WEBVTT - Season 08 Episode 19: Mallet Maleficarum

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<v Speaker 1>Hello, it's Richard mclin smith here, not the impostor you've

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<v Speaker 1>been listening to on the podcasts, the real one. Join

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<v Speaker 1>me for Unexplained TV at YouTube dot com forward Slash

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<v Speaker 1>Unexplained pod. The Somerset town of Shepton Mallet is one

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<v Speaker 1>of the oldest in the southwest of England. Today it

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<v Speaker 1>remains a quaint, attractive market town with a well preserved

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<v Speaker 1>heritage and architecture, but the listed buildings and cobbled streets

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<v Speaker 1>are only a fraction of its story. The town's history,

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<v Speaker 1>like the soil it's built upon, is rich, deep and

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<v Speaker 1>lay it. It's a living museum embedded in the landscape.

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<v Speaker 1>Pottery and flint shards dono to one time Neolithic population.

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<v Speaker 1>A pair of barrows prehistoric burial mounds to the north

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<v Speaker 1>of the town contained the cremated remains of Bronze Age peoples,

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<v Speaker 1>whilst cave dwellings and ancient roundhouses point to the presence

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<v Speaker 1>of what was once an Iron Age farming community. There

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<v Speaker 1>is also evidence of a Roman settlement lasting into the

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<v Speaker 1>fifth century CE. The Foss Way, an old Roman road,

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<v Speaker 1>still cuts through the town, as mentioned in the Domesday Book.

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<v Speaker 1>By the eleventh century, a small hamlet known as Shepton

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<v Speaker 1>had developed on the site. The town's current name, honoring

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<v Speaker 1>the local Mallet family, has been in use since at

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<v Speaker 1>least the late fourteen hundreds. Pull up a shovel full

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<v Speaker 1>of earth anywhere in the town and there's a good

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<v Speaker 1>chance something historically significant might come up with it, just

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<v Speaker 1>like it did in nineteen ninety when a small Roman

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<v Speaker 1>cemetery was excavated on the outskirts of the town to

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<v Speaker 1>clear ground for a new warehouse development. It was late

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<v Speaker 1>one Sunday in July, as the excavations were nearing an end,

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<v Speaker 1>that workers turned their attention to the last of the

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen graves. They had to unearth. The grave, that angled

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<v Speaker 1>east to west and had been carved out of the

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<v Speaker 1>earth by rock, contained a single wooden coffin. Inside lay

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<v Speaker 1>the well preserved remains of an adult male from the

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<v Speaker 1>fourth century CE, thought to have been somewhere between thirty

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<v Speaker 1>to fifty years old at the time of their death. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>as they cleared the dirt away from the bones, they

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<v Speaker 1>discovered something else, a strange amulet. It appeared to be

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<v Speaker 1>made of silver and had been fashioned into the shape

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<v Speaker 1>of a cross with a disk at the center of it.

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<v Speaker 1>It would have been notable for its aid and beauty alone,

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<v Speaker 1>but what really excited the archaeologists who found it was

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<v Speaker 1>the marking that had been crudely pressed into the metal.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a symbol known as a cairo, derived from

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<v Speaker 1>the first two letters of Christ's name in the Greek

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<v Speaker 1>alphabet Chai and Roe. An artifact from a time when

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<v Speaker 1>Christianity had only just been adopted as the official religion

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<v Speaker 1>of the Roman Empire, was quite simply one of the

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<v Speaker 1>most important Christian artifacts ever found in Britain. The Shepton

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<v Speaker 1>Mallet Amulet was swiftly despatched to the British Museum in

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<v Speaker 1>London for safe keeping. The ensuing excitement was so much

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<v Speaker 1>that George Carey, soon to be Archbishop of Canterbury, the

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<v Speaker 1>highest ranking cleric in the Church of England, had a

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<v Speaker 1>copy of it for him to wear proudly around his neck. Meanwhile,

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<v Speaker 1>in Shepton Mallet itself, the object quickly became something of

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<v Speaker 1>a local emblem. The town's theatre renamed itself the Amulet,

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<v Speaker 1>while roads on a new housing estate were christened Amulet

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<v Speaker 1>Way and Chiro Close. An image of the silver disc

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<v Speaker 1>was even added to the town's welcome site, and local

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<v Speaker 1>businesses rushed to incorporate it into their branding. The people

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<v Speaker 1>of Shepton Mallet were proud of their new symbol. Experts, however,

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<v Speaker 1>were soon expressing their suspicions. Academics pointed to its similarity

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<v Speaker 1>to the existing Sussex Broach on display in the British Museum.

