In North Yorkshire, along the River Nidd, one can find the birthplace of Ursula Southeil, better known as the soothsayer Mother Shipton. Ursula Southheil, also spelt Southill, Soothtell, SOothtale or Ursula Sontheil, popularly known as Mother Shipton, is said to have been an English soothsayer and prophetess. Born in 1488, she has sometimes been described as a witch and is associated with folklore involving the origin of the Rollright Stones of Oxfordshire, reportedly a king and his men transformed to stone after failing her test.
Mother Shipton exhibited prophetic and psychic abilities from an early age, writing prophecies in the form of poems, not much different than the cryptic Quatrains of Nostradamus. Within her lifetime she had several premonitions about some of the largest historical events to take place in England, such as the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The first known edition of her prophecies was printed in 1641, 80 years after her reported death in 1561 at age 73. This timing suggests that what was published was a legendary or mythical account. It contained numerous, mainly regional, predictions and only two prophetic verses.
One of the most notable editions of her prophecies was published in 1684. The book reputed Shipton to be hideously ugly, and that she told fortunes and made predictions throughout her life. Mother Shipton was born Ursula Southeil, in 1488 to 15-year-old Agatha Southeil, in a cave in North Yorkshire outside of the town Knaresborough. The earliest sources of the legends of her birth and life were collected in 1667 by author and biographer Richard Head and later by J. Conyers in 1686.
Both sources state that Shipton was born during a violent thunderstorm, and was deformed and ugly, with a hunchback and bulging eyes. The woman who delivered Ursula’, spoke of a smell of sulfur. The sources also state that Shipton cackled instead of crying after having been born, and as she did so, the previously raging storms ceased.
The sources report Ursula’s mother Agatha as a poor and desolate 15-year-old orphan, left with no means to support herself; having fallen under the influences of the Devil, Agatha engaged in an affair, resulting in the birth of Ursula. Variations of this legend claim Agatha herself was a witch and summoned the Devil to conceive a child.
As soon as she was born, her life would be the subject of scrutiny and controversy, particularly when her mother refused to reveal the identity of Ursula’s father. The true origin of Ursula’s father is still unknown, with Agatha refusing to reveal him; at one point, Agatha was forcibly brought before the local magistrate, but still refused to disclose his identity. Within no time at all, speculation about this mysterious child began to circulate. The scandalous nature of Agatha’s life and Ursula’s birth meant the two were ostracized from society and forced to live alone, in the same cave Ursula was born, for the first two years of Ursula’s life.
Rumors that Agatha was a witch and Ursula the spawn of Satan were perpetuated, due to the cave’s well-known skull-shaped pool, which turned things to stone. Such accusations of witchcraft in early medieval Europe were not uncommon and often affected women, who for whatever reason, were living alone or were without family or friends. The cave, located on the banks of the river Nidd, is known today as Mother Shipton’s Cave; though the effects of the cave’s pool are not those of true petrification, they closely resemble the process by which stalactites are formed, coating objects left in the cave with layers of minerals, and in essence hardening porous objects until they become hard and stone-like.
According to 17th-century sources, after two years living alone in the Forest of Knaresborough, the abbot of Beverley intervened. The abbot removed them from the cave and secured Agatha a place in the Convent of the order of St. Bridget in Nottinghamshire, and Ursula a foster family in Knaresborough. Agatha and Ursula would never see each other again. Poor Agatha would die a few years later at the nunnery, never having been reunited with her daughter.
Developed from contemporary descriptions and depictions of her, it is likely Ursula had a large crooked nose and suffered from a hunchback and crooked legs, which led many people to openly tease her, even when she was just a child. Physical differences acted as a visual reminder of the secretive events of her birth and the townspeople never forgot.
Moreover, such public scorn naturally fuelled more outrageous stories of Ursula. It was claimed that when Ursula was two years old, she was left alone at home while her foster mother left to run errands. Her mother returned to find the front door wide open. Afraid of what might still be in the house, she called to her neighbors for assistance, and the group heard a loud wailing, like “a thousand cats in consort” throughout the house. Ursula’s cradle was found empty. After a frantic search throughout the house, her mother looked up to see Ursula naked and cackling, perched on top of the iron bar where the pot hooks were fastened above the fireplace.
