The Tale of Temperance Dunn: Part VI

Part VI: The Trials of Temperance Dunn

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Visions

?As dawn broke on the 5th of August 1664, Temperance Dunn had been standing in a stock shed on Mandeville Manor for over 12 hours, she hadn’t eaten or drunk anything for 16 hours or slept in 24. She swayed a little as her body tried to sleep, but as had happened all through the night if she got close to sleep, one of the manor’s stockmen would prod her to keep her awake. The current man watching her was Jacob Osgood, he had taken over at around two o’clock that morning, and Temperance had seen the half-moon shining outside as he entered. An unfamiliar young woman had followed him in, though he seemed not to notice her. Temperance couldn’t see her now either.

?????????????? “Come on Temperance, thee must stay awake.” Jacob nudged her gently, he didn’t much like this job he’d been given by that weasel-faced lawyer. There was something about his tone and those beady dark eyes that put Jacob’s back up. What could Temperance have done to deserve this, she was a good woman, everyone said that. Well, everyone except Grace Palfrey, but she was a shrew and had a cruel tongue.

?????????????? “I pray you, Jacob, let me sit, let me sleep!”

?????????????? “Good wife Dunn, I regret I cannot, that man Darch hath ordered me to keep thee awake.”

?????????????? “He is not thy master!”

?????????????? “The steward, Endecott, says I must do as he bids me.” With that Jacob turned his back on Temperance, unable to face her sad eyes.

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The long hours standing motionless had taken a physical toll on Temperance, her legs and back were racked with cramps and her joints were swelling as fluid built up around them, adding to her pain. Her neck muscles were so full of tension, she couldn’t move her head. Tears ran slowly down her cheeks.

Through the dark hours of the night, hallucinations had come and gone constantly in front of Temperance. Her mother had visited her first, talking kindly to Temperance as she had when she was a child. Then her beloved father, Samuel had been there, he hadn’t spoken, just looked upon her sadly then faded away.? Suddenly Oswald, her dead husband, burst into the shed, bloated and grey as he’d been when they found him in the river. Swearing and abusing Temperance, his fist swung into her face, but this phantom had no weight in his blows, and she had dismissed him from her mind.

The odd young woman, whom she had seen enter the shed behind Jacob Osgood had stood against the wall watching her much of the time, for how long Temperance was unable to judge. There was something familiar about the way the candle flame danced in her eyes – although it seemed too bright to simply be the candles – Temperance tried to think where she’d seen that look before, but her thoughts were cloudy.

The young woman had spoken to her softly, coming closer. She had told Temperance her God had abandoned her to these men. Temperance would have none of it, she told the young woman that she was a child of the Lord, and he would protect her. The young woman had laughed at her; that laughter, though soft, had a familiarity and coldness to it, like the eyes.

The young woman was gone now, just another vision. Temperance was alone with Jacob, and he couldn’t look her in the eye. The door to the shed opened and the lawyer, Ambrose Darch, came in followed by John Endecott. Darch was leading this now Temperance thought, Endecott walked at his heel, like a submissive little dog!

“Hath the witch yet confessed her sins?” Darch asked Jacob brusquely.

“I am nay witch,” Temperance repeated softly, her throat and lips dry.

“Temperance hath quoth nought o' sins, Mr. Darch.? She spake in the night o' being a child o' the Lord and under his protection but quoth nay more.”

“A ruse to fool the weak mind, she is nay child o' God.”

“More so than thee withal thy cruel and wicked torture!” Temperance stared squarely at Darch, and he found himself unable to hold the look from those weary, accusing, hazel eyes.

“I must take steps to move this along, come Endecott!” Darch turned to leave.

“Good Dog!” Temperance said softly.

Jacob Osgood smirked, and Endecott rounded on him angrily, “Watch thyself, Osgood, or thee'll feel mine own whip on thy back!” Jacob simply looked back at him coldly. When the two men had gone, he turned to Temperance, still standing in the middle of the room,

“I have nay stomach for this, good wife Dunn!” As he turned to leave another stockman entered the shed.

“The steward says I am to watch the woman now, thee cannot be trusted!”

Jacob scoffed, then looked back at Temperance as he left, “Good luck to thee Temperance!”

