Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
ES OF GOD
ENEMIES
OF GOD
The
'N'itch-hunt
in Scotland
CHRISTIN A LARNER
With a Foreword by
NORMAN COHN
early. middle ages? To what extent, and in what sense, was witch.
h.untmg directed sp.ec1fically against women-and why? What, pre-
cJSely, was the relationship between religious and political indoctrina-
tion m the ear;y modem.period-and what bearing did they have on
witch-huntmg. In my view, after the appearance of Enemies of God
these questions will have to be debated in quite a different way from
the way they have been debated in rhe past; if indeed they still need to
be debated at all. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
. Thi.s book makes a truly original contribution nor simply to
hJSwncal knowledge butt<;> histoncal understanding. The vast territory
which we call the great witch-hunt has long awaited an explorer who My principal debts are to Norman Cohn, who originally suggested
would be equally learned, and equally gifted, as historian and as that I write this book, and whose advice, encouragement, and intel-
soc10logist. fo Christina Larner it has found that explorer. Where lectual generosity were unfailing; and to John Eldridge who convinced
hitherto our view has been blocked by a seemingly impenetrable mass me that research on seventeenth-century deviance could properly be
of irndergrowth, a path has been hacked out. A wide vista stands carried out in a department mainly concerned with the sociology of
revealed. From now on it can surely never be lost to view. modern industrial societies. The Social Science Research Council gave
me a three-year award which made possible the systematic collection
NORMAN COHN of cases on which this book is partly based, and I would also like to
thank here my two research assistants, Christopher Hyde Lee and Hugh
McLachlan, who collaborated with me in this pro}ect.* Some of the
quotations in this book are from transcripts made by these two
scholars.
Much of the book was drafted when the University of Glasgow gave
me a sabbatical term and sent me as Snell Visitor to Balliol College,
Oxfwd, Jo \loth of.these institutions my thanks are due.
john Larner;' Al Soman) J. M. Ross, and Simon Mitchell read and
commented on the entire manuscript. Among the many other
individuals who have con1mented on sections, ()S 9:-~~f!~_;s: given
advice, information, or criticism, are Ben Benson,(Stuart Clark; Derek
Corcoran, Tim Curtis, Jason Ditton, R. S. D<:>wnie, Hendrik Frandsen,
Gilbert Geis/ the late Alec Haddow, (<:;11stav . Henningsel'l:;> Jens
ChristianJobnsen.. !lruce.Lentnan, ]3rian .Levack, {\lan Macfarlane,
Max 'Marwick, ,,Erik Jv!idclfort, Rosalind Mitchison, Ian Muirhead,
Irene Nove, Geoffrey J'arkei;; Catherine Ross, Malcolm Scott, Hans
Sebald, Lesley Smith, Christopher Smout, A. E. Truckell, R.
Walinski-Kiehl, Ian Whyte, and Jenny Wormald. I would also like to
thank the many past students in the Department of Sociology who
discussed the issues with me. Pn1 Larsen typed and retyped the
manuscript. The errors and inadequacies are my own.
C.L.
Glasgo1v, March 1980
anyway in not being totally or permanently evil, could be of either Pact In this the witch renounces her Christian baptism and
sex; 12 so too for the Navaho of North America though they were D emomc , . d di h l l
in a ceremony which is usually pnvace? e cates e:r 1~morta sou to
more frequently male. 13 The Lugbara specifically excluded wol11en 1 and i"s promised various earthly advantages m return. The
t he D evi f the D evi1 s mark ,
from the practice of witchcraft; they were deemed to be capable or!Jy Pact is normally consummated by the r~ceptton o
of manipulative sorcery. Witchcraft was part of the power struggle .n, d by mp or a bite on th. e."ft.ch s person and by 011e or more
lI!.!UCte a ' / , . ]'E.
among men. 14 These cultures seem to be in a minority, however~ and acts of sexual intercourse. T~.e(~a_ct /W~s.. l'l:C>.: .~versa ..1n .tu=.?.~~an
in many others the propensity of women towards witchcraft is w hich prosecutedw ii.c..n..es.. It featured
counmes 11 telat1vely
B ms.i.gn.
h ifi-
remarked upon. Goody asked the women of the Ganja why this caf:l'.tt ...for---exain.J;le; .in ..Eng~~~d ~d not .at a .. in ~us.s1a.. .ut .1n .t. ?se
should be so and received the reply that women were more evil than .. Y ........ un.d.er e influence
counmes .. .. .
of Canon Law or wtthm the Jur1sdict10n
. ... . . . b h E
men. 15 This echoes the explanations of all witch-believing societies in of the Consh'iutio Crirninalis Carolina. instituted y t .e rnperor
which the witch is stereotypically a woman. From Christian Europe Ch~rfeiV fo 1532,20 itbecame mor~ 1_mp?rtant thanflccusattons of
to West Africa women are witches because they are more wanton, male:&Ce or sorcery in securing a conv1cnon 1n a court o aw.
1nore weak, and inore wicked than men.
So far as the behaviour and activities of witches are concerned there lt is this network of ideas, with its more or less.compul~ory ~nd more or
are first the acts of persona] malefice. These ate often very local in their less optional elements, which is the cent7epomt of discussions among
application. In fishing villages witches frighten off the fish and sink hilosophers, anthropologists, and soc10log1Sts on how the ~or;;
ships. In agricultural areas they flatten crops, attract blight, and p m orary observer should view alien or remote systems of behe
destroy livestock. The individual witch performing individual acts of ~hepquestions at issue are whether such beliefs should be regarded a.s
malefice, however, represents private fears and explains particular irrational, internally rational, of rational per se; and .wheth.er ". 1S
misfortunes. Beliefs about thecorporate acts of witches in secret night proper or improper to apply modem standards of sctentific rattonahty
me.etings represent public and social fears, Their meetings are an to the beliefs of other cultures. .
inversion of approved social life, and there is much variety in their These discussions, however, have been concerned only wtth pre-
activities. frequently they rob graveyards and feast on C()rpses, The literate (integrated) belief systems, and have ignored pre-mdustnal
bodies of babies; fometinies specially killed for the purpose, ar.eeat.en. (inter-related) systems. This avotdance 1S _partly because the mig1ns of
The.Navaho believed that eating the bodies of those they had killed the debate lie in anthropology, but 1t has been co_ntmued for
increased their own magical powers. Othe1s used parts of corpses as philosophical convenience, and latterly made mme exphctt: Gellner,
elen1ents in their sorcery. Sexual orgies with indiscriminate copulation for example has pointed out that between the Simple polanzatton of
appears in the witch-beliefs of parts of Europe including Scotland as 'savage' and 'modem' systems of thought_ there is a m'.ddle ground
well as in those of the Pondo and the Mbugwe. 16 Another widely dis- that may be both extensive and mterestmg. He sugg<.sts t?at tt 1S
tributed belief is that of the night-flying witch. Macfarlane has pointed w rth while to 'think away this enormous nuddle ground for the
our that this is necessary to explain how witches are able to strike so sa~e of philosophical clarity. 22 No help either can be. expec_ted from
secretly at a distance and how they are able to meet together unob- students of European witchcraft, who have so far avoided direct con-
served by respectable members of the community.1 7 The night-flying sideration of the problem of relativism altogether. They have tended
witch was known in Germany as early as the eleventh century, in ff anything to take for granted the special irrationality of w1tch-
Scotland and other parts of Europe in the seventeenth century, and beliefs within the general context of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century
among the Cewa, the Nyakusa, and the Tallensi. 18 Sometimes she beliefs and values. .
fie\v on birds and anin1ah; someti1nes on twigs and branches. f,,.n alter- Despite this lack of encouragement, however, it seems as deS1rable
native to riding is transfor1nation into either a bird or a swift-moving for students of witch-beliefs of the nuddle ground as. for those .of
beast such as a hare in Scotland or a hyena in Africa. 19 simple societies to consider the issues and adopt an exphc1t stance wtth
European witch-beliefs, which are the principal concern of this book, regard to them. Unlike some philosophical problems these have dir.ect
share in varying detail all these elements with other cultures. The only bearing on the way in which the matenal" to be treated. The fol!owmg
witch-beliefs which are peculiar to Christian Europe are the worship brief suggestions, which run rather cavalierly over the subtle:ies of the
of the Christian Devil, the Black Mass or inverted Protestant celebra- debate are intended first to adapt its structure so that mvesttgators of
tions, and the Demonic Pact. It could even be argued that the European the mlddle ground may be allowed to participate, and second to
witches' sabbath is in fact a variant of African beliefs in witches' draw out the implications of parocipatton for European witchcraft
meetings, and that the only feature which is uniquely European is the studies.
ENEMIES OF GOD THE IDEA OF WITCHCRAFT IJ
Two opposed positions in the debate on how the modem com-
l 15
t stance with regard to technology and a relativist one
mentator should view alien belief systems are represented by Winch on th at1vd ro speculation. The onl y real d."'
non-re imcul ty here !S that o f
the one hand and Gellner on the other. Winch argues a position of total w1
l l regar d i
ating these areas. The bor er me etween tee hnology an cl
b
relativism: that all ideas and practices embody values and are socially cthear Yseparf speculation which bears directly on technology is im-
determined, and that therefore one should not judge those of an alien at area o . . dr r . 1r l d d
ossible for any society, mcludmg our own, to aw rnr ltSe '. n e.e
society in relation to the values of one's own society. 23 Gellner suggests p hy wirchcraft beliefs feature so strongly m the ranonahty
on the contrary that 'it is intuitively repellent to suggest that the the reoson w da hi h
debate is that they operate precisely on that boun. ry on w c
Azande's acceptance ofwitchcrdft is as rational as our rejection ofit'.2 cul ( n is related to technology and metaphy51cal welded to
Behind both these positions is a strong moral imperative. Winch, s~~cci:~oknowledge. The position is therefore philosophically over
depending on his assertion that all beliefs and practices stem from ~im le. What is more it leaves out altogether the quest10n of logical
values, feels that it is improper for holders of one set of values to truth and the question of criteria for judging the relative social uuhty
criticize holders of another. Gellner implies that it is treating savages of different speculative systems. It IS not howeve.r nonsense'. and has
with contempt to apply standards which we think inadequate for our particular advantages as an approach to pamally literate pre-mdustnal
own beliefs and practices.
The reason why it is difficult for researchers of the middle grouud to societies.
The first advantage of this position. then 1S a11 ows t.he com-
'.h at it
join in this debate as it stands, is that in its terms the beliefs of both to follow conceptual struggles within the society itself, to
modem and simple societies are assumed to be internally homo- menratot
distin and (.imp11c1t
uish areas of technological expernse 1y ) to app j au d
geneous. That is to say those of modem societies are taken to be ges while remaining neutral with regard to areas of speculauon
essentially scientific; .those of simple societies essentially magical. For success, .hh ,. th
and value. The second advantage !S t at t ose specmauve areasr em-
middle grouud societies (whether seventeenth-century Europe or the sel'.,,es become more homogeneous. They are aU equally areas or value.
twentieth-century Middle East) such an assumption is impossible. The For the anthropologist the exotic nature of his total area of study IS
conflict in these societies between traditional modes of thought and a obvious. For the historical sociologm or the histonan, however, there
developing technology is overt and conducted within the society .near cords binding present beliefs to those of the past. Those
He Ji
itsel In Scotland in 1684, for example, the High Court ofJusticiary in a beliefs which have been least tenacious . . Jd
.are smg e out b y th e com-
witchcraft trial determined that the death of a woman was not the mentator as requiring special explanation. Because we may meet
result of witchcraft. Surgeons had ascertained that there was enough cross the dinner table tomorrow educated members of our m.odem
arsenic in her to kill six people. 26 The debate on rationality and on :~dustrial society who believe in a trinitarian god, the resurrection of
relativism as at present constituted gives little help on how such the body, and the life everlasting, these aspects of seven.teenth-century
material is to be regarded.
be~1. f are less culturaHy alien, and seem d
less speculative than those
l.
The assumed homogeneity of the belief systems of both simple and which have failed to survive among mo em e ites.
modem societies is a barrier to applying any discussion on them to If we treat all non-technological areas, of seventeenth-century
middle ground societies. This homogeneity is however tictional. The culture as homogeneous then we can notionally cut those linear cords
simplest societies are capable of making a distinction between which make some aspects of belief a reserved area, and regard all the
knowledge of how to make a cooking pot and knowledge about the values of seventeenth-century Scotland, for_ examRle, as .an alien
influence of ancestors on next year's harvest. Indeed, they set aside belief system. Despite the areas of conflict withm it which distmgmsh it
certain people to take responsibility for the second as priests and witch from an integrated pre-literate system, 1t ". still suffic1?ntly inter-
doctors. The most technologically advanced societies for their part connected and has enough common assum~tions to '?'ll it a .system.
have extensive cultural dimensions which are uurelated to technological On this uuderstanding the key elements m the witch-belief-the
understanding. In fact it is quite possible to take any belief system at all, Demonic Pact and the practice of effective .rr'alefice-:-are neither more
whether simple, middle ground, or modern, and distinguish nor less alien than non-tenacious elements m the poS!tive rehg10n: the
'technology' from 'speculation'. 'Technology' covers practical Crown Rights of the Redeemer, the Covenanted State, prelapsanan
knowledge of how to make things work and irreversible knowledge as estination to eternal damnation. They are neither more nor less
to why they work. 'Speculation' covers everything else from reversible pred than the more tenacious elements
alien of the tnrutanan
deity and
explanations as to why things work to social values and spiritual eternal salvation. The inter-relation of all specul:tive areas .becomes
beliefs. admissible. For this reason the chapters on the behef system. m seven-
This distinction makes it possible to adopt for any given culture a teenth-century Scotland consider not only the forms of witch-belief
ENEMIES OF GOD
but also the way in which w eh b ]' f
century theolo ica] d
cl
the political significance o;' t~ e s.relahted to official theology
r anons 'P Scottish
technological gro r~:putes and witch-beliefs were deflated pan! b
settlements, bJi i!ost 'ek:~~~elby becohom1c aspirations and polfuJ
CHAPTER TWO
dethronement of God. y y t e e1ghteenth-centnry political
EXPLANATIONS FOR
THE EUROPEAN WITCH-HUNT 1
inappropriate. In the second, the surviving records demorutrate the .. durin e idemics of witch-hunting. What made the
indifference to formal and regular detail of a pre-bureaucratic age. m group~as th: 0.cial belief that witchcraft was a conspiracy
uurr1bers soar ake sus ects incriminate others.
and th_;'1 use o.f..tlo~::di~ught th~t there were tw.o principdallwalv~s
Names are not always given. There are freqnent references to 'many
witches'. Verdicts are omitted. It is a positivist's nightmare. To make Unw recen y . h .. th century in France a11 ta y. t e
hf
matters worse in the days when cliometrics were simply a furm of k
mass 1~ials:. the fi.rst 111 e ndw;~~~iiiee!lth centuries; concen,trated in
competitive invention precise if rounded figures were liberally offered
for the numbers executed for witchc-raft. These figures run to hundreds
sw>nd in thes1xt~ent c: Switzerland, andScoda!ld. Thesingle. dih-
G~~1n~_y,__fa~te_I:JJ. - _ _ r~t- -;fre~ted OW: v1e~-- ,th~ pat_t,e~n _ of -~-~-,t~ :-:
_,2f_
coverf which ~.':!lf, dill published int1975 ,,that the mass trlals of
of thousands and, although now regarded by those doing research in
the criminal archives as considerable exaggerations, are well established
hru!opg ;vasCo. s m rie~er in fact occlll"ied. Th.:' sto']'.of the1r
in the witchcraft literature and difficult to eradicate.
th.e !ourteenth cenruri;ed b Soldan i!l I 843 and by the i!llluenrial
Despite the permanent impossibility of producing definitive figures existe!lce ;va.. prop~ga byd 0 three forgeriesof the fifteenth,
Ha.nsen in1900 and was ceh:'un~f ;his diseovery.eli!l1i!latcS the ..!11'"'
two points are clear. The first is that recent work has greatly improved
our knowledge of figures for particular areas, and the second that the sixteenth, and run~tee.nth .. . ... . . diiring which 400 persons are
modification of figures for these areas does not eliminate the extra- trials of Toulousefrom 13]5 tod I3t5~arcassonne in the same period
ordinary nature of these prosecutions, which are legitimately termed said fo have been ~xecute .' an .a. been accoooted for.'
'the witch-craze' by Trevor-Roper. 3 The essential problem remains the wher~ :l.Ilo.ther. 200 ;yeresaidto i~~~: of the course of the. Eur".pean
same as it was for earlier scholars who worked on the basis of exag- This completely alters our P of the earliest penod IS by
gerated figures. The major witch panics have always been regarded as "tch-hunt. The most recent coverage nc!us1ons as. Co.hn about the
\ h eh the same co . .
W!.
aberrations from the time that they were happening until the present, a
CKieckh~fer w ocai.ne.t".lmu . I thou h by slightly. diffe~e!lt..r::i!lte.
Roper as 'the climax of the European witch-craze' .13 lt\Vasatits most ruling elite. . . .
intense in Wiirzburg, Bamberg, Franche-Conite, Alsace, and Scotland. Some suggestions about the witch-hunt by sooolog1sts had, how-
20 ENEMIES OF GOD THE EUROPEAN W!TCH~HUNT 21
ever, already been made. Erikson had looked at the material on as an explanatory model for specific misfortunes. Social
Massachusetts, from the point of view of deviance theory, and furt her served th c J'k j
guilt and inexplicable personal disasters were e <actors most 1 e y to
gested that the purpose of the witch-hunt was to re-define the values rovoke accusations. . . c . . th d
;ociei:y. 21 Jn sociology the term 'deviance' covers an area both more P Macfarlane showed that the uses of w1tch-beheIS .m sixteen . - . a.n
seventee!lth~
mclus1ve and more shifting than that of crime, for it refers to the ~entury Essex were reflected in a variety of lnm1t1ve
. . f c
In so doing he found a neh vem o sources ror mtonc
al
breaking not merely of formal laws but of social rules and norillS.
These rules and norms can vary from group to group within a society culturles. found in fact the historian's second layer, the direct voice
~ and therefore one group's deviance may be another's conformity, but sooo ogy, f h v1']] agers of Essex
0 f th epeas
ant He presented a portrait o . t e h' h
despite the shifting character of this concept those of generally bad or disturbing each other's cows and pigs, mah:ig t eir green pate es
eccentric reputation can be described as deviant in relation to a society dd refusing the poor Gades-good, callmg each other names,
as. a whole. Erikson consciously extended Durkheim's theory that m~ y, to ]low someone to nurse a child (effectively a refusal
cnme draws a community together by defining those who are outside rerusmg
to hand out apatronage)
. and not rerurrung
borrowe d d'1shes. " w1tch-
it. Witchcraft had a special value as a crime in a theologically orientated c cusa"'ons in England are a door to the peasant economy
community. 22 It not only defined the godly majority: it identified the
crart ~
ac peasant
and the experience, and,, as w111 be seen~ they are also tn
enemies of society with the enemies of God. Scotland. . . 11
An important essay by Currie from the stance of the sociology of In ftmaionalist theory, however, witch-behefs are norma y seen as
law, 'The Control of Witchcraft in Renaissance Europe' published in filling not merely useful but necessary functtons. It is ~ framework
1968, has been curiously neglected by later writers. 23 He pointed to the which is frequently illuminating, but it was develo~ed m relauon to
difference between England and continental Europe in methods of ' ldwork during which the seasons were the prmopal source of
social control as a result of the differences in their legal systems. He nhe rather than to archives. Functionalist theory has never looked
identified the continental system as inquisitional, and structurally
c ange, h h 'd f h
its strongest when applied to social c ange'. T e I ea o t e socia
l
designed for the 'systematic and massive production of confessed strain gauge developed by Marwick," ~ccordmg to which the levd of
deviants'. The English accusatory principle operated in a context of witchcraft accusations reflects tens10n m th_e commuruty, and which
external constraints on the legal system and resulted in fewer witches was intended to have only a synchronic apphcat'.on 15 stretched beyond
and fewer executions. He saw these two systems as two ends of a its lilllits when it is made to explain why w1tch.-.huntmg began m
continuum along which different social control systems may be ;j:n lall,cf> in the mid-sixteenth cenrury and _ended m the mtd-sev~n-
placed. gth The argument runs that social stram was caused by specific
teen. . dh
The most successful incursion into European witch studies from the social and economic change. TJ:te e11closure movement mcreas.e ~ e
social sciences so far, however, has come from anthropology. The work numbers of the poor and furtlii'redthe.trend to':"'ards a ~ash economy.
of Thomas on English witchcraft and that of Macfarlane on witch- Af the sam~ ti!tle the btll'~u.cratiza.tion of poor. rehef '!11,d_er the
craft accusations in the county of Essex"' changed the focus of Eliza!lei:lian Po~r Laws divestedthe individual of ~":pons1b1hty ror
historical studies through the application of functionalist anthro- charfrv:This shiff from a neighb?w;ly to ~""!tl!tlercial ethic, which
pological models. The subject of their work was not the witch-hunter was <specially marked i.n the. progressive agrjc:ltur~! ai:e'! pfEast
but the witch in the community. The witch ceased to be an 'innocent' Anglia, ca~ed. sociaf te~ion which mamfe_sted 1ts<:!f 1n acc~ation.s. of
person randomly selected and was shown to be someone with witchcraft. Classic examples of this type ot accusatton occurred when
particular social characteristics who had been accused of witchcraft by thenewly pauperized came begging and were turned away although
neighbours who also had particular social characteristics. English cultural expectations were still that they should have been lodged and
witches were old, poor, and female. Less obviously they were older and given soup. The rejected beggar "."ould then curse the uncharitable
poorer than those who accused them. They were nearly always in a householder who would in turn justify his actJon .by a~cusmg the
fairly close relationship to the accused; a relationship in which the cursing beggar of witchcraft. The decline of accusatlons m the mid-
accepted norms were those of love, neighbourliness, or charity. seventeenth century is accounted for b)'. the acceptance of new
Quarrels and damaged relationships were nearly always part of the commercial, less personal norms of behavtour. Macfarlai;ie has now
evidence recorded at English trials for witchcraft. Witch-beliefs can be rejected the idea that there_ were important chai;~es 1": social structure
seen in this light as performing a useful function. They could be a at the beginning of the penod of the witch-hunt but 1t has taken root
reason for terminating a relationship which had become intolerable or in witchcraft analysis. .
an excuse for ill treating or quarrelling with an inferior. Witchcraft If this explanation is taken within a self-contained English context 1t
22 JJNEMl!lS OF GOD THE EUROPEAN WITCH-HUNT 23
has considerable plausibility. English witch accusations appeared most . di o Witches were frequently accused of causing such
[amme or se~ b fi
misfcirrunes. a1 He seems here. however, to. e c~n us1?-g w1 c .-
t h
frequently in the most agriculturally advanced areas. What is more the
conte1m of the accusations and the confessions only rarely included mass l tion in which the connect10n with witchcraft is
b !iefs seen as exp ana . hi h
diabolism. The manifestanons of English witch-beliefs in the sixteenth- e with the more general theory of social stram m w c accus.a-
and seventeenth-century trials both in the conditions which gave rise ~i~:t~f witchcraft are s~en as displacement for deeper and wider social
to them and the details of the beliefs closely resembled those of simple bles than isolated disasters. . . l .
societies in the classic texts of ethnography. It therefore seemed reason- trouh . . l f ctor which makes the social stram exp anatlon
T e prmCJpa a j h h h r
abl~ m assume that as. they seemed endemic in. most pre-industrial atisfactory when applied to the continenta witc. - unt, oweve ,
soc1et1es they had rema.med unchanged from earlier periods of English ud raises further questioirn about the Eng-)JSh one'. IS the collpdcuoud
and une uivocal way in which the rulmg elite contra e an
history when communmes were Simply not sufficiently under stress to
bring accusations to the surface. an ni ula;ed the demand for and the supply of witchcraft suspects.
Even within an English context, however, there are difficulties about mhe behaviour and motivation of that ehte, therefore, seems more
the functionalist model of social strain taken on its own. Many of the T rtant in ex laining witch-hunting, as opposed to understanding
accusations relate to human problems which may be expected to impo . :p witch-beliefs than the e'%eriences of the peasantry.
the operation of ' d th
occur'. if not umversally, certainly more widely than just during the A further contrast between England an t e continent is seen m e
transmon to a commercial ethic. Failure to return borrowed property, d monological el~ment \Vhich featured so prormnendy on the con~
quarrels between neighbours of equal and unequal status, failures in ci~ent and in Scotlan,d, and is almost completely absent from the
charity, may be assumed to have occurred in fifteenth- as well as English and the Russiantrials. I d d h
sixteenth-century England. Left out of the explanation, indeed In iti: ()fihe special nature of the witch-hunt. in Eng an an t e
5
deliberately eschewed, are the passing of the Witchcraft Acts of 1542 ina 11cability of functional explanation to the witch-hunt as a whole
and I 563. 28 It is argued that previous legal arrangements were adequate h PP k f Thomas and Macfarlane has left a permanent mark on
to process accusations of witchcraft. Also ignored are the encroach- t e wor alo tudi s There are two aspects to this: in the first place the
continent s e kn l cl d d l d and
ments m England of what has been termed the 'judicial revolution'. 29 im ortance of popular beliefhas been ac ow e ge an exp ore ,
By this is meant the process by which over a considerable period of in ihe second the social categories of those who ;ached the courf hhs
nme (but comc1dmg with what in the marxist frame of reference is been more carefully examined. A third possible hne of enqmry 0 t e
known as the transition from feudalism to capitalism) there was a t e demanded by Mair and most fully explored by Macfarlane on
change from restorative, inter-person:J justice, to abstract, rational f!ex: micro studies of relationships, networks, and the operat10n of
bureau.cratic justice with repressive sanctions. It had the effect in many witch-beliefs in daily life has not really yet. bee;,~ taken up, although
countries, mduding England, of shifting responsibility from the Muehembled has shown that the materla1 exists. . .
accuset to the cou:t .official, which in turn had the effect of making Th first issue where the English studies have been most mfluent1al,
frivolous or vmdicnve accusanon possible without fear of reper- is in the' shift of~mphasis to popular beliefs. Because these, rather than
cussions. the beliefs of the magistrates who prosecuted them, were so dearly
The proble~ which appear over the th~ory of social strain even in ex osed and delineated in the work on England, it became dear that
the context ot a self-contained England become more acute when th~y were at the very least a significant factor m underpm~ndd' sr,p-
applied to prosecutions on the continent of Europe or in Scotland. ortin and manning the production line of the human o er or
Indeed, no one who has worked on continental witch-hunting could !;.itch!aft trials. Recent work has therefore attempted to 1Solate
apply the theory convincingly. This is partly because when the witch- utar belief as a factor in the European hunt. . .
hunt is looked at as a whole it is dear that what England experienced e
p0 tohn' 5 Euro s Inner Demons is a study of the origins and the
was a faint ripple from the continental cataclysm. In like manner in redients of !he whole witch fantasy. He traces the development of
R_ussia, also on the fringe of Europe and also outside thesphere of g 'd f the dehumanized individual given over to evil, of the orgy,
the1 easo d th h " 'tch Cohn
11iljuence of Ron1an law, experienced a moderate witch-huntwiclioiit the cannibalization of infants, an e mg t-uymg wi
diabollccontent following a change in the law in r552. Zguta iii his h d these from the belief in sorcery and suggested that these
dismigms e .,,, k' ds f eh al b t
article on Russian witchcraft, in which he draws on a collection of two. es of belief' inspired two very diuerent m o Wit -m , u
documents published by Novombergskii in r906, 0 suggests that they'IEuld also be combined, and this is what commonly happened at
Russ:an w~tchcraft does substantiate the social strain theory in that early the height of the great witch-hunt' .33 Cohn made dear that t.hese :wo
Russian "'.Itch-trials were nearly always connected with outbreaks of types of belief could not always be converuently categonzed mto
ENEMIES OF GOD t''<
pop~ar and educated. On the one hand the belief in the night-flying !
