American Reacts to The Pendle Witch Child - The Disturbing Witch Trial That Shook Britain
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 30 ต.ค. 2022
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In this video I react to the Pendle Witch child and the Pendle Witch trial. Jennet Device was a poor beggar girl in Lancashire, England in 1612 and only 9 years old at the time. She testified against her entire family, including her own mother and others, that they were all Witches. This ultimately led to the deaths of what are now known as the Pendle Hill Witches.
Her testimony caused an entire change in the way the law worked. Young children would from then on be able to be used as a credible witness in court cases. This ended up affecting her 22 years later as a 10 year old boy would go on to claim she was a witch. She ended up on trial just like her mother, which she testified against 22 years earlier.
This was a very disturbing story. I still don't understand why Jennet testified against her own mother. Maybe her mother hurt her or perhaps she was coached into what to say. I wonder as she got older did she ever feel guilty for being the main reason her entire family were executed. Those are questions for each of our imaginations I suppose.
Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed this reaction please give this video a thumbs up, share your thoughts in the comments and click the subscribe button to follow my journey to learn about my British and Irish ancestry.
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Just to say I really enjoy a lot of the subjects you look at, like the cemeteries, and the Pendle witch trials. It’s so different from what other American reactors do it’s a breath of fresh air 👍👍👍
Thank you Louise. I'm loving this exploration of everything about the British Isles. There is so much interesting history and so many interesting places to check out.
Thank you for reacting to this, it's the best telling of the story of the Pendle witches. There was a movement in 2021 to have the witches pardoned, but I'm not sure of the outcome. I'm Pendle born bred hence the TH-cam name.
How amazing Wow 😊
And they were the first..👍🇬🇧
Pendle resident too
i went to schoolwith decendants of the nutter amily and believe me they were a bit er differrent
@@davidboult2921 😳😅
I was studying law at Lancaster University in the 1980's. The castle was still a prison at that time, but the University organised a visit. I have been in the courtroom shown on the video (not contemporary with the trial) and the prison cell. The entire class went into the cell and the light was extinguished, it was very dark, claustrophobic and disturbing despite one small, high, window . It must have been awful, all those unwashed bodies, lack of sanitation and poor diet, crammed together awaiting an almost inevitable fate.
I always find this story is both horrific and very sad. Those poor people never stood a chance once they were accused of witchery.
Shirley Thompson: Yes, in those days you were guilty until proved innocent if you were charged with witchcraft.
Late to the video, but always enjoy people reacting to and learning about the Pendle Witch trials, as I'm from the area (Burnley born and bred) and also related to Alice Nutter on my mothers side.
Had an aunt (sadly passed last year)who was always very interested in this family history, so the Pendle Witches story is one I'm familiar with.
From what I've been told, the whole thing arose from what is essentially a 'turf war'. The families of both Demdike and Chattox were known as vagrants, troublemakers and petty criminals, engaged in begging, scams (The 'cunning woman' role was apparently one of these, as from what I heard, neither were good at this except to the most gullible of folks and were often found out as fraudulent later) and thefts. As both operated in the same area, there was fierce competition for customers/victims, which led to bad blood that stretched back many years. Both families took the opportunity to level accusations of witchcraft at their rivals and enemies (no matter who they were), which spiralled out of control in a country beset by the socio-political tensions outlined in the video.
As for Jennet, I tend to think that as a child from a poverty stricken, socially ostracised family, with a home environment of deception, she reacted positively to the attention she was getting as a result of her accusations, especially as it was coming from the more accepted/wealthier members of the community (who may well have coached her on what to say in order to advance their political agenda and standing with positive affirmation for this emotionally vulnerable girl).
Greetings cousin!
I'm in Great Harwood and I'm also a descendant of Alice Nutter's brother on my father's side.
I can see Pendle from my window right now.
We live about 5 miles from Pendle Hill the landscape is amazing ……..The Pendle Witches are an integral part of life around here we get visitors from all over the world wanting to know about the Pendle Witches.🇬🇧
as a Lancastrian Catholic, I know all this, and I still feel it even 400 years later.
