The Essex witches trial part 2.

The confession of Joan Upney of Dagenham, in the county of Essex, who was brought before Sir Henrye Gray Knight, the third of May 1589.

This examinate said, that one Fustian Kirtle, otherwise called Whitecoat, a witch of Barking, came to her house about seven or eight years ago, and gave her a thing like a mole, and told her if she ought anybody any ill will, if she did bid it, it would go clap them.

She said that a mole stayed with her for not more than a year, but it eventually withered away. After that, she gave her another mole and a toad, which she kept for a long time. She has never been without some toads since then until she last left her house. She confessed that she ran away because she heard John Harrold and Richard Foster say she was a witch, and other hurtful words.

She says that one day she left a toad under the doorstep at Harrold's house, and it pinched his wife, sucking her until she died. However, the said Joan Upney never came back to her.

She also mentioned that on another day, a toad crossed her threshold as Richard Foster's wife was passing by, and it went and pinched her but never returned.

She left two other toads at home when she ran away, but they eventually withered away.

She said that her eldest daughter would never want to deal with her toads, but her youngest daughter would handle them and treat them as well as she did.

The examination of Joan Prentice, one of the women of the almshouse of Sible Hedingham, within the said County being taken the 29. of March, in the 31 year of the reign of our Sovereign Lady Elizabeth.

In Primis, this said examinate said and confessed, that about six years last past, between the feasts of all Saints, and the birth of our Lord God, the devil appeared to her in the almshouse house aforesaid about ten o’clock in the night time, being is in the shape and proportion of a dark-colored ferret, with fiery eyes, and the said Examinate being alone in her chamber, and sitting upon a low stool, preparing herself to bedward the ferret standing with his hinder legs upon the ground, and his fore legs settled upon her lap, and setting his fiery eyes upon her eyes, spake and pronounced to her these words follow∣ing, namely: Joan Prentice give me thy soul, to whom this Examinate being greatly amazed, answered and said: In the name of god what art thou The Ferret answered, I am satan, fear me not my coming unto thee is to do thee no hurt but to obtain thy soul, which I must and will have before I depart from thee to whom the said examinate answered and said, that he demanded that of her which is none of hers to give, saying that her soul appertained only unto Jesus Christ, by whose precious blood shedding, it was bought and purchased. To whom the said ferret replied and said, I must then have some of thy blood, which she willingly granting, offered him the forefinger of her left hand, the which the Ferret took into his mouth, and setting his former feet upon that hand, sucked blood therout, in so much that her finger did smart [pain] exceedingly: and the said examinate demanding again of the Ferret what his name was: It answered Bidd. and then presently the said Ferret vanished out of her sight suddenly.

Item, the said examinate saith further, that about one month after, the said ferret came again to her in the night time as she was sitting upon a little stool, preparing herself to bedward, as is above said: Joan wilt thou go to bed, to whom she answered yea that I will by Gods grace, then presently the Ferret leapt up on her lap, and from thence upon to her bosom, and laying his former feet on her left shoulder, sucked blood out of her left cheek, and then he said to her, Joan if thou will have me do anything for the, I am and will be always ready at thy commandment, and thereupon she being a little before fallen out with William Adams his wife of Sible Hedingham aforesaid willed the ferret to spoil her drink which was then in brewing, which he did accordingly.
Also, the said person being examined further states and confesses that the said ferret appeared to her on several occasions, always when she was going to bed. The last time it appeared was about seven weeks ago when, as she was going to bed, the ferret jumped onto her left shoulder and sucked blood from her left cheek. Afterward, it asked her what she wanted it to do. She replied, 'Go to Mr. Glascock's house and nip one of his children named Sara, but do not hurt her.' The next night, the ferret returned to her and informed her that it had done as she commanded, specifically that it had nipped Sara Glascock, and she would die as a result. In response, she exclaimed, 'You villain! What have you done? I told you to nip her just a little, not to hurt her. Have you killed the child?' Upon uttering these words, the ferret disappeared suddenly and has not come to her since.

Item, she affirms that the reason why she instructed her ferret to bite the mentioned child was that she had been at Mr. Glascock's house the day before, seeking his charity. One of his female servants informed her that both her master and mistress were not at home, and thus, asked her to be patient for that moment. As a result, the person being examined left feeling greatly dissatisfied. That night, she sent her ferret to bite the child, as mentioned above.

She says and affirms that whenever she wanted her ferret to do something for her, she used these words: "Bidd, Bidd, Bidd, come Bidd, come bidd, come bidd, come suck, come suck, come suck." Upon uttering these words, the ferret would promptly appear as mentioned before, suck blood from her left cheek, and then carry out any mischief she commanded or wished it to do to or against any of her neighbors.

Finally, the said person being examined says and confesses that one Elizabeth Whale, the wife of Michael Whale, a laborer from Henningham Sibble, and Elizabeth Mott, the wife of John Mott, a cobbler from the same town, are equally familiar with her way of commanding the ferret. However, she does not know if they or any of them have caused harm to any of their neighbors.

When their indictments were read and their examinations were conducted, they tried to find ways to prolong their lives. To strengthen the case, several witnesses were brought forward to testify against them. The judge presiding over the circuit, with great foresight, wisely called in the two illegitimate children mentioned earlier and questioned them intensely to ensure they told the truth about their grandmother and mothers, which they did. Along with the depositions of other witnesses, the children provided enough evidence to support the indictments.

The jury found these wicked women guilty of murdering men, women, and children, and of committing various wicked and horrifying acts on multiple occasions. Consequently, the judge proceeded to pronounce the death sentence upon them, as they truly deserved.

After receiving their judgments, they were taken back to the prison, where they stayed for about two hours before the officers prepared to lead them to the place of execution. Upon arriving at the execution site, a learned divine named Mr. Ward, at the request of the justices, exhorted these wicked women to repentance. He urged them to confess the truth of their wicked deeds and to pray to God with penitent hearts, seeking mercy and pardon for their sins. They said a few prayers after the preacher, acknowledging that they deserved to die for their wicked actions, and they faced their deaths with patience.
It is worth noting that Mother Upney, experiencing inner remorse and conscience pricking, cried out that she had grievously sinned and that the devil had deceived her, repeating it twice. Yet, through the influence of God's spirit working within her and Mr. Ward's efforts, she appeared genuinely remorseful for her actions and died in a penitent state. She sought forgiveness from God and the world until her last breath, acknowledging her wicked and detestable life.
Fin