12 8. II. DKT, 30, 1916.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
521
LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1916.
CONTENTS. No. 53.
- NOTKS : Witchcraft : Case of Mrs. Hicks, 521 Biblio-
graphy of Histories of Irish Counties and Towns, 522 English Arniv List, 524 Gray : a Book of Squibs "Wipers": Ypres, 526 Addendum to Note on Dr. Uvedale, 527 Kngland, Germany, and the Dye Industry Rev. John Williams, Fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, 528.
QUERIED : William Monk of Buckingham in Old Shore- ham, 528 Heraldic Queries Elizabeth Mael C. R. Maturin Wriuley of Saddleworth Riming History of England' The Union Star 'Colonels and Regimental Expenses Author Wanted Cromwell : Gun Accident Marmadnke B. Sampson of ' The Times 'Dickens and Henry VIII. John Varley of Hackney, 529 -Fire putting out F'"ire 'The Regal Rambler': Thomas Hastings Tod Family Peterborough Quarter Sessions Fitzgerald Pronunciation of " ea " Peacock Lore, 530 Capt. Edward Bass, 531.
(REPLIES : " Dr." by Courtesy, 531 Bath Forum "French's contemptible little army," 532 De la Porte Family Snakes and Music, 533 vvill of Prince Rupert "ffoliott" and "ffrench," 534 The Ghazel Paul Fleet- wood Byron's Travels Fieldingiana The Western Grammar School. Brompton, 535 The Sight of Savages Derham of Dolphinholme Rev. Richard Rathbone Perpetuation of Printed Errors Queen Elizabeth's Palace, Enfield Ibsen's ' Ghosts ' and the Lord Cham- berlain, 536 -Second Fortune Theatre National Flags Scotch Universities : Undergraduates' Gown, 637 " Kanyete " Watch Houses, 538.
\NOTES ON BOOKS : ' History of the Cutlers' Company of London ' ' Bicentenary Commemoration of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.'
. Jottings from the Deceiriber Catalogues.
WITCHCRAFT: CASE OF
MRS. HICKS: BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. '(See 1 S. v. 395, 514 ; 2 S. v. 503 ; 3 S. iii. 300 ; iv. 508 ; 10 S. iii. 468 ; iv. 38 ; 11 S. v. 251.)
ACCORDING to records contained in con- temporary pamphlets there were four im- portant trials for witchcraft in Huntingdon- shire. The first was the celebrated one of the witches of Warboys in 1593 ; I gave a list of the literature on that subject at 12 S. i. 283, 304. The second case is de- scribed in a scarce pamphlet in the B.M., ' The Witches of Hvntingdon,' 1646, E. 343/10. The third trial was that of Mrs. Hicks, 1716, which forms the subject of this note. The fourth pamphlet is the Paxton report I mentioned under ' The Witches of War- boys,' ante, p. 30. There were many other instances of witchcraft in this county, but -about these no pamphlets were specially published. The notorious Matthew Hopkins <{d. 1647) set up as " witch- finder general,"
and made journeys to Huntingdonshire ;
and Hutchinson specifies many executions
there in 1646. To John Gaule, Vicar of
Great Staughton, is due the credit of ex-
posing these proceedings. He published a
book on this matter called ' Select Cases
of Conscience touching Witches and Witch-
craft ' in 1646. For his career see ' D.X.B.,'
xxi. 72.
The case of Mrs. Hicks, the reputed witch of Huntingdon, has for many years inter- ested the readers of ' N. & Q.,' as the above references show. So far back as 1 S. v. 395 (April 24, 1852), J. H. L. wished to know if there was extant any account of this trial. Although this is sixty-four years ago, no con- clusive reply has been received by ' N. & Q.' Many other writers, including local authors, on Huntingdonshire topography have briefly alluded to Mrs. Hicks, of whom I may men- tion the following :
Brayley's ' Beauties of England and Wales, 1808.
Cooke's ' Topography,' n.d., part xxxii. 92.
B. C.'s ' History of Huntingdon,' 1824, p. 161.
The Mirror, July 24, 1830, pp. 88-9.
The Quarterly for March, 1852.
Blackwood's Magazine, May, 1859.
Ross's ' Epochs in the Past of Huntingdonshire,' 1878.
The Peterborough Advertiser, March 2, 1901 ; Sept. 13, 1P13.
' Wrycroft's Almanac,' 1904.
Cox's ' Parish Registers,' 1910, p. 228.
All these writers give their authority as Gough's ' British Topography,' vol. i. p. 439.
The following authors, quoting from the same authority, discuss various points aris- ing from the subject :
The Foreign Quarterly Journal, in referring to the case, concludes with the remark :
" With this crowning atrocity the catalogue of murders in England closes, the penal statutes against witchcraft being repealed in 1736."
'The Encyclopaedia Britannica' (9th. ed., vol. xxiv. p. 621) says, A case said to have occurred in 1716 does not rest on good authority."
In 1858 (2 S. v. 503) J. J. P. discussed J. H. L.'s query of 1852 ( 1 S. v. 395). J. J. P. had recently seen Charles Phillips's work on ' Capital Punishments,' and consulted him about his reference to Mrs. Hicks's case. Phillips referred J. J. P. to Dr. Parr's ' Characters of Fox,' p. 370, where the date July 17 is given, Parr giving as his authority Gough's ' British Topography,' vol. i. p. 439. J. J. P. continues his excellent note by stat- ing:
" I am myself inclined to think that Gough was imposed upon by some ninnnl. no more veracious than 'an evening edition of Sebastopol ' ; [and
