Elizabeth Clarke (c. 1565 – 1645), a woman with one leg, was the first individual persecuted by Matthew Hopkins, the self-proclaimed "Witchfinder General," in 1645. Hopkins and John Stearne, acting as investigators, accused her of witchcraft and allegedly saw familiars while observing her. After several days of sleep deprivation and alleged "watching" by Hopkins, Clarke confessed and implicated others in the local area. She was subsequently tried and executed for witchcraft in Essex.
Song of the Witches: “Double, double toil and trouble”
By William Shakespear
(from Macbeth)
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
