Uploaded August 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
WITCH, SOOTHSAYER, PROVEN PROPHETESS & DAUGHTER OF THE DEVIL? This is the story of the real Mother Shipton (aka Ursula Shipton, Ursula Southill or Ursula Soothtell), a legendary Englishwoman who even Henry VIII seems to have been aware of and who has been credited with predicting everything from the fall of Thomas Wolsey to the Great Fire of London. How much of her incredible story is true though?
In this Mother Shipton documentary from History Calling (which also doubles as a case study of the history of witchcraft in England) we look at the earliest surviving sources which tell the story of Mother Shipton to try to establish if she was a real woman, or a myth invented by the Tudors and Stuarts. Supposedly born in Knaresborough in Yorkshire, Ursula Shipton reportedly came into the world in what is now known as Mother Shipton’s cave which is near a local landmark called the Dropping Well. According to the stories, she was the daughter of a 15-year-old orphan called Agnes Shipton who refused to reveal the identity of her child’s father. There are virtually no sources from her lifetime to support her existence, bar one cryptic comment from Henry VIII, but in the following century a number of salacious pamphlets appeared which said she was deformed, the daughter of Satan, had magical powers including levitation and was able to predict the future. What were Mother Shipton’s predictions though and did any of them come true? I’ll look at a few of Mother Shipton’s prophecies in this episode and we’ll ask, did Mother Shipton predict the death of Thomas Wolsey and did Mother Shipton predict the Great Fire of London? I’ll also reveal what famed diarist Samuel Pepys had to say about this supposed English witch.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
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LEARN MORE
The Prophesie of Mother Shipton in the Raigne of King Henry the Eighth (1641)
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A93157.0001.001?view=toc
Richard Head, The life and death of Mother Shipton … (London, 1667)
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A43162.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
Blue Yeti Microphone: amzn.to/3FgEDYq
Go-Pro Hero 13 camera: amzn.to/41H4Xnt
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
#MotherShipton #UrsulaShipton #HistoryOfWitchcraft
WITCH, SOOTHSAYER, PROVEN PROPHETESS & DAUGHTER OF THE DEVIL? This is the story of the real Mother Shipton (aka Ursula Shipton, Ursula Southill or Ursula Soothtell), a legendary Englishwoman who even Henry VIII seems to have been aware of and who has been credited with predicting everything from the fall of Thomas Wolsey to the Great Fire of London. How much of her incredible story is true though?
In this Mother Shipton documentary from History Calling (which also doubles as a case study of the history of witchcraft in England) we look at the earliest surviving sources which tell the story of Mother Shipton to try to establish if she was a real woman, or a myth invented by the Tudors and Stuarts. Supposedly born in Knaresborough in Yorkshire, Ursula Shipton reportedly came into the world in what is now known as Mother Shipton’s cave which is near a local landmark called the Dropping Well. According to the stories, she was the daughter of a 15-year-old orphan called Agnes Shipton who refused to reveal the identity of her child’s father. There are virtually no sources from her lifetime to support her existence, bar one cryptic comment from Henry VIII, but in the following century a number of salacious pamphlets appeared which said she was deformed, the daughter of Satan, had magical powers including levitation and was able to predict the future. What were Mother Shipton’s predictions though and did any of them come true? I’ll look at a few of Mother Shipton’s prophecies in this episode and we’ll ask, did Mother Shipton predict the death of Thomas Wolsey and did Mother Shipton predict the Great Fire of London? I’ll also reveal what famed diarist Samuel Pepys had to say about this supposed English witch.
BUY MY BOOK (Find Your Irish Ancestors Online): amzn.to/3Z2ChnG
Website (with 2 FREE DOWNLOADS): historycallingofficial.com
Patreon: patreon.com/historycalling
Amazon storefront: amazon.com/shop/historycalling
Instagram: instagram.com/historycalling
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
THE MISERABLE DEATH & TOTAL DISAPPEARANCE OF THOMAS WOLSEY
youtu.be/LBbt37Lw87c
THE MYTHICAL ISLAND OF HY BRASIL
youtu.be/_74GYWj9NuE
THE LEGEND OF THE GIANT’S CAUSEWAY
youtu.be/Xd-v7O-ZrMw
THE OLDEST WOMAN EVER?
youtu.be/MhF97H4E0hs
LEARN MORE
The Prophesie of Mother Shipton in the Raigne of King Henry the Eighth (1641)
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A93157.0001.001?view=toc
Richard Head, The life and death of Mother Shipton … (London, 1667)
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo/A43162.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext
GEAR USED
Apple MacBook Pro Laptop (for video editing): amzn.to/3S6IoRK
Blue Yeti Microphone: amzn.to/3FgEDYq
Go-Pro Hero 13 camera: amzn.to/41H4Xnt
GoPro 3-Way 2.0 (Tripod/Grip/Arm): amzn.to/3vaVxjU
Memory Card: amzn.to/3KeLZZs
DJI Drone: amzn.to/39hROZm
NB: Links above may be affiliate links. This means if you make a purchase through one of these links, I earn a small commission. It in no way affects the price you pay.
Open Street Map copyright information
openstreetmap.org/copyright
Creative Commons licenses used see creativecommons.org/licenses
#MotherShipton #UrsulaShipton #HistoryOfWitchcraft