Thanks for your reaction. I'm glad you found this interesting. I have been to Lancaster Castle, and you're right about the courtroom - very atmospheric, especially when you stand in the Dock with its original branding iron! I also went in the cell, but the most chilling part was realising I was standing on the trapdoor they used to lower the coffins for the people they hung at the prison! I'm now off for a walk in that countryside you liked! I'll avoid Pendle Hill - it will be busy today!! Thanks again! 👍🏻
I live in Lancaster and had jury duty in the court
This is one of my favorite documentaries, it's so well done I've watched it many times. It's a beautiful but haunting part of the country. Have a look into Matthew Hopkins from east Anglia known as the Witchfinder General, very disturbing. 😱
Hi, its great watching all your reactions to your "Roots" and seeing your real interests and comments. I live around 3 miles from "Pendle" in the open countryside and there are a lot of constant reminders of the Pendle Witches, eg the Local Express Bus service is named "The Witch Way", would you believe. Best Regards...John
You might be interested in the story of the Manningtree Witches - they were the victims of Mathew Hopkins, The Witchfinder General
Hi Steve, I'm sure you are familiar with Salem in your own country. Same wine, different bottle. Arthur Miller's play 'The Crucible' used to be on English school syllabuses. We learnt from that about McCarthyism in the US in the 1950s and political threats to freedom of speech. The lesson from Pendle isn't about the reality of witches, of course - which never existed in their supernatural form - but about power, intolerance and prejudice.
The Scottish syllabus included it too.
The best video I've watched for ages. Thank you. Very informative.
I really enjoy your reactions to these videos. You are openly amazed at things.
513 witches were put on trail in England between 1560 and 1700. Only 112 were executed. The last known execution was in Devon in 1685. The last trails were in 1717 in Leicester.
Hehehe
Or you could watch the original TH-cam video?😊
Firstly may I say, I have been really enjoying your journey of knowledge and culture. Your passion for learning and down to earth views make for very entertaining content.
This story is especially familiar to me, as I live on Weets Hill very close by and grew up in this area. It is a beautiful place to live!
When you make it over for a visit, It would be a pleasure to give you a locals tour around here, over to York and then Whitby for some views and food you would not forget.
Keep up the great work pal
Hi STEVE I’m British watching you is a real eye opener, I have learnt more about my country in the short time I have been watching you and have enjoyed all of videos thank you.
Thanks Pamela. I'm happy to hear that as I was hoping when I started this channel that along my journey others would learn a lot with me. :)
I used to live in a cottage on the Shropshire border, called Court Cottage on the other side of the lane was Court House Farm. Both buildings are mentioned in the Doomsday Book , so excited in 1066. They were outside the castles wall, it was the Court for over 600 years. Its how rural (extremely rural) areas had law, with regular meetings a travelling Judge would precede, we freaked out a couple of Canadians who couldn't sleep in my room because it was so old!
I thought I knew this story, but there was so much more information in this. GREAT reaction.
Thanks JJ. This was an amazing story.
My late Nan was from Burnley, Lancashire, we visited her from down south and innocently took her for a local drive. She saw the signs for Pendle and she freaked and said it was evil. We had to turn around. I was baffled at the time!
I look out my window to the view of Pendle Hill in Lancashire
I saw Pendle Hill every day when growing up and knew the tale of the 'witches'.
@@retrowatches1655 Hush don't tell everyone lol
Same view here.
We used to go up Pendle Hill on Halloween
Thank you for commenting on a typically excellent BBC television program. Maybe there may be more BBC programs you could comment on. Kind regards, Graham.
Alice Nutter was from Rough Lee in Pendle and there is an amazing sculpture t her in the village and there are always flowers laid
Thank you for this, my daughter lives in the shadow of Pendle, it deffo has a an "atmosphere" not a bad one but kinds a strange vibe when its quiet. I did not know all this, saved it! Great story.
My Dad's family lived in the shadow of Pendle Hill since before that time period as Sheep farmers, they were there while this was going on. It Must have been a very scary time. Lots of injustice happened in that time.
Wasn't really unusual in the 1970's for a 9 year old to be left on their own, let alone centuries ago 🤷🏼♀️😁
I’m lucky to live in this area of England
Interesting fact. This was presented by Simon Armitage, the Poet Laureate. He has a beautiful voice and especially when reading his poetry
Many years ago I used to go fly fishing on the side of Pendle Hill, A small reservoir called Churnclough. Boy it used to get cold up there.
Great video. Lancaster castle just up the road from me.
I loved this documentary, the best account of the Pendle witches. The use of animation within real scenery is so imaginative and effective.