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<v Speaker 1>Peter Leech, an expert on the foss Way, pointed out

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<v Speaker 1>that the amulet was discovered on an easily accessible, low

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<v Speaker 1>security site, in a grave that, it turned out, had

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<v Speaker 1>already been opened once before, and whose disturbance could have

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<v Speaker 1>easily been disguised. It would be a whole eighteen years

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<v Speaker 1>before another round of tests were taken to determine the

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<v Speaker 1>artifact's true composition. In two thousand and eight, analysis proved

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<v Speaker 1>that the silver was not of Roman origin after all,

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<v Speaker 1>but was most likely smithed in the late nineteenth century.

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<v Speaker 1>For almost two decades, the people of Shepton Mallet had

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<v Speaker 1>been celebrating a hoax. The real mystery then, was how

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<v Speaker 1>and why it was placed in the grave. To this day,

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<v Speaker 1>the perpetrator has never been revealed. On discovering the truth,

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<v Speaker 1>Like many of the townspeople, Jeannette Marsh the deputy leader

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<v Speaker 1>of the local parish council, felt, as she put it,

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<v Speaker 1>that the magic had been removed from Shepton Mallet. In truth,

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<v Speaker 1>magic is too deep embedded in this corner of Somerset

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<v Speaker 1>to be stripped away by a single hoax. In fact,

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<v Speaker 1>with its many layers of history, Shepton Mallet has always

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<v Speaker 1>been a place blessed or plagued by legend. The local

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<v Speaker 1>prison boasts a reputation as supposedly the most haunted building

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<v Speaker 1>of its type in Britain. It's also said that the

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<v Speaker 1>Market Cross, a hexagonal stone monument that stands fifty feet

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<v Speaker 1>tall in the town centre, acts as a nucleus for

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<v Speaker 1>the town's apparent supernatural eccentricities. Passes by claim to have

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<v Speaker 1>experienced cold spots, heard inexplicable sounds, more seen flitting shadowy

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<v Speaker 1>figures in its vicinity. The legend of the Dinderworm tells

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<v Speaker 1>of a terrifying dragon that once haunted the banks of

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<v Speaker 1>the river Shepey, which cuts through the town, and there

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<v Speaker 1>is also the tail of Owen Parfitt, an elderly man

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<v Speaker 1>who was said to have disappeared from his front porch

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<v Speaker 1>one day in seventeen sixty eight. In the few moments

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<v Speaker 1>that his sister was elsewhere in the house. This frail,

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<v Speaker 1>partially paralyzed man somehow left the property without being witnessed

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<v Speaker 1>by any of his neighbors, and was never seen again.

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<v Speaker 1>Some in Shepton Mallet suggested that he had been taken

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<v Speaker 1>by the devil. They certainly had good reason to think so.

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<v Speaker 1>At the time, you're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard

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<v Speaker 1>McLean Smith. On the fifteenth of November sixteen fifty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>a farmer named Henry Jones returned to his Shepton Mallet

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<v Speaker 1>home alarmed to find his twelve year old son, Richard,

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<v Speaker 1>lying on the floor in paroxysms of pain. Unable to speak,

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<v Speaker 1>the boy simply writhed in agony, his hand clenched to

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<v Speaker 1>the right side of his body as he gasped for air.

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<v Speaker 1>In panic. Henry rushed to his son's aid, demanding to

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<v Speaker 1>know what had happened, but as he stared into his

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<v Speaker 1>son's terrified eyes, he realized he was unable to speak.

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<v Speaker 1>Utterly helpless, Henry could do little but stay by his

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<v Speaker 1>son's side and pray for an end to the strange affliction.

