WEBVTT - Agnes Waterhouse and Her Cat, Satan 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:06.360 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shonda Land Audio in 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:16.560 partnership with I Heart Radio. Welcome to Criminalia. This season, 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:21.400 we're talking about the stories of people accused of practicing magic, sorcery, witchcraft, 0:00:21.440 --> 0:00:25.080 in alchemy. The history here is complex, and the stories 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:26.920 will be telling aren't going to be just about the 0:00:26.960 --> 0:00:30.680 dark arts. They'll also be about the torture and executions 0:00:30.760 --> 0:00:34.280 of those who were accused, guilty or not. And on 0:00:34.400 --> 0:00:37.680 that note, I'm Maria Schmrqui. I don't know if you're 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:39.360 saying that you're guilty or not, but we're going to 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:44.320 keep going. I'm Polly Fry. Agnes Waterhouse was known as 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.720 Mother water House in the village of Hatfield, Peverell. She 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.080 was a widow who was raising a daughter named Joan, 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:53.720 and in fifteen sixty six, at the age of sixty three, 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:57.400 she was accused of bewitching to death a man named 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:01.040 William Fine, who died in November of of teen sixty five. 0:01:01.800 --> 0:01:05.200 In the bigger picture, she was accused of using witchcraft 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:08.920 to cause harm, and her daughter, who was just eight team, 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:13.640 was accused of the same crime. We probably wouldn't actually 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.240 know who Agnes Waterhouse was except that Her name appears 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:20.240 on a list of accused felons held by the Essex 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:24.160 Record Office among their court records. The felony in this 0:01:24.240 --> 0:01:28.280 case was suspicion of practicing witchcraft. That was a really 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.000 serious crime that was punishable by death during this time 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:35.600 and place. Agnes was tried in Comstort, about twelve miles 0:01:35.600 --> 0:01:39.040 away from Hatfield, Peverell, in the summer of fifteen sixty six, 0:01:39.080 --> 0:01:42.319 which made her the first person who can be verified 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:45.759 as being executed by hanging after being accused of witchcraft. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.840 Sure there were others before her, but her trial and 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:52.200 death are part of the historical record, and what we 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.800 do know about her life and death may best be 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:58.400 told through the records of her trial and the testimonies 0:01:58.440 --> 0:02:02.160 that were given during it. Agnes Waterhouse was accused of 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:06.560 and confessed to practicing black magic. That's the basic gist 0:02:06.560 --> 0:02:09.600 of it. Her case first passed through the lower court 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.600 of quarter Sessions, which were local courts that held trials 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:15.280 four times each year. This is where the details of 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.400 Agnes's case would have been heard by a Justice of 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.440 the peace. It would then go on to the Assizes, 0:02:20.560 --> 0:02:23.600 the court where she would be tried and sentenced it's 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.440 different than what we know now, but it was normal 0:02:26.639 --> 0:02:30.360 then in fifteen sixty six. There were two stages involved 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:33.720 in criminal prosecution. The Justice of the Peace would perform 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.920 the examination and committal. This is where Agnes was charged, 0:02:37.280 --> 0:02:40.200 and that was followed by her arraignment and trial in 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:42.760 the courts of assize, where she would face a jury. 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:46.680 The assizes were held periodically by a higher court in 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:51.960 each county. Accusations of witchcraft certainly pre date Agnes, and 0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:56.280 the crime did appear before the courts fairly regularly. Assizes 0:02:56.320 --> 0:02:58.560 can mean a few times a year to administer both 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.880 civil and criminal law, and were presided over by visiting 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.760 judges from higher courts, such as those in London. They 0:03:05.760 --> 0:03:08.120 were held as far back as the Middle Ages and 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:10.480 continued to be a type of court of justice in 0:03:10.560 --> 0:03:13.680 England all the way up until the early nineteen seventies, 0:03:13.720 --> 0:03:16.520 when they were combined with the Quarter sessions to become 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.680 a single permanent Crown court. So you know that we 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.160 know how the court system worked during her trial. Let's 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:25.760 talk about the law. Over the years, various acts of 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.600 Parliament were specifically designed to punish anyone accused of engaging 0:03:29.720 --> 0:03:32.640 in any form of what was considered to be witchcraft. 