Witch 400 – Alison Device – the Colne Road Traditional Cache

This cache has been archived.

belbincolne: Checked as several others in area stolen and looks like this one has been too. Series has run its course so not replacing.

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Hidden : 1/15/2012
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
1.5 out of 5

Size: Size: small (small)

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Geocache Description:

Witch 400 – Alison Device – the Colne Road

2012 is the 400th anniversary of the execution of the Pendle Witches so I thought it appropriate to place a series of caches as close as possible to the places with which they are associated. You would need to be a very hard walker (and driver) to do them all in one trip! Many can be done as near drive-bys but you will need to study the footpaths on the South Pennines map OL21 very carefully.

The full facts are related over thousands of pages in a dozen books so you’ll appreciate that what appears here is incredibly abbreviated. Possibly witches were basically the herbal practioners, midwives and abortionists of their day who found it convenient to cast spells and claim results to enhance their reputation. We know little about most witches but the Pendle ones have become particularly famous because the clerk to the court wrote a book factually setting out the details of the case. A tiny bit of potted history is put in for each cache. On occasion it is not entirely reverent I’m afraid!

The witches (and their victims) all seem to have lived on farms most of which remain although in nothing like the form they were in 1612. Mostly they have changed out of all recognition and none have been kept as a tourist haven such as, say, the Bronte Parsonage. What little I know is recorded here.

By today’s standards the trial was a farce. Uncorroborated evidence from a child of 9 and a boy of weak intellect was accepted but the witches were their own worst enemy condemning themselves and the others with abandon so it is hardly surprising that they were found guilty in the climate of that particular time in history. For more details I can recommend the website (visit link)

Alison was the cause of the whole affair. Mama (Elizabeth) and Grandmama (Demdike) had taught her all they knew. How to beg, practise witchcraft and such essential skills. In Colne on 18th March 1612 she ran into John Law a peddler from Halifax and asked him for pins – not just a little beg, in those days pins were handmade and expensive. Naturally he refused so she went to her second trade and cursed him. Not a nice girl at all.

Aggravation or co-incidence John obliged her by having a stroke and Jennet was most pleased with herself never denying it – and also freely condemning the rest of her family and friends.

We have no idea where this happened but do know that she then went on to Trawden. A very old, and the most direct, route to Trawden is via the Mireage (Marriage road) so the cache has been placed at the start of this. Also known as Trawden Flags it is a lovely route well worth walking so it’s nice to have a cache at the start of it.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

onpx bs vil pbirerq gerr

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


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