letter to the Duke of Norfolk, and about 45 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: a hundred and ten years after the events it purportedly documents. 46 00:02:49,840 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: Time passed between when these things purportedly happened and when 47 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:56,920 Speaker 1: this was written down. So when Henry the Eighth ascended 48 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: to the throne in fifteen o nine, Thomas Wolsey started 49 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:03,440 Speaker 1: out as his all minner, or the person who was 50 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,639 Speaker 1: responsible for distributing alms to the poor, but then Wolseley 51 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: became increasingly influential. During Henry's early reign, he took on 52 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: various matters of state and was named the Bishop of Lincoln, 53 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,120 Speaker 1: the Archbishop of York, and then Cardinal all by fifteen fifteen. 54 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: He kept growing in power and wealth from there, but 55 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: then he started to fall out of favor in fifteen 56 00:03:26,080 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: twenty nine after he failed to convince the Pope to 57 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,799 Speaker 1: annul the King's marriage to Catherine of Aragon. Not long afterward, 58 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: Cardinal Wolsey decided it would be prudent to leave London, 59 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 1: and he headed for York in spite of having been 60 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: named its archbishop, he had never actually been there, and 61 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: according to this pamphlet, when Mother Shipton heard about this, 62 00:03:47,200 --> 00:03:50,000 Speaker 1: she declared that he would never come to the city. 63 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:53,680 Speaker 1: Word of this declaration got back to the Cardinal, who 64 00:03:53,720 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: sent the Duke of Suffolk, Lord Percy, and Lord Darcy 65 00:03:57,000 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: to York so they could question her. They demanded that 66 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: she explained her statement that the King would never see 67 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:07,960 Speaker 1: the city, and she answered, I said he might see York, 68 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:11,200 Speaker 1: but never come at it. The Duke of Suffolk told 69 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: her that when the Cardinal came into York, he would 70 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: see her burned. In response, Mother Shipton took the handkerchief 71 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:20,840 Speaker 1: off of her head and threw it into the fire 72 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:24,440 Speaker 1: and said that when it burned, she would burn. I 73 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:27,799 Speaker 1: kind of love that the handkerchief did not catch fire, though, 74 00:04:27,960 --> 00:04:29,920 Speaker 1: and then she pulled it out again and put it 75 00:04:29,960 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: back onto her head. From there, Mother Shipton told the 76 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: Duke of Suffolk, quote, the time will come, you will 77 00:04:35,880 --> 00:04:38,960 Speaker 1: be as low as I am, and that's a low one. Indeed. 78 00:04:39,839 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 1: Then she told Lord Percy, quote, shoe your horse in 79 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:45,400 Speaker 1: the quick and you shall do well. But your body 80 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: will be buried in York pavement, and your head shall 81 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: be stolen from the bar and carried into France. And 82 00:04:51,880 --> 00:04:55,039 Speaker 1: she told Lord Darcy quote, you have made a great gun. 83 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: Shoot it off, for it will do you no good. 84 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: You are going to war. You will pay many a man, 85 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,719 Speaker 1: but you will kill none. And then her questioners, all 86 00:05:04,800 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: having been told some creepy and cage things, went away. Yeah, 87 00:05:09,839 --> 00:05:12,240 Speaker 1: her whole behavior had been a little in addition to 88 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: the things that we just said. When they got to 89 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:17,520 Speaker 1: the door, she knew who they were without having looked outside. 90 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:22,039 Speaker 1: So this pamphlet goes on to note that Cardinal Wolsey 91 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: never came into York. On the way there. In November 92 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: of fifteen thirty, he was arrested on charges of treason, 93 00:05:29,520 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: and he died of an illness before getting back to 94 00:05:32,360 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: London to face those charges. According to the pamphlet, he 95 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,559 Speaker 1: climbed up the tower at Kwood, which was eight miles 96 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,400 Speaker 1: from York, and he saw the city from there at 97 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: the top of the tower before he was arrested. So 98 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton's prophecy came true. He had seen York, but 99 00:05:48,800 --> 00:05:51,760 Speaker 1: he had not come at it. This pamphlet then described 100 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:56,440 Speaker 1: several other prophecies that Mother Shipton related to a Master Besley. 101 00:05:56,560 --> 00:06:00,279 Speaker 1: The first one was quote, when ows Bridge and City 102 00:06:00,360 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: Church meet, they shall build on the day, and it 103 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: shall fall in the night until they get the highest 104 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:10,520 Speaker 1: stone of Trinity Church to the low stone of Osbridge. 105 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:14,680 Speaker 1: More prophecies followed, for telling wars, the comings of kings 106 00:06:14,720 --> 00:06:19,360 Speaker 1: and queens, battles, many of the battles between England and Scotland. 107 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,320 Speaker 1: And then the last prophecy quote after that a ship 108 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,359 Speaker 1: comes sailing up the Thames until it comes to London, 109 00:06:26,720 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: and the master of the ship shall weep, and the 110 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,919 Speaker 1: mariners shall ask him why he weepeth, being he hath 111 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,440 Speaker 1: made so good a voyage, And he shall say, ah, 112 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:40,160 Speaker 1: what a goodly city. This was none in the world 113 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,359 Speaker 1: comparable to it. And now there is scarce left any 114 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,640 Speaker 1: house that can let us have a drink for our money. 