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<v Speaker 1>It would be a good few hours later when the

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<v Speaker 1>boy's condition finally began to improve. The spasms of pain withdrew,

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<v Speaker 1>and his breathing returned to normal. As a greatly relieved

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<v Speaker 1>Henry lovingly stroked his son's hair, the boy began to

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<v Speaker 1>speak again. It had all started earlier that day, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>while his father was out working the fields. Richard claimed

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<v Speaker 1>he was playing alone in the house when he looked

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<v Speaker 1>up at one point, startled to see a figure watching

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<v Speaker 1>him through the window. The swift movement of the figure

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<v Speaker 1>away from the glass was followed soon after by a short,

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<v Speaker 1>sharp knock at the door. Nervous Richard opened it to

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<v Speaker 1>reveal an elderly woman standing on the doorstep who he

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<v Speaker 1>didn't recognize. The woman smiled warmly and gently asked the

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<v Speaker 1>boy for a morsel of bread if he could spare it.

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<v Speaker 1>Richard happily obliged, surprised when the old lady handed him

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<v Speaker 1>an apple in return. When Richard took it, the woman

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<v Speaker 1>stroked a single finger down the right side of his body,

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<v Speaker 1>and then left. There are two versions of what happened next.

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<v Speaker 1>In most accounts retold through his street, Richard bit into

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<v Speaker 1>the apple immediately and chewed it down to its core.

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<v Speaker 1>No sooner had he finished, he felt a pain building

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<v Speaker 1>in his right side, precisely where the woman had touched him.

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<v Speaker 1>Barely able to drag himself into the house, he fell

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<v Speaker 1>into the state of agony that his father, Henry, discovered

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<v Speaker 1>him in an hour later. According to this common version

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<v Speaker 1>of the story, after hearing the boy's tale, Henry quickly

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<v Speaker 1>searched the house for the apple. He soon found it

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<v Speaker 1>in the garden, where it was said to have given

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<v Speaker 1>off an unusually sour and pungent scent. In another more

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<v Speaker 1>contemporaneous telling of the tale, recorded in Joseph Glanville's Seminole

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<v Speaker 1>sixteen eighty one, Survey of Full and Plain Evidence concerning

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<v Speaker 1>Witches and Apparitions, Henry found the apple whole and uneaten,

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<v Speaker 1>and brought it back in side, at which point richard

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<v Speaker 1>suffering resumed immediately. In Joseph Clanville's version, when Richard's suffering

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<v Speaker 1>continued or night and throughout the next day, in an

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<v Speaker 1>act of desperation, Henry is then said to have roasted

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<v Speaker 1>the apple, then fed it to his son. Why he

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<v Speaker 1>thought this would help, no one can say. Either way.

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<v Speaker 1>It seemed to do the trick, though the boy became

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<v Speaker 1>convulsively sick at first, he rapidly began to recover and

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<v Speaker 1>was soon speaking again. The following day, Henry approached the

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<v Speaker 1>local constabulary to report what had happened. It was agreed

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<v Speaker 1>that whoever the mysterious woman was, she was most likely

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<v Speaker 1>guilty of poisoning his son, but since Richard had never

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<v Speaker 1>seen her before, it was arranged for all the older

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<v Speaker 1>women of Shepton Mallet to attend the Joneses farmhouse the

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<v Speaker 1>following afternoon for an identity parade. Eight. One by one,

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<v Speaker 1>the women of the town were brought to the Joneses

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<v Speaker 1>house and presented to the still stricken and bed ridden

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<v Speaker 1>boy before forming a line along the wall. Things seemed

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<v Speaker 1>to be going smoothly until late in the proceedings when

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<v Speaker 1>a trio of women stepped into the bedroom together. First

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<v Speaker 1>to enter was Jane Brooks, who neither Henry or Richard recognized,

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<v Speaker 1>and behind her were her two sisters, Alice Coward and

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<v Speaker 1>another whose name has since been lost to history. As

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<v Speaker 1>they step into the room, an expression of abject terror

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<v Speaker 1>cloud's young Richard's face, his muscles appeared at tents, and

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<v Speaker 1>his throat clams up. In a strangled voice, he cries

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<v Speaker 1>out that he has been struck blind. Others present in

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<v Speaker 1>the room can only look on with concern as he

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<v Speaker 1>struggles to get his words out, but the inference is clear. Eventually,

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<v Speaker 1>when Richard has calmed down, Henry lifts him from the

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<v Speaker 1>bed and leads him by the hand around the room,

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<v Speaker 1>pausing for a moment in front of each of the women. Finally,

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<v Speaker 1>they come to the three sisters, who has stood in

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<v Speaker 1>a row with Jane behind the others. For a moment,

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<v Speaker 1>the sightless Richard just stands regarding the air around him,

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<v Speaker 1>when suddenly he reaches out a hand and grabs Jane

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<v Speaker 1>by the arm, like a snake grabbing its prey in

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<v Speaker 1>a violent blur of motion. Richard's father, Henry, is then

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<v Speaker 1>said to have grabbed the hapless Jane, pulling her into

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<v Speaker 1>the center of the room, whereupon he immediately began to

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<v Speaker 1>beat her. Blows rained down on her head from his fists.

