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'Arthur Gauntlet's Speculatrix'
by David Rankine
Whilst I was conducting the research for my latest book The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet, it became clear how significant, and unsurprisingly understated, the role of women was in seventeenth century magic in London (and by extension the UK generally).
The only known published literary reference to Arthur Gauntlet was by the famous astrologer William Lilly (1602-1681) in his autobiography, written around 1668.[1] Lilly actually provides more information about the skryer Sarah Skelhorn than Arthur Gauntlet, who she worked with:.
“I was very familiar with one Sarah Skelhorn, who had been Speculatrix unto one Arthur Gauntlet about Gray’s Inn Lane,[2] a very lewd fellow, professing physick. This Sarah had a perfect sight, and indeed the best eyes for that purpose I ever yet did see. Gauntlet’s books, after he was dead, were sold, after I had perused them, to my scholar Humphreys: there were rare notions in them. This Sarah lived a long time, even until her death, with one Mrs. Stockman in the Isle of Purbeck, and died about fifteen years since.”[3]
It seems curious that Lilly should describe Sarah Skelhorn (called Sarah Shelborne in the introduction) so positively as such a good seer, and yet be negative about Arthur Gauntlet. Another document would seem to support Lilly’s view, until we consider that it was written in 1889, and seems to repeat verbatim Lilly’s words, with some embellishment. How accurate this information is must be a matter of speculation. Nevertheless it does add to the available information:
“It was so also with Sarah Skelhorn, the speculatrix of Dr Gauntlet of Gray's Inn Lane, a very loose liver. On leaving the Doctor's service Sarah became engaged by Mrs Stockman, with whom she lived in the Isle of Purbeck until her death, seventeen years later, seeing visions for her mistress and her mother, the Lady Beconsfield.”[4]
The other reference to Arthur Gauntlet emphasises the role of women in medieval magic more. Gauntlet’s name is mentioned in MS Laud Misc 19, with this manuscript containing an early ownership inscription of Arthur Gauntlet. This manuscript includes a “Treatise, based on and including extracts from Hilton's Scale, describing the way of meditation and the mystical experience”.[5]
Considering the nature of Walter Hilton’s Scale of Perfection offers some revealing insights. Hilton (c.1343-1396) discusses such topics as the form of spiritual visions and how to induce contemplation through meditation, prayer and Scripture. The Scale of Perfection was written as an instructional guide for women who had taken vows or committed to a religious life, typifying that particular genre of books, and as such may have been of interest to, for example, a female skryer such as Sarah Skelhorn.
It is noteworthy that after Sarah Skelhorn left Arthur Gauntlet’s service, she took service with a woman, for whom she would skry into the crystal. As has already been mentioned, from 1636-1653, Sarah lived with Mrs Stockman in the Isle of Purbeck. In his autobiography, Lilly mentions Mrs Stockman asking Sarah to skry for her to determine whether her mother, Lady Beconsfield, was at home, before going to visit her. [6]
One of the last pieces of information Lilly provides about Sarah Skelhorn suggests she was at times irritated with her gift, describing her frustration with seeing angels everywhere she went. Lilly commented that, “Sarah told me oft, the angels would for some years follow her, and appear in every room of the house, until she was weary of them.”[7]
Lilly also describes how Sarah began her skrying practice, continuing with the same for Ellen Evans, daughter of the Welsh astrologer who trained Lilly himself:
“This Sarah Skelhorn, her call unto the crystal began, 'Oh ye good angels, only and only, &c'. Ellen Evans, daughter of my tutor Evans, her call unto the crystal was this: O Micol, O tu Micol, regina pigmeorum, veni, &c” [8]
The emphasis on female skryers, as well as women using their services, and the probable ownership of Sloane MS 3851 by the Cunning-woman Ann Savadge places a far greater emphasis on the place of women in magic in the seventeenth century than has previously been credited.
[1] “Wrote by himself in the 66th year of his Age”, The Life of William Lilly, Davies:1774:1.
[2] This street is now called Gray’s Inn Road.
[3] The Life of William Lilly, Davies, 1774:149.
[4] Current Opinion Vol 3, Wheeler & Crane, 1889:153.
[5] The Index of Middle English Prose Handlist XVI, Ogilvie-Thomson, 2000:1.
[6] The Life of William Lilly, Davies, 1774:150.
[7] The Life of William Lilly, Davies, 1774:150.
[8] The Life of William Lilly, Davies, 1774:149. The Latin conjuration, “O Micol, O you Micol, queen of the pigmies [fairies], come”, contains a name for the Fairy Queen found in Sloane MS 1727, an undated C17th MS. The possibly derivative name Mycob for the Fairy Queen in found in Sloane MS 3824 (1649).
(c) David Rankine 2011. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet please visit our website ~ The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet
(c) David Rankine 2011. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet please visit our website ~ The Grimoire of Arthur Gauntlet
Avalonia ~ Illuminating the Spirit of the Sacred
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