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.600 Not long before Agnes was accused. The Witchcraft Act of 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:40.880 fifteen forty two was enacted as England's first anti witchcraft law, 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.800 partly in reaction to the growing religious tensions in England 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.000 during the sixteenth century, but also partly to address the 0:03:47.040 --> 0:03:50.600 growing hysteria and fear about the power of witches. The 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:53.480 Act was made law during Henry the Eighth's reign and 0:03:53.640 --> 0:03:57.560 defined witchcraft as using invocations or other magical acts to 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:02.480 cause injury, get money, or to behave badly towards Christianity. 0:04:02.680 --> 0:04:05.200 It did not mention a pact with the devil as 0:04:05.200 --> 0:04:07.760 a way of identifying a witch, as was the case 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:12.200 in different times throughout history. The Act didn't just define witchcraft, 0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:17.400 it also established penalties for practicing these perceived indiscretions. Witchcraft 0:04:17.480 --> 0:04:19.800 became a crime that could be punished by forfeiture of 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:22.560 one's belongings, but depending on the nature of the crime, 0:04:22.640 --> 0:04:25.800 it could also be punished by death. The Act was 0:04:25.880 --> 0:04:29.359 overturned in fifteen forty seven as the king overhauled the 0:04:29.440 --> 0:04:33.600 legal code, but he died that year and left unfinished business. 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.360 As a result, there were really no laws against witchcraft 0:04:37.440 --> 0:04:39.560 on the books in England between the years of fifteen 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:45.360 forty seven and fifteen sixty three. But enter Elizabeth the First. Queen. 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:48.679 Elizabeth the First rose to the throne in fifteen fifty eight, 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.640 and under her reign and just three years before Agnes's trial, 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:58.839 the Act against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witchcrafts was enacted. Under 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.680 this new law, the f penalty was to be applied 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:05.640 only when harm had been caused, and that crime was 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:09.880 considered a felony. Harm as it was defined in this case, 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:17.080 was anyone who quote, used, practiced, or exercised any witchcraft, enchantment, charm, 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.320 or sorcery whereby any person shall happen to be killed 0:05:21.480 --> 0:05:25.719 or destroyed. The statute also was the first to legally 0:05:25.800 --> 0:05:29.760 link witchcraft with the devil and devil worship. So we're 0:05:29.760 --> 0:05:32.040 gonna take a break for a word from our sponsor, 0:05:32.120 --> 0:05:34.120 but when we return, we'll talk a little bit more 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:45.880 about anti witchcraft laws and of course Agnes's trial. Welcome 0:05:45.920 --> 0:05:49.880 back to Criminalia. Let's get started with Agnes's trial and 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:54.039 just why it was such a sensational story. Under the 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:58.719 Act against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witchcrafts, those who were accused 0:05:58.720 --> 0:06:01.200 of black magic were a rested and put on trial 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:05.200 for committing a criminal offense. Those offenses were broken into 0:06:05.279 --> 0:06:09.359 two branches. Lesser offenses, such as accusations of spreading illness 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:13.680 among livestock or turning butter rancid, were sentenced to one 0:06:13.760 --> 0:06:16.680 year in prison and maybe time in the stocks, but 0:06:16.800 --> 0:06:20.279 those accused and convicted of major offenses such as murder, 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.760 were executed by hanging. At the same time. Records show 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:26.800 that indictments for murder caused by witchcraft begin to appear 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:30.960 in the historical record almost immediately following the implementation of 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:35.920 the fifteen sixty three anti witchcraft law. Agnes's trial, held 0:06:36.000 --> 0:06:38.760 just after the law was in place, ended up setting 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:43.080 the stage for subsequent witchcraft trials across England. There are 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:47.359 various estimates, some conservative and some quite wild, given of 0:06:47.440 --> 0:06:50.719 the number of people who were executed for allegedly practicing 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:55.159 witchcraft between fifteen forty two and seventeen thirty six, but 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.599 it probably hovers around a thousand people in the area 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:03.280 where Agnes lived, Many of the accused and executed were women. 