115 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: And then the brochure detailing all of these strange prophecies 116 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:55,760 Speaker 1: ends with a couplet. Unhappy he that lives to see 117 00:06:55,760 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: these days? But happy are the dead, Shipton's wife says. 118 00:07:00,360 --> 00:07:03,280 Speaker 1: The title page of this pamphlet is illustrated with a 119 00:07:03,279 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 1: woodcut that depicts a woman presumably Mother shipt In she 120 00:07:07,240 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: is wearing a gown from the late Tutor era, with 121 00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:12,280 Speaker 1: a ruff at the neck and billowy sleeves and a 122 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: bum roll. Basically, it's a simpler version of something that 123 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: you might see on a portrait of Queen Elizabeth. The 124 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: first something that a respectable woman would wear. Nothing seems 125 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:29,760 Speaker 1: particularly strange or unsettling or supernatural in her appearance. Other 126 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: editions of these prophecies followed in sixty two, with woodcuts 127 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 1: that shifted from someone who looked like a seer or 128 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: a cunning woman, which was a respectable woman who used 129 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:44,080 Speaker 1: magic for good, to looking more like a witch, which 130 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: was of course a person who used magic to do harm. 131 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: In this case, first she had a wart on her cheek, 132 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,600 Speaker 1: and then she had a large, hooked nose in an 133 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 1: incredibly wrinkled face. People also started publishing their interpretations of 134 00:07:59,200 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton's prophecies, including how or whether they had come true. 135 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: One of the people who did this was astrologer William Lilly, 136 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: who published what he called the most exact copy of 137 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:15,080 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton's prophecies in a Collection of Ancient and Modern 138 00:08:15,200 --> 00:08:20,440 Speaker 1: Prophecies in sixty five. He notes the outcomes of the prophecies, 139 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: starting with Mother Shipton telling the Duke of Suffolk that 140 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: he would be as low as she was. This was 141 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,880 Speaker 1: presumably Henry Gray, the first Duke of Suffolk, father of 142 00:08:31,960 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: Lady Jane Gray, who we've talked about on the show before. 143 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:38,440 Speaker 1: That was the Nine Day Queen. He was beheaded for 144 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,320 Speaker 1: treason in fifteen fifty four. She had told Lord Percy 145 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: that he would be beheaded and his head stolen. Lily 146 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: seems to interpret this as being Thomas Percy, seventh Earl 147 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:52,240 Speaker 1: of Northumberland, who was beheaded for treason after leading the 148 00:08:52,360 --> 00:08:55,079 Speaker 1: Rising in the North, which was an attempt to overthrow 149 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:58,920 Speaker 1: Queen Elizabeth the First, But that doesn't really make sense 150 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 1: that Lord he was beheaded in fifteen seventy two and 151 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:06,720 Speaker 1: was still a baby when Cardinal Woolsey set out for York. However, 152 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: his father, Sir Thomas Percy, was executed but not beheaded, 153 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,119 Speaker 1: in fifteen thirty seven for his role in the Pilgrimage 154 00:09:14,120 --> 00:09:18,120 Speaker 1: of Grace. So was Thomas Darcy, Lord Darcy, although it 155 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:22,040 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like Lily specifically mentioned that. Yeah, I could 156 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: not find an actual scan of the entirety of Lily's writing, 157 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: so I was like relying on quotations from it in 158 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,120 Speaker 1: another work. Doesn't seem like he specifically said anything about 159 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:36,440 Speaker 1: Lord Darcy, but maybe he did. Lily also notes that 160 00:09:36,480 --> 00:09:40,000 Speaker 1: Trinity Steeple fell down in a storm and Ooze Bridge 161 00:09:40,040 --> 00:09:43,200 Speaker 1: washed away in a flood in fifteen sixty four, and 162 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:46,720 Speaker 1: according to his account, the repaired bridge kept falling down 163 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:50,640 Speaker 1: until someone remembered this prophecy and they used the stone 164 00:09:50,679 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: from the top of the steeple as part of the 165 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: bridges foundation. He also notes that a few of the 166 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: prophecies had not been fulfilled when he wrote this, like 167 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: that can looting one about the ship sailing into London, 168 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:06,680 Speaker 1: but came out during the English Civil Wars, and Lily 169 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: was a parliamentarian, so a lot of his interpretations on 170 00:10:09,720 --> 00:10:12,280 Speaker 1: the prophecies that were related to wars and battles have 171 00:10:12,400 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: kind of a parliamentary and spin on things. Other editions 172 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,240 Speaker 1: of the prophecies that came out in the early sixteen 173 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: sixties agree that most of them had already been fulfilled 174 00:10:21,400 --> 00:10:25,040 Speaker 1: by them, but not that last one. But then in 175 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:28,560 Speaker 1: September of sixteen sixty six, the Great Fire of London 176 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:32,040 Speaker 1: gutted much of the central city. On October twentie of 177 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:34,800 Speaker 1: that year, Samuel Peeps wrote an entry in his diary 178 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,840 Speaker 1: about a conversation he had with Colonel Thomas Middleton, Commissioner 179 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: of the Navy. Quote he says he was on board 180 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:44,720 Speaker 1: the Prince when the news come of the burning of London, 181 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,199 Speaker 1: and all the Prince said was that now Shipton's prophecy 182 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: was out. So was that last prophecy about the great 183 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,320 Speaker 1: Fire of London. People sure did seem to think it was. 184 00:10:57,160 --> 00:11:01,000 Speaker 1: But not long after this, that's tone of the writing 185 00:11:01,080 --> 00:11:04,440 Speaker 1: about Mother Shipton and her prophecies changed a whole lot, 186 00:11:04,520 --> 00:11:06,800 Speaker 1: And we will get to that after a sponsor break. 