THE l!Ull.OPllAN WITCH-HUNT ;25
witch has been popularly held. On the other sorcery has been' th the m!W trials were occurri11g they were outnumbered by small trials
occ.upauon and the resource of princes as well as peasants. Nor is ' involviug one..or two people in Vl'.hich. accusations were likely to be for
entirely clear h~w the. demonological fantasy grew. The diabolical sorcery. The traditional trials therefore continued right through the
content of the witch-trials seems to have mcreased at the same tim periodof dfabolic trials. Monter found few mass trials, and identified
printed demonological works were being produced rather than ~ :s what he called small-scale panics involving six or seven individuals as
clear consequence of them. . ' most typical of Franche~Comte and Switzerland. 38 Soman confirms
. Kieckhefer, in his European Witch Trials, d:0. attempt to dis- this in his workon French tri;lsand has extended the range of the
tmgmsh sharply betwee:" popular and educated beliefs; He argt!es that discussion by placing the witchcraft tri~lsin..a general criminal context.
he has discovered a reliable methodology for distinguishing popular In particular he r~lates witchcraft .to arson 'V/hic~ hesees ".' sharing
from brned behefs. 34 The early trials which he covers record the elements of revenge and blackmail and be1I1g s1m1lady diffictllt to
accusat10ns of ;ie1ghbours m the vernacular; the final verdict of the prove. 37
CO~t lS in Latm. In this way one can identify two discrete setsof There now seems to be a consensus that there were a nt.rmber of
beliefs without a:iy tautological pre-assumptions about whartlie factors behind the witch-hunt. Changes in the law were of considerable
content of thesen11ght be. IJ:e found that the vernacular ipsissim.a veilia importance. The development of printing, religious strife, demo-
of the.acc11sers vvere exclusively concerned with sorcery. He admits graphic disasters, social stress, may have played their part. Tlie most
th~t by r500 educated ideas might have infiltrated the peasanry but 1ecent analyses have laid the emphasis on the struggle for the minds of
thlilk~ that up to this date the separation might hold. . the peasantry which was a feature of the late medieval and early
This method of procedure takes iis further forward, and it is one modepi. pepod.
which can be followed III later centuries where both accusations and . pelumeau has argued that the peasantry of Europe were Christian-
at
flilal verdict are III the vernacular. It is still possible to distinguish ized for the first rime during the Reformation and Counter Reforma-
least. the alleg;ed ipsissima verba of the peasantry from the court pro- tion. Both these movements emphasized the importance of lay
ceedings,. which tend in any case to follow a common form. The personal religion in a way previously unknown. In pre-Reformation
problem lS that so do many of the accusations, which suggests that they Europe religious belief and practice were matters for the professionals;
were processed for the courts, or had learned from the courts. Although lay religion was optional. The idea that individuals were responsible
it seems clear .that throughout the prosecutions the interests of the for their own salvation transformed the belief structure. The Reforma-
peasantry lay m sorcery and in malefice, while the officials of the tion and Counter Reformation brought religion, including a sense of
courts were more concerned with diabolism, the distinction cannot be sin, to the peasant through preaching and pastoral care. Delumeau
made too firmly. The indications are that there was more than one relates this to witch-hunting by arguing that the various scourges of
1evel of popular belief. Everyday belief was concerned with malefice, famine and disease which afflicted the peasantry began to be seen as the
but peasants could share with their rulers and indeed transmitted to punishment of a just God. The responsibility for sin was seen to lie
them communal fantasies of secret meetings and the night-flying with the witches. Delumeau also argues that ihere is a basic antipathy
w1'.ch. Popular belief could vary from region to region, and popular between what he calls 'true religion' and magic, and that the witch-
belief hke educated behef was not necessarily static. -where there is hunt was the product of an assault upon the a..'limist mentality of the
more than one cultll'al level these are likely to interact. partly Christianized peasant. Hunting ceased when 'true religion' had
All the other studies which have appeared recently are regional, and been well established at parish level. 38
there seems m be_ a c~nsensus that this is the way forward for the time This interpretation may underestimate the extent to which official
be1I1g. The pr1I1cipal impetus of all this research has been towards the religion propagated rather than opposed a beliefin the physical power
improven:ent of the detailed picture of witch-hunting. The authors of of demonic forces, but it does stress the significance of ideological
;!iese studies also ~!fer analyses which seem appropriate to their area of conformity at the individual level. The whole concept of the Demonic
.ci:rope and consider how far these may be generally applicable. Pact is dependent on the idea of personal responsibility.
M1~elforr in his study of south-western Germany laid Particular The argument that Christianizarion was aJ:limp()r;tant element in the
ei:ipls1s oi: the nocturnal sabbath as the essential ingredient in a mass witch-hunt is set in a wider framework by 1f!111chem&ledwho sees both
tnal: by whic:Ji h~ meant more than thirty or so cases a year. He makes as a producr of the intensified control by the rulers of newly emergent
the, 1mpori:mt pomt though that the idea of witchcraft was not 'rigid and shifting political entities; He argues that this involved the2~i!ll~
ana monolithic, but fleJOble and varied'. He also noted that even when positionofurban values onto the countryside, and suggeststhat ilie
most persistent witch-hunts took place in border areas where soda!
26 ENEMIES OF GOD
c'?~~~CJ__l_~~ mo~_t_precariou 5 .as Certain] . : _:~
,.
'1'0'""
THE EUROPEAN WITCH-HUNT
nilmg classes demanded that official i,J:, Jt was a penod when the ne ~t
from the populace Coll1.s1on b holog1es should receive ,,.:J.::. attempts to establish the macro-patterns more firmly does seem a
. d .. d . ~ etween t e .d l . . -u,
se ' eo ogies and rebel!i .~ reasonable way to proceed. It could be argued that the two could
111 iv1 uals produced persecutio
All
. ns.
r~cent writers, while concentratin . "':_
fa proceed alongside each other and, while this is undoubtedly so, it is
mainsprmgs of the persecution since th g with .good reason on th,)i also worth suggesting that too much should not be expected from such
have responded to the introduction of ese. le still J>Ot entirely dear .\ micro-1tudies so far as the witch-hunt is concerned. If, as seeUIS to be
largely taken the form of anal sin th sooa sc1ennfic ideas. This ~ ,; the case, peasant life in areas of the continent which experienced wirch-
rather than studyin the o )'. g e social status of those ac \ hunting was not substantially different so far as economic nd social
although the signi~cance poefranonulof wbitch-belief at village lev.:"'51s'd .. snuctures re concerned from those which did not, then micro
d. h pop ar ehef d o studies of witchcraft accusations will be a rewarding way of explor-
lSCUSS!On as been incorporated into th l an some sociological ;
to r~phcate Macfarlane's microsc . e ana ys1s no_one has attem ter.i _:; ing the details of these structures. !t will not necessarily illuminate
relationships behind accusation fop1c treatment of the internlayp c.. the problem of the rise, distribution, and decline of witch-beliefs and
ThIS. I ~ o sorcery -r o,
neg ect may have been l b. . accusations~
functionalist explanation seem ~art y d ecause the wider aspects of It would indeed be possible to reverse Mair' s complaint about
European witch-hunt. Moreove~ th~n~ equate m relation to the European studies and suggest that despite evidence in the ethnographic
craft meant that large areas ofbeI f ommance of diabolic witch literature of the episodic and idiosyncratic nature of much African and
1 hr 1ewerenot b. I American witch beliefS and accusations explanations are normally
soc1a ant . opological analysis. Indeed Mont!o o v10us y amenable to
tht x? .kind of \'{itchcraft which h r goes'? far as to argue restricted to microscopic functional analysis when politico-historical
analysis might also be enlightening. Nor has much synthetic com-
Comtea:idSwitzerland and which focue was exam1''1g}n Franch..,
totally different phenomenon from E l~ton the Demoruc Pacr was;[ parative analysis been done of structural differences between primitive
It IS clear that in the mass witcb...h ng .1s sorcery. societies which have witch-beliefs and those which do not. In both
were not confined to those whose un~tersons brought in as suspects . these areas anthropological materil might be directly helpful to
Names were often extracted b t n~g . ours accused them of sorcery European research.
these names inevitably include/th~seu~h~ other accused witches and There are two other recent interpretations derived not from local
for Witcher.ft. European hunts of th. hd no exisnng reputation research but from specialized view points: the feminist and the
category from English cases. It has n~~:!J,e tere clearly in a different marxist. The feminist position will be considered later in the context
K.ieisJ<hefer, Midelfort, Somn, alld others di;."
b~en shown by Cohn, of the sociological portrait of the witch. The mancist or tadical
cp1'.tlnued .t? b~ quite common throu hou t trials for sorcery alone position has been used both to identify the ruling class and to identify
pen()d ofdiabohc prosecutions and.tha . ~ t even die m.as ... t.. m...tns.e the peasantry as the source of witch-hunting. For Harris witchcraft was
0
ooli
fdi a .. srll was superimposed upon ehtmmany Js the charge
. f a th.. er trla a cynical device of the ruling class to distract the peasantry from their
that t!ie material for a rnicrosco ic an I arges a sorcery. This suggests revolutionary purpose by focussing their disstisfactions and hatreds on
bi'. \VItch~belief does exist for rte ea:
!'"' of peasant .life as mirrored
exists for Scot!.nd where the pattern tmfnt .ashfor ~ex. It certainly
their neighbours." Harris' s thesis is unsatisfactory in that tbe evidence
for ruling class cynicism is slender and incidental. Their sincerity in the
0
connnental model. witc -hunnng was on the pursuit of witches as witches, however, does not detract from the
There are good reasons for the ne le f . . . obvious utility of witch-hunting as a means of social control. Elites do
The. English witchcraft statutes laTd c~ this ,Jme of enqwry so far. not need to be cynical in pursuit of their interests. They certainly
parncular degrees and frequency of ~ o1fferent penalties for fered witchaft and the conspiratorial cells of witches.
malefice were therefore the ve sbrcery o ences. The details of the Le Roy Ladurie sees diabolic witch-beliefs as the mythical counter-
The material for anthropologicalry su stanie of the prosecution itsel part of agrarian revolt. Popular uprisings are social sabbats. The
2
' first layer of research. IJ1.diab li~ ~~~hr~i? in what ! have called th~ witches' sabbat is diabolical attempt to escape the reality of the
not..so..Il111ch specific acts of witchcraft ' '. ere the_central.offence .ws failure of the social sabbats. In his vision the source of the beliefs
~Y~;" met by the re5earcher is the cour~ ~~ being a \V'~ the first appears to be peasant rather than elite, though the forces of order 'led
ar ier accusations of sorcery ma l . n on that central issue the hunt for witches and the repression of the uprisings with equal
may lie in the records of lower ~o=~ ';.l',ngSide this material or they energy'. 40 The specific psychological utility of demonic beliefs is clear
European trials has by no means been full e top layer of material for in this account though the sources of it are hazy. While the applic-
y explored, and to continue ability of radical theories to parts of France and Germany where
peasant consciousness was high is clear, they are less obvious in
ENEMIES OF GOD
relation to the urban W!tC . h- h Wltmg. f '.0..
rura1areas with low levels of o some German tOWns and 4
This in br1.ef1s the present p peasant
unrest.
o_t_......
.;
hunt. The place of Scottish ".s1ioh m mter_Pretations of the Euro N CHAPTER THREE
chronologically within th witc d- untmg m the European P"!._ea:i_._i
e secon stage th f .L . . ._.,, 1f+
1ate seventeenth century Th firs ' at o me nud-sixteenth l
the mid-sixteenth-cen~ 1{ t phase of the Scottish hnnt follo t~ 1
of the early seventeenth c:~-up, .nd after sharing the general~~ i THE SOURCES FOR
A STUDY OF SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT
ups_urge of the r62os. Scotlancl':h:ede:l,ved ag_am _with the main .
which followed the peak of r6 8 e declme m prosecution
century witch-hunts there h d 2.. to r630, but for the rest of~
the prosecutions, while markedi"n1~:~si;:'cra.tic course. The ending of ; It is customary in positivist historical writing to make a distinction
t1rr;::;g to many other parts of lurope.t an m England, was similar in . between primary and secondary sources and list them separately in the
. analy51s of the Scottish h h bibliography. Primary sources arJ> products of the period under
explamtheoriginsoftheEuropew1~ - nn~.cannot therefore help to discussion, and preferably not produced in order to illuminate the
Germany._ Much of the problem.'ho:'t w Ich lay ~n Italy, France, and particular problem under discussion but for some other purpose.
hnnt but m the selectiveness of . . ever, hes not m the origins of the Secondary sources are later syntheses of primary material and usually
nurtured It, and in the v . {"': diffusion, m the conditions whi h intended to convert the reader to a particular view of the problem or
these areas that the Scotti~hety o . Its forms. It is in the exploration c f period. Primary sources are more unselfconscious than secondary
expenence has something to offer. o sources. They are the chief support fo, the totally blank mind with
which it is deemed proper to approach an archive.
It is easy to mock at this attitude. How does the totally blank mind
select one archive rather than another; one collection of documents
within the archive rather than another? The strength of the positivist
case really lies at a slightly later stage of the research process. If the
researcher has approached the archive with a mind full of conceptual
litter he may fmd the documents are unable to furnish the answers to
his questions and may, by containing information which was not
expected, provoke a reformulation of hypotheses. This positivist case is
much stronger in relation to documentary research where the available
material is more fixed and finite than it is in relation to survey research
where the data is actually generated in resp9nse to hypotheses and
limited by the range of these hypotheses.
That being said there are nevertheless serious problems inherent in
the traditional approach to sources. We do not have empty minds
about the gronnd to be explored, the aspects of it which are interesting,
or the nature of the evidence. Our view of any historical problem is
coloured by the views of our predecessors and the evidence produced
in support of those views. So likewise were their views. Whether our
reaction to the ideas of previous writers is favourable, cautious, or
negative, we are dependent on their selection of material for our
initial formulation of hypotheses.
From the sixteenth to the twentieth century the selection and
presentation of Scottish witchcraft cases to the interested readership has
always reflected prevailing ideas about the nature and place of witch-
beliefs and witch-hunting. It is .these ideas which have controlled the
publication of primary material. The logical approach to the sources,
therefore, is to take them not in the order in which they were written,
SOURCES FOR SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT JI
but in the order in which they were published, for this was the way in
which our current picture of Scottish witch-beliefs has be".n built up.
A further problem is that when. we tum to the primary sources
themselves there is no bedrock. The most basic sources are the manu-
scripts of trials for witchcraft. These are uncontaminated by ideas only
in the sense that they are unselected, and in the sense that they list
decisions and occurrences: acquittals, banish1nents~ and executions. In
other ways, like published discussions of witchcraft, they exhibit and
present the prevailing understanding of the meaning of witch-trials.
The common form of the indictments and verdicts, the processing of
the accusations and confessions, are all interpretations of the process.
Perhaps the most primary of primary sources are economic: the
detailed accounts of the cost of trying and executing a witch. It is
because the subject under discussion is the influence of an idea that a
clear distinction between primary and secondary sources is particularly
difficult to make.
The literature of Scottish witchcraft can be divided into that
published during the period of witch-hunting, the Enlightenment
reaction, the nineteenth-century romantic and rationalist approaches,
and the varied themes of the twentieth century.
The most marked feature of the late sixteenth- and seventeenth-
cenrurymaterialls its si:aicify.1Until very late in this petiod Scotland
did!loth~ve a yellow !'fess. There was hardly an,y counterpart to the
r!cli :Elngl15h popular literature of chapbook, a1manac, and horror
story.' But Scotland, as an exotic and alien culture, did provide die
En~lish pte5;5es with raw material. fodeed the very first work on
Scotti~ \\{Jt~hCI'aft, NewesJrom S(otland, \If.as published .inr591 in
Lond<Jn. 3 Although the title page carries the legend 'according to the
Scottisn copie' there is no known Scottish copy, and the orthography is
English. lt is a classic sixteenth-century English pamphlet and it set the
pattern for the next three centuries in which Scotland was (correctly)
represented in England as a place in which witch-beliefs were main-
tained and accused witches pursued with a ferocity unknown south of
the border. ..
The only other sixteenth-;=~Iltury work \\{as James Vl's' Daemonologie,
published in Edinburgh iil I 597in th~ middle ()fa particularly severe
wiiSfi~hunt, though possibly written earlier. lt justified his o\'ln wire~~
hiinting activities and attacked the sceptical. works ofWeyer a'ld Sc(),.:,
lt had some influence in Scotland in the following"centtiry in that it
was frequently referred to in indictments for witchcraft in the courts
and in governmental exhortations to implement the laws against
witchcraft with more severity. After James moved to England it was
reprinted with anglicized spelling together with his other Edinburgh
publiaitions and contributed to his reputation as a demonologist there
despite the facr that his interest in the subject had flagged once he
had crossed the border.' .
32
ENEMrns OF GOD
The first half of the se SOURCES FOR SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT 33
w ay of. pu bl"ications otherventeenrh
than ceni:ury saw al most nothi.,, ;
the lrvme witches who a ttact dealmg with the prose g :n ublished in Scotland objected to the existing statute and its repeal was
tract is undated and may:~: bccused of storm raising in r6~~n,on !',,ru:e!y the work of Englishmen. A lawrer; William Forb,es, writing
from dlis period of the kind of e contemporary. It is the sole . as dose to its repeal as 1730," simply plag1anzed Mackenzie s Laws and
the tnal proceedings and c nfutract very common in England i"n'"rttp!,l!l Customs on the subject of witchcraft, and then added a rather curious
Th!~~t::~f~JfoffJ:'.ateriaJ
wri .
ca:,~o:;{t~ftt: ::~t:~h;idwas
. . e seventeenth centu
our.
t
appendix refusing to take responsibiliry for his own published opinions.
Soon after the 1563 statute was repealed, however, lawyers and others
_ongs o Sir George Macke . ry saw not only the cautio felt free to denounce the superstition and cruelty of a barbarous and
variety of tracts containing narr=' thf Lor_d Advocate, but also US irrational age. Erskine, Arnot, and Hume (the lawyer) in the latter half
wmmgs (Pleadings in some R es o pamcular cases. Mack . ' of the eighteenth century wrote in this vein,13 and Arnot was the first
Customs ofScotland in M.
;odudld be ";ithoutlayin;r:r::
sa uctsm as the contem
Cemarkab/e Cases (1672) and La OUZles
.::~ina/ (1678))' were as sceptical
or open to :he charge of atheis
:sJ:d y
w publish, in 1775, a collection of criminal trials which included
several for witchcraft.14
The main publication of narratives and trial materials took place in
sharp decline in prosecuti!or";iJargon had it. They coincided w;or the nineteenth century. The earliest rather haphazard collections
The pamphleteerin of:h:n conVIctJorts. i a mainly concerned the Paisley trials" but later the Scottish historical
J
h
Professor of .Natural ihiloso period was _led by George Sind .
Y. ~t the Umvers11:y of Glasgow d dubs of this period selected, ttartscribed, and published a great quantity
famous for his diving bell of source material of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth
had made him think that there s VIS!ts to England on scientific mat:' centuries. Their precursors in this exercise were the eighteenth-century
He _accordingly published in l':ii";
mo~JY to be made from the Occu)~ historian W odrow and the archivist and printer Ruddiman who, while
stones and an assomnen f a .co ecuon of plagiarized En r sh their Enlightened colleagues had deliberately rejected the choking dust
pos_sessiorts, and apparition: ~nlcot~st narratives of witches, s~i~t of the archives, collected and trartscribed manuscript material.
petmoned the Pri C '. m e ruary of that year ii Alongside the work of the historical dubs and Pitcairn' s collection
m_isjudged his marlJt ounc1] for the sole rights of ubli~~ceis, itlly of criminal ttials,16 the subject of witchcraft was taken up by romantic
1mtially sold badly and ~~'d;:~e~, for Satan's Invisible /t-orld Dis~;:;,er~; and rationalist historiarts. Sharpe wrote an introduction to Law's
popular and ran through several ~d;or m~. lromcally his book became Memorialls (a seventeenth-century collection of witchcraft cases and
fas said frequently to have been th tlorts I~ the following centuries.' It occult happenings published in 1818) which he afterwards published
o two. e secon book m a peasant's libr separately as a History ~(the Belief in Witchcraft in Scotland." Dalyell
In the l 69os and earl . h ary published his Darker Superstitions of Scotland in 1834.18 He drew partly
published dealing with a~ ~~bteenth century several pamphlets we on the unpublished archives of Orkney and is the only writer ever to
with apparitiorts in Gall reak of W!tch-hunting in Ren& hirre have attempted a monograph analysing Scottish witchcraft based on
porr of Pitt away, and Wlth a lynchin th . ews e, such research. Since Dalyell there have been, numerous general works
titles.' Th enweem. Some were republished. Engl m e_Fifefohing
t . b ere were also published two hr m g and with diiferent on witchcraft in which Scotland is included, there has been further
reat_ISes y anonymous ministers or t. ee general demonolo ical production of source material, there have been articles dealing with
Devil and his servants. n This sudd.:t:empting. to sustain belief ing the specialized aspects of the witch-hunt and a gteat many popular works,
w1~fcraft is largely accounted fo ~ tehurge m published accounts of but no other critical survey of the hunt as a whole. Dalyell's work is
~cli~:~~iliand an eXjJansion of
c e prosecutions and th
Ji:.:.;. .
~t g:eyr"!i.ris~ U:Lthe level of
o be mat Wlth the
itself ahistorical; dealing with themes and concentrating on classifying
the beliefs rather than charting the rise and fall of prosecutions. Both he
crart the reading popula" e recession of the real fear of . h and Sharpe have the nineteenth-century rationalist interest in ancient
for . ..on were mor bl w1tc -
entertamment and titil] . e a e to regard it as a b" superstition. Scott's Letters on Demonology and Witchcraft, while
In th . h atJon. su ~ect
. e e1g teenth century th ~ sharing Daly ell and Sharpe's assumptions comments only in passing on
directed outwards to the .d . e rocus of the educated Scot Scottish cases, but several of his Scottish novels, in particular Red-
the gen f WI e ISsues of philoso h d was gauntlet, The Bride of Lammermoor, and Heart of Midlothian, draw on his
. dieration o a sociological form f hi .P Y an science, and to
irnrne ate past was interesti . o stoncal writing. Their o
the last witch was executed ng mainly for comparative purposes
1
;n wide research into witchcraft and demonology. 19 Scott was also
responsible for the publication in 1815 of Kirk's The Secret Common-
witchcraft abolished only in ~J;t~as 1 7~, and the death penalr}r [:: wealth,'0 a remarkable mixture of neo-Platonic science, Highland
. p to at date no one in any work mythology and fantasy which focused on fairyland and bore only a
slight relationship to .the material coming up in the criminal courts.
34 ENEMIES OF GOD
SOURCES !'OR SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT 35
Both Mackay and Lecky in their works on popular superstition dealt
with Scottish witchcraft, 21 and Lecky lashed himself into paroxysms of government lus always been well known. The explanation may be
'.ationahst rage wlule so dealmg. 22 Buckle in his History of Civilization that Scottish historical writing has been closely modelled on the
1n England" was also very severe on Scottish witch mania. The nine. Oxford History of England, and smce witch-hunts were not a .part of
teenth cei;tury closed with an article by Legge, a scientific journalist, in English political life they were not mcluded m a Scotnsh analysis. This
at be a total explanation since other features peculiar to Scotland
The Scotttsh Review for 1891 m which he suggested that the numbers
executed had been greatly exaggerated and were unlikely to have ~:': received detailed political analysis. Some attempt w remedy the
24 omISS!On
have been made in the recent work of l Mitchison
cl . and
d
exceeded 3,400, and with a bibliographical account'of the witchcraft
literature of Scotland by the collector Ferguson, which was published Smout" but they have been hampered by the lack, a rea y ment1one ,
In 1899." of serious monographs.
In the twentieth century comment on the Scottish witch-hunt took. It would be wrong entirely to dismiss the very large numbers of
new.~irection. Murray supported her theory that there. was ~ popular works on witchcraft in Scotland. Although the maiomy. of
orga!llzed witch cult which was an anci~nt fertility religionby cirawing them Propagate the baseless view that a formal witch cult did exist,
heavdy on Scotti.sh sources. 26 She pointed out that the accounts of they have also reproduced much contemporary mat_ena 1 ver b.atim, ancl
meetings were quite credible and suggested that the confessions were they together with. certain ficno'.'al literature maintain a level of gene;al
made without torture. As already noted, Cohn has now demonstrated interest in the subiect from which the senous researcher undoubtealy
that she selected her material in these confessions to eliminate those benefits. 36 .
elements in them which were palpably impossible." She was no doubt Apart from this extensive popular and senu-popular literature, the
herself nusled by the fact that some confession documents specified 1 ble material on Scotland during the revival of ser10us research m
avai a . . d f c 1
that no torture had been used. This did not mean that no torture had European witchcraft in the early sev~nt1es cons1s:e o a rew arnc es on
been used at any point in the proceedings or that other forms of articular cases, a great deal of prmted, but very scattered, source
p terial and Black's Calendar a Witchcraft Cases. 1he available sourc.e
pressure such as sleep deprivation, threats, or promises had not been
used. ma
material, ~cl.
