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The Nursery Rhyme,
or Prayer 'Matthew,
Mark, Luke and John'
can be traced back
to 1655 (publication
1656) when the words
were quoted in a in
a book called 'A
Candle in the Dark'
by the Humanitarian
and writer John Ady.
The words of the
second line differ
from those in the
Children's poem:
Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John,
The bed be blest
that I lie on.
John Ady wrote a
book called 'A
Perfect Discovery of
Witches' which was
published in 1661
and sold by H. Brome
at the Gun in
Ivy-Lane, London. In
this book John Ady
courageously
addressed the
notorious Witch
Hunts and
Witchfinders of the
era. He questioned
the blame attached
to witches by
incompetent
Physicians when they
failed to heal a
patient and the
general
responsibility
placed on witches
for any
unexplainable
catastrophes such as
storms, drought,
illness and
diseases. The blame
on witches, he
argued, was to
disguise the
ignorance of the
people in power. His
book was addressed
as follows:
"A Treatise
Concerning the
Nature of Witches &
Witchcraft: Being
Advice to Judges,
Sheriffes, Justices
of the Peace, and
Grand-Jury-men, what
to do, before they
passe Sentence on
such as are
Arraigned for their
Lives as Witches"
Reference has been
made to the hysteria
and Witchfinders of
this period,
especially
Matthew Hopkins
and the
Identity
of Mother Goose,
but it is important
to also balance this
by mention of the
brave men who spoke
against the witch
hunts such as John
Ady and including
Cornelius Loos,
Johann Weyer,
Reginald Scot and
the Duke of
Brunswick. |
