User:Amanda Reece/Mother Shipton

Mother shipton (1488-1561)

known as Knaresborough’s Prophetess, witch

Early Life
Mother Shipton, born Ursula Sontheil, was born in the year 1488 to the 15 year old Agatha Soothtale in a cave in North Yorkshire outside of the town Knaresborough. The earliest sources of the legends of her birth and life were collected in 1667 by author and biographer Richard Head and later by J. Conyers in 1686.

Both the sources in 1667 and 1686 say she was born during a violent thunderstorm. Massive, deformed, and ugly with a hunchback and bulging eyes. As she was born she didn't cry but cackled, and as she did the previously raging storms ceased. They also say Ursula's mother Agatha was a poor and desolate orphan, left at fifteen with no means to support herself. In her starving state she met and fell victim to the charms of the Devil which resulted in an affair, and the birth of Ursula. Variations of this legend claim Agatha herself was a witch and summoned the Devil to conceive a child.

The true origin of Ursula’s father is unknown and Agatha refused to reveal him. At one point she was forcibly brought before the local magistrate, but still she refused. The scandalous nature of Agatha's life and Ursula's birth meant the two were ostracized from society and forced to live alone, in the same cave Ursula was born, for the first two years of Ursula's life. Rumors Agatha was a witch and Ursula the spawn of Satan were perpetuated because this cave was known to contain a skull shaped pool which turned things to stone. The cave is known today as Mother Shipton's Cave and to this day still turns things to stone.

According to 17th century sources after two years living alone in the Forest of Knaresborough the Abbot of Beverley intervened. The Abbot removed them from the cave and secured Agatha a place in the Convent of the order of St. Bridget, in Nottinghamshire, and Ursula a foster family in Knaresborough. Agatha and Ursula never see each other again.

Developed from contemporary descriptions and depictions of her, it is likely Ursula had a large crooked nose and suffered from a hunchback and crooked legs. Physical differences acted as a visual reminder of the secretive events of her birth and the townspeople never forgot. She found acceptance with her foster family and a few friends, but Urula was ultimately ostracized from the larger portion of people in town. She found sanctuary in the woods like her mother had and spent most of her childhood learning of plants and herbs and the medicinal properties of them.

Legends of her Childhood
Story claims when Ursula was only two years old her foster mother left the house to run errands and left Ursula home alone. On her return she finds the front door wide open. Afraid of what might still be in the house she calls her neighbors to come help and they hear loud wailing, like "a thousand cats in consort" throughout the house. Ursula's cradle is found empty and after a frantic search throughout the house, her foster mother looks up to see Ursula naked and cackling. Perched on top of the iron bar where the pot hooks were fastened above the fireplace.

A record from 1686 tells of an event where all the chief members of the Parish were gathered together having a meeting. At one point during the meeting Ursula walked past running an errand for her mother. The men stopped to mock her, calling out "hag face" and "The Devil's bastard". Ursula kept walking to continue her errands but as the men sat down to their meeting the Ruff on the neck of one of the principal yeomen transformed and a toilet seat clapped down around his neck. The man next to him began to laugh and as he hid the hat he was wearing was suddenly replaced with a chamber pot! The room burst out laughing so raucous the Master of the house came running to see what was the matter. When he tried to run through the door he found that he couldn't because growing from his head was the largest pair of horns anyone had ever seen. Before anyone could truly understand what was happening, everything was back as if nothing had happened. According to 17th century sources this was the last day the townspeople ever publicly mocked Ursula Southeil.

Adulthood
As Ursula grew as did her knowledge of plants and herbs and she became an invaluable resource for the townspeople as an herbalist. The respect she earned from her work gave her the opportunity to expand her social circle and it was then she met the local carpenter Toby Shipton.

When Ursula was 24 years old she and Toby Shipton were married. From this point on Ursula adopted her husband's surname and became Mother Shipton.The people in town were shocked at their union and whispered of how he must have been bewitched to marry her.

About a month into her marriage a neighbor came to the door and asked for her help, saying she had left her door open and a thief had come in and stole a new smock and petticoat. Without hesitation Mother Shipton calmed her neighbor and said she knew exactly who stolen the clothing and would retrieve it the next day. The next morning Mother Shipton and her neighbor went to the Market-cross. The woman who had stolen the clothing couldn't stop herself from putting the smock on over her clothes, the petticoat in her hand, and marching through town. When she arrived at the Market-cross she began dancing and danced straight for Mother Shipton and her neighbor all the while singing, "'I stole my Neighbours Smock and Coat, I am a Thief, and here I show't.'"When she arrived at Mother Shipton she took off the smock, handed it over, curtsied, and left.

Tragically only two years later in 1512, Toby Shipton died. Mother Shipton was widowed with the town insisting she must have been responsible for his death. The grief of losing her husband and the harsh words of the town prompted Ursula Shipton to move into the woods and the same cave she had been born in for peace. Here she continued to create potions and herbal remedies for people and probably casted spells as well.

Mother Shipton's name slowly became more and more well known. People would travel far distances to come and see her and receive potions and spells from the mysterious soothsayer Mother Shipton.

As her popularity grew she grew bolder and revealed she could see the future and began to prophesy. She started with smaller prophecies involving her town and the people within, but as her prophecies kept coming true she started telling prophecies about the monarchy and the future of the world. In 1537 King Henry VIII wrote a letter to the Duke of Norfolk where he refers to a "witch of York." This reference leads us to believe that Mother Shipton became so famous the King of England not only knew of her, but referenced her.

