Margery Tomlinson and Frances Brown

William Plumber and John Curtes reported a twopence dispute at Frances Brown’s house in which she called Margery Tomlinson a witch and ejected and struck her.

Three witnesses reported Frances Brown maintaining the witch accusation against Margery Tomlinson at Lancelot Barwick’s shop.

Frances Brown’s personal answers reserved her legal right not to answer the central criminal position in Margery Tomlinson’s defamation libel.

Walter Barwick William Plumber John Curtes and Robert Ellison gave sworn evidence on the articles of Margery Tomlinson’s libel.

Scope

Libel and prayer, personal answers, four witness depositions and dockets. Full research commentary, source comparisons and evidence gaps from the authoritative edition accompany the source passages.

Editorial conventions

Square brackets mark expansions, missing text or editorial descriptions; question marks mark tentative readings. Original text and English readings remain separate.

Notes on the edition

Comparison of sources: Libel and six articles — editorial note

Expanded Latin transcription retaining original spelling where legible. The libel has an undated month-range allegation for 1589; those alternatives are not separate proved incidents. The pigs appear in the pleaded words, not in independent veterinary evidence. Errand/arrant orthography requires comparison: repository abstract spells arrand; this manuscript reading is errand. The court-style surname Bennet and upper-left subscription remain provisional. No missing Latin has been silently supplied from a formula. Recollated 24 October 2026: the closing article 2 clause reads quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur, a prospective proof reservation. The earlier pendet et pendere debuit reading and its institution-of-suit translation are withdrawn. The final contractions remain unresolved.

In the name of God, amen. Before you, the venerable men John Gibson and John Bennet, doctors of laws, lawfully appointed officials of the consistory court of York, or another judge competent in this matter, the proctor [contracted words unresolved] for the discreet woman Margery Tomlinson, of [parish wording unresolved] in the diocese of York, against Frances Brown of the parish of Harewood in the diocese of York, and against anyone else lawfully intervening for her in court before you, says, alleges, and in these writings [contracted words unresolved] puts forward, articulates and pursues in law the following. 1. First, he puts forward and articles that the said Margery Tomlinson was and is an honest woman, of good fame, honest life and conversation, stained or defamed by no crime, at least no notorious one, nor implicated in any way (saving what is said below); and that she was and is held, regarded, named and reputed as such, openly, publicly and notoriously, in the aforesaid parish of Harewood and other neighbouring places in the diocese of York. He nevertheless puts forward and articles [contracted reservation unresolved] and concerning each matter. 2. Also he puts forward and articles that, notwithstanding the foregoing, the said Frances Brown knowingly and maliciously, during March, April, May, June, July, August, September and October in the year of our Lord 1589, in any one or some of those months, within the parish of Harewood and other neighbouring places in the diocese of York, maliciously and with the intention of defaming her, defamed the said Margery Tomlinson. She uttered, said, spoke and proclaimed various reproachful, injurious, quarrelsome, insulting and defamatory words to or about Margery Tomlinson, especially the following English words, or others similar in effect: she, the said Frances Brown, called the said Margery Tomlinson a witch and an arrant witch, and said that she would prove her a witch because she had bewitched her pigs. He nevertheless puts forward and articles concerning the form of the defamatory words spoken by Frances, and concerning such and so great a time, as and to the extent that will be proved in the course of this litigation [concluding contractions unresolved], and concerning each matter. 3. Also he puts forward and articles that, after the foregoing, Frances Brown confessed and acknowledged all and each of these matters before trustworthy witnesses, both in Margery Tomlinson's presence and in her absence, once and repeatedly, or at least once. He puts this forward as above. 4. Also he puts forward and articles that, after and through the foregoing, Margery Tomlinson's standing, good fame and reputation among good and substantial men, where she previously stood in good reputation, are unlawfully, seriously and greatly injured and diminished, and will probably be further injured in future. He puts this forward as above. 5. Also he puts forward and articles that Frances Brown was and is of the parish of Harewood in the diocese of York, and therefore notoriously subject to your jurisdiction. He puts this forward as above. 6. Also he puts forward and articles that there was and is public voice and fame concerning all and each of the foregoing in the parish of Harewood and other neighbouring places. He nevertheless puts this forward as above. [The cancelled subscription cannot yet be translated: its name and abbreviated office are unresolved.]

CP.G.2564 libel, Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York CP.G.2564 images CP_G_2564_0002 and CP_G_2564_0003 left; image positions not folios, University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives CP.G.2564, University of York, Borthwick Institute, CP.G.2564, repository image 2 · context

[Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?]. In dei nomine amen coram vobis venerabilibus viris Johanne gibson et Johanne bennet legum doctoribus alme curie cons[istorialis] Ebor[acensis] officialibus l[egiti]me deputatis aut alio Judice in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro- [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions] quemcumque alium coram vobis pro eadem in judicio l[egiti]me intervenientem dicit allegat et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur. 1. Inprimis ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta margeria tomlinson fuit et est mulier honesta bone fame vite et conversationis honeste nulloque crimine saltem notorio aspersa, diffamata vel aliquo modo involuta (salvis infra dicendis) ac pro tali et ut tali fuit et est habita tenta habita nominata ac reputata, palam publice et notorie in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 2. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod premissis non obstantibus dicta francisca browne [inserted: scienter] maligne mensibus martij, aprilis, maij, junij, julij, Augusti, septembris et octobris Anno D[omi]ni mill[esim]o quingentesimo octogesimo nono eorundem mensium quolibet uno sive aliquo intra p[arochiam] de harewode [cancelled word] aliaque loca vicina Ebor[acensis] diocesis malitiose et animo ipsam diffaman- di eandem margeriam tomlinson diffamavit, nonnullaque verba opprobriosa, injuriosa, rixosa, contumeliosa, diffamatoria eidem margerie tomlinson sive de eadem emisit dixit et protulit et predi[c]avit, et precipue hec verba anglice sequentia [inserted: aut] a[l]ia in effectu consimilia viz: she the saide francis browne called the sayde margerye tomlinson witche, and errand witch and sayde she wolde prove hir a witch for she had bewy[t]ched hir pigs. ponit tamen [inserted: et ar[ticula]t] de et super forma verborum diffamatorum per eandem franciscam prolatorum, ac de tali et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions] [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 3. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post premissa omnia et singula prefata francisca browne coram testi- bus fide dignis tam in presentia ipsius margerie tomlinson quam eadem in ejus absentia semel et iteratis vicibus seu saltem semel confessa fuit et est ac recognovit. Et ponit ut supra. 4. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post et per premissa status bona fama et opinio ipsius marge- rie tomlinson apud bonos et graves viros qui prius existitit bone fame et opinionis illicite graviter et enormiter leduntur et diminuuntur ac de veri- simili plus ledentur in futurum. Et ponit ut supra. 5. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta francisca browne fuit et est p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] diocesis et sic vestre jurisdictioni notorie submissa. Et ponit ut supra. 6. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod de et super premissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in dicta p[arochia] de harewode alijsque locis vicinis. ponit tamen et supra. [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...].

Comparison of sources: Libel concluding prayer — editorial note

This is relief requested by the plaintiff, not a judgment. The two final abbreviated reservations are printed as etc. rather than expanded from a legal precedent. The facing right side is blank.

Therefore, when sufficient proof of the foregoing has been made, Margery Tomlinson asks that right and justice in all and each of these matters be done, given and administered to her [one abbreviated expression unresolved]; that Frances Brown, for so great an excess of her rashness in the foregoing and matters concerning it, be corrected and punished ecclesiastically at the court's discretion, according to law; and also that she be lawfully condemned in the expenses incurred and to be incurred on Margery Tomlinson's behalf in this matter. Once condemned, she is likewise to be compelled to make true payment of those expenses to Margery Tomlinson. Otherwise, she asks that right and justice in all and each of the foregoing be done and administered to her by you and your definitive sentence, the aforesaid lord judges. Margery Tomlinson puts these matters forward and requests that they be done jointly and severally. She does not bind herself to prove all and each of the foregoing, nor take on a superfluous burden of proof, against which she protests; rather, so far as she proves the foregoing, so far may she obtain what she requests, saving throughout the benefit of the law. She invokes your office, the aforesaid lord judges, in all the foregoing. Saving the right, etc. And we protest, etc.

Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam franciscam Browne pro tanto temeritatis sue excessu in premissis et ea concernentibus (jure mediante arbitrarie) ecclesiastice corrigi et puniri nec non in expensis pro parte dicte margerie tomlinson in hac p[ar]te factis et fiendis l[egiti]me condemnari condemnata[m]- que ad veram solutionem earundem expensarum prefate margerie tomlinson simili- ter cogi et compelli alijs jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi fieri et ministrari per vos et sententiam vestram definitivam domine Judices antedicti. Que ponit et fieri petit predicta margeria tomlinson con[junctim] et di[visim] non astringens se ad omnia et singula premissa probanda nec ad onus superflue probationis de quo protestatur posita sed quatenus probaverit in premissis eatenus obtineat in petitis hujus (beneficio in omnibus juris salvo) vestrum officium domine Judices antedicti in omnibus premissis implorando. Salvo jure [etc.] et protestamur [etc.]

Comparison of sources: Frances Brown personal answers — editorial note

The day is now read xxix, 29, consistent with repository metadata. The heading names Christopher Foster and the signature reads Chr: foster. Admitting article 1 admits the pleaded good reputation; article 5 concerns parish and jurisdiction. Refusal to answer articles 2–4 is not an admission of witchcraft or an affirmative factual denial of every alleged utterance. The catalogue abstract’s denied is less precise than this answer.

29 May 1590. Personal answers [made through] Christopher Foster, notary public [contracted wording unresolved], for Frances Brown to the positions of the libel brought against her by Margery Tomlinson, etc. To the first, she believes it to be true. To the second, she believes that in law she is not bound to answer, because it is a criminal position. To the third and fourth, she believes that in law she is not bound to answer them, because they depend on the said second position. To the fifth, she believes it to be true. To the sixth, she believes what is believed and denies what is denied. Christopher Foster [signature].

CP.G.2564 answers, Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York CP.G.2564 image CP_G_2564_0004; docket image 0005, University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives CP.G.2564, University of York, Borthwick Institute, CP.G.2564, repository image 4 · context

[Date, left] xxixo maij 1590 [Heading, upper right] Responsiones p[er]sonales per Christopherum Foster notarium p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus libelli per partem margarie tomlinson contra eandem [etc.] Ad primam credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam credit quod de jure non tenetur ad respondere quia est positio criminalis. Ad tertiam et quartam credit quod de jure non tenetur eisdem respondere quia dependent ex dicta secunda po[sitione]. Ad quintam credit eandem esse veram. Ad sextam credit de creditis et negat de negatis. [Signature] Chr: foster.

Comparison of sources: Heading for the witness examinations — editorial note

The final day expression is read penultimo, the next-to-last day of July, consistent with the repository date 30 July 1590. Bent is Jo. Bent in each witness margin; Swinber is the spelling visible here, not an imposed full modern surname. Contracted qualification after doctore and before coram needs a second palaeographic check.

Examination of the witnesses named below, received [unresolved expression] before [John?] Bent, doctor of laws [unresolved expression], in the presence of me, Henry Swinber, notary public [unresolved abbreviation], on the penultimate day of July 1590 [30 July].

CP.G.2564 depositions, Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York CP.G.2564 images CP_G_2564_0006 and CP_G_2564_0007, University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives CP.G.2564, University of York, Borthwick Institute, CP.G.2564, repository image 6 upper right · context

Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo Julij 1590.

Comparison of sources: Deposition of Walter Barwick — editorial note

The original contains a second first-article rubric after article 4. It is preserved as written rather than silently corrected to fifth. The injury-to-reputation passage and the closing abbreviated credibility formula remain partially unresolved. Lancelot is explicitly father, not Samuel. Thomas’s surname is uncertain and is not given a canonical identity. The witness’s stated fifteen-year knowledge is provisionally read xv; compare image before using the duration as an assertion. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

Walter Barwick of Harewood, diocese of York, butcher, aged about twenty-six, a witness produced, admitted, sworn and examined on the positions and articles of the libel exhibited for Margery Tomlinson against Frances Brown. First, concerning knowledge of the parties, he says that he has known Margery Tomlinson well for fifteen years and Frances Brown for twelve years. On the first article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. Examined on the second article, he says that he was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick, butcher, his father, in Harewood, on a Wednesday in August last, at [one word unresolved] or thereabouts. Frances Brown was standing with others outside the shop. He cannot remember what words she then spoke, but remembers the following words. William Plumber then said, “Peace now, Dame Brown, you have said enough.” Frances Brown asked him, “What have I said?” William Plumber said, “You have called Margery Tomlinson”—meaning Margery Tomlinson, a party to the case—“a witch, and you must prove it.” Frances Brown answered, “I have called her a witch; I will hold her a witch”—meaning Margery Tomlinson—“and I will stand to it.” Present at this act in the shop were Lancelot Barwick, this witness's father, Thomas [surname uncertain], William Plumber, Robert Ellison and various others inside and outside the shop, to the number of half a dozen, whose names he cannot now remember. He knows nothing further to depose. On the third article he says what he has already deposed and knows nothing further. Examined on the fourth article, he says [syntax uncertain in the original] that after this act [the connecting construction is uncertain], Margery Tomlinson was “worse thought off” by means of the words in question. He has heard it, and since the speaking of the words in question, various people of Harewood have called her a witch, etc. [Cancellations and connecting syntax unresolved.] On the [corrected: first] article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. On the sixth article he says that what he has already deposed is true and adds a formula concerning fama [reputation or report; exact construction unresolved]. He says that he has not been instructed [abbreviation unresolved] and is not related by blood or marriage to either party [ending uncertain].

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Walterus Barwick de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxvj annos testis super po[sitioni]bus et ar[ticu]lis libelli per partem Margerie Tomlinson contra Franciscam Browne exhibiti productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per duodecim annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate being in the shop of Lancelot Barwick butcher his father in harewood upon a Wednesday in August last past at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the said shop what wordes she then spake he this examinate [cancelled word] remembreth not [cancelled: but these wordes] [inserted: but the wordes] these wordes following he remembreth [inserted: William Plumber] then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you have said ynough And she the [cancelled: margerye] Frances Browne then asked him what have I said And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it, Then and there being present at this act in the said shop Lancelot Barwick this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber and Robert Ellyson and divers others within and without the said shop to the number of half a dozen whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo dicit quod prius deposuit Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and that of his knowledge the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]] he hath heard [cancelled: divers reporte] it and yet since the speaking of the wordes art[iculate] divers of the towne of harewood art[iculate] have called hir witche [etc.] Super [cancelled: quinto] [inserted: primo] non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super [cancelled: quinto articulo] sexto art[icu]lo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis.