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.760 Agnes was scheduled to appear at the Midsummer Assize in 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:12.360 Chelmsford at the Market cross House. Essex historian Hill Degrieve 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:15.800 wrote of the Market Cross Houses being noisy and very 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:21.040 public overall a building totally unsuitable as a courtroom. She 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.360 described it as, and we quote, an open sided building 0:07:24.440 --> 0:07:28.160 with eight oak columns supporting upper galleries in a tiled roof. 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:32.040 The galleries, which overlooked the open piazza below, were lit 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:35.320 by three dormer windows in the roof. The magistrates and 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:40.240 justices sat in open court, which measured only by four ft, 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:43.720 with the officers of the law, counsel and clerks, plaintiffs 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.600 and defendants, jurors, witnesses and prisoners before and around them, 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:52.040 while spectators, hangers on and those awaiting their turn crowded 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:56.200 into the galleries above and thronged the street outside. Because 0:07:56.240 --> 0:07:59.040 the trial was scheduled to be held during the summer months, 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.000 some of the top judges in London, in an effort 0:08:02.000 --> 0:08:05.760 to escape the heat, often set in judgment over these courts. 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:10.760 Agnes sat before prestigious agents of the law, including Justice Southcote, 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.360 a Justice of the Queen's Bench, Reverend Thomas Cole, who 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.800 was rector of a church near Chelmsford, Sir John Fortescue, 0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:21.800 who later became Chancellor of Her Majesty's Exchequer, and Sir 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:26.080 Gilbert Gerrard, Attorney General. Her trial turned out to be 0:08:26.480 --> 0:08:29.800 the hottest ticket in town, and the daily details of 0:08:29.840 --> 0:08:34.200 the proceedings were recorded and distributed as pamphlets, which became 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:38.440 popular reading like reading TMZ or US weekly. Someone would 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:41.520 tip off a London publisher about statements made in the courtroom. 0:08:41.679 --> 0:08:45.760 The publisher would then add eyewitness accounts and eyewitness here, 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:49.199 I'm gonna air quote of the scene inside the courtroom. 0:08:49.600 --> 0:08:52.120 Sometimes they would add poems, but the description of the 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:55.559 execution was what was the star of the show. Loving 0:08:55.559 --> 0:08:58.760 a sensational story, the editors gobbled it all up and 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:03.679 pamphlets were in man. Agnes wasn't the only woman on trial. 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:07.880 Three women, Agnes, her daughter Joan, and a woman named 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.800 Elizabeth Francis, who was assumed to be Agnes's sister, were 0:09:11.840 --> 0:09:15.640 all accused of practicing witchcraft. And at the center of 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:19.760 this trial was a cat. So we're going to begin 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:22.400 with Elizabeth, who was the first to own this cat. 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:27.040 She was arrested after Agnes confessed that Elizabeth had given 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:29.720 her a cat named Satan in exchange for a cake. 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.240 Elizabeth told pre trial questioners that when she was twelve 0:09:33.320 --> 0:09:35.800 years old, she was given this cat named Satan as 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.120 a gift from her grandmother. Her story goes on that 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.920 she then fed her blood to the cat and renounced God. 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.119 The cat named Satan became her familiar, her witch's companion. 