ABSTRACT
A number of gruesome murders are described in this chapbook, and the story of the title character, Abigail Hill, does not appear until the final third. The author describes the instruments of judgement used by God to reveal wicked murders that had remained hidden to the knowledge of man. One man was tormented by his conscience, and others were followed by crows, ravens, dogs, and apparitions, which eventually led to the murderers being discovered and brought to justice. Yet, interestingly, in the story of Abigail Hill that follows this lengthy digression, the murderess felt no such torment for her multiple and horrendous crimes of child-killing. It took the suspicion of her neighbours to reveal the truth, and Hill’s conscience never weighed on her enough to confess to more than one killing, which she described as merciful. Not only did she kill several orphan children under her charge, but she also borrowed children each quarter to receive her entitlement from the parish charity, thus making a “trade” of her crimes. The story of Abigail Hill is preceded by a misogynistic rant, in which the author marvels at the ability of a woman who should have been made “tender by nature” to commit crimes so horrid, especially to children under her direct charge. Like so many other chapbooks, this one ends with a reminder of the author’s central purpose: to warn other bloody-minded men and women to take heed, lest their crimes be found out and they suffer the same punishment as the murderers described therein.
