There is a little background that I can add to the incidence of Dorothy and her antitriclavianism. The log of the Speedwell mentions a Dorothy Flaxen, spinster, of Mildenhall in the county of Norfolk and this seems to be the lady in question. Parish records show her to have been christened there on Feb 23rd 1594.
Landover is fortunate enough to have a diary kept by one Bartholomew King, a member of the Landover congregation of 1690, in which he recalled the story that his grandfather had told him.
It appears that Dorothy Flaxen was not the comeliest of young women and the Speedwell Captain Reynolds had seen her with a black cat whilst the vessel was in Delfshaven. He had prohibited her from taking the cat aboard and she, in turn had taken against him. Not long out of Delfshaven, the Reynolds noticed that water was seeping into the Speedwell. He mentioned this to his first officer within the hearing of Dorothy Flaxen who was then heard to remark “We are alive – is my cat? You will see.”
The story continues, and includes the famous incident of the goat and the loofah, but we take this up as the Speedwell, seeming curse with a leak, has returned and Dorothy Flaxen now attempts to change vessels and board the Mayflower with another – or perhaps the same – black cat. This time it was Captain Jones, sensing something unhealthy, who forbade her bring the beast aboard.
Five days out of Plymouth, England, the Rev. John Smyth noticed two things: Dorothy Flaxen was seen in the lee of the fo’castle with what appeared to be an open Bible and engaged in teaching a group of children of the passengers of the Speedwell. There was a cat on the Mayflower – a black cat to which Dorothy Flaxen seemed unnaturally attached, often sleeping with the creature at her bosom. Rev. John Smyth mentioned this in passing to Capt. Jones. Captain Jones forthwith caught the cat and, in the sight of Dorothy Flaxen, threw the creature overboard.
It was then that the weather turned. All aboard called it the Work of Satan: A mighty wave threw the cat back onto the deck of the Mayflower no more than 3 feet from the foot of the captain. Captain Jones, a brave man, was visibly shaken and he retired to his cabin and copy of KJV1611.
Rev. John Smyth was of greater Faith and instantly summoned John Carver to convene a trial for witchcraft and/or popery. The book used by Dorothy Flaxen was seized and found to be a copy of the Papist Bible written in Latin. This was opened at various pages by an unnamed passenger who claimed he had been versed in the language of popery, but it was discovered that various words phrases and verses were incomprehensible to him and were thus “some species of spell”. The evidence was taken from the children was the most damning:
It appears that they had been taught a “song” by Dorothy Flaxen:
The case is watertight. Antitriclavianism at its worst. The rest is as you say.