Booty v Barnaby

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.

On May 12, 1687, Captains Barnaby, Bristow and Brewer with Mr Ball, a merchant of Wentworth, went to go shooting on Stromboli,^{[Notes 1]} 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 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.^[1]

Lord have mercy upon me, and grant I may never see what you have seen; one, two or three may be mistaken, but thirty never can be mistaken.

— Herbert CJ

She lost her suit, based on the statements of thirty witnesses who were there and their journals.^[2]

Some later versions have Booty as a baker,^[3] or as a receiver.

The Idler published two illustrations concerning Mr. Booty by George Cruikshank in 1837.^[3]

A poem titled "Old booty! : A serio-comic sailor's tale." was published in 1830 by William Thomas Moncrieff.^[4]

In the records at Westminster, Court of King's Bench, Reign of James the Second, 1687

• Sir Edward Herbert - Chief Justice
• Wythens, Holloway and Wright, Justices
• Defendant - Captain Barnaby
• Complainant - Mrs. Booty

• Kirby, R. S. (1820). "REMARKABLE TRIAL". Kirby's wonderful and eccentric museum; or, Magazine of remarkable characters. Including all the curiosities of nature and art, from the remotest period to the present time, drawn from every authentic source. Illustrated with one hundred and twenty-four engravings. Chiefly taken from rare and curious prints or original drawings. Vol. 2. London. pp. 247–249.

• Philological Society (Great Britain) (1814). "Some account of Mr Booty's Appearance at Mount Stromboli". The European magazine, and London review. Vol. 66. Philological Society of London. pp. 384–385. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
• Cockburn, Sir George (1815). "Remarkable Trial". A voyage to Cadiz and Gibraltar, up the Mediterranean to Sicily and Malta, in 1810 & II, including a description of Sicily and the Lipari Islands, and an excursion in Portugal. J. Harding. pp. 335–338. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
• Dendy, Walter Cooper (1841). "Nature of Ghosts". The Philosophy of Mystery. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. p. 7.
• Hood, Edwin Paxton (1852). "Are All Ghost Stories Incredible?". Dream Land and Ghost Land. London: Partridge and Oakey. pp. 47–49.
• Ennemoser, Joseph (1854). "MR. BOOTY AND THE SHIPS CREW". The history of magic. Vol. 2. H.G. Bohn. pp. 373–374. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
• Jennings, Hargrave (1863). The Rosicrucian: or, Curious things of the outside world. London: T. Cautley Newby. pp. 92–97.
• Harrison, William H. (17 October 2001). Spirits Before Our Eyes. Elibron.com. pp. 118–123. ISBN 978-1-4021-9424-5. Retrieved 7 December 2010. Original edition published 1879
• "In the Matter of an Apparition". The Irish Law Times and solicitors' journal. Printed and published by J. Falconer. 20 November 1880. pp. 568–569.
• "SECOND SIGHT". New York Times. 5 March 1882. Retrieved 5 December 2010.
• Baker, Bart., Sir Sherston (1882). Pollock, Arthur William Alsager (ed.). "Investigation of a strange ghost story". Colburn's United Service Magazine. H. Colburn: 452–460.
• Lang, Andrew (1894). "Ghosts Before The Law". Cock Lane and Common-Sense. pp. 262–263.
• Bardens, Dennis (1970). "Mind to Mind". Mysterious worlds: a personal investigation of the weird, the uncanny and the unexplained. Cowles Book Co. pp. 21–22.