The Witches of Northamptonshire

At Northampton.

[various] kinds of cattle, to be guilty of that crime. And being also publicly known to be of an evil life and reputation, together with his father and mother, the Justices and other officers (intending thereby to test the said Arthur by an experiment that many think never fails) caused them all to be bound, and their thumbs and big toes to be tied crosswise, and so threw the father, mother, and son [into the water]; none of them sank, but all floated upon the water.

And by the way, it is a special thing worthy of general notice and observation that there are two signs or tokens which are considered more certain than others for detecting and finding out witches. The first is the mark where the spirits suck, and the testing of the lack of sensation therein The "sucking mark" or "witch's mark" was believed to be an extra teat or spot where a familiar spirit fed; "insensiblenesse" refers to the practice of "pricking" the mark with a pin, believing it would not feel pain or bleed.. The other is their floating on the water original: "fleeting on the water." This refers to the "swimming test," based on the idea that water, as a pure element used in baptism, would reject those who had made a pact with the Devil.. Concerning these, although I dare affirm nothing for certain—there being (for all I know) neither evident proof in nature nor revelation from heaven to assure us of it—yet I think I may say the same of this as is held regarding the bleeding of a slain body in the presence of the murderer original: "bleeding of a slaine body in presence of the murtherer." This refers to the folklore belief in cruentation, where a victim's corpse was thought to spontaneously bleed if touched or approached by the person who killed them.. For just as in a secret murder, if the dead carcass is at any time either seen or handled by the murderer, it straightway gushes blood—as if the blood, by issuing forth in such a strange manner, should cry unto heaven for revenge against the murderer—God, it seems, has appointed that secret supernatural sign as a trial for that secret unnatural crime, so that the blood remaining in the body should thus appear,