In reading the assigned texts for this week, one thing stood out: the odd nature of the crimes that were depicted in The Newgate Chronicles. These accounts were unlike what one may consider a biographical text by today's standards, and rather read as summaries of court proceedings, some of which do not seem quite real. Although this is not unexpected, the crimes and the individuals' stories of which they tell are fascinating and quite odd.
Out of the dozen cases presented in The Newgate Chronicles, there were three of the twelve texts which I had read that were very peculiar: Sawney Bean, Arthur and Mary Norcott, and Thomas Savage (my selected 12th reading). Each of these tales had elements beyond what would be passed as pure fact, and details concerning the crimes or, in the case of Thomas Savage, the execution.
Sawney Bean's tale struck me with its first line:
"An incredible Monster who, with his Wife, lived by Murder and Cannibalism in a Cave."
In the first section of the entry, Sawney's clan is presented as being a mythical force whose crimes are so horrible and caused such mass panic that it devastatingly impacted the area in which they hunted. Having explained how the clan had managed to escape detection for so long and expressing how the entire country was filled with fear from the clan's acts due to their leftover human remains washing up on shores across the country, the second section of the account proceeds to work through how the incestuous, cannibalistic clan was finally brought to justice.
Everything about Sawney's story was so bizarre, it was difficult to believe that it was not fiction; it was something so incredible it could not have been invented. This story has it all: crime, hidden caves, the King himself coming to investigate the murders, and the brutal execution of the entire murderous, monstrous clan. This was the least sounding like a court proceeding, although this may be due in part with the author's own disbelief of all the elements of the tale; how can one write in a factual tone something that you yourself cannot believe?
Arthur and Mary Norcott's case had its own odd element: a sweating, moving, colour-changing corpse. Joan Norcott, Arthur's wife, had been found dead, believed to have killed herself, and buried for 30 days until rumours spread that she could not have killed herself given the details concerning how she died and the evidence in the room where she was found. The court decided that the accused, family members of the victim who had been in the room just next to that in which she had died during the time of death, should touch the body of the victim, which lead to very strange results, as expressed by a witness:
"The appellees did touch the dead body, which was before of a livid and carrion colour (that was the verbal expression in terminis of the witness), whereupon the brow of the dead began to have a dew, or gentle sweat, arise on it, which increased by degrees, till the sweat ran down by drops on her face. The brow changed to a lively colour, and the dead opened one of her eyes and shut it again; and this opening of the eye was done three several times. She likewise thrust out the ring - or wedding-finger three times, and pulled it in again, and the finger dropped blood from it on the grass."
What this reaction from the body seems odd to today's reader, and what may have caused such a reaction that multiple witnesses agreed that this had occurred is uncertain in contemporary terms, the fact that one of the defendants had prayed before touching the body that God might send a sign of their innocence definitely indicated a divine input concerning the matter. This, however, may have been manipulated, as the defendant asked for proof of innocence, but the result only solidified the shared guilt of the group along with the plethora of evidence against self-murder.
Thomas Savage's case is less supernatural, but once again my interest was enticed by the opening line:
"A Profligate Apprentice who murdered a Fellow-Servant, was executed twice, and finally buried 28th of October, 1668"
The story itself is not so unbelievable, however the end of the tale brings several oddities. Thomas, a young apprentice, is presented as having difficulties in controlling his gluttony and his lust, being presented as failing to go to church to instead drink at a pub and spend time with a woman. This woman convinces the young apprentice that he should steal money from his master and run away with her. He protests, as he is always left with the maid, never on his own. The woman gets the young man drunk and riled up, and sends him home telling him to kill the maid and steal the money. He does so, but the young man only gives the woman a little of the money, and runs away on his own with the rest of the money.
An innkeeper he encounters on his travels is suspicious of the runaway's wealth, and upon inquiries discovers that an apprentice had murdered the maid and stolen the master's money. Thomas was caught and brought to prison, where he showed much remorse for his action, trying to do penance with God for his crimes. He was hung and, when it was believed that he was dead, was brought down and given over to some of his friends who were to bury him. To their shock, however, Thomas began breathing again, and was blinking and moving his mouth, though he was unable to speak. It can be assumed that his neck was not broken during the hanging, which is usually the way people who are hung die, though there is no clear indication in the reading how he had survived the first hanging. The authorities were eventually made aware that Thomas had not died, and collected him to execute him again, this time for good.
These three texts each have odd elements within them, and these elements make them far more compelling to read than some modern biographies might, as the bizarre elements are for the most part inexplicable or so far from today's reality it may as well be fiction. The tone of the texts may be more official, reading like court accounts, however they all exist in a realm that seems to be a step out of reality.