In the spring of 1590, Sicilia Thornton of Clerkenwell sued her neighbour, Edith Parsons, for “uttering the lewdest of slanders” . According to a witness, Joanna Gage, Parsons leaned out of her window and screamed a tirade of abuse at Thornton, who was standing in her own doorway.

Some of the words uttered, Gage said, were “past womanhood to name”, however she recalled hearing Parsons shout:

“Thou art a whore, an arrant whore, a bitch… yea, worse than a bitch, thou goes sorting up and down the town after knaves… and thou art such a hot-tailed whore that neither one nor two nor 10 nor 20 knaves will scarce serve thee.”

The court found in Parsons’ favour, however no penalty against Thornton is recorded.

Source: Depositions of London Consistory Court, May 21st 1590, 213. Content on this page is © Alpha History 2019-23. Content may not be republished without our express permission. For more information please refer to our Terms of Use or contact Alpha History.