' though extensive, reflecte a n1neteenth-centur'J'.' view
. that t he
Between Murray's first exposition of her theory in r92r and Cohn's most significant cases were the most colourful and exotic ones. What
final disposal of.it in r975, however, it took a firm hold, especially on was lacking was the kind of detailed coverage offored. by Macfarlane for
writers on Scottish witchcraft. Keiller attempted to juggle the known Essex from which one could satisfy a social. scientific mt~rest m the
names of those who_ were prosecuted in Aberdeenshire in r 597 into 'normal' or average case. This social sc1enttfic concern. ~s partly .to
groups of thirteen with one man to represent the fertility god or devil establish reliable figures; partly to _be in_ a better ~ositlon t.o dis-
and twelve women. 28 McPherson's survey of popular belief in north- tinguish typical from atypical manifestat10ns. ThIS IS the pnncipal
east Scotland published in r929 accepted the witch cult theory without difference between the contemporary approach to records and that of
question." It appeared ambiguouslv in Stafford's discussion of ptevious historians. In so far as th.e quest for.total rather than.random
James Vl's witch-hunt of 159Q-9r, 30 ' and continues to be received coverage is successful it is this which is likely to provide a fasting con-
wisdom in the numerous popular accounts of Scottish witchcraft. 31 tribution long after such operating concepts as class, P?tnarchy, and
Other writings, and in particular the collection of trial transcripts and ideology have gone the way of those of pro~ress and rationality.
the Calendar of Cases of Witchcraft by Black, 32 continued to tef!ect It was to fill this Scottish gap in the gmwmg body of ar:h1val work
nineteenth-century rationalism. Black's collection of cases published in on European and English cases, that, m collaboration with Lee and
1938 gives bnef extracts m roughly chronological order from all the McLachlan, I attempted to cover the court records for criminal cases of
cases he could find in printed sources, and was the first serious attempt witchcraft. Witchcraft was an offence agaimt statute law pui:ishable by
at .a comprehensive coverage. Since then we have had only recent death from 1563 to 1735. Therewereavanety of ways m.which a witch
articles.by Clark and the present writer on aspects of James VI's con- could be prosecuted, and ihiS is one of the factors which makes the
cern with witchcraft. 33 ';Vhat. has b.een missing this century is in the researcher s task a difficult one. The treason-by-witchcraft tnals of
first place a"y monograpli eqwvalent to the works ofKittretlge',;Ewen; 159<>-91 were conducted in speci~l courts of justiciary frequently
or Notestein on .English witchcraft, quite apart from the vv9rk of presided over by the king. The mals, which took place mainly m
Thomas and_ Macfarlane, 34 and in the second place any discussion of the Aberdeenshire, Fife, and the Lothians from 1591 to. 1597, were con-
witch-hunt m the standard political histories. This latter omission is ducted in local co~ uncler the general Coll1rruss1on for tryi'!g
slightly odd because the extensiveness of the witch-hunt and the role of witch.,. isstied~by the Privy Go.uncil in 1591,1 ai;dtheir records .ar'
. eith~~ lost or contained in family papers. When the ~era! comrrussion
ENEMIES OF GOD SOURCES FOR SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT 37
was withdrawn in I 597 the Pri C . . The third main group of central sources is the Parliamentary records
consider each application for vy .. ounc1! reserved for itsdfthe right
fused. and fl 'bl a comrmssion to try a witch."' .. ln.. th. 2.lld those associated with them. ln fact only a few witchcraft cases were
not mean that the control of the ~:i JUS~ce w. ich operatedth:is
exi e system of cnmi j h. e processed through Parliamentary commissions, and these can be found
oei'l. in the printed Acts of the Parliament of Scotland. The manuscript records
total.It means thatPrivy C ..
1 .. vy. 51()uncil over witch-trials....,,,j
officials .. becam,: the cornr::unci comf's 0I)S to local landownei:San,i \
of the Committee of Estates, whose witch-processing activiries in
secondc()mmonest was ilir~neht smg e way of tryillg.a w.i.rch: !he~
6 9 have been referred to, are also available in the Scottish Record
to 'many witches' are quite common. The cases were arranged accounts of wiht er th ce,{"'''" either by rhe Historical Clubs or by
chronologically under the courts in which they were brought up, and o hed xn t e nmeteen - 1 h l l his hi h
publ IS
0
therefore some of the named witches occur more than once under
different courtso The duplications are not always very easy to identify prohfelratedothout their reference to witches in the areao'" Many of thhe
since the spelling is variedo The nature of the lacunae: the sparseness of oomp ete wi ches noted in Black' s Calendar and m t e
0
the records for the cases from 1590 to 1597, the difficulties of matching untraceable anonymo~ w~t . . I
- B k originate m this kmd of matena
entries for anonymous witches with those already named, and the oource ooth d 01 "' ed in these various sources are taken together
0
strongly episodic nature of witch-hunting, makes any statistical work Wheno e etaisorrer Jd
I d h
ture of what is typica an W at is atypxc
0 0 0 al
0
from this list unreliable and potentially misleadingo Despite these it is po.sible bow h hp ati~~ and witch-belief and compare them with
0
caveats, however, the major patterns of witch-hunting: the rise and fall in patterns o hwitc - unfE;rope and elsewhereo To what extent do the
of prosecutions, the timing of the mass hunts, the places most wideiy tterns m ot er areas o h f F rf
affected, and approximate numbers in relation to prosecutions in other
pa and detailed confessions of the famous wxtc es o o 0 ar;
elaboroote d the Crook of Devon represent the tip of an icebergo
parts of Europe can be established with reasonable confidenceo Auldeaom, an he various elements of malefice, Pact, and
When we tum from quantitative to qualitative analysis the source How important arebt ng a conviction? What kind of people were
0 0
material is rich enougho It is not necessary to have precise numbers to hes' meetmg m o taim b ho h h
0
0 wltc era 0
h
I d b what springs were t ese mec amsms h 0
as broug t to tna an Y ul m
0
individual and eccentrico The trial documents provide many examples w . t d; Did the mass hunts start by spontaneous popthar co h -
of pretrial material: the signed accusations of local witnesses with actxva e thr
0 h xtemal ruling class pressure? How did e wxtc -
regard to malefice, the confession of the accmed herself, and the final
indictment and verdicto ~ci;~~~d~te ,:~~he; a;pects of relhigiousfbe:f: Tp~r=h~f e;:~~:ias;~:
In addition to the trial material itself there are the .ecclesiastical Scornsh experience
0
ob d h
similar to t at o o e h I 0
cases came to the higher church courts of synod and presbytery but the common in dis on tions tow;rds the answering of these and other
Kirk session records are a rich source for social life in generaL They arguments an sugges
deal with parish misdemeanour at its most elemental level: slander, questionso
gossip, marital quarrels, sexual offencesfrol!l pre-nuptial fornicaiidn fo
quadrilapses into adultery, neighbours' brawls, drunkenness, disorder,
failure to attend the Kirk, and the original accusations of sorcery and
witchcrafto These records, which have survived erratically, were not
systematically explored for the Source Book because of the central
administration of the crime, because it looked as though it would not
be cost-effective except for the panic years, and because these records
should really be analysed as a whole to put witch-hunting in the
context of the wider role of the session in social controL A useful
future exercise would be the analysis of records which are reasonably
complete for particular panic years in order to match cases at the local
level with those that came up in the central courtso There is a sub-
stantial piece of work to be done collating local and central records for
the years 1649, 1661, and 1662, for exampk So far as other years go,
however, it would be possible to read a kirk session register extending
over a period of some years and find less than half a dozen cases
which had any connection with witchcraft or charmingo It would be
SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 4I
an~h~~"mer
enough dominance (though the refusal to allow crafts to be practised
outside them suggests that they did) or whether the numerical balance principal use of the term 'feudal' is that developed by legal
between town and country was adequate. 10 The urban-rural relation-
histonanso t descn'be a set of formal vertical relationships
" d l between
ship is as complex in Scotland as elsewhere. It may have been of some men. The legal obligation ro give military service. to re.u a supenors is
importance in witch prosecuting. Thomer's fifth category, the normally regarded as the most essential element in this, but.there. IS. a
peasant family as the unit of production, almost certainly existed in the network of other arrangements dependent on the feudal relat10nsh1p m
form required, although very little is so far known about the details of relation to tenure of land, attendance at law courts, non-rmhtary
family economic organization. What is not in doubt is that the land services and payment in kind. J. Foster's reflections on the weakness of
was cultivated in small family groups, though there may have been c ,_ ,. ' n Scotland relates in part to the non-development of a
ieuuansm I th c dal' l d
considerable co-operation between groups." It was not cultivated by manorial system.,. W armald's suggestion at reu ISm IS. a rea y an
the large-scale use of hired labour which is the essence of capitalist ina ro riate term to use about fifteenth-century Scotland 1S related to
agriculture. theppb P tt' that the direct connection between land and service w'.'5
a serva on hicb th c
Having suggested that Scotland had all the essential features of a being replaced by a different type of contract m w e econorm
aspects were more important than personal service.15 A further factor
44 ENEMIES OF GOD SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 45
was the development of feuferme, the selling of land for fixed pay.
ment without th"'Previous responsibility for law and order. Social siy,11ifiCt1.ti.on in seventeenth=eentury Scotland
The retention of the term feudal to describe the social order of
seventeenth-century Scotland is meant to indicate that it was based on
-
RURAL
land, that significant relationships were vertical or based on kin rather
than horizontal and based on common economic interests, that there is BURGESSES NON
some evidence that contracts between males reached their apogee in LANDOWNERS
(Freemen) BURGESSES
the late sixteenth century and involved formal arrangements about
services: agricultural, legal, and military, about use and tenure ofland, Nobility
Merchants Advocates
and about payment in kind. 16 However much these were modified in Highland Chiefs
Writers
detail during the seventeenth century it was not until after r747 that Barons
CRAFTSMEN N'otaries
their structure was radically altered. It is precisely because Scotland Lairds
differed from much of Europe and from England in her retention and Maltsters
in some aspects strengthening of these structures. it seems worth Cordiners
Wad.setters
while retaining the word feudal to describe them. Portionm Ministers Weavers
The use of this observer's term and the suggestion that the landed Bonnet=lairds Bakers
with their kin and adherents constituted a ruling class is imposed upon a (mainly Galloway Hamm.ermen
system which contained within both the landed and non-landed Coopers
and West)
sections a considerable degree of stratification and rank consciousness, Skinners
The table attempts to set out the mid-seventeenth-century social order Wrights
as perceived at the time. NON-
LANDOWNERS Fleshers UNFRE.EMEN
This is, of course, like most attempts to clarify the confused, some- Chamberlains
Masons
what misleading. As suggesrec!, most people, three-quarters or more of
Bonnermakers Respectable widows
the population, were countrymen, and social and economic organiza- TENANTS
tion was dependent on land. In the first group are the landowners, and Dyen Clarks
Tacksmen
then, as now in Scotland, very large areas of land were owned by a (Highland
Surgeons
small number of people. There were probably not more than about Apothecaries (.stratification not
grand tenants)
five thousand landowners, excluding the 'bonnet-lairds' of the south Baillies & Factors Skipp= clear)
west." The largest areas were those infertile lands owned by the Journeymen
Tenants
Highland chiefs and used mainly for pasture. Next were the great Servants
estates of the nobles. In the most fertile areas the divisions were smaller Kindly tenants
Common labourers
and there might be as many as three or four estates in one parish. The Sub tenants
Teachers Drovers
owners of these smaller estates were not members of the nobility; they Crofters
Carters
were landed gentry, and were known as 'lairds', or 'barons'. These Cottars
Coalmen
were descriptions, not tides, and the laird indicated his landed status by Grassmen
Alesellers
adding his land to his name. Not all lairds were barons. The baron held
Milk vendots
a charter. He could hold feudal courts (known as baron courts) and LANDLESS
Fishermen
summon tenants to appear in them and serve in them. Most of their Taskers
holdings were of a fair size and supported large numbers of tenants Seamen
Landless labourers
and sub-tenants. The =eptions to this general pattern were the Indoor farm
'bonnet-lairds' already mentioned. These were so called because they servants
were economically and socially indisringuishable from a poor tenant or Prostitutes
sub-tenant. Indeed, although they were land owners they mightin terms Thieves
Vagabonds
ofstratificationhavelessstatusand less wealth than many tenant farmers. Vagabonds
They were not very common except in the south-west, and their in- Begg=
clusion in the first group is one of the misleading aspects of this c~rr.
CTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 45
44 ENEMIES OF GOD SOCIAL STRU
was the development of feuferme, the selling of land for fixed pay. Soc:ial stratification in seventeenth-amtury Scotland
ment without th"'J'revious responsibility for law and order.
The retention of the term feudal to describe the social order of URBAN
seventeenth-century Scotland is meant to indicate that it was based on
land, that significant relationships were vertical or based on kin rather NON
BURGESSES
than horizontal and based on common economic interests, that there is LANDOWNERS BURGESSES
(Freemen)
some evidence that contracts between males reached their apogee in
the late sixteenth century and involved formal arrangements about
Nobility Merchants Advocates
services: agricultural, legal, and military, about use and tenure ofland,
Highland Chiefs Writers
and about payment in kind.16 However much these were modified in
detail during the seventeenth century it was not until after 1747 that Barons CRAFTSMEN
Notaries
their structure was radically altered. It is precisely because Scotland Lairds Maltsters
differed from much of Europe and from England in her retention and Cordiners
in some- aspects strengthening of these structures, it seems worth Wad.setters
Weavers
Ministers
while retaining the word feudal to describe them. p 0 rtioners
Bakers
The use of this observer's term and the suggestion that the landed Bonnet-lairds Hammermen
with their kin and adherents constituted a ruling class is imposed upon a (mainly Galloway
Coopers
system which contained within both the landed and non-landed and West)
sections a considerable degree of stratification and rank consciousness. Skinners
The table attempts to set out the mid-seventeenth-century social order Wrights
NON- Fleshers UNFREJ;MEN
as perceived at the time.
LANDOWNE.RS Chamberlains
This is, of course, like most attempts to clarify the confused, some- Masons
Respectable widows
what misleading. As suggested, most people, three-quarters or more of Bonnetmakers
the population, were countrymen, and social and economic organiza- TENANTS
Dyers Clarks
tion was dependent on land. In the first group are the landowners, and Tacksmen Surgeons
then, as now in Scotland, very large areas of land were owned by a (Highland Apothecaries (stratification not
small number of people. There were probably not more than about grand tenants) clear)
Skippers
five thousand landowners, excluding the 'bonnet-lairds' of the south Bail.lies & Factors Journeymen
west." The largest areas were those infertile lands owned by the Tenants Servants
Highland chiefs and used mainly for pasture. Next were the great Kindly tenants Common labourers
estates of the nobles. In the most fertile areas the divisions were smaller Sub tenants Drovers
and there might be as many as three or four estates in one parish. The Teachers
Crofters Carters
owners of these smaller estates were not members of the nobility; they
were landed gentry, and were known as 'lairds', or 'barons'. These Cottan Coalmen
Grassmen Alesellers
were descriptions, not titles, and the laird indicated his landed status by
adding his land to his name. Not all lairds were barons. The baron held Milk vendors
a charter. He could hold feudal courts (known as baron courts) and J.AI>!DtllSS Fishermen
summon tenants to appear in them and serve in them. Most of their Taskers Seamen
holdings were of a fair size and supported large numbers of tenants Landless labourers
and sub-tenants. The exceptions to this general pattern were the Indoor farm
'bonnet-lairds' already mentioned. These were so called because they servants Prostitutes
were economically and socially indistinguishable from a poor tenant or Thieves
sub-tenant. Indeed, although they were land owners they might in terms Vagabonds Vagabonds
ofstratification have less status and less wealth than many tenant farmers. Beggan
They were not very common except in the south-west, and their in-
clusion in the first group is one of the misleading aspects of this chart.
ENEMIES OF GOD
soC!Al, STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 47
lt is difficult to describe the remaining groupiugs without a furthe ortions ofland to administer and from which they could
lo?k at the land-holding system. Land-holding took two forms, ward~ \ease,d rentsPand sometimes
.
ship and feuferme. All land was ulnmatdy held in feudal relationshi services.
the crown, and landowning, throughout the whole period olth~
receihve . d group in the table include the tenants and sub-tenants.
r, e seconts were fairly substantlal
. people: an e1g
ht-oxen man nug ht
persecutmns, mvolved a network of personal obligations. Those whase Some tenan.derable number of sub-tenants under him. Kindly tenants
tenure was the older form of wardhold were obliged to p o. haveaconst. htly obscure group; nobody kn ows qwte w h at t h e1r
legaI
rm11tary service,
. to hol d courts
' and be responsible for law and orde tOVloe
l g ut they appear to have hd
h. d rin area 51 a a parncu ar y strong mora l
11
t e1r .temtones, an to attend the King's court when required. Ward. b
statuS was,f tenure h tenancy on to k"m. At leas,
and right to pass t e1r
ship involved payments (casualties) every time the property changed security o ' . . d h f H. h-
hands on the death of the owner, to the feudal superior. If the new one case of witch prosecunon m 1662 covefrek. tdle attempt o ha 1g
owner was a mmor the feudal superior administered the property and l d land owner to dispossess a group o m y tenants w o were
took the rents; 1f there was no heir then the property reverted. Thi ,::onveniently in possession of his land. , .
C fters and cottars were forms of sub-tenants. Tney received
had the effect of nullifying improvements on the estate, and may well
rob land for their own subsistence or more in return for labour and
have been. one.of the reasons for the static condition of agriculture. At enoug fL bh f
the same tl".'e 1t kept much of the country in a state of readiness for the rents in kind. The humblest form o su.o-tenan~ apfeadrs tod et at o
local mob1hzanon of troops until its abolition in 1748. the tasker. He performed various tasks m return ror roo an a c.ottage
Feuferme was a development of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuri with kailyard and ground. The kailyard would be muc~ what 1s sug-
and was a syste~ peculiar to Scotland. It was a 'fixed and heritabk
t cl adequate to grow the odd vegetable, but not enough to
tenure granted m return for a fixed rent and for certain fixed g:~de a subsistence. He was not expected to be self-sufficient. In
P al onlv the very humblest the landless labourers and the
casua1ties . . emng was a bout cash. It was a way of realizing money
1sp gener / ' . d u Th
from land.without havmg to wait for a convenient death. It involved indoor farm servants, received wages in cash in the co:mtrys1 e. ey
no obhganons .CO provide military service, and, more important from were a class who in times of dearth merged with the army of
the point of view of this study, no responsibility for law and order. vagabonds. . fi l
The .urban list is not a simple vertical strat1 1cat1on sea e.
Th b
e as1c
The extent of. feuferme land-holding by the end of the witch-
prosecutmg penod 1s qwte unclear. According to Smout, wardholding distinction was between freemen (the burgesses), and unfreemen or
had died out.everywhere except the Highlands by 1690.1 According to indwellers, but the term unfreemen would not normally be applied to
Grant, wntmg forty years earlier and. quoting the contemporary the grander members of the non-burgess class, some of whom nught
lawyer, Lord Stair, wardholding was still normal in 1690. 20 In fact be socially superior to many of the burgesses w~o were. the members
of the merchant and craft guilds. There was a fairly ng1d and formal
there was cle~rly a considerable transition from wardholding even if
rank distinction between these two classes of burgesses. Lawyers,
the extent of1t 1S not de~r, and this had some influence in extending the
ministers, and some bureaucrats, were the ambiguous members of
ownership of land, and m the establishment of more secure tenancies
the community. They had status; an advocate or even the chamber-
The Scottish peasant, however, was not normally a landowner even o~
the smallest scale, and was a different sort of creature from the English lain of a grand household would certainly rank abo".e an a~othecary
yeoman farmer, and from many European peasants of the period. His or a bonnet-maker, though without the formal polmcal posmon of a
burgess. The urban.group .normally associated with the terms unfree-
tenure ofland w.as frequently very insecure and was dependent on his
men and indwellers was an assortment of wage labourers and self-
fulfilmen.t of obhganons to the landlord or his intermediary.
Next m the table were non-landowners who were nevertheless employed persons whose stratification is not dear. It is not even clear
whether there existed a permanent separate cr1mmal class of
people of substanc.e with very often a middle position between tenant
and landlord. Porttoners were those who had been leased portions of an prostitutes, thieves, and vagabonds quite distinct from the virtuous
estate for life or two generations. They could be described as quas1- urban poor.
landlords. Wadsetters were creditors of their landlords who had been The most dubious aspect of the table, however, m~y well be the
rural-urban division. As suggested, this is the most quesnonable part of
given land in lieu of the debt. Once the debt was paid off the former
debtor became absolute owner of the land again. In fact wadset was Thomer' s model io terms of its applicability to seventeenth-century
Scotland. Scotland was at this time an almost completely rural com-
very often indefinite in duration and could probably be heritable.
munity The towns except for Edinburgh were extremely small:
T'.acks:men were a type of grand tenant, and were commonest in the
Donalcbon has suggested that less than one-fifth of the population lived
highlands. They were often younger sons of the land holders who were
in the burghs;,. and the country was on everyone's doorstep. The
CTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 49
ENEMIES OF GOD socIAL STRU ( '
th .ps would be redistributed each year mus
towns were markets, they were ports, they were centres of dministra.
tion, and trade. The division into urban and rural, although was
in some casesfol
rendering care
~e b:dry even less rewarding. Crops Wete. mainl~
thus . h wheat was grown in the richer agncultura
not as absolute as it appears here, especially at the top and bottom of the oa~
arid barley, oug
scale. Landowners took part in~!fde: they owned portions of ships like areas b d on a unit ofland were much commoner
the great merchants, and they owned town houses. Those who failed
to do this were the ones who ended up in the hands of their wadsetten,
Thd,e s~n~li~h~~~ 0 '::udeared village. A parish
than e 'th the Kirk-toun as the central one.
;:t agro:t
y roun hi
th~
Great merchants on the other hand, bought themselves land and set up farm toU!lS wr_ ill s similar to English villages to be found. T s
as lairds as soon as they could afford it. At the bottom of the scale too
the traffic between tovm and country would be considerable, for
coast were fi51:';
is a feature w
;.~!ethe exact location of an accused witch an1 :_r
l al . h hard to establish because some o e
anyone who sold their labour for cash might do it seasonally in town relation to other ?c w,;:~ eseared or ate too f;equently replicated to
and country. Craftsmen and lawyers were the most urban of Scotsmen. place names have e1thler PP ften aiven for a witch is m fact that of
Craftsmen in particular were formally restricted to an urban practice: "dentifiable. The Pace name o. ,,.
be 1 .sh hich uld cover a wide area. .
burghs simply disallowed crafts to be practised outside their pre- the pan w . co tions which lie behind any stratwcar10n
cincts. 23 The existence of this kind of ruling lends support to the idea More amb1guof are ques my questions of social mobiliry, of the
that in a peasant economy the towns are the dominating force, but here chart or model o_ an econoof r;nk and class consciousness, and of the
the case still seems to be non-proven. The mere fact of being parasitic extent of econonuc change, . th ommunity. Social mob1h1y m
d ofwomenm ec b
on the countryside for basic food does not necessarily classify the towns role an status . 1 elusive concept. There has ro e. som_e
as exploitative. Other indicators suggest the continuing dominance of particular IS a notonous,;; the uestion of how much mob1hry is
the landowner and the basically rural social structure of the country. arbirrary answer given . it~o a mobile one, before there is even
Tbe prestige of the lawyer in the town probably lay less in his skills than required ~o rurn a sta~~~~~~tyThere is little, therefore, that can be ~aid
in the fact that he was likely to be a younger son of a laird or even of a much pomt m qbnll it is cl~ar that large-scale downward mobility
noble. More significant may be that the sheriff courts, most of which about this here, uf famine that is to say in the 1620s, 1640, and
occurred m ttmes o ' f the r69os."' During the
were still hereditary jurisdictions until 1652, had dominance over the
burgh courts."
