This accusation unleashed a torrent of invective, which included Elizabeth’s claim that Alice was:
“..a slut that did shit in her cooking pot.”
Alice fired back with an even more poisonous barb, referring to a stillborn child Elizabeth had delivered years earlier:
“Thou art a poisoned, jaded whore… God had sent [you] one example [of your whoredom] and perhaps he might send another.”
Elizabeth subsequently sued Alice for defamation but the outcome of this case is not recorded.
Source: Testimony of Alice Fetherstone and others, Durham County Record Office, vol. 3, 1608. 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.