Another much talked about incident included the time a parish meeting was disrupted when she played tricks on the local men who had been mocking her through the window. The talk of strange and unexplained phenomenon’s occurring in retaliation for ridiculing her quickly were interpreted as a sign by those wishing to demonize her: that if you dared to publicly mock Ursula, you could soon expect to be on the receiving end of her wrath.
She found acceptance with her foster family and a few friends, but Ursula was ultimately ostracized from the larger portion of people in town. Ursula dealt with the local community by keeping to herself and journeying off into the woodland and to the cave where she had been born. She found sanctuary in the woods like her mother had and spent most of her childhood learning of plants and herbs and the medicinal properties of them.
She studied the local woodland in great detail, enabling her to devise potions, remedies and concoctions made from the local flora. In no time at all, awareness of Ursula’s abilities and knowledge as an herbalist began to grow within the community and she soon became a very called-upon resource for those wishing for her to cure their ailments.
As Ursula grew so did her knowledge of plants and herbs and she became an invaluable resource for the townspeople as an herbalist. The respect she earned from her work gave her the opportunity to expand her social circle and it was then she met the local carpenter Toby Shipton.
When Ursula was 24 years old she and Toby Shipton were married. From this point on Ursula adopted her husband’s surname and became Mother Shipton. The people in town were shocked at their union and whispered of how he must have been bewitched to marry her.
About a month into her marriage a neighbor came to the door and asked for her help, saying she had left her door open and a thief had come in and stole a new smock and petticoat. Without hesitation Mother Shipton calmed her neighbor and said she knew exactly who stole the clothing and would retrieve it the next day. The next morning Mother Shipton and her neighbor went to the market cross.
The woman who had stolen the clothing couldn’t stop herself from putting the smock on over her clothes, the petticoat in her hand, and marching through town. When she arrived at the market cross she began dancing and danced straight for Mother Shipton and her neighbor all the while singing “I stole my Neighbor’s Smock and Coat, I am a Thief, and here I show’t.” When she reached Mother Shipton she took off the smock, handed it over, curtsied and left.
The source dating to 1686 tells of an event where the chief members of the parish were gathered together in a meeting. Ursula walked past the group running an errand for her mother, and the men stopped to mock her, calling out “hag face” and “The Devil’s bastard”. Ursula kept walking to continue her errands but as the men sat back down, the ruff on the neck of one of the principal yeomen transformed and a toilet seat clapped down around his neck. The man next to him began to laugh, and as he did the hat he was wearing was suddenly replaced with a chamber pot. The gathered members of the parish began to laugh loudly enough that the Master of the house came running to see what was happening; when he tried to run through the door, he found himself blocked by a large pair of horns that had grown suddenly from his head. The source reports that the strange occurrences reverted to normal shortly afterwards, and that the townspeople took them as a sign not to publicly mock Ursula.
Such tales would only add to the mystery and intrigue surrounding Ursula; however her life would be beset by personal tragedy leading to her estrangement from the community once again. Two years later, in 1514, Toby Shipton died, leaving her to become a social outcast once more as some cast aspersions as to the circumstances of his death. The grief of losing her husband and the harsh words of the town prompted Ursula Shipton to move into the woods, and the same cave she had been born in, for peace. Here she continued to create potions and herbal remedies for people. Mother Shipton’s name slowly became more and more well known, and people would travel far distances to see her and receive potions and spells.
Sculpture of Mother Shipton in the cave that is her alleged birthplace, Knaresborough.
As her popularity grew she grew bolder and revealed she could see the future. She started by making small prophecies involving her town and the people within, and as her prophecies came true she began telling prophecies of the monarchy and the future of the world. In 1537 King Henry VIII wrote a letter to the Duke of Norfolk where he mentions a “witch of York”, believed by some to be a reference to Shipton.
“Water shall come over Ouse Bridge, and a windmill shall be set upon a Tower, and a Elm Tree shall lie at every man’s door”.
The River Ouse was the river next to York, and Ouse Bridge was the bridge over the river. This prophecy meant nothing to the people of York until the town got a piped water system. The system brought water across Ouse Bridge in pipes to a windmill that drew up the water into the pipes. The pipes they used were made out of Elm trees and the pipes came to every man’s door delivering water throughout the town.
“Before Ouse Bridge and Trinity Church meet, what is built in the day shall fall in the night, till the highest stone in the church be the lowest stone of the bridge.”