-.n d . theh 'seven '1 ean
espect y unng
years o .
considerable population expans10n, an '
d
Compared with social stratification, the details of economic and seventeenth century t erehwasl d under the primitive methods or
there is evt'denee that . t e anld always support the popu j auon.
agricultural organization have been well covered, especially by
Lythe, 25 Hamilton, 26 and Smout. 21 There is no doubt whatever that in agriculture then operating, cou tio~ot and almost literally armies of
relation to much of England and to much of northern Europe the There waf: larr-sfv~1~'.:~n fi~hting as mercenaries o~ the con-
Scottish economy was in an exceedingly back,,vard state, and at no S_cotsmen oun a l as able to emigrate, h?wever, and m times ?f
point prior to or during our period did any important change occur. unent. Not everyone f b ds ooypsies, and others who spent the_1r
dearth the hard core o vaga on d' b wage labourers who migrated m
The basic economy was subsistence agriculture. While some specializa-
tion in relation to the suitability of certain crops did occur in different lives on the road, wed abgmdi~t~ssJ.ed sub-tenants. Upward social
parts of the country, the normal mode of production was for the search of work, and y .P t The extension of feuferme land-
.1. . har er to es11ma e. h
individual tenant farmer to be self sufficient for his family and de- mo b1 lty !S even . d bility but there is not yet enoug
pendents, with enough surplus for his rents. The inefficient infield- holding may well ha~e m=~rsm;,d th~ lawyers, both new post-
outfield system, a method of land use which involved the regular evidence _on this. T e ded to come originally from the landed gentry
manuring of the better land, the infield, and the recurrent cultivation Reformat!O~ !S"oups, ten rovidin the outlet for younger sons that
without fertilization of the outfield, prevailed everywhere. orthe nob1hty, thus P di. ~l provided in feudal societies. Later
Only a small, still unknown, proportion of tenant farmers were able ecclesiastical poststhhave tra hone ~as a tendency for them to be self-
to c-.iltivate thei~ ld.Ild ()~_the~r__own. These wer_e meri-s_ubsfaritial_ enough in the seventeen century t er
to .own their own team of eight oxen. Much more common was the perpetuating classes. . there has been almost no research
smi]J collective farm, the 'farm-toun', a hamlet based upon a piece of 0 n rank or class consciousness . h th d rly
has ublished recently on the late e1g teen an. ea
land which would be divided among four or more families,-vvhich although Logue f. What evidence there is suggests that m the
woul.d co-operate over the use of oxen and in some sharing oflabour. nineteenth century hile rank consciousness was sharp, militant class
'!'he land would be divided according to the run-rig system of strips of seventeenth century, w rk bi low level or very well concealed.
land, so that each family would have some infield, some outfield, and consciousness was at a rema a y
50 ENEMIES OF GOD soClAL STRUCTU!U! AND SOCIAL CONTROL
-i'
Jolmson in his History of the Working Classes in Scotland found about ' c t Jass in practice not only had security bur were normally
siw-tenan c . .. k. "" Th. . I . . .
two ~eventeenth-century examples, though with Red Clyde optimism l 0 p ss their. tenancy on to their m. is practica secunty may
~o e tb
0
he did not draw the conclusion just drawn here; 30 Hill on the other modified in the seventeenth century by the rise in population
naveeen ... db Wh b
hand makes passing references to travelling Scotsmen who were and the localized move towards larger umts no,te y . yt~, . ut 1t
amazed at the level of aggression to be found among the poorer was ill :uiy case entirely dependent on the tenants good b_ehaviour and
sections of society in .England. 31 It may be that research may uncover conciiiued exploitabi!ity. It stood for nothing when the nme came for
Signs of collecnve social unrest: the occasional references to 'riot' in the
High Court of Justiciary may lead somewhere, but the comments of ev~~~~~nal vertical relationships of the pre-Reformation. period
Smout on riot sug!?est that the urban mob in the seventeenth century were only strengthened by the Reformatioh i~':ilogy and orgarzat10n.
had not been polincized. 32 In the absence of new discoveries the It is often assumed that Scottish Calvinhism a emocbratic imp 1cat10h.
problem to be considered, and this is also true of much later Scottish Ins irirual terms it may have had sue imp11canons, ur m practice t e
history, is the relative lack of social discontent and either urban or intt ration of the land-owning laity into the formal orgamzation of the
peasant unrest. ch!ch did nothing to modify the social structure, though lt may have
This lack cannot really be explained in the terms suggested by assisted the npward mobility of those who acqwred land after the
Gordon Donaldson that the level of agricuiture was good by the Reformation. It has recently becor;ie fashionable to. use the term
standards of the time, and 'the typical Scot was concerned mainly with 'revolution' in connection with certain plateans m the faction fighting
the provision of the needs of his own household' and was essentially fthe seventeenth century, but it is doubtful whether anything worthy
content. 33 A different view is given by Lythe who notes that 'foreign ~f that name has ever affected the socio-econon:;ic structure of rural
observers almost unanimously damned Scottish arable farming'M and Scotland. Certainly there were no permanent radical changes between
suggests that the landowners' rents, payable in kind or money, 'often he Reformation and the post I745 settlement. Nor does It appear that
absorbed up to a third of the value of the product of the land'. 33 While :he people took up arms before. the late .eighteenth century for any
this admitt_edly was a small ?roportion compared with the system of reason other than kingship, kinship, or rehg10n.
mezzadria m rural Italy up till the 1950s in which dues were half the There remains the question of the posmon of women. Women are
value of the product, it should still have been enough to generate a beginning to emerge from the historical record, rather as the workmg
certain amount of discontent. Whyte' s work provides further f es did a generation or so ago, in response to changes m levels of
evidence of a classic exploitative relationship including the obligation c ":ciousness among historians and social scientists. They have not,
for the producers to grow wheat which they the.mselves might not h~wever, emerged very far. In. many parts_ of Europe including Scot-
use. ae land they appear as individuals m the h1sroncal .record for the first time
Even if the system as described amounts to something more complex as witches. The witch prosecutions are certainly the first time. that
than a simple dichotomous model of class exploitation, objective women appear as criminals in any large numbers. Cases o.f mfanncide,
reasons for social and economic discontent clearly existed in Scotland the other main female crime, only occur when there is a punitive
as elsewhere. The lack of any manifestation of this, and the fact that attitude to illegiclmacy, and seem to. appear eith~r. later than or con-
most visible peasant aggression in the seventeenth century was lined up temporaneously with witch prosecunng. The pos1non of women lS at
behind ruling class cleavages on political and religious issues, can present a very dark area. . .
perhaps be explained in terms of the strength of feudal bonds and In criminal law women did not eJtJst. Their statns was the same as
feudal control, greatly reinforced, especially at the local level, by the children and convicted felons and they were not admitted as witnesses
organization of the post-Reformation church, by the dispersed nature in courts oflaw. It was necessary to pass a special ~ctin 159r in o:der to
of Scottish rural society with the consequent lack of gathering places allow their testimony in witchcraft cases. In c1v1l law the posmon is
other than the church, and by the lack of large towns where the more obscure. Most feudal contracts appear to have been .made
equivalent of the English 'masterless men' might congregate. It has also between men, but on the other hand women appear to have reta.med a
been suggested that the level of preoccupation with religions issues considerable amount of independence on mamage, and the fact .that
lowered interest in economic and social ones. 37 The likeliest cause is they did not take on their husband's name i:iay have been symbohc of
perhaps the exceptional insecnrity of the Scottish peasant. H~ did not such independence. Marriage was agnanc and women remamed
own his land and he could not reliably pass on his tenancy to his members of their original families. 39 They appear to have r~tamed
children. This is an excelJent structural recipe for docility and defer- control ovet' their dowries, and they may have been able to mhent
ence. It is suggested by Donaldson that in the sixteenth century the property and possibly even tenancies ofland. Certainly the records of
52 ENEMIES OF GOD SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 53
the quarrels behind witchcraft accusations reveal instances in whicli in the control of geographical mobility, and in the central and local
women were shown as (recalcitrant) payers of rents, and as owt,ers application of the criminal law
'gear' (livestock), even when married. It is not dear from the record,
however, whether this was a formal ownership or merely a con.
ventional attribution because they were in fact doing the actual work of Social Control
finding grazing for the animals and dealing with the rent collector. !t
may be worth posing the question of whether the appearance of If the social structure was static., the methods for .controlling it. were
women in the criminal records coincides with some change in their not. In one sense the Reformation can be desrnbed as the b.1ggest
social and economic statns, even though it seems inherently itn- nforcement the feudal system in Scotland ever had, for m the
probable that such a change occurred simultaneously in those parts of rei rusters and elders of the Reformed Church the ..land-owning classes
Europe in which witches were prosecuted. m1 d. 1 .
Wer_e_ provide~ with a_ polic~ ,rote~ an ~1v1 .service ..
The general social and economic picture presented here is a static one, The term 'social control in this section 1s used in a sense narrower
It is static in comparison with parts of England and parts of the con. than the whole social system, but wider than th.e formal legahystem.
tinent, where we can see considerable agricultural change, the growth It refers to the formal and informal mechanisms for creating and
of substantial cities, the growth of industries, and extensive trade; it is enforcing rules, though in practice when dealmg with a ~ast society the
static too in its own terms in that the changes to be perceived over a formal mechanisms are inevitably m:ire.v1S1ble chm.the mformal. This
three-hundred-year period are fairly small, and confined to a small section deals briefly with the organization of cnmmal law, and with
area; the richer agricultural lands. It \us been suggested that here rhe activities of the local Kirk sessions as controllers. of both crnne and
certain amount of change did take p!ace,40 that there was a. rn()Vioment lesser misdemeanours, and considers the place of witch prosecution m
from collective farming to single ownership of a unit ofland, arid that the general pattern of control.
to the extent that this was happening there was social .and economic The larger part of the seventeenth-century. machinery for both
dislocation. The question is whether this represents sufficient change to criminal and civil jurisdictions was a chaotic mhentance from pre-
generate witchcraft accusations if indeed these are symptomatic of Reformation times. It was observed by Hugo Arnot, the e1ghteenth-
unusual social strain. This could only be shown by the sort of detailed century Edinburgh lawyer and historian that 'there is no determmed
anthropological area-research which has not yet been done, demon- system of criminal jurisprudence m Scotland. It ts a matter of doubt
strating that those individuals who were accused were those who had what is a crime in the eye of her law, and wha: is not, also what." the
been displaced or were about to be displaced, and that their accusers punishment annexed'. 41 If this was true of the eighteenth century it was
were the new single unit owners. even more true of the seventeenth. Although som~ firm statements
There were also some developments in industry in these areas. The have been ventured both about seventeenth-century JUmprudence and
extraction of coal and salt in Fife and the Lothians was during the about the status of the different criminal courts,42 lt JS still a largely
seventeenth century involving legislation which enserfed the wotkers unknown and unresearched area. 43 In practice judicial. outco1nes seez:n
in these industries. But although the salt pans and the coal mines were in often to have reflected the relative power of participants and their
witch-prosecuting districts their workers do not seem to have featured capacity to ca,nvinc~. 1; is not with,out .signi~cance that early legal
prominently in the accusations. There was also dearly some develop- writers wrote Practtcks rather than Insntutes . .
ment of trade during the seventeenth century, but again whether any The organization of criminal justice was complex and :iverlap~mg
of this amounts to the type of change which would cause peculiar and the areas of competence often ill-defined..The types ofy1':15d1ct10ns
social tensions not previously present is very doubtful. canbe divided into royal, baronial, and eccleSJastical, though m fact the
The initiation and decline of witch prosecuting then were contained category of 'royal' is a particularly confusmg one .. It includes not only
well within the limirs of a period of little change in economic and central government instituti?ns: Parliament, Pnvy Council, and the
social organizatiot1, A consideration of the basic components of Courr of Justiciary, plus their local extensions, the hereditary sher1Jlf-
economic and social structure therefore cannot logically contribute to doms and the royal burghs., all of which undeniably represented Kmg s
explanations of why the prosecutions started in the first place: it does, law; but also the regalities, which in a sense represented the aba~don
however, help towards an understanding of some of the forms which mmt of royal control. The regalities were areas where the Kmg s wnt
witch-hunting took. Yet there were real changes in some aspects of was administered by the lord's officials rather than those of the Kmg
social life, which may have been causal factors, and the most notable of
these were in the organization and enforcement of religious worship, himself. d II h
The King's writ itself as centrally administered ealt pnnc1pa y wit
54 ENEMIES OF GOD SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND SOCIAL CONTROL 55
treason and the 'four pleas of the crown': robbery, rape, munlcr, and ! This combination of overlapping feudal jurisdictions was the pre-
arson. Witchcraft was added to theseafter 1597 .T'he principal centtaJ f Reformation inheritance; it was an area in which king, noble, baron,
bodies inv?1ved in criminal justice during the seventeenth century Were and city burgher struggled to keep or increase their area of control, and
the Justiciary Court (reconstituted as the .High Court of Jusrid:fry in which outcomes did little to create precedents. Yet despite the
after 1672) and its travelhng co,urts, the Jusnce Ayres (later the Circuit continuance of these structures until after the I7.45 rebell10n (with
Courts), the Privy Council and those who received its commissions, and breaks for the Cromwellian rule) there were conSiderable changes m
Parliament and itscommittec;s. King's justice was extended throiiglt the organization of criminal justice after the Reformanon. The
the system of sheriffdoms, although since these wer.e nonnaily principal developments were the. expansion o.f statute law to include
hereditary and part of the feudal arrangements the dJStmction between mong other items pre-Reformation eccles1ast1cal crimes, the attempts
royal and feudal jurisdictions here is not very dear. Sheriff Courts had by both James VJ and Charles I to d.evelop the role of the king's courts
rights of jurisdiction over their whole area other than any burghs over against that of local feudal JUSt!ce, the debatable and unresearched
contained within it. Their rights did not include treason or the four reception of Roman law, the growth of the legal profesSion, and the
pleas of the crown; nor could they try crimes for which the punish. reform of the high court in 1672. .
ment was transportation. These included lease-making, adultery, and It would be misleading to suggest that any of thJS had the effect of
forgery. They could, however, try murder 'red hand', that is to improving legal procedures according to some concept of JUSt1ce,
say 'if the murderer were taken immediately upon the fact', pro- although such concepts did concern. lawyers of the period. From the
vided that justice was summary. The case had to be tried and the point of view of the accused party justice remamed rough, and out-
sentence carried out within twenty-four hours of the act being comes could depend, whether at feudal or at central level, on relative
committed, power positions. So far as the .central courts were concerned 1t was the
Regality courts could in theory ovenhrow the judgement of sheriff opinion of Hugo Arnot that m the seventeenth cen~ry the Court of
courts. They could also try any crime including the four pleas of the Justiciary was very subm1ss1ve to government: its .decrees w.ere
crown, but excluding treason, and after 1597, witchcraft. Regaliries engines of oppression, the court used often to remit the J"-'Y ordermg
made obvious sense in areas such as Argyll where it would have been them to amend their verdict'. If that did not work, 'the Pnvy Council,
troublesome to take accused persons to Edinburgh, but in practice their a most tyrannical court, used to interfere with the sentence . of
geographical distribution was somewhat random. Stewartry courts Jusriciary'. The relationship between these courts affected sentencmg
were basically regality courts for lands which had been appropriated by policy in all those crimes which were centrally controlled. ..
the monarch. Yet social control did not end with the formal c1v1l legal prov1510ns.
The baron courtswere the lowest secular courts and they dil'.i11()t try Ecclesiastical law after the Reformation was far more drastically
many cases ofserfouscrilJ!e. Their main function was to deal with cases changed than civil law. As in England several ecclesiastical offences
relating w 'the weill of thetenandis and keiping of gude ruclitbur- were incorporated into statute law, but the g~eatesr change was. m
heid', 44 and t() a certain extent th,is function was taken over and more organization. Although it took some time for pre-Reforma11on
energetically pursued in the seventeenth century by the kirk sessions. organizations to be phased out, they were gradually replaced by an
Some baron courts were entitled to try cases of theft 'red hand' and entirely different structure. .
'slaughter red hand' (i.e. a killing when there was no 'forethocht The. Kirk sessions, which by the mid-seventeenth century covered
felony', the result, for example, of a brawl), but they could impose the most ofnoh~Highla,nd Scotland and had penetrated Argyll and lnver-
deatl1 penalty oniy if the right of 'pit and gallow' was included in the nesshire, consisted of the minister and his elders, Theyn1et to arra,nge
baron's charter. Sheriff courts could overturn their judgements if it was not o!iJy everything to do with public worship, but also to monitor all
not too late to do so. the disciplinary aspects ()f public life. They were the body through
The status of burgh courts is more obscure. Burghs were given a which the doctrine that even sinners and the ungodly should be forced
good deal of independence, but the court of a royal burgh was not to glorify God in their lives was enforced. More prosaically this was
allowed, unlike the hereditary regalities, to try the Four Pleas of the identified with suppressing scandalo~ sexual hai~ons, drunkenness,
Crown. It is not clear whether a regality burgh court really had any brawling,. sabbath-breaking, and backb~nng, and with the transference
greater powers than an ordinary burgh, a burgh of barony:" both of more serious offences to presbyteries or the secular courts. The
appear to have been subordinate on appeal to the sheriff court. Over penalties oeen to Kirk sessi()",' were no.t cle~rly defined. Th~y cou1d'.1ot
the whole system of courts in general absolute demarcation lines were excommunicate, but in practice they could impose vanol1S degrada~on
not drawn. titrials',"iangingfrolll rriere appearance before the sesSion to weanng
<I.ND SOCIAL CONTROL 57
ENEMIES OF GOD STRUCTURE
soc!AL . l for tenant farmers to accept
sackcloth in front of the congregation, ."'1J/they could On .. Not only was it essentla for them to take strangers under
basis of these fines they supported the poor of the p"<',.sh,"' and~.
fornication was always a major item of business it would
'--vioura contr.. o.1..' it was
n.1..ob1ht;l: . l
. . an. . olfenceh
and t ey. couId not the=.elvesf moved.
be":' oof without perrrussion, ..... e without a certificate o goo
say that ihe equilibrium of the godly parish was mainumedli~ rhe;t rd mJcile and settle dsewhe~ h th m to their new parish. Any
lascivious regularly providing for the needy. . their . {from the session to take wit dedeon this certificate, and Janet
a
The Kirk session, it was suggested, was new intermediary organ of: conduc ate episodes would be reco~o take with he.r tP. her. new. par.JSh
control in the social strucrure. Although the session took over th:;l:: ""forron . . . . n.x6s () for example, had
h d b
t d. o.f w1rchcraft mne years
h. h
functmns of the old Commissary Courts It was new m the level ofi~.~ Andesotll
.....nf
, .rrr1at10
' suspec e
. n .tha. t she a leen r .the mo b1.
... of peasants .. tc
0 1 1ty ' w..
activity. It was intermediary by virtue of the social starus of its "''11.;~ the tously." This tijlh.t. contt:o oveell have been a response to a rismg
bets, and it monitored peasant life far more closely and in more detail.! pi:eV1e$ub!ished at this time, mayn:d some influence in holdmg back
than the baron and burgh courts which still operated and whos< i ;~~lati.on; ii ;h~:i~~ ~~vhlgh rate of emigration jfth~~~y:~h~~
interests often overlapped with the Kirk session. What is more.. tJi,J
laird ()r noble did not have to control their tenants directlfany longer; ! 1ndusm;;:::":o1diers to. the battlefi\ellds QI ~.ou.rs~itl~ within Scotland
the Kirk session, as suggested,. acted as a police force on their behiJF.~ of mer~ . ',f . dl". ess were not a owe
ficares o go .m . . .de
The minister was appointed and his stipend paid directly by ihe i cert.l. .. ... rhaps driven outs! .
hentors-the landlords who owned land in the parish; and much<ifihe "! they were pe h. h
. ... .. . tu Scotland a society w ic was
stipend was paid iii kind and often in arrears. The ministers. came ) h then in seventeenth-<:en r:y . There was a considerable
themselves from the landed or grand tenant class, but by the end ofthe l We av~ ally and socially relatively static. f ank at all social levels,
f l
seventeenth century, and probably earlier, they were aliriost a self. l econorruc . h nsciousness o r
degree of stratification. wit con this self-perceived hierarchy a !" y
perpetuating class of.their own. The elders werethe most suhstaiitia! } and it is reasonable to imphe o !" ng class and the rest of the popu ~e.
tenants in the parish. ~- R. Fosterdescribes the elders ofStow as l harp distinction between t e rdi f the landed and the merchants, dt
bei!lg one quartervillage craftsllien anc! millers and. the rest tenant \ s ruli class proper consiste o inal groups who a -
farmers and small proprietors; the elders ofCraigmi!lar were tenants of ~h; ,:~ight to. includef thos\r:~"J.:';~~s, bai\lies, and factors.
00
the laird of Craigmillar. 49 The flock were the permanent peas:inttj . '~ered on their beha! . num . ' would have an income ten
of the parish. The session therefore, as the new intermediary force mm,,, . d h numster . ] h l re
Makey has estimate t a; .a rs " and so it seems like y t at ne
between them and their landlords, provided a strong reinforcement of ti,;,es the size of his pa~~ru~n: s~cial and educational gulf between
the feudal system. They were a new feudal weapon of social control in was an econonuc as we d
that they reinforced .. local justice. Landlords might attend Kirk of France an
them.. th asant unrest seen in parts , .
services; but they1\Vere,despite the ideofogyofdemocracy under God There was an absence of e pe bances of the.'masterless men seen i~
which caused such annoyance to James VI, more.or less immune from Germany and of the urban distut an e and tutbulence,TheRef()rrna
its discipline except during the. periods of covenanting dmninailce. In England. Yet of course there wali ehw~ch was tied. t.ofrance :vi~h one
1649, for example, heritorS were being summoned for adu1tery, but tion ofJ5tiO ha.lseplaced an e ;emina;:,c~ and. spoils in the building.up
this was distinctly unusual. which fought am<mg i'.'elfJor d The absence of the court m the n.ext
The contrast with England is quitestrong. Manning cites Sir Thomas f indtj>eJ1dent nation. s;ate. nfl. ... . d the increase of ceritrah;;:a-
Aston who argued in r64~ against the thesis that Presbyterian.ism could o ~Nfotens.ified the facti()n COl dh.i.ct.' . la'r:.n.g without the right to hold
pr0 vide a. means of strengthening the power of the llobility over the cen.~, .. d u rme an o m . These
tion bureaucracy. an .eh.e . h. focal power mote attracnve. .d ..
peol'le and made a comparison with Scotiand. There, A.stonsaiil; 'the ' .. made central rat er t an . . . ... ideology can be sai to
peasants are more dependent ori iheii k>ids than in England so the lords
are ~ble to dominate the Presbyterian system and through i'. keep
%'.:'::S together With the new Refo::ili~nthe livt!S of the populace
havegcons . "tuted. a social revolulnon.1 this area that the rise of w1tch-
. .n
control ofthechurch and the monarchy.' 50 The implication w.sihat a: clb them tism .....
were greatly a11ecte y . .
in England the people were more powerful and would be ablet.o\ise hunting must be sought. . . will be discussed m the diapters.on
the Presbyterian system as a democratizing force. Bui in Scotland it The contcitt of the new ideolb~~oted here that the pre-Reformation
strengthened the. ascendant lairds. the belief system, but it stouldth beliefs and practices of the pehs~n},r:y;
A.partfrom the landowners, the other group which were outside the church had left little mar ohm eof the Reformed clergy was t eir . irs
discipline of '.he session were the landless labourer and vagabon<:l Cl?'' and that for many the prea~fte~ the Reformation many former priests
For in addition to controlling behaviour the session also contrdled contaet with Chrisnanity.
SOCIAL CONTROL 59
ENEMIES OF GOD CTURE AND
0 C!AL
o.
C
ano n Law It was these h.e\e-
h
who were ;egarded as too uneducated to be allowed to preach, ;; \hich the authority was conservative revolution w 1c
given the ntle of reader and made to lead their congregation t;. . . .uo<:uw- ,or . lly and econoxmcallyh_ h . tchcraft was the supreme
ts a_.~_()_aa "k on deviance of w ic w1
prayer book until a qualified minister became available. But not 1~.- d the atta<
was it the first serious encounter with official religion; this was also nurttl'e
thoroughly and systematically taught. In both these aspects Seo e:<>rnpfe
was unlike England. There were no absentee clergy. As the
session system extended itself there were resident educated
preaching every Sunday to a captive parish, there was a literacv
which appears to have been moderately successful; and the mirust
were in constant touch with each other; comparing their successes
failures, preaching at each others' fasts and special occasions, cOllStant)y ;~
reinforcing each other in their presbytery meetings. It was a
powerful, systematic and effective piece of indoctrination for
parallels can be found in twentieth-century societies which
experienced left-wing revolutions. It was also similar in kind to
religious and moral revivals to be found in other parts of Europe at the
same time and with which some witchcraft outbreaks appear to
associated.
It has been observed by Morris that moral and I<iec>lo1~1calrev,0Jutiom
are i necessary accompaniment ofnew .states and new . . The
new ideology legitimizes the new regime, and the moral cleansing
demonstrates its effectiveness. The pursuit of the witch as a total!yevil
person, a totaHjrconimitted enemy fo the valuci of the new society
however identified, is, of course, a highly economical way o(effectirig
the moral cleansing of a society.
for p6st::Reformatioli Scotland rhe identificationand aboljtion of
witchcraft was only a part of the new pattern of moral endeavour, in
which it was the acknowledged duty of the secular arm to ensure that
the 'crown rights of the Redeemer' were demonstrated in die. every-
day behaviour of his subjecrs, yet the drive against witchcraft w~s in
fact a J!lOstcentral crusade. It was not for nothing that witchcraft ea.me
to be set beside treason as the two crimes which could not be alienated
to regalities. They represented enffiity in its purest form to the two
swords of God: the secular and the ecclesiastical.
While it is clear that it was possible to prosecute a witch under the
old machinery and that from time to time such prosecutions did occur,
iris also clear that the witch-prosecutions of the sevemeenth cenrury
were conducted throughout tinder those parts of the machinery of
social control which were entirely new: the statute of 1563\.Vhich made
it a civil offence ounishable by death, the Order in Council0Fr597
which centralized' its administration and extended the useofthe Privy
Cotillc!l commission, and the Kirk session where many oftl:ie pro-
ceedings .began and much of the evidence was collected. It was a
process which took responsibility from the accusing individual and
gave it to the highest powers in the land: the Lords of Privy Council
and the Lord Advocate. It was supported by a newly received legal
THE PATTERN OF WITCH-HUNTING (r) 6r
400 1662
Appro:d1nate N1n11ber of Cases
CHAPTER FIVE 375 (Proresses and Trials)
1649
1560-1730
35o
325 1597
THE PATTERN OF WITCH-HUNTING
l NUMBERS AND ORIGINS JOO
275 1661
250
The main outline of witch-hunting in Scotland is fairly clear. Although
witchcraft was a statutory criminal offence punishable by death from 225
l 563 until l 73 5 the bulk of the prosecutions were concentrated in the
200
seventy-two years from 1590 until 1662. The Scottish witch-hiint was-
part of the second wave of European prosecutions which began in the 175 1650
mid-sixteenth century. As on the continent of Europe, however, there r59I
150
was not one continuous witch-hunt. There were considerable ?
fluctuations in the annual rate of prosecutions. There were lulls in 125
which there were almost no cases, there were periOds in. whi.:h there
JOO
was a regu]ar small. supply,_ and there were five peaks of intensive
prosecution: in l59Q-9I, when James VI conducted an investigation 75
into treasonabl~ sorcery; in i 597 coinciding with the publicationofhis
Daemonologie; in 1629-JO coinciding with the peak of the continental 50
wiich panic; in 1649 at the peak of Covenanting influenceon political
life; and from 1661-'62 at the Restoration. The outbreaks of the l590S
l l J.0 30
seem to have been peaks in a period of continuous witch-hunting; 80 90 1
600 IQ 20 JO 40 jO 60 70 80: 90 1700
;560 70
that of 1629-JO was the culmination of a gradual build-up of judicial
activity during the twenties; those of 1649 and 1661-'62 were contained
within a period (1640-1662) of fairly continuous witch-hunting with . r tion to make some estimate of the numbers which were in-
occasional lulls. From 1662 onwards prosecutions declinedsteadily, ~i1:'d in ~rder to be able to make useful comparisons with ~e ~1tch
apart from <in outbreak .in East Lothian from 1678-79 and. the late hunts of other parts of Europe. Midelfort ~as _suggeste dt at m
G a large hunt was one which mvo1ve more
Renfrewshire trials of I692. The eighteenth century saw only a few
isolated prosecutions.' . ~
sohuth-westtyemsuspeerc~".!'~onter that the 'small panic' involving six or
ta.ntwen ' ' ,
ects was most typical of Switzer an .
l d'
The political events with which the witch-hunting peaks have been
briefly associated here are intended as pegs rather than explanations in se;.h:u;!ottish hunts fall naturally into four categoric;. There w~e
themselves, but the purpose of this and the following chapter is first ihe national hunts. These are the ones already me'd:oned a~pej" s
primarily to discuss the chronology of witch-hunting in relation to the of w!ich:himting in which cases came from all over e non- ae ic-
. d even occasionally from the Gaehc areas of
most obvious immediate causal factor: the rise and fall of the level of speakmg areas an . ll h 6 d
official interest in the apprehension and conviction of this particular !nvemesshi re and Ross-Shire . 0. th.er .Y.ea. r....s, especia
. . yI 'hn. ...
t e. I b4.o...s' an
...
type of criminal. Exploration of the sources and spasmodic nature of 16 8 and 1659, could almost be counted nationa unts, ut were
this kind of social control, explanations for both the stable and chang- ne;rer til the localizediarge hunts which were of die second type and
ing elements in the geographical distribution of the hunt and con- more like those described by Midelfort. Examples of these were the
sideration of the role of the peasantry, depend on the prior analysis of , .k 'th. h. t 1n 1623 when twenty-one women and one man
l nvere1 mg un . thi 68 hn
this most visible factor. d and the hunt in Paiston m East Lo an m l 7 w e
were accuse , and two men were accused. Most of the local large
In the first place it is necessary, taking into account all the diiliculties seventeen women . lh Th third
which make a witch-hunt a nightmare for those of a statistical hunts, however. were incorporated in the nattona unts. , e__ , ,
62 ENEMIES Of GOD
THE PATTERN OF WITCH-HUNTING (1) 63
type of hunt .was similar to Monte.r's 'small panics'. The large J"
keit h. h f aver.
