Chattox was the matriarch of another Pendle family associated with witchcraft, and the two families despised each other. Alizon may have believed that Chattox and Anne were really witches, or she simply saw the chance for revenge; she accused Chattox of murdering five men, including her father John Device, perhaps as recompense for an instance in 1601 when a member of Chattox’s family broke into the Device’s home, Malkin Tower, and stole some goods. The trials took place from 18-19 August 1612. The accused were denied witnesses to plead their innocence, and in a remarkable turn of events the key witness for the prosecution was Elizabeth Device’s youngest child, nine year old Jennet Device. Perhaps this would have been the end of it, to have rooted four witches out of his town would be a success for Nowell, but on Good Friday – 10 April 1612 – Elizabeth Device organised a meeting at Malkin Tower. Those who were sympathetic to the family’s plight attended, and to feed them James Device stole a neighbour’s sheep. When word reached Nowell and an inquiry was carried out, eight more people who had attended the meeting were accused of witchcraft and seven of them were sent to join the others in Lancaster Castle. Alizon continued to admit her guilt, and old Demdike did not appear at the trial. She’d died in the horrid conditions at Lancaster Castle while awaiting the assizes. By the end of the trial, the only person found not guilty was Alice Grey. The remaining nine were hanged on 20 August 1612.

Though perhaps less brutal than the Malleus Maleficarum, also known as the Hammer of Witches, published in Germany 110 years before, it was still a dangerous book that led some, such as the man who would later be known as the Witchfinder General, Matthew Hopkins, to believe that they had the right to accuse and torture their neighbours until they were forced to admit to the charges against them. James himself advocated for the importance of only punishing those who were guilty, but by torturing and killing so many himself he had already spread fear throughout his country and set an example of what a witch hunt looked like. Jennet Device disappeared from history until 24 March 1634, when a woman named Jennet Device became one of 20 tried at Lancaster for the crime of witchcraft, accused of the murder of a woman named Isabel Nutter by a ten year old boy named Edmund Robinson. Though Robinson later admitted to fabricating his evidence and the 20 weren’t executed, it is thought likely that Jennet ended her days the same way that Demdike did, dying in Lancaster Castle despite being pardoned. There is no official record of Jennet’s death, but according to a record from 22 August 1636, she was still incarcerated.Perhaps the most notorious witch trial of the 17th century, the legend of the Pendle witches is one of the many dark tales of imprisonment and execution at Lancaster Castle. Twelve people were accused of witchcraft; one died while held in custody, eleven went to trial. One was tried and found guilty at York and the other ten were tried at Lancaster. Only one was found not guilty. It was an unusual trial in that it was documented in an official publication, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, by the clerk of the court, Thomas Potts. As it was well documented, the story has remained as a well-known legend. Also, just over three centuries saw witch trials held in England but fewer than 500 people were executed for this crime. This one series of trials in the summer of 1612 therefore accounts for 2% of all witches executed. The story would have ended there had it not been for a meeting held at Malkin Tower by James Device (Alizon’s brother), for which he stole a neighbour’s sheep. Those sympathetic to the family attended but word reached the judge who felt compelled to investigate. As a result, a further eight people were summoned for questioning and then trial.

A powerful and handy witches ally, she is a great muse for a witch looking for magical inspiration and guidance should you seek to connect with her and give her a loving home or even just a great addition, bringing warmth to any home or workspace. My mother is a witch and that I know to be true. I have seen her spirit in the likeness of a brown dog, which she calls Ball. The dog did ask what she would have him do, and she answered that she would have him help her to kill.’Usually a child of nine would not have been used as a key witness in a case such as this, but in Daemonologie James I made a case that, when trying to punish witches for their crimes, it was acceptable to bend the normal rules of providing evidence at a witch trial. Demdike, Chattox and Anne Redferne were summoned to appear before Nowell on 2 April 1612. Though vulnerable, both Demdike and Chattox were blind and in their 80s at this time, they both admitted to selling their souls to the devil. Anne refused to admit such a thing but, like the Devices, this was another family that believed in all or nothing, for her own mother accused her of making clay figures which she used to practice witchcraft. With three admittances of guilt, it’s no surprise that Nowell sent all four women – Demdike and her granddaughter Alizon, and Chattox and her daughter Anne – to Lancaster Castle to await an official trial at the next assizes.