Comparison of sources: Deposition of William Plumber — editorial note

William calls Frances a widow; the repository manifest calls her a spinster. Preserve this contradiction rather than resolve her marital status by choosing a catalogue field. The two-pence debt is now read ijd; the action is a reported request for repayment, not a debt judgment. Friday differs from John Curtes’s Sunday. Clog is a block of wood used as a seat; not a geographical place. The penny-loaf exchange and the form of the blow remain partly uncertain. He places Frances in the shop, while other witnesses place her outside. These are witness variants, not harmonised facts. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

William Plumber of Harewood, diocese of York, carpenter, aged about thirty, a witness produced, admitted, sworn and examined as above. First, concerning knowledge of the parties, he says that he has known Margery Tomlinson well for five years and Frances Brown for the same period. On the first article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. Examined on the second article, he says that about Midsummer last was a year, on a Friday afternoon, he, John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] were sitting on a block of wood at the door of Frances Brown, widow, in Harewood. Margery Tomlinson of the same town passed them and went into that house. While she was inside, he heard her ask Frances Brown to let her have the twopence she owed her. Frances Brown answered that she had more to give her. Tomlinson said [two small words uncertain], “Have a penny loaf for me.” Frances Brown said, “I have more for thee, old witch; get thee out of my house, witch.” Tomlinson replied [first words uncertain], “a witch.” Frances Brown said, “Hither, thou didst once set a stone against me for calling thee a witch, and I then called thee a witch, and I will still call thee a witch and stand to it.” At the same time she thrust her out of her door, giving her a [blow?] of the mouth. Present, sitting at the door, were this witness, Curtes and Mocane [surname uncertain]. Afterwards, around Lammas last, this witness was in Lancelot Barwick's shop in Harewood on a Wednesday; he does not remember which precise day. Frances Brown was in the shop, maintaining her position against Margery Tomlinson. He told her to be quiet, saying she had said enough against Margery. Frances Brown said, “I have called Tomlinson a witch”—meaning Margery Tomlinson—“a witch I will call her, and I will stand to it.” Present were Walter Barwick, this witness, Robert Ellison and various others, five or six people, whose names he cannot now remember. He knows nothing further to depose. He knows nothing to depose on the third article. He knows nothing to depose on the fourth article. He is not examined on the fifth article because the defendant admits it. On the sixth article he says that his foregoing deposition is true and adds a formula concerning fama in the places in question [exact construction and sense unresolved]. He further says that he has not been instructed, is not related by blood or marriage to either party, and would not more [unresolved closing expression] wish [one party rather than the other].

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Willelmus Plumber de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis Carpentar etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod margeriam Tomlinson per quinque annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth upon a friday in the after noone the same day this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] being sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow art[iculate] in harewood, Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] of the same towne passed by them and went into the said house and at her being within the [inserted: same] house he did heare the said Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] desire the said Frances Browne art[iculate] to let hir have ijd [cancelled: she] [inserted: ought] hir And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there being sitting at the doore this exa[minate] the said Curtes and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas last past this exa[minate] was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen day he remembreth not Where and when the said [inserted: articulate] Frances [cancelled word] Browne being in the [inserted: said] shop holding against Margery Tomlinson art[iculate], And this exa[minate] bad hir be in quietnes saying she had said ynoughe against the said margery [cancelled: Tom] [inserted: artic...] And quoth the said Frances browne I have called [cancelled: the said margerye] Tomlinson witch (meaning the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate]) witch I will call hir witch and I will stand to it Then and there being present Walter Barwick and this exa[minate], Robert Ellyson and divers others to the number of five or six persons whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus famam laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret.

Comparison of sources: Deposition of John Curtes — editorial note

The occupational expression is provisionally faber clavorum, nailmaker; the previous clothier interpretation is withdrawn and the uncertain occupational reading is excluded from firm WEME assertions. Fourten sennights appears to mean fourteen weeks, not fourteen days; this is an unusual and chronologically important alternative requiring independent palaeographic confirmation. It is not silently altered to fourteen days or fortnight. The text says twelve-month retrospective dating and gives Sunday rather than William’s Friday. The bodily blow is a witness report of Frances’s act, distinct from her retrospective allegation about a stone. Second collation 24 October 2026: the proposed pro parte deponentis expansion in the final credibility clause is withdrawn. The letters are insufficiently clear; no coached-by-party claim or specific party designation is inferred. The unresolved contracted words remain marked. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

John Curtes of Harewood, diocese of York, [nailmaker?], aged about thirty, a witness produced, admitted, sworn and examined as above. First, concerning knowledge of the parties, he says that he has known Margery Tomlinson well for fifteen years and Frances Brown for the same period. On the first article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. Examined on the second article, he says that on the Sunday next before Midsummer last was a year, or fourteen sennights after that feast [the manuscript’s alternative is preserved], Margery Tomlinson passed this witness and others sitting on a block of wood at Frances Brown the widow's door in Harewood and went into the house. After she was inside, he heard her ask Frances Brown for twopence. Brown answered that she should have more. Tomlinson then asked to have cakes for it. Frances Brown said that she had more for her, adding, “Get thee out of my house, witch.” [The following words “then this art[iculate] And” are incomplete or anomalous as written.] She thrust her out of the doors and gave her a box on the ear, saying, “Thou didst once set a stone against me for calling thee a witch; now I call thee a witch again, and I will still [call?] thee a witch.” William Plumber, Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain], Thomas Warter alias Mortane [names uncertain], Thomas [Mocane?] and various others who were in the house were present. He knows nothing further to depose. He knows nothing to depose on the third article. He knows nothing to depose on the fourth article. He is not examined on the fifth article because the defendant admits it. Examined on the sixth article, he says that what he has already deposed is true and adds a formula concerning fama in the places in question [exact construction and sense unresolved]. He further says that he has not been instructed [remaining contracted clause concerning either party unresolved].

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?] etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this exa[minate] upon sonday next before midsomer last past was a twelvemonth or fourten sennights following the said feast Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] passed by this exa[minate] and others sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow in harewood into the said house And after she was in the house this examinate heard hir aske ijd of the said Frances browne art[iculate] And Browne art[iculate] answered she shold have more And then she desired to have cakes for it And Frances browne art[iculate] said she had more for hir saying further get the out of my house witche: then this art[iculate] And thrust hir furth of the doores and gave hir a box of the eare saying thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche Now I call the witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche. Then and there being present Will[ia]m plumber Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain] Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were in the house Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera ac ut hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium.

Comparison of sources: Deposition of Robert Ellison — editorial note

Robert is Ellyson, butcher, about thirty; the earlier provisional Blayton, potter, twenty-five readings are withdrawn. The presence of a calf is occupational context, not an allegation that the calf was bewitched or died unnaturally. The bottom credibility line is physically damaged and cannot be completed from another witness’s formula. William before Walter in the attendance list may be a false start but is not silently deleted. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

Robert Ellison of Harewood, diocese of York, butcher, aged about thirty, a witness produced, admitted, sworn and examined as above. First, concerning knowledge of the parties, he says that he has known Margery Tomlinson well for fifteen years and Frances Brown for twelve years. On the first article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. Examined on the second article, he says that about Lammas last he was [with/by?] Lancelot Barwick, butcher of Harewood, to kill a calf. Frances Brown was outside the shop, and William Plumber, his fellow witness, was inside. Plumber answered and said that she had said enough already against Tomlinson, meaning Margery Tomlinson, for [the intervening speech has an uncertain construction] having called her a witch. Frances Brown said, “I have indeed called her a witch; I will call her a witch again, and stand to it.” Present were [William?—possibly a false start], Walter Barwick, this witness, William Plumber and various others whose names he cannot now remember. He knows nothing further to depose. He knows nothing to depose on the third and fourth articles. He is not examined on the fifth article because the defendant admits it. Examined on the sixth article, he says that what he has already deposed is true and adds a formula concerning fama [exact sense unresolved; the bottom is damaged; part of the remaining line refers to not being related by blood; the missing words cannot be translated].

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Robertus Ellyson de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam browne per xij annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate about Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick of harewood butcher to kill a calfe Where and when the said Frances Browne art[iculate] being without the said shop And Will[ia]m plumber his contest then being in the said shop answered and said she had said ynough already against Tomlinson words meaning margery Tomlinson art[iculate] for then have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said Frances browne I have indeed called hir witche I will call hir witche againe And stand to it then and there being Will[ia]m Walter Barwick and this exa[minate] Will[ia]m plumber with divers others whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio et quarto articulis nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending].

Comparison of sources: Catalogue comparison

Subject: Case and survival
Catalogue: Defamation witchcraft; three pieces; libel and depositions; no sentence.
Edition: Agrees with the collected file. Nine photograph positions are not nine distinct documentary pieces.

Subject: Dates
Catalogue: 29 May to 30 July 1590.
Edition: Personal answers xxixo maij 1590; examinations penultimo Julij 1590. Consistent with catalogue dates; incident dates are retrospective and less precise.

Subject: Brown response
Catalogue: Abstract says Frances denied the accusation.
Edition: The personal answers distinguish admissions of positions 1 and 5, legal reservations on positions 2 to 4, and the conventional response to position 6. Preserve this procedural detail.

Subject: Brown marital description
Catalogue: Parties metadata calls her spinster.
Edition: Witnesses call her widow. Retain source-attributed descriptions; do not resolve the contradiction by choosing one.

Subject: Defamatory wording
Catalogue: Abstract spells arrand and betwitched.
Edition: The present provisional manuscript reading uses errand and bewy[t]ched. Retain the difference and its uncertainty; the catalogue is not substituted for the manuscript.

Subject: Witnesses
Catalogue: Walter Berwick Barwick age 26 son of Lancelot; William Plummer Plumber 30; John Curtis Curtes 30; Robert Ellison 30.
Edition: The corrected witness roster agrees in identity and age; spelling variants remain visible. John’s occupation is provisional.

Subject: Christopher Foster
Catalogue: Christopher Forster Foster is described as defence proctor.
Edition: The personal answers name Christopherum Foster notarium and the signature Chr foster. Preserve the documentary role and catalogue description separately; no contradiction or identical range of duties is assumed.

Tomlinson & Browne 1590. [Later repository stamp] BORTHWICK INSTITUTE [pencil reference: R viii G 2564; partly unclear].

[Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?]. In dei nomine amen coram vobis venerabilibus viris Johanne gibson et Johanne bennet legum doctoribus alme curie cons[istorialis] Ebor[acensis] officialibus l[egiti]me deputatis aut alio Judice in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro- [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions] quemcumque alium coram vobis pro eadem in judicio l[egiti]me intervenientem dicit allegat et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur. 1. Inprimis ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta margeria tomlinson fuit et est mulier honesta bone fame vite et conversationis honeste nulloque crimine saltem notorio aspersa, diffamata vel aliquo modo involuta (salvis infra dicendis) ac pro tali et ut tali fuit et est habita tenta habita nominata ac reputata, palam publice et notorie in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 2. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod premissis non obstantibus dicta francisca browne [inserted: scienter] maligne mensibus martij, aprilis, maij, junij, julij, Augusti, septembris et octobris Anno D[omi]ni mill[esim]o quingentesimo octogesimo nono eorundem mensium quolibet uno sive aliquo intra p[arochiam] de harewode [cancelled word] aliaque loca vicina Ebor[acensis] diocesis malitiose et animo ipsam diffaman- di eandem margeriam tomlinson diffamavit, nonnullaque verba opprobriosa, injuriosa, rixosa, contumeliosa, diffamatoria eidem margerie tomlinson sive de eadem emisit dixit et protulit et predi[c]avit, et precipue hec verba anglice sequentia [inserted: aut] a[l]ia in effectu consimilia viz: she the saide francis browne called the sayde margerye tomlinson witche, and errand witch and sayde she wolde prove hir a witch for she had bewy[t]ched hir pigs. ponit tamen [inserted: et ar[ticula]t] de et super forma verborum diffamatorum per eandem franciscam prolatorum, ac de tali et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions] [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 3. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post premissa omnia et singula prefata francisca browne coram testi- bus fide dignis tam in presentia ipsius margerie tomlinson quam eadem in ejus absentia semel et iteratis vicibus seu saltem semel confessa fuit et est ac recognovit. Et ponit ut supra. 4. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post et per premissa status bona fama et opinio ipsius marge- rie tomlinson apud bonos et graves viros qui prius existitit bone fame et opinionis illicite graviter et enormiter leduntur et diminuuntur ac de veri- simili plus ledentur in futurum. Et ponit ut supra. 5. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta francisca browne fuit et est p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] diocesis et sic vestre jurisdictioni notorie submissa. Et ponit ut supra. 6. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod de et super premissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in dicta p[arochia] de harewode alijsque locis vicinis. ponit tamen et supra. [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...].

Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam franciscam Browne pro tanto temeritatis sue excessu in premissis et ea concernentibus (jure mediante arbitrarie) ecclesiastice corrigi et puniri nec non in expensis pro parte dicte margerie tomlinson in hac p[ar]te factis et fiendis l[egiti]me condemnari condemnata[m]- que ad veram solutionem earundem expensarum prefate margerie tomlinson simili- ter cogi et compelli alijs jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi fieri et ministrari per vos et sententiam vestram definitivam domine Judices antedicti. Que ponit et fieri petit predicta margeria tomlinson con[junctim] et di[visim] non astringens se ad omnia et singula premissa probanda nec ad onus superflue probationis de quo protestatur posita sed quatenus probaverit in premissis eatenus obtineat in petitis hujus (beneficio in omnibus juris salvo) vestrum officium domine Judices antedicti in omnibus premissis implorando. Salvo jure [etc.] et protestamur [etc.]

[Date, left] xxixo maij 1590 [Heading, upper right] Responsiones p[er]sonales per Christopherum Foster notarium p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus libelli per partem margarie tomlinson contra eandem [etc.] Ad primam credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam credit quod de jure non tenetur ad respondere quia est positio criminalis. Ad tertiam et quartam credit quod de jure non tenetur eisdem respondere quia dependent ex dicta secunda po[sitione]. Ad quintam credit eandem esse veram. Ad sextam credit de creditis et negat de negatis. [Signature] Chr: foster.

