One of the accusations against the Pendle witches was the plot to blow up Lancaster Castle in order to rescue the imprisoned Alizon, Demdike, Chattox andand extremist Catholics and witches were the dual threat of the era. Tarring the Pendle suspects with the brush of both might well have suited the needs of Judges Bromley and Altham, attempting to secondguess the wishes of their royal master. Potts’ dedication of his account to Sir Thomas Knyvet, the very man who found Guy Fawkes in the cellars, likewise shows that social order, political stability and witchcraft, along with the need to justify what happened at Lancaster, were on the minds of all concerned. After all, where would the accused have been able to find the gunpowder necessary in order to carry out their supposed plan? Those gathered at Malkin Tower may have spoken in the heat of the moment, their words then taken fatally out of context by young Jennet Device. Alternatively, the words might have been fed to the susceptible girl, only too willing to please, perhaps in exchange for her family’s freedom.