mg unto 1623 was preceded by a small one.in 162r in which si~ divi.duals, usually landowners and their most substantial tenants and
women .were accus~d. One of thC:Se was a ~e}anve of one of those l<;gal officers. This became the commonest method of processing an
accused m 162.J. ThJS category of small pamc should really include accused wi.tch. lt might be thought from this that a search of these
all those, even if the group is as small as mother and daughter, in which cencralsources might yield a complete and reliable list of all executions
sus~ec~ are thoughr to have conspired to commit witchcraft. The but tl1is is not the case. Our search produced 2,208 named and anony-
cfatmcnon between a small and large panic cannot really be dr mous references to cases, of which only 599 are to named individuals
b
with any prec_1s1on ecause we can never be certain that We' have aH eh
awn whose execution is recorded. tL
names and because the distinction is in any case only a matter ~ Starting from this basic figure a further list of 861 references from
degree. The line could be drawn somewhere about ten. The fin~; secondary sources include another 300 references to executions. Many of
category IS the ISOiated witch deemed to have acted alone and pursued these are anonymous: they refer to im:my witches' or 'certain witches'.
locally for her malefice rather than officially for her ideological none and some of them clearly match with named cases, though not always.
ccmformtty. All the last three types were incorporated in the national Named cases in this category which cannot be matched with cases in
hunts. the criminal records add another 43. To get a reasonable figure, a major
The prnblem of exact numbers which was indicated in the third addition must be made from the Privy Council cases. Neither the level
chapter IS not confined to the numbers executed. Behind that figure of bureaucratic development nor local funds for sending messengers to
would. be needed other figures for those who had committed suicide Edinburgh encouraged the reporting back of results of trials, and
while m pmon, those who had died from torture, ill treatment, or therefore a high proportion of commissioned cases have properly to be
ne.glect m pnson (1f they could be confidently distinguished from the recorded as of unknown outcome. Nevertheless the probability is that
sutc1des), those who had committed suicide or fled before their although the acquittal rate in the Coiii:t of'Justiciary was over fifty per
arrest, those who .had been acquitted at their trial, those who had been cent, for Privy Council Commissions it v;,as very low. Local authori-
given mmor purushments, banishment, or merely admonished., those ties greatly preferred to get a local commission if they could; it was
whose cases had been dropped before trial, and those whose ill fame cheaper and the result was in their own hands. Most commissions were
had brought them before the Kirk session but no further. 'for trying and burning' which does not suggest a high level of
Even if we do confine ourselves to the limited problem of numbers acquittal. The basic figure included 128 Privy Council executions out
of those executed for witchcraft in Scotland we are already in of a total of 191 known outcomes. If the same percentage were
d1fficult1es. We know from other sources than the criminal records that extended to the 866 unknown outcomes and to the 267 unknown
large numbers were tried for treasonable witchcraft during the winter outcomes of the Parliamentary and Committee of Estates Commissions
of l59Q-9I. We have about seventy names and we do not know the that would give us another 780 executions. Together with 200 cases
fate of all of them. 4 Similarly we know from a variety of sources that allowed for the period up to 1597, and perhaps another roo for
the connn~mg w1tch-h.unt after this crisis rose to another peak in the dubiously legal cases in regalities and other local courts,1we have atotal
0
year r 597, but_s1uce. this was a decenttalized witch-hunt we have very ofl.>37 executions with a possible margin of error of about 300 either
few records of mdiv1dual cases. Local barons and sheriffs were entitled way, though the li.gureseems morelikely to be an overestimate.
to make their own arrangements, and the details of executions are Black's guess, which was based on the assumption that acquittals were a
mostly lost for ever or scattered through such private family papers as rarity, wa54.,400 . The most modest estimate so far has been Legg~ who
survive from this period. How many then were executed? The other estimated 3,400 executions.' About one third of this figure, something
national.hunts were those in 1629-30, 1649, and 1661-62. We have over a thousand, would seem mo~t likely.
more reliable figures for these, and if the r 597 hunt was of the same Other figures, for minor penalties, banishments, acquittals, suicides,
order (which it may or may not have been) then it may have accounted deaths in prison, abscondments, and Kirk session reprimands, would be,
for between 200 and 300 witches. in varying degrees, even less reliable and beneath such figures would
From 1597 onwards the problems are of a different order. From thc;n lurk, in positivist terminology, the 'dark figure' of informally
it was illegal to try and execute a witch without an individual com- identified witches against whom no formal complaint had ever been
mission from the Priry Council or Parliament or a trial at the Court of raised.
Justiciary. A trial at the Court ofJusticiary involved a journey to The problem of a 'dark figure' for witchcraft has some bearing on
Edmbi:r17h unless one of the Circuit Courts was travelling 11"'1< by: A conventional criminology where it is a commonly used cover for
comnuss1on was normally granted to a local court of named. in- unsatisfactory data. In so far as a 'dark figure' refers to a certain number
of prosecutions or convictions for which the record has been or may
ENEMIES OF GOD
THE PATTERN OF WITCH-HUNTING (1) 65
have been Jost this is an acceptable convention. In so far as it refers to
the number of times that the crime or crimes in question have been th'!I' any previo~ estimates (which have ranged from J,400 to ]O,ooo ),
committed this is quite another matter. lt gives an objective status to there are factors. which justify old long-term. reputations .for very
certain actions as crimes which they do not actually have. Individual intensive witch~hunting. One obvious comparison, and the one which
actions can only be defined as crimes by courts oflaw. h<;lped gen~rate Scotland's reputation, is with England where the most
Until recently the historical study of crime was kept distinct from the ex):~i'1!e hunt ended in I7 hanged andwhere it is un]ikeJy that mor~
study of witchcraft and its subject was assumed to have a reality which than 500 were executed over the same period in a very much larger
witchcraft did not have. Thus while positivist students of witchcraft p<)plllation. 9 The main Scottish hunts, some of them confined to small
were perfectly clear that the accused were innocent, that there was no areas, must have been similar in their impact to major hunts onthe
'dark figure' of malefice or of the number of pacts made with the continent in Europe. Two hundt:ed and liftycommissions 'for tryal
Devil, and that the prosecution rate reflected judicial anxiety, not and burning' were issued to the small county of East Lothian in one
human behaviour, they were unable to apply this insight to other year, I649, and most of these probably, resulted in buruing. 10 If one
forms of judicial praqice, It is only recently that it has been applied compares this with the recently compiled figures for parts ,of the
with any force by;,Ditto,ri, who argues that 'crime waves' should be continent in the local studies discussed in Chapter Two it is clear that
called 'control wav<:s' 'as they reflect police activity; not criminal the Sco'.tti.sh e.xperi_ence _in cert_ain areas was more rep~~itive_ly traumatic
behaViour. 8 It could be argued that murder, for example, has an than that of all but the most afflicted German towns and Villages.
objective reality compared with witchcraft, and that the number of Although thebeginning of witch-hunting in I 590 is unambiguous
convicted murderers cannot exceed the number of slain corpses, but on and me diSconrmuity with the previous era clear cut, witch prosecu-
the one hand a killing can only be identified as a murder in a court of tions were not completely unknown before this date. The ~arliest
law, and on the other nearly every convicted witch was associated with s1lg!iested prosecution for "'.itchcraft in Scotland was in 679,)when
a trail of corpses: stillborn babies, mad cows, and apoplectic men. trouble arose between the King, James lll, and his brother, l'e'ader of a
Another related problem born of the separate treatment of witch- large faction, the Earl of Mar. The Earl died in mysterious circum-
craft and other forms of crime is that while commentators on witch- stances, and his death was followed by the execution of several witches
craft were generally clear that a witch-hunt was related to ruling class and warlocks for conspiracy to cause the King's death by witchcrafr.u
behaviour and therefore had to be explained in terms of ruling class No details are known about this case, for which there is no con-
pathology, commentators on crime waves tended to explain them in temporary evidence and i~ITiaybemy;h!ca.l. It is interesting that both
terms of a pathology of the underworld. Ditton's und<;rsianding of Cohn and Kieckhefer found that this type of politically motivated
crime as reflecting ruling dass activity has- been bafanced by an witch-hunt was most common in the earliest period of witch
opposite movement among witchcraft scholars, inspired by the con- prosecuting on the continent.
servative, functionalist school of anthropologists, towards a view of Ap?rt from this case very few have reached the records in the period
witch-hunting as a spontaneous reaction of the peasantry to social and prior to r563; indeed only three named witches are known 11P to this
economic forces. A greater integration of criminal and witchcraft di!.te. We know from the instructions for regulating proceedings at the
studies should serve to bring these issues into sharper focus. Justice Ayre of Jedburgh ,iff i5fo; however, that witchcraft and
If however we abandon the quest for a dark figure of peasant sorcery were among matters to be considered, 12 and from a St
behaviour, and concentrate on the most visible aspects of judicial Andrews source in 1542 that the ecclesiastical machinery for trying
activity, the figures are sufficiently reliable to locate the times and witches and handing them over to the secular arm for burning
places of greatest activity and to make reasonable comparisons with existed, and was occasionally used. This included a commission 'for
England and the continent. Witch-hunting was the most public form the accusing and summoning of witches and soothsayers and the
of social control ever devised because the identification of the witch proceeding against them to their condemnation and the handing over
was dependent on the public status (ill fame) of the accused, and con- of them to the power of the secular judiciary'. There was clearly to be
viction was normally dependent on the reinforcement of her con- no question of their acquittal, and indeed we have confirmation from
fession by witnesses to her malefices. Large scale witch-hunts were a second separate source that three urma~e4 women were burnt at the
highly visible and remarked on by contemporaries, and although new stake for witchcraft on October rothii 542 ihS'. Andrews. It is by no
caches of documents may reveal new cases or even new large local hunts means obvious from the writ whethefthis' tifafwas an unusual, one or
it seems unlikely that national hunts previously unknown will emerge. not. On the one hand the phraseology of the commission is common
While the figure for those executed in Scotland is co~iderably smaller form, and the subject matter consists mainly of arrangements for the
trial and pious references to the heinousness of the crimes: on the other
THE PATTERN OF WITCH-HUNTING (1) 67
66 ENEMIES OF GOD
. h l ' 1s What is more. given that it was
there is the fact that not only were four leading churchmen appomted there through abusmg t e peop e l. the exploitation of superstition,
.. . general not mere y . l . b
to try them, but they were to summon as assessors all the doctors superstition in .' d . there was a certam og1c a out
licentiates, and bachelors of theology they could get hold of. Further'. which was being legislate] agamsI\n the Act as practitioners. Death
more these witches were transported from Edinburgh and Dun- ulters being as severe y treate . . .
cons ' h l f; r all such acnvmes. . . h
fermline (at a cost of thirty three shillings and fourpence) in order to was to oe t e pe;ia ty o did t result in a great increase m witc
face this tribunaJ.13 The passing of the Actht ' no on the statute book the General
The legal basis for this pre-Reformation trial was CanonLaw, but prosecutions.
. but once eafnet was f the contentious issues . between
the responsibility for prosecution was clarified by the passing of the Assembly treated witchcdt t .as onJ hn Knox initially applauded the
;Witchcraft Aci in )56j in that 1for the first time witchcraftbecaine them and the secular au ' armer. ?statutes as a sign that they were
acrimina1 offence in statute law. This secularization of the coutrolof passing of these assorted dlra ity ,. but he did not remain satisfied.
wiichCr_~ft- seems_ to have be_en -a factor in ptoil1oting __ pr,o_s_ec:l]_tions moving towards a truly go y sta:t' . hcraft was included in a list of
in Russia, Denmark, Imperial Europe, England and other areas," and Two year& after the Act was passde wh1tc]1 was presented to the Queen
while it did not precipitate a witch-hunt in Scotland it cerraiii]y ' be suppresse , w IC f 1
'horrible cnmes to . d fi then on accusations o mora
eased matters for the authorities nearly thirty years later. The by the General Assembly, an rhom. il powers were commonplace.
Witchcraft Act became an essential point of reference in the following th body of clergy tot e civ fth G 1
slackness by e he accounts of the proceedings o e . enera
century. On the whole, however, t l . d uggest that their dommatmg
The timing of the Witchcraft. Act suggests a simple connection Assembly throughout t~s. eaf y ~~~~o fi~ance, and the suppression of
between the introduction of Calvinism, the passing of the Act, and anxieties were about po me. po'. '. all the Roman mass. General
subsi:qllerit prosecutions; btit i;vS hot Iha.de law becatise a literal ideologically unsound pracncb ~rfncipth yand in this field witchcraft
interpretation of the Bible derriaiided the operation of Exodus, 12.11; mdrality at this time came a s~xu~u~Jfe~ces. 20
'Thou shalt not suJfer a Witch to live'. Nor was it made law because .ranked very much lower thhthe assing of the r563 Witchcraft Act
John Knox hadieamed to hunt witches iii Calvin'sGerii:vafoiCalvin's Nevertheless even thoug h p f n immediate witch fever, It
interest in the subject seems to have been limited. 15 It seemsratger.that .th th ultofnort ecauseo a h.
was ne1 er e res . h h f h r 59os and the seventeent
fthewltc - untso t e
in the period following the initial successes of the Reformation move- was a pre-condi non o h fi 11 into the criminal law at a nme
men~, tha.t is. to say from 1560_ to_ 1563, there _was a power vac_uunl-in century. It brought witc era t. orma y about to develop rapidly, and
the area of social .control. previously covered by ecclesiastical courts. when the law and legal practice rere rding the witch-hunters of the
TheQeneral Assembly of the new Church, therefore, sent a request to
the-Privy Council that they either allow the Assembly to takeover
despite its brevity and ' s~:~~~~n=~th century found it more than
1590s and the lawyers o t I d d . 1649 the Act was ratified and
these forniet eeclesiastical jurisdiCtions with the addition ofsuch new adequate to their purposes. n ee . m
offences as mass-mongering, ()fthat the Privy Council takeiliem over confirmed as it st?od. b rween the early post-Reformation legal
itself.1'.The list of suggested offences did not in fact include witchcraft. Tri the mtervemng years 1 e f 90-91 witch prosecutwns appear to
butwheiiParliament incorporated these offences inro the criminal law, reconsrruction and the trbia s ~ 15 "d nee ;;scanty. There was a slow
the drafter included a witchcraft act between iliose against adultery m4 have been building up, ur the evh1 ed snot reflect an increase in the
bestiality .17 It doesnot ilierefore seem to have been the Calvinist clergy otcertamt
increase but tt 15 n . .
att is oe
Wh h d h
more the cases t at we o av_e
who were initiitor5 of the witchcraft legislation. Their application to number of records surviving. hat!s e 'mur.der cases: 'slaughterts
.. l type T ere wer h
the Privy Council was concerned with socia.l control generally, and are all of a tra dmona .d 1 of malefice: there was t e
b . hcraft' an esser types h .
was the beginning of a long struggle for dominance bervveen committit e w.1tc '. nd the healing arts. A big. proportion
ecdesiastical and secular authorities. straight mvocation ofdspir~:~ ~f some social standing; this agam may
The statute itself was as sceptical in its wording as the Witchcraft Act of individuals involve w f ds But apart from one or two
of Ii35 which repealed it. It spoke of 'the heavy and abominable reflect the survival of the type 0 ref:c?ryr figures appear it is hard to say
superstition used by divers of the lieges of this Realm by using of d . which dernoruc or al eh af
isolate cases m h d l pment in beliefs about wit .er t. d
Witchcraft ... and credence given thereto in rime bygone ... and for that there was muc eve o 1 . relationship between church an
avoiding and away putting of all such vain superstition in rimes to More significant was the deve o~U:~ues continued to stand between
come'; and states that 'no persons shall take upon hand in any times state, and the way in which mor . ' d to consider 'how witchcraft sal
p rl'ament was reqmre
hereafter to use any manner of Witchcraft Sorcery or Necromancy nor them. In 15 67 a 1 . . . k' h of' 21 There is no record as to
give themselves forth to have any such craft or knowledge thereof, be puneist and inqws1t1on ta m t ere .
68
ENEMIES OF GOD
;hether any action was taken about this but/in Februa .
JlyY <:ouncil were also interestin.g thms '1 . . h.... f.Y I5Z3 the
b th i ' . . . ... ... c evesmw1tc crart and .
or e !~st a_1ne deciding to treat it -- -"-- -- ' . were
bxceptum principle alreadyfa!l1iliaron the c~~t~n~~~c;;1.Jf:ch~~ <rirnen CHAPTER SIX
e exe1~pted from the benefit of pacification," an, amnest fo~ ~';;'"to
offences, and m December of the h r Y ...... tJou.s
fron1 remr- --- 24--.. h - -- same_yearwitc crart was exempted
were ret~~d.'ihe t e process whereby escheated riio'Vea.ble goods TH.E PATTERN OF WITCH-HUNTING
thesfateol ffi . GJneral Assembly, however, was not satisfied with
1
v10 anon o t e Sabbath d .h . . ' ' an The North Berwick witch~trials and the role of King James VI have
punishment' " Th' ay ~t out prejudice always of the civil! already been discussed in the recent secondary literatu.re in some
to themselv~s is appears to .. ve ?een a further attempt to reserve
. . powers of defirunon m the area of crimes re] t cl detall.1 The trials are significant in three respects. In the first.'Jolace as
re11g1on Civil pu h h . a e to well as being thefirstillass trial since witchcraft was incorporated into
th ms ments, owever, did not apparently follow Ld
enough upon e Church's defin' . [, . uar the criminal law they were also the last of the old type of political
ah10ng articthles of the General As::~~ t": b;np[~:.'rel~t;~ t~: j/83, witi:h-tria!, known in England and other parts of Europe as well as in
t ere was e complaint 'That there is .h . mg, Scotland; in which 1:),.e ac0~ation of witchcraft was a prop to the main
:::clt~k~ :,.it~hcraft, m.uriliers, abominable1:dh:nw:~:~: i~n~~~ political purpose.\Secondly,'the continental. witch theoryVl'hich hd
. th yh1el smne mcreaseth, and provoketh the wrath of God previously been unknown in Scotland was introduced, and.thirdly, the
against e w 0 e countri ' 20 Th . . trfals stimulated what may have been the most extensive general
that witchcraft was rega~ded b;'tli:'~~ n~l indication at this stage
11
wjtch:h':'nt of the whole period of witchcraft prosecution there, that
serious menace among other crimes and misJem::~,;ss aanpdatrht1cularly from 1591 1JJ1til l 597. In the immediate aftermath the number of trials
remarkably l'ttl ere was rnay have di!Ilinished, but they increased again and reached]a peak in
revelations of thet~~~h'l~ peopLe, church'. or civil authorities for the (I59T when the action of the King brought them to an abrupt end.
November of 1590. erw1c witches, whose tnals began m .. the
Although the ,specific purpose of the treason trials (to incriminate the
Earl of Bothwell and <;'rablish that James was the Devil's prime
enemy) hadpassed, the role of the government in the control of
witehcraft remained important. For the King reminding the populace
of the dangers of witchcraft, and taking responsibility for rooting it
out, served to justify the recent episode and demonstrate his concern
for the safety of the realm,
Certainly James continued his personal efforts to root out witch-
craft. The following winter he instructed his ambassador to urge
Elizabeth to hand over witches who had escaped into England, and
implied that she as monarch was equally threatened:
Mary Morrison was released, but she was not the last to be in
trouble. There was an outbreak in Ross-shire in the same year, and
Lachland and George Rattray were executed in Inverness in 1;06."
These see111 _to have beenthe lastJegat el(ec:t!tions and are certain! y the
last to appear in surviving central records. They went tliiough the 5y
then usual defence procedure of complaining of their imprisonment
and asking for the issue to be resolved one way or the other. They were
in this case ill advised. A small number of other eighteenth-century
cases are mentioned only in secondary sources. The Old Statistical Account
of Scotland, for example, alleges that 'many witches' were executed in
Spott in 1705. It can orily be concluded either that the central sources
are unreliable, orthat with an unsympatheticcentral judiciary therewas
a i;st ditch resort ro illegal local trials, This second hypothesiss~e!li5 the
more likely, andcertainlythe last exec\ltion of all, inwhich th~j:on
ft1s~_<l a11d senile Janet Home is said to have thought the lire they built
at Domoch in 1727 was lit in order to warm her, was of this nature."
Outrightlynchings, as a reaction tojudi~ial inaction, seem to have been
almost uiikll.own. The only one recordedl5 ofJanet C()rnfoor who was-
returned free from Edinburgh in 170 5 to Pirrenweem and stoned to
death by her neighbours. 42 Lynching is, however, both vague as a
concept and as an activity intrinsically unlikely ro be recorded, except
when the authorities are investigating abuses. If one included in a list of
lynchings all those who died under torture during the main witch-
hunting period the number would be substantial.
The repeal of the 1563 'W'"itchcraft Act came eight years ager.the
de;~h ofJan~t _ Horne in Dornochand.was __ not t)leresl!]tof 'my
initiative from Scorland.'Tliiee burghers fro.m the sog;)l gfl3J1gland
proposed the repeaf of the English Witchcraft Acts andhe Scottish
Act was included through a House of Lor.ds amendment, Th~y were
replaced by the Witchcraft Act 1735 which admitted. only rl1i; crime"of
pretended witchcraft and whichprescribcd fora conviction_ a niaoci-
mtim of a year's impnsonmexit and pillorymg on quarter days. No-cine
appears ever to have been prosecuted under its provisions in Scotland.
They were indeed inapplicable there since there were as yet no prisons
other than pre-trial residences such as tolbooths, no pillories, and no
quarter days. Between 1680 and 1735 the witch-belief disappeared
CHAPTER SEVEN
stealing a pairofold shoes, value threepence, and with being by habit ACCUSATIONS AT TRANENT r659'
and repute a thief, if the jury find such indictment proved, or such !
prisoner guilty, the Court would by law be bound to seJ"ltence the
prisoner to be hanged; if my temerity may be pardoned, for Christia"
supposing that any such thing exists as a precise established rule of
criminal law in Scotland.'
Janet
The lack of such 'habit and repute' could work in favour of the Douglas
accused when other things wereagainst her: This is demonstrated in
the cases ofJanet Th01nsonand Marean Yool who came to trial wlth a
group of witches from Tranent in 1659. The Justi~e General asked for
more information on them because he was not satisfied with their Elspeth .,,.___
confessions ()f meeting the Devil and other witches. The eldersof the
p~rish quizzed the parishioners for evidence of'their having practised
malefice or uttered spells, but none was forthcoming, Their neighbours Foul/er
Elizabeth
:~~~~~:2:~~5~~c~?H~.Robertson
Martha
declared .them to be of good reputation and the charge was dropped. 3
Colville
Accusation by another suspected or convi.cte.d. witc;!i, th(l11gh tli<: Janet
process often started this way, was rega~ded as the weakes.tformof /Balfour
accusation. George Guidlet in 1671 declared in an appeal against his Christian
imprisonment that there wa~ n? stain on his repu~tion: ther ha~ng
1
Harper Janet
nevir been so much as a D1lat1on (formal accusatmn) of ane dyemg / / / Thompso11
witch against him'' and was set free. Blameless reputation, however. Helen
Fleck ]oh11
could not always save them. In Carron, in Stirlingshire in 1670, it was
Do11a!as
noted that the wife of one Goodaile, a cooper in the parish,' was accused
lssobel
/ ,,
by several witches who had been burned, and was herself executed.
Ho1nc Jonet
She in tum 'delated many Women, some of them of good repute, Elspeth Crooks
who afterwards confessed, and died so'. 6 Robertson
The point at which reputation and accusation led to arrest is hard to M. Grey
identify. Except for those cases in which the same witch is noted mote
than once in the surviving records, we have only the evidence of a let off witha caution, the factofhaving been previously accused
particular case collected at one point in time, ".1'd it is not always clear encouraged ilie buiJd:~p of reputation.
which of the accusanons was the first one m nme, nor which was the While some witches appear from their dossiers to have been on an
one which set the inquisitorial process going. For proceedingsto go inevitable path towards arrest in an ever-deteriorating relationship with
ahead it was necessary for an approach to be made by an indiVidwJor a their neighbours, others seem to have been caught up in a mass hunt.
number of individuals to the Kirk session. In a number of cases the The impetus may have come from laird, minister, or tortured suspect.
matter was dealt with at thiS level. The accusedcgtJ.]d be admonished. Under those conditions any isolated quarrel may have been enough to
fined, possiblybanished. A possible redress was for the accus~d io bring them into the system. The diagrams above show the networks of
counter-accuse of slander. In some instances-slander cases c-ame prior to two East Lothian hunts of 1659.
any formalacC:risation; simply on the basis of spreading false rumour.
In the vast. majority of these slander cases the class relationship was
Whethe~ the ill1pu]se C::ll1 froll1 above or below the Kirk session
theri.ltad to decide whether or not to.take the matter further. There
rev~rsed. The person accused of slande!' would be i'.1 a dependent was a limit to what tliey
themselves collld legally do ff they wished to
position. It was possible for the dependent person m a disturbed bring the witch to justice. Of course theKirk session cold in.fact.do a
relationship to press an accusation of witchcraft, bt hard to make the great deal of damage...to aii aceused. witch. if theyso wished. J:hey
accusation stick unless there was already some existing reputation. To could effecti'Vely take away her1ivelihood by banishment which would
be accused of witchcraft at Kirk session level, however, did nO.::One' s tum her into a vagabondor wage labourer. Sometimes the Kirk
reputation any good. Eve;:. if the charge was refuted or the accused session imposed minor puriishments for particular offences. They
FROM ACCUSATION TO EXECUTION I07
ACCUSATIONS AT TRANENT 1659'
and elders would come in and interrogate them and attempt to secure
II a' corifeS-sion.
Theywere well aware of the type of evidence that would convict a
Marion witc.h in the High Court or obtain a commission from the Privy Council.
Loga11 Maldice alone would not normally be enough; it was an indication.
A{ala Jama iimilady'lllas a sign rather than a pro<;>f. though ma/a Jama
was particularly useful in legal terms in that it could be made to imply
Helen a long-standing pact with the Devil. The main purpose ofthe pre-
Simbeard lililinary informal inquisition was to extract a confession of the Demonic
Pact, whichwasregarded by the courts as the essence .of witchcr;ift.
Copfessions of particular acts of sorcery or witchcraft were all useful,
b~t these were usually additional to the essential. confession of witch-
Agnes craft as the law understood it.. The courts were properly satisfied only
Thomson. bya statement that the accused had renounced her baptism an.cl become
theDevil's servant.
