The Pendle Witch Child Part 4

Simon Armitage presents the extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine-year-old girl. Jennet Device, a beggar-girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in the trial in 1612 of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours and, thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged.Armitage explores the lethal power and influence of one child's words, a story of fear, magic and
demonic pacts retold partly with vivid and innovative hand-drawn animation. He discovers how Jennet's appearance in the witness box cast its shadow way beyond Lancashire, impressing lawyers, politicians, clerics and even King James I himself, and setting a dark precedent for child testimony
in witch trials as far away as America. Finally, in a dramatic twist to the tale, he reveals how, twenty two years after the original trial, Jennet's own words were very nearly the death of her - when she herself was put on trial, accused of being a witch by a 10-year-old boy.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• pendle witch child
• pendle witches
• trail british history
• hangings
• magic
• religion
• bbc documentary

[JGunnels89]

The first time I had ever heard about the Witches of Pendle was when I was younger and I read a book called "Burning Issy" I didn't exactly know how much fact the story had told...I had done a bit more research since then and found out that a few of the other characters from the book were actually real, living people. I'm not really sure what Jennet had planned when she gave up her family and neighbors, but I suppose it didn't go as she'd planned.

[Reiimuu]

too bad you can't compare child molesters, etc, to witches, because witchcraft didn't actually exist and child molesters do. What a crappy comparison XD

[williamhedgewitch]

The final scene finds the boy in a shack of a home overlooked by Pendle hill. We see him from behind. He’s sitting working on something on the table, head hunched, swinging his legs and whispering a rhyme. As the camera moves over his shoulder we see an old pair of pliers and a neat row of plucked teeth that he’s arranging. We see his front now, suddenly he stops still and lifts his head. Over his shoulder we see two greyhounds walk in through the front door and sit looking expectantly at him.