Belief in and accusations of witchcraft were commonplace in England, and indeed Europe, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Many of the denunciations and evidence given nowadays appear somewhat nonsensical and in many cases can be explained away by advancement in modern medicine or science. However, in a society so grounded in religious belief, where the greatest fear was the Devil himself, it is a little easier to understand why allegations could have arisen out of situations that just could not be explained in any other way at the time.
Numerous individuals in Northumberland were accused of being witches, the evidence which seems flimsy by today’s standards, included night time visions or the use of threatening words. The majority, but not all, of those who fell under suspicion were female. In “County Folklore Vol IV Northumberland” by M.C. Balfour the tale of Peter Banks is told. Although sadly we do not know exactly where Banks or his accusers were from, his story was heard by Robert Roddam, Mayor of Newcastle in 1673/4.
Peter Banks was described as “a most strange seducer and inticer of the king’s subjects and people, and deludes them in a wonderfull manner, perswadeing and makeing them beleive that he cann tell leases [charms] to people” (p.34); he was said to have confessed to the use of enchantments, magic arts and conjuring evil spirits.
Jane Crossby bought a charm for ten shillings and two new shirts compelling her husband to be pleasant to her for a year. During this time the husband was said to be ‘loveing and kind’, however when she did not renew the charm at the end of the year her husband’s behaviour became ‘ill and untoward againe’.
Ellinor Pattison was terrified by night visions and apparitions after a disagreement with Banks. He knew that she was bewitched and offered to cure her. She permitted him to cut out a small piece of her hair which was wrapped in paper and burned. After this she ‘grew better’.
Sadly Balfour does not tell us the outcome for Peter Banks, this may be lost to history, but it offers a fantastic insight into the accusations made against this particular male witch.
Since the lockdown things have changed for us at Northumberland Archives. My usual routine was jump out of bed after a bit too long of a lay-in; a rushed breakfast and then a 30 minute car journey; shouting at drivers for doing silly things; getting wet when we clock-in; then opening and closing the gates behind us. A full day’s work in an office looking at white walls, no windows, then home in the dark, getting wet opening and shutting the gates behind us, then clocking out!
Before the enforced lockdown lots of work was done behind the scenes to make sure we all had enough work to keep us going whilst home working.
Now my day consists of rolling out of bed, a leisurely breakfast and a nano second journey from lounge to dining room. Logged in and ready to go at the same time it would be, had I driven to work. Reduced carbon footprint.
The peace is interrupted as my new colleagues appear one by one. The dining room has become a new office space with both my wife and eldest daughter; all working from our little hub. The youngest daughter appears around midday having finished school abruptly. What no GCSE’s this year? She informs us that she is still alive and hungry.
My work day now allows me to see out a picture window. The green grass of home and bright blue skies. I have been working through my emails as I have amassed 26,000. I’m sure I don’t need all these so the delete button has been pushed over 2500 times so far.
We have lists that have never gone onto our electronic catalogue to input; reports for research to write up; social media posts to research and pass on; emails to reply to; work to secure for when we return to normal; and, of course, keep in communication with the rest of the team. I am also using the opportunity to catch up on all the work my volunteers have transcribed since ‘Northumberland at War’. They are like prisoners of war that never went home as they love the place too much. And every now and again a video conference to see how things are going with the Head of Archives which reminds me of the Eurovision Song Contest – Gosforth is calling to give the vote of the Gosforth jury.
Life hasn’t changed too much, just the environment and work colleagues; although adjusting to working on a small chrome book has had its challenges. Work continues we just had to adjust to the type of it; no old books or lost treasures to look at.
Stay safe out there and let’s hope we can get back to normal sooner rather than later.
Traditionally, the beautiful game was brutal and riotous. Before the rules and regulations introduced by the Football Association (founded 1863), traditional football was a free-for-all that the authorities tried to ban on numerous occasions. The first recorded attempt to ban or curtail the playing of football dates from 1314, when the City of London decided that too much damage was being caused by the game.
In the Middle Ages football was played when people weren’t working, this meant Sundays and holidays (such as Christmas and Easter). Whole cities, towns or villages divided up into opposing teams, sometimes geographically (the north versus south) or according to marital status (married versus unmarried). Needless to say, squads were somewhat larger than today’s eleven players and could even run into the hundreds.
There were few, if any, rules – the ball could be handled and thrown, as well as kicked. Goals were often local landmarks and play could continue until nightfall, or even over several days. Play wasn’t usually confined to a pitch, as today, but was carried on through the town or village streets. It was a full contact game – think of a medieval Vinnie Jones, Nobby Stiles or Stuart Pearce without the constraints of an umpire, or rules. It is doubtless that many scores were settled during games.
A glimpse of the brutality of the game can be gleaned from the records of the Northumberland Quarter Sessions of 1680. Ralph Lowrison of Choppington appeared before a Justice of the Peace to complain about a football match that had taken place on the Tuesday after Easter at Bothal. He claimed that he was set upon by Bernard Smith and William Jackson, one on each side of him. (Just pass on to the next paragraph if you are squeamish…) Ralph claimed that Bernard and William had so violently bruised him that he did “…spitt blood from his Bowills…” and that a bone setter was needed to reset his arm and put his shoulder back in its socket. It isn’t clear why Ralph came in for such treatment – perhaps because he was an “outsider” or perhaps he was just at the wrong game at the wrong time.
QSB/1/28
It is therefore a bit of a surprise that the traditional game has survived at all, but it is still played in a handful of places throughout the country, usually on Shrove Tuesday. In the northeast, Sedgefield and Alnwick play a version of the traditional game.
At Alnwick, the game is now played on a field (an innovation of 1828), thanks to the Duke of Northumberland, who was probably fed up of the town getting smashed up every year. Originally, it seems that the married men of the village played the unmarried men, but that the division of the town into two parishes in the nineteenth-century lent itself well to the forming of teams; now St Michaels play St Pauls. Two “hales” are set up on the field as goals and are decorated with greenery. No handling of the ball is allowed; kicking only, but play is physical and opponents tackle each other to the ground (bone setters aren’t generally called upon, though.) Once the game is over (after three “hales” or periods have been played) the ball is lobbed into the River Aln and whoever dives in and retrieves it keeps the ball as a trophy.
NRO 3536/9
Northumberland Archives are lucky enough to hold a copy of the minute books of the committee that has organised the Alnwick game since the nineteenth-century. The older of the two volumes contains posters, photographs and sometimes a short comment about that year’s game. Some of the posters advertising the game are of particular interest as they also list the “bye-laws” or rules of the game. The more recent volume (1954-1973) contains descriptions of each game, who scored goals, who played well and the weather conditions under which the games were played.
M C Balfour County Folklore Concerning Northumberland, 1903
Gavin Kitching ‘From Time Immemorial’: The Alnwich Shrovetide Football Match and the Continuous Remaking of Tradition in The International Journal of the History of Sport, April 2011
Northumberland Archives Alnwick Shrove Tuesday Football committee minutes (bound photocopies), 1954-1972,1871-1985 NRO 03851/1-2