?????????????? “God bless thee, Jacob!”

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The Stocks.

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Outside the shed, Darch stopped, “Doth this manor have stocks?” Endecott was a little surprised by the question.

?????????????? “Some methinks, but not much used.”

?????????????? “I have use for them. Have them put up in the shed and put the witch in them!”

?????????????? “She hath quoth nought to prove she is a witch!”

?????????????? “Some time in the stocks may change that assertion!” Darch had a sly smile on his face, that gave John Endecott the chills, even though it was a bright and warm August morning.

?????????????? A few yards away, unnoticed in the shade of a Rowan tree, stood the young woman Temperance had seen in the night. She drew strength from its link to the earth - which would have surprised the superstitious folk of Clyst Tavy. Her eyes still flickered with firelight as she listened to the men.

?????????????? “Now, I am hungry, let us get some breakfast ere we do more!” Darch headed off, back towards Endecott's house on the edge of the estate. Obviously, this lawyer expected him to feed him again, as he had yesterday. John Endecott was beginning to think his calling in a witch-finder might not have been the best idea he’d ever had!

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It was almost noon when Darch re-entered the stock shed in which he held Temperance Dunn. With him, as ever, he’d brought Endecott and he’d asked the rector to join them again too.

?????????????? Temperance still stood in the centre of the shed, but for the last four hours she’d been placed in wooden stocks, her head hanging through its middle hole, her hands poking through smaller holes on each side of it. Drifting in and out of lucidity, Temperance was incredibly thirsty, her lips cracked and dry. The awkward, unnatural stance she was forced into by the stocks brought more pain in her back, legs and shoulders, the rough wooden frame chaffing at her neck. Visions of people and places had come and gone before her, sometimes she was home in her cottage, and other times she was a child watching her father in his forge. She’d gone back to that day in Darksom Woods and the strange, hooded figure with fire in its eyes. When the woods melted away with the mist, the figure still stood in front of her in the shed. It had spoken softly offering to relieve her pain, she just had to renounce her God! The figure too melted away like mist and she saw the lawyer, Darch, coming back into the shed, Endecott still at his heel. Behind them came the rector looking uncertain and pensive. Her eyes followed the men as they came in, focusing on the rector.

Rector Jeffery Mandeville was shocked by the sight of this woman, whom he knew well, and who helped him in his church on a Sunday, shackled in this way like a common criminal. He looked away as Temperance's dry rasping voice called to him, “Canst thou not look in mine own eye, Rector? Dost thou see what this cruel stranger hath done to me?”

“Do not let the witch beguile thee withal her words, Rector, she is a servant o' the devil!” Snapped Darch.

“I am nay witch!” hissed Temperance.

The rector looked on silently.

As the three men regarded Temperance, the odd young woman slowly came into view behind them, forming like a mist, she smiled at Temperance. “This so-called man o' God shall not help thee, Temperance.? He hath abandoned thee, like his God!”

“He is mine own friend,” rasped Temperance her voice coming with difficulty in her dry mouth and throat. Darch and the others all looked at Temperance, but she was looking beyond them, at an empty space in the shed.

“To whom art thou speaking, Temperance, who is thy friend?” The rector found his voice at last.

“She speaks to the Devil, Dost thou not see that Rector?” said Darch, an eagerness in his tone.

As she stood before Temperance, the young woman pulled up the hood on the robe she wore, leaving her face in shadow, with just her eyes showing, glinting with reflected fire.

Temperance suddenly realised the truth, “The one I saw in Darksom Woods!”

“Now thee knows me!” Vixana said softly.

“Who didst thou see in Darksom Woods?” The rector came close to Temperance, to better hear her almost whispered words, Darch close beside him, sensing his time was now coming!

“The one withal fire in their eyes!” Temperance told them, the scene in front of her drifting now between the woods and the shed, she was unable to tell what was real and what was in her mind, not being sure if she had spoken aloud or if the words were just in her head.

“The Devil! She spake withal the Devil, and doth so now, he is withal us in this shed! Dost thou hear that Rector, and thee Endecott?? She confesseth that she speaks withal the Devil!” Darch sounded triumphant.

Rector Jeffery Mandeville’s head dropped, in his mind, he could no longer deny the truth, “Yay, I didst hear her...” He turned and left the shed, shattered by what he had just heard.