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<v Speaker 1>He scratched at her face with his fingers, drawing blood.

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<v Speaker 1>Jane's sisters did their best to hold Henriette bay to

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<v Speaker 1>no avail. Finally, the local constable stepped in and pulled

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<v Speaker 1>the enraged man away. It was said that as soon

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<v Speaker 1>as Jane and her sisters were removed from the bedroom,

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<v Speaker 1>Richard made an immediate and sharp recovery. Reports from the

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<v Speaker 1>time state that he cried out he was well and

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<v Speaker 1>continued to be so after for seven or eight days.

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<v Speaker 1>A week later, the young Richard Jones was walking around

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<v Speaker 1>the town when he came face to face with Alice Coward,

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<v Speaker 1>Jane's sister. A short time later, he returned home shrieking

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<v Speaker 1>in agony, his illness having seemingly returned in full. As

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<v Speaker 1>he would later claim, it was the exact same pain

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<v Speaker 1>down his right side and the same inability to speak,

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<v Speaker 1>and as before, the symptoms seemed to wash over him

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<v Speaker 1>in waves followed by bouts of incoherence. He claimed Alice

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<v Speaker 1>had stopped him in the street, then looked him up

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<v Speaker 1>and down before saying softly, how are you, my honey.

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<v Speaker 1>Within seconds of their interaction, he said he was in

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<v Speaker 1>pain once more. Richard was apparently so distressed that friends

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<v Speaker 1>and family often sat with him during his rest. These

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<v Speaker 1>included the local constable, who'd taken a personal interest in

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<v Speaker 1>the case under mister Gibson, a cousin of the family.

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<v Speaker 1>It was soon after this, according to Richard, that the

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<v Speaker 1>visions began, he said. The women came to him at

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<v Speaker 1>night in the guise of vengeful spirits, all staring eyes,

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<v Speaker 1>pale cheeks and lips. Sometimes they grabbed at him, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>with their cold hands. One day, Henry and mister Gibson

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<v Speaker 1>entered the bedroom to find Richard lying completely still on

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<v Speaker 1>the floor. Fearing his son had died, Henry was relieved

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<v Speaker 1>to find he was still breathing, though seemingly unconscious. When

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<v Speaker 1>he came round moments later, he described a vision he'd

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<v Speaker 1>just had. Jane and Alice had come to him again,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, telling him that what they had begun could

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<v Speaker 1>not easily be rectified, but if he were to say

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<v Speaker 1>no more of it, they would give him money. Then,

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<v Speaker 1>according to the boy, they lifted him from his bed

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<v Speaker 1>and laid him out on the floor, just as he

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<v Speaker 1>had been found. Henry and Gibson looked on with astonishment

0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.120
<v Speaker 1>as the young boy then reached into his pocket and

0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:55.360
<v Speaker 1>pulled a shiny twopence piece from it. The mysterious coin

0:16:55.640 --> 0:17:00.360
<v Speaker 1>appeared to exhibit strange properties. As an experiment, it was

0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:04.479
<v Speaker 1>placed in the fire. As the flames licked greedily at

0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.119
<v Speaker 1>the metal, the boy began to scream and writhe in pain.

0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.040
<v Speaker 1>Then as soon as the coin was extracted, the pain

0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:17.560
<v Speaker 1>seemed to stop immediately. One morning, Richard apparently woke up

0:17:17.640 --> 0:17:22.400
<v Speaker 1>in an agitated state. He'd had another unsettling visitation from

0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:27.960
<v Speaker 1>the sisters. After describing precisely what they'd supposedly been wearing

0:17:28.200 --> 0:17:32.600
<v Speaker 1>when they confronted him, the Constable dashed immediately across town

0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:37.040
<v Speaker 1>to the sisters home. There he is said to have found,

0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:41.320
<v Speaker 1>much to his horror, the sisters dressed exactly as the

0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:56.400
<v Speaker 1>boy depict it. The strange unrest of Richard Jones continued

0:17:56.440 --> 0:18:01.159
<v Speaker 1>into the cold month of December with seemingly no real improvement.

