In 1661, William Holmes of Marshfield, Plymouth Colony, brought a legal complaint against his neighbor Dina Silvester for declaring in public that Holmes's wife was a witch. Summoned to court, Silvester swore that Goodwife Holmes had recently appeared to her, “about a stones throw from the higheway,” in the shape of a bear. In Silvester's opinion, this ability to assume animal form was a sure sign that Goodwife Holmes was indeed a witch. But the magistrates wanted proof of the Devil's involvement in Holmes's transformation; as far as they were concerned, witchcraft was an inherently diabolical phenomenon. The magistrates asked Silvester “what manor of tayle the beare had,” presumably hoping for a forked tail. Silvester answered that “shee could not tell, for his head was towards her.” The court, frustrated by Silvester's failure to provide any indication of a demonic presence, refused to take her story seriously and found her guilty of defamation. Silvester was required to sign a statement “freely acknowlidg[ing]” that she had “wronged” her neighbor.