187 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:19,360 Speaker 1: In sixteen sixty seven, a new edition of Mother Shipton's 188 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,679 Speaker 1: Prophecies claimed to document her biography. This was written by 189 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: Irish poet and satirist Richard Head and the words of 190 00:11:28,720 --> 00:11:32,640 Speaker 1: eighteenth century theater historian David Erskine Baker. Head was a 191 00:11:32,679 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: man quote up to pernicious passions biz poetry and gaming, 192 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:41,480 Speaker 1: one of which is for the most part unprofitable, and 193 00:11:41,559 --> 00:11:46,560 Speaker 1: the other almost always destructive. Head's book is The Life 194 00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:49,200 Speaker 1: and Death of Mother Shipton, being not only a true 195 00:11:49,240 --> 00:11:52,680 Speaker 1: account of her strange birth and most important passages of 196 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:56,840 Speaker 1: her life, but also all her prophecies, now newly collected 197 00:11:56,880 --> 00:12:00,120 Speaker 1: and historically experienced, from the time of her birth in 198 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:02,960 Speaker 1: the reign of King Henry the Seventh until this present 199 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:07,040 Speaker 1: year sixteen sixty seven, containing the most important passages of 200 00:12:07,080 --> 00:12:10,160 Speaker 1: state during the reign of these Kings and Queens of England. 201 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: I once worked in a cataloging department of a library, 202 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:17,000 Speaker 1: and every time a weird title like this would come up, 203 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: I would be like, how does anyone make sense of 204 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:23,319 Speaker 1: whether they want to read this? It is an incredibly 205 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,800 Speaker 1: sensational piece of writing, especially when compared to the more 206 00:12:26,840 --> 00:12:30,560 Speaker 1: straightforward accounts of Mother Shipton's prophecies from earlier in the 207 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: seventeenth century. Had claimed that he had gotten an account 208 00:12:35,679 --> 00:12:39,720 Speaker 1: of Mother Shipton's life from a monastery in Yorkshire. He 209 00:12:39,800 --> 00:12:42,560 Speaker 1: said the manuscript was in such poor condition that it 210 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:46,640 Speaker 1: was completely illegible, and he alleged that he restored their 211 00:12:46,679 --> 00:12:51,960 Speaker 1: readability by beating them, then soaking them with wine, then 212 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: distilling them and the wine, and then distilling them in 213 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: the water that had come off during that first distillation process. 214 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:03,680 Speaker 1: In the words of one debunking of this whole thing. Quote. 215 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:08,400 Speaker 1: Chemists will appreciate the novelty of the distilling operation in which, 216 00:13:08,440 --> 00:13:12,160 Speaker 1: on the application of heat as described, water came over 217 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: before alcohol. That's ah, that's not how it works. Also, 218 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,360 Speaker 1: I would just if you get some old manuscripts that 219 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,200 Speaker 1: you say it was like two years old, please do 220 00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:27,679 Speaker 1: not beat them and distill them. And why Yeah, I'm 221 00:13:27,720 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: just I'm I'm maybe I'm being naive, but I'm trying 222 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:34,559 Speaker 1: to envision any world in which someone would be like, yeah, 223 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: that sounds like the way to restore manuscript. Yeah, that 224 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:41,599 Speaker 1: sounds that sounds correct. Head's biography of mother Ship, in 225 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:45,280 Speaker 1: which to be clear, obviously seems entirely his own fabrication, 226 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:49,080 Speaker 1: begins with her mother Agatha, who he says lived near 227 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,760 Speaker 1: the Dropping Well in Yorkshire, England. This is a natural 228 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:56,040 Speaker 1: formation in which mineral rich water slides down the face 229 00:13:56,080 --> 00:13:59,520 Speaker 1: of the rock and drips into a pool blow If 230 00:13:59,559 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: you play something in the drip's mineral deposits seemed to 231 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,240 Speaker 1: petrify it over time. The Dropping Well is a tourist 232 00:14:06,280 --> 00:14:09,120 Speaker 1: attraction today, and according to its website, it is the 233 00:14:09,160 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: oldest visitor attraction in England, having been in operation since 234 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: sixteen thirty, and we're going to talk a little bit 235 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:18,319 Speaker 1: more about it later. Yeah, honestly, it looks pretty cool. 236 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:20,880 Speaker 1: I would go there. Let's do it. We're possible. At 237 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:25,520 Speaker 1: the moment, According to Head, Agatha's parents had died. They 238 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:27,960 Speaker 1: had left her orphaned at the age of fifteen and 239 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: forced to rely on charity from the parish. Then the 240 00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,600 Speaker 1: devil appeared to her in the shape of a handsome man, 241 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: whisking her away to a lavish palace, where he gifted 242 00:14:39,160 --> 00:14:43,080 Speaker 1: her with sumptuous clothes and married her and promised her 243 00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:46,960 Speaker 1: all kinds of power and wealth. But it's the devil 244 00:14:47,040 --> 00:14:50,440 Speaker 1: after all, So after the devil had gotten Agatha to 245 00:14:50,560 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: repeat a series of words that bound her to him, 246 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:57,800 Speaker 1: he clapped his hands and the whole thing disappeared. Agatha 247 00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,480 Speaker 1: was carried back home to her late parents cottage in 248 00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 1: a chariot pulled by two dragons. Her neighbors came to 249 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,160 Speaker 1: check on her, and they found her surprisingly altered, saying 250 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:11,280 Speaker 1: she looked as if a hag had rid her. Afterward, 251 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:16,400 Speaker 1: the devil, still disguised as a handsome man, visited Agatha regularly, 252 00:15:16,640 --> 00:15:20,880 Speaker 1: and soon strange supernatural things were happening around the house. 