Dominic Selwood
speaker
436 appearances
4 recordings
1 series
first heard Jun 2026
last heard 8 Sep
Dominic Selwood’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
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recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Sep 2026 with 1.
Appearances
By then, one of the women had gone back up to Yorkshire, so she was tried separately at the York Assizes.
But the main trial happened in Lancaster Castle, which is still there today, at the Assizes.
And what happened at the trial was different to what would happen at a trial today.
In England and in America, there would be prosecution, there would be defence, there would be a jury, the prosecution would put their version of a story, the defence would be allowed to attack and challenge, then the defence would put their version of a story, and the prosecution could attack and challenge.
The judge would give guidance, make sure the right rules were observed, and the jury would come in with a verdict.
That is not how trials worked in the early 1600s in England.
There was no prosecution and defence.
What happened was that the statements that Robert Noel, the magistrate, had collected were read out, as were confessions by the individuals involved, because they spoke about their witchcraft, and there was some live evidence given in court, but the defendants weren't able to challenge that evidence, so there was no cross-examination or questioning.
So they were all charged under the Witchcraft Act.
And the evidence that came out was very shocking.
There was lots about their guiding diabolical spirits, their familiars, the animals that they kept and used to do their bidding, spells that they used to blame and harm other people.
Killing?
How they murdered people?
Either by taking wax or clay effigies, putting pins in them, cutting bits off them, throwing them into fires, taking scalps from recently buried bodies, teeth from recently buried bodies, burying them under doorways of enemies that they wanted to harm.
I mean, the details were very, very colourful.
But then the high point of the trial was a nine-year-old girl.
So this was Alizon Device's younger sister.
Alizon, the one who started it by asking the peddler for the pins.
Alizon, the daughter of Squinting Lizzie and the granddaughter of Old Demdike.
So, Janet Device was nine years old and she had been at the party on Good Friday and she said she would give evidence.
Showing 321–340 of 436 · page 17 of 22
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