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:50.959 There are pieces of Elizabeth's story that describe how she 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:55.200 used this cat named Satan, which included asking her cat 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:59.319 for certain things like to bring her sheep to help 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:01.920 her find a husband, which is a story that ended 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.959 up turning into her having sex out of wedlock, certainly 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:08.120 a no no under religious rules and social moray's of 0:10:08.120 --> 0:10:11.880 the time. Elizabeth got pregnant during an affair, but with 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:15.040 the help of her cat, she did marry the child's father, 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.480 that was a man named Christopher Francis. But this story 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:22.040 does not have a happy ending. During a period of 0:10:22.120 --> 0:10:27.600 quote marital unhappiness, Elizabeth killed their child, or she was 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:30.959 accused of doing so. At this time in history, as 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:34.280 we've said many times, the infant mortality rate was very 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.920 high and there could have been any number of a 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.400 lot of other reasons for the baby's death. Her story 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:44.200 was printed in the Examination and Confession of certain Witches 0:10:44.679 --> 0:10:47.840 at Kentsford in the County of Essex in fifteen sixty 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:52.760 six because her alleged sexual improprieties were not a felony, 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:56.160 Though she was sentenced to one year in prison with 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.040 four instances where she would be placed in the stocks, 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:02.720 there is no mention in historical records that we could 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:07.560 locate of any punishment for her child's death. Thirteen years later, though, 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:10.720 she was tried, convicted, and hanged for the murder of 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:15.440 a neighbor named Alice Poole by witchcraft, specifically by using 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:19.480 an enchanted black dog. We'll get to that enchanted black 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.000 dog in a minute, but let's get back to Satan 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:26.320 the cat. The cat was allegedly a demonic spirit, and 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:30.440 under Agnes's care, it was used to kill. She confessed 0:11:30.520 --> 0:11:33.800 she had used Satan to kill cows, pigs, and geese, 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.760 and to harm brewing and other productions such as dairying. 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:39.560 Though she was accused of hexing her neighbor, a tailor 0:11:39.640 --> 0:11:43.240 named Wardoll, Agnes reported that Satan the cat told her 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.600 Wardoll's faith was so great he could not be harmed. 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:49.800 She had set him against villagers who angered her. She 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:52.600 claimed including the murder of a neighbor and nine years 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.400 prior the murder of her husband. But in court there 0:11:56.480 --> 0:12:00.000 was no mention about the murder of a neighbor William Fine, 0:12:00.000 --> 0:12:02.520 no mention of the murder of her husband, and no 0:12:02.760 --> 0:12:06.760 mention of the confession she made about harming livestock and property. 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:09.280 The defense was that the cat had done all the 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:13.080 crimes at which Agnes stood accused. Despite all of the 0:12:13.160 --> 0:12:17.000 accusations we've just listed, we haven't actually gotten to the 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:21.319 damning accusation yet. So Maria has talked a lot about 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:25.880 these confessions, and Agnes did confess to many things. While 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.920 some sources disagree, this was all likely done under torture. 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.480 Don't jump to the torture techniques from times like the Inquisition, though, 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.760 torture at this time would have included slightly different tactics 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:42.600 such as sleep deprivation, or in some cases, the accused 0:12:42.600 --> 0:12:45.840 would be bound and thrown into water. And then you've 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.120 probably heard this story of the person sank. It meant 0:12:49.120 --> 0:12:51.840 they were cleansed and innocent, but if they floated, it 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.800 meant the water had rejected them and they were considered guilty. 