Shout out to the BBC of times gone by. Growing up in the UK, all TV documentaries were held to this standard, and also this interesting. Sadly, not so much anymore.
Indeed, kennedy. That's the reason i lobbed my tele in a skip in 1990. A'int regretted it yet !
I just love this guys reaction makes me smile 😊
I find it interesting that you say you don't agree with some of what is being said. You and I live in a very different world to what the people of that time did. It does not matter what we believe or agree with. The fact is that's what they believed in.
The Pendle Witch trials were the first in Britain…before the Essex ones ..and certainly before the Salem Witch Trials.. 🏴🇬🇧
We still have self proclaimed witches here, usually purple haired chunky girls oddly enough...
Who are confused about their sexuality? 😉
I can see pendle hill from my window (I live in a village called Billington, if you want to google it), and we definitely have a "witch" brand around here. As john says, the local bus route is in-fact called the "witch way", and my favourite restaurant is on the side of Pendle Hill.
I think the child testified because she didn't realise what the consequences would have been. She probably thought her mum would be told off and that gave her a bit of power after being told off by her mum in the past. I imagine the trauma of realising what happened would have affected the child for the rest of her life.
Oh my gosh Mrstu you are so lucky 🍀
I have a good view of Pendle too from Burnley. We were always told Pendle was originally Pen Hill which became Pendle so for that reason we call it just Pendle rather than Pendle Hill otherwise it's Pen Hill Hill!
@@margaretrutherford5548 I'm Welsh, so I know "pen" means head, top, or summit. It's used a lot across Cumbria and the North too. So it probably means top of the hill, or head of the hill. Some people think Pen means hill too, but it doesn't.
And what a bus !
Like no other.
Definitely magical.😁
@@stuartcollins82
That's a shame
I quite like Hill hill hill.😊
I’m from Burnley Lancashire and in my last home I had a view of Pendle Hill through my window. It’s a beautiful area but lots of dark tales , in fact Lancashire has a plethora of haunted Houses, Boggarts etc . If you’re interested there are lots of Lancashire paranormal stories on the internet. Also there are a couple of books particularly about Pendle Witches (Mist over Pendle and The Lancashire Witches)
I used to be a member of Pendle ski club in the late 80’s.
This is an awesome documentary. And yes, there is a link to the Salem witch trials as you will learn. A very disturbing link. And the connections don't stop there. There have been modern trials just in the last few decades that make the same error: depending on the testimony of children.
Brilliant,thanks for sharing this.👌
I was born in Brierfield, Pendle, I’m supposed to be related to Elizabeth Device, she had a son called Christopher Holgate, who wasn’t living with her at the time, that is the side I’m related to, my maiden name is Holgate. I no longer live there, but I still call it home 🙏🏻
The young boys story sounds like it was inspired by the folklore tales of the time, tales of shapeshifters, witches and goblins. People then believed in these stories and would attribute bad luck or poor harvests etc to malevolent beings or spirits. I love reading these old tales of legend and lore.
The nearer you get to original accounts of these folklore tales the more they begin to sound like alibis for crimes, escapes from indentured labour, etc like the stories you have now of things 'falling off the back of a wagon'.
Very similar to the witch trials in Salem - especially the bit about children starting the witch hunt! Children have no idea about the consequences of their actions when they falsely accuse an adult of anything bad. As for James I, this is what happens when we put a Scot on the Throne in England 😅😅
Not only were the Pendle Witch Trials very similar to the Salem Trials, the book used in the Salem trials was written around the time the pendle trials took place and contained many references to the case of the Pendle Witches, which is why we know so much about those trials enough to produce a documentary about them.
Lancashire was a bit of a black sheep county in those days, as it was known as a relatively safe haven for religious and other persecuted minorities, such as the very Puritans which crossed the Atlantic to found places such as Jamestown. It is far away from London and was a very remote area, and in those days was covered with forest, with small villages and market towns interspersed where folk from the countryside would take their goods to market
It is why, as a Lancashire native I suspect I am related to a lot of americans, though there are probably few to no records of their migration because of the time period. However, I do know of much later records of other relatives migrating to the US and Canada from the 1800s through to the 1920s. The last lot of migrants from my family to North America was the great grandfather of my first cousins, so my great granduncle, and his wife and children migrating to Alberta in about 1920, where their descendents now live all over Canada and are some of my closest cousins, as I have no aunties or uncles on either side as both my parents were the only child.