Respons[iones] p[er]sonales francisce browne

Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo Julij 1590.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Walterus Barwick de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxvj annos testis super po[sitioni]bus et ar[ticu]lis libelli per partem Margerie Tomlinson contra Franciscam Browne exhibiti productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per duodecim annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate being in the shop of Lancelot Barwick butcher his father in harewood upon a Wednesday in August last past at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the said shop what wordes she then spake he this examinate [cancelled word] remembreth not [cancelled: but these wordes] [inserted: but the wordes] these wordes following he remembreth [inserted: William Plumber] then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you have said ynough And she the [cancelled: margerye] Frances Browne then asked him what have I said And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it, Then and there being present at this act in the said shop Lancelot Barwick this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber and Robert Ellyson and divers others within and without the said shop to the number of half a dozen whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo dicit quod prius deposuit Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and that of his knowledge the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]] he hath heard [cancelled: divers reporte] it and yet since the speaking of the wordes art[iculate] divers of the towne of harewood art[iculate] have called hir witche [etc.] Super [cancelled: quinto] [inserted: primo] non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super [cancelled: quinto articulo] sexto art[icu]lo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Willelmus Plumber de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis Carpentar etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod margeriam Tomlinson per quinque annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth upon a friday in the after noone the same day this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] being sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow art[iculate] in harewood, Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] of the same towne passed by them and went into the said house and at her being within the [inserted: same] house he did heare the said Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] desire the said Frances Browne art[iculate] to let hir have ijd [cancelled: she] [inserted: ought] hir And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there being sitting at the doore this exa[minate] the said Curtes and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas last past this exa[minate] was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen day he remembreth not Where and when the said [inserted: articulate] Frances [cancelled word] Browne being in the [inserted: said] shop holding against Margery Tomlinson art[iculate], And this exa[minate] bad hir be in quietnes saying she had said ynoughe against the said margery [cancelled: Tom] [inserted: artic...] And quoth the said Frances browne I have called [cancelled: the said margerye] Tomlinson witch (meaning the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate]) witch I will call hir witch and I will stand to it Then and there being present Walter Barwick and this exa[minate], Robert Ellyson and divers others to the number of five or six persons whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus famam laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?] etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this exa[minate] upon sonday next before midsomer last past was a twelvemonth or fourten sennights following the said feast Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] passed by this exa[minate] and others sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow in harewood into the said house And after she was in the house this examinate heard hir aske ijd of the said Frances browne art[iculate] And Browne art[iculate] answered she shold have more And then she desired to have cakes for it And Frances browne art[iculate] said she had more for hir saying further get the out of my house witche: then this art[iculate] And thrust hir furth of the doores and gave hir a box of the eare saying thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche Now I call the witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche. Then and there being present Will[ia]m plumber Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain] Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were in the house Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera ac ut hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Robertus Ellyson de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam browne per xij annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate about Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick of harewood butcher to kill a calfe Where and when the said Frances Browne art[iculate] being without the said shop And Will[ia]m plumber his contest then being in the said shop answered and said she had said ynough already against Tomlinson words meaning margery Tomlinson art[iculate] for then have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said Frances browne I have indeed called hir witche I will call hir witche againe And stand to it then and there being Will[ia]m Walter Barwick and this exa[minate] Will[ia]m plumber with divers others whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio et quarto articulis nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending].

Context: About this case and its sources

Reference: University of York, Borthwick Institute, CP.G.2564
Source languages: Latin and English
Court: York ecclesiastical court
Case: Defamation concerning allegations of witchcraft
Record dates: 29 May–30 July 1590; reported incidents are earlier
Surviving papers: Three pieces according to the York catalogue; libel and depositions; no sentence
Parties: Margery Tomlinson, complainant; Frances Brown, defendant
Witnesses: Walter Barwick; William Plumber; John Curtes; Robert Ellison
Other named people: Lancelot Barwick, father of Walter; Christopher Foster, notary in the personal answers, described as defence proctor in the catalogue
Outcome: No sentence survives in the catalogued papers; the result is not established
Catalogue differences: The catalogue describes Brown as a spinster; witnesses call her a widow. Both descriptions are retained with their sources.
Texts in this edition: Libel and prayer, personal answers, four witness depositions and dockets.
Text status: Manuscript reading with unresolved passages.
Edition: 25 October 2026 · version 1.0
How to cite: Witches in Early Modern England, Margery Tomlinson and Frances Brown, reading edition, 25 October 2026, section title and source folio or page.

Tomlinson & Browne 1590. [Later repository stamp] BORTHWICK INSTITUTE [pencil reference: R viii G 2564; partly unclear].

[Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?]. In dei nomine amen coram vobis venerabilibus viris Johanne gibson et Johanne bennet legum doctoribus alme curie cons[istorialis] Ebor[acensis] officialibus l[egiti]me deputatis aut alio Judice in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro- [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions] quemcumque alium coram vobis pro eadem in judicio l[egiti]me intervenientem dicit allegat et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur. 1. Inprimis ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta margeria tomlinson fuit et est mulier honesta bone fame vite et conversationis honeste nulloque crimine saltem notorio aspersa, diffamata vel aliquo modo involuta (salvis infra dicendis) ac pro tali et ut tali fuit et est habita tenta habita nominata ac reputata, palam publice et notorie in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 2. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod premissis non obstantibus dicta francisca browne [inserted: scienter] maligne mensibus martij, aprilis, maij, junij, julij, Augusti, septembris et octobris Anno D[omi]ni mill[esim]o quingentesimo octogesimo nono eorundem mensium quolibet uno sive aliquo intra p[arochiam] de harewode [cancelled word] aliaque loca vicina Ebor[acensis] diocesis malitiose et animo ipsam diffaman- di eandem margeriam tomlinson diffamavit, nonnullaque verba opprobriosa, injuriosa, rixosa, contumeliosa, diffamatoria eidem margerie tomlinson sive de eadem emisit dixit et protulit et predi[c]avit, et precipue hec verba anglice sequentia [inserted: aut] a[l]ia in effectu consimilia viz: she the saide francis browne called the sayde margerye tomlinson witche, and errand witch and sayde she wolde prove hir a witch for she had bewy[t]ched hir pigs. ponit tamen [inserted: et ar[ticula]t] de et super forma verborum diffamatorum per eandem franciscam prolatorum, ac de tali et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions] [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 3. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post premissa omnia et singula prefata francisca browne coram testi- bus fide dignis tam in presentia ipsius margerie tomlinson quam eadem in ejus absentia semel et iteratis vicibus seu saltem semel confessa fuit et est ac recognovit. Et ponit ut supra. 4. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post et per premissa status bona fama et opinio ipsius marge- rie tomlinson apud bonos et graves viros qui prius existitit bone fame et opinionis illicite graviter et enormiter leduntur et diminuuntur ac de veri- simili plus ledentur in futurum. Et ponit ut supra. 5. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta francisca browne fuit et est p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] diocesis et sic vestre jurisdictioni notorie submissa. Et ponit ut supra. 6. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod de et super premissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in dicta p[arochia] de harewode alijsque locis vicinis. ponit tamen et supra. [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...].

Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam franciscam Browne pro tanto temeritatis sue excessu in premissis et ea concernentibus (jure mediante arbitrarie) ecclesiastice corrigi et puniri nec non in expensis pro parte dicte margerie tomlinson in hac p[ar]te factis et fiendis l[egiti]me condemnari condemnata[m]- que ad veram solutionem earundem expensarum prefate margerie tomlinson simili- ter cogi et compelli alijs jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi fieri et ministrari per vos et sententiam vestram definitivam domine Judices antedicti. Que ponit et fieri petit predicta margeria tomlinson con[junctim] et di[visim] non astringens se ad omnia et singula premissa probanda nec ad onus superflue probationis de quo protestatur posita sed quatenus probaverit in premissis eatenus obtineat in petitis hujus (beneficio in omnibus juris salvo) vestrum officium domine Judices antedicti in omnibus premissis implorando. Salvo jure [etc.] et protestamur [etc.]

[Date, left] xxixo maij 1590 [Heading, upper right] Responsiones p[er]sonales per Christopherum Foster notarium p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus libelli per partem margarie tomlinson contra eandem [etc.] Ad primam credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam credit quod de jure non tenetur ad respondere quia est positio criminalis. Ad tertiam et quartam credit quod de jure non tenetur eisdem respondere quia dependent ex dicta secunda po[sitione]. Ad quintam credit eandem esse veram. Ad sextam credit de creditis et negat de negatis. [Signature] Chr: foster.

Respons[iones] p[er]sonales francisce browne

Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo Julij 1590.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Walterus Barwick de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxvj annos testis super po[sitioni]bus et ar[ticu]lis libelli per partem Margerie Tomlinson contra Franciscam Browne exhibiti productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per duodecim annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate being in the shop of Lancelot Barwick butcher his father in harewood upon a Wednesday in August last past at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the said shop what wordes she then spake he this examinate [cancelled word] remembreth not [cancelled: but these wordes] [inserted: but the wordes] these wordes following he remembreth [inserted: William Plumber] then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you have said ynough And she the [cancelled: margerye] Frances Browne then asked him what have I said And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it, Then and there being present at this act in the said shop Lancelot Barwick this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber and Robert Ellyson and divers others within and without the said shop to the number of half a dozen whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo dicit quod prius deposuit Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and that of his knowledge the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]] he hath heard [cancelled: divers reporte] it and yet since the speaking of the wordes art[iculate] divers of the towne of harewood art[iculate] have called hir witche [etc.] Super [cancelled: quinto] [inserted: primo] non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super [cancelled: quinto articulo] sexto art[icu]lo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Willelmus Plumber de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis Carpentar etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod margeriam Tomlinson per quinque annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth upon a friday in the after noone the same day this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] being sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow art[iculate] in harewood, Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] of the same towne passed by them and went into the said house and at her being within the [inserted: same] house he did heare the said Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] desire the said Frances Browne art[iculate] to let hir have ijd [cancelled: she] [inserted: ought] hir And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there being sitting at the doore this exa[minate] the said Curtes and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas last past this exa[minate] was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen day he remembreth not Where and when the said [inserted: articulate] Frances [cancelled word] Browne being in the [inserted: said] shop holding against Margery Tomlinson art[iculate], And this exa[minate] bad hir be in quietnes saying she had said ynoughe against the said margery [cancelled: Tom] [inserted: artic...] And quoth the said Frances browne I have called [cancelled: the said margerye] Tomlinson witch (meaning the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate]) witch I will call hir witch and I will stand to it Then and there being present Walter Barwick and this exa[minate], Robert Ellyson and divers others to the number of five or six persons whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus famam laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?] etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this exa[minate] upon sonday next before midsomer last past was a twelvemonth or fourten sennights following the said feast Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] passed by this exa[minate] and others sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow in harewood into the said house And after she was in the house this examinate heard hir aske ijd of the said Frances browne art[iculate] And Browne art[iculate] answered she shold have more And then she desired to have cakes for it And Frances browne art[iculate] said she had more for hir saying further get the out of my house witche: then this art[iculate] And thrust hir furth of the doores and gave hir a box of the eare saying thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche Now I call the witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche. Then and there being present Will[ia]m plumber Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain] Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were in the house Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera ac ut hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Robertus Ellyson de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam browne per xij annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate about Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick of harewood butcher to kill a calfe Where and when the said Frances Browne art[iculate] being without the said shop And Will[ia]m plumber his contest then being in the said shop answered and said she had said ynough already against Tomlinson words meaning margery Tomlinson art[iculate] for then have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said Frances browne I have indeed called hir witche I will call hir witche againe And stand to it then and there being Will[ia]m Walter Barwick and this exa[minate] Will[ia]m plumber with divers others whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio et quarto articulis nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending].

Context: Case summary

CP.G.2564 preserves an ecclesiastical defamation suit brought by Margery Tomlinson against Frances Brown of Harewood in the diocese of York. The surviving file contains a six-article libel with its concluding prayer, Brown’s personal answers dated 29 May 1590, and four witness depositions dated 30 July 1590. It contains no sentence. The evidence concerns accusations of witchcraft and a woman’s attempt to defend her reputation; it does not establish a criminal prosecution or conviction for witchcraft. The revised edition returns to the original photographs and replaces the substantially incomplete earlier provisional draft in an earlier draft for this case alone.

The entire collected entry is now represented by transcription and a corresponding English translation or modernisation, including the libel’s legal framework, requested relief, personal answers, every witness’s evidence and credibility clauses, and dockets. This is a full-scope annotated reading, not a claim that every word is deciphered. Bracketed gaps remain, particularly abbreviated Latin expressions, cancellations, the connecting syntax of Walter’s reputation evidence and the damaged final line of Robert’s deposition. Those words cannot be translated with confidence. The separate uncertainty register identifies them; a reader should not treat a provisional reading as a certified diplomatic edition.

CP.G.2564 preserves an ecclesiastical defamation suit brought by Margery Tomlinson against Frances Brown of Harewood in the diocese of York. The surviving file contains a six-article libel with its concluding prayer, Brown’s personal answers dated 29 May 1590, and four witness depositions dated 30 July 1590. It contains no sentence. The evidence concerns accusations of witchcraft and a woman’s attempt to defend her reputation; it does not establish a criminal prosecution or conviction for witchcraft. The revised edition returns to the original photographs and replaces the substantially incomplete earlier provisional draft in an earlier draft for this case alone. The entire collected entry is now represented by transcription and a corresponding English translation or modernisation, including the libel’s legal framework, requested relief, personal answers, every witness’s evidence and credibility clauses, and dockets. This is a full-scope annotated reading, not a claim that every word is deciphered. Bracketed gaps remain, particularly abbreviated Latin expressions, cancellations, the connecting syntax of Walter’s reputation evidence and the damaged final line of Robert’s deposition. Those words cannot be translated with confidence. The separate uncertainty register identifies them; a reader should not treat a provisional reading as a certified diplomatic edition.

Margery Tomlinson and Frances Brown — authoritative research edition, WEME authoritative research edition, Tomlinson_Brown_Authoritative_Edition.docx, Authoritative Word edition; paragraph indices 18, 19 · context

Context: What Margery alleged

The libel says that Brown defamed Tomlinson in Harewood or neighbouring places during one or some of March through October 1589. That broad pleading range is not proof of eight separate incidents. Its central allegation reads:

This is the plaintiff’s pleaded account of Brown’s words, preserved within article 2, not an adjudication that Tomlinson harmed pigs. The repository abstract gives a slightly different spelling, “arrand”; the transcription retains the present manuscript reading and flags the orthography. Neither the libel nor the witnesses provide an independently established illness, death, number or ownership history for the pigs. The allegation is therefore usable as evidence of attributed animal bewitchment, not as a documented veterinary event. Citation: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, Consistory Court cause papers, CP.G.2564, repository image CP_G_2564_0002, article 2; stable manifest and image URLs in the source ledger; original photograph inspected 23 and 24 October 2026.

The other articles establish the plaintiff’s claimed prior good reputation, allege Brown’s subsequent acknowledgement of the words, claim damage to Tomlinson’s standing, plead jurisdiction, and assert public fame. The prayer asks the court to correct and punish Brown ecclesiastically and award costs. These are requested remedies. No surviving sentence in this collected file demonstrates that they were awarded or performed. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0002, articles 1 and 3–6; CP_G_2564_0003, left side, entire prayer.

The libel says that Brown defamed Tomlinson in Harewood or neighbouring places during one or some of March through October 1589. That broad pleading range is not proof of eight separate incidents. Its central allegation reads: This is the plaintiff’s pleaded account of Brown’s words, preserved within article 2, not an adjudication that Tomlinson harmed pigs. The repository abstract gives a slightly different spelling, “arrand”; the transcription retains the present manuscript reading and flags the orthography. Neither the libel nor the witnesses provide an independently established illness, death, number or ownership history for the pigs. The allegation is therefore usable as evidence of attributed animal bewitchment, not as a documented veterinary event. Citation: Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York, Consistory Court cause papers, CP.G.2564, repository image CP_G_2564_0002, article 2; stable manifest and image URLs in the source ledger; original photograph inspected 23 and 24 October 2026. The other articles establish the plaintiff’s claimed prior good reputation, allege Brown’s subsequent acknowledgement of the words, claim damage to Tomlinson’s standing, plead jurisdiction, and assert public fame. The prayer asks the court to correct and punish Brown ecclesiastically and award costs. These are requested remedies. No surviving sentence in this collected file demonstrates that they were awarded or performed. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0002, articles 1 and 3–6; CP_G_2564_0003, left side, entire prayer.