Not long after Mother Shipton uttered this prophecy did a huge storm fall on York. During the storm the steeple on the top of Trinity Church fell and a portion of the Ouse Bridge was destroyed and swept away by the river. Later when making repairs to the bridge, pieces that had previously been the steeple of the church were used as the foundation of the new section of the bridge. Effectively making Trinity Church and the Ouse Bridge what was built in the day and fell in the night, and the steeple from Trinity Church, the highest stone, be the foundation of the bridge, the lowest stone of the bridge.
Moreover, in the famous diarist Samuel Pepys account of the Great Fire of London, he includes the details of hearing the Royal Family discuss Mother Shipton’s predictions of such an event. As her reputation grew, so too did belief in her abilities, enabling her to make a living out of her prophecies. Her predictions would extend to some of the most important people in the land including King Henry VIII himself and his right-hand man at the time, Thomas Wolsey.
“When the cow doth ride the bull, then, priest, beware the skull. And when the lower shrubs do fall, the great trees quickly follow shall. The mitered peacock’s lofty cry shall to his master be a guide. And one great court to pass shall bring what was never done by any king. The poor shall grieve to see that day and who did feast must fast and pray. Fate so decreed their overthrow, riches brought pride, and pride brought woe”.
“When the cow doth ride the bull, then, priest, beware the skull.”
Often when Mother Shipton would have visions of specific people she wouldn’t see faces or names, but their family heraldry. The cow mentioned represents the heraldry of Henry VIII, and the bull similarly represents Anne Boleyn. Mother Shipton is marking the beginning of her prophecy to the marriage of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Once they are wed the priests need to beware. This is because their marriage marks the beginning of the dissolution of the monasteries, where King Henry VIII demobilized all monasteries, priories and convents in England. Many priests, both religious and secular, lost their lives for pressing against the laws made to limit the Catholic Church’s power.
“The mitered peacock’s lofty cry shall to his master be a guide.”
In late-15th-century and early-16th-century England, King Henry VIII was not the controlling force behind all policies and matters of state. The man who was the controlling figure in matters of state was the King’s chief advisor Thomas Wolsey. Thomas Wolsey was the son of a butcher, who rose up and became Chancellor, and then a Cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was the King’s chief advisor and a controlling figure in all matters of state, and Henry VIII’s policies. Wolsey was even often depicted as an alter rex (other king) because his influence was so absolute in both political and religious spheres. In her prophecy Mother Shipton refers to him as a “mitered peacock”. as he came from the lowly state of being the son of a butcher to controlling and guiding King Henry VII and all his policies for England.
“And one great court to pass shall bring what was never done by any king.”
This portion of the prophecy refers to King Henry VIII seizing power from the Catholic Church and his creation of the Church of England, which had never been done by any king before.
“The poor shall grieve to see that day and who did feast must fast and pray. Fate so decreed their overthrow, riches brought pride, and pride brought woe”.
King Henry VIII wanted to take control of all the land and property owned by the monasteries in order to enrich himself. He did this by forcing the monasteries to surrender all their property, and then he dissolved, or abolished the monasteries and expelled the monks. The poor were ultimately the ones that suffered, because the monasteries had been the source of most charity, and fed and gave alms to the poor. With the monasteries all abolished, all of the former funds used for charity went into the king’s treasury instead of being used to help the poor. Mother Shipton then says this fall of the church was inevitable; as the church became more wealthy, they became more prideful. Their lack of humility had ultimately led to their downfall.
Moreover, in a pamphlet dated 1641 which is one of the earliest surviving records of her predictions, she foresees Thomas Wolsey’s fate at the time of his demise, after he had fallen out of favour after failing to secure the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. On a journey between London and York he died from natural causes, a point which Mother Shipton had made when she claimed that Wolsey would never reach his destination.
Whilst her mysticism proved unnerving for some, in such a high-profile case such as predicting Cardinal Wolsey’s fate, or the ensuing dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII, her status and fame reached dizzying new heights.
The earliest account of Mother Shipton’s prophecies published in 1641 goes that the document of Mother Shipton’s life was recorded by a woman named Joanne Walker who heard the story as a young girl and transcribed it as Mother Shipton spoke of her life. Mother Shipton never wrote anything down or published anything during her lifetime.
Most, if not all, of these stories are derived from a book published in 1684, 130 years after the reputed death of Mother Shipton, and it is uncertain how far they were the invention of the author, Richard Head.
