Deep waters.

                                                               Edward.


Edward lived from 1575 to 1635. He was a poet. He lived in Fewston, North Yorkshire, in a house which is now at the bottom of a reservoir along with his grave in the  deep waters of the church  yard. Edward was the son of Thomas Fairfax the elder. Therefore he was the half brother of Thomas Fairfax, 1st Earl of Cameron. whos wife Ellen Aske was the sister of Robert Aske  executed at Clifford's tower York in 1537, as leader of the Pilgrimage of Grace. He was hung in chains. Which is hanging the body in a cage and letting the occupant die of thirst. Lady Ellen's brother in law was Edward the poet who wrote the legend on her tomb at Otley church.
"Here lies Leah's fruitfulness, here Rachel's beauty;
Here Rebecca's faith, here Sarah's duty."

Edwards father was Thomas fairfax The Elder. I have him discribed as "the natural son"....which I take to mean that he came from the wrong side of the bed sheets...... Therefore he was the half brother of Thomas Fairfax 1st earl of Cameron , a nobleman, soldier, Diplomat and politician. Thomas was an emissary at the court of Queen Elizabeth 1 and was often sent to Scotland on diplomatic business, both before and after Mary Queen of Scots execution. The effigies of Thomas and Ellen Fairfax in Otley church are amongst my favourite places to visit and prompted this story about Edward Fairfax and Fewston.

 These are my latest photos taken just last week on a visit to otley whilst going around the charity shops and junk shops...I was just poking about and sticking my nose into some civil war and Fairfax history when I noted that an Edward Fairfax had been " plagued by witches" at Fewston. These were known as the Timble witches. WITCHES!!!!!??? i thought to myself. I am on it! and so we got into The Fonz car with Monza dog and went off to Fewston reservoir......Also I read that there is a witch tree on the Otley chevin. I went there too........So this is the Edward story finally being finished...here it is.

These effigies are in the far corner of Otley church and were a fascination long before I started research into the civil war and other prominent Yorkshire families. They are connected or married into every  family, stately home landowner and official .....lots of church men in fact anyone with money and power they are related to in some way. Most came with the Normans and took over the lands as presented to them by William the Conqueror. Mainly York and Lancaster, Wars of the roses stuff.
 So we have.....Latimer,  Conyers , Scrope, Mowbury, Neville, Percy, Clifford, Ros . Greystock, Talbot, Gaunt, Constable, Mauleverer, Saville, Tempest, Aske , Fawkes, Cholmondeley, Tempest....  I have missed loads, but you get the picture.

Edwards Nephews were  Ferdinando Fairfax 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron
who married Mary, daughter of Edmund Sheffield earl of Mulgrave.(their son Thomas became Black Tom of the civil war)
 His  brothers William and John were both soldiers and killed in battle, Perigrine was killed at La Rochelle and Thomas in Turkey. Henry Fairfax was a scholar and lived at Newhall in Fewston. He married Mary, daughter of Sir Henry Chomondeley of Whitby and owner of the house , now a  ruin just by Whitby Abbey. The one that is a beautiful haunted facade where it is said that there is a black rider that comes out of the mist....and inspired Tolkien. Another that I also love to visit
Edward also had Three nieces Dorothy, Anne and Mary  and another nephew ..lastly...  Charles who was also an academic antiquary and genealogist who wrote Analecta Fairfaiana  a very detailed history of the Fairax family and all its branches, cousins  ...warts and all!


The Fewston reservoir which now holds Edwards house under the deep waters was built in 1879 . The work started in 1874 and flooded a Hamlet already fallen into ruin. West house Mill, was a flax mill. It was mostly run as a workhouse for orphaned children.
 Fewston mill was demolished and West house mill at Blubberhouses, the stone used to build a wall around the reservoir.
Fewston was an ancient parish in the forest of knaresborough.It was called a forest in those days but was actually a great expanse of moor and woods used as a hunting ground by the aristocracy.This covered a wide area including Blubberhouses, Clifton with Norwood, Great Timble, and Thruscross. We Celtic Yorkshire borns would have been hung for poaching .......(we Celts were the original inhabitants and owners of these lands shoved out by the Normans who claimed Yorkshire as their own)

Edward lived at Newhall with his Brother Fernando Fairfax, both of their family's and  wives. Edward's daughters Elizabeth and Anne were baptised in the church in 1606 1621. Fernando Fairfax 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron 's daughter Mary and son Charles were also baptised there. in 1606 1615. This church is now under the deep waters now also.