Context: The house dispute

William Plumber and John Curtes describe a visit to Brown’s house in which Tomlinson asked for twopence. Their accounts make the money dispute part of the context for witch language. William’s account gives Brown’s reply and the ensuing exchange:

And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time.

The uncertainty in the penny-loaf rejoinder and the precise wording of the blow is preserved. John instead says Tomlinson asked for cakes and describes Brown giving her a box on the ear:

The odd words “then this art[iculate] And” are retained; the edition does not silently repair the scribe’s syntax. These are accounts of an ejection and bodily blow, not proof of a medically assessed injury or a separate assault judgment. Brown’s reported remark about a stone refers retrospectively to a previous episode; neither witness here describes seeing that earlier stone incident occur. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0007, left side, William Plumber, article 2; right upper side, John Curtes, article 2. The complete depositions, rather than these contextual passages alone, are included in the edition and WEME citation data.

Their dates must remain distinct. William says “about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth” and a Friday afternoon. John says Sunday next before Midsummer last was a twelvemonth, with an alternative read as “fourten sennights following” the feast. Relative to July 1590, the first formulations point towards 1589; no exact calendar day is assigned. Fourteen sennights would ordinarily mean fourteen weeks, but this unusual reading needs independent collation. Friday and Sunday must not be merged into one confidently dated occasion. The context makes comparison of the two accounts useful, but identity of every detail is not established.

Twopence penny loaves and household credit

The money matters because the witnesses place a request for a small sum immediately before witchcraft abuse and expulsion. Plumber describes twopence owed to Margery; Curtes reports a request for twopence followed by cakes, while Plumber preserves a partly uncertain penny-loaf rejoinder (CP.G.2564, image 7, their respective art.2). A request to take bread or cakes for the sum may suggest repayment in kind. It could also carry a pointed or argumentative tone; the testimony does not settle that. Brown’s repeated offer of “more” acquires force when followed by the reported blow. These are interpretations of the exchange, not recovered intentions.

Our saved editorial research compares price-named loaves and household credit, and separately gathers small-change examples across Witching. The recorded leads are Joan Fitzpatrick, ed., Renaissance Food from Rabelais to Shakespeare (2010); Evana Frances Downes, Balancing the Urban Stomach (2021); and a separate penny-debt comparison in Wallace Notestein, A History of Witchcraft in England (1911). Exact chapter/page support remains to be verified. London loaf-weight comparisons cannot measure a Harewood loaf. These leads are preserved in the master’s SECONDARY source registry, case links, note drafts and implementation tabs; they are not independent evidence for this encounter.

The approved Rayner–Charlesworth junior evidence card provides a separate comparison: Askwith reports Charlesworth saying he would repeat the words “for two pence if he had occasion to York” (CP.H.4978A, Askwith, images 5–6, art.5). There money is part of a reported declaration about repeating words; here it is part of a debt-and-food exchange. The comparison asks what small sums do within accusation narratives. Neither example establishes money as a magical object. The broader farthing/Fairfax search remains a separate research trail, not a claim about Tomlinson’s case.

William Plumber and John Curtes describe a visit to Brown’s house in which Tomlinson asked for twopence. Their accounts make the money dispute part of the context for witch language. William’s account gives Brown’s reply and the ensuing exchange: And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time. The uncertainty in the penny-loaf rejoinder and the precise wording of the blow is preserved. John instead says Tomlinson asked for cakes and describes Brown giving her a box on the ear: The odd words “then this art[iculate] And” are retained; the edition does not silently repair the scribe’s syntax. These are accounts of an ejection and bodily blow, not proof of a medically assessed injury or a separate assault judgment. Brown’s reported remark about a stone refers retrospectively to a previous episode; neither witness here describes seeing that earlier stone incident occur. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0007, left side, William Plumber, article 2; right upper side, John Curtes, article 2. The complete depositions, rather than these contextual passages alone, are included in the edition and WEME citation data. Their dates must remain distinct. William says “about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth” and a Friday afternoon. John says Sunday next before Midsummer last was a twelvemonth, with an alternative read as “fourten sennights following” the feast. Relative to July 1590, the first formulations point towards 1589; no exact calendar day is assigned. Fourteen sennights would ordinarily mean fourteen weeks, but this unusual reading needs independent collation. Friday and Sunday must not be merged into one confidently dated occasion. The context makes comparison of the two accounts useful, but identity of every detail is not established. Twopence penny loaves and household credit The money matters because the witnesses place a request for a small sum immediately before witchcraft abuse and expulsion. Plumber describes twopence owed to Margery; Curtes reports a request for twopence followed by cakes, while Plumber preserves a partly uncertain penny-loaf rejoinder (CP.G.2564, image 7, their respective art.2). A request to take bread or cakes for the sum may suggest repayment in kind. It could also carry a pointed or argumentative tone; the testimony does not settle that. Brown’s repeated offer of “more” acquires force when followed by the reported blow. These are interpretations of the exchange, not recovered intentions. Our saved editorial research compares price-named loaves and household credit, and separately gathers small-change examples across Witching. The recorded leads are Joan Fitzpatrick, ed., Renaissance Food from Rabelais to Shakespeare (2010); Evana Frances Downes, Balancing the Urban Stomach (2021); and a separate penny-debt comparison in Wallace Notestein, A History of Witchcraft in England (1911). Exact chapter/page support remains to be verified. London loaf-weight comparisons cannot measure a Harewood loaf. These leads are preserved in the master’s SECONDARY source registry, case links, note drafts and implementation tabs; they are not independent evidence for this encounter. The approved Rayner–Charlesworth junior evidence card provides a separate comparison: Askwith reports Charlesworth saying he would repeat the words “for two pence if he had occasion to York” (CP.H.4978A, Askwith, images 5–6, art.5). There money is part of a reported declaration about repeating words; here it is part of a debt-and-food exchange. The comparison asks what small sums do within accusation narratives. Neither example establishes money as a magical object. The broader farthing/Fairfax search remains a separate research trail, not a claim about Tomlinson’s case.

Margery Tomlinson and Frances Brown — authoritative research edition, WEME authoritative research edition, Tomlinson_Brown_Authoritative_Edition.docx, Editorial contextual discussion The house dispute approved29October2026 · context

Renaissance Food from Rabelais to Shakespeare, 2010, Joan Fitzpatrick editor, Renaissance Food from Rabelais to Shakespeare (2010). Bibliographic research lead supplied in editorial review; exact chapter and pages not verified. · context

Balancing the Urban Stomach, 2021, Evana Frances Downes, Balancing the Urban Stomach (2021). Bibliographic research lead supplied in editorial review; exact chapter and pages not verified. · context

A History of Witchcraft in England, 1911, Wallace Notestein, A History of Witchcraft in England (1911). Bibliographic research lead supplied in editorial review; exact chapter and pages not verified. · context

Context: The shop repetition

Walter Barwick, William Plumber and Robert Ellison describe another encounter at Lancelot Barwick’s shop. Walter calls Lancelot his father and a butcher. He places it on a Wednesday in August last; William and Robert use Lammas. Their evidence is consistent with a late-summer 1589 episode but does not give an exact day. Walter reports Plumber intervening and Brown maintaining the accusation:

And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it.

Walter locates Brown outside the shop. Robert also places her outside and says that he was there to kill a calf. The calf is occupational context, not another bewitched animal. William’s text instead places Brown in the shop. This difference is preserved. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0006, Walter Barwick, article 2; CP_G_2564_0007, William Plumber, article 2, and Robert Ellison, article 2.

Walter’s article 4 is especially relevant to reputation. It includes the reading “worse thought off” and says that after the words were spoken, other Harewood people called Tomlinson a witch. Its connecting syntax and cancellations are still difficult, so the edition does not turn it into a fully settled causal claim. It nevertheless directs attention to a research question that selected witch-word extracts miss: whether a local accusation acquired a wider reputation through repetition. The other witnesses do not offer corresponding positive evidence on article 4. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0006, Walter Barwick, articles 3–6; CP_G_2564_0007, the other witnesses’ article 4 responses.

Walter Barwick, William Plumber and Robert Ellison describe another encounter at Lancelot Barwick’s shop. Walter calls Lancelot his father and a butcher. He places it on a Wednesday in August last; William and Robert use Lammas. Their evidence is consistent with a late-summer 1589 episode but does not give an exact day. Walter reports Plumber intervening and Brown maintaining the accusation: And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it. Walter locates Brown outside the shop. Robert also places her outside and says that he was there to kill a calf. The calf is occupational context, not another bewitched animal. William’s text instead places Brown in the shop. This difference is preserved. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0006, Walter Barwick, article 2; CP_G_2564_0007, William Plumber, article 2, and Robert Ellison, article 2. Walter’s article 4 is especially relevant to reputation. It includes the reading “worse thought off” and says that after the words were spoken, other Harewood people called Tomlinson a witch. Its connecting syntax and cancellations are still difficult, so the edition does not turn it into a fully settled causal claim. It nevertheless directs attention to a research question that selected witch-word extracts miss: whether a local accusation acquired a wider reputation through repetition. The other witnesses do not offer corresponding positive evidence on article 4. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0006, Walter Barwick, articles 3–6; CP_G_2564_0007, the other witnesses’ article 4 responses.

Context: Brown s legal response

Brown’s answers were recorded on 29 May 1590 through Christopher Foster. The source says:

In English, she accepts the first position, concerning Tomlinson’s pleaded good reputation; reserves her legal right not to answer the second because it is a criminal position; likewise reserves answers to the dependent third and fourth; accepts the fifth, concerning parish and jurisdiction; and uses the conventional belief/denial formula for the sixth. The personal answer therefore does not constitute an admission of witchcraft, and it is not simply an express factual denial of every alleged word. The repository’s short abstract compresses this into a denial. The manuscript’s procedural form should govern the case account. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0004, entire personal answer and signature.

Brown’s answers were recorded on 29 May 1590 through Christopher Foster. The source says: In English, she accepts the first position, concerning Tomlinson’s pleaded good reputation; reserves her legal right not to answer the second because it is a criminal position; likewise reserves answers to the dependent third and fourth; accepts the fifth, concerning parish and jurisdiction; and uses the conventional belief/denial formula for the sixth. The personal answer therefore does not constitute an admission of witchcraft, and it is not simply an express factual denial of every alleged word. The repository’s short abstract compresses this into a denial. The manuscript’s procedural form should govern the case account. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0004, entire personal answer and signature.

Context: People and necessary corrections

The four witnesses are Walter Barwick, William Plumber, John Curtes and Robert Ellison. Walter is a butcher, about twenty-six; William is a carpenter, about thirty; John is about thirty, with an occupational expression provisionally read as nailmaker; Robert is a butcher, about thirty. The provisional readings “Robert Blayton,” “potter” and “twenty-five” in an earlier draft are withdrawn. John’s earlier “clothier” description is also withdrawn. The precise occupation is flagged rather than made a firm WEME assertion. The source’s surname variants are retained in the person assertions.

Lancelot is Walter’s father and the butcher whose shop provides the setting. Christopher Foster signs the personal answers; he is not treated as an eyewitness to the earlier disputes. People mentioned in the records are not automatically listed as present at every event. Witness acquaintance durations and uncertain additional names remain in the original text without unnecessary new person records.

William and John call Frances a widow, whereas the repository’s manifest labels her a spinster. The contradiction is recorded in WEME and the uncertainty register; neither description is silently promoted to a reconciled marital history. The collection contains no demonstrated relationship between Frances and Tomlinson beyond the dispute. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0006–0007, witness headings and article 2; manifest metadata, Parties Mentioned and Witnesses.

The four witnesses are Walter Barwick, William Plumber, John Curtes and Robert Ellison. Walter is a butcher, about twenty-six; William is a carpenter, about thirty; John is about thirty, with an occupational expression provisionally read as nailmaker; Robert is a butcher, about thirty. The provisional readings “Robert Blayton,” “potter” and “twenty-five” in an earlier draft are withdrawn. John’s earlier “clothier” description is also withdrawn. The precise occupation is flagged rather than made a firm WEME assertion. The source’s surname variants are retained in the person assertions. Lancelot is Walter’s father and the butcher whose shop provides the setting. Christopher Foster signs the personal answers; he is not treated as an eyewitness to the earlier disputes. People mentioned in the records are not automatically listed as present at every event. Witness acquaintance durations and uncertain additional names remain in the original text without unnecessary new person records. William and John call Frances a widow, whereas the repository’s manifest labels her a spinster. The contradiction is recorded in WEME and the uncertainty register; neither description is silently promoted to a reconciled marital history. The collection contains no demonstrated relationship between Frances and Tomlinson beyond the dispute. Citation: CP.G.2564, CP_G_2564_0006–0007, witness headings and article 2; manifest metadata, Parties Mentioned and Witnesses.

Context: Why this case matters

This case preserves the social use of a witch accusation from several evidential positions: a woman’s legal complaint, the defendant’s procedural answer, and four witnesses’ reports of quarrel and repetition. It places alleged animal bewitchment beside a small debt dispute, remembered earlier hostility, public shop talk and reputational injury. Those connections are documented as allegations and testimony, not as proven explanations of motive. The case supports research into contested reputations and the circulation of witch language more directly than research into possession or bodily fits: no possession, fit or human bewitchment symptom is established here.

For WEME, four events are sufficient: the reported house dispute, the reported shop repetition, the dated personal answer, and the dated witness examinations. There is no invented verdict, punishment or execution event. The JSON uses the supplied importer’s field structure and carries full documentary quotations. It remains a review import: public event labels have been verified; existing identities and authenticated importer preview remain unchecked. Original transcription, English translation and interpretation remain separate in the accompanying structured edition. Unresolved readings and the missing sentence prevent a claim of a wholly resolved case outcome.

This case preserves the social use of a witch accusation from several evidential positions: a woman’s legal complaint, the defendant’s procedural answer, and four witnesses’ reports of quarrel and repetition. It places alleged animal bewitchment beside a small debt dispute, remembered earlier hostility, public shop talk and reputational injury. Those connections are documented as allegations and testimony, not as proven explanations of motive. The case supports research into contested reputations and the circulation of witch language more directly than research into possession or bodily fits: no possession, fit or human bewitchment symptom is established here. For WEME, four events are sufficient: the reported house dispute, the reported shop repetition, the dated personal answer, and the dated witness examinations. There is no invented verdict, punishment or execution event. The JSON uses the supplied importer’s field structure and carries full documentary quotations. It remains a review import: public event labels have been verified; existing identities and authenticated importer preview remain unchecked. Original transcription, English translation and interpretation remain separate in the accompanying structured edition. Unresolved readings and the missing sentence prevent a claim of a wholly resolved case outcome.

Context: Editorial conventions and coverage

Square brackets identify expanded abbreviations, unread words, proposed readings, alterations and damage. The original layer preserves English spelling and Latin wording as read; English rendering translates Latin and modernises English. Editorial reading lines are not certified manuscript line numbers. Image positions are repository photographs, not archival folios. The earlier edition remains preserved. The libel proof clause correction does not establish a judicial finding.