0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:05.639
<v Speaker 1>Late at night on the first Sunday of December, cousin

0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.880
<v Speaker 1>Gibson was sitting at Richard's bedside, watching over him as

0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:14.040
<v Speaker 1>he tried to sleep. All of a sudden, Richard stiffened

0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:17.000
<v Speaker 1>and pointed in horror to the corner of his room.

0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:22.880
<v Speaker 1>She's on the wall, he cried out, Jane Brooks. Gibson

0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.320
<v Speaker 1>leapt up in terror, straining to see anything in the

0:18:26.359 --> 0:18:30.639
<v Speaker 1>dim shadow at the edge of the room. Without hesitation,

0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:34.520
<v Speaker 1>he snatched up a knife from Richard's bedside table and

0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:38.800
<v Speaker 1>rushed to where the boy was pointing. Gibson slashed furiously

0:18:39.000 --> 0:18:43.680
<v Speaker 1>at the empty air. Woken by the commotion, Henry then

0:18:43.760 --> 0:18:48.520
<v Speaker 1>rushed into the room. Cousin Gibson has cut Jane Brooks's hand,

0:18:48.880 --> 0:18:54.520
<v Speaker 1>shouted and excited Richard. When matters finally calmed down, Henry

0:18:54.560 --> 0:18:58.040
<v Speaker 1>and mister Gibson paid yet another visit to the Constable.

0:18:58.800 --> 0:19:02.320
<v Speaker 1>The Constable Julie paid his own visit to Jane Brooks

0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:07.359
<v Speaker 1>and Alice Coward. According to writer Joseph Glanville, when the

0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:11.119
<v Speaker 1>constable arrived at the sister's home, he was invited to

0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:14.600
<v Speaker 1>take a seat in the sitting room. There, he found

0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:18.640
<v Speaker 1>Jane sitting on a stool with one hand clasped inside

0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:23.119
<v Speaker 1>the other. He asked her how she was. Though she

0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:26.880
<v Speaker 1>replied that she was well, the constable couldn't help noticing

0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:30.159
<v Speaker 1>that she looked pained. When he asked her why she

0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:34.159
<v Speaker 1>was covering her hand, Jane responded coolly that it was

0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:40.040
<v Speaker 1>simply her wont to do. Unconvinced, the constable is said

0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.760
<v Speaker 1>to have then stood up and gently drawn the woman's

0:19:43.840 --> 0:19:49.240
<v Speaker 1>hidden hand out. It was swathed in bloodied cloth. When

0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.200
<v Speaker 1>he inquired how she'd come to hurt herself, in such

0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:57.919
<v Speaker 1>a way. Jane apparently responded nervously that she'd scratched herself

0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:02.160
<v Speaker 1>with a large pin. Jane and her sister Alice were

0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:06.560
<v Speaker 1>arrested there and then on charges of witchcraft and sorcery

0:20:07.000 --> 0:20:18.000
<v Speaker 1>against a child. After Jane Brooks and Alice Coward's arrest,

0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.959
<v Speaker 1>things moved quickly. Their trial began just days later on

0:20:23.040 --> 0:20:27.400
<v Speaker 1>December eighth, in the nearby town of Castle Carey, presided

0:20:27.440 --> 0:20:33.160
<v Speaker 1>over by two magistrates, a mister Hunt and mister Carey. First,

0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:37.720
<v Speaker 1>Richard Jones was asked for his testimony, as the court

0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:42.040
<v Speaker 1>register recorded, as Richard began to speak, the two accused

0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:46.080
<v Speaker 1>women entered the room, at which point he was supposedly

0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:51.040
<v Speaker 1>rendered completely speechless. Only when Jane and Alice were then

0:20:51.160 --> 0:20:54.879
<v Speaker 1>removed from the courtroom did he seemingly regain his voice.