Well I’m British and never heard of this but I’m well informed about Salem and have visited there.
Fascinating and scary at the same time, so glad I wasn't around then, to think you could have a fall out with your neighbour then find yourself arrested the next day accused of witchcraft, so many innocent people hung for nothing!
Even today in countries like Pakistan you hear stories where someone has accused a relative of blasphemy for personal gain.
The power of suggestion
I agree with you about energy. Years ago I went to view a very old house. I stepped across the threshold, went into the first room and ran out, apparently saying "something awful happened here". I was panic stricken, and to this day, don't know why. I never found out what happened in the house. My mother had a sixth sense, and I appear to have got it from her. The older I get, the more accurate my feelings and senses have become (I'm nearly 70yrs old). 🇬🇧
Pathetic
I grew up in Lancaster where the Pendle Witches were put on trial and the executions took place. Lancaster crown court, inside the castle, is the oldest functioning court room in England and has passed more death sentences than any other court room in England. It is also the site of the most public executions outside of London.
Wow. I bet the energy in that place is palpable.
@@reactingtomyroots what my still spook some people is the fact that the jury deliberation room is the former 'drop room' where the executions took place after they stopped being done in public.
I live in Lancaster
The court in Lancaster Castle was one of the most secure courts in the country at the time due to the fact that any one held awaiting trial in the Castle could be brought straight up to the court room from the cells below without having to go out of the prison .
In the 80s it saw one of the most secure trials in the case of the handless and headless murder trial.
Armed police stood guard outside and on the walls to ensure that no rescue attempts were made for those standing trial .
It was one of the biggest cases to do with an international drugs ring at the time.
HI STEVE. 🇺🇲
DEBRA HERE FROM SOUTH WALES UK. 🏴 🇬🇧
it is nice to see a reactor not rushing their way through a reaction, but taking it in as a whole and going through the programme completely and not just reacting to highlights.
Good on you I say.👍 👏 👏 👏
I recommend at visit to the castle previously. If you go youcan go into the actual cell where they were held
Now that i know the story I would very much like to.
I watched this when it was on the BBC, in part because my Mum researched the story for a project; but also because I live near Pendle and work in the area. It is as you say very beautiful. If and when you decide to visit you should visit the area, the people are very friendly, and every American friend I’ve had visit have found that it is a region that gives lie to the idea English people are aloof and cold.
The path he is walking down at 10:54 looks to be a “hollow-way” or sunken lane. Many, many generations of people walking along this route have may have helped create this distinctive feature.
That makes sense. Little things like that involving natural beauty catch my eye for some reason.
Another story you should seek out is that of Eyam in Derbyshire. The actions of the villagers there deserve a much wider audience
Hearsay says Alice Nutter refused Knowles marriage proposal he was prepared to overlook the fact she was Catholic if she married him so he could take control of the nutter estate
The Pendle witch trials are indeed mostly viewed today in the same way as the Salem witch trials on your side of the water. Prejudice, rivalry, and superstition finding a victim. It's a kind of social sacrifice, really.
It was very common across the world (the US too, presumably) for prisoners to have to pay their way, though some prisons might have offered the basics of bread and water. Rich people in prison, whose families could provide decent food and pay for extras like a single cell and furnishings could live reasonably comfortably. In Britain, this changed as part of the same mid 1800s reforms that created the workhouses and the asylums as government institutions, not profit-making enterprises.
As a poet who grew up near Pendle Hill I was surprised to see Simon Armitage presenting this!
Was it her voice? ... or Knowles who wanted power and prestige ... her words that may have been from a child who wasnt loved, with the words and emotions, twisted and contrived to be damning by him counselling her when she was in his care...makes you think ....
Very interesting video!
You surely can't accept children's testamonies there minds are so vivid. When I was really young my mum taught me to recite our address and my grandads telephone number off by hart, one day out shopping I got lost in town and a women found me and went and found a police man sat in his van and I was adamant my name was Wilfred and I lived at the bottom of the garden lol
Similar. I got lost in a outside market when i was 5. I told the police I was called Margery and i have a baby in winging wib. Meaning " I have a doll in a swinging crib" lol
Even when my mum came to get me from the station, the officer said " is this your mummy" i said "no" my mum had to call my Aunty to get a family picture. I insisted i was calles Margery and refused to allow my mum to claim me 😂
I was Born in Lancashire in padiham the story is well known and a tourist trade as strong up around it a lovely area to visit.