Prophecies
"“Water shall come over Ouse Bridge, and a windmill shall be set upon a Tower, and a Elm Tree shall lie at every man’s door.”"The River Ouse was the river next to York, and Ouse Bridge was the bridge over the river. This prophecy meant nothing to the people of York until the town got a piped water system. The system brought water across Ouse Bridge in pipes to a windmill that drew up the water into the pipes. The pipes they used were made out of Elm trees and the pipes came to every man's door delivering water throughout the town "“Before Ouse Bridge and Trinity Church meet, what is built in the day shall fall in the night, till the highest stone in the church be"Not long after Mother Shipton uttered this prophecy did a huge storm fall on York. During the storm the steeple on the top of Trinity Church fell and a portion of the Ouse Bridge was destroyed and swept away by the river. Later when making repairs to the bridge, pieces that had previously been the steeple of the church were used as the foundation of the new section of the bridge. Effectively making Trinity Church and the Ouse Bridge what was built in the day and fell in the night, and the steeple from Trinity church, the highest stone, be the foundation of the bridge, the lowest stone of the bridge.

Prophecy of Henry the Eighth
"“When the cow doth ride the bull, then, priest, beware the skull. And when the lower shrubs do fall, the great trees quickly follow shall. The mitered peacock's lofty cry shall to his master be a guide. And one great court to pass shall bring what was never done by any king. The poor shall grieve to see that day and who did feast must fast and pray. Fate so decreed their overthrow, riches brought pride, and pride brought woe.”""“When the cow doth ride the bull, then, priest, beware the skull.'"Oftentimes when Mother Shipton would have visions of specific people she wouldn't see faces or names, but their family heraldry. The cow mentioned represents the heraldry of Henry VIII, and the bull similarly represents Anne Boleyn. Mother Shipton is marking the beginning of her prophecy to the marriage of King Henry VII and Anne Boleyn. Once they are wed the priests need to beware. This is because their marriage marks the beginning of the Dissolution of Monasteries, where King Henry VIII demobilized all monasteries, friaries priories, and convents in England. Many priests, both religious and secular, lost their lives for pressing against the laws made to limit the Catholic Church's power."'The mitered peacock's lofty cry shall to his master be a guide.'"In late 15th century and early 16th century England, King Henry VIII was not the controlling force behind all policies and matters of state. The man who was the controlling figure in matters of state was the King's chief advisor Thomas Wolsey  .Thomas Wolsey was the son of a butcher, who rose up and became Chancellor, and then a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the King's chief advisor and a controlling figure in all matters of state, and Henry VIII’s policies. Wolsey was even often depicted as an alter rex (other king) because his influence was so absolute in both political and religious spheres. In her prophecy Mother Shipton refers to him as a "mitered peacock.” as he came from the lowly state of being the son of a baker to controlling and guiding King Henry VII and all his policies for England. "'And one great court to pass shall bring what was never done by any king. '" This portion of the prophecy refers to King Henry VIII seizing power from the Catholic Church and his creation of the Church of England, which had never been done by any king before. "The poor shall grieve to see that day and who did feast must fast and pray. Fate so decreed their overthrow, riches brought pride, and pride brought woe.” King Henry VIII wanted to take control of all the land and property owned by the Catholic Church. He believed the governing bodies, heads of monasteries, were corrupted. When he seized these resources the money going into these institutions stopped. The monks had so much wealth before the seizure, and then it was all taken away and they no longer had all the wealth and luxury as before. The poor were ultimately the ones that suffered though because the monasteries that were feeding and giving alms to the poor either no longer had the resources to do so, or they kept any resources they had for the monastery.

Mother Shipton then says this fall of the church was inevitable; as the church became more wealthy they became more prideful. They had become a threat of power over the country and it was this that ultimately led to their downfall.

Was She Real or Just a Folk Legend?
Based on contemporary references to her and countless resources detailing the events of her life, historians believe Mother Shipton was a real woman , born in 1488 to an orphan fifteen year old girl named Agatha Soothtale in a cave in North Yorkshire outside of the town Knaresborough   . Based on how every contemporary record of her from the time references her appearance, she probably suffered from a hunchback and a large crooked nose, although much else regarding her appearance is conjecture. She made potions, herbal remedies, casted spells, and prophesied of the future. In reference to her existence in 1537 Yorkshire, while Catholic people were rebelling against the dissolution of Catholic monasteries, Henry VIII wrote a letter to the Duke of Norfolk where he refers to a "witch of York." It is believed that this letter is the earliest reference to the real Mother Shipton who would have been prophesying about Henry VII at this time.

The earliest account of Mother Shipton's prophecies was published in 1641, eighty years after her death. The story is, the document of Mother Shipton's life was recorded by a young girl named Joanne Walker who heard the story as a young girl and transcribed it as Mother Shipton spoke of her life. Mother Shipton never wrote anything down or published anything during her lifetime so there is no way of knowing what she actually said or did.

The cave where she lived is known as England's oldest tourist attraction and for hundreds of years people have trekked to see the cave where she was born. This cave's water has a mineral content so high anything placed in the pool will slowly be covered in layers of stone. Tourists will place items in the pool to later return and see it turned to stone. It is assumed that many of her prophecies were never written down, and many legends and prophecies accredited to her were created after her death to enhance the folk legend she had become.