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The Witch Pricker.

?John Endecott made his way to the manor house; he must speak to Lord William. The lawyer, Darch, had left him now, he was thankful for that at least. Darch said he had business with the blacksmith, he needed him to make something. He’d also made a strange request of Endecott, before leaving him. He’d asked for small shears and a sharp blade, for what John Endecott dreaded to think!

?????????????? In the shed, there was some relief for Temperance. The lawyer had said she could take some water and a little food. He also said she need not stand any longer, releasing her from the stocks. However, he’d told the steward to meet him back in the shed in two hours as they, “still had much to do withal this witch!”

?????????????? Temperance lay on the stone floor of the shed. She had drunk a little of the water offered by the stockman left to watch her but vomited most of it back up as it hit her dry throat, she had felt unable to eat. Her body and mind were exhausted and though the stone floor was cold and hard she had slept as soon as she lay down, falling into a restless and troubled sleep.

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“So, good wife Dunn shrifted to speaking withal the Devil?” Lord William Mandeville’s face was dark as he spoke with John Endecott, and his son, The Rector. They sat with him in the Solar of Mandeville Manor, having arrived together after the lawyer took his leave.

?????????????? “She quoth she spake to the one withal fire in its eyes, Darch quoth 'twas the Devil,” Endecott told him.

?????????????? “What o' thee, Rector, dost thou say 'tis the Devil?”

Jeffery Mandeville sighed, “Who else can it be, but the Devil or one o' his daemons? Whichever it is, she hath condemned herself withal her own words.”

“Then we must have a trial and set a date for her execution?” Lord Mandeville stood and looked out of the window at the village in the distance.

“We must, My Lord!”

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Ambrose Darch was already waiting outside the stock shed when John Endecott returned with the rector. Without bothering to properly greet either man the lawyer addressed Endecott, “Didst thou bring what I asked?”

?????????????? “I did.”

“Is the blade sharp?”

?????????????? “'Tis.? What dost thou want withal shears and a blade?”

?????????????? “I must check the witch for the Devil's mark, and for that, she must have all hair removed from her body.? Thee may need to clepe on an extra man, because we must strip her and shave her.? She may fight us!”

?????????????? Rector Jeffery Mandeville was unsettled by what Darch said, “Strip her? Thee means to have this woman naked ere us? This is ungodly work!”

?????????????? “We hunt the ungodly rector. Endecott get thy man.”

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Temperance was woken from her uneasy sleep by the booted foot of Ambrose Darch rocking her shoulder and his voice telling her, “Get up witch! Stand before us!”

?????????????? Temperance’s eyes slowly opened as she said softly, “I am nay witch!”

?????????????? “'Tis too late now for denial, thou didst confess to speaking withal the Devil, afront o' the good rector.? Thee cannot take it back!”

?????????????? Temperance lay on the floor staring at Darch, hate starting to fester within her. His foot swung at her, “Get up I tell thee!”

?????????????? “Hold lawyer!” Endecott stepped in and turned to the farm hands he had with him, “Thee men get widow Dunn to her feet!" The farm hands pulled Temperance up and left her standing before the other three men.

?????????????? “Remove thy clothes, witch!” Darch said sharply.

“I shall not!”

“Very well. Strip her!” He said turning to the farm hands. They didn’t move but looked at Darch, then to their Steward, Endecott. “Do it now!” The men looked at Endecott again and he sighed and nodded to the men.

“Do as the man says!” Endecott said meekly.

Temperance did not fight the men but stood rigid, giving no assistance to the violation. When they had finished, she stood naked before the five men in the shed, her eyes fixed on Darch, “There will be a place in hell for thee Ambrose Darch!” she said quietly, but firmly. She switched her gaze first to the rector, then Endecott “And thee, Jeffery Mandeville, will join him for this ungodly betrayal… All of thee men will!”

?????????????? “Hold her down while I shave her!” Said Darch coldly. Taking the shears from Endecott and pushing Temperance down onto the cold stone floor.

?????????????? With the farm hands holding her, Darch took the shears and cut the long hair from Temperance’s head, then finished it with a blade until she was bald, he then took the blade and removed all other hair from her body.