0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.480
<v Speaker 1>After Richard gave his testimony, among with a few other

0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:03.600
<v Speaker 1>witnesses accounts, the case seems to have become clocked up

0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:08.320
<v Speaker 1>in the court system. Then, on January the eleventh, sixteen

0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:13.520
<v Speaker 1>fifty eight, Richard was brought back to court After once

0:21:13.560 --> 0:21:17.119
<v Speaker 1>again sharing his version of events, he suddenly lost the

0:21:17.160 --> 0:21:21.840
<v Speaker 1>power of speech as soon as Jane brook entered the room. However,

0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:25.479
<v Speaker 1>this time Alice Coward seemed to no longer have the

0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:30.359
<v Speaker 1>same effect on him. The trial continued on into February,

0:21:30.720 --> 0:21:34.040
<v Speaker 1>by which point it was drawing large crowds of distinguished

0:21:34.080 --> 0:21:38.240
<v Speaker 1>local people, attracted by the growing notoriety of the case.

0:21:39.560 --> 0:21:43.119
<v Speaker 1>On the seventeenth, Richard Jones was once more on the

0:21:43.200 --> 0:21:48.000
<v Speaker 1>stand when Jane was led into the room. Richard began

0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:52.959
<v Speaker 1>again to suddenly convulse and wail in agony, before falling

0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.240
<v Speaker 1>into the arms of his cousin and hung slack as

0:21:56.240 --> 0:22:00.280
<v Speaker 1>though he were dead. At this one of the judges

0:22:00.480 --> 0:22:05.000
<v Speaker 1>ordered Jane to place her hand on the boy. Reluctantly,

0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:08.840
<v Speaker 1>she did as she was asked. No sooner had she

0:22:08.960 --> 0:22:13.440
<v Speaker 1>touched him, he immediately began to convulse once more, casting

0:22:13.480 --> 0:22:18.639
<v Speaker 1>his arms and legs around violently. However, Justice Hunt was

0:22:18.720 --> 0:22:23.320
<v Speaker 1>not entirely convinced by the display. Having waved Gibson and

0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:26.359
<v Speaker 1>the rest of the Jones family away, he took the

0:22:26.440 --> 0:22:31.600
<v Speaker 1>seemingly insensible boy in his own arms. Once Richard had calmed,

0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:36.280
<v Speaker 1>Hunt instructed a court employee to tie a blindfold tightly

0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:40.280
<v Speaker 1>around his eyes. The Justice then winked at the crowd

0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.080
<v Speaker 1>and called out loudly for Jane to be brought forward,

0:22:44.520 --> 0:22:49.000
<v Speaker 1>while simultaneously he gestured to a random stranger to place

0:22:49.040 --> 0:22:54.200
<v Speaker 1>her hands upon Richard instead. The crowd collectively held its

0:22:54.240 --> 0:22:57.760
<v Speaker 1>breath as she reached out and touched the young boy,

0:22:58.400 --> 0:23:03.359
<v Speaker 1>and the boy didn't re act. This experiment was repeated

0:23:03.480 --> 0:23:07.040
<v Speaker 1>several more times, each with different members of the crowd,

0:23:07.640 --> 0:23:18.400
<v Speaker 1>and each time the result was the same. When Richard

0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:22.840
<v Speaker 1>seemingly passed Justice Hunt's first test, the judge ordered him

0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:26.520
<v Speaker 1>to keep his blindfold on, but this time asked his father,

0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:31.480
<v Speaker 1>Henry Jones, to come forward and touch him. Apparently unknown

0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:34.720
<v Speaker 1>to the boy, however, the judge then signored to a

0:23:34.760 --> 0:23:38.880
<v Speaker 1>clerk of the court to bring Jane forward instead of Henry.

0:23:39.640 --> 0:23:43.760
<v Speaker 1>At the slightest touch of Jane's hand, Richard was suddenly

0:23:43.800 --> 0:23:49.480
<v Speaker 1>struck mute, and his apparent convulsions returned. No matter how

0:23:49.480 --> 0:23:53.040
<v Speaker 1>many times the justice tried to deceive him, each time

0:23:53.160 --> 0:23:58.119
<v Speaker 1>Jane's hand made contact, the result was the same. Having

0:23:58.200 --> 0:24:03.040
<v Speaker 1>seemingly been left completely rigid. After the ordeal, Richard had

0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:05.840
<v Speaker 1>to be carried home and laid to rest back on

0:24:05.920 --> 0:24:10.440
<v Speaker 1>his bed for the next few days. Crowds of onlookers

0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.960
<v Speaker 1>gathered outside the house hoping to get a glimpse of