253 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: Her neighbors started to mistreat her because they started to 254 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:27,080 Speaker 1: suspect that she was a witch, And soon they were 255 00:15:27,120 --> 00:15:31,360 Speaker 1: suffering misfortunes like suddenly having horns growing out of their heads, 256 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: or finding that a horse that had died had a 257 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 1: stomach full of fish hooks. Unseen hands pelted the neighbors 258 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 1: with rotten apples and garbage, and they found their houses 259 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: suddenly overrun by toads and adders. I'm gonna talk about 260 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: the thing I'm thinking about maybe in our casual Friday. Um. So, 261 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 1: when Agatha became pregnant, she refused to tell anyone who 262 00:15:57,880 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: the father was. She was taken before a judge and 263 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:03,840 Speaker 1: she told him that her pregnancy was quote by no 264 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: mortal white. The judge concluded that she was an ignorance 265 00:16:08,320 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 1: seduced woman and prepared to set bail for her, but 266 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: then two gentlemen appeared out of nowhere, paid her bail 267 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:20,040 Speaker 1: and vanished. Agatha gave birth to a daughter. Not long after, 268 00:16:20,520 --> 00:16:24,080 Speaker 1: this daughter was mother shipped in. So, according to Head, 269 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,720 Speaker 1: she was not just a witch, she was the daughter 270 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: of the devil. Then his account goes on at length 271 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,040 Speaker 1: about how unusual her appearance was quote. She was of 272 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: an indifferent height, but very morose and big boned, her 273 00:16:39,640 --> 00:16:44,320 Speaker 1: head very long, with very great goggling but sharpened fiery eyes, 274 00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,600 Speaker 1: her nose of an incredible and unproportionable length, having in 275 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: it many crooks and turnings, adorned with many strange pimples 276 00:16:54,200 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 1: of diverse colors as red, blue, and mixed, which, like 277 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:02,240 Speaker 1: vapors of brimstone own gave such a luster to her 278 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:06,439 Speaker 1: affrighted spectators in the dead time of the night that 279 00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:09,639 Speaker 1: one of them confessed several times in my hearing that 280 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 1: her nurse needed no other light to assist her in 281 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: the performance of her duty. Um, that's only about a 282 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: third of the physical description. Head goes on and on 283 00:17:24,720 --> 00:17:28,719 Speaker 1: to talk about a jaundiced complexion and wrinkles and snaggled teeth, 284 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,000 Speaker 1: and a chin that turned up toward her mouth, and 285 00:17:32,080 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: a distorted neck and a twisted body and legs. If 286 00:17:35,800 --> 00:17:38,800 Speaker 1: you've listened to last year's episode on Matthew Hopkins, who 287 00:17:38,880 --> 00:17:42,920 Speaker 1: named himself England's which Finder General during the sixties, there 288 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,240 Speaker 1: is a lot of overlap between the description and the 289 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: purportedly unnatural physical features of witches. The tone of the 290 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:54,240 Speaker 1: purely fantastical things that were happening around the house also 291 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 1: kind of reminds me of some of the things that 292 00:17:56,640 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: we read in that episode. Head goes on to say 293 00:18:00,160 --> 00:18:02,360 Speaker 1: that Agatha could not take care of her daughter, so 294 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:05,480 Speaker 1: a nurse took over, and one day the nurse went 295 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,760 Speaker 1: to see the overseers of the poor, and she came 296 00:18:07,800 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: home to find the cottage door standing open. She called 297 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:14,040 Speaker 1: for help from the neighbors, thinking something was wrong, and 298 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:17,440 Speaker 1: soon they were beset by all kinds of supernatural mischief. 299 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:21,160 Speaker 1: There was a strange noise quote as if it had 300 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:26,439 Speaker 1: been a consort of cats. Yokes spontaneously appeared around their necks. 301 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,199 Speaker 1: Two of the men suddenly found that they had a 302 00:18:29,280 --> 00:18:32,680 Speaker 1: staff for carrying loads that was resting across both of 303 00:18:32,720 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: their shoulders, and then hanging from it was a naked 304 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:37,680 Speaker 1: old woman who was sort of dancing around in a 305 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:41,840 Speaker 1: variety of postures. The women were flung down onto the 306 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: floor with their clothes turned up over their heads, and 307 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:51,679 Speaker 1: then everyone was compelled to chase one another around the room. 308 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:55,400 Speaker 1: Eventually they found the apparent culprit in all of this, 309 00:18:55,960 --> 00:18:59,240 Speaker 1: the baby in her cradle, which was hanging with no 310 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:03,600 Speaker 1: visible poured several feet up the chimney. As this baby 311 00:19:03,640 --> 00:19:07,000 Speaker 1: grew up, the devil visited regularly in the form of 312 00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:12,080 Speaker 1: an animal, and the supernatural mischief continued, and Head's words 313 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,840 Speaker 1: quote to be short. The nurse was so continually terrified 314 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:19,719 Speaker 1: by these apparitions that she resolved to complain to the parish, And, 315 00:19:19,760 --> 00:19:22,280 Speaker 1: having made known the truth of what had passed, and 316 00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:27,480 Speaker 1: commiseration to the woman almost distracted, they removed mother shipped 317 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: into another place where she was put to school. Being 318 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:34,600 Speaker 1: of an age now fitting for it. I love the 319 00:19:34,720 --> 00:19:38,919 Speaker 1: idea that this child of the devil, who was causing 320 00:19:38,920 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: all kinds of supernatural mischief was just going to be 321 00:19:41,800 --> 00:19:45,119 Speaker 1: sent to school. Now it'll be fine. Oh, straighten it 322 00:19:45,200 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: right out. Uh. Soon, the young mother Shipton was developing 323 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,480 Speaker 1: a reputation for being able to foretell the future. People 324 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: started coming to her with small questions like when they 325 00:19:55,200 --> 00:19:58,000 Speaker 1: might get married, and then they moved on to bigger 326 00:19:58,040 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: things like whether someone's sick father was going to survive, 327 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 1: and then even larger questions like whether or not a 328 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 1: war was coming. Head's book includes some version of many 329 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:12,159 Speaker 1: of the prophecies that had been published earlier in the 330 