The Witches in Well Tower
During these revelations, James Device admitted that, like his sister Alison, he had been initiated into witchcraft by his grandmother. Following the general pattern in the other witches’ accounts, he too had initially resisted before succumbing to the temptation to take revenge on those who wronged him. At the same time as making this admission, he implicated his mother. He said he had seen Elizabeth Device making clay poppets and witnessed her familiar, a dog-named Ball. He also confirmed she had aided his grandmother and other witches in their malicious activities. On this basis, James and his mother quickly joined the other accused at Lancaster Castle in the dungeon in Well Tower.
Out of those witches named at the meeting at Malkin Tower, only those on James Device’s list seem to have been arrested. They included John and Jane Bulcock and Katherine Hewitt (Mould Heels). But there were more to come. The pressure of being incarcerated in a small cell, without ventilation or proper sanitation, in the company of nine other people had proved too much for a woman of Mother Demdike’s age. In May, she died, therefore avoiding her trial and any conviction of witchcraft.
The death of her old adversary seems to have loosened Chattox’s tongue. Quite what she believed it would gain her is uncertain, but on May 19, she gave the name of Margaret Pearson of Padiham as another witch, while at the same time denouncing Jennet Preston as the killer of her employer. Preston was consigned to York castle to stand trial for witchcraft for the second time that year.
Margaret Pearson meanwhile joined the growing company in the Wells Tower. During Nowell’s search for independent witnesses to substantiate the witch’s statements, another name came up: that of Isabel Robey. She swiftly joined the other ten witches.