The Darling and Starkey exorcisms were sensational triumphs in which Darrell, assisted by other godly ministers, had succeeded in curing demoniacs while the remedies of medical men and folk healers had proved ineffective. In an effort to build on these successes, Darrell and his followers began to broadcast his achievements in print. Notes of Darling's possession, taken by Jesse Bee, a relative, were edited by John Denison, then sent to Darrell and Hildersham for approval, finally being published in June 1597 as 'The most Wonderfull and True Storie'. A note at the end of Bee's book promised readers that an account of Darrell's exorcism of the Starkey demoniacs would soon be printed. A few months later, in August 1597, this account duly appeared. It was the work of John Dickens, a local minister who had participated in the exorcisms. No copies survive. It should not be confused with later works by Darrell and More on the Starkey exorcisms. There appears to have been a sustained effort to publish accounts of Darrell's exploits, with support from godly witnesses.
William Somers
In November 1597 Darrell, at the invitation of the town authorities, arrived in Nottingham to cure William Somers, an apprentice musician who claimed to be possessed. Apparently an alleged gift of tongues was one of the prominent features of this possession as well as others. On the evening of 7 November, Darrell exorcised Somers before an enthusiastic crowd. Shortly afterwards, Darrell was appointed preacher at St Mary's, Nottingham. Somers, however, then claimed to have been repossessed and was exorcised again by Darrell only to be repossessed once more. This cycle of possession, exorcism and repossession continued several weeks. By the end of November, Somers, along with his sister Mary Cowper, who also claimed to be possessed, were denouncing specific individuals as witches responsible for their possession. Acting on these denunciations, Darrell had 13 people arrested. Eventually all but two were released. Alice Freeman, one of two suspects not released, was related to William Freeman JP, an alderman of Nottingham. The magistrate had Somers arrested on a countercharge of witchcraft.
Controversy
In February, Somers confessed to fraud, not witchcraft. To support his confession he feigned convulsions before the mayor and certain aldermen. A commission was established by Matthew Hutton, Archbishop of York, to investigate. It was convened in Nottingham on 20 March 1598. Composed of a mixture of prominent local lay and clerical figures, it was heavily biased in Darrell's favour - an indication of the depth of his support. The commission declared that Somers had been genuinely possessed and cleared Darrell of wrongdoing. Darrell's opponents put pressure on Hutton, however, and he deprived the exorcist of his licence to preach on 20 April. They also complained to John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, who summoned Darrell to Lambeth, where he was imprisoned along with George More.
Downfall
After being in prison more than a year, Darrell and More were found guilty of fraud by the commissioners for ecclesiastical causes, in late May 1599. They were deprived of their livings and returned to prison to await sentence. An acrimonious controversy ensued that lasted four years and provoked a pamphlet war with more than a dozen publications. Darrell's opponents, led by Richard Bancroft, Bishop of London, and his chaplain Samuel Harsnett (later Archbishop of York), a man powerful in his sarcasm, were well placed to sponsor sermons and printed attacks on Darrell and to suppress works defending him. The debate centered around who was speaking in cases of possession. Darrell argued for multiple beings inside one frame evidenced by multiple voices. Voice was seen as inseparable from being. Harsnett argued for ventriloquism, which would constitute trickery, and would thus undoubtedly be the work of the devil. The substance of the debate centred on the authority and provenance to be ascribed to human and inhuman voices.
Aftermath
Darrell clearly enjoyed well-organised support, since works championing him poured from foreign and clandestine presses. Although he was quietly released in summer 1599 he went underground and by the end of 1602 had published five works on his own behalf. He was also said to have visited a possessed boy in Cheshire in the early 1600s. His career as an exorcist, however, was really over, and he eventually returned to the Mansfield area. Along with his wife and household, he was taken to court in 1607 for not receiving communion. In the autumn of the same year he preached without licence in at least two churches in the area. After this there is no further record of him, unless (as is highly probable) he was the John Dayrell who wrote a book attacking the Brownists in 1617.
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