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:15,640 Speaker 1: seventeenth century, but it also includes some that just don't 331 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:18,159 Speaker 1: seem to be in any of those earlier documents, like 332 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:22,440 Speaker 1: quote a prince that never shall be born shall make 333 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,960 Speaker 1: the shaved heads Forlorn. That's read as being about Edward 334 00:20:27,040 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: the six commonly believed to have been born by Caesarean section, 335 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:35,679 Speaker 1: although that's unsubstantiated. His making the shaved heads Forlorn is 336 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,560 Speaker 1: read as a reference to his making England into a 337 00:20:38,600 --> 00:20:43,359 Speaker 1: more specifically Protestant nation. Head also includes a more direct 338 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:46,479 Speaker 1: reference to Lady Jane Gray, the nine day Queen. Quote 339 00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 1: by parents too ambitious pride, the scaffold shall with blood 340 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:54,720 Speaker 1: be died. A virtuous lady then shall die for being 341 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:58,520 Speaker 1: raised up too high. Her death shall cause another's joy, 342 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:02,640 Speaker 1: who will the kingdom much annoy? That last little bit 343 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: is about Mary the First, otherwise known as Bloody Mary. 344 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,080 Speaker 1: Here is a longer passage, which to me almost feels 345 00:21:09,119 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: like a tour of old episodes of our show. Quote 346 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:17,879 Speaker 1: the lion fierce being dead and gone, A maiden queen 347 00:21:18,040 --> 00:21:22,000 Speaker 1: shall reign Anon. Those who side then shall sing, and 348 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: the bells shall change his ring. The papal tower shall 349 00:21:26,359 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: bear no sway. Rome's trash shall hints be swept away, 350 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:34,439 Speaker 1: the locusts sent from the Seven Hills. The English Rose 351 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:39,520 Speaker 1: shall seek to kill the Western monarchs. Wooden horses shall 352 00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:44,640 Speaker 1: be destroyed by the Drake's forces. Troy Novan's triumphant spire 353 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:49,240 Speaker 1: shall be consumed with flames of fire. More wonders, yet, 354 00:21:49,280 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: a widowed queen in England shall be headless, seen the 355 00:21:53,760 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: harp shall give a better sound. An earl without a 356 00:21:56,640 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 1: head be found. Soon after shall the English owes unto 357 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 1: a male her place dispose. So there's a whole stretch 358 00:22:05,480 --> 00:22:08,840 Speaker 1: of British history here, Queen Mary being the lion fierce, 359 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: followed by Elizabeth the First, the Maiden Queen, and the 360 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: bell shall change his ring, kicking off a series of 361 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,439 Speaker 1: references to the rise of Protestantism. There's the Spanish Armada 362 00:22:19,560 --> 00:22:22,439 Speaker 1: being destroyed by Sir Francis Drake, the collapse of the 363 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:25,879 Speaker 1: spire of St Paul's Cathedral in fifteen sixty one, the 364 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:29,760 Speaker 1: beheading of Mary, Queen of Scott's, the Tutor conquest of Ireland, 365 00:22:30,119 --> 00:22:33,119 Speaker 1: and James the sixth of Scotland becoming James the First 366 00:22:33,119 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: of England. Head's book contains a prophecy about the gunpowder 367 00:22:37,440 --> 00:22:41,080 Speaker 1: plot quote Hell's power by a fatal blow shall seek 368 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 1: the lands to overthrow, which by mistakes shall be reversed, 369 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:49,800 Speaker 1: and heads from shoulders be dispersed. Also the great plague 370 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:52,840 Speaker 1: and the fire of London, with quote great death in 371 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:56,280 Speaker 1: London shall be though, and men on tops of houses go. 372 00:22:56,920 --> 00:22:59,359 Speaker 1: Head's book ends with a series of prophecies that he 373 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:04,240 Speaker 1: claims are referring to future times. One the eagle droops 374 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:09,159 Speaker 1: and molts his wings, and feuds shall grow between northern kings. 375 00:23:09,160 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: Holland is threatened, Spain doth pine, and blood shall swell 376 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: the rapid rhyme too, when once the Orange and the 377 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:22,680 Speaker 1: Rose unite, beware Old England's foes. Three, Because done no more, 378 00:23:22,800 --> 00:23:28,120 Speaker 1: shall monsters pride triumphant over nation's ride. The meteor falls, 379 00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:33,320 Speaker 1: and scarce shall have a morning tear or Christian grave. Four. 380 00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:36,720 Speaker 1: The lilies now bewailed their loss, and serve but to 381 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:40,720 Speaker 1: adorn the cross. Five The work's begun, But would you 382 00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:44,280 Speaker 1: see the harvest ripe join Eight to three the Northern 383 00:23:44,400 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: star at last appears, and in all conquering banner rears. 384 00:23:49,359 --> 00:23:53,399 Speaker 1: Six how how will you miscreant? All your deeds shall 385 00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: now receive their worthy meads, but long ere this poor 386 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:02,719 Speaker 1: Shipton sleeps in her grip ave and Europe weeps. Head's 387 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:06,320 Speaker 1: book was reprinted in sixteen eighty six with similar but 388 00:24:06,600 --> 00:24:11,280 Speaker 1: even more sensational text. The sixteen eight six version clarifies 389 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,360 Speaker 1: that Mother Shipton's name was Ursula Soothtell, and that her 390 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: mother was Agatha or Amantha, and that Ursula became Mother 391 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,480 Speaker 1: Shipton after marrying a carpenter named Toby Shipton. It also 392 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:27,760 Speaker 1: adds the detail that Mother Shipton foretold her own death 393 00:24:27,840 --> 00:24:31,200 Speaker 1: at the age of seventy three in sixteen fifty one. 394 00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,879 Speaker 1: The sixteen eight six version also has a more obvious 395 00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:40,560 Speaker 1: thread of misogyny than Head's earlier version, generally depicting women 396 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: as slothful and immoral and conniving and gossipy. It notes 397 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,920 Speaker 1: that at sixteen, Agatha was still a maid, because back 398 00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,200 Speaker 1: then you could still find women who were maids at sixteen. 