Here lies Fanny Lynes, who, after death, became the notorious scratching ghost of Cock Lane, London. Here swings Mary Bateman, the Yorkshire Witch and holder of the Prophetic Hen who and died a prophetess and murderer.
Here stands Mary Willcocks. Or is it Anne Burgess? Or Princess Caraboo, from the distant island of Javasu?
A ghost. A witch. A princess. This is a story of those who lie. And of those who choose to believe them.
Join History Hit’s Madeleine Pelling and Anthony Delaney as they discuss Madeline’s new book Hoax: A ghost, a witch and a princess in the Age of Enlightenment.
The discoveries of the Enlightenment unsettled longstanding beliefs. Rationalism jarred with superstition. Which voices would be heard in this ferocious battle for certainty?
From the chaos, three women and their hoaxes rose as symbols of terror and fascination. But were the lies surrounding Fanny Lynes, Mary Bateman and Mary Willcocks entirely of their own making? And why were the public transfixed?
Madeleine Pelling's engrossing history of this great age of the hoax reveals a veiled world of moral panic, tall tales and true crime, and holds a mirror to our own turbulent relationship with truth.
Madeleine Pelling is an award-winning cultural historian, author and broadcaster, and has held research fellowships at the universities of Yale, Edinburgh and Manchester. She is the co-host of History Hit's popular After Dark podcast and is a regular contributor for TV and radio, including for Channel 4, Sky Arts, Warner Bros and the BBC. Her words appear in the Guardian, Independent, BBC History Magazine and History Today, amongst others. She is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
Anthony Delaney is an award-winning historian, broadcaster, actor and presenter known for bringing compelling historical stories to life across page, screen, stage and audio. Anthony is co-host of the award-winning After Dark: Myths, Misdeeds and the Paranormal with Madeleine, the podcast that takes you to the shadiest corners of the past, unpicking history’s spookiest, strangest and most sinister stories. He is the author of Queer Georgians.
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