0:12:55.800 --> 0:12:58.440 The reality, though, was that many women were accused of 0:12:58.440 --> 0:13:02.000 witchcraft because of their appears. The presence of moles or 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:04.280 simply signs of old age were enough to make a 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.640 person at target, And if a woman had a companion animal, 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:11.160 it was surely her devil driven familiar. I feel like 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:12.800 we would all be in a lot of trouble if 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.600 this were the case. My cats and my fine lines 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.880 and wrinkles, sure they would put me at risk, Like 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:25.040 who protect fgitties? Those practicing there are in the same 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.000 area as Agnes lived are known to us because of 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:31.839 four remaining pamphlets that were published between fifteen sixty six 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:35.920 and fifteen eighty nine. These pamphlets described the lives and 0:13:36.200 --> 0:13:39.600 in some cases the depths, of thirty women and one 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:42.920 man who were accused and prosecuted under the Witchcraft Act 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:47.520 of fifteen sixty three. Prosecutions peaked between fifteen eighty and 0:13:47.559 --> 0:13:51.920 fifteen eighty nine, so decades after Agnes, but nearly nine 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:56.040 of them were women. Some of the accused confessed that 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:58.760 they did do whatever it was they were accused of doing, 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:02.920 some amitted that they only practiced healing spells, and some 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:07.520 outright denied at all. Accusers as recorded in the trial 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:10.920 records from the time, we're often likely to create narratives 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:13.880 that were kind of a jumble of unverifiable things about, 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:18.400 which is with descriptions of illogical or fictional events surrounding 0:14:18.440 --> 0:14:22.160 the alleged which what was real and what was not 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:26.400 wasn't always easy to ascertain. But these types of testimonies 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.640 were exactly the kind of thing that onlookers wanted to 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:34.000 hear and read about in those prolific pamphlets. We're going 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.200 to take a break for a word from our sponsor. 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:41.000 When we're back, and after all these accusations, will finally 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:44.240 get to what was considered to be the incriminating evidence 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:57.240 against Agnes. Welcome back to Criminalia Satan. The cat was 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.480 not the only important piece of the trial. There is 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:04.720 also a girl named Agnes Brown. Before we get to 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.800 Agnes Brown, let's jump for a minute to Agnes's daughter, Joan. 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:13.000 Her crime was bewitching another girl, the waterhouse's neighbor, who 0:15:13.040 --> 0:15:16.760 happened to be twelve year old Agnes Brown. In court, 0:15:17.080 --> 0:15:21.320 Joan testified against her mother, strategy reportedly done in an 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.560 effort to save herself from execution. At first, she denied 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.400 any knowledge of witchcraft, but did admit that her mother 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:32.160 had attempted to teach her quote this art, but then 0:15:32.160 --> 0:15:34.800 she started to talk. She confessed she had tried to 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:38.520 use her mother's familiar, the cat named Satan, to punish 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:43.040 her neighbor, Agnes Brown, for basically bullying her. In the end, 0:15:43.200 --> 0:15:48.040 Joan was not sentenced, she was acquitted. So we have murder, 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:50.960 we have animal cruelty, we have property damage in the mix, 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:55.920 and among the dead we have Agnes's husband. Agnes's husband 0:15:55.960 --> 0:15:59.720 died in fifty seven. After living we quote somewhat un 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:04.600 it lead together. Agnes was accused of murdering him. In part, 0:16:04.680 --> 0:16:07.240 the authorities argued to get out of her marriage and, 0:16:07.440 --> 0:16:10.440 as they thought, live life with freedoms that came with 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:15.120 being a widow. Agnes, once again under torture, confessed to 0:16:15.160 --> 0:16:19.880 her husband's murder. But the bulk of the evidence against Agnes, though, 0:16:19.920 --> 0:16:22.600 had nothing to do with any of these crimes. The 0:16:22.640 --> 0:16:26.960 incriminating testimony came from Agnes Brown. Because two agnes Is 0:16:27.000 --> 0:16:29.320 here are going to get confusing. For the moment, let's 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:32.440 refer to them by their full names. Agnes Brown was 0:16:32.560 --> 0:16:35.680 counseled by clergy before and during her testimony and her 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:40.360 statements appeared in the examination and confession. Her testimony is 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.960 considered to be the primary reason these women were put 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:49.320 on trial. Agnes Brown testified that Agnes Waterhouse kept a demon, 0:16:50.000 --> 0:16:52.200 not the cat, but this time in the