At the assizes and general goal delivery held at Bury St Edmunds Tenth day of June 1664 in the reign of King Charles II.

Rose Cullender and Amy Duny, widows, were severely indicted for bewitching Elizabeth & Ann Durrent, June Bocking, Susan Chandler, William Durrent, Elizabeth & Deborah Pacy.

The evidence where upon these persons were convicted of witch craft, stands upon divers particular circumstances.

1) Three of the parties named above, Susan Chandler, Ann Durrent and Elizabeth Pacy, after arriving in Bury the day afore save and well. Fell into a strange fit, shrieking in the most sad manner, so that they could not in any wise give instructions to the court. Each were struck dumb and could not in any wise speak until after the conviction of the supposed Witchs. (Witches).

William Durrent, being an infant, his mother Dorothy Durrent sworn and deposed in open court, that about the tenth day of March, Nono caroli secondi,.... Desired her neighbour Amy Duny to look after her baby in her absence, promising a penny but desired Amy not to suckle her child.

Upon which she was asked by the court, why give such instructions to an old woman who could not give suck.

Amy had a reputation of witchery and gave cause for suspicion, it is customary for old women to give suck on a dry breast when nothing will please it.

The deponent was very angry to discover that upon her return Amy was giving suck to her child who had sucked nothing but wind. At which Amy was very discontented and used many high expressions and threatening speeches. Every night her son fell into strange fits of swounding, and was held in such a terrible manner, that was much affrightened there with, and so continued the divers for weeks.

She was so troubled by the child's distemper that she sought Doctor Jacob in Yarmouth, who had a reputation in the country to help bewitched children. He advised her to hang up the child's blanket every day by the fire for the following night and not to worry about anything that fell out. That very next day, when the blanket was hung up a toad fell out, she threw it in the fire with tongs which made such a terrible sound and after a space there was a flashing in the fire like gunpowder and there upon the toad was no more to be seen nor heard.

The court asked if this was not the substance, but Dorothy Durrent said that was no toad as though there were none at all....... and that after the toad had burned her son recovered.

( The passage continued with the accusation that Amy was seen with burns to her chest and legs the following day.)

In a further matter her daughter Elizabeth was taken in a similar manner as the first, and Amy came to give water to Elizabeth, but the deponent was angry and thrust her out of doors where upon Amy said that she should not be angry as your child will not have long, and this was on a Saturday, and the child dyed (Died) on the Monday following. The cause of death this deponent verily believeth was occasioned by the witch craft of the said Amy Duny.

The deponent further saith (said) , that not long after the death of her daughter Elizabeth Durrent, she this deponent was taken with a great lameness from the knees downward, that she was fain to go upon crutches, and so continued until the Assizes, that the witch came to be Tryed (tried) , and was there upon her crutches. The court asked her if this lameness was according to the custom of women? Her answer was that is was, and that she had not had any stoppages except with child.

This was the substance of her evidence to this indictment.

(The Recorder added this following passage;)

"There was one thing very remarkable that after she had gone upon crutches for upwards of three years ..... upon her giving evidence ..... and upon the juries giving verdict by which the said Amy Duny was found guilty to the great admiration of all persons, the said Dorothy Durrent was restored to the use of her limbs, and went home without making use of her crutches."

II. As concerning Elizabeth and Deborah Pacy the first of the age eleven years to the other of the of nine years or thereabouts. As to the elder she was brought into the court at the time of the instructions given to draw up the indictment, but could not speak one word ...... she remained as wholly senseless as one in a deep sleep, and could move no part of her body ..... She laid her head on the bar of the court with a cushion under it, and her hand and her apron upon that; and there she lay a good space of time ..... by the direction of the judge Amy Duny was privately brought to Elizabeth Pacy and she touched her hand, where upon the child without so much as seeing her, for her eyes were closed all the while, suddenly leaped up, and catched (caught) Amy Duny by the hand, and afterwards by the face, and with her nails scratched until the blood came, and would by no means leave her until she was taken from her...

Deborah, the younger daughter was held in such extream (extreme) manner that her parents wholly despaired of her life, and therefore could not bring her to the Assizes.

The evidence given concerning these two children was to this effect...."

(The above excerpt was to give a flavour of the rich language used in the trial. The following is now an annotation of the remainder of the case quoting from the trial directly when appropriate.)

Samuel Pacy swore in to which the recorder added "a man who carried himself with great soberness during the Tryal from when he proceeded with no passions or mallace, though his children were greatly afflicted."

