Part 13

During all this time Jackson's house was rendered almost uninhabitable by noises and apparitions, so that the servants fled from it panic-stricken, and others could not be found to take their places. The commencement of the disturbances was some six months after the utterance of the curse. The family were seated at supper when a tremendous crash was heard in the next room, as if some heavy metal vessel had been flung violently on the floor. Supposing it to be something that had fallen from a shelf or a hook in the ceiling, they went into the room, but found nothing to account for the noise. At other times it would seem as if all the doors of the house were being slammed to, or the windows shaken as by a storm of wind, although there was not the slightest agitation in the atmosphere. Then would occur shrieks as of persons in distress, groans as of sufferers in agonies of pain, and bursts of demoniac laughter, with a flapping of huge bat-like wings. "Apparitions like blacke dogges and catts were also scene," which darted out from under the furniture and usually passed out up the chimney, it being immaterial whether or not a fire was blazing in the grate. Along with all these disturbances in the house and unaccountable illnesses of the various members of the household, the horses and cattle of the farm were subjected to similar inflictions, much to the detriment of Jackson's material prosperity. Week after week news came in of the death of horses, cows, and sheep: and in his deposition at York, Jackson said that "since the time the said Jennet and George Benton threatened him he hath lost eighteen horses and meares, and he conceives he hath had all this loss by the use of some witchcraft or sorcerie by the said Jennet and George Benton."

For a twelvemonth and a day these disturbances, sufferings, and losses continued, rendering Jackson almost bankrupt, and then they all at once ceased.

Being fully convinced that these troubles had been caused by the diabolical incantations of the witch Jennet, he brought a charge against her and her son, at York, of practising witchcraft against him, and they were tried at the assizes on the 7th June, 1656. The depositions of the trial are printed in a volume published by the Surtees Society in 1861, entitled "Depositions from the Castle of York relating to offences committed in the northern counties during the seventeenth century. Edited by J. Raine."

_ELEGANTLY BOUND IN CLOTH GILT, DEMY 8vo., 6s._

YORKSHIRE FAMILY ROMANCE.

By FREDERICK ROSS, F.R.H.S.

AUTHOR OF "THE RUINED ABBEYS OF ENGLAND," "CELEBRITIES OF YORKSHIRE WOLDS," "BIOGRAPHIA EBORACENSIS," "THE PROGRESS OF CIVILISATION," ETC.

Amongst Yorkshire Authors Mr. FREDERICK ROSS occupies a leading place. For over sixty years he has been a close student of the history of his native county, and perhaps no author has written so much and well respecting it. His residence in London has enabled him to take advantage of the important stores of unpublished information contained in the British Museum, the Public Record Office, and in other places. He has also frequently visited Yorkshire to collect materials for his works. His new book is one of the most readable and instructive he has written. It will be observed from the following list of subjects that the work is of wide and varied interest, and makes a permanent contribution to Yorkshire literature.

CONTENTS:

The Synod of Streoneshalh. The Doomed Heir of Osmotherley. St. Eadwine, the Royal Martyr. The Viceroy Siward. Phases in the Life of a Political Martyr. The Murderer's Bride. The Earldom of Wiltes. Blackfaced Clifford. The Shepherd Lord. The Felons of Ilkley. The Ingilby Boar's Head. The Eland Tragedy. The Plumpton Marriage. The Topcliffe Insurrection. Burning of Cottingham Castle. The Alum Workers. The Maiden of Marblehead. Rise of the House of Phipps. The Traitor Governor of Hull.

IMPORTANT NOTICE.--The Edition is limited to 500 copies, and the greater part are sold. The book will advance in price in course of time.

HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Ltd.

_Elegantly bound in cloth gilt, demy 8vo., price 6s._

Old Church Lore.

By WILLIAM ANDREWS, F.R.H.S.,

_Author of "Curiosities of the Church," "Old-Time Punishments," "Historic Romance," etc._

CONTENTS.

The Right of Sanctuary--The Romance of Trial--A Fight between the Mayor of Hull and the Archbishop of York--Chapels on Bridges--Charter Horns--The Old English Sunday--The Easter Sepulchre--St. Paul's Cross--Cheapside Cross--The Biddenden Maids Charity--Plagues and Pestilences--A King Curing an Abbot of Indigestion--The Services and Customs of Royal Oak Day--Marrying in a White Sheet--Marrying under the Gallows--Kissing the Bride--Hot Ale at Weddings--Marrying Children--The Passing Bell--Concerning Coffins--The Curfew Bell--Curious Symbols of the Saints--Acrobats on Steeples--A carefully-prepared Index.

ILLUSTRATED.

PRESS OPINIONS.

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HULL: WILLIAM ANDREWS & CO., THE HULL PRESS. London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, & Co., Ltd.

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Transcriber's note:

Obvious printer errors have been corrected. Otherwise, the author's original spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been left intact.