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It's 1612 and a woman is in a court room. She's accused of witchcraft. She's presented
with a confession to testify against her. A key witness in the trial announces the woman
as a witch. The girl bursts into tears as it would lead to the execution of herself.
This is a story about fear, politics and religion, science and magic. It's also about words and
stories and just how powerful they can be. The files that shape the life of this little
girl are emblematic of a much bigger story. The transition between a pre-modern world
and our supposed age of reason. And yet our fear of evil has never really gone away, neither
has some say has evil itself. It was fact of life that a person may have the power to heal
or harm through the use of charms or spells. Dominated by the strange brooding presence
of Pendle Hill was almost the beyond the back of beyond. Such family squabbles would have
passed by unnoticed, but these weren't usual times!