History of: Scottish Witches

Scottish WitchesBy: Lady Gloriana

What would you do if the eggs in your fridge spoiled after just collecting them, or a seemingly healthy new shrub suddenly withered and died? Would you blame one of your neighbors, getting them arrested and then watching as they were strangled and burnt at the stake?

This is what Scots and 1736. On 4 of the Scottish ‘Anentis made it a for anyone to seek the use of Sorceries and

The witch within five (1590-91, 1597, and 1661-62). cases in which is known, two in execution, so reason to doubt 2,500 suspected executed during

This figure pretty much happened to almost 4,000 between 1563 June 1563 an Act Parliament, Witchcraftis’, capital offense practice or ‘Witchcrafts, Necromancy’.

hunt occurred major ‘panics’ 1628-30, 1649 Of the 300 or so the outcome thirds resulted there is little that at least witches were this period.

doesn’t include witches killed at the hands of the mob, such as Janet Cornfoot, accused of witchcraft in 1704. She was strung up and pelted with stones and sticks before being cut down, buried under a heavy door covered in rocks and pressed to death.

The type of people who were accused of being witches followed the general pattern of the rest of the world. Most were women, and ¾ of these were poor and aged 30-60. Of these were cunning folk or healers. They would employ folk remedies to heal, or magical charms to bring luck or ward off evil spirits. Many women claimed that their powers had been given to them by fairies.

The first of the major witch panics, centered around a plot to assassinate King James VI and his new bride by creating a storm to sink their ship in 1591. Some 70 people were implicated in the plot.

In 1597 Christian Stewart confessed to killing Patrick Ruthven by bewitching him ‘with ane blak clout’. And when infants fell ill or died, witches were often blamed, accused of either giving them the evil eye or shooting them with elf-shot (magical projectiles in the form of arrows or darts).

The finger of blame was pointed at witches when livestock died or when butter failed to churn, beer refused to ferment or a whole crop failed.

The North behind the plot VI confessed to in 1591: ‘His his nose was eagle, his hands with claws upon like the griffon’ a ‘rough, deep

By far the confessions Gowdie, in that her coven change into the stole milk from met with the However, it about her with the Devil century Scottish Berwick witches to assassinate James meeting the Devil face was terrible, like the beak of an and legs were hairy, his hands and feet and he spoke with voice’.

most extraordinary were those of Isobel 1662. She claimed of 13 witches could shape of animals; cows, and often Queen of Faeries. was her revelations carnal dealings that shocked 17thsociety.

It was also believed that once a witch had made a pact with the Devil, she received the Devil’s mark – a teat or mole from which he would suck her blood. Local ministers, or more usually professional witch-prickers, were employed to discover the mark. The last execution for witchcraft in Scotland took place in the 1720s, while the Scottish Witchcraft Act was repealed in 1736.

Perhaps witchcraft is alive and well in Scotland today. We know Scottish witches were not old cackling crones in long pointy hats riding broomsticks with black cats perched on the end, or stooped over a boiling cauldron, throwing eye of newt and tongue of frog into a bubbling, green distilment. We also know that they were generally accused of relatively harmless crimes.