Square brackets identify expanded abbreviations, unread words, proposed readings, alterations and damage. The original layer preserves English spelling and Latin wording as read; English rendering translates Latin and modernises English. Editorial reading lines are not certified manuscript line numbers. Image positions are repository photographs, not archival folios. The earlier edition remains preserved. The libel proof clause correction does not establish a judicial finding.

Context: Libel and six articles

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 2. Unit libel. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

libel:001 [Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?].

The abbreviated forename and proposed surname remain tentative; the photograph does not establish a canonical identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/libel_intro.png.

libel:005 in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro-

The proctor designation and contracted wording are not securely separable; no formula is substituted. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png.

libel:006 [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions]

The line break and compressed parish and diocesan wording remain unclear; no missing place or personal name is supplied. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png.

libel:008 et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur.

The contracted reservation before in jure remains unread; its legal formula cannot establish its letters. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png.

libel:014 in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions]

The article closing reservation is compressed at the right edge; its expansion remains unproved. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png.

libel:028 et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions]

The prospective proof clause is retained as corrected; the closing reservation after it remains contracted and unread. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_b.png.

libel:029 [unread contractions] et de quolibet.

The following compressed reservation remains unread; no additional legal effect is inferred. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_b.png.

libel:048 [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...].

The struck-through subscription cannot establish a name or office with confidence. Evidence: 03_Sources/libel_subscription.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 2. Unit libel. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest libel:001 [Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?]. The abbreviated forename and proposed surname remain tentative; the photograph does not establish a canonical identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/libel_intro.png. libel:005 in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro- The proctor designation and contracted wording are not securely separable; no formula is substituted. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png. libel:006 [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions] The line break and compressed parish and diocesan wording remain unclear; no missing place or personal name is supplied. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png. libel:008 et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur. The contracted reservation before in jure remains unread; its legal formula cannot establish its letters. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png. libel:014 in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions] The article closing reservation is compressed at the right edge; its expansion remains unproved. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_a.png. libel:028 et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions] The prospective proof clause is retained as corrected; the closing reservation after it remains contracted and unread. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_b.png. libel:029 [unread contractions] et de quolibet. The following compressed reservation remains unread; no additional legal effect is inferred. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_libel_b.png. libel:048 [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...]. The struck-through subscription cannot establish a name or office with confidence. Evidence: 03_Sources/libel_subscription.png.

[Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?]. In dei nomine amen coram vobis venerabilibus viris Johanne gibson et Johanne bennet legum doctoribus alme curie cons[istorialis] Ebor[acensis] officialibus l[egiti]me deputatis aut alio Judice in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro- [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions] quemcumque alium coram vobis pro eadem in judicio l[egiti]me intervenientem dicit allegat et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur. 1. Inprimis ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta margeria tomlinson fuit et est mulier honesta bone fame vite et conversationis honeste nulloque crimine saltem notorio aspersa, diffamata vel aliquo modo involuta (salvis infra dicendis) ac pro tali et ut tali fuit et est habita tenta habita nominata ac reputata, palam publice et notorie in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 2. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod premissis non obstantibus dicta francisca browne [inserted: scienter] maligne mensibus martij, aprilis, maij, junij, julij, Augusti, septembris et octobris Anno D[omi]ni mill[esim]o quingentesimo octogesimo nono eorundem mensium quolibet uno sive aliquo intra p[arochiam] de harewode [cancelled word] aliaque loca vicina Ebor[acensis] diocesis malitiose et animo ipsam diffaman- di eandem margeriam tomlinson diffamavit, nonnullaque verba opprobriosa, injuriosa, rixosa, contumeliosa, diffamatoria eidem margerie tomlinson sive de eadem emisit dixit et protulit et predi[c]avit, et precipue hec verba anglice sequentia [inserted: aut] a[l]ia in effectu consimilia viz: she the saide francis browne called the sayde margerye tomlinson witche, and errand witch and sayde she wolde prove hir a witch for she had bewy[t]ched hir pigs. ponit tamen [inserted: et ar[ticula]t] de et super forma verborum diffamatorum per eandem franciscam prolatorum, ac de tali et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions] [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 3. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post premissa omnia et singula prefata francisca browne coram testi- bus fide dignis tam in presentia ipsius margerie tomlinson quam eadem in ejus absentia semel et iteratis vicibus seu saltem semel confessa fuit et est ac recognovit. Et ponit ut supra. 4. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post et per premissa status bona fama et opinio ipsius marge- rie tomlinson apud bonos et graves viros qui prius existitit bone fame et opinionis illicite graviter et enormiter leduntur et diminuuntur ac de veri- simili plus ledentur in futurum. Et ponit ut supra. 5. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta francisca browne fuit et est p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] diocesis et sic vestre jurisdictioni notorie submissa. Et ponit ut supra. 6. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod de et super premissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in dicta p[arochia] de harewode alijsque locis vicinis. ponit tamen et supra. [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...].

Context: English translation or modernisation

Reading note: Expanded Latin transcription retaining original spelling where legible. The libel has an undated month-range allegation for 1589; those alternatives are not separate proved incidents. The pigs appear in the pleaded words, not in independent veterinary evidence. Errand/arrant orthography requires comparison: repository abstract spells arrand; this manuscript reading is errand. The court-style surname Bennet and upper-left subscription remain provisional. No missing Latin has been silently supplied from a formula. Recollated 24 October 2026: the closing article 2 clause reads quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur, a prospective proof reservation. The earlier pendet et pendere debuit reading and its institution-of-suit translation are withdrawn. The final contractions remain unresolved.

Reading note: This is relief requested by the plaintiff, not a judgment. The two final abbreviated reservations are printed as etc. rather than expanded from a legal precedent. The facing right side is blank.

Reading note: The day is now read xxix, 29, consistent with repository metadata. The heading names Christopher Foster and the signature reads Chr: foster. Admitting article 1 admits the pleaded good reputation; article 5 concerns parish and jurisdiction. Refusal to answer articles 2–4 is not an admission of witchcraft or an affirmative factual denial of every alleged utterance. The catalogue abstract’s denied is less precise than this answer.

Reading note:

Reading note: The final day expression is read penultimo, the next-to-last day of July, consistent with the repository date 30 July 1590. Bent is Jo. Bent in each witness margin; Swinber is the spelling visible here, not an imposed full modern surname. Contracted qualification after doctore and before coram needs a second palaeographic check.

Reading note: The original contains a second first-article rubric after article 4. It is preserved as written rather than silently corrected to fifth. The injury-to-reputation passage and the closing abbreviated credibility formula remain partially unresolved. Lancelot is explicitly father, not Samuel. Thomas’s surname is uncertain and is not given a canonical identity. The witness’s stated fifteen-year knowledge is provisionally read xv; compare image before using the duration as an assertion. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

Reading note: William calls Frances a widow; the repository manifest calls her a spinster. Preserve this contradiction rather than resolve her marital status by choosing a catalogue field. The two-pence debt is now read ijd; the action is a reported request for repayment, not a debt judgment. Friday differs from John Curtes’s Sunday. Clog is a block of wood used as a seat; not a geographical place. The penny-loaf exchange and the form of the blow remain partly uncertain. He places Frances in the shop, while other witnesses place her outside. These are witness variants, not harmonised facts. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

Reading note: The occupational expression is provisionally faber clavorum, nailmaker; the previous clothier interpretation is withdrawn and the uncertain occupational reading is excluded from firm WEME assertions. Fourten sennights appears to mean fourteen weeks, not fourteen days; this is an unusual and chronologically important alternative requiring independent palaeographic confirmation. It is not silently altered to fourteen days or fortnight. The text says twelve-month retrospective dating and gives Sunday rather than William’s Friday. The bodily blow is a witness report of Frances’s act, distinct from her retrospective allegation about a stone. Second collation 24 October 2026: the proposed pro parte deponentis expansion in the final credibility clause is withdrawn. The letters are insufficiently clear; no coached-by-party claim or specific party designation is inferred. The unresolved contracted words remain marked. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

Reading note: Robert is Ellyson, butcher, about thirty; the earlier provisional Blayton, potter, twenty-five readings are withdrawn. The presence of a calf is occupational context, not an allegation that the calf was bewitched or died unnaturally. The bottom credibility line is physically damaged and cannot be completed from another witness’s formula. William before Walter in the attendance list may be a false start but is not silently deleted. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula.

Reading note:

Reading note: Expanded Latin transcription retaining original spelling where legible. The libel has an undated month-range allegation for 1589; those alternatives are not separate proved incidents. The pigs appear in the pleaded words, not in independent veterinary evidence. Errand/arrant orthography requires comparison: repository abstract spells arrand; this manuscript reading is errand. The court-style surname Bennet and upper-left subscription remain provisional. No missing Latin has been silently supplied from a formula. Recollated 24 October 2026: the closing article 2 clause reads quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur, a prospective proof reservation. The earlier pendet et pendere debuit reading and its institution-of-suit translation are withdrawn. The final contractions remain unresolved. Reading note: This is relief requested by the plaintiff, not a judgment. The two final abbreviated reservations are printed as etc. rather than expanded from a legal precedent. The facing right side is blank. Reading note: The day is now read xxix, 29, consistent with repository metadata. The heading names Christopher Foster and the signature reads Chr: foster. Admitting article 1 admits the pleaded good reputation; article 5 concerns parish and jurisdiction. Refusal to answer articles 2–4 is not an admission of witchcraft or an affirmative factual denial of every alleged utterance. The catalogue abstract’s denied is less precise than this answer. Reading note: Reading note: The final day expression is read penultimo, the next-to-last day of July, consistent with the repository date 30 July 1590. Bent is Jo. Bent in each witness margin; Swinber is the spelling visible here, not an imposed full modern surname. Contracted qualification after doctore and before coram needs a second palaeographic check. Reading note: The original contains a second first-article rubric after article 4. It is preserved as written rather than silently corrected to fifth. The injury-to-reputation passage and the closing abbreviated credibility formula remain partially unresolved. Lancelot is explicitly father, not Samuel. Thomas’s surname is uncertain and is not given a canonical identity. The witness’s stated fifteen-year knowledge is provisionally read xv; compare image before using the duration as an assertion. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula. Reading note: William calls Frances a widow; the repository manifest calls her a spinster. Preserve this contradiction rather than resolve her marital status by choosing a catalogue field. The two-pence debt is now read ijd; the action is a reported request for repayment, not a debt judgment. Friday differs from John Curtes’s Sunday. Clog is a block of wood used as a seat; not a geographical place. The penny-loaf exchange and the form of the blow remain partly uncertain. He places Frances in the shop, while other witnesses place her outside. These are witness variants, not harmonised facts. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula. Reading note: The occupational expression is provisionally faber clavorum, nailmaker; the previous clothier interpretation is withdrawn and the uncertain occupational reading is excluded from firm WEME assertions. Fourten sennights appears to mean fourteen weeks, not fourteen days; this is an unusual and chronologically important alternative requiring independent palaeographic confirmation. It is not silently altered to fourteen days or fortnight. The text says twelve-month retrospective dating and gives Sunday rather than William’s Friday. The bodily blow is a witness report of Frances’s act, distinct from her retrospective allegation about a stone. Second collation 24 October 2026: the proposed pro parte deponentis expansion in the final credibility clause is withdrawn. The letters are insufficiently clear; no coached-by-party claim or specific party designation is inferred. The unresolved contracted words remain marked. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula. Reading note: Robert is Ellyson, butcher, about thirty; the earlier provisional Blayton, potter, twenty-five readings are withdrawn. The presence of a calf is occupational context, not an allegation that the calf was bewitched or died unnaturally. The bottom credibility line is physically damaged and cannot be completed from another witness’s formula. William before Walter in the attendance list may be a false start but is not silently deleted. Translation restricted 24 October 2026: the abbreviated fama laborare wording is not used as independent proof that a report circulated. Exact construction and sense remain unresolved; do not supply its meaning from a parallel formula. Reading note:

Context: Libel concluding prayer

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 3 left. Unit prayer. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

prayer:001 Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus

The cancelled word remains tentative; it is excluded from the operative sense of the prayer. Evidence: 03_Sources/prayer_top.png.

prayer:002 et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam

The short expression after sibi et remains contracted; it does not warrant adding a named recipient. Evidence: 03_Sources/prayer_top.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 3 left. Unit prayer. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest prayer:001 Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus The cancelled word remains tentative; it is excluded from the operative sense of the prayer. Evidence: 03_Sources/prayer_top.png. prayer:002 et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam The short expression after sibi et remains contracted; it does not warrant adding a named recipient. Evidence: 03_Sources/prayer_top.png.

Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam franciscam Browne pro tanto temeritatis sue excessu in premissis et ea concernentibus (jure mediante arbitrarie) ecclesiastice corrigi et puniri nec non in expensis pro parte dicte margerie tomlinson in hac p[ar]te factis et fiendis l[egiti]me condemnari condemnata[m]- que ad veram solutionem earundem expensarum prefate margerie tomlinson simili- ter cogi et compelli alijs jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi fieri et ministrari per vos et sententiam vestram definitivam domine Judices antedicti. Que ponit et fieri petit predicta margeria tomlinson con[junctim] et di[visim] non astringens se ad omnia et singula premissa probanda nec ad onus superflue probationis de quo protestatur posita sed quatenus probaverit in premissis eatenus obtineat in petitis hujus (beneficio in omnibus juris salvo) vestrum officium domine Judices antedicti in omnibus premissis implorando. Salvo jure [etc.] et protestamur [etc.]

Context: Frances Brown personal answers

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 4. Unit answers. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

answers:006 p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus

The notarial heading contains a short contracted expression whose full wording is unresolved; the numbered responses are unaffected. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_answers_header.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 4. Unit answers. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest answers:006 p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus The notarial heading contains a short contracted expression whose full wording is unresolved; the numbered responses are unaffected. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_answers_header.png.

[Date, left] xxixo maij 1590 [Heading, upper right] Responsiones p[er]sonales per Christopherum Foster notarium p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus libelli per partem margarie tomlinson contra eandem [etc.] Ad primam credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam credit quod de jure non tenetur ad respondere quia est positio criminalis. Ad tertiam et quartam credit quod de jure non tenetur eisdem respondere quia dependent ex dicta secunda po[sitione]. Ad quintam credit eandem esse veram. Ad sextam credit de creditis et negat de negatis. [Signature] Chr: foster.

Context: Docket on personal answers

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 5. Unit answers-docket. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 5. Unit answers-docket. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

Respons[iones] p[er]sonales francisce browne

Context: Heading for the witness examinations

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 6 upper right. Unit examination-heading. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

examination-heading:001 Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram

The compressed qualification following receptorum remains unread; it does not alter the separately legible July date. Evidence: 03_Sources/exam_header.png.

examination-heading:002 [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia

The forename abbreviation and qualification after doctore remain provisional; the surname Bent alone is retained without a new canonical person. Evidence: 03_Sources/exam_header.png.

examination-heading:003 mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo

The qualification following notarii publici remains abbreviated; the notary surname is not silently expanded beyond the recorded form. Evidence: 03_Sources/exam_header.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 6 upper right. Unit examination-heading. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest examination-heading:001 Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram The compressed qualification following receptorum remains unread; it does not alter the separately legible July date. Evidence: 03_Sources/exam_header.png. examination-heading:002 [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia The forename abbreviation and qualification after doctore remain provisional; the surname Bent alone is retained without a new canonical person. Evidence: 03_Sources/exam_header.png. examination-heading:003 mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo The qualification following notarii publici remains abbreviated; the notary surname is not silently expanded beyond the recorded form. Evidence: 03_Sources/exam_header.png.

Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo Julij 1590.

Context: Deposition of Walter Barwick

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 6. Unit walter. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

walter:010 Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur.

The cancelled word under the inserted rea is unclear; the revised admission rubric remains legible. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png.

walter:015 at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne

The short time expression remains unclear; no precise hour is assigned to the shop encounter. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png.

walter:016 art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the

The word before standing remains uncertain; the explicit placement outside is retained. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png.

walter:020 then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you

The interlined name remains tentative; it is not used to create another person record. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png.

walter:030 this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber

The additional Thomas surname is not established; the father insertion and Lancelot identification remain separately supported. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_b.png.

walter:036 Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and

The connecting words remain uncertain; the passage must not be quoted as a settled causal statement about reputation. Evidence: 03_Sources/walter_end.png.

walter:038 worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]]

The cancelled words remain unread; the uncancelled worse thought off wording is preserved with its syntactic limitation. Evidence: 03_Sources/walter_end.png.

walter:045 dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis

The abbreviated expression following doctus remains unread; the translation does not add coaching by a specified party. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_c.png.

walter:046 alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis.

Cancelled words and the contracted ending prevent a complete credibility translation; the line is not completed from another witness. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_c.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 6. Unit walter. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest walter:010 Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur. The cancelled word under the inserted rea is unclear; the revised admission rubric remains legible. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png. walter:015 at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne The short time expression remains unclear; no precise hour is assigned to the shop encounter. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png. walter:016 art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the The word before standing remains uncertain; the explicit placement outside is retained. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png. walter:020 then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you The interlined name remains tentative; it is not used to create another person record. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_a.png. walter:030 this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber The additional Thomas surname is not established; the father insertion and Lancelot identification remain separately supported. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_b.png. walter:036 Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and The connecting words remain uncertain; the passage must not be quoted as a settled causal statement about reputation. Evidence: 03_Sources/walter_end.png. walter:038 worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]] The cancelled words remain unread; the uncancelled worse thought off wording is preserved with its syntactic limitation. Evidence: 03_Sources/walter_end.png. walter:045 dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis The abbreviated expression following doctus remains unread; the translation does not add coaching by a specified party. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_c.png. walter:046 alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis. Cancelled words and the contracted ending prevent a complete credibility translation; the line is not completed from another witness. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_walter_c.png.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Walterus Barwick de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxvj annos testis super po[sitioni]bus et ar[ticu]lis libelli per partem Margerie Tomlinson contra Franciscam Browne exhibiti productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per duodecim annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate being in the shop of Lancelot Barwick butcher his father in harewood upon a Wednesday in August last past at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the said shop what wordes she then spake he this examinate [cancelled word] remembreth not [cancelled: but these wordes] [inserted: but the wordes] these wordes following he remembreth [inserted: William Plumber] then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you have said ynough And she the [cancelled: margerye] Frances Browne then asked him what have I said And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it, Then and there being present at this act in the said shop Lancelot Barwick this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber and Robert Ellyson and divers others within and without the said shop to the number of half a dozen whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo dicit quod prius deposuit Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and that of his knowledge the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]] he hath heard [cancelled: divers reporte] it and yet since the speaking of the wordes art[iculate] divers of the towne of harewood art[iculate] have called hir witche [etc.] Super [cancelled: quinto] [inserted: primo] non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super [cancelled: quinto articulo] sexto art[icu]lo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis.

Context: Deposition of William Plumber

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 7 left. Unit william. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

william:011 this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain]

The bystander surname Mocan remains uncertain and is not made a canonical identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_a.png.

william:019 to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?]

The penny-loaf rejoinder remains uncertain; bracketed alternatives are retained without normalising the speech. Evidence: 03_Sources/william_speech.png.

william:022 out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?]

The reply after Witch remains uncertain; the speaker attribution does not settle the missing words. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png.

william:023 [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow

The following short word remains tentative; no fluent sentence is reconstructed from context. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png.

william:028 [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there

The spelling of the blow word remains tentative; the source reports a blow, without supporting a diagnosis or separate judgment. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png.

william:030 and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas

The repeated bystander surname remains uncertain; comparison with the earlier occurrence does not establish an identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png.

william:032 Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen

The short expression before certen remains uncertain; no exact Wednesday is supplied. Evidence: 03_Sources/page_07.jpg.

william:051 nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret.

The compressed closing preference clause remains incomplete; no exact party preference is added in translation. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_c.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 7 left. Unit william. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest william:011 this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] The bystander surname Mocan remains uncertain and is not made a canonical identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_a.png. william:019 to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] The penny-loaf rejoinder remains uncertain; bracketed alternatives are retained without normalising the speech. Evidence: 03_Sources/william_speech.png. william:022 out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] The reply after Witch remains uncertain; the speaker attribution does not settle the missing words. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png. william:023 [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow The following short word remains tentative; no fluent sentence is reconstructed from context. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png. william:028 [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there The spelling of the blow word remains tentative; the source reports a blow, without supporting a diagnosis or separate judgment. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png. william:030 and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas The repeated bystander surname remains uncertain; comparison with the earlier occurrence does not establish an identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_b.png. william:032 Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen The short expression before certen remains uncertain; no exact Wednesday is supplied. Evidence: 03_Sources/page_07.jpg. william:051 nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret. The compressed closing preference clause remains incomplete; no exact party preference is added in translation. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_william_c.png.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Willelmus Plumber de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis Carpentar etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod margeriam Tomlinson per quinque annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth upon a friday in the after noone the same day this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] being sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow art[iculate] in harewood, Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] of the same towne passed by them and went into the said house and at her being within the [inserted: same] house he did heare the said Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] desire the said Frances Browne art[iculate] to let hir have ijd [cancelled: she] [inserted: ought] hir And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there being sitting at the doore this exa[minate] the said Curtes and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas last past this exa[minate] was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen day he remembreth not Where and when the said [inserted: articulate] Frances [cancelled word] Browne being in the [inserted: said] shop holding against Margery Tomlinson art[iculate], And this exa[minate] bad hir be in quietnes saying she had said ynoughe against the said margery [cancelled: Tom] [inserted: artic...] And quoth the said Frances browne I have called [cancelled: the said margerye] Tomlinson witch (meaning the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate]) witch I will call hir witch and I will stand to it Then and there being present Walter Barwick and this exa[minate], Robert Ellyson and divers others to the number of five or six persons whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus famam laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret.

Context: Deposition of John Curtes

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 7 right upper. Unit john. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

john:002 Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?]

The proposed faber clavorum reading remains provisional; a firm nailmaker occupation is excluded from database assertions. Evidence: 03_Sources/john_header.png.

john:023 witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche.

The repeated call word is plausible but remains bracketed; the disputed letters are not promoted to certainty. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_b.png.

john:025 Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain]

The bystander surnames and alias remain uncertain; no merged identities or new people are created from them. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_b.png.

john:026 Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were

The Thomas surname remains tentative; similarity to William’s bystander does not establish identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_b.png.

john:034 doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium.

The words after doctus remain unresolved; the withdrawn pro parte deponentis expansion is not restored. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_c.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 7 right upper. Unit john. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest john:002 Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?] The proposed faber clavorum reading remains provisional; a firm nailmaker occupation is excluded from database assertions. Evidence: 03_Sources/john_header.png. john:023 witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche. The repeated call word is plausible but remains bracketed; the disputed letters are not promoted to certainty. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_b.png. john:025 Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain] The bystander surnames and alias remain uncertain; no merged identities or new people are created from them. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_b.png. john:026 Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were The Thomas surname remains tentative; similarity to William’s bystander does not establish identity. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_b.png. john:034 doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium. The words after doctus remain unresolved; the withdrawn pro parte deponentis expansion is not restored. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_john_c.png.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?] etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this exa[minate] upon sonday next before midsomer last past was a twelvemonth or fourten sennights following the said feast Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] passed by this exa[minate] and others sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow in harewood into the said house And after she was in the house this examinate heard hir aske ijd of the said Frances browne art[iculate] And Browne art[iculate] answered she shold have more And then she desired to have cakes for it And Frances browne art[iculate] said she had more for hir saying further get the out of my house witche: then this art[iculate] And thrust hir furth of the doores and gave hir a box of the eare saying thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche Now I call the witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche. Then and there being present Will[ia]m plumber Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain] Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were in the house Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera ac ut hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium.

Context: Deposition of Robert Ellison

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 7 right lower. Unit robert. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

robert:010 Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick

The word before Lancelot remains tentative; the occupational calf-killing context is preserved without an exact syntactic expansion. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_robert_a.png.

robert:016 have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said

The short interjected phrase remains uncertain; the explicit repeated accusation remains independently legible. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_robert_a.png.

robert:026 [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending].

The lower edge is physically damaged; missing letters cannot be recovered by enlarging this photograph or copying another witness’s formula. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_robert_a.png.

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 7 right lower. Unit robert. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest robert:010 Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick The word before Lancelot remains tentative; the occupational calf-killing context is preserved without an exact syntactic expansion. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_robert_a.png. robert:016 have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said The short interjected phrase remains uncertain; the explicit repeated accusation remains independently legible. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_robert_a.png. robert:026 [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending]. The lower edge is physically damaged; missing letters cannot be recovered by enlarging this photograph or copying another witness’s formula. Evidence: 03_Sources/final_review_robert_a.png.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Robertus Ellyson de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam browne per xij annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate about Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick of harewood butcher to kill a calfe Where and when the said Frances Browne art[iculate] being without the said shop And Will[ia]m plumber his contest then being in the said shop answered and said she had said ynough already against Tomlinson words meaning margery Tomlinson art[iculate] for then have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said Frances browne I have indeed called hir witche I will call hir witche againe And stand to it then and there being Will[ia]m Walter Barwick and this exa[minate] Will[ia]m plumber with divers others whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio et quarto articulis nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending].

Context: Case docket

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 8. Unit docket. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York, Consistory cause papers CP.G.2564, repository image 8. Unit docket. Source manifest: https://discover.york.ac.uk/ark:/36941/CP_G_2564/presentation/3/manifest

Tomlinson & Browne 1590. [Later repository stamp] BORTHWICK INSTITUTE [pencil reference: R viii G 2564; partly unclear].

Context: Timeline and people

about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth; Friday / Sunday before Midsummer or fourten sennights following — Twopence dispute, witch language, ejection and reported blow at Frances Brown’s Harewood house. Year inferred retrospectively from July 1590; exact day and alternative differ. CP_G_2564_0007 left and right upper, article 2

Wednesday in August last past / about Lammas last past — Frances Brown reportedly maintained the witch accusation at Lancelot Barwick’s shop. Year inferred from July 1590 examinations; exact day unknown. CP_G_2564_0006 article 2; 0007 left and right lower article 2

xxixo maij 1590 — Frances Brown accepts articles 1 and 5 and reserves answers to criminal position and dependent positions. Manuscript read; consistent with catalogue. CP_G_2564_0004 entire document

penultimo Julij 1590 — Four witnesses examined on the articles of Margery Tomlinson’s libel. Penultimate July day interpreted as 30; consistent with catalogue. CP_G_2564_0006 heading; 0006–0007 four depositions

Margery Tomlinson: Plaintiff defending her reputation against witch accusations, including a pleaded allegation of bewitching pigs.

francisca browne: Defendant in the defamation suit; witnesses report her repeated witch accusation. They call her a widow, contrary to the manifest’s spinster label.

Walterus Barwick: Harewood butcher aged about twenty-six; witness to the shop repetition and son of Lancelot Barwick.

Willelmus Plumber: Harewood carpenter aged about thirty; witness to the house dispute and shop repetition; intervened in the reported shop exchange.

Johannes Curtes: Harewood witness aged about thirty; reported the house dispute and blow. Occupational abbreviation remains provisional.

Robertus Ellyson: Harewood butcher aged about thirty; reported the shop repetition while there to kill a calf.

Lancelot Barwick: Harewood butcher whose shop was the setting of the later accusation; named as Walter Barwick’s father.

Christopherum Foster: Notary named in and signing Frances Brown’s personal answers.

about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth; Friday / Sunday before Midsummer or fourten sennights following — Twopence dispute, witch language, ejection and reported blow at Frances Brown’s Harewood house. Year inferred retrospectively from July 1590; exact day and alternative differ. CP_G_2564_0007 left and right upper, article 2 Wednesday in August last past / about Lammas last past — Frances Brown reportedly maintained the witch accusation at Lancelot Barwick’s shop. Year inferred from July 1590 examinations; exact day unknown. CP_G_2564_0006 article 2; 0007 left and right lower article 2 xxixo maij 1590 — Frances Brown accepts articles 1 and 5 and reserves answers to criminal position and dependent positions. Manuscript read; consistent with catalogue. CP_G_2564_0004 entire document penultimo Julij 1590 — Four witnesses examined on the articles of Margery Tomlinson’s libel. Penultimate July day interpreted as 30; consistent with catalogue. CP_G_2564_0006 heading; 0006–0007 four depositions Margery Tomlinson: Plaintiff defending her reputation against witch accusations, including a pleaded allegation of bewitching pigs. francisca browne: Defendant in the defamation suit; witnesses report her repeated witch accusation. They call her a widow, contrary to the manifest’s spinster label. Walterus Barwick: Harewood butcher aged about twenty-six; witness to the shop repetition and son of Lancelot Barwick. Willelmus Plumber: Harewood carpenter aged about thirty; witness to the house dispute and shop repetition; intervened in the reported shop exchange. Johannes Curtes: Harewood witness aged about thirty; reported the house dispute and blow. Occupational abbreviation remains provisional. Robertus Ellyson: Harewood butcher aged about thirty; reported the shop repetition while there to kill a calf. Lancelot Barwick: Harewood butcher whose shop was the setting of the later accusation; named as Walter Barwick’s father. Christopherum Foster: Notary named in and signing Frances Brown’s personal answers.

Context: Date of house encounter

William Plumber Friday about Midsummer last was a twelvemonth; John Curtes Sunday before Midsummer, with uncertain alternative fourten sennights following. Retain both; inferred 1589 only; no exact day asserted.

William Plumber Friday about Midsummer last was a twelvemonth; John Curtes Sunday before Midsummer, with uncertain alternative fourten sennights following. Retain both; inferred 1589 only; no exact day asserted.

Context: Frances Brown marital description

Witnesses call her wedow; Catalogue calls her spinster. Source-attributed descriptions only; no resolved marital status.

Witnesses call her wedow; Catalogue calls her spinster. Source-attributed descriptions only; no resolved marital status.

Context: Location in shop encounter

William places Frances in the shop; Other witnesses place Frances outside. Retain witness variants.

William places Frances in the shop; Other witnesses place Frances outside. Retain witness variants.

Evidence gap: Uncertain names and occupation

Thomas bystander names vary and remain uncertain; John Curtes occupational abbreviation proposed faber clavorum. No speculative additional identity or firm occupational assertion.