Edwards contemporaries were William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlow, John Webster ( wrote The white devil, The Duchess of Malfi)  Edward De Vere (some believe he wrote Shakespeare's plays) and Ben Johnson amongst others. Edward lived through the reigns of Elizabeth 1. James 1 and Charles 1,Civil wars and regicide.

 He dedicated a book to Queen Elizabeth 1. This book was a translation of Tasso's Jerusalem delivered. The first edition was 1600. He also wrote a" treatise" on demonology. Which I have found and read........
Richard Carew already translated much of this poem, which Edward then used. It is quite a "loose" translation which Ben Johnson said was  " not well done"
 First.    Tasso's Jerusalem delivered. This is an epic poem by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso. first published in 1581 and tells a version of the first crusade. Christian knights, led by Godfrey of Bouillion fight a battle with Islamic Turks in order to take Jerusalem.
Godgfrey was a Frankish knight and one of the leaders of the first crusade from 1096 to 1099. Lord of Bouillion and from 1087 he became Duke of Lower Lorrainne.Then after the seige of Jerusalem. he took over and ruled there as well. he did refuse the title of king though, as he believed that Christ was the true king of Jerusalem. He became Baron of the Holy Sepulchre and the crusader King. Now he reigned from 22 July 1099- 18 July 1100. (22 July is my birthday!!! and that is Prince George remember??)
It was in Jerusalem that this legend was really born....He returned Jerusalem to Christian rule after three years of battles in the holy lands. Godfrey was killed in the holy land and is buried  at the Holy Sepulchre . He never married . His life was dedicated to Christ as a knight .
now.....
time for Edwards  belief in demon ism.
Daemonologia, a discourse on witchcraft by edward Fairfax 1635.

"Daemonogia ; a discourse on witchcraft as it was acted in the family of Edward Fairfax, of Fuyston, in the county of York in the year 1621; along with the two eclogues of the same author to be in existance. With a biographical introduction and notes topogrgrahical and illustrative by William Grainge.
published Harrogate. R.Ackrill, 1882. eight editions published.
I found this down loaded it and read it...for all my sins. It is extremely hard going....very tedious and boring. disappointing to say the least.
Though some one has made a play out of it.......

Whafedale witches: an original play founded on Daemonogia, Edward Fairfax. 1622. by Ina Kitson Clark


 So this is the poem  that Edward translated whilst living at New hall Fewston. North Yorkshire. And Daemonogia. This is how he spent his time, as well as generally being an intellect and tutor to other family members children.( yes they left their children to be educated by this man)... This hall is now in the waters of Fewston reservoir which  flooded the hamlet of Fewston.
This is the story I wish to tell Edward the poet and his dealings with the witches of Timble.. And this is why we went to visit Fewston in the rain to take photos and visit the area.

So it came that Edward becoming obsessive about tragedy and witch craft. All of this he wrote down in a long document in 1621.It is a very strange story to say the least. Witch hunts were fashionable at that time and given the seal of approval by James !.It became a hysteria which did not die for a century.

As Edward became more obsessed his rationality left him and I think it made him a bit crazy to be quite frank about the story. So here it is as far as I can make of it from Edwards words.

The story begins in 1621 when witchcraft was used on his daughters Ellen, Anne and Elizabeth.. Ellen was found lying on the parlour floor in a trance. She recovered at that time, but it happened again a few days later. Medical advice at the time was " the maladie is an afliction of the brain, by what cause or agent we know not." So the attacks continued and the girl became very week. Then Elizabeth began to show the same syptoms.

Edward sat beside them in bed and kept a note of their ramblings....as they were semi conscious.   A lot was incoherant. Edward claimed they were insights or predictions. Note here that he did nothing to comfort his daughters!
As a result he named six local women and accused them of witchcraft. Margaret Thorp was dragged from her bed and taken to the parish church and instructed to say the lords prayer. She stumbled over the words "forgive us our trespasses"  Edward took this as positive proof of witchcraft.

