[This tale is based on a story I came across several years on-line several years ago - author unknown]

The library book that delighted them next detailed the execution of women in the 17th century. It contained information that hadn’t been included in “A History of Women & the Death Penalty in Europe,” the book they had read a few months ago on the basis of Jane Edwards’s narrative

The first tales they found stimulating concerned “The Witchfinder” Mathew Hopkins in Norfolk England in the 1640’s

The Witchfinder Hangings

Outside the village on a small hillock stood the gibbet.. Sir Barnaby Forbes had pronounced sentence on three gypsy women in their twenties Maria Jones, Jean Collins & Margot Reynolds.

This morning all three of them were to be hanged. At 12 o’clock they brought the women out & they slowly mounted the gallows platform. There they stood trembling in fear as The Witchfinder Mathew Hopkins read out the crimes they had confessed to under torture.

He finished his remarks with the dread words “The condemned shall be hanged by their necks until they be dead, then burnt upon a pyre & the ashes scattered beyond recovery”.

At this Jean Collins collapsed eyes filled with blind terror. The six Forbes men at arms on the platform took a firm grip on the three doomed witches, raising Jean to her feet. The prisoners’ hands were bound to their sides, they were lifted onto three stools & the dangling nooses slipped around their necks & pulled tight

The watching crowd began to chant “Hang the witches! Hang the witches!”. At a signal from The Witchfinder the stools were kicked away & the three young women, bobbed, writhed & kicked on the scaffold, their hands clenched into white fists.

They continued to jerk & twist for long moments before they swung limp & lifeless the gentle breeze fluttering their skirts. Their sightless eyes stared out at the crowd from blue-black & swollen faces as the kindling was placed on the platform & then lit. The bodies were rapidly consumed by the flames

Hopkins next victim lived in the neighbouring village to the one the three executed gypsy girls had come from. Anne Dury had been brought to his attention because of her interest in herbal remedies & the like.

Poor Anne was a lovely but unwordly twenty year old & her looks stirred deep resentment & jealousy amongst the other women in the village. Hopkins men seized her & under torture she admitted being in league with Satan

Anne was brought to a large oak tree at the edge of the village where a noosed rope dangled from a thick branch. Below the hanging rope was a three foot high wooden trestle. The condemned girl’s hands were tied behind her & she was forced up onto the trestle & noosed.

Her terrified face looked out over the crowd looking for a sympathetic face. She found none. The women especially stared hard at her, their eyes bulging, mouths open & bosoms swelling in & out as they looked on in anticipation of seeing this wanton strumpet, as they considered her, hanging by her neck.

Hopkins stepped forward & read out the crimes Anne had admitted to. He then nodded at one of his assistants who removed the stool from under the prisoner’s feet.

The crowd gave the collective indrawing of breath that always came at such a moment.

Anne’s eyes began to protrude from their sockets, her purpling lips swelling, tongue questing at the air. Her hands strained & fought against the cords binding her wrists. Her chest heaved as she fought for breathe, her legs kicked & flailed.

She dangled & danced for what seemed like an eternity as she died slowly & horribly but, eventually her movements stilled & only the wind stirred her motionless form as it swung slowly back & forth the hemp rope creaking with her weight. Her body was then cut down & quickly burned to ashes

Four weeks later five young women, all confessed witches were dragged in chains from Norwich jail to the gallows hill just outside the town. At the scaffold Hopkins called out their names & read the charges to each of the condemned.

The five women had been found guilty of practicing dark arts. The sentence was death by hanging, which was to be carried out immediately. The crowd of several hundred shouted their approval.

A young blonde woman known only as Catherine was the first to be led to the scaffold. The gallows was simply constructed, a ten foot long crossbeam resting on two ten foot high thick posts anchored at the bottom. It could hold three victims at a time.

The other two women were forced to watch, a harrowing wait. Three guards pushed Catherine along & held her in place under the cross beam. A long thick rope ending in a noose was thrown over the beam.
The open loop dangled in front of Catherine, who looked through it half dazed. One of the guards slipped it over her head & tightened it loosely around her neck. She did not resist.

She shivered slightly & seemed to wake out of the reverie into which she had fallen previously. An expression of pure terror evident on her face. Her hand manacles were removed & her wrists were tied behind her. The ankle chains were left on leaving her legs loosely linked together

The preparations were now complete. Four guards stood in line behind the gallows. They took hold of the free end of the rope & slowly pulled, taking out the slack.

Catherine’s eyes opened wide in panic as she felt the rope move, although it was not yet taut around her neck. She started to shake as the noose started pulling on her neck. The knot did not yet tighten. The men paused to gauge her weight & how much effort is going to be needed to hoist her up. The next heave pulled Catherine up slowly onto her tiptoes. The guards left her like this for a minute as instructed by Hopkins.

Allegedly Hopkins had offered the winsome & buxom Catherine a quick death in return for sex & had been rejected by her. As a result he was determined that her execution would be as prolonged as possible

Her face grimaced with pain & her head bent to the side, her hands strained at their bonds, her anguished eyes wide open. She was lifted off the ground. Just as she was hoisted up she uttered a strangled shriek.