Thomas bystander names vary and remain uncertain; John Curtes occupational abbreviation proposed faber clavorum. No speculative additional identity or firm occupational assertion.

Evidence gap: Case outcome

Libel requests correction punishment and costs; No sentence collected. Do not infer award, performed penance, acquittal or failed suit.

The separate uncertainty register identifies 39 reading lines containing uncertainty or damage. Legible recorded cancellations are listed separately. These are review lines, not a count of separate illegible passages. Repeated formulas cannot restore damaged text. The current external evidence request is included; it has not been sent. Live import and authenticated preview are excluded at the user’s instruction.

Libel requests correction punishment and costs; No sentence collected. Do not infer award, performed penance, acquittal or failed suit. The separate uncertainty register identifies 39 reading lines containing uncertainty or damage. Legible recorded cancellations are listed separately. These are review lines, not a count of separate illegible passages. Repeated formulas cannot restore damaged text. The current external evidence request is included; it has not been sent. Live import and authenticated preview are excluded at the user’s instruction.

Evidence gap: Final review of uncertain readings

All 39 flagged editorial reading lines were rechecked against the collected photographs. No further replacement reading is justified. Every entry below retains the original uncertainty, gives its significance and identifies its evidence file. The locators identify editorial lines, not certified manuscript lines.

All 39 flagged editorial reading lines were rechecked against the collected photographs. No further replacement reading is justified. Every entry below retains the original uncertainty, gives its significance and identifies its evidence file. The locators identify editorial lines, not certified manuscript lines.

Evidence gap: Research completion and external evidence

All collected images, ten original and English units, the catalogue comparison, timeline, people, conflicts and file preparation have been reviewed and consolidated. This completes the available-source review; it does not certify full decipherment.

Independent collation remains necessary for unresolved contractions and names. Better photographs may clarify surviving traces; Robert’s physically missing text may remain irrecoverable. The survival of related proceedings outside this file is unconfirmed. The external evidence request has not been sent.

WEME delivery is a file for user import. Live import, authenticated preview and current database identity reconciliation are outside the agreed scope.

All collected images, ten original and English units, the catalogue comparison, timeline, people, conflicts and file preparation have been reviewed and consolidated. This completes the available-source review; it does not certify full decipherment. Independent collation remains necessary for unresolved contractions and names. Better photographs may clarify surviving traces; Robert’s physically missing text may remain irrecoverable. The survival of related proceedings outside this file is unconfirmed. The external evidence request has not been sent. WEME delivery is a file for user import. Live import, authenticated preview and current database identity reconciliation are outside the agreed scope.

Comparison of sources: Source image inventory and languages

Image 1 1166 by 1433 pixels. Modern reference slip obscures most of the underlying libel; the unobscured libel is supplied as image 2.

Image 2 1483 by 2030 pixels. Latin libel with embedded English accusation and cancelled subscription.

Image 3 2775 by 2042 pixels. Latin concluding prayer on the left; no separately readable text identified on the right.

Image 4 1467 by 1117 pixels. Latin personal answers and notarial heading with signature.

Image 5 1148 by 1449 pixels. Short Latin docket for the personal answers.

Image 6 1423 by 2114 pixels. Latin examination heading and witness rubric; Walter testimony in English with Latin procedural and credibility clauses.

Image 7 2673 by 2107 pixels. William John and Robert depositions in English with Latin rubrics and credibility clauses.

Image 8 1394 by 2107 pixels. Case docket and later repository markings; no additional deposition identified.

Image 9 1193 by 1420 pixels. Modern blank slip obscures most of this photograph; it does not prove the hidden surface blank.

Image 1 1166 by 1433 pixels. Modern reference slip obscures most of the underlying libel; the unobscured libel is supplied as image 2. Image 2 1483 by 2030 pixels. Latin libel with embedded English accusation and cancelled subscription. Image 3 2775 by 2042 pixels. Latin concluding prayer on the left; no separately readable text identified on the right. Image 4 1467 by 1117 pixels. Latin personal answers and notarial heading with signature. Image 5 1148 by 1449 pixels. Short Latin docket for the personal answers. Image 6 1423 by 2114 pixels. Latin examination heading and witness rubric; Walter testimony in English with Latin procedural and credibility clauses. Image 7 2673 by 2107 pixels. William John and Robert depositions in English with Latin rubrics and credibility clauses. Image 8 1394 by 2107 pixels. Case docket and later repository markings; no additional deposition identified. Image 9 1193 by 1420 pixels. Modern blank slip obscures most of this photograph; it does not prove the hidden surface blank.

Context: Case and survival

Catalogue: Defamation witchcraft; three pieces; libel and depositions; no sentence.

Edition: Agrees with the collected file. Nine photograph positions are not nine distinct documentary pieces.

Catalogue: Defamation witchcraft; three pieces; libel and depositions; no sentence. Edition: Agrees with the collected file. Nine photograph positions are not nine distinct documentary pieces.

Context: Dates

Catalogue: 29 May to 30 July 1590.

Edition: Personal answers xxixo maij 1590; examinations penultimo Julij 1590. Consistent with catalogue dates; incident dates are retrospective and less precise.

Catalogue: 29 May to 30 July 1590. Edition: Personal answers xxixo maij 1590; examinations penultimo Julij 1590. Consistent with catalogue dates; incident dates are retrospective and less precise.

Context: Brown response

Catalogue: Abstract says Frances denied the accusation.

Edition: The personal answers distinguish admissions of positions 1 and 5, legal reservations on positions 2 to 4, and the conventional response to position 6. Preserve this procedural detail.

Catalogue: Abstract says Frances denied the accusation. Edition: The personal answers distinguish admissions of positions 1 and 5, legal reservations on positions 2 to 4, and the conventional response to position 6. Preserve this procedural detail.

Context: Brown marital description

Catalogue: Parties metadata calls her spinster.

Edition: Witnesses call her widow. Retain source-attributed descriptions; do not resolve the contradiction by choosing one.

Catalogue: Parties metadata calls her spinster. Edition: Witnesses call her widow. Retain source-attributed descriptions; do not resolve the contradiction by choosing one.

Context: Defamatory wording

Catalogue: Abstract spells arrand and betwitched.

Edition: The present provisional manuscript reading uses errand and bewy[t]ched. Retain the difference and its uncertainty; the catalogue is not substituted for the manuscript.

Catalogue: Abstract spells arrand and betwitched. Edition: The present provisional manuscript reading uses errand and bewy[t]ched. Retain the difference and its uncertainty; the catalogue is not substituted for the manuscript.

Context: Witnesses

Catalogue: Walter Berwick Barwick age 26 son of Lancelot; William Plummer Plumber 30; John Curtis Curtes 30; Robert Ellison 30.

Edition: The corrected witness roster agrees in identity and age; spelling variants remain visible. John’s occupation is provisional.

Catalogue: Walter Berwick Barwick age 26 son of Lancelot; William Plummer Plumber 30; John Curtis Curtes 30; Robert Ellison 30. Edition: The corrected witness roster agrees in identity and age; spelling variants remain visible. John’s occupation is provisional.

Context: Christopher Foster

Catalogue: Christopher Forster Foster is described as defence proctor.

Edition: The personal answers name Christopherum Foster notarium and the signature Chr foster. Preserve the documentary role and catalogue description separately; no contradiction or identical range of duties is assumed.

Catalogue: Christopher Forster Foster is described as defence proctor. Edition: The personal answers name Christopherum Foster notarium and the signature Chr foster. Preserve the documentary role and catalogue description separately; no contradiction or identical range of duties is assumed.

Comparison of sources: Documentary chronology and date qualifications

Event id: house
Date as written: about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth; Friday / Sunday before Midsummer or fourten sennights following
Start date: 1589
End date:
Date status: Year inferred retrospectively from July 1590; exact day and alternative differ
Stage: Alleged encounter reported by witnesses
Description: Twopence dispute, witch language, ejection and reported blow at Frances Brown’s Harewood house
Evidential voice: William Plumber and John Curtes
Locator: CP_G_2564_0007 left and right upper, article 2

Event id: shop
Date as written: Wednesday in August last past / about Lammas last past
Start date: 1589, August
End date:
Date status: Year inferred from July 1590 examinations; exact day unknown
Stage: Alleged later repetition reported by witnesses
Description: Frances Brown reportedly maintained the witch accusation at Lancelot Barwick’s shop
Evidential voice: Walter Barwick William Plumber Robert Ellison
Locator: CP_G_2564_0006 article 2; 0007 left and right lower article 2

Event id: answers
Date as written: xxixo maij 1590
Start date: 1590, May 29
End date:
Date status: Manuscript read; consistent with catalogue
Stage: Personal answers in defamation proceedings
Description: Frances Brown accepts articles 1 and 5 and reserves answers to criminal position and dependent positions
Evidential voice: Personal answer through Christopher Foster
Locator: CP_G_2564_0004 entire document

Event id: examinations
Date as written: penultimo Julij 1590
Start date: 1590, July 30
End date:
Date status: Penultimate July day interpreted as 30; consistent with catalogue
Stage: Sworn witness evidence
Description: Four witnesses examined on the articles of Margery Tomlinson’s libel
Evidential voice: Court examination record
Locator: CP_G_2564_0006 heading; 0006–0007 four depositions

Tomlinson & Browne 1590. [Later repository stamp] BORTHWICK INSTITUTE [pencil reference: R viii G 2564; partly unclear].

[Upper left subscription] Matt: [Holdsworth?]. In dei nomine amen coram vobis venerabilibus viris Johanne gibson et Johanne bennet legum doctoribus alme curie cons[istorialis] Ebor[acensis] officialibus l[egiti]me deputatis aut alio Judice in hac p[ar]te competenti procurator [unread contraction] et discrete mulieris margerie tomlinson p[arochie] et paro- [unread] Ebor[acensis] diocesis con[tra] franciscam browne p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] dioc[esis] [unread contractions] quemcumque alium coram vobis pro eadem in judicio l[egiti]me intervenientem dicit allegat et in hijs scriptis [unread contractions] in jure ponit ar[ticula]t et sequitur. 1. Inprimis ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta margeria tomlinson fuit et est mulier honesta bone fame vite et conversationis honeste nulloque crimine saltem notorio aspersa, diffamata vel aliquo modo involuta (salvis infra dicendis) ac pro tali et ut tali fuit et est habita tenta habita nominata ac reputata, palam publice et notorie in p[arochia] de harewode pr[edicta] alijsque locis vicinis Ebor[acensis] diocesis. ponit tamen et ar[ticula]t [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 2. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod premissis non obstantibus dicta francisca browne [inserted: scienter] maligne mensibus martij, aprilis, maij, junij, julij, Augusti, septembris et octobris Anno D[omi]ni mill[esim]o quingentesimo octogesimo nono eorundem mensium quolibet uno sive aliquo intra p[arochiam] de harewode [cancelled word] aliaque loca vicina Ebor[acensis] diocesis malitiose et animo ipsam diffaman- di eandem margeriam tomlinson diffamavit, nonnullaque verba opprobriosa, injuriosa, rixosa, contumeliosa, diffamatoria eidem margerie tomlinson sive de eadem emisit dixit et protulit et predi[c]avit, et precipue hec verba anglice sequentia [inserted: aut] a[l]ia in effectu consimilia viz: she the saide francis browne called the sayde margerye tomlinson witche, and errand witch and sayde she wolde prove hir a witch for she had bewy[t]ched hir pigs. ponit tamen [inserted: et ar[ticula]t] de et super forma verborum diffamatorum per eandem franciscam prolatorum, ac de tali et tanto tempore quod et quantum in eventu hujus litis probabitur cui [unread contractions] [unread contractions] et de quolibet. 3. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post premissa omnia et singula prefata francisca browne coram testi- bus fide dignis tam in presentia ipsius margerie tomlinson quam eadem in ejus absentia semel et iteratis vicibus seu saltem semel confessa fuit et est ac recognovit. Et ponit ut supra. 4. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod post et per premissa status bona fama et opinio ipsius marge- rie tomlinson apud bonos et graves viros qui prius existitit bone fame et opinionis illicite graviter et enormiter leduntur et diminuuntur ac de veri- simili plus ledentur in futurum. Et ponit ut supra. 5. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod dicta francisca browne fuit et est p[arochie] de harewode Ebor[acensis] diocesis et sic vestre jurisdictioni notorie submissa. Et ponit ut supra. 6. Item ponit et ar[ticula]t quod de et super premissis omnibus et singulis fuit et est publica vox et fama in dicta p[arochia] de harewode alijsque locis vicinis. ponit tamen et supra. [Cancelled subscription] [three or four words unread; looks like a name followed by proct...].

Unde facta fide quantum sufficit de premissis petit [cancelled: vobis?] margeria tomlinson jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi et [unread contraction] fieri dari et ministrari dictam franciscam Browne pro tanto temeritatis sue excessu in premissis et ea concernentibus (jure mediante arbitrarie) ecclesiastice corrigi et puniri nec non in expensis pro parte dicte margerie tomlinson in hac p[ar]te factis et fiendis l[egiti]me condemnari condemnata[m]- que ad veram solutionem earundem expensarum prefate margerie tomlinson simili- ter cogi et compelli alijs jus et justitiam in premissis omnibus et singulis sibi fieri et ministrari per vos et sententiam vestram definitivam domine Judices antedicti. Que ponit et fieri petit predicta margeria tomlinson con[junctim] et di[visim] non astringens se ad omnia et singula premissa probanda nec ad onus superflue probationis de quo protestatur posita sed quatenus probaverit in premissis eatenus obtineat in petitis hujus (beneficio in omnibus juris salvo) vestrum officium domine Judices antedicti in omnibus premissis implorando. Salvo jure [etc.] et protestamur [etc.]

[Date, left] xxixo maij 1590 [Heading, upper right] Responsiones p[er]sonales per Christopherum Foster notarium p[ublicum] [unread contraction] Francisce browne po[sitioni]bus libelli per partem margarie tomlinson contra eandem [etc.] Ad primam credit eandem esse veram. Ad secundam credit quod de jure non tenetur ad respondere quia est positio criminalis. Ad tertiam et quartam credit quod de jure non tenetur eisdem respondere quia dependent ex dicta secunda po[sitione]. Ad quintam credit eandem esse veram. Ad sextam credit de creditis et negat de negatis. [Signature] Chr: foster.

