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9
The arraignment of John Flodder
Pepys, i, 130, B.L., five woodcuts, four columns.
"The arraignement of John ffloder for burneing the towne of Windham in Norfolke" was registered at Stationers' Hall by John Trundle on September 26, 1615 (Arber's Transcript, m, 573).
The following passage, dealing with Flodder's crime, occurs in Francis Blomefi eld's History of Norfolk, 1805, n, 533:
On June nth, 1615, this town [of Wymondham] was damaged by fire to above 40,000/. value, there being above 300 dwelling-houses consumed... it appears it was fired on purpose; I have the original confession of one Margaret Bix, alias Ehvyn, then under sentence of death, made before the under-sheriff, &c. in which she acknowledges that she was privy to the fact, and that it was committed by Ellen Pendleton, who was also under condemnation for it, and that the said Ellen lighted a match, and she placed it in the stable where the fire first began; Will. Flodder was not condemned, but his brother John, and others, were condemned also: it appears that they were Scots, but went under the name of Egyptians, all but this Bix, whom they promised to carry with them into their own country, and maintain well, and procure a pardon from the Pope, for committing the fact.
Ellen Pendleton (or "Helen Pendleton alias Floder," as she is called in the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1611-18, p. 304) was the wife of John Flodder, and her examination is preserved in the Public Record Office. From the summary given in the Calendar it appears that she attempted to place the blame on "certain maimed soldiers, sailors, &c. whom she found on the road near Howlbruck, Derbyshire, who said they were employed by Lord Stanley beyond the seas in plots," and that her attempt was not successful because these men carried no "powder or match whereby they could be suspected of such a crime." On August 9, 1615, one Humphrey Clesby, talking with an acquaintance (who promptly reported his words to the Government) about a sermon against Popery at Paul's Cross, remarked that the burning of Wymondham, though falsely imputed to Roman Catholic fanatics, "was done by two sailors" (Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, 1611-18, p. 301).
The tune is given in Chappell's Popular Music, 1, 162. |
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