0:24:14.000 --> 0:24:18.960
<v Speaker 1>the strangely afflicted boy while in sight, his family tried

0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:23.080
<v Speaker 1>repeatedly to bend his arms and legs into a resting position,

0:24:23.760 --> 0:24:28.359
<v Speaker 1>to no avail. On the twenty fifth of February, a

0:24:28.480 --> 0:24:32.280
<v Speaker 1>Missus Isles, a neighbor of the Joneses, walked out into

0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:36.639
<v Speaker 1>her garden where she apparently found young Richard standing with

0:24:36.720 --> 0:24:40.639
<v Speaker 1>an odd look on his face. It soon became clear

0:24:40.640 --> 0:24:43.480
<v Speaker 1>to her that he was in some kind of trance.

0:24:44.560 --> 0:24:48.959
<v Speaker 1>As she later described it, his body then lifted upwards

0:24:49.040 --> 0:24:53.320
<v Speaker 1>off the ground. It rose higher and higher until he'd

0:24:53.359 --> 0:24:57.840
<v Speaker 1>gained enough height to clear the garden wall. The woman

0:24:58.000 --> 0:25:02.240
<v Speaker 1>claimed that Richard eventually he levitated so high that he

0:25:02.320 --> 0:25:06.920
<v Speaker 1>floated over the wall to appoint thirty yards beyond the property.

0:25:08.040 --> 0:25:10.399
<v Speaker 1>The boy was said to have just hung in the

0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:13.840
<v Speaker 1>air for a moment until, as if he were a

0:25:13.880 --> 0:25:18.080
<v Speaker 1>puppet having his strings cut, he plummeted to the ground.

0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:23.240
<v Speaker 1>Missus Isles is said to have rushed immediately to the boy,

0:25:23.600 --> 0:25:27.119
<v Speaker 1>fully expecting to find him dead, only for him to

0:25:27.200 --> 0:25:31.040
<v Speaker 1>wake groggly and explain that it was Jane Brooks who'd

0:25:31.119 --> 0:25:34.720
<v Speaker 1>taken him by the arm and carried him into the air.

0:25:35.680 --> 0:25:39.280
<v Speaker 1>A villager spotted Richard in a barn, appearing to be

0:25:39.440 --> 0:25:44.080
<v Speaker 1>hanging from the ceiling four feet above the ground. The

0:25:44.119 --> 0:25:46.879
<v Speaker 1>neighbor rushed in to save him, but there was no

0:25:47.080 --> 0:25:51.240
<v Speaker 1>rope around the boy's neck. Instead, he is said to

0:25:51.320 --> 0:25:54.840
<v Speaker 1>have simply been hanging in the air, with the palms

0:25:54.880 --> 0:25:58.320
<v Speaker 1>of his hands pushed up against a beam and nothing

0:25:58.359 --> 0:26:03.159
<v Speaker 1>to support him underneath. It is said that somewhere between

0:26:03.280 --> 0:26:08.520
<v Speaker 1>nine to twenty seven people witnessed this bizarre event. It

0:26:08.640 --> 0:26:12.680
<v Speaker 1>was also said that he remained in that position, seemingly

0:26:12.840 --> 0:26:16.280
<v Speaker 1>in another of his trances, for a good fifteen minutes

0:26:16.520 --> 0:26:20.920
<v Speaker 1>before he woke up again and again he said it

0:26:21.000 --> 0:26:25.840
<v Speaker 1>was Jane Brooks that did it. This alleged event would

0:26:25.880 --> 0:26:29.919
<v Speaker 1>prove the final nail in the coffin for Jane. With

0:26:30.000 --> 0:26:34.280
<v Speaker 1>the local magistrate concerned that Richard's life was now in danger,

0:26:34.680 --> 0:26:38.800
<v Speaker 1>there was only one thing left to be done. At

0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:42.240
<v Speaker 1>the end of her trial, Jane Brooks was found guilty

0:26:42.280 --> 0:26:46.919
<v Speaker 1>of witchcraft and sentenced to death. She was hanged in

0:26:47.000 --> 0:26:51.600
<v Speaker 1>the town of Chart, Somerset on March twenty sixth, sixteen

0:26:51.720 --> 0:26:56.359
<v Speaker 1>fifty eight. Though Alice Cowart was believed to be less

0:26:56.400 --> 0:27:00.200
<v Speaker 1>culpable than her sister. She was still kept under arrest

0:27:00.560 --> 0:27:04.960
<v Speaker 1>with the intention of also charging her with witchcraft. However,

0:27:05.560 --> 0:27:15.000
<v Speaker 1>she died in custody before she could take the stand.