form of 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:55.440 a black dog with a short tail with a chain 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:59.520 and silver whistle around its neck. To that description, she 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:01.720 added that the dog had a pair of horns on 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.920 its head. She told a story about how that dog 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.879 had spoiled the family's butter, and she also told that 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:12.160 the dog threatened to kill her with a dagger. Specifically, 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:16.119 we quote a Sweet Dame's knife. But the piece of 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.760 damning evidence against Agnes Waterhouse in this testimony was this. 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:23.680 Agnes Brown claimed that when she asked the dog who 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:27.359 its master was, the dog turned its head toward the 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:32.359 Waterhouse home. Agnes Waterhouse, though, countered that Agnes Brown was 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:35.760 making this entire story up, saying to her quote thou 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:40.520 liest and that she Agnes Waterhouse didn't even own a dagger. 0:17:41.440 --> 0:17:43.399 While some of the details of the trial may or 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:46.000 may not be exaggerated, it is believed that the older 0:17:46.040 --> 0:17:51.480 Agnes did confront the younger Agnes over being dishonest. After 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:57.400 Agnes Brown's testimony unfolded Agnes Waterhouses wrong doings. Agnes Waterhouse 0:17:57.480 --> 0:18:01.560 pleaded guilty to practicing witchcraft. If you're wondering why she'd 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:05.320 do that, so do many historians, but many conclude that 0:18:05.400 --> 0:18:08.159 she probably did that guilty ply in an effort to 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.880 save Joan from execution, the same reason Joan had testified 0:18:11.880 --> 0:18:15.720 against her mother. So based primarily on the story of 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:19.159 a preteen girl, which involved the head turn of a 0:18:19.320 --> 0:18:23.400 dog as the keystone to the whole portfolio of alleged evidence. 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:28.840 On July fifteen, sixty six, Agnes Waterhouse was executed by 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.960 hanging in front of a crowd gathered at the gallows 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:35.399 in Chelmsford. As she stood in front of the large crowd, 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:39.560 Agnes gave her confession again, this time repenting and asking 0:18:39.600 --> 0:18:43.280 for God's forgiveness. She again claimed that she had never 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.439 stopped praying and that she prayed often, but that she 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.840 always prayed in Latin because her cat forbade her from 0:18:49.880 --> 0:18:55.640 praying in her native tongue English. Agnes's trial really emphasized 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:59.520 this cat and she continued that she we quote repented 0:18:59.600 --> 0:19:03.800 earnestly and unfeignedly, and desired Almighty God's forgiveness. And that 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.080 she had abused His most holy name by her devilish 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:11.760 practices and trusted to be saved by his most unspeakable mercy. 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:15.920 Other witchcraft cases in the summer of fifteen sixty six 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:20.840 went largely unreported, but of course they were happening. Into 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.000 the eighteenth century, accusations of witchcraft and the practice of 0:19:24.000 --> 0:19:28.240 witch hunting continued to grow into a frenzy. It wouldn't 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.199 be until the British Witchcraft Act of seventy five that 0:19:32.240 --> 0:19:36.760 would formally end which trials across England, Scotland and Wales. 0:19:42.640 --> 0:19:47.840 So Holly, Yes, come into the cauldron. Yes, please join 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.359 me by the cauldron. Yes, a charm of powerful trouble 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:54.560 is waiting up. Listen. We can't have an entire episode 0:19:54.560 --> 0:19:56.720 where we talked about a black cat over and over 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:58.679 and not have that be the theme of the drink. 0:19:59.119 --> 0:20:06.360 But that's true on I'm a crazy cat lady. So 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.159 there are a number of different cocktails that are called 0:20:09.480 --> 0:20:13.040 black cats because with a great image and people love 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.359 to make them like a Halloween and one mine share 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.080 some DNA with some of those, but it's a little 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:23.639 bit different, and I'm calling it the Feline Devil and 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.040 it does turn black, which is a delight. This is 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:30.240 a super easy one to throw together too. It's just 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:33.760 an ounce of vodka, an ounce of blue curos out. 