The most famous claimed edition of Mother Shipton’s prophecies foretells many modern events and phenomena. Widely quoted today as if it were the original, it contains over a hundred prophetic rhymed couplets. But the language is notably non-16th century. This edition includes the now-famous lines:
The world to an end shall come
In eighteen hundred and eighty one.
This version was not published until 1862. Charles Hindley took an old Mother Shipton chapbook, edited it, and added some material, including the final couplet about the world ending in 1881. This was taken seriously enough that there was panic in that year. More than a decade later, its true author, Charles Hindley, admitted in print that he had created the manuscript.
This fictional prophecy was published over the years with different dates and in (or about) several countries. The booklet The Life and Prophecies of Ursula Sontheil better known as Mother Shipton (1920s, and repeatedly reprinted) predicted the world would end in 1991. (In the late 1970s, many news articles were published about Mother Shipton and her prophecy that the world would end—these accounts said it would occur in 1981.)
Among other well-known lines from Hindley’s fictional version (often quoted as if they were original) are:
A Carriage without a horse shall go;
Disaster fill the world with woe…
Men in the air shall be seen
In blue and black and white and green
In water iron then shall float,
As easy as a wooden boat.
Under the water men shall walk
The world to an end shall come In eighteen hundred eighty-one
Mother Shipton is referred to in Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), referring to the year 1665, when the bubonic plague erupted in London:
“These terrors and apprehensions of the people led them into a thousand weak, foolish, and wicked things, which they wanted not a sort of people really wicked to encourage them to: and this was running about to fortune-tellers, cunning-men, and astrologers to know their fortune, or, as it is vulgarly expressed, to have their fortunes told them, their nativities calculated, and the like… And this trade grew so open and so generally practiced that it became common to have signs and inscriptions set up at doors: ‘Here lives a fortune-teller’, ‘Here lives an astrologer’, ‘Here you may have your nativity calculated’, and the like; and Friar Bacon’s brazen-head, which was the usual sign of these people’s dwellings, was to be seen almost in every street, or else the sign of Mother Shipton….”
The cave where she lived is known as England’s oldest tourist attraction (since 1630) and for hundreds of years people have trekked to see the cave where she was born. This cave’s water has a mineral content so high anything placed in the pool will slowly be covered in layers of stone. Tourists will place items in the pool to later return and see it turned to stone.
Once thought to be the work of witchcraft, it’s now known that the water that can turn thing like teddy bears, hats and other random items into “stone” within 3 to 5 months is due to the natural process of evaporation and an unusually high mineral content.
Mother Shipton’s Cave and Petrifying Well now has a gift shop, a picnic area, a wishing well, and of course a walk along the river to see the items, consisting mostly of children’s toys, hung beneath the soothsayer’s petrifying waters.
The figure of Mother Shipton accumulated considerable folklore and legendary status. Her name became associated with many tragic events and strange goings-on recorded in the UK, North America, and Australia throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Many fortune-tellers used her effigy and statue, presumably for purposes of association marketing. Many English pubs were named after her. Only two survive, one near her purported birthplace in Knaresborough and the other in Portsmouth. The latter has a statue of her above the door.
A fundraising campaign was started in 2013 to raise £35,000 to erect a statue of Shipton in Knaresborough. Completed in October 2017, the statue sits on a bench in the town’s Market Square close to a statue of John Metcalf, an 18th-century road engineer known as Blind Jack.
There is a small moth native to Yorkshire named after her. The Mother Shipton moth (Callistege mi) is very unique and each wing’s pattern resembles a hag’s head in profile.
A Mother Shipton moth, with hag-like markings on its wings
The prophecies may not be all historically correct, and the stories may have been embellished slightly over the centuries, but she remains one of those legendary figures of romance and folklore entwined in our imaginations and the local surroundings.
Mother Shipton had lived a difficult life, dominated by ridicule and suspicion. However her mystical skills rescued her from her status as a social pariah and today has placed her firmly within the pages of English folklore and legend.
Sources: Wikipedia, https://www.mothershipton.co.uk/the-story/, https://www.fresnostate.edu/folklore/ballads/Pet077.html, https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Mother-Shipton-Prophesies/, https://www.crystalinks.com/mother_shipton.html, https://aadl.org/node/167882, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Shipton
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