Samuel Pacy claimed that his daughter was "taken with lameness in her legs." on the 10th of October 1663 which continued until the seventeenth of October when Amy Duny came to buy herring. She was turned away three times, on the third time she went away muttering unintelligibly which was described in court as " She went away grumbling; but what she said was not perfectly understood." He then claimed that at that same moment of Amy muttering his daughter suffered "Extream (extreme) pain in her stomach, like the pricking of pins, and shrieking out in the most dreadful manner like unto a whelp, and not like a sensible creature." This continued until the thirtieth of October when they called for doctor Feavor, described as "a doctor of physich."

Samuel continued that he implied that she was a witch, where she was then arrested and placed in the stocks on the twenty eighth of October , two days before Doctor Feavor was called. He also added that Rose Cullender appeared to him after Amy Duny was put into the stocks.

On the thirtieth has daughter Elizabeth worsened which he described as " Elizabeth fell into extream (extreme) fit insomuch, that they could not open her mouth to give her breath, to preserve her life without the use of a tap which they were enforced to use."

He further stated that the paralysis sometimes affected one side of thier bodies, by this he referred his other daughter, their hearing, speech or their sight. He also claimed that he was present when his eldest daughter coughed and vomited a two penny nail and some pins, these were produced for the court to examine.

This was later Corroborated by Margaret Arnold, a sworn whitness, who alleged that she heard the girls talking. Claiming that they were bewitched before vomiting 30 pins in her presence. She further claimed that the two girls called Rose cullender's and Amy Duny's name during a "Fit of Distemper". Margaret Arnold finished with a statement claiming that a bee forced a pin into the girls on one occasion and flies on another causing the girls to cry "Why do you not come yourselves, but send your imps to torment us?"

Edward Durrent, gave evidence involving pins again as did Ann Baldwin and Diana Bocking.

The trial text continued;

" Mary Candler mother of the said Susan, sworn and examiniing, deposed and saith, that about the begining of February last past, the said Rose Cullender and Amy Duny were charged by Samuel Pacy for the bewitching of his daughters. And a warrant being granted at the request of the said Mr Pacy, by Sir Edmund Bacon, Barronet, one of the justices of the peace for the county of Suffolk, to bring them before him, and that they being brought before him were examined, but confessed nothing. He gave the order that they should be searched; where upon this deponent and five others were apponted to do the same, and coming to the house of Rose Cullender, they did aqaint her with what they did come about and asked weather she was contented that should search her, she did not oppose it, where upon they began at her head, and so stripped her naked, and in the lower part of her belly they found a thing like a teat of an inch long, they questioned her about it, and she saith, that she had got a strain carring the water which caused that excrescence. But upon narrower search, they found in her privy parts three more excresencies or teats, but smaller than the former. This deponent furter saith , that in the long teat at the end thereof there was a little hole, and it appeared unto them as if it had been lately sucked, and upon the straining of it there issued out a white milkie (milky) matter."

She then claimed claimed that Rose Cullender had visited his daughter who then suffered fits of distemper and vomited pins.

"This was the sum and substanceof the evidence which was given against the prisioners, concerning the bewitching of the children before mentioned."

This evidence was objected to by Mr Serjent Barnard, Mr Serjent Keeling and Mr Serjent Earl. Mr keeling was not satisfied that the " imagionations" of the children should be counted as evidence for bewitching who said "...it can never be applied to the prisioners , upon the imagionations only of the party affected; for if that might be allowed, no person whatsoever can be in safety, for perhaps they might fancy another person who might altogether be innocent in such matters."

Dr Brown of Norwich was called to give evidence as an 'expert whitness' described as " ...A peson of great knowledge." He stated that in his opinion the girls were bewitched and stated that "... a great discoveryof witches had been made in Denmark, where pins were used to afflict persons to the same."

An experiment was conducted where the 'bewitched' girls were blind folded with their own aprons and touched by the witches, they then had a 'fit of distemper' -the recorder continued - "There was an ingenious person that objected, there might be great fallacy in this experiment, and that there ought not be any stress put upon this to convict the parties, for the children might counterfiet this distemper."

This 'experiment' was demonstrated again and the recorder noted "...where upon the gemtleman returned, openly protesting, that they did believe the whole transaction of this business was a meer imposture."

The judge summed up with a comment that witches were creatures that existed "..Otherwise there would not be such instruments of law to deal with such wretched creatures..."

Both Amy Duny and Rose Cullender were found guilty and then executed that following Monday.