I can see Pendle hill (about 5 miles away) from my house.
Brilliant video.
Happy Halloween 🎃 👻 Steve.
Happy Halloween Clare. I'm about to take my daughter out for a bit. Hope you're having a great one.
The whole area around Pendle Hill, is a very atmospheric place, even today. It is not well populated and the weather can change extremely quickly and is often windswept and bleak.
Hi Steve, Guy/Guido Fawkes was a Catholic mercenary who was fighting for the Spanish so was known as Guido, whereas when he was in England he was Guy. I know you'll find it all very interesting and there is a good drama starring John Snow or Kit Harrington you should watch for leisure. Clocks gone back here so its that time of year we in the northern hemisphere get dull days but the footage was good. Stay well man 🙏
I can see Pendle hill from my kitchen window! 🧹
I can see Lancaster castle from mine 😂
i live in the next town from pendle its got some good history and if you walk up pendle hill its very creepy and it feels like you are being watched and there is old mother demdyke it gives my the creeps i also live in lancashire and been up that hill many times its only 4 miles to the town called nelson then its a few more miles to get near pendle hill so you can walk through some farmers fields then you walk up a path at the foot of the hill to get to the top and you can see for miles around if and when you come to the united kingdom this should be on you list to visit
wycoller is a good place to visit with good history
It’s highly likely that Jennet Device died in Lancaster Castle Prison, like her grandmother. Probably in the same prison cell. Because even though she had been acquitted, the only way she could leave, was to pay her boarding fees.
The usual way people did that was by the family, paying them for them. Because her family were all dead, because of her. She had no living family to pay them for her, to secure her release.
Alone, depressed, eating bad food in poor lighting. She would have succumbed to illness like her grandmother, and died in the same Witch’s Cell, suffering the same misery and despair, where her grandmother had died.
Some would call that ‘divine justice’, well deserved!
Her husband was from a land-owning family she would have been freed by her husband most likely.
She was only 9 when she testified, and under immense pressure and influence. I don't think it would be divine justice at all. Its a tragic story all round 😢
I think by marks they saw moles, or skin tags. Amazing video, I loved it , thankyou. Yes, Jennet would have to pay for her incarceration awaiting trial and released when debt paid off by prison work.
Hi Steve, This is the best telling I have heard of the Pendle witches and I live in UK. Thank you.
They had Debtors Prisons in UK, meaning if you had debts you couldn’t pay, you would be put in prison.
The ducking stool… if you drown whilst being ducked then you innocent, if you survived then burnt at the stake. Witch or no witch it was a lose, lose situation.
Wow, that was really interesting!👀Glad I didn't live in those times.
My distant ancestors were the Knyvets (Guy Fawkes accuser). An innocent man this week was let out of jail in England and he was asked to pay for his board and lodgings !!
all the best from Northumberland
the pendleton witches were held in lancaster prison where i use to work it was aprison from around 1196tt till2012 you can visit the witches cell as it is now attourist attraction
I've not seen this one before, poignant and chilling. There but for the grace of God, so glad I'm a 20th Century girl.
Pendle Hill Witches Trial (the now infamous covenant was located; outside Burnley in Lancashire) wasn't the only location for Witches to have a covenant. My hkme county of Essex (was also infamous for it's Witch Trials). Many of these women, were the elders of the community (healers and the wise); were tried, sentenced and executed by hanging or they were subjected to Swimming Ordeal (drowned = innocent or Float = Guilty. These trials were conducted and ordered by Matthew Hopkins. It's not right, to use the child as a weapon.
This is where I'm from pendel Hill Lancashire UK 🇬🇧
I was born in Sabden my brother and sister still live there
...but can't spell the place that you come from!? 🤔
@@Kraken54321 I was born and lived in Sabden for 30years
@@KatsCats2619 I used to be a member at Pendle Ski club, back in the day when the pub was there.
@@Kraken54321 I miss Sabden and the 2 pubs
I can only think that little girl must have been terrified
Can see Pendle hill from my town. I know a girl who's related to the dead women! She said her family still mark the anniversary and do some rudimentary spells as a sort of protest/celebration
With the marks on the women, my guess is that they were probably pimples or skin tags or scarring. If you imagine that cleanliness and hygiene back then wasn’t really practiced very often and things like fleas and bedbugs would’ve been rife it’s not hard to see how women may have had scarred bites or raised pimples or simply skin tags in their ‘secret’ place. I’d be more surprised if they were completely unblemished.