The rector had turned away and was standing head bowed facing the wall, “Rector join me, we must look for the Devil’s mark!” Darch was standing behind him. As the rector turned, he saw Darch was holding a thin spike, with a sharp point, around four inches in length.

?????????????? “What is that?” gasped Jeffery Mandeville softly.

?????????????? “Tis a Witch Pricker, I had the blacksmith fashion it for me!” Darch seemed proud of his tool. “Put the witch back in the stocks men, We shall examine her body and find the Devil’s mark!”

When the farm hands had done as Darch ordered the older of the two turned to Endecott, “I pray thee, good steward, let me take mine own leave now, I want nay part o' this!” Endecott sighed, he felt the same, but was trapped here, “Nor I,” said the other man. Endecott nodded towards the door and both men left as quickly as they could.

For the next two hours, Darch moved slowly around Temperance, her naked body fixed in the stocks. His hands moved across her skin, the pricker close behind. When he found a possible Mark o’ the Devil he pricked it, if any should not bleed, he told Endecott and the increasingly detached and tearful rector that would be a sign. Every prick bled, with her skin streaming in blood Temperance screamed inside with every stab of the point! She held the screams in as she knew that Darch wanted to hear them, her silence was her only way to resist him.

?????????????? Vixana stood back against the wall watching the torture. Temperance thought she saw a tear running down her face, fire flickering in it as it did Vixana’s eyes. “I can help thee if you let me in.? I can guide thee to the power within thee…” She whispered to Temperance.

?????????????? Darch saw Endecott turn away and approach the rector. Unseen by the others, Darch switched his sharp pricker for a second, blunt one, he’d had the blacksmith make. He stabbed at Temperance’s left breast, the pricker didn’t pierce the skin, perfect. “Endecott! Rector! Her breast dost not bleed…’tis a sign of the Devil!” He cried. The two men turned and looked at the bloody mess of Temperance’s body in the stocks. Darch was waving his hand, beckoning them to look at her bare left breast. There was a small area of skin, unstained by blood. As the men came close, he pressed the pricker into it, it didn’t pierce the skin, “There, thee sees it?” he said eagerly, “It dost not bleed, the Devil has touched her!”

?????????????? “I see it…” The rector sighed, and Endecott beside him nodded. “Thee has thy proof; can we end this now Darch?”

?????????????? “Yay, take her down from the stocks Endecott.? Mine own work is done!”

?????????????? The rector ran from the shed as Endecott helped Temperance out of the stocks. Darch marched out behind him, triumphant. Temperance collapsed to the ground and huddled against the rough stone wall shaking. Endecott fetched a bucket of water and a rag, “Clean thyself widow Dunn,” he said as he put her clothes down beside her and hurried out of the shed.

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The Trial of Temperance Dunn

?The villagers of Clyst Tavy had heard the proclamation from steward John Endecott. On Monday 11th August 1664, Lord William Mandeville would preside over the trial of Temperance Dunn in the Great Hall at Mandeville Manor. The accusation was Witchcraft.

?????????????? Most of the villagers had made their way up to the Manor House and John Endecott waited outside of the grand oak doors of the Great Hall. Benches had been fashioned and the villagers would sit quietly as his Lordship presided over the trial, Endecott told the crowd, before letting them in.

?????????????? One of the first through the doors was Grace Palfrey, she was in an unusually jovial mood today some noted as they found a place on the benches.

With the hall full, Endecott closed the doors and made his way to the front of the hall. There was a large oak table and a grand chair behind it, emblazoned with the Mandeville crest. Two smaller, plainer chairs sat on either side of the main one. A small wooden dock stood off to the left.

?????????????? John Endecott took a place at the high table, in front of the chair to the right of the grand one. A man from the manor’s militia stood at each end of the table and there was another militia man at the doors that led into the hall.

?????????????? “Pray silence and stand please, for Lord William Mandeville!” Endecott announced and the villagers obeyed – as they always did.

The militia man opened the doors into the hall and Lord Mandeville strode in. He made his way to the grand chair behind the table and raised his hand to his villagers, “Be seated!” he said sternly, then took his seat. The rector had followed him into the hall and took the seat on his left.

