In reference to her existence, in 1537 Yorkshire, while Catholic people were rebelling against the dissolution of Catholic monasteries, Henry VIII wrote a letter to the Duke of Norfolk where he refers to a "witch of York."  It is believed that this letter is the earliest reference to the real Mother Shipton who would have been prophesying about Henry VII at this time. In 1666 Samuel Pepys recorded in his diaries that, whilst surveying the damage to London caused by the 1666 Great Fire in the company of the Royal Family, he heard them discuss Mother Shipton's prophecy of the event.