There seems no reasonable doubt that _The Witch_ is a later play than _Macbeth_, but it is only fair to say that the date of _The Witch_ is unknown—it was first printed in 1778 from a manuscript now in the Bodleian—and the date of _Macbeth_ (earlier than 1610, probably 1606) is not demonstrably certain. _The Witch_ is a good but not a distinguished play. Owing to the incantation scenes and its connexion with _Macbeth_ it has acquired an accidental interest, and an enduring reputation. The witches themselves, Hecate and her crew, stand midway between the mystic Norns of the first scene in _Macbeth_, and the miserable hag of Dekker in _The Witch of Edmonton_; they are just a little below the Witches in _Macbeth_ as they appear after the opening lines. There is a ghastly fantasy in their revels which is not lessened by the material grossness of Firestone the clown, Hecate’s son. They raise “jars, jealousies, strifes, and heart-burning disagreements, like a thick scurf o’er life,” and although their figures are often grotesque their power for evil is not to be despised. Much of their jargon, their charms and gaucheries complete, are taken word for word from Reginald Scott’s _Discoverie of Witchcraft_, London, 1584. The village witch, as she appeared to her contemporaries, a filthy old doting crone, hunch-backed, ignorant, malevolent, hateful to God and man, is shown with photographic detail in _The Witch of Edmonton; A known True Story_ by Rowley, Dekker, and Ford, produced at the Cockpit in Drury Lane during the autumn or winter of 1621. It seems to have been very popular at the time, and not only was it applauded in the public theatre, but it was presented before King James at Court. It did not, however, find its way into print until as late as 1658. [Illustration: PLATE VIII THE WITCH OF EDMONTON. The First Quarto [_face p. 290_] The trial and execution (19 April, 1621) of Elizabeth Sawyer attracted a considerable amount of attention. Remarkable numbers of ballads and doggerel songs were made upon the event, detailing her enchantments, how she had blighted standing corn, how a ferret and an owl constantly attended her, and of many demons and familiars who companied with her in the prison. Not only were these ditties trolled out the day of the execution but many were published as broadsides, and sold widely. Accordingly the Newgate Ordinary hastened to pen _The Wonderfull Discoverie of Elizabeth Sawyer, a Witch, Late of Edmonton, Her Conviction, and Condemnation, and Death, Together with the Relation of the Divels Accesse to Her, and Their Conference Together_, “Written by Henry Goodcole, Minister of the Word of God, and her Continual Visiter in the Gaole of Newgate,” Published by Authority, 4to, 1621. This tractate is in the form of a dialogue, question and answer, between Goodcole and the prisoner, who makes ample confession of her crimes.