History is full of mass claiming to possess magical powers who then get expose as liars . However , some cases are more gonzo than others . The story of the Yorkshire Witch is one of these , a story involving deceit , execution , and prophetical eggs . And no , this is n’t the kind ofegg fiascothat landed Goop with a hefty fine for telling story . This narration go steady back to the 1800s , in the city of Leeds in West Yorkshire , England .
Mary Bateman – maiden name Mary Harker – was bornin the village of Asenby , North Yorkshire , in 1768 . Her father was a farmer , and Mary apparently welcome a good lineament education for someone of her class , being able to learn and write proficiently .
However , after living in York for a year , Mary had to flee to Leeds after being caught red - handed committing robbery . According to abiographyof Bateman , she “ displayed what may have been a pathological need to slip . She was , moreover , none too discreet in the manner of her robberies . ” She was catch in the act multiple times , perhaps bribing her victims to deflect face the legal consequences of her actions .
Alongside her aptness for stealing , Mary Bateman also had a more spiritual side bunko as a fresh woman , telling fortune and supposedly remove harmful trance placed upon her guest .
Like many people at the sentence , Batemankept chickensto keep her supplied with fresh eggs . However , in 1806 , she claim that one of her hen was put eggs magically inscribe with amessage : “ Crist is coming ” . Presumably the content was meant to say “ Christ is issue forth ” , but spellcheck did n’t exist in 1806 , and who has time to proof when the Messiah is due to return any minute ?
This Book of Revelation had exactly the response Bateman wanted . Brobdingnagian number of citizenry lined up , eachpaying a pennyto reckon the orphic eggs and the magical chicken laying them . Those who witness this were whipped into a fury , convincedthat the Revelation was upon them . Mary also began selling “ seal ” assuring admittance into heaven after the Gallus gallus - foretold apocalypse – these “ seals ” were justpieces of paperwith the letters “ JC ” on them .
However , not everyone believed the level of the charming Revelation eggs . Some skeptic make up too soon in the morning , hiding out near Mary Bateman ’s house to discover her . A handing over in the bookExtraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowdsexplains what they witness :
“ Some gentlemen , hear of the matter , went one ok morning time , and take in the poor hen in the human action of laying one of her miraculous eggs . They soon watch beyond doubt that the egg had been enrol with some vitriolic ink , and cruelly forced up again into the shuttlecock ’s body . At this explanation , those who had pray , now express mirth , and the world wag as merrily as of yore . ”
It turned out that this “ mordant ink ” wasconcentrated acetum . Vinegar is a root of acetic pane , ordinarily curb between4 to 8 percentacetic pane . shell are mostly made of calcium carbonate – also a coarse ingredient inantacids . Limestone is also mostly made up of atomic number 20 carbonate , and isknownto bedissolved by sulphurous rainwater .
Therefore , when the acetum was painted onto the eggs , the acetic acidreacted with the calcium carbonatein a chemic reaction that ends up producingcarbon dioxide , water , and calcium acetate , dissolve the shell and spring the ominous substance while not damage the inner tissue layer of the bollock . Mary Bateman reapplied the vinegar multiple fourth dimension to ensure the message was“sufficiently burned in”before crash them back up the poor bird ’s cloaca , so it seemed that the lettering happened while the egg was still in the wimp .
After her scam was disclose , Bateman trade the skirt – which went on to be named the “ prophet hen of Leeds ” – to a neighbour , and it stopped laying the graven eggs .
Unfortunately , this was n’t the end of Mary Bateman ’s scamming career . A woman named Rebecca Perigo consulted Mary about a pain in the ass in her breast , which Bateman said was the result of an “ malevolent wish ” . As part of her witching – and pricey – cure , Bateman fed both Rebecca and her hubby Williampoisoned pudding . Rebecca stop up dying , and Mary Bateman washungat noon on March 20 , 1809 , for murder and fraud .
Bateman ’s soundbox ended up being put on presentation at Leeds General Infirmary , with people pay to see her and even buyingcured cutsof her skin to use as charms . Her body was also put on display at the Thackray Medical Museum in Leeds until 2015 . Mary Bateman , dubbed the " Yorkshire Witch " after her magic escapades , certainly never chickened out of make a quick buck .