Variow methods were used to extract the confession. Officials used
Lancelot
Crictoun :~;~~~fi:~:~'. ~~~k:U~P~~~ ~~~o~~~~r~~i~i:e~i:f~k~ ~~~kh~
meiiior to extract confession of guilt or information about the guilt
Martha of others. Scottish practice in this as in other legal matters seems to
Butter John stand somewhere between the English and the continental. The
Bartil111an English officially condemned torture and though the English practice
Helen wassomewhat different they were certainly inhibited by the illegality of
Katherine torture. 10 Roman Law seems to have taken torture for granted,
Gibson Gibson
Thomas though in practice there may have been some of the ambiguity which
Thomsonc certainly surrounded its use in Scotland.11
Scotland had a number of standard instruments of torture, but it did
not have the rack, which was the regular instrument used by the
might admonish or fine ..If, however. they wanted tor:id,thecomn;unity inquisition, and there seems always to have been anxiety about the
of that !'articular witch, or if .they were acnvely loo]<mg forw~tches, desirability or usefulness of torture. It is possible that the Scots actually
then it was necessaryfot the Kirk sess10n tocolle7t the type of evi.dence invt:~.~ed sleep deprivation as a meariS -Of"'eXtt:icting "information
which would impress the Privy Council or Parhame':'t. because Of this ambiguity about direct torture.' Known as 'waking' or
The collection of evidence began with statements .about mal~fice 'watching' the witch, sleep deprivation was an almost routine method
ancflll fame given by other parishioners to the 1(irk sess10n. SOJ:n:enmes of extracting confession of the Demonic Pact. The Culross witches of
the witnesses would be asked to repeat them under oath to magistrates 1643 for whom Katharine Rowan was moved were 'to be warded,
or other officials. The witch would probablyJ:ieimprisone~ in the watched by gentlemen, money to be contribute for their necessities'. 1 '
tolbooth if it was a burgh;.but normally in the kirk steeple or m some Two years later at nearby Dunfermline the Kirk session register
barn or outhouse. Katherine Rowan was moved from the tolbooth of records
Culross to the steeple in 1643 'that room might be made for others
delated as guilty of sorcery and witchcraft'. 9 There_ wer~ no purpose- Arrangementforwatchinglandwardwitches. To begin at 6.oo p.m.
built gaols in seventeenth-century Scotland smce imi;nsonmen: was for 24 hours. Any failure penalised 245. To begin at Muirtown
not a standard punishment, it was normally a pre-tnal convemence. [near Auchterarder] and so to continue through so many of the
These ad hoe prisons were not necessarily very secure and escapes seem touns of that quarter till the next session day. Masters of house-
to have been common. Imprisoned witches would be guarded by holds to come or send enough honest men, magisttates and land-
neighbours paid to watch them. Sometim.es th": wanhe local. kick- ward baillies to assure adequate numbers, remit 6s/ day for four
smith who might double as hangman. Durmg eh": penod the rrumster watches of Margaret Donald, the witch. Five days total. ' 3
108
ENEMIES OF GOD
FROM ACCUSATION TO EXECUTION I09
In 1649 the Presbytery recommended to the magistrates ofDUUfer ';,
line that incarcerated witches be constantly waked and watched ~ /
fie torture . duce confession than about
to in ] b general
th
less about spec1 , h ' laint to the Privy Counci a our e
brutaliry. John Trmc e s ~omp ther Marion Hardie, who had since
that they be dealt with as others in the Jyke case are in other paroche, 'l<
Margaret Thomsone appealed to the PrivyC?unci1 in I.<:!44 compla~. ' treatment meted out .tdo h s r;~ounc,,;,, Kendla and others had gone to
mg against the tutor of Calder and. the miruster. of the parish for . aJ Hesai tat.... , h
'waking her the space of twenty days naked, .nd havmg nothfugon her died,pit15 (place
the typic of
. imprrsonment
. , ) ancl without a warrant agamst er
but a sackdoath and t.hat they had kept her m the jtocks separate frolr!
put violent hands mbher p~rso:~ disjointed and mutilat both her
allcompany and worldly comfort'. 15 Many references to expensesfor . band her armes with towes, and
the waichers demonstrate its routine nature. The authorities started u,
have doubts about it about the same time ~s they wer.e campaigning
h
;o threw the same out t a\ loupe asunder and thairafter with
armes and made t e sinews ot tow about her waist, kuist her on
drhw hane rn:~s they birsed, bruised, and punce.d
against direct torture. From 1662 on, 1nstruct10ns to avoid torture were
commonplace and a commission of 1677 to tiy witches in Dumbarton their hail! force
her backe and wit t air to stirre strake the heid of ane spelt
were directed that 'If found guilty without the .use of torture hindering:
them to sleep16or other md1rect means, then justice may be administered
upon them'.
her so that she was not hblffi ,
throw her lefifth
f.ootl:;,
and perrell 0 er ! ae, t ~h
~
::h:w ;fher blood in great quantirie
20
she lay bedfast in great pane
There is some individual variation in the amount ofsleep deprivation and dolour a long tyme thaJtafrer.
required before hallucination begins but not very much. It is curious
that the authorities thought this a reasonable method of getting at the . hi h has always attracted most attention
The case of direct torturehw cf Alison Balfour of Orkney whose
truth because they were well aware of the hallucinogenic etlects, The from commentators was t at o ld dau hter were tortured in front
Jesuit, John Ogilvie, in r6r6 was. 'compellit and with holden perforce aged husband, son and sa;en yhar ~r hn,,~and and baimis beand swa
from sleep, to17
the great perturbation of his brayne and to compell him of her in 1594 'to this e ht t at 'hir to male any Confessioun for
ad delirium'. The magistrates of Dunfermline begged the Privy
tormenrit
. 1 f'besyde hir myfc ht movteure of relatives
21 Accounts o t e tor , of principal
. Asuspects
.
Council for another three days grace in which time they were sure that
their re re , . . rts b Amnesty from Larin menca.
the witches would have cracked through sleep deprivation.
The application of direct torture which frequently accompanied or
are commonplace
ln late now mSrepl
sixteenth-century cot and !t
was regarded as exceptionally
succeeded sleep deprivation was in a sense more logical, Persons
barbarous. s a means of getting at the truth
Serious disquietabout tor"'id i~
threatened with pain or more pain might still be lucid. In the 159os
November . The Committee
seems to havebee~ ~t eci!'rF~rli:iiiientary recess) gave a commission
the government reinforced by James VI made a positive recommenda- 1649
tion that torture should be used to extract a confession and the names of
accomplices. He argued that the Devil had such a grip on his servants of Estates (operatmg m fBl kbarron Sir David Murray ofStane-
that only extreme pain could cause this grip to slip. Nor was torture to Sir Alexander Mhay J.dsafar the trial of several witches from
hope, and several ot er atr rs them 'to use all legal and accustomd
reserved for witchcraft cases. It was used in many criminal cases where villages south of Peebles, orde f ih kingdome And to do evene
wayes according to] t:.Jia':~homay :onduce to the tryall of ibe s,a~~
there were no witnesses; it Was used against the Covenanters and it
was used in other political cases in the reign ofJames II. As Duke of
thing necessane and a q rturing to force them to confesse
York he particularly enjoyed being present on such occasions. 18 It is also
clear that, as in France, it was often merely threatened. Simon Graham persones Pr'?vy.ding they
The Enghsh judges ma .
1:: ~~er attempt to put a stop to the use of
23 but, it was in general use agam
torture in witchcraft ch:~n.,1,~5 ~as proclaimed ill~gal by the PriyY
was accused of arson in 1624, and the instructions of the Privy Council
were to 'examine the said Symon and thre3ttin him with tourtour.
Bot yf threating will not serve to draw a cleir confession oute of him, during, the Resto;;nohl did nofeffedive!y stop the pracnce, but the
we are weele pleased, yf so you shall think convenient that he salbe Council m 1662. T s l di val in place of the governmental
put in the bootis'. 19 registration of govei:nmenta h sapp:'as a significant change. For some
approval of the earlier witch- ~:sion extracted 'without torture' was
The details of the tortures used are fairly familiar. The 'boots' time before this, however, a co m
regarde as ,=~ mof l
whereby legs were cr1Ished, sometimes known as the cashielaws, the cl b , e valid than one w1 di d
pinlliewiiiks(thumbscrews), burning with hot irons, '.thr:a'\Ving' witha d the infliction of pain were recte
rope, the 'turcas' for tearing out nails, were all mentioned in the Both depnvaaon s eep an d the incrimination of others. The
to the extraction of a_ confesSion anwere intended to provide additional
various ordeals w~re diff'er~t: '.fhe~ .mming the witch was a:n ordeal
1
complaints and appeals of imprisoned witches. Some complaints were
circumstantial evidence of gw t. .wr
IIO ENEMIES OF GOD FROM ACCUSATION TO EXECUTION III
widely known on the continen.t and in England. The witch had her women ... did prik pinnes in everie one of them and in diverse without
wrists tied to her ankles and was thrown into the water. If she sank paine the pinne was put in as the witnesses can testify'. 30 Jonet Paiston
she was innocent; if she floated she was a witch. The Devil would keep was pricked by;John Kincaid, the most famous of all the prickers.
her up. The purpose of this was not to drown the snspect. Ropes and
planks were kept handy lest she sank. However, despite the evidence She did nather find the preins when it was put into any of the said
of place names, such as 'witches' pool' in Kirriemuir, and despite marks nor did they blood when they were taken out again: and
David Livingstone having explained it to his followers on the Zambesi when shoe was asked quhair shoe thocht the preins were put in,
as an ancient Scottish custom, 25 !!"-~~ems_ t() _h_~v~ . -~~_e_Il_}l__ _y_c;:ry _ unusual schoe pointed at a pairt of hir body distant from the place quhair
ordeal in Scotland. The witches' lake in St And.rews was a bay of the the preins were put in, they being lang preins of thrie inches or
sea SO-called from the ashes of witches having been thrown there." theirabom in length. 31
This may have been the origin of other witches' pools. There is an
unreliable reference to the swimming ordeal in Athollin 1597." Alexander Bogs was reported to have tried one woman, 'and finds the
Th~ ordealof bierricht in which the accnsed was orderedtolay mark on the middle of her back, wherin he thrust a great brass pin
hands on the corpseof someone he or she was supposed to have of which she was not sensible nor did any blood follow when the pin
murdered was occasionally used in Scottish witchcraft cases. A similar was drawn out'. 32
type of evidence was used in the case of Elspeth McEweh ofDalrv. The absence ofsensation may sometimes have beeu caused by the
'One ofth\! rosr convinc;ing parts of the evidence against the accus~d shock of ilie experience to which they were being subjected, but the
was, that the minister's horse which was sent to brfog hei: up for trial prickers ,,;erelJl1doubtedly a consciously fraudulentbody of men with
trembled \'{ith fear .when she mounted and sweared di:ops of blood'." knowledge ()f anatomy. They understood the principle of cohfnsed
A type of ordeal was also used ill cases of possession when the sensation and which parts of the body could be most successfully
possessed person was . taken into the .presence of the accllecl and assaulted. 33 They may have had knowledge of the points used by
immediately threw a fit, but ~y far the comm.onest ofthe C>rcleals in aciipl1ncturists. The possibility offraud was well recoguized by the
Scotland was pricking fort!ie witch's mark In England the search time of the Re5torati()n ht1r1t,In l662not only Kincaid himself. but
was-fofsu~ernuiiierarynipples at which familiars might suck. These also ~l'aterson, andJoliii DickSon, were all exposed as having
agaill were rarely presented as evidence in the Scottishtrials,Itwas the useJ'ltrickery some of the time:"' Paterson and Dickson both tumec!..out
mark they looked for nearly every time. to_pe womeriin disguise, which suggests that witch prickingwas a
The witch pricker therefore was a key figure in the proce5s of ma1e preserve. Paterson was responsible for dealing with the suspects
gathering evidence. His role was to examine the suspect foi unusual (fourteen women and one man) brought to him (her) by the Chisholm.
bodily marks and then to test these marks by pricking them to find It was said that
out whether they were insensible. The theory was that the DeVil
coE_SUI11I11.ted the Pact by nipping the witch, and that the permanent after rubbing over the whole body with his palms he slipt in the
mark thus made was iii.sensible to pain a,,4 'IJ'C>ul<l notblee_d. The pin and it seems with shame and feare being dasht they felt it not,
finding of such a mark constituted evidence of the Pact. but he left it in the flesh deep to the head, and desired them to
Jn 1643 Janet Barker was investigated before her trial in Edinburgh: find it and take it out. It is sure some witches were discovered but
many honest men and women were blotted and broak by the
James Scobie, indwel!er in Mussilburgh, being sent for and brocht trick. as .
in before Janet Baker as he that had knowledge in finding out and
trying the devillis mark he fand out the said mark betwix her The accused themselves were also aware that the process might not
schoulderis in the quhilk he did thrust ane lang preane (pin] the be entirely fair. Elsbeth Maxwell, mentioned earlier as a sufferer from
quhilk preane abaid stikirig thrie quarteris of ane hour, and yet the reputation through association who was tried in 1650 in Dumfries with
said preane was nawayis felt sensible be the said Jonet and at the six others,
drawing thair of schoe coniessit that nocht only sche hirself but
also umquhile (deceased] Jonet Cranstoun., had resavit the devillis befog tryit be the man who professes to discover witches by satans
mark about the same part quhair sche was markit." mark, befoir shoe put offhir shoes and stockings said God help us
we have meslet (blotched) skins we sit neir the fyer, and being
There are many similar descriptions of pricking for the witches' blindfolded notwithstanding that shoe was sensible in the shyne
mark. The pricker GeorgeCathieiri Lanark 'by consent of the suspected and shrieked yet being questioned thairafter whare she fand pain,
IIZ ENEMIES 0.F GOD FROM ACCUSATION TO EXECUTION I
shoe could not point the part n~>r did any blood appeir at all, the Council commission was preferred and the greatest number of witches
pm bemg thrust m place full of vains and sinews in her leg ... '' we~e processed in this manner. The advantage of this to the local
cmnnmnity was that the witch did not have to be taken to Edinburgh;
Showing .evidence of feeling pain was not enough to prove in.
she could be tried and executed locally. This was less expensive and
nocence. ~hs?n Patersone who was tried at the same time as Elsbeth
was more likely to result in a conviction.
Ma~ell, bemg .pnck.it on the ga1rd of the n.cht arm she feanit to be
It was at this point in the proceedings that the central ruling class in
senstb~ bot i:ok51gnbe of blood followit'." The methods used bv that the form of the Privy Councillors came into the process, though some-
part1c ar pnc er ecame clearer when their fellow suspect B
Graham was pricked: essie times the cases were coming in in response to their own exhortations.
They"Would consider the evidence, and either ask for more or grant a
The .said Bessie Graham being tryed on the Leift shoulder thair wes commission to a group of local landlords and grand tenants to hold a
no stgne of blood nether could she tell the place quhair she was trial and.carry out the sentence. Sometimes this group wo.uld be
thrust and at the same tyme being twitched vpoun the shoulder headol:I bythe local sheriff, but this would not make it a normal
with the finger of ane that stood by she seamit to be more sensibi sherijf court or baron court. Its powers were derived from the Privy
of that nor of the pin quhairwith she was pricket. as e Council Commission. This was true even in the regalities but did not
atfect the normal rights of regalities as they made clear in a case of 1643:
Despite the exposure of many professional prickers the sy<te
retamed its credibility throughout the hunt. A,s early as the 15 9 ~~ The Lords of Secreit Counsel! declares that the Commission this
hunt Agnes Sampson was PJ:lCked for the witch .s mark. As late as H;99 day past for tryell of some witches in the Queensferry sall be no
the Ghsgow synod we~e. d1scussmg the expediency of having 'those wayes prejudicial! to the Earle of Dunfermline his right of
m readinesse at the Jusnc1ar Court that has skill to try the insensibl regalities of the lordship of Dunfermline within quhilk the burgh
mark' . ss p nc
k"mg was so rouune
. that many indictmentlj simply notede of the Queensferie is comprehended."
that the accused had confessed and the mark been found.
Witch pricking was a link between popular and official belief. It was The arguments and evidence used at the trials are discussed in the
nor.mally done m the witch's own locality and was a visual aid by chapters on the belief system. The court would fix a date for the execu-
which the populace were tutored m the relationship with the Devil tion, usually only a few days ahead. This allowed just enough time to
It was sometimes voluntarily resorted to by the accused as an orde~ engage a hangman, usually the local locksmith, and arrange for
through which her innocence could be established. supplies of fuel.
. Catie Wilson of~a~der was imprisoned in r630, 'her husband', not From lists of expenses for the burning of witches and from a few
m th!S case herself, bemg cement she should be tried by jobing'. 40 &, eyewitness accounts we have some information about the procedure.
late as r718 Margaret Olsone m Thurso was pricked and should have It was a great public occasion. The whole community would be in
the last word: attendance, and stakes were needed, in l 597 in Aberdeen for example,
'to withstand the press of the pepill.' 43 Tb.<! '.execution was frequently
Upon a vulgar report of witches having the devil's marks in their preceded or accompanied by a day or days of fasting and a round of
bodies, Margaret Olsone being tried in the shoulders, where there sermoii. preaching to which all the ministers within reasonable travel-
were several small spots, some read, some bleuish after a needle li":g clistancewould contribute. In 1628 in Peebles Alexander Dikisoun
was driven in with great force almost to the eye, sh; felt it not. Mr. even extracted a pair of shoes price 20 shillings from the burgh for this
Innes; Mr. Oswald, ministers, and several honest women, and purpose.44
Bailne Forbes were wimesses to this. And further, that while the The witch wasnormally first stra;igled (wirreit)and then her dead
needle was m her shoulder as foresaid, she said, 'Am not I ane or uncoriscious body v;asburned, sometimes in a tar barrel. It took
honest woman now?'41 six!eeri loads of peat, a relatively low heat fuel, sometimes supple-
mented by wood and coals, to burn a witch. '1though prior strangula-
Indeed she was not, but her fate is not known. For the most un- tio11. by garotting was usual witches were sometimes burned alive. An
fo~ate then~xt stage was. the a~plication .to the Privy Council, account of witches being burned at Brechin in I6o8 describes how
Parhall1ent, or in 1649 Parhame;it s Comrruttee of Estates for a
commission to try the witch. Another possibility was dlteci iecourse they were brunt quick (alive) eftir sic ane crewell maner, that sum
to the Court of Justiciary orits travelling Circuit Courts. The Privy of tharne deit in despair, re.nunceand and blasphemeand; and
FROM ACCUSATION TO EXECUTION II5
utheris, half brunt, brnk out of the fyre, and wes cast quick in it
agane, quhill they wer brunt to the deid. 45
reputed a witch and been 'under evil report' for many years. Her
second accuser was John Murray of Laik, aged sixty. (The form 'of
CHAPTER TEN Laik' as opposed to :in', means that like John Moor he was of owr:er-
occupier (bonnet laird) status). He clanned that about a year before
he had caused Janet to fall 'by ane accidental! twitch of the foot'. One
night think that given Janet's reputation that \vas excessively careless
1
TWO CLASSIC CASES of him, but whatever the nature of the encounter. she went away
cursing. Within the space of five or six weeks two ofl11s calves 'ran wod
(mad) and ramished to death', and later one of his horses met the same
From their Circuit Cou.rt trial on Monday 15thMay, I671,untii their fate. He further added that she had been under evil report for a long
execution on the~frernoon of Thursday, r8tfl May, two wOmen of tin1e.
uncertain age, Janet Macmurdoch and Elspeth Thomson, were Robert Brown in Castleton, aged ab.out forty-six, added his
prisoned together in the tolbooth of Dumfries. They came from testimony. About three years before he. had turned Janet's animals off
neighbouring parishes, but there is no particular reason to suppose that hii'grass where she had carelessly or del1bcrately let them wander. She
they had met before or known of each other's existence, although the angrily told him ,that hesho;ild not have so ~nany nolt (bla'.'k cattle) to
areas over which their reputation had spread overlapped. eat the next years grass. W1thma month his wife died of ane strange
The introduction of a small-scale study is a reminder, amid discussions ancf sudden dissease', and the curse was fulfilled more precisely when
of trends, figures, explanations, national purposes, and general with.ill the year he lost.fifteen n.ol.r and three horses. He also noted that
functions, that every successful accusation of witchcraft represented at she was under evil report. John.Morriesin Clea~ quar:elledwtth her
besr social misery, at worst tragedy and death for the individual so for asimilar .reason.He had 'pomded her goods, that IS, appropnated
accused. These particular cases were chosen because they are relatively some of her livestock, in retaliation for Janet's horse eating his corn.
well documented, though not well known, and because they illustrate She bd gone off'discontent and murmuring' though the witnesses did
the kind of case which can be regarded as most typically Scottish. The n6ill1ow. 'Nhat she had said. Since this was supposed to have happened
women were accuse.cl by neighbours of specific acts of malefice and at nine yea~s before this is not surprising, buttthe yery next day before
the same time of being of evil reputation. The dossier was collected by midday John Morries' child was drowned in a peat bog. He too added
local officials. At th.e Circuit Court the centrl accusation of the that she was of evil reputation. . . . .
indictment was that of having made the Demonic Pact. We have no The accusation of William Gordon of Mm1bouie, another fairly
account of how the focus of the accusation was so transformed, but the substantial farmer echoes even more closely than John Morries that of
gulf between local and official concerns is clearly shown. The docu- Robert Brown. Like Robert Brown he had chased Janet's livestock off
ments for the cases fall into two groups: the original depositions made by his grass and she had followed scolding. She told him that she hoped he
neighbours, and the final indictments which contain these original should not have so many geir (cattle) as he had then to e.at the next
depositions with the additional legal requirements for a conviction. grass. This happened at harvest rime, and before the followmg Belt~ne
The substance, though not the ipsissima verba of their confessions are (May Day) twelve of his oxen and seven or eight of his horses died.
contained in these. 1 Since this was the same year that Robert Brown lost a lot of horses and
Janet Macmurdoch was__ marr_i_ed_ to Ja111es Hendrie_,__ ?-__ten,~~_f;ir?ler in cattle (1668) there may have been some local disease of livestock that
Airds, by Loch Ken in Kircudbrightshire. The accusations against her vear.
were collected under oath, listed and signed in April 1671 to prepare ' Not all her accusers were men. Margaret Maclellan, a fifty-one year
the case for the Circuit Court judges. Ho:.r.firstaccuser was the mter- old married woman in Boghall, employed Janet's daughter, Isobel!
mediary for her. feudal superior, John Moor of Baday, aged about Tagit, as a servant. Isobel! had been sent to muck out the byre, and
fOrty."He_-\Vas -~2-:~()~".'bo:;.iHi_e__for_ be,r l.'.i!!~l_c~r~ --~h-i!.hlit~ of Broughto_ne, Margaret Maclellan, thinking that she had been overlong,. went out
andtheinitial trouble between them was over paymentof rent. Johii to see what she was doing and found her s1ttmg m the nuddle of it
Moor had in May 1665 impounded her livestock for clieuilpaid rent; playing with dung. She reproved her and suggested tha: she was usmg
she 'promised him an evil turn', and shortly after a cow and a calf of some of her mother's devilish tricks. Isobel! reported this to Janet who
his had died. When he challenged her with this she told him 'he sh9uld came round to Boghall and said to Margaret 'Why called. you me and
zet arie- \lj9rsl? ttiIJi',_ and soon after his child died 'of an extraordinary my daughter witches, for you shall get some other thin~ to thmk
sickness, sweating to death'. John Moor added that she had been upon?' Within a month of this threat Margaret Maclellan s husband
I22 ENEMIES OF GOD TWO CLASSIC CASES I23
took 'ane extraordinary sickness and disease and continued therein b piece thereof in the J?Ot it did swell so big that it filled the pot, and the
the space of seventeen days and thereafter grew stupid and senseles/ broth was like beastmgs and the flesh like lights, and her husband and
Tgis apparently continued until Janet 'came to his house undesirei her self and sundrie others having eat thereof did swell likewise'. Jean
Afa'.r Margaret had given her meat and drinkJanet said that this, 'had was forced to throw the lot into the peat bog but neither dog nor fowl
comforted her heart, and god send you comfort of your hnsband' would touch it. Jn 1668, the year which many of the accusations
After this reconciliation Margaret's husband against her related to, Jean's hnsband, Robert Cairns found Janet in his
b~yard on the sabbath day with a sheaf of corn, and reproved her.
suddenlie grew better in so much as he turned himself in the bed Whereupon Janet in anger 'bade the divillpyk out his eyn (eyes)'. The
whereas formerlie he was insensible and could not do the same Fxig;iy a(ter at midnight he contracted a sudden disease and died the
unless he was lifted by four men. At the very same instant his follow.ing .. Sunday morning. During this short fatal illness he sent for
be>t mare. died and he cried out during the time of his s!Ckness Janet to restorehis health, but on this occasion she refused to come.
before he began to recover, 'what had you done with his horse fo; T~e dyi!lg Rob~rt, ac~ording to his brother John Cairns who signed
his best mare was blown away'. And this was before the mare died. this accusanon, left his death upon her, and ordained his friends to
pursue her, .as .a._ yvitc:h ~P:<i_ necr()mancer'.
