Upon yt sd An saith she would haue gon back & haue talked againe to
Mercy & Thomas Benit senr bad her she should not for she would do her
som mischief and yt night following shee sd Ann saith she could not
sleep & shee heard a noyse about ye house & allso heard a noyse like as
tho a beast wear knoct with an axe & in ye morning their was a heifer of
theirs lay ded near ye door. Allso sd An saith yt last summer she had a
sow very sick and sd Mercy cam bye & she called to her & bad her
on-bewitch her sow & tould her yt folks talked of ducking her but if she
would not onbewitch her sow she should need no ducking & soon after yt
her sow was well and eat her meat." That both what is on this side & the
other is sworne in court.
"Sept 15, 92. Attests, John Allyn Secy"
"It has been heretofore noted that during her trial--from the records of
which the foregoing testimony has been taken--the prisoner Mercy
Disborough was subjected to a search for witch marks by a committee of
women, faithfully sworn narrowly and truly to inspect and search. This
indignity was repeated, and the women agreed "that there is found on her
boddy as before they found, and nothing else." But the accused in order
to her further detection was subjected to another test of English
parentage, recommended by the authorities and embodied in the criminal
codes. It was the notorious water test, or ordeal by water. September
15, 1692, this test was made, chiefly on the testimony of a young girl
subject to epileptic fits and hysterics, who was carried into the
meetinghouse where the examination was being held.
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