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.080 This is a subout because a lot of the recipes 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:39.040 for black cats you see would put cherry brandy with 0:20:39.080 --> 0:20:42.520 the vodka, or even some other kind of brandy sometimes, 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:47.119 but blue curos out, and then three ounces of cranberry juice, 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.159 and then three ounces of the cola of your choice, 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:54.840 like I did a diet coke. It turns black. It's 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:57.320 a really unique flavor because you get a lot of 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:00.760 citrus notes, and you know there is a little bit 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:03.520 of a citrus note in most cola, and the blue 0:21:03.520 --> 0:21:06.439 currous ow pulls that out and kind of like amplifies 0:21:06.480 --> 0:21:09.000 it a little bit. So it's interesting because it looks 0:21:09.080 --> 0:21:12.679 very dark, but it has a very summary taste to it. 0:21:13.520 --> 0:21:15.520 So it does a nice little trick in your mind, 0:21:15.880 --> 0:21:19.880 much the way an animal making butter rance and doing 0:21:19.880 --> 0:21:24.199 a trick on how that works. The mock tail for 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:27.359 this one is also easy as pie. You're just gonna 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.119 leave out the vodka and you're gonna bump up the 0:21:30.119 --> 0:21:34.560 cranberry juice to four ounces, add an ounce of I 0:21:34.600 --> 0:21:37.919 would do an orange syrup. If you're really pressed, you 0:21:37.960 --> 0:21:41.560 can do an orange juice. It just depends. I am 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:43.560 not the biggest fan of orange juice, which is why 0:21:43.600 --> 0:21:45.879 I skipped it. Um and then your three ounces of cola, 0:21:45.960 --> 0:21:48.080 and you'll still get it won't be quite as dark 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:50.159 as if you have that that blue color of a 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:52.800 blue curros. How so you can drop a little food 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:55.440 color in there if you're really going for it. Similarly, 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:58.760 it looks dark autumnal and HALLOWEENI and then you're like, oh, 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.040 but it tastes like summer of a little weird trick 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:05.639 to yourself. I will probably make lots of these in 0:22:05.680 --> 0:22:09.000 the coming year because I really like them. It's very 0:22:09.119 --> 0:22:11.440 unlike smooth the ingredients that you've used in the path, 0:22:11.800 --> 0:22:14.800 so I'm curious to see what it tastes like. I 0:22:14.920 --> 0:22:19.600 don't do a lot of cola in cocktails because most 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:22.160 people just mix like a thing with cola, Like you know, 0:22:22.440 --> 0:22:23.879 you have been around me a lot. But I'll just 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:25.960 get a vodka and diet coke. That's been my drink 0:22:26.040 --> 0:22:34.040 for decades, literal decades. That's always my go to. If 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:35.600 you're in a place where like it is not going 0:22:35.640 --> 0:22:37.560 to be a mixed drink like a you know, any 0:22:37.600 --> 0:22:40.960 kind of craft cocktail situation. Great, but I don't tend 0:22:41.000 --> 0:22:44.240 to use it very much in cocktails for reasons. I 0:22:44.280 --> 0:22:47.520 don't have I shy away from it because everybody kind 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:49.639 of just does a rum and coke, or a vodka 0:22:49.640 --> 0:22:52.200 and coke or whatever. Sometimes a whiskey and coke, so 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:55.320 you can you can throw that in. Delightful. It does 0:22:55.320 --> 0:22:57.360 sound delightful. I look forward to it. It's a bunch 0:22:57.359 --> 0:23:00.720 of ingredients that you don't put together, and I like it. Listen, 0:23:00.760 --> 0:23:04.720 it's a feline devil. You can cheers to any cats 0:23:04.800 --> 0:23:06.640 running around your house, but don't share it with them. 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:08.800 That's not cool or safe for them. No, although I 0:23:08.840 --> 0:23:10.920 have one that will stick her face right in it. 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:25.120 A well, maybe she's a feline devil. Is if you 0:23:25.240 --> 0:23:28.359 have a feline devil in your life. We welcome you 0:23:28.400 --> 0:23:31.240 to our club ay and we're thankful for everybody that 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:33.360 spent time with us this week. We will be right 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.000 back here next week when more stories of witchcraft, some 0:23:36.080 --> 0:23:38.320 of which are infuriating, but we hope you have a 0:23:38.320 --> 0:23:50.600 good time with us exploring this history. Criminalia is a 0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:53.760 production of Shonda land Audio in partnership with I heart Radio. 0:23:54.160 --> 0:23:57.520 For more podcasts from Shonda land Audio, please visit the 0:23:57.520 --> 0:24:00.680 I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 0:24:00.760 --> 0:24:01.760 to your favorite shows.