My stepson was married at the building which now stands on Gallows Hill
I can see the hill from where i live, been there many times
the marks were probably anything to be honest it could range from a skin tag (probably the most common) maybe a wart, bug bite i am sure all were used as an excuse
Few suggestions on things to look at is the Edinburgh vaults and Dover castle 🏰
Your absolutely right there’s some people now that try to do good and call themselves witches but back then they did not, unless you fancied being the recipient of a little torturing and a spot of hanging or burning or both.
This is why children need boundaries people! I’m joking but in all seriousness, those people were probably starving most of the time so that poor girl was probably just promised regular food. Real hunger can make you desperate.
I should imagine the marks they found were skin tags of some kind, Most people probably had some. I love your open views on peoples rights. I've heard that Pendle Hill is quite a spooky place, but have never been, not sure I want to actually. This was very interestimg and I like your reactions. xx
I'm from Clitheroe, but have always lived within view of Pendle. There is a walk from Downham, near my former home in Chatburn, which is a beautiful village, and goes, up over Pendle. When I left to study for a Physics degree I was desperately homesick, and that view of the green fields and trees looking towards Pendle, meant home and belonging. A few hundred years ago I would probably have been hanged as a witch, being an unmarried, non-compliant female to the current orthodoxy, and especially, as one of my cats who was feral, and named Lucky, a friend described as a very "witchy" cat.
If there is an afterlife then the fields around Pendle is where my spirit should remain, it's special as were the people.
Centuries ago they had Pauper Prisons where you went if you owed money. Your family had to feed you and try to pay off the debt before you were released. If Janet didn’t have family left, she probably stayed there. Interesting there were no further information on her. Perhaps she died in prison. Love this one, it was a doozy. 👍
Although you do not get billed for your time in prison I did read this a few years ago. Someone was wrongly imprisoned, for example, for 20 years and was cleared. They were awarded a large sum in compensation but a deduction was made for their accommodation on the basis, I guess, that had they been free they would have had to pay for their housing. Go figure, regular prisoners get jailed for free.
I am in my more mature years, but as a child, with my parents, i went to Lancaster Castle, and i still remember the awfull feeling i felt, maybe childish over imagination, i do not know, but i never forgot it, the fear, and sadness, in their case through ignorance,, all mainley political, victims of it really Pendle area is gorgeous, i live not far, and l love the hill.
The "marks" would most likely be warts or moles etc
There may have been a high aquital rate , for those who went to court . There were so many that didn't get to court There were just tried by people like the witch finder general , and they were exicuted. So yes there were alot that were accused for no reason
In those times inmate records were not meticulous so she probably died in prison. The debt was for a daily charge of food and accommodation!!!!. Unless you had the money to pay the debt in full your chances of freedom was pretty slim. The marks they referred to could be a mole, wart or even a hemmeroid in the bottom.
Simon Armitage is our Poet Laureate
My 9x gr Grandma was accused of being a witch at 10 years old in 1695 in Cornwall.
She was put on trail for causing a death of a farmer, she was accused of being possessed because she would vomit I think or at least something like that.
According to those accusing her she vomited Pins, feathers and straw.
However apparently vomitting this is an old Cornish spell for
"Let thy go free"
Fortunately she was acquitted by Justice Holt on charges of prognostication.
So fortunately my ancestors escaped being put to death due to being accused of being a witch.
Fortunately she lived a quite long life passing away in 1766 so she was about 81 when passing away
Aquited means you're free and innocent according to a court of law.
Poor sods. I live close to Pendle 30 minutes drive if the m65 is clear. If you would like to chat more then give us a DM or something. Always happy to chat 👍
Essentially people in prison would be charged rent/ board innocent or not, this would need to be payed off before being released. This period of time is heavily taught in school (or was ) fro henry VII to Charles II as there is a lot from War of the roses, Henry 8th, bloody Mary, the armada, gunpowder plot, the civil war, the Plague and the great fire of london. incidentally witchcraft was blamed for the plague so cats were killed as witches familiars, the plague was being carried via the rats ironically. These are all things to look at which shaped a lot of things
You may want to look at Burke and Hare who were mass killers in Scotland.
bonfire night this saturday night.