As she rose her body started moving in a frenzy, legs swinging violently in tandem bound by the chains. Her arms squirmed, fighting futilely to free her hands so that she could grab the choking rope. She grunted, gasped & gurgled. Her face reddened. The crowd watched entranced as she thrust her hips back & forth, legs stomping on air lifting her skirt.

Her bonds held fast as her struggles continued to intensify. Her neck stretched. The noose around her throat was still slightly slack & so the blood flow to her brain was not totally cut off. She stayed fully & agonisingly conscious, aware now this would take some time

While Catherine struggled & swung back & forth making hideous gargling sounds, two other witches, Sarah & Elizabeth were also placed under the gallows. Both had dark hair & fair complexions.

Sarah tried to resist as a guard attempted to slip the noose over her head & backed away from the rope. Another guard stepped forward & grabbed hold of her & his colleague finally got the noose around her neck.

Elizabeth appeared to be paralysed with fear & put up no resistance as the noose was placed around her neck. The two young women stood shaking in terror as they watched Catherine’s frenzied contortions, knowing they too would soon be dancing on air.

Being rather petite both were quickly hoisted without a lot of effort. Even though the thick nooses did tighten around their necks, they were considerably lighter than Catherine & their weight wasn’t enough to strangle them quickly.

They too remained fully conscious in excruciating agony as they were being slowly throttled to death

Catherine’s thrashing at last suddenly pulled her noose taut. The knot settled under her ear at the side of her neck, but did not as yet cut off all her air. She continued to wheeze, choke & gurgle as she desperately tried to continue to breathe. The noose finally cut off her blood flow.

Her complexion previously flushed red, now darkened to a purplish blue. Her eyes were bloodshot, her capillaries burst. Drool dripped from her mouth past her swollen extended tongue. She convulsed for three more minutes before losing consciousness

As Catherine sank into merciful oblivion Sarah & Elizabeth were still thrashing vigorously. Since they had been hoisted into the air both women had been thrusting their legs around desperately looking for a foothold.

Elizabeth tried to swing close to the side post but even though she did touch it a few times her bound legs couldn’t grab hold.

Sarah was hanging between Elizabeth & Catherine. Her legs were jerking around & around her body convulsively gyrated, her bare manacled feet felt nothing but air except when they brushed against Elizabeth & Catherine

Catherine’s body continued it’s doomed battle with the rope. Her heart was still beating & her full breasts rose & fell as she gasped her last dying breaths. Her feet twitched one last time & she swung gently dead on the rope

Sarah writhed, her whole body at times squirmed, twisted & span as the noose stretched her slim neck. At times she lifted her legs right up vainly searching for relief, which exposed her crotch to the breathless audience.

Above the noose her throat took on a ghastly swollen purple hue, her open mouth emitted hideous gargling sounds, drool coated her protruding tongue. Her face was now totally purple & her lips blue. Her struggles gradually slowed & then stopped. Her body gave a long shudder, a few more spasms & was then finally still

Elizabeth lasted the longest. She tried again & again to reach the side post with her legs however all she succeeded in doing was kicking it. She began to slow down, her legs no longer swung as wildly. Her agonised bulging eyes stared out at the entranced crowd & then they grew dull as life slowly left her body. After a further minute Elizabeth finally hung dead on the gallows

The three women were left hanging for half an hour to ensure that life was extinct. The bodies were then lowered to the ground & tossed into a waiting cart

The remaining two witches, Anne & Mary, were the most attractive of the five. Anne was a very pretty long haired brunette while Mary had striking thick auburn hair & a lovely clear complexion.

Like Catherine they too had apparently rebuffed Hopkins advances & they were now going to pay for their temerity in doing so. They had been sitting on a wall with guards on either side watching in horror & growing terror the violent convulsions & contortions of Catherine, Sarah & Elizabeth on the gallows.

By the time the three dead witches have been dumped in the cart they were both sobbing helplessly.

They were dragged to the gallows, hands bound & noosed. Two teams of four guards moved to the back of the gallows & very slowly pulled on the ropes. Gradually Anne & Mary were first lifted onto their toes & kept there, like Catherine, for a minute. They were then hoisted into the air.

Their bodies jerked & contorted, legs kicking back & forth looking for support, fingers opening & clenching. Two masses of hair, one brown the other auburn bobbed & shook to & fro.

Their faces began to darken as they drooled & gurgled. Their eyes bulged & two slender necks started to stretch. To the disappointment of the crowd, & Hopkins, Anne & Mary only danced for five minutes before they both hung dead.

After a further half hour the two bodies were removed from the gallows & put in the cart along with the three other dead women. The corpses were taken to a nearby field & burned

Cheryl, April & Beth found the very lurid & graphic description of the execution of the five Norwich witches especially arousing. Cheryl closed the book & they then made love for an hour.

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