Janet does not appear to have had a general reput;ation as a healer, It is not dear .whether. the death of Robert Cairns was the key
but she was credited with the ability to remove an illness which she episode which stimulated the process of formal accusation since it
was~espcmsible forand transfer it to an animal. It was her refnsalto do took place three years before the final gathering of accusations taken
this wl\ich was the last straw in her relationship with Jean Sprot and under oath, but certainly Robert's family and friends took his in-
Robert Cairnes: a couple who, unlike her other accusers, lived in the junction seriously. Christian Gordon, who was a close neighbour, but
same farm-toun as Janet, and who would have been closely involved was not otherwise identified in the accusations, supported the testimony
with her in the distribution of strips of land and the sharing of ofJohn Cairns a";d Jean Sprat. She said that Robert had desired Janet
equipment. to come to him to forgive and be forgiven before he departed this
About seven years before the collection of the accusations she came to life', and that when she refused 'he left his death upon her'. She also
Jean Sprat to borrow meal and was refused because Robert advised h.is supponed Jean's story about the state of her cow's milk after Janet had
wife to have nothing to do with one of her reputation. She told Jean pronused her an ill turn, and she claimed to be the messenger who had
that she should rue it more than the worth of the meal, and that night persuaded Janet to come to see Jean when she lay ilL, and described the
the milk of Jean's cow was mixed with blood and flesh. The next healing ritual with the drink which Janet had successfully performed
trouble came a year later when Janet came to see her after one ofhet 'to the great admiration of the said Jean Sprot'.
lambs which was being herded by Robert Cairns had been worried. Jean Sprat added to her testimony that her husband had charged his
She told Jean that "it should be as dear a lamb as was tu pit of any ewe', brother to pursue Janet 'to the death'. She also noted that when Janet
and soon after nine of Jean's lambs 'took ane trimbling and sweating first came to the tO"(n (farm-toun) 'she went tliryse widdershines (anti
and some died'. Neither fowl nor beast, it was observed, would eat clockwise) round about all the yards barefooted and after that slie went
their flesh. When she challenged Janet with being responsible for this thryse widdershines round about the stockyard'. This revealing accusa-
Janet sneered at her for thinking so much of 'worldly' geir', and.told tion suggests that Janet may have been a newcomer to the area,
her to thank God she kept her own health. The same day she 'con- perhaps brought in through marriage. The ritual of beating the bounds
tracted ane strange disease and was sore tormented with vehement was a widely practised fertility rite, but it would have been performed
sweat and pain for the space of three days' . At that point Janet turned with the sun. To go against the sun, widdershins, was associated with a
up again, accepted a drink from her, and after drinking a little 'she deliberate intention to evil. 2
bade God send her her health and said she should warrand her free There isno indicationthat Janet was tortured before her trial, but
from sickness at that time'. Within an hour Jean -..vas on the way to she wa~e~;t':'iriedbythelocal minister, Mr. Ross. The only response
recovery and the relationship seems to have been restored. to her accusers prior to her C:otifessiol1 retotded iri the coded form of
Two years later in 1667 there- was another recorded contretemps the final indictment is in the brief account of this encounter. She
. between the women. Janet went round to Jean Sprat alleging that argued thatJean Sprotought not to be~ccertedas a wimess since' she
Jean's cow had stolen her grass and went and plucked it out of the was a witch as well as hifself': she was able to tell fornines from the
cow's mouth. The cow then refused to chew the cud, sickened, and wiy a perion walked. ft is easy fo see frorrnhis last desperate effortto
died. Jean Sprat 'having salted the said cow when she put the least ir!c'riminate her accuser in the very same breath as slie' identified arid
124 ENEMIES OF GOD TWO CLASSIC CASES 125
acFepted her own status as a witch, that under the right conditions up a reputation nor provoki:n~ an a~cusa~on. Repu~ations too~ tin1.c
such lcounter thou~ stiiulate further 1hosecution.:L It Was
ili_cusat1ns { to build up, and so, except durmg epidermcs of mult!ple accusanon, Jt
clh.ear y a very in atn resa . erw.hiophe tehss atremptuno;i.ty.t wis ocacasnx.jon beciiiie .. was rare to find a young woman and even rarer to find a young man
t ~s.e. w~re c.1rcums anc 1n c e comm '..1 .. ,,,~- _ 1ous to t14il : accused of witchcraft.
a particular individual rather than to uncover a generalconspiracy in Position in the social structure seems to have been much more
which anyone could be a participant. Jan.et was a classic, mdividu,i important, but her dependent and marginal _economic position in the
scapegoat witch. locality was not in itself enough to turn her mto a reputed witch ... She
The accusations and indictment leave us with a puzzle. Janet is said was not only dependent; she was ill-t~mp~red in the way m whic.h she
to have been spouse to James Hendrie in Airds, but he remains a managed her dependency. The clasSic. witch not only had pamcular
completely shadowy figure throughout. He is mentioned onlv as social and economic traits; she had particular character traits too. Th~~e
identifying Janet. He was not apparently involved in any o( her was .for the community a dissonance between her .semi-dependent
quarrels with the neighbours, nor does he appear to have been active status and her independent and undefere11tial demeanour reflecting .her
in working the tenancy; the references in the documents are all to ambiguous role as lone female. Supporrmg rhe fe~kless and inefficient
Janet's goods, Janet's rent, Janet's horse. It is dear that married women is acceptable so 1011g as they are grateful. Janet s best chance of a
could own property, and Jean Sprot also has ownership of livestoek reas01i.ably equable existence would have been to display the deference
attributed to her, but the most likely explanation is that Janet was in which the. neighbours wouldhave felt to be appropriate. But Janet
fact a widow, and the scribe had not adopted the normal style of had the fatal ingredient of an aggressive, forceful, and quarrelsome
'relict'. He also described Jean Sprot as 'spouse' of Robert Cairns personality. She was deferential to no-one, and if anyone crrossed her
although we know Robert to have been three years in his grave at the she swore at them. Along with most alleged .practit10ners ot malefice
time of the preparation of these documents for the circuit judge;. I she had 'smeddum'. She answered back, right to the end. On the
IfJanet was in fact a widow this does a lot to explain her predicament. j occasion when the minister went to see her he chided her for not
She. was by no means. at the bottom of the social scale. She had a 1, putting on 'well-favoured clothes', Janet's reply was that they were
t~iiicy; she had enough land and livestock for a subsistence; She was
not in that peripheral state of being a kept wage-earner, though her
daughter was. Servant status was usually a temporary phase most
I c
.
good enough for the hangman, and th~t her own children should wear
her plaid and not the hangman. Undoubtedly this unq.uenchab_le
capacity to answer back and demonstrate her c?ntrol of the s1tuanon in
women went through when young. Yet it looks as though she was which she found herself, helped to propel her mto a state of secondary
SOil1ething of a problem in the local economy. She had failed to pay deviation' in which/she herself accepted, identifiedwirh, and made an
rent on more than one occasion. She_ was short _o_f_ grazing__ for her ego-prop out of the labe1'<5fwitch. NOt all aci:Used witches so accepted
animals; no less than four of her quarrels with neighbours were about if. Some denied it continuously; others accepted it bemusedly,
her animals and someone else's grass. She stole corn. She ran out of pi:efacing their curses with,'ifl be a w.itch'.
meal and tried to borrow some. Shewas not managing to cope, and It is not clear that Janet s co-pnsoner, Elspeth Thomson, accepted
was in some sense dependent on the good will and helpfulness of herself as a witch at all. It was her misfortune to be accused by the
neighbours. .1 f:iffiily ofher husband William McGhie. The McGhies consisted of
Most of her accusers were more substantial than she. Robert Brown hve brothers: William, Donald, John, James, Thomas, and their
had fifteen cattle and three horses die through he!" alleged malefice, and 1 sisters Rosina and Janet; and more than half the accusations against
presumably had some livestock remaining. Jean Sprat had more than I Elspeth came from them and their spouses. William did not actually
nine lambs. The rest had cows, calves, horses, and land to graze them appear as a witness against his wife, b_ut was cited by other witnesses as
on. Three of them were lairds. Jn this aspect of her relationship to her having made complaints or told stones about her. .
accusers her case is classic. It is one of the standardJeatures noted by As inthe caseofJanet the focal pomt of the accusations was the_death
Macfarlane in his Essex study: richer accUses poorer. 4 He\vas not of a man \Vnohad had bad re.latiotis with.he.rand who had prev10usly
prepared to commit himself on the question of tension between age- attributed his misfortunes to her; in this case her brother-in-law,
groups,' and it is equally difficult here. Unusually for Scottish cases we Donald McGhle. The accusation was made by Donald's widow,
are given the age of the accusers which range from twenty six to sixty, Elspeth Coupland, who claimed that Elspeth Thomson and her
but most were over forty. This suggests that there was no significant husband had quarrelled on several occasions, and though she ?erself
age disparity between Janet and her accusers. Neither age in itself nor did not blame Elspeth for his death Donald had been constantly ?n his
a particular type of age-relationship seems very important in building guard for her'. After these quarrels there had always followed some
126 ENEMJE,, OF GOD TWO CLASSIC CASES r27
Aceuswt of Jamit McMurtllltJ1 )(
als<) claimed on different occasions that they achieved the restoration to
Aeeusers of Elspeth Thom!l-On 4 heal.th of relatives who had quarrelled with Elspeth by the same means.
Solmu:ll!o~
JYrriri .. It is not dear whether a rug of thatch was a symbolic amount or a sub-
~ ... ss~-"
~
X
~hr!oy
stantial part of the roof of Elspeth and William, but tli~ proc;edure
seel)1s to have been a standard response to trouble with Elspeth,'and
Maefarlane,_ in his discussion of informal counteraction against_-_1;1/it~h
craft, noted that the Puritan writer William Perkins referred to burning
thdhatch of the suspected parry' s house. 8 Despite the fact that Rosina
recovered, their child died. Rosina gave her own version of the episode,
claiming that they had first quarrelled about Elspeth's hindering of
Rosina's milk. When she had gone to Elspeth's house to ask her to
'pray God to send her good of her milk', Elspeth had replied 'che Devil
take both the good and the ill of it', but was eventually prevailed upon
and reluctantly uttered 'God send all folks good of their milk', where-
Sotwa
upon her milk was restored. Then Elspeth came round co her house to
Firth borrow a heckle (a small loom), and seeing it lying by the bed
she observed her to fathom and grope the bed with her hands, and
DISTRIBUTION OF JURORS AND ACCUSERS IN KIRKCUDBRlGHT 1671
on her going forth a terror did strike her mind least her servant
should have put the child in the bed, fearing some hurt from her.
mischief on his goods, his children and sickness on himself'. A child of Whereupon she instantly returned and did cast in a whelp into the
hers had actually died and finally her husband; and he had said before bed three times and immediately the dog lost the power of his
he died that 'he hoped he had as many friends behind him as would hinder quarters and became so odious and loathsome to look on
that her husband was forced to hang him and put him out of pain,
pursue her for it'. but after that she took an extraordinary swelling and sickness
The occasion of their final dispute was when Donald refused to cut
herself, which she thought was occasioned by another fear chat she
peats for Elspeth. Another brother, James. McGhie, declared tlut
Donald had said to him five days after he fell sick that Elspeth Thomson visibly saw Elspeth Thomson come to her bed endeavouring to
destroy her and her child but she using all means and loud! y calling
'had then gotten the sight she desired of him and that as ever before he
was still feared for her and that they still discorded and he blamed her to her husband it was not possible for her to waken him.
for all evil that befell him'. The matter of Donald's death was confirmed After this episode which it is clear from the way both she and her
by an__()rcJeal co111n10nly used-inSC:otland. 7 Elsp_eth was made to touch husband described it referred to a dream, she sent for Elspeth to come
the corpse and 'immediatle upon the touching thereof the blood and heal. her.. Elspeth refused although mariy others tried co persuade
rushed forth a_t his. nose, navel and ears atid his corpse bled all the way her: Other witnesses, including Rosina's sister Janet McGhie, cor-
to.. the burial place'. James also said on his own account that because _he roborated this.
'refused a day's work to her she said she hoped not to be cumbred with While over half the accusations against her came from the McGhies
his work for a year after, whereupon he fell sick, and smce that he and their spouses, there were other neighbours to bear similar stories.
dedaired he was never so able as formerly'. These accounts are less specific in their renderings of actual curses and
Elspeth's sister-in-law, Rosina McGhie, accused her of causing the their immediate consequences than those against Janet McMurdoch,
death' of her child. There had been a quarrel between thern becaus,e and they do not have the reiterated refrain that she is of evil reputation.
Elsneth had not been summoned to che birth and baptism of Rosina s This may well reflecr the views of the local scribe, minister, or
child and after that Rosina fell sick. Her husband, Johm Crosbie, magistrate about the most effective way of presenting rhe evidence, or
expl;ined that the sickness 'was occasioned by a fear she got thinking it may reflect very local belief structures and fashions of speech. Since
that Elspeth Thomson came to her and was like to murder her and her the attribution of evil repute was common parlance throughout the
chyld'. Johm Crosbie procured her recovery by gomg to Elspeth witch-prosecuting areas the former see~ more likely.
Thomson's house and taking three 'rugs of thatch' from the roof of One feature of the accusations against Elspeth which is missing in
her house'and burning thern in front of his wife. Two other witnesses those against Janet is the imputation of her direct relationship with the
12.8 ENEMIES OF GOD TWO CLASSIC CASES 129
Devil. This. c.ame largely from her husband, but was reported bv refused and as a result of the quarrel and subsequent threatening
others. James Corkney in Barrhead reported that William McGhie had Thomas too fell ill.
describedto him that onemoming in his bed he sawtheQeyil looking ~rhe similarities between the two sets of accusations are, of course, as
in'h!s face. 'Being terribly affrighted his wife gripped him fast and said interesting as the differences. In both communities a woman was a
what needed him be so feared for she was not feared for all thar: Th 15 focus of discord and quarrels, and although Elspeth was labelled
or another visitation was mentioned by Elspeth Coupland, tlie widow primarily by her own extended family there was plenty of support
of Donald, who said that William had told her that 'there came one from other neighbours for her evil reputation. In both communities
tyme a great heaviness over him, and that the Devil came like a rat, the woman was accused of causing a variety of misfortunes, but in
and bit his l~ft arm'. Further reinforcing the suggestion of alien powers, particular of causing obscure and sudden diseases to afflict those who
though not directly identified "'.ith the Devil, William's brother James had annoyed her. Both, in more than one instance, were alleged to
McGhie, the one who had been permanently affected after refusing to have caused death. Yet no one accused of causing death by witchcraft
work for .Elspeth, made the accusation that there were-two 111ysterious was ever prosecuted for murder; such people were prosecuted for the
holes beside the hearthstone in Elspeth's house. He said tl1at she had more serious and more all-embracing crime of witchcraft. Both were
asked him to put his fingers there but that he had refused, and that his credited with the power to remove illnesses, though less with the
brother William had told him that out of these holes the ashes would power of healing in general than with that of shifting those illnesses
often fly up to the crook (the chain for hanging kettles) and that under which they were supposed to have inflicted in the first place. This
the heardi a great din could be heard 'like the rusking of a dog', and frequently involved transferring the disease, which was regarded as
that Elspeth had confessed to him that these holes had been tl1ere since having a life of its own and which must therefore be transferred to
Janet Callan, who had been burned as a witch, had lived with diem. some animal rather than eliminated. 10 What the accusations sought to
Even in communities where witches were identified singly, and where establish above all was the quarrel, the threat, and the resulting mis-
the belief in conspiratorial companies of witches was not strongly held, fortune or affliction. These accusations were all collected together at
witches were still reckoned to learn their trade and inherit their powers one time and couched in a form which the scribes assumed would have
through association with other witches whether mother or friend. maximum effectiveness in the court for which they were intended: the
Janet Callan had been burnt in 1659 in Dumfries after a mulnple tnal Circuit Court of Justiciary due to arrive at Dumfries in May 167!.
with nine others. 9 Elspeth's husband William was not exempt from Nevertheless these accusations of malefice on their own would not
this guilt by association although he appears to have played some part ha,,;~J'!()cured aconv!ction. The relationship of the ":'itch with the
in building up Elspeth's reputation. His brother James, a leadmg Wit- Devil couldbe imputed from evidence of malefice, but It was better 1
ness in the case, said that on an occasion when Donald had called it was substantiated by furdier testimony of the witch's general
Elspeth a witch it was William who loyally responded by r:omising rep:ufatioti; of,her using mysterious powers, or of the practice of
him an ill turn, though it was Elspeih whose power was credited with sorcery through the manipulation of objects, and finally, through the
actually achieving Donald's death. . witch's own confession of die Demonic Pact,
Unli.k,.,,.Janet, . . Elspeth does not seem to have. been an .. economic The evidence collected for both these cases did not in itself offer
proEle~ in. the community. Her reputation was estabhshed m her own enough tothe legalauthorities to col1firmthem as auihen.tic cases of
immediate family all of whom appeared to be of reasonably secure witchcraft. lnJanet's casethe scribe had collected additional aflirma-
small tenant status. Her sister-in-law, Rosina. mentions a servant, ti'ons of her evil reputation, but the case was incomplete without the
which suggests that there were households supporting more than the c~n(e.s~l.?~:. .~s i.I1 s.o man,y' cases .there is a gap in the evidenci::.. ~e have
immediate nuclear family, but servants seem sometimes to have been nothing oilier than the accusations and the final indictments. These
the older children of other small farmers, so it is difficult to make very fi.iia! lridictments contain only the legally significant points of their
much of this. It is possible that Elspeth, like Janet, was brought into the confessions. We have no evidence about how they were actually
neighbourhood as an incomer, but unlike Janet's case there is no obtained, but it is clear diat it was only necessary to fill in the details of
direct evidence of this. Elspeth was also a woman of middle age or at a document which had become common form. The indictment went
least mature years, though she may well have been younger than as follows in the case of Elspeth (variations for Janet are given in
Janet. She had a sister-in-law young enough for child-bearing; she brackets):
herself had a daughter old enough to have been sent out to work. One
of die acctisatioJlS against her came from another brother, Thoma. You ar Indy.red and accused that wheir notwithstanding of the
McGhie, to whom she had offered her daughter's services. These were divyne law of die (omnipotent) almightie god set doune in his
ENEMIES OF GOD
TWO CLASSIC CASES r31
sacred word especiallie in the 20 chapter of Leviticus and !8
chapter of Deutronomie All witches sorcerers ~nd users and sexual rivalry. Neither of them had a reputation as a whore: con-
practisers of sorcerie and witchcraft are to be l:'umshed by death ceptually quite distinct from a witch though not incompatible; nor
As also by the acts of Parliament and Mumcipall !awes of this were they, as menopausal women, accused of jealously thwarting the
natione (realme) And namelie be the 73 act (9 par!.) of parl: of sexual activities of others, though this was certainly somethmg of
Queen Marie of worthie 1ne111orie It is expreshe provydit statute which witches were from time to time accused. The witch's mark, too,
and ordained that no n1aner of persone nor pcrsones of what- whi~h appears in the indictment, is so_mething which Was }lOt men-
somevir estate degric or conditipne they be off take upon hand in tioned in either of the sets of pre-tnal accusations. There. was no
any tyn1e heirafter to use any n1aner of witchcraft sorcer1e or official witch pricker mentioned as being in the neighbourhood. Those
necron1ancie nor give' rhe111selves forth to any such craft or ~now~. whtfe'Xainiiied them in prison musi have found an appropriate mark,
ledge theirof theirthrough abusing the people under the pame ot or the" Wofil~D. ffiust have offered suitable moles to their examiners in
death As in the saide laws and act of parliament at mair length is order to pre-empt an inevitable search. . _ .
contenit Nevertheles It is of veritie that you (ye) the said Elspeth The original accusations are appended to the mam md_1ctment as
(Janet McMurdoch) haveing shaken of all feare of god an~ relevant material. They are more or less in the same wording, but 1n
reverence and regaird of the divyne ordinance Lawes.and act~ ot the case of Elspeth Thomson one of the wimesses, James Thomson
parliament of this kingdome has these fyften or sextem (number (married to the sister of Elspeth Coup_Jand and therefore another
left blank for fanet) yeires bygane betaken yorself to the service affine) was prevailed upon to elaborate hJS former testimony. He was
of sathan (Sathan) the enemie of your salvatioune lngaged to be alleged to have 'discorded' with Elspeth over 'ane_ turfe .of heather'.
his servant And taken his marks upon yor bod1e practised use~ Elspeili threatened to do him an ill tum, and he fell mto a langwshmg
and excercised divers and sundrie devilische channes w1tchcratt disease' which had continued ever smce for the past three years.
and sorcerie And hcs thereby hurt and danmified his majesties. Elspeili was prevailed upon to come to him after first refusing, and was
subjects in their g_oods and persones _And hes _hem the cause ot asked by James to say 'God send him good health'. This she not only
sundrie other deathes by your sorcene and witchcraft And also refused to do but said 'she wold not speak of god but of her lord'. Such
ye have had severail tymes carnal! dealling or copulat1onne with an accusation was intended to convey directly that Elspeth had
the devil! And so defylled that bodie of yours which should have transferred her allegiance from God to the Devil who had become her
been a temple of the holie ghost by giveing the use_ the1rof to t~e lord. It is inconsistent with the earlier accusations in which Elspeth
devil! as said is And so testifie and manifest your gmlt1eness of the was reported as having uttered various requests to God to restore her
saids Crymes. victims to health, and it was no doubt added to strengthen the case.
The jury brought together to consider the evidence were small
This indictment was by 1671 pure common form. The only _problem lairds and grand tenants from within approximately a ten-mile radius
was to fill in the names. Sections of the 1563 Act were cited, the ofDumfues. It is interesting, but not surprising, that the extent of the
Biblical references given, general malefices including causing death reputation of the accused women was somewhat broader than Mac-
were _ aS$~rted, and the whole was _sun1111ed up in_ the D~1l1onic Pact farlane found was typical of Essex. The reputation of an Essex witch
coillplete with the Devil's mark and ca_mal copulation. Unlike some rarely extended beyond five miles; Janet's accusers came from as far
other._recorded cases there are no details about either of their con- afield as ten miles in different directions, a span of twenty rmles
fessions: l_t may well have been that the Pact by this tin1e had become a altogether, and over difficult terrain. Elspeth's accusers came mostly
Jeo-al fiction,not deemedto have an interestingphysical reality m the from a restricted area and a restricted kin group, but her accuser from
ctu;ts, and that the witches were simplyrequired toassent to the Lochrutton lived over twelve miles from the centre of accusation. This
ae~eraf f"ormula;but it is possible that the Pact may still have been distant accuser of Elspeth and the more generally diffused distribution
~h~ugfii to have had a specific ratherrhan a spiritual reality. However of Janet's accusers reflects the more diffused settlements of_population
the legal authorities viewed the pact, the wide gap bet\~ecn the compared with that of Essex. Instead of the nucleated village there
concerns of the neighbours and the concerns of the court is dearly were scattered farm-touns with the estate and the parish as separate
demonstrated. The pollution of the body implicit in. the carnal though overlapping foci of communication. P~asants would expect to
relationship with the Devil is intrinsic to the legal formul~t10n, yet 1t is ttavel long distances on foot or on horse or_, if young or infirm'. by
guite clear that neither of these. two women had been m any sexual sledge, to attend the kirk or to work for the laird. The commumcat10r;s
trouble. Among all the recorded quarrels there is no suggestion of nerwork was wide and so thus widespread the rumour of a person s
character.
132 ENEMIES OF GOD TWO CLASSIC CASES 133
Janet and Elspeth and their accusers lived to the west of Dumfric>s reputations.were not clearly established but who were incriminated by
most of the jury held land to the east, but two of them, John Gnerso~ other convicted witches either out of sp1te or 1n order to underrr1ine
of Bargarg and John Maxwell of Killbane, lived within the orbit of their testimony (as Janet tried to do with Jean Sprat) or under torture.'
both the women's influence and reputation (see map on p. 126), and Micro-studies of such mass trials as the East Lothian ones of 1649
it may be significant that they both found against the women. !t is would be illuminating on this. But while Janet and Elspeth may not
dear that the points were all debated in detail because two of the have been typical of the majority of those who were executed they
accusations against Janet-those of John Moor of Barclay, her land- may well have been typical of the much larger number of identified
lord's baillie, and of John Murray of Laik, the old man who had witches who died in their beds with their reputations acknowledged
knocked her over 'accidentally'-were found 'not proven'; so was that locally but who were never pursued to the courts. The relatively late
of William Gordon; while that of Robert Brown whose spouse was date of these cases, too, ha meant that although the Demonic Pact was
said to have died of a strange and sudden disease was found proven by still vestigially present, there appears to have been no attempt to link
one witness only. eith~_;:... of these women to a conspiracy of witches or to corporate
The cases against them were found proven only by a majority.of the Devil-w?rship. This very factor, however, lays bare the essence of
jury of fifteen, and in the case of Janet McMurdoch only by one vote. peasant witch-belief: the woman with the deadly and threatening
Th.e .c~S~~"ag~-~riSt. fi\7~ _-_ot_h_er_s tried at the same court_,,were__ dis_nllssed, comb1nat1on of malice in her heart and spec1aJ power to inflict damage.
The trend towards acquittal seems to have been well .under. w;iy by this Too frequent a demonstration of the first was always likely to produce
time although it was to be greatly accelerated in the years that.followed. a reputation for the second. It is to the interaction between these
No reasons ire giVen for the acceptance of some of these accusations as peasant beliefs and those of the representatives of the church, the law,
proven and others as not; no reasons are given why sotne jurors voted and the government that we now tum.
for the defendants and some against, but one can see here an indication
of the way in which the witch-belief was gradually eroded, There was
no .oi;.~rt_unii~g- _o~ .t.he . paradigm; no reasoned arguments ~.gainst it.
Theiewas meielya reduction of the prominence of the character of
the Devil in the script, an increasing reluctance to find particular
instances of malefice as' proven, an~_ an increasjng 'te11d~ncy to acquit.
The tide was 11.otstfong enough for Janet and Elspeth however.
They were sentenced to be taken ..
And much good, one might think, might Charles II have had ofJanet
McMurdoch' s plaid. Th<re were rarely many pickings to be had from
the conviction and execution of a witch; more often the process was an
expense to the local authority, though, as Janet herself implied, the
petty officials involved would take what they could as perks of the
trade.
The question remains to what extent these two cases can be regarded
as typical. In one very obvious sense they were not typical of the
majority of those who were executed, because most witches were
convicted in the multiple trials of r629-30, the r64os and r66r-62. In
these holocausts it seems likely that many perished whose local
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) IJ 5
since the tern1 belief system derives frorn functionalisn1 it n1.ay suggest
a static approach to patterns of belief which is expressly eschewed here.
CHAPTER ELEVEN The intention is to look at the way m which the witch-beliefs of both
the educated and the peasant inter-related with formal and popular
theology during the hundred years of prosecutions for witchcraft.
THE BELIEF SYSTEM Some degree of stability is assumed, but it is also taken for granted that
in a changing society belief is not static.
THE PEASANT IN THE COURTS The evidence for witch-beliefa in Scotland comes partly from the
relatively scarce conce1nporary references in journals, sermons,
histories, and tracts, but mainly from the records of the courts, local
We know more about the way in which a seventeenth-century and central. The material from the courts offers three types of evidence:
Scomsh peasant saw the Devil than we do about the way in which h' the accusations of neighbours, signed (or marked by the illiterate) and
saw God. It is much easier to conceptualize absolute evil than "~ witnessed; the confessions of the accused; and the indictments and
analyse the components of an absolute good. Absolute good is defined summing up of the court. .