“Bring in the accused!” Endecott said loudly to the room. The outside doors to the hall opened and two militiamen appeared, between them, her hands bound was Temperance Dunn, her face still showing signs of many small cuts, her head almost bald, with just a fine stubble across it, she was pale and gaunt and looked straight ahead. Gasps came up from villagers as they saw her.

As she reached where Grace Palfrey sat Temperance stopped and looked straight into the young woman’s eyes, “Thee did this!” For once, Grace seemed lost for words, she simply shrugged and looked away. The militia man nudged Temperance to keep moving and led her to the dock.

At the front of the hall, Ambrose Darch had come in and stood before the high table whilst everyone had been watching Temperance. He turned and bowed slightly towards Lord Mandeville, barely acknowledging his previous accomplices. Lord Mandeville didn’t much like this man or his arrogance and only gave him the merest nod. Lord Mandeville tapped the steward’s arm then gestured towards the assembled villagers, who were talking quietly amongst themselves and regarding Temperance Dunn in the dock. Endecott stood, “SILENCE, PLEASE!”, the murmuring died down and all eyes were fixed on Steward Endecott, “Lord William Mandeville!”

Lord Mandeville didn’t rise as he spoke,

“Good people of Mandeville Manor, we are hither today for a most serious purpose, this man is Ambrose Darch, a lawyer from Tavistock, he shall set out the case to thee ere I pass sentence. Mr Darch, thee may proceed!”

“Grammercy, mine own lord,” Darch bowed again to the high table. Turning to the assembled villages he spoke in a firm and clear voice, “Good people o' Clyst Tavy, I am hither to tell thee that thither is witchcraft at work in this manor,” a murmur rippled through the assembled villagers and Darch raised a hand to quiet them, as he spoke louder, “…this woman, Temperance Dunn…”

“She be a witch!” Grace Palfrey was on her feet and pointing at Temperance; other voices answered her, as almost unheard Temperance said, “I am nay witch!”

“SILENCE!” Lord Mandeville’s voice instantly calmed the room.

As Darch moved forward to speak again, Henry Gidley stood and facing Grace Palfrey said firmly, “This is nonsense, if there be evil in this village it cometh from thee, Grace Palfrey!”

“O save us from more o' thy sad tales o' thy lost wife and heir!” snapped Grace. There were gasps from some, they knew she had a cruel tongue, but this was unexpected, even from her.

?At the rear of the hall, Vixana stood unseen, smiling to herself, this was what she wanted, the villagers tearing into each other. She could sense her moment was coming, then she would put on a show this village would not forget!

“I speak not o' them, but the demon I have thrice seen thee with in the village!”

“Drunken Lies!” screamed Grace, as the faintest mist started to swirl at her feet.

“I hath seen a creature at her door too…!” another voice spoke somewhere in the hall, from whom no one could tell.

“Silence, I must make mine own case against the witch hither!” Darch was losing his temper and control of the situation.

“Thou hast the wrong witch, the woman Palfrey should'st be on trial hither, not good wife Dunn!” Henry stood in the aisle to confront the lawyer as voices began to be raised in agreement.

“Thee speak lies!” Grace cried desperately as the mist grew around her.

“What witchcraft is this?” The rector was on his feet and had a hand on his father’s - Lord Mandeville's - shoulder as he pointed at Grace Palfrey, the mist swirling around her as people stepped back and tried to get away from her. Looking at the mist she screamed, tiny forks of lightning sparked off the walls as suddenly the mist condensed and flew along the hall, bursting through the heavy oak doors and out of the Great Hall. In the open doorway stood a hooded figure, its eyes burning with fire!

“Grace, my child!” A cold voice came from the hood.

Somebody screamed, “A Daemon!” Villagers panicked; they were trapped in the hall by this creature. It laughed, a cold, dry rasping laugh before melting away with the mist…

As the terrified villagers started to run from the hall, Lord Mandeville shouted to his militiamen, “HOLD THAT WOMAN!” pointing at Grace Palfrey who was still rooted to the spot, frozen in fear and confusion.

“ANOTHER WITCH!” Darch turned to the rector, “We have another witch!” He was almost laughing.

“I am nay witch!” pleaded Grace as the militiamen took hold of her.

“That shan't make any difference…” Temperance Dunn said coldly.