Respons[iones] p[er]sonales francisce browne

Examinatio testium infrascriptorum nominatorum receptorum [unread contraction] coram [Jo.?] Bent legum doctore [unread contraction] in presentia mei Henrici Swinber notarii publici [unread abbreviation] penultimo Julij 1590.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Walterus Barwick de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxvj annos testis super po[sitioni]bus et ar[ticu]lis libelli per partem Margerie Tomlinson contra Franciscam Browne exhibiti productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per duodecim annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars [cancelled: [unread]] [inserted: rea] fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate being in the shop of Lancelot Barwick butcher his father in harewood upon a Wednesday in August last past at the [unread word] or thereabouts the said Frances Browne art[iculate] [unread word] standing with others on the outside of the said shop what wordes she then spake he this examinate [cancelled word] remembreth not [cancelled: but these wordes] [inserted: but the wordes] these wordes following he remembreth [inserted: William Plumber] then said [inserted: William?] yet peace Dame Browne you have said ynough And she the [cancelled: margerye] Frances Browne then asked him what have I said And will[ia]m Plumber said you have called Margery Tomlinson meaning Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] witche and you must prove it And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered and said I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch meaning of the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] And I will stand to it, Then and there being present at this act in the said shop Lancelot Barwick this ex[aminat]es [inserted: father] with Tho[mas] [Nourghuse?] will[ia]m Plumber and Robert Ellyson and divers others within and without the said shop to the number of half a dozen whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo dicit quod prius deposuit Et aliter nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit although [even?] after this act and that of his knowledge the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate] worse thought off by meanes of the wordes art[iculate] [cancelled: [unread two words]] he hath heard [cancelled: divers reporte] it and yet since the speaking of the wordes art[iculate] divers of the towne of harewood art[iculate] have called hir witche [etc.] Super [cancelled: quinto] [inserted: primo] non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super [cancelled: quinto articulo] sexto art[icu]lo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] dicit quod non est doctus [unread abbreviation] nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri [cancelled: [unread words]] p[ar]tium art[iculatarum] magis.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Willelmus Plumber de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis Carpentar etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod margeriam Tomlinson per quinque annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that about Midsomer last past was a twelvemonth upon a friday in the after noone the same day this examinate and John Curtes and one Thomas Mocan [surname uncertain] being sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow art[iculate] in harewood, Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] of the same towne passed by them and went into the said house and at her being within the [inserted: same] house he did heare the said Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] desire the said Frances Browne art[iculate] to let hir have ijd [cancelled: she] [inserted: ought] hir And Frances Browne art[iculate] answered that she had more to give hir then quoth the said Tomlinson [Yea?] then [you?] for me have a penny loafe quoth the said Frances Browne I have more for the old Witch get the out of my house Witch quoth the said Tomlinson [thou?] [art?] a witche And Frances Browne saying hither thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche And I then called the witche and I will still call the witch and stand to yt and did at the same tyme thrust hir out of her doore giving hir a [blaw?] of the mouth at the same time then and there being sitting at the doore this exa[minate] the said Curtes and Mocane [surname uncertain] And after that long about Lammas last past this exa[minate] was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick of harewood upon a Wednesday [what?] certen day he remembreth not Where and when the said [inserted: articulate] Frances [cancelled word] Browne being in the [inserted: said] shop holding against Margery Tomlinson art[iculate], And this exa[minate] bad hir be in quietnes saying she had said ynoughe against the said margery [cancelled: Tom] [inserted: artic...] And quoth the said Frances browne I have called [cancelled: the said margerye] Tomlinson witch (meaning the said margery Tomlinson art[iculate]) witch I will call hir witch and I will stand to it Then and there being present Walter Barwick and this exa[minate], Robert Ellyson and divers others to the number of five or six persons whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus famam laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus nec consanguineus aut affinis alteri p[ar]tium nec magis [unread contraction] [unread word] optaret.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Johannes Curtes de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis fab[er] clavo[rum?] etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam Browne per idem tempus bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this exa[minate] upon sonday next before midsomer last past was a twelvemonth or fourten sennights following the said feast Margery Tomlinson art[iculate] passed by this exa[minate] and others sittinge upon a clog at the doore of Frances Browne wedow in harewood into the said house And after she was in the house this examinate heard hir aske ijd of the said Frances browne art[iculate] And Browne art[iculate] answered she shold have more And then she desired to have cakes for it And Frances browne art[iculate] said she had more for hir saying further get the out of my house witche: then this art[iculate] And thrust hir furth of the doores and gave hir a box of the eare saying thow did once sett a stone against me for calling the witche Now I call the witche againe and I will still [call?] the a witche. Then and there being present Will[ia]m plumber Edmund Wykeley [surname uncertain] and Tho[mas] Warter als Mortane [names uncertain] Tho[mas] [Mocane?] with divers other that were in the house Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio articulo nescit deponere. Super quarto articulo nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera ac ut hujus fama laborare in locis art[iculatis] Et aliter dicit quod non est doctus [contracted words unread] alteri p[ar]tium.

[Margin] Jo: Bent. Robertus Ellyson de harewood Ebor[acensis] diocesis butcher etatis sue circiter xxx annos testis ut supra productus admissus juratus et examinatus Et primo de notitia p[ar]tium testis dicit quod Margeriam Tomlinson per xv annos et Franciscam browne per xij annos bene novit. Super primo articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super secundo articulo ex[aminatus] dicit that this examinate about Lammas last past was [by?] Lancelot Barwick of harewood butcher to kill a calfe Where and when the said Frances Browne art[iculate] being without the said shop And Will[ia]m plumber his contest then being in the said shop answered and said she had said ynough already against Tomlinson words meaning margery Tomlinson art[iculate] for then have called hir witche To yt [have?] I called hir said Frances browne I have indeed called hir witche I will call hir witche againe And stand to it then and there being Will[ia]m Walter Barwick and this exa[minate] Will[ia]m plumber with divers others whose names he now remembreth not Et aliter nescit deponere. Super tertio et quarto articulis nescit deponere. Super quinto articulo non ex[aminatur] quia pars rea fatetur. Super sexto articulo ex[aminatus] dicit quod predeposita per eum sunt vera et de hujus fama laborare [damaged line] nec consanguineus [damaged words] [unread ending].

Comparison of sources: English readings and editorial qualifications

The docket’s later repository stamp and pencil reference are not original testimony. Walter’s unclear closing formula is retained with uncertainty rather than treated as a definite Latin statement about reputational damage.

Walter Barwick of Harewood, diocese of York, butcher, aged about twenty-six, a witness produced, admitted, sworn and examined on the positions and articles of the libel exhibited for Margery Tomlinson against Frances Brown. First, concerning knowledge of the parties, he says that he has known Margery Tomlinson well for fifteen years and Frances Brown for twelve years. On the first article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. Examined on the second article, he says that he was in the shop of Lancelot Barwick, butcher, his father, in Harewood, on a Wednesday in August last, at [one word unresolved] or thereabouts. Frances Brown was standing with others outside the shop. He cannot remember what words she then spoke, but remembers the following words. William Plumber then said, “Peace now, Dame Brown, you have said enough.” Frances Brown asked him, “What have I said?” William Plumber said, “You have called Margery Tomlinson”—meaning Margery Tomlinson, a party to the case—“a witch, and you must prove it.” Frances Brown answered, “I have called her a witch; I will hold her a witch”—meaning Margery Tomlinson—“and I will stand to it.” Present at this act in the shop were Lancelot Barwick, this witness's father, Thomas [surname uncertain], William Plumber, Robert Ellison and various others inside and outside the shop, to the number of half a dozen, whose names he cannot now remember. He knows nothing further to depose. On the third article he says what he has already deposed and knows nothing further. Examined on the fourth article, he says [syntax uncertain in the original] that after this act [the connecting construction is uncertain], Margery Tomlinson was “worse thought off” by means of the words in question. He has heard it, and since the speaking of the words in question, various people of Harewood have called her a witch, etc. [Cancellations and connecting syntax unresolved.] On the [corrected: first] article he is not examined because the defendant admits it. On the sixth article he says that what he has already deposed is true and adds a formula concerning fama [reputation or report; exact construction unresolved]. He says that he has not been instructed [abbreviation unresolved] and is not related by blood or marriage to either party [ending uncertain].

Tomlinson and Brown, 1590.

Comparison of sources: Complete edition evidence and source apparatus

These passages and source records belong to the full case edition. They retain documentary headings, text layers and scholarly apparatus. Their inclusion here does not turn contextual material into independent corroboration of an alleged event.

Personal answers of Frances Brown.

3 Pieces; Has deposition; Has libel; No sentence

York Cause Papers catalogue — CP.G.2564, n.d., University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives, CP.G.2564, saved catalogue metadata. Documentary pieces are not image counts., CP.G.2564, Details · context

Reading register: Full reading edition held on the source record

The full English-first reading-edition body is supplied in the linked edition source’s full_text field. Original texts, English renderings, citations, uncertainty and source-layer distinctions are retained. This source is the project reading edition, not a newly recovered primary manuscript. Database storage does not by itself certify publication.

Tomlinson–Brown · reading edition, Witching reading edition; prepared 2026-10-25; edition version 1.0; reading identifier edition-tomlinson-brown. · context

People

Christopher Foster: Notary named in and signing Frances Brown’s personal answers.
Frances Brown: Accuser reported persisting in witchcraft abuse at her house and Barwick’s shop.
John Curtes: Harewood witness aged about thirty; reported the house dispute and blow. Occupational abbreviation remains provisional.
Lancelot Barwick: Harewood butcher whose shop was the setting of the later accusation; named as Walter Barwick’s father.
Margery Tomlinson: Witch accusation target seeking redress after a twopence dispute and alleged pig-bewitchment charge.
Robert Ellison: Harewood butcher aged about thirty; reported the shop repetition while there to kill a calf.
Walter Barwick: Harewood butcher aged about twenty-six; witness to the shop repetition and son of Lancelot Barwick.
William Plumber: Harewood carpenter aged about thirty; witness to the house dispute and shop repetition; intervened in the reported shop exchange.

Events

“She wolde prove hir a witch for she had bewy[t]ched hir pigs”: Margery’s libel gives Brown an alleged reason for insisting upon the witch name. Its wording escalates “witche” to “errand witch,” then invokes the pigs as what Brown said would prove her accusation (CP.G.2564, image 2, art.2). This is a claim of harmful magic directed at animals, preserved within Margery’s complaint about Brown’s defamatory words. The source does not tell us how many pigs there were, what symptoms they showed, or whether any died. Nor does it say that the twopence was payment for healing, compensation for pigs, or the price of magical services: the debt encounter and animal charge belong to the same case but their causal relationship is unestablished. The libel alleges defamatory speech in one or some of March–October 1589, rather than eight dated incidents. Margery sought ecclesiastical correction and costs; no surviving sentence here establishes an award (image 2, arts.1,3–6; image 3 left).
1589: “She shold have more”: in Curtes’s account, Brown’s answer to Margery’s request for twopence leads first to a request for cakes, then to “get the out of my house witche” and a box on the ear (CP.G.2564, image 7 right upper, art.2). Plumber gives the debt more explicitly as “ijd … [ought] hir” and remembers Margery asking for a “penny loafe”; Brown answers, “I have more for the old Witch,” before forcing her out with a partly uncertain “[blaw?] of the mouth” (image 7 left, art.2). The repeated promise of “more” is followed in these accounts by abuse and a blow, rather than a recorded settlement. Money and food therefore help explain the course of the encounter, without establishing why Brown accused Margery. The penny-loaf wording is partly uncertain, and cakes must remain Curtes’s distinct version. Both also report Brown recalling an earlier stone dispute over witch-naming; neither describes witnessing that earlier episode. Friday and Sunday date variants remain unresolved; the encounter is placed retrospectively around 1589.
1589, August: At Lancelot Barwick’s butcher’s shop in Harewood, William Plumber reportedly tried to stop Brown’s renewed witch accusation. Walter Barwick recalls him saying, “Peace now, Dame Brown, you have said enough,” and demanding that she prove it; Brown answered, “I have called hir witch I will hold hir witch … And I will stand to it” (CP.G.2564, image 6, Walter, art.2). Plumber and Robert Ellison also report her persistence. Walter and Ellison place Brown outside the shop, while Plumber places her inside. Ellison had come to kill a calf: his work explains his presence and supplies no further bewitched animal. The witnesses’ Wednesday-in-August and Lammas formulations suggest late summer 1589, without an exact day (image 7 left and right lower, art.2). Walter additionally reports Margery being “worse thought off” and other Harewood people calling her a witch; cancellations and uncertain connecting syntax limit the account of how the accusation spread (image 6, art.4).
1590, July 30: On 30 July 1590, four Harewood men gave sworn evidence on Margery’s libel: Walter Barwick, a butcher aged about twenty-six; William Plumber, a carpenter aged about thirty; John Curtes, about thirty with an uncertain occupational reading; and Robert Ellison, a butcher aged about thirty (CP.G.2564, image 6 heading and Walter deposition; image 7, remaining depositions). Plumber and Curtes recount the twopence encounter, food request, witchcraft abuse and blow; Walter, Plumber and Ellison recount the shop repetition. Their accounts preserve disagreements over Friday or Sunday, bread or cakes, and Brown’s position inside or outside the shop. Walter’s separate evidence about Margery being “worse thought off” is not replaced by the unresolved Latin fama formulas in the credibility clauses (image 6, art.4; image 7, closing responses). These examinations preserve several voices and limits of knowledge, rather than one harmonised account or a verdict that witchcraft occurred.
1590, May 29: On 29 May 1590, Brown’s personal answers, recorded through the notary Christopher Foster, accepted the article presenting Margery as a woman of good reputation and the article concerning Brown’s parish and jurisdiction. On the central accusation she reserved her right not to answer “quia est positio criminalis”—because it is a criminal position—and took the same position on the dependent articles about acknowledgement and reputational harm (CP.G.2564, image 4, answers to arts.1–5). Her final response uses the conventional belief-and-denial formula. This procedural answer neither admits the alleged bewitchment nor expressly denies every reported word. The manuscript’s distinctions are fuller than the catalogue’s compressed description of a denial; the file supplies no resulting sentence.

Sources

CP.G.2564 libel, Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York CP.G.2564 images CP_G_2564_0002 and CP_G_2564_0003 left; image positions not folios, University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives CP.G.2564 (court record)
CP.G.2564 answers, Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York CP.G.2564 image CP_G_2564_0004; docket image 0005, University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives CP.G.2564 (court record)
CP.G.2564 depositions, Borthwick Institute for Archives University of York CP.G.2564 images CP_G_2564_0006 and CP_G_2564_0007, University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives CP.G.2564 (court record)
Margery Tomlinson and Frances Brown — authoritative research edition, WEME authoritative research edition, Tomlinson_Brown_Authoritative_Edition.docx (edition)
York Cause Papers catalogue — CP.G.2564, n.d., University of York, Borthwick Institute for Archives, CP.G.2564, saved catalogue metadata. Documentary pieces are not image counts. (catalogue)
Renaissance Food from Rabelais to Shakespeare, 2010, Joan Fitzpatrick editor, Renaissance Food from Rabelais to Shakespeare (2010). Bibliographic research lead supplied in editorial review; exact chapter and pages not verified. (scholarship) (later scholarship)
Balancing the Urban Stomach, 2021, Evana Frances Downes, Balancing the Urban Stomach (2021). Bibliographic research lead supplied in editorial review; exact chapter and pages not verified. (scholarship) (later scholarship)
A History of Witchcraft in England, 1911, Wallace Notestein, A History of Witchcraft in England (1911). Bibliographic research lead supplied in editorial review; exact chapter and pages not verified. (scholarship) (later scholarship)
Tomlinson–Brown · reading edition, Witching reading edition; prepared 2026-10-25; edition version 1.0; reading identifier edition-tomlinson-brown. (edition)

Credit

Witches in Early Modern England research edition. Human editorial and review credits await confirmation.