0:27:16.240 --> 0:27:21.640
<v Speaker 1>Following Jane Brooks and Alice Coward's deaths, Richard Jones reportedly

0:27:21.800 --> 0:27:26.960
<v Speaker 1>made of full and fast recovery. As writer Joseph Glanville wrote,

0:27:27.400 --> 0:27:31.480
<v Speaker 1>the boy, having no longer any inducement to act possessed,

0:27:31.880 --> 0:27:35.040
<v Speaker 1>consented to remain with his feet on the ground and

0:27:35.160 --> 0:27:38.520
<v Speaker 1>his head in the air. According to the laws of nature.

0:27:39.800 --> 0:27:43.520
<v Speaker 1>He passes out of the history books and into insignificance,

0:27:44.080 --> 0:27:48.480
<v Speaker 1>as does most everyone else involved in the case. Today,

0:27:48.760 --> 0:27:53.399
<v Speaker 1>only Jane Brooks retains a legacy. Her trial is held

0:27:53.480 --> 0:27:57.600
<v Speaker 1>up as an example of the misogyny and patriarchal terror

0:27:57.720 --> 0:28:02.960
<v Speaker 1>that drove so much of the English wind. However, unlike

0:28:03.119 --> 0:28:06.520
<v Speaker 1>with other more famous cases such as the so called

0:28:06.600 --> 0:28:10.800
<v Speaker 1>Pendle Witches or the burning of Mary Lakeland in sixteen

0:28:10.920 --> 0:28:15.200
<v Speaker 1>forty five for supposedly using witchcraft to murder her husband,

0:28:15.960 --> 0:28:19.320
<v Speaker 1>there has never been any rationale or reason given for

0:28:19.359 --> 0:28:23.560
<v Speaker 1>what Jane and her sister were reputed to have done.

0:28:24.119 --> 0:28:27.200
<v Speaker 1>At no point did any of the Joneses family ever

0:28:27.280 --> 0:28:30.800
<v Speaker 1>admit to any grievance with or even knowledge of Jane

0:28:30.800 --> 0:28:34.919
<v Speaker 1>and Alice prior to their first meeting with Richard, and

0:28:35.040 --> 0:28:40.120
<v Speaker 1>no link between the two families was ever established. For now,

0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:51.280
<v Speaker 1>this strange and unsettling event remains unexplained. This episode was

0:28:51.320 --> 0:28:56.440
<v Speaker 1>written by Neil McRobert and produced by me Richard McLain Smith.

0:28:57.440 --> 0:28:59.920
<v Speaker 1>Neil is the creator and host of his own brilliant

0:29:00.080 --> 0:29:04.640
<v Speaker 1>podcast called Talking Scared, in which she discusses the craft

0:29:04.720 --> 0:29:08.720
<v Speaker 1>of horror writing with everyone from Ta Nanaeve Do to

0:29:08.840 --> 0:29:13.000
<v Speaker 1>the God of horror himself, Stephen King. I can't recommend

0:29:13.000 --> 0:29:17.720
<v Speaker 1>it highly enough. Unexplained is an Avy Club Productions podcast

0:29:18.240 --> 0:29:22.400
<v Speaker 1>created by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of the podcast,

0:29:22.480 --> 0:29:28.360
<v Speaker 1>including the music, are also produced by me Richard mclin smith. Unexplained.

0:29:28.360 --> 0:29:32.040
<v Speaker 1>The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide.

0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:36.280
<v Speaker 1>You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones and

0:29:36.400 --> 0:29:40.719
<v Speaker 1>other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever

0:29:40.800 --> 0:29:43.360
<v Speaker 1>you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in

0:29:43.440 --> 0:29:46.920
<v Speaker 1>touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've

0:29:46.960 --> 0:29:49.680
<v Speaker 1>heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of

0:29:49.720 --> 0:29:52.440
<v Speaker 1>your own you'd like to share. You can find out

0:29:52.440 --> 0:29:56.520
<v Speaker 1>more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reaches online through

0:29:56.560 --> 0:30:01.760
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0:30:01.760 --> 0:30:03.760
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