''Booty v. Barnaby'' is the name of an English court case in 1687, in which a Mrs Booty brought a suit for slander against her neighbour, Captain Barnaby, who claimed that he had seen her deceased husband being driven into
Hell
In religion and folklore, hell is a location or state in the afterlife in which souls are subjected to punishment after death. Religions with a linear divine history sometimes depict hells as eternal destinations, such as Christianity and I ...
.
Events
On May 12, 1687, Captains Barnaby, Bristow and Brewer with Mr Ball, a merchant of
Wentworth, went to go shooting on
Stromboli
Stromboli ( , ; ) is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the north coast of Sicily, containing Mount Stromboli, one of the four active volcanoes in Italy. It is one of the seven Aeolian Islands, a volcanic arc north of Sicily, and the mytho ...
,
[Later reports mention the island as Lessari]
and another called Shumbalon. aboard the Spinks. Later, as they prepared to leave on the 15th, they saw two men running and Capt Barnaby cried out, "Lord bless me! the foremost man is Mr Booty my next door neighbour in London." He was in grey clothes with cloth buttons, and the man who was chasing him was dressed in black. They both ran into the mouth of the volcano and at instant there came a great noise. Capt Barnaby said "I do not doubt, but it is old Booty running into hell."
They arrived at
Gravesend, Kent, Gravesend on October 6. After some discourse, Capt Barnaby's wife said "I can tell you some news, old Booty is dead." He answered, "that we all know: we all saw him run into hell." Mrs Barnaby related this to an acquaintance in London, who informed Mrs Booty of it. Mrs Booty was very much displeased and went to court about it. The Judge asked Mrs Booty what time her husband died. She told them and it agreed with the time in which the Captain and his crew saw him running.
She lost her suit, based on the statements of thirty witnesses who were there and their journals.
Distortions
Some later versions have Booty as a baker,
or as a receiver.
''The Idler'' published two illustrations concerning Mr. Booty by
George Cruikshank
George Cruikshank or Cruickshank ( ; 27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dicken ...
in 1837.
[
A poem titled "Old booty! : A serio-comic sailor's tale." was published in 1830 by ]William Thomas Moncrieff
William Thomas Moncrieff (24 August 1794 – 3 December 1857), commonly referred as W. T. Moncrieff, was an English dramatist and author.
Biography
William Thomas Thomas, born in London to a Strand tradesman named Thomas, assumed the name Moncri ...
.
Case details
In the records at Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
, Court of King's Bench
The Court of King's Bench, formally known as The Court of the King Before the King Himself, was a court of common law in the English legal system. Created in the late 12th to early 13th century from the '' curia regis'', the King's Bench initi ...
, Reign of James the Second, 1687
*Sir Edward Herbert - Chief Justice
* Wythens, Holloway and Wright
Wright is an occupational surname originating in England and Scotland. The term 'Wright' comes from the circa 700 AD Old English word 'wryhta' or 'wyrhta', meaning worker or shaper of wood. Later it became any occupational worker (for example, a ...
, Justices
*Defendant - Captain Barnaby
*Complainant - Mrs. Booty
Resources
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Notes
References
External links
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* Original edition published 1879
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Ghost stories
Trials in England
1687 in England
1687 in law
17th century in case law
English defamation case law
Hell
Apparitions