399 00:24:52,840 --> 00:24:56,679 Speaker 1: That implies that Ursula either bewitched Toby to get him 400 00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,760 Speaker 1: to marry her, or bewitched herself some money to lure 401 00:24:59,840 --> 00:25:03,720 Speaker 1: him into it. Mother Shipton catches a thief in this version, 402 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,639 Speaker 1: with the theft having happened while the victim was at 403 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,160 Speaker 1: a neighbor's house, quote telling a gossips tale of an 404 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:17,560 Speaker 1: hour long she was off yapping and then what's happened? 405 00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:21,960 Speaker 1: Heads account really set the standard for Mother Shipton lore 406 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: in the late seventeenth century. It kicked off a huge 407 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,439 Speaker 1: explosion of books about her life and purported prophecies, and 408 00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:34,119 Speaker 1: many many fictional depictions, including plays, songs, and even puppet shows. 409 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:38,199 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton became something of a stock character, featured in 410 00:25:38,240 --> 00:25:41,480 Speaker 1: at least sixteen books and a play before seventeen hundred. 411 00:25:42,160 --> 00:25:45,080 Speaker 1: One of those books was Mother Shipton's Christmas Carols, which 412 00:25:45,119 --> 00:25:47,760 Speaker 1: came out in sixteen sixty eight and was the first 413 00:25:47,800 --> 00:25:50,920 Speaker 1: book to focus only on this character's life rather than 414 00:25:50,960 --> 00:25:55,120 Speaker 1: on her prophecies. By this point, her appearance was solidified 415 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 1: as what we would consider very witchy, with a downturned 416 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 1: nose and upturned chin, lots of wrinkles in a hunched 417 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:07,320 Speaker 1: posture so like caricature wikchi yes, and she also as 418 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:10,560 Speaker 1: being a character in these puppet shows and also pantomimes 419 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,960 Speaker 1: you can see evidence of today. There is a very 420 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: creepy Mother shipt in puppet Head in the Victoria and 421 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:21,160 Speaker 1: Albert museum collection that you can see online. In addition 422 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 1: to appearing as a character in these kinds of things, 423 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,680 Speaker 1: she was also used as a descriptor, so people would 424 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,639 Speaker 1: describe other characters as looking like or being as ugly 425 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: as Mother Shipton. But none of this made mention of 426 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: what was probably Mother Shipton's most famous prophecy. And we're 427 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:45,879 Speaker 1: going to talk about that after a sponsor break. In 428 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty two, so some time has passed since before 429 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,520 Speaker 1: the break, Charles Hendley released a new edition of Mother 430 00:26:53,560 --> 00:26:56,919 Speaker 1: Shipton's prophecies, and by this point Mother Shipton had been 431 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:01,800 Speaker 1: associated with multiple cities and towns around Yorkshire, England, most 432 00:27:01,880 --> 00:27:05,520 Speaker 1: of them now in North Yorkshire, but by the time 433 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: Henley's book came out, she was mostly connected to Naresborough. 434 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:12,920 Speaker 1: Henley marks her place of birth in this book as 435 00:27:13,119 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: Naresborough and fourteen six. Henley claimed that this book was 436 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:21,639 Speaker 1: a word for word reprinting of a manuscript from six seven, 437 00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:24,960 Speaker 1: but it includes a collection of prophecies that had never 438 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: appeared in print before because he made him up. Some 439 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:31,920 Speaker 1: of the new editions seemed to foretell more modern inventions 440 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:35,760 Speaker 1: that would be easily identifiable to readers like quote carriages 441 00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:39,600 Speaker 1: without horses shall go, and accidents fill the world with woe, 442 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: or quote around the world thoughts shall fly in the 443 00:27:43,400 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 1: twinkling of an eye. But the most famous of these 444 00:27:47,119 --> 00:27:50,880 Speaker 1: new editions was by far the world to an end 445 00:27:50,920 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: shall come. In eighteen hundred and eighty one, after some 446 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: of Henley's new prophecies were printed in Notes and Queries, 447 00:27:59,160 --> 00:28:02,399 Speaker 1: somebody from that journal contacted him about them, and on 448 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:07,280 Speaker 1: April eighteen seventy three, Notes and Queries printed this statement 449 00:28:07,400 --> 00:28:10,880 Speaker 1: quote Mr Charles Hendley of Brighton, in a letter to us, 450 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:15,159 Speaker 1: has made a clean breast of having fabricated the prophecy 451 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,760 Speaker 1: quoted at page four hundred fifty of our last volume, 452 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,280 Speaker 1: with some ten others included in his reprint of a 453 00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: chat book version published in eighteen sixty two. Even though 454 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:29,640 Speaker 1: Hindley admitted that he had fabricated all this and that 455 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:34,399 Speaker 1: fabrication was made public in eighteen seventy three, sensational books 456 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:37,800 Speaker 1: reached a much broader audience than the more scholarly Notes 457 00:28:37,800 --> 00:28:42,040 Speaker 1: and Queries, so as eighteen eighty one approached, people started 458 00:28:42,040 --> 00:28:46,200 Speaker 1: to panic about the possible arrival of doomsday. Most of 459 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:48,800 Speaker 1: the copies of his book were sold from Hindley's bookshop 460 00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:51,680 Speaker 1: in Brighton, so most of the panic was centered there, 461 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:55,640 Speaker 1: but it also spread to rural areas. According to reports, 462 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: people abandoned their work and crops and started sleeping out 463 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: in the fields, anticipating the end of the world. This 464 00:29:02,880 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: may have been stoked by the appearance of two comets 465 00:29:05,360 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: that were visible to the naked eye that year, and 466 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:12,000 Speaker 1: an aurora borealists it was visible in northern England. Been 467 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,480 Speaker 1: response to all of this, the British Library got William 468 00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:19,479 Speaker 1: Henry Harrison, which is a different William