er who saide to
Thomas Gibson that he was a Mainesworne ladd /"

To call anyone "mansworn" was evidently a very serious offence, for in
1527 the Newcastle-on-Tyne corporation of weavers decreed that any member
of the corporation who should call his brother "mansworn" should incur a
forfeit of 6s. 8d. "without forgiveness." To _manswear_ comes from the
Anglo-Saxon _manswerian_ meaning to swear falsely or to perjure oneself.
Among the men of note of this period mention must be made of Ralph Dodmer
son of Henry Dodmer of Pickering who was a mercer and Lord Mayor of London
in 1521.[1]

[Footnote 1: Thomas Fuller's "Worthies."]

The visitation book shows that it was no uncommon thing to accuse a woman
of being a scold in these times and the following written in 1602[1]
throws a lurid light on the methods for removing the effects of a witch's
malice.

[Footnote 1: The original is stuck in Calvert's MS. Book of Folklore.]

"To cure an ill caste by any Witch putt upon any childe be y^t y^e evil
eye, an overglent, spreeking, an ill birth touche or of a spittle boult
but do as here given & alle shalle be overcome letting no evil rest upon
y^m Take a childe so ill held & strike y^t seven times on y^e face & like
upon y^e navel with y^e heart of a blacke cat then roast y^e heart & give
of y^t to eat seven nights at bed meale & y^t shalle be well butt y^e cat
must be seven years olde & y^e seventh dropped at birth otherwise y^t
shalle faile to overcome any Witch spell soever ill worked y^e blood from
such an heart laid to any witches dorepost or thrown over nighte upon her
dorestep will cause a sore & great paine in her belly."

In the period which includes the momentous defeat of the Spanish Armada
(1588) it is fitting to describe the beacons of Pickering and the
neighbourhood that must have helped to spread the news to the inhabitants
of Yorkshire of the coming of that "Invincible" fleet. A contemporary
manuscript book dated 1580 to 1590, and discovered by Mr J.G. Constable,
tells us how Pickering beacon, which was presumably situated on Beacon
Hill opposite the castle, gave light to the neighbouring heights.

[Sidenote: "Pickering Lythe 7 Beacons]

Pickering beacon giveth light to Setrington beacon, in the East Riding,
and to Ampleforth beacon, in Rydall. Seamer two beacons do give light to
Pickering, Susfeld, in Whitby Strand, and Setterington beacon. Waipnesse
beacon, within the liberties of Scarborough, do give light t