During the early modern period, Berwick held a Bailiff’s Court. The Mayor, his deputy and some of the town’s Freemen heard complaints from the townspeople and handed out punishments. Freemen were men who had special privileges in medieval towns or cities such as being able to vote and be nominated for offices. In most towns and cities men could qualify to be a Freeman if their father had been a Freeman, if they had been apprenticed to a Freeman or if they bought a freedom.  

The Bailiff’s Court dealt with minor or petty crimes in a similar way to the manor courts of the time. Both regulated order within their communities, including minor crimes against people, the running of alehouses and the maintenance of public health. The Bailiff’s Court also concerned itself with the security of the town. A number of the entries in the Bailiff’s Book related to Scottish people living or working in the town. They were seen as a threat and were actively discouraged. 

In the 1730s petty sessions courts were introduced across the country to try minor, or petty, crimes. 

It is possible that the volume that you can see here was a working copy. Clerks (the people writing out the documents) would sometimes write out a quick version of the record and then write out a “fair copy”, which would be the official record. The merging of letters, the crossings out and the doodles in the margin of the document would suggest that they are not a “fair copy”.  This page of the Bailiff’s Book does not contain a date, which would usually be present on a “fair copy”. Other entries in the pages around this entry are dated at about 1598–9. 

The image here is part of one of the pages from the Bailiff’s Book. It is a large volume bound in leather. It is possible that the binding is not original – the pages have been very tightly bound, making it hard to read words on the inside edges of the pages. This makes it very unlikely that they were bound like this when they were written. It is even possible that the sheets were loose before they were bound together. 

This entry in the Bailiff’s Book records the information from John Fettys (or Fettis) and his wife. They inform the court that Richard Swynbourne’s wife (we don’t learn her first name) tried to “bewitch” William Law, a garrisonman (a soldier stationed in Berwick) with the help of three other women. The four women together could not bewitch William and so she called on the help of a “man witch”. 

A man also appears in the list of witches executed on the Town Moor in Newcastle in August 1650 (EP 13/1). It seems widely accepted that both men and women could be witches, although more women were accused. The Bailiff’s Book entry suggests that men witches were more powerful than women. At the end of this entry the case is referred to the Lord Governor (appointed by the monarch), Mayor and Council of Berwick. The Common Council of the town heard this case and others in Berwick at this time. In other towns, a “crime” like this would be transferred to a quarter sessions or assize court. 

Transcription is the writing out of an old document. A transcription is exactly as the document appears – the letters and spelling are copied directly. The transcriber sometimes adds letters that have been missed out in abbreviated words in the original document. These letters are shown with square brackets: [i]. This means that the way that the letters appear is preserved in the transcript, but that it is a little more readable. The transcriber also includes notes about the text in square brackets – in this transcript they have noted where words have been crossed out: in this case “witches” and “did”. The lines in the transcript finish at the same place as in the document. 

A translation uses the modern spelling of the words. In this case, the lines finish in the same places so that you can directly compare the transcription and the translation. 

left hand margin 
graffiti here – scribblings/faces  

left hand of page 
John ffetys (sic) 
his wife  

we finde and p[re]sent That by the Informac[i]on and othe
of Creadible witnesse That Richard Swynbornes wife 
hath of longe tyme delte w[i]th three sev[er]all [witches crossed out] 
women witches for the bewitchinge of one will[ia]m Law 
garrysonman, who did answere that they [did crossed out] Colde 
not hurte him but that a man witch mas doe yt 
w[hi]ch the said Swynbornes wife hath confessed to this 
p[re]sently, that at lengith she had gotten a man witch 
for her purpose / The further examinac[i]on wheref[ore]
we Referre to the lord gov[er]nor maior & counsell  

left hand of page 
John Fettis 
his wife  

we find and present That by the Information and oath 
of Credible witness That Richard Swynbornes wife 
hath of long time dealt with three several [witches crossed out] 
women witches for the bewitching of one william Law 
garrisonman, who did answer that they [did crossed out] Could 
not hurt him but that a man witch must do it 
which the said Swynbornes wife hath confessed to this 
presently, that at length she had gotten a man witch 
for her purpose / The further examination wherefore 
we Refer to the lord governor mayor & council 

The style of the writing used in this document is typical of the time; it is called “Secretary Hand”. In this example not all of the letters are precisely formed; they run into each other, suggesting that they may have been written quickly.