Henry Harrison than 469 00:29:19,520 --> 00:29:21,560 Speaker 1: the one who served as the ninth President of the 470 00:29:21,640 --> 00:29:26,160 Speaker 1: United States, to investigate and debunk it. The result was 471 00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:30,800 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton investigated the result of critical examination in the 472 00:29:30,840 --> 00:29:34,800 Speaker 1: British Museum Library of the literature relating to the Yorkshire 473 00:29:34,840 --> 00:29:39,480 Speaker 1: Sybyl which was published in eighteen one. Harrison concluded that 474 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:42,720 Speaker 1: most of what had been written about Mother Shipton had 475 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:47,000 Speaker 1: been fabricated, but that quote there may be some foundation 476 00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: for the incident narrated about Cardinal Wolsey. Eventually, the eighteen 477 00:29:52,080 --> 00:29:55,760 Speaker 1: eighty one Doomsday panic passed, although there were additions of 478 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,640 Speaker 1: Henley's prophecies and quotation marks that were published in the 479 00:29:59,640 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: twenty a century and claimed that the date for the 480 00:30:01,840 --> 00:30:04,920 Speaker 1: end of the world was actually the end of the 481 00:30:04,920 --> 00:30:09,480 Speaker 1: world is big business today. Mother Shipton's Cave in Naresborough, 482 00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: England is a tourist attraction. It's part of a park 483 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,040 Speaker 1: that also includes the dropping well that we mentioned earlier, 484 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,760 Speaker 1: which is now called the Petrifying Well. The dropping well 485 00:30:18,800 --> 00:30:21,520 Speaker 1: has been a tourist attraction for centuries, but the cave 486 00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 1: is a relatively new addition, at least in terms of 487 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: its being described as Mother Shipton's birthplace. Until nineteen o eight, 488 00:30:28,760 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: the Mother Shipton's Birthplace attraction was a house and not 489 00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: a cave. There's also a Mother Shipton moth, named for 490 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:38,280 Speaker 1: the blotches on its wings that look like the profile 491 00:30:38,400 --> 00:30:41,120 Speaker 1: of a witchy looking head with a long nose that 492 00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:44,400 Speaker 1: curves down and a chin that turns up. So in 493 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:47,400 Speaker 1: terms of that facial profile, it actually has a lot 494 00:30:47,480 --> 00:30:51,320 Speaker 1: in common with another figure from English popular culture, and 495 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: that is the character of Punch. William Henry Harrison's report 496 00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:59,640 Speaker 1: on his investigation into Mother Shipton lists a long series 497 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: of usual similarities between the prevailing depictions of Mother Shipton 498 00:31:04,160 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 1: and of Punch quote one the hooked nose and chin 499 00:31:08,480 --> 00:31:12,600 Speaker 1: to the peaked cap, three, the hump for the dress 500 00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: with prominent lines, five the uplifted hand. Six the grasping 501 00:31:17,080 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: of a weapon with the other hand. Seven. Each of 502 00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: them faces an important individual in a peculiar cap perched 503 00:31:23,720 --> 00:31:27,400 Speaker 1: upon an elevated structure, Cardinal Wolsey in one instance, Toby. 504 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:31,400 Speaker 1: In the other. Depictions of Mother Shipton and Punch can 505 00:31:31,440 --> 00:31:33,840 Speaker 1: look so much alike that there are items and museum 506 00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,360 Speaker 1: collections that are marked as possibly being either of them, 507 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:43,959 Speaker 1: or maybe Mother Hubbard. However, in a new statue of 508 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 1: Mother Shipton was unveiled in Naresborough, which does not look 509 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,760 Speaker 1: like this at all. She has a wrinkled but almost 510 00:31:50,880 --> 00:31:53,120 Speaker 1: kindly face and she's sitting on a bench with an 511 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:57,040 Speaker 1: illustrated scroll across her lap. There are still some nods 512 00:31:57,080 --> 00:32:01,200 Speaker 1: to witchiness, though there's a strange creature reading scroll, a 513 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,680 Speaker 1: hat with feet, and what looks like a clam with 514 00:32:03,760 --> 00:32:06,960 Speaker 1: teeth eating a frog. The statue was funded through a 515 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:11,200 Speaker 1: crowdfunding campaign and sculpted by Christopher Kelly. Yeah, I actually 516 00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,040 Speaker 1: like the sculpture quite a lot. So was this a 517 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,200 Speaker 1: real person? In the words of her entry and the 518 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:23,880 Speaker 1: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography quote, although almost everything written 519 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:27,760 Speaker 1: about Mother Shipton and attributed to her has been invented, 520 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:32,360 Speaker 1: she was in all probability of ritical woman living in 521 00:32:32,480 --> 00:32:39,680 Speaker 1: York about fifteen thirty. That was Mother Shipton. Uh. I 522 00:32:39,800 --> 00:32:43,320 Speaker 1: told Holly a couple of weeks ago, I'm gonna do 523 00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:45,880 Speaker 1: something on Mother Shipton if I could find enough. And 524 00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:51,280 Speaker 1: then I found way more than I was expecting. Did 525 00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:55,120 Speaker 1: you find listener mail as well? I did. This is 526 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: from Anna, and Anna wrote to us after our Tear 527 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:01,440 Speaker 1: Gas episode. Anna says, Dear Holly and Tracy, I recently 528 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:04,080 Speaker 1: discovered your podcast and I've been listening from my home 529 00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,800 Speaker 1: in Kent, UK over the last two months, and I've 530 00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:10,280 Speaker 1: really enjoyed going through your past episodes. I just got 531 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: to your episode on tear Gas and it was fascinating. 