The Rector Nicholas Smythson, was not convinced . There is no record of his thoughts that I can find.... but he doubted the accusations . He stood up to Edward Fairfax and all of his money, family connections and influence knowing perfectly well that it could end very badly for him if Edward Fairfax got vindictive of his powerful family were to step in and take his part.
Edward did get spiteful and vindictive. And I can find no evidence of his family taking his part either... The women went for trial in York and the court was told in graphic detail how the coven met at Timble Gill Beck. This was recorded as a fairy bridge close to where the stream enters the Washburn river. All of their witch work was supposition on Edwards part....or what he thought his daughters were rambling about in their trance and fits.
All three girls were afflicted with convulsions and seemed to recover, then Elizabeth suffered fatal injuries in a fall from a haystack and his young baby died, In fact all of them are supposed to have died. Though I do find a daughter having married and had a family....later.....
The evidence against the women was bizarre at best....Bess Foster was acused of the fatal spell on Elizabeth . Margaret Waite was accused of making " a terrible curse with stolen pennyworth of corn" (a corn dolly!???) Margaret Thop was accused  of making pictures of the girls and" casting them onto the water"....Janet Drabb was named as the coven cook with "recipes so foul as to tempt Lucifer himself to the feasting", All of them were accused of taking the girls to a hill top to see the midsummer bonfire.
The case against the women fell apart and Edward used all his influence to provide more evidence and have a retrial.
Nicholas Smythson the retor spoke for the women. There was also local disquiet and he organised petitions which lead to their aquittal. A brave man. There is no record of any revenge taken, though I think there would have been some.
The women celebrated their release with a banquet . Edward and the rector were both invited.Niether attended though the story goes that the devil did.

To day is now Monday 14th August 2017. I started this blog about a week ago and it has not gone a simply as I hoped. I thought that I would check into Edwards life and find his original writings about the Witches of Fewston and then write a breif blog with some gorgeous photos of Fewston reservoir. It has worked out to be much more complicated than just that. Edwards original writings are very strange....even by my standards and I have read the whole thing which I downloaded including notes. Then I started to look into the background and times he lived in, contemporarys and such.
It is not looking like I will finish to day either as I have to go out to work now. Though I have now got the family history...who is who straight as I was getting confused myself.

Tuesday 15th August

managed to get a bit more sorted out.

Wednesday 16 th August.
Yesterday we went to the Otley chevin to find the witch tree. I am now finishing this blog and am going to publish it....mistakes and all as I am now thoroughly bored by Edward and do not like him at all.  He reminds me of a very clever well educated man I used to work with when I was a civil servant. He was an alcoholic and kept vodka in his water bottle in his desk drawer. (it looks like water!) went to the pub at lunchtime and usually fell asleep on his desk which made his wig fall off. He sat next to me...I learned a lot about intellectuals and religion from that one. When I first met him he wore a kind of greasy looking Richard 111 wig. This was obviously a wig as it fell off or was ascue... But when he got a new "Elvis" with full quiff there was no doubt left about it. He married a lady from Malawi. She was a postal bride as we did not have on line dating in those days. She left him after six months and came into the office yelling about him being an affront to God and ripped his Elvis wig off and left.

So with that I leave you with a poem by Edward.

HEVEN

From hence with grace and goodness compass'd round,
God ruleth, blesseth, keepeth all he wrought,
Above the air, the fire, the sea and ground
Our sense, our wit, our reason and our thought;
Where persons three, with power and glory crown'd,
Are all one God, who made all things of naught.
Under whose feet, subjected to his grace
Sit nature, fortune, motion, time and place.

This is the place from whence like smoke and dust
Of this frail world, the wealth, the pomp, the power,
He tosseth, humbleth, turneth as he lust,
And guides our life, our end, our death and hour,
No eye (however virtuous, pure and just)
Can view the brightness of that glorious bower,
On every side the blessed spirits be
Equal in joys though differing in degree. 

Edward Fairfax