532 00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: I was very pleased to hear you mentioned the Chilean 533 00:33:15,640 --> 00:33:18,440 Speaker 1: student protests towards the end of the episode. I was 534 00:33:18,480 --> 00:33:21,920 Speaker 1: actually living in Chile in a tiny farming town just 535 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:24,680 Speaker 1: outside the capital as a nineteen year old when these 536 00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,440 Speaker 1: are going on. Working in the education of children, with 537 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:30,480 Speaker 1: additional needs. As a gap year, we were one of 538 00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:33,280 Speaker 1: the only schools in the country not being occupied by 539 00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:36,280 Speaker 1: our students. Most of my Chilean friends and their younger 540 00:33:36,320 --> 00:33:39,480 Speaker 1: siblings spent huge chunks of the year living barricaded in 541 00:33:39,520 --> 00:33:43,280 Speaker 1: their schools, running a sort of educational co op. After 542 00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:45,960 Speaker 1: a couple of months of this, there were mass protests, 543 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: with people from all walks of life taking to the 544 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: streets to vocalize in general feeling that the government was 545 00:33:51,640 --> 00:33:55,680 Speaker 1: failing its people, particularly it's young people. The education system 546 00:33:55,760 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 1: was systematically underfunded, which undermined their constitutional obligation to provide good, quality, 547 00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:05,000 Speaker 1: free education to the population. I was fascinated by this 548 00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,080 Speaker 1: at the time and watched with horror as it escalated 549 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: day on day. I have very vivid memories of the 550 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,000 Speaker 1: first time I experienced it firsthand. I was in a 551 00:34:14,120 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: park called Santa Lucio, which is on a hill, and 552 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,560 Speaker 1: suddenly felt this incredible burning sensation in my mouth and eyes. 553 00:34:21,040 --> 00:34:23,200 Speaker 1: When looking down at the streets below, I could see 554 00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,360 Speaker 1: thousands of protesters. The screaming and sirens went on for 555 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: what felt like hours as we were stuck in our 556 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,920 Speaker 1: park forts surrounded by police and protesters. Below. We were 557 00:34:32,960 --> 00:34:36,120 Speaker 1: probably two miles away from the actual protest point, but 558 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:38,879 Speaker 1: the effects of the gas even from that distance were 559 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: alarming and terrible. A few weeks after this, we actually 560 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,680 Speaker 1: got stranded overnight at a friend's house in the center 561 00:34:44,719 --> 00:34:47,080 Speaker 1: because the fighting got so bad it was decided it 562 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:50,720 Speaker 1: was unsafe for us to travel back home. Fast forward 563 00:34:50,920 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 1: nine years and I finally returned in the summer of 564 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:56,640 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen. On our first day in Santiago, I went 565 00:34:56,680 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: back to Santa Lucia and lo and behold that saying 566 00:35:00,160 --> 00:35:04,440 Speaker 1: feeling of burning, pain, difficulty breathing, and stinging eyes overwhelmed 567 00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:07,239 Speaker 1: me again. I knew right away what was happening, and 568 00:35:07,280 --> 00:35:10,319 Speaker 1: looking down, saw a very familiar scene below. Over the 569 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 1: course of the two weeks that we were there, we 570 00:35:11,920 --> 00:35:14,799 Speaker 1: saw the army a handful of times. Only a month 571 00:35:14,880 --> 00:35:17,719 Speaker 1: after we got home, Chile was back almost exactly where 572 00:35:17,719 --> 00:35:20,239 Speaker 1: it had been when I lived there in nine years previously. 573 00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:23,799 Speaker 1: One thing people who have not directly experienced this in 574 00:35:23,840 --> 00:35:26,480 Speaker 1: their city failed to understand is that this gas does 575 00:35:26,480 --> 00:35:28,880 Speaker 1: not just effect those at whom it is targeted, but 576 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:32,560 Speaker 1: whole communities of people around it. For hours and hours afterward, 577 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,400 Speaker 1: I was struck by your comment that in some places 578 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,560 Speaker 1: its use has become a normal part of life. It 579 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:42,120 Speaker 1: resonated so much with my experience in Chile. On my return, 580 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,560 Speaker 1: our tour guide was completely nonchalant about the protests going 581 00:35:45,560 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 1: on below, even going so far as to pull a 582 00:35:48,040 --> 00:35:50,120 Speaker 1: scarf out of his bag to cover his face as 583 00:35:50,160 --> 00:35:52,799 Speaker 1: we walked along, saying that he was always ready for 584 00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:56,120 Speaker 1: tear gas at any time. Many of my Chilean friends 585 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,040 Speaker 1: have said the same thing. The regularity of its use 586 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:02,040 Speaker 1: is astounding and very worrying. I want to thank you 587 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:04,279 Speaker 1: so much for this incredible hard work that goes into 588 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:07,520 Speaker 1: your podcast, providing so much joy and fascination to history 589 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: geeks like me all around the world. It would make 590 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:12,000 Speaker 1: me happy to hear a podcast on the history of 591 00:36:12,000 --> 00:36:15,080 Speaker 1: the Chilean dictatorship, its links to the CIA, and how 592 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:17,920 Speaker 1: it has impacted so much of Chilean culture, history, and 593 00:36:18,000 --> 00:36:21,000 Speaker 1: politics ever since. Keep up the amazing work and I 594 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:23,720 Speaker 1: look forward to seeing what comes next. Best wishes, Anna. 595 00:36:23,840 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: Thank you so much Anna for this email. I know 596 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:28,920 Speaker 1: it was a little longer than the emails that we 597 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:32,840 Speaker 1: typically read, but I really appreciated hearing that first person 598 00:36:32,880 --> 00:36:35,359 Speaker 1: perspective about something that we were really only able to 599 00:36:35,360 --> 00:36:38,359 Speaker 1: mention briefly in passing in that episode. So thank you, 600 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,200 Speaker 1: thank you again for writing. If you would like to 601 00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,640 Speaker 1: write to us about this or any other podcast, we 602 00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 1: are at History Podcast at i heeart radio dot com, 603 00:36:46,920 --> 00:36:49,640 Speaker 1: and then we're also all over social media at missed 604 00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:53,280 Speaker 1: in History. That's where you'll find our Facebook and Pinterest 605 00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:56,759 Speaker 1: and Twitter and Instagram, and you can subscribe to our 606 00:36:56,800 --> 00:37:00,120 Speaker 1: show on Apple podcasts and the iHeart radio app, up 607 00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:08,400 Speaker 1: been anywhere else that you get your podcasts. Stuff you 608 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:11,160 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class is a production of I heart Radio. 609 00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:14,320 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the iHeart 610 00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,520 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 611 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:18,200 Speaker 1: favorite shows.