1n extra-ter~es~rial terms? it is that which we cannot understand. Th,~ _a~cl.1:5~_tions _rcprese_nt in their inost uncontan11nated forn1 _the
Absolute evil is not the mverse of this absolute good and therefore ideas ofpeas:lllts about what witches could do. They also indicate these
equally incomprehensible; it is simply the inverse of modest social peasants' most central. concerns. Although .some of them contam a
goods. It is disea~e as opposed to health; madness as opposed to sanity; good deal of allegedly verbatim reporting the accusations cannot,
hatred and malice as opposed to love and friendship;. cursing as however, be regarded as 'pure', since they were collected and arranged
opposed to blessmg. The norms, practices, and values of a given society by scribes, ministers, and magistrates who had a good idea of what kind
can never be perfectly fulfilled nor represent perfection. They cannot of accusation stood some chance of standing up in court. Further,
easill". be defined by reference to some absolute good, because juxtJ- although collected together at one point in time the accusations often
posmon to such a good would show up the imperfections of existing related to events in the past sometimes many years back.
human practices rather than justify them; instead these norms are The confessions are the most difficult of the three types to evaluate.
defended by contrasting them with an absolute evil. Sorlie -were--e-xtracted--tirid:er--t6ftiite, but even those-which \vere not
. The anthropological truism that witch-beliefs represent a direct were extracted under varying degrees of pressure. Voluntary un-
mvers10n of the values of the society in which they are held implies provoked confessions such as that alleged to have been made by Major
that we can learn more directly about the concerns and interests of the Weir in 167oi seem to have been very rare. Witch-hunting always
ordinary farmers and fishermen of seventeenth-century lowland began with the pointing fmgcr extending away from the self. Some of
Scotland through the complaints which they raised about witchcraft the accused may have confessed with semi-suicidal intent, to avoid a
than we can by reading examples of sermons which were preached to sentence of death by burning alive or a future made intolerable by their
them. The rhetoric of the general. good is much less specific than reputation in the con1munity; son1e inay have confessed in order to
complaints of particular evils. Nevertheless the two inter-relate. The attract attention; but it is reasonable to assume that n1ost confessed
inversions of witchcraft are simply the more explicit side of the belief under direct duress. In their content the confessions are much closer to
system. the fmal indictments than they are to the original accusations which
Ther: are t~o disadvantages in treating seventeenth-century culture are principally concerned with details of indivi.dual malefices .. The
as an alien belief system which, provided they are borne in mind, do confessions sometimes reinforce these accusations by conta1n1ng
not seem to be overwhelming. One disadvantage is that it may seem to claims to powers of malefice: the formulation of Magdalen Blair to
mimm1ze both the extent of the bitter debates and disagreements about the effect that 'shee never gave a malison but what shee saw light', 2 and
belief with which followers of Scottish religious history will be lsobal Ramsey that 'when she gave her malison it always lighted' are
familiar, and the scepticism and distance exhibited by some members sufficiently representative t9 suggest that the phraseology was widely
of the legal profession and others over aspects of witch-hunting. Much used and understood, but ,the main focus of the confessions was on
of th.e conJl.ict described as religious, however, was at the political diabolism. They normally featm:ed the Dem<Ynic Pa.et. and witches'
exterior rather than the theoretical core of a basic Calvinist consensus, meetings; and they range from those "1liichmention onlythe Pact (the
and the scepticism over witchcraft was, even among the most legal n;Jninmm fo.r a ~6~victi~n) tq Jhose which give ..considerable
sophisticated, a minority. attitude. The second disadvantage is that 4.~!_&1,~}--.~-~?Ut activioes at witches meettngs.
136 ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) IJ7
These confessions may well have been extracted by questioning, but and n1isfortune; not with diabolisn1. Furthermore the sin1ilarities
one c.Rtll}Qt.. go on to argue_ t.hat because. the:y were extracte:<f .~nd between the beliefs of English villages and those of African tribesmen
because they differed in content and in their concerns from the led to the search for parallel explanations for the rise and fall of
accusations, thev were therefore alien to popular belief; for unlike accusations and to the emphasis on stress an1ong the populace caused by
the final indict~erits, which are common foi1n, the accounts of the social change rather than on the direct influence of the ruling classes.
happenings at witches' meetings given in these confessions contain The difficulties inherent in applying this explanation to Europe have
varied and diverse details. That many of these details were manifestly been discussed, but the insights from the English material concerning
imoossible makes them, as Coho has persuasively argued, 3 unreliable the endemic nature of popular witch-beliefs have encouraged scholars
thr'oughout as evidence for what actually occurred, and, since there are of European witchcraft to look for sin1ilar concerns a1nong European
no really satisfactory criteria for distinguishing what people said fro111 peasants. This has produced a variety of responses, but the central
what thev believed, the confessions of individual witches are nor even problem for all European researchers has been that whatever rhe
evidence 'of what they as individuals thought had occurred. None of extent to which the interests and beliefs of European peasants are
this, however, affects their value as evidence for collective beliefs. similar to those of English peasants, a very high proportion of
Witch con.fessions represent a_n agreed story _between witc_h and European suspects were initially brought to trial through the con-
inquisitor in which the witch drew, through hallucination or imagina~ fessions of those already examined and tortured rather than through
tion, on a con1n1on store of myth, fan_tasy, and nightmare: t_9 __respo_nd the accusations of neighbours. The extent to which these suspects were
t<?___ the inquisitor's queStions. As a source for this common stcire~ rhe previously of ill fame is therefore often bypassed. The charges in r.hese
coilfeSSi6nsare 'invaluable. The final indictment and sentences ot the cases were principally of diabolism; the pace and inrensiry of rhe
courts simply contain the purest legal formulae about what the educated witch-hunt controlled from above . While some, such as Monter,' have
thought witches did and what they thought they were. simply denied the relevance of English interpretations to European
Together these three types of source cover the beliefs and pre- material, others, principally Cohn and Kicckhefer,5 have developed a
occupations of peasant, n1inister, magistrate and lawyer. ~he 1:1~1n gap,.. model based on a distinction between learned or educated and popular
in rhe evidence is rhe questions which were asked by the mqmsitors ot belief. Both identify diabolic witchcraft as learned; simple sorcery and
the accused. These questions survive in some criminal archives, those of maleficium as popular, bur Coho presents a highly sophisticated account
France and Massachusetts for example, but in the Scottish cases the of the popular origins of this educated demonology, especially rhe
derails of how rhe confession was extracted have to be inferred. There elements which stressed night-flying witches, orgies, and cannibalism. 6
is nevertheless quire enough evidence to suggest a difficulty about the These popular fantasies were rationalized by the developing figure of
clear separation of witch-beliefs into a static popular culture on the Satan in Christian rheology. Thus the educated witch-belief always
one hand and a dynamic educated culture on the other. had a strong popular component. This educated belief, however, can
Until rhe work of Thomas and Macfarlane on English witchcraft be contrasted with popular beliefs in maleficium and sorcery which
was published students of European beliefs concentrated on rhe reflect everyday interests and fears as compared to collective social
problem (which is still with us) of the apparent shift of educated, fantasies. As Coho has observed, 'behind rhe accusations from below
opinion from scepticism to credulity. 'Folklore' was a separate field of and the interrogations from above lie divergent preoccupations and
study. Thomas discerned at least two overlapping systems of behef m 7
aims.
pre-industrial England: rhe magical and the religious, and demon- The logic of this position, however, is that the simple distinction
strated rhe complexity of modes of thought m that society. The between learned and popular is, even at a high level of generality,
similarity of English magical beliefs to those discerned by. erhoo- somewhat strained. It is nevertheless possible to follow initially the
graphers in primitive societies was established, but this identificario~ methodological pattern suggested by Kieckhefer and consider the
created a problem. It was reasonable to assume that En~hsh behers . belief patterns shown in the accusations as representing the most
\vhich \Vere den1onstrably con1n1on to many pre-1ndustr1al societies primitive levels of belief. It is from these accusations that we learn the
had been endemic for centuries, and that therefore the causes of the popular assumptions about sorcery as used in white magic: healing,
rise in prosecutions for witchcraft were to be found elsewhere than in fortune telling, finding oflost property, and other forms of divination;
popular belief: which must be regarded as essential!". static. The fact and in black magic: cursing and malefice, and counter black magic.
that the content of the English trials closely reflected villa~e beliefs and Even at the popular level, however, analysis of the Scottish material is
showed little of the adulterations of the preacher reinforced this not entirely simple. In the first place, as we have noted, collections of
assun1ption: popular beliefs were concerned with malefice, cursing, signed accusations by neighbours, while relating to many incidents
l'
ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) 139
over a period of time, were all gathered together for the purpose of tinguish between black and white magic, while based on the idea that
getting a conviction or a commission. While there are Instanc~s of a all power not sanctioned by the church is either ineffectual or demonic,
witch entering the documents more than once, most of the e""'.'1de~ce regardless of whether it is intended to heal or harm, in fact reflects a
for long ter1n reputation comes from one set of documents which It is peasant reality: that the healer can be dangerous. The healer represents
reasonable to assume are full of retrospective reinterpretation. The power at the most basic local level and is therefore the natural starting
Kirk Sessions, which were largely responsible for collecting this point of a scale which ends with power at the most abstract and
evfd'CilCf:: -"were well aware of what would convince in the -Privv political level: that ascribed to God and the Devil.
Council '01 theHigh Court ancl were intelligent in their selection ~f Healing in seventeenth-century Scotland can be divided into official
items and the way in v;hich they were presented. There may well be a and unofficial. Official healing was that sanctioned by the emergent
whole layer of popular beliefs which are not represent.ed beca\1.5.e no prof:ssional a':'ociarions and taught in the universities. Official healing
scribe thought them worth sending up to Edmbtirgh. The accusations was sc1ent1fic. This 1s not to say that official healers had got their facts
which were signed and sent were extremely circumstannaL .In the right 1n terms of twentieth-century positivist science; it is merely to
' second place the accusations reveal other elements than pure S()rce~, say that scientific healing in this period was based upon current
whether black, white, or counter magic; they frequently emphasize physical knowledge and was susceptible to intellectual discussion and
the long term reputation of the witch, and he.r kno)"n associatio11 with experiment within the current paradigm. There are difficulties about
the Devil. The importance of reputation relates to the demands of overlap, however. It would seem reasonable to classify the wearing of
Scots law. It also .stems from a view of witchcraft as an attnbure an amulet as a cure for colic as rmofficial medicine, but for the seven-
of particular individuals rather than an activity, v.;hich a wide range of teenth-century wearer it was based on contemporary scientific
people might practise; a view more charac.temnc of Europe th~ ~f assumptions about the physical properties of certain substances and
witch-doctor cultures. In Scotland the references to the witch s their effects on the functioning ofhuman bodies. Perhaps the clearest
asso~iation with the Devil; frequently appearing as an addendum to an common elem~nt in official and unofficial medicine, however, was the
accusation of rt1alefice, suggests that the peasantry had either .absorbed necessary acknowledgment of a particular healer's power.
or generated at least some ofthe diabolism developed by eccles1ast1c;rl Unofficial healing, which in the early days of the medical and
lav;yers. In_frct, while the distinction between the concerns of the surgical professions meant nearly all healing, consisted of both practical
learned and the concerns of the peasantry 1s clear fromthe documents, or commonsense remedies and ritual healing, though these were
so toois the mutual influe.n.ce, Cohn has suggested that it was this s?merimes combined. Practical healing concerned the use of par-
interaction between the learned and the popular which was instru- ncular herbs and mmerals of established utility. No-one was in the
mental in promoting the witch-hunt. 8 . .
least interested in reasons. These could be used without the inter-
The beliefs which relate to magic, reltg1on, and witchcraft are vention of any specialized hea.ler, but very often recourse would be
beliefs about power. The sources of power and the extent to which the had to one known to have special knowledge of how to mix herbs
individual is a prey to them or can manipulate them are_ the focus of and apply .them. Prac.tical healing is therefore difficult to separate from
any belief system. Adam Smith's obse.rvation that man ts. an anxt_ous ritual healmg of which the essence is the spell, the charm, and the
animal was intended to apply to anxieties about status, but rt has wtder power of the wise man or woman.
applicability. He is anxious about his health an.cl its rdat10nsh1p to his Thomas has detected in England three basic assumptions behind the
inevitable death, and about the health of his km. He 1s anxious about folk medicine of this period. The first is that disease is a foreign
property, status, and the stability of the society in which his ~rop~rty presence, and this assumption was shared by official healers as well. The
and his status are held. Beliefs supply reassurance, mechamsrru; for second is that religious language possessed a mystical power which
control, and scapegoats for misfortune. In so far as religious be~ies are could be deployed for practical purposes. The third was that the work-
about the sources of power it may be expected that changes m tec.h- mg of certain charms and potions owed their efficacy to the healer
nology or in social structure :vill be retlec~ed in c~anges in ~e b_ehef himse1 It was this last belief which proved so deadly to the healer
system. The systematic teachmg of new ideologies stemmmg from when mverted. Thomas also observed that 'these practices did not
changes in the elite will also affect. the cosmology. of the pe~sant. _ reflect a single coherent cosmology or scheme of classification, but
The healer is a source of hope m the community. But his power JS were made out of the debris of many different systems of thought'. 9
two-edged. If he should fail, demand extortionate and uneconomic All this is applicable to Scotland, though in Scotland the belief in the
returns for his services, or become hosule, then he becomes a source .of power oflanguage was not restricted to traditional religious forms, but
menace and a focus for anxiety. The refusal of Canon Law to dis- was ascribed to all language used with intent. The form of an
ENEMIES OF GOD THE B.EL!EF SYSTEM (1)
instruction, a blessing, or a curse on the lips of a person of power \-Vas The examples mentioned above are typical of many, and are similar
immaterial. The belief in the power of the individual acted as an to English ones cited by Thomas. They could be used on their own or
umbrella for the diversity of detailed beiiefs about healing. in conjunction with other performances. Threads were sometimes
The principal source of charms were the prayers of the pre- wound round the affiicted person and then buried. Wool was regarded
Reformation church. Paternosters, aves, and creeds, either straight or as having special potency. Mould, earth from graveyards, water which
adulterated, were frequently uttered, and the suggestion tlm the was south running, had been charmed, or used to wash a dead person,
persecution of witchcraft was a disguised persecution of Catholics may were also used. 13 The purpose was always to extracr. or remove the
stem from an anachronistic interpretation of the residual use of old alien substance which was causing the disease. The idea that the disease
charms and familiar names as representing a conscious allegiance to thus removed must be transferred to someone else was quite commou,
Rome. and that was another factor which put the healer in a dangerous social
William Kerrow in Elgin in r 62 J offered a charm for all fevers as position. The person who had power to remove also had power to
follows: place a disease, and it was quite common for witches to be accused of
both putting on and taking off a disease. Sir George Mackenzie argued
The quaquand fever and the trembling fever that 'it is against the confest principles of all Criminalists, that '"'"
And the sea fever and the land fever, vene}ica non potest esse ligans et solvens in eodem morbo cannot borh put _on
Bot and the head fever and the hart fever, and take off a disease; for it seems that the Devil thinks, that it were too
And all the fevers that God creatit. much to bestow such favours upon one of his favourites' .14 But this
In Sanct Johnes name, Sanct Peteris name, argument clearly went counter to popular belie The complaints
And all the sancts of heavin' s name against Janet and Elspeth in Dumfries in r67r were all about the
0 ur Lord Jesus Chrystis name. 10 cavalier. distribution and redistribution of disease and misfortune,
though not entirely at whim. The fundamental belief behind the idea
Janet Brown in 1643 healed injuries with a widely used charm: that the witch could control the cure as well as the infliction of a
Our Lord forth raide; disease did not relate to the amount of power which the Devil might be
His foal's foot slade; supposed to hand out to his servants. That was an issue which was very
Our Lord down lighted; much a concern of the educated. The popular understanding was that
His foal's foot righted; the disease was the result of a broken relationship with the witch and
Saying Flesh to Flesh, blood to blood, that the removal of the disease could only be effected in the context of
and bane to bane at least some formal acknowledgement of a restored relationship. An
In our Lord his name. 11 example of this is taken from the trial of Magdalen Blair of Stirling,
who was noted for claiming powers of malison, in January 1659.
Another version of this one was known in Shetland: William Luckisone accused her, in effect, of acting as a witch finder in
the case of his illness:
The Lord rade
And the foal slade William Luckisone maltman declares that about six yeirs since or
He lighted thereby he contracted a sore sickness, and in the meantime having
And he righted occasion to visit Katharine Luckisone, his sister, now spouse to
Set joint to joint James Andersone, and finding her and Magdalen Blair sitting
Bone to bone together in the foot of Andrew Curran's yard the said Katharine
and sinew to sinew asked at Magdalen what she thought ailed the deponer [wimess,
Heal in the Holy Ghost's name.12 William]. And Magdalen thereupon asked at the deponer if there
was any enmitie or discord between Issobel Bennet and him, And
It has been suggested that the central part of this charm was known in he answered that there was none that he knew of, except that at
Germany and Norway and was older than the rest. The words had an sometimes when her fowles would be in his father's victual], he
inherent efficacy of their own, and the appeal to an external god was an would throw stones at them to call them furth of it. Whereupon
addition. A charm was in this sense a different type of utterance from a Magdalen desired that he would go to lssobel Bennet and take a
prayer or invocation. grip of her coat tail and drink a pint of ale with her And crave his
ENEMIES OF GOD
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) 143
health from her thrie tymes for the Lords sake and he would be
well. But he did it not. 15 excon1munication were uttered against lists of specific types of
malefactor. Despite the objections by John Knox to that particular
Issobel Bennet was a far from random choice by Magdalen in th practice it was reinforced in the post-Reformation church by the
not ~nly was a discordant relationship known to exist between her an~ rituals of prayer, fasting, preaching, and public discipline. It was
Wilham Luckisone, but she was also of ill fame in the neighbourhood. demonstrated by those who regarded themselves as victims of witch-
She was tried two months later and sentenced to banishment." craft when they formally left their death upon the head of the accused
Amidst the diversity of beliefs about healing, the factor which stands before dying, and equally by Covenanters who regarded themselves
out most dearly is the figure of the healer herself. It was she who had on the scaffold as victims of villainous agents of the state. One after
the power, and this power was strengthened, as it is in modern another they left their blood formally on individual named persons. 20
medicine, by secrecy, impressive procedures. mystery, and arduous Social control in seventeenth-century Scotland was demonstrated
performances by the patient. The sufferer was not expected to under- continuously by competitive performative utterances. Indeed, it could
stand. exactly how he was being healed or the purpose of the con- be argued that the performative utterances of fully literate societies,
sulrat10n and the relationship between him and the healer would identified by Austin almost exclusively in terms of their grammatical
dissolve. The same held true when the healer was being brought in for construction, are merely a system of control and communication in
veterinary purposes. When Robert Hutton's mother-in-law sent for which utterances may be intentionally rather than effectively per-
Bessie Paine to cure a sick cow 'the said Bessie paine ... caused the formative. Even in Austin's account grammatical form is not quite
Cow to be put throw ane hanck of green yaime speaking some words enough to identify a fully performative utterance; there must be a
which the personnes present did not understand and yreftir the Cow social agreement that the words, at a marriage ceremony for example,
was cured' .17 Agnes Johnstoun' s accusation against Bessie Graham in do constitute an action. 21 Performative utterances dependent on super-
I650 included her response to a request to heal her child. Bessie 'Tuik natural power were also partially supported by social recognition. The
the bellt and wettit it' (a common form of divination) 'mutering some performative element might be diluted by an exhortarory element, bm
speiches with greit gauting eftir which she told the said Agnes that the a person who was formally cursed was deemed socially to be a cursed
chyld was seik and wald not leive and it provit so and the chyld died person.
presentlie' .18 Like a charm, a curse could sometimes be obscure, incomprehensible,
In fact the charm, the failed charm, the favourable prophecy, the or unheard. Some ofJanet Macmurdoch's accusers, for example, noted
unfavourable prophecy, and the curse are closely connected, and that she had gone away muttering or murmuring. More frequently,
essentially fall from the lips of the same person, the person of power. however, they were audible but highly general. The malediction on
In seventeenth-century Scotland blessing and cursing, black and white the house: 'all my witchcraft I leave here', uttered by Bessie Paine, was
magic. went hand in hand, and this assumption was shared by peasant typical of this type. Accused witches were said to have told their accuser
and lawyer alike-and by victim and practitioner. Popular belief and simply that they would have cause to regret this or that act or speech.
practice reinforced Canon Law rather than Civil Law. Alexander Maclay in Killearnan in Ross-shire testified in 1699 that he
Accusations of healing, such as that cited, were listed alongside challenged Murrock Nickinairich for allowing her beasts to eat his
accusations of malef1ce. and Bessie Paine was not only said to have father's corn. The woman 'threatened him at a high rate and told him
cured. It was alleged that she came to a house in which she had formerly that Challenge should be repented of by him'. The next day he fell ill
lived (from which we may assume she had been evicted) after the new and remained so until Nickinairich brought him a drink of milk,
tenant had moved in, 'and sitting down upon her knees upon the whereupon he recovered. 22
hearth sraene she said "all the witchcraft which I have I leave it here'". , The general rhetoric of cursing in which the witch very often
The new tenant, Robert Sturgeon, as a result of this curse upon his acknowledged or reinforced her status as a witch has already been
house, was reckoned to have lost within a year and a quarter above illnstrated. Sometimes the mere raising of the question of witchcraft
thirty cattle dead, 'and nothing he took in hand did prosper during was enough to assume a cursing had occurred. Janet Anderson and
his possession of that rowme (place).' 19 Janet Dicksone quarrelled after which Janet Anderson 'desired the
The belief in the efficacy of the spoken word, whether as charm, Lord to bless her'. Janet Dicksone immediately asked Anderson if she
blessing, or curse, was not simply a popular one. It had been demon- thought her to be a witch and Anderson promptly denied it. This did
strated in the past by the pre-Reformation church which had regular not avail her however and she fell sick and remained so "til the said
services of general commination in which formal sentences of Janet Dicksone was apprehendit be the Magistrate as ane witch and
thereafter the said Janet recoverit'. 23
144 ENEMIES OF GOD
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) 145
Margaret Wallace of Glasgow in 1622 was accused of bear
deadly hatred and malice against Cuthbert Greg because of c In~.' The first of these appear in the accusationsof'ill fame' or reputat~on,
things he said against her and she threatened him more prccJSel;hlll , hi h accompany. the more. specific charges: T]ie accusat10n ot 111
N "was given a more diabolic slant by saymg that the witch had
he would not be able to work. Shortly after he had a strange :n~ tame with
the Devil for along
had l<mg
or b m th e
unnatural disease. 24 What was most acceptable to the authomies h trafficked ume, . een
ever, was when the alleged curse was specific, and related closely' tooth; an of th.e Devil Sometimes the accuser also said that they had
y
comp seen the accused
actually with
' th~ D~viL ' Janet
Mi 'JI er, .herself an
alleged misfortune. I he forement10. ned Magdalen Blair had a qu l
with a neig
hb our about a horse which he had left standing outsidearre
h d witch claimed to have seen lsobell Keir and Margaret Harvie
accuse , .. b11 d .h
door, whereupon 'sbee strake the said Richards horse saying God scn~ an
d ne blak man with thame, all s1tmg at one ta i covere wit ane
a .f d b d h . ' " T .
he shoot to death And the horse died suddenhe the same day afrer h Whyt cloth and sum boylet bei an rea t airon ; . wo wimesses
was taken ha1ne'. 2s Katherin Davidson, an accuser of Margar.e . the trial of Elizabeth Bathgate saw her conversmg with the Devil m
Bezok at Fortrose in 1699, said that she was 'threatened by the sai~
at
the likeness of a man havmg . grey cj oathes '." . .
Margaret that she should have neither sock nor coulter going upon that Others were said to have been seen not with the Devil as such but
ground, and that thereafter she lost ane ox that dyed suddenly and dearly on demonic occupations, William Gle.dstams saw Elsbeth
another ox that fell and brake his bones'. 26 Maxwell of Dumfries in 1650 'as he thocht rydmg .upoun a cat .and
Equally precise was the threatening of Christian Wilson ofDalkeirh leiding two in hir hand', 30 Although these references m the accusations
tried in I66r. When James Clarke came to visit Christian's sick so~ to specific or implied diabolism are quite frequent, the mam concern
Christian .asked why his wife .Helen had not come also. When James of the accusations is always malefice. The strongest evidenc.e for a well
said hIS wife would not come mto the same house as Christian rooted and well understood popular demonology hes .nei.ther m the
accusations nor the confessions, but in the ordeal of pnckmg for the
she thereupon with threatening words said that James Clarke's mark described in Chapter 9.
wife should be childkss before her and also did sorely threaten It is to the confessions, however, that we have to turn to.get a ~ull
himself. Immediately James Clarke his child procreat betwix him picture of collective belief about the Devil . and his relations wnh
and that wyfe took present sickness and raged to death before mankind, and this source has been affected by mterac:tton with officials
twelve o'clock that same night although there was no one in more than have the accusations. To turn from thos: parts of the tnal
more perfyt health than that chyld was at the time the said papers which list neighbourly accusations to those, tor the same cases,
Christian made hir expressions. Some dayes thereafter fell ane which record the confessions of the accused, IS to .leave the arena of
heavy sickness upon James himself ... Lykeas he died a limll local concern and enter a twilight world in which fantasy was given a
thereftir. z;
legal formulation; in which peasant and lawyer combmed to produce
Curing, curs.ing, and general harming, all feature in the neigh- an agreed statement which had meaning for both. In these confesS!ons
bourly accusations. So too do anti-witchcraft procedures. Those the capacity to perform malefice played lmle part (althou~h some of
wIShmg rn undo the effects of witchcraft sometimes appealed to other the accused did boast of their powers m this respect) smce this asP.eCt of
reputed Witches for advice, Others tried directly to mend their re- witchcraft could be adequately proved by wimcsses and was not
lationship with the witch. A more aggressive defence was the burning absolutely essential to a conviction. The principal emphasis was on the
of thatch taken from the witch's roof or some other. piece of her Demonic Pact. Nocturnal meetings with other witches were a frequent
property. This amounted, in effect, to counter sorcerv. All these but optional extra. . .
represent basic prin1itive: beliefs to be found in all sin1ple r~ral societies, Jn the first phase of witch-hunting the elements of witchcrafr which
and they were echoed in detail in other parts of Europe. The Scottish were taken as eyide11c<: were a random JUXtapos1t10nof. ill fame,
accusat1ons, however, do tend to contain elen1ents which are rare in malefi~e,. P.ri.Vat_e -~~~~)file ~~7?1:1llters,_,,an~ ~?.~n;uil_~l--1?~enng_s_._ .~~.~e
the reported English accusations and which Kieckhefer foiirtd to have Pact, however, came to be regarded by the Scomsh JUdic1ary,desp'.te
been e~dudedfrotii.the tpsissima verbaofEuropean peasant accuse!S in the number who continued to be convicted on other evidence or while
an earlier period, These elements .can best be described as the new maiii'fai!iili'g_ ~_~l\~i~ .i_iip.O_<:eriCe, -~s the :s_ip.gle rp.o~t. .~_sen~~a~ elem-ent -~? . .an
popular demonic, They would .probably .. n 0 t h:>:Y~ p~en foiirtd in indictI!lent.. The)(!gal significance of the physical, formal pact came
Scotland a c.entury before.; they cannot be paralleledelG!ctly in other from Canon Law. Despite the dominance of the rdea of the Sabbath on
pre-illdustrial cultu~es; yet by the middle of the seventeenth tei:ttiliy the F:utbpean~ontinent, the legal manuals made the Pact central to the
they were part of popular culture in Scotland: prOsecufi_Ori'_~- .c~~-~ -and_ certainly i!l . ~ranee ili~ ~a~t- _Was _the~ ess~nttal
elemenf in a onviction. The critiie was ulnmately that ot bemg a
ENEMIES OF GOD
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1)
witch rather than that of performing a;'Y particular acts ofwi.tc:hczaft.
By.the 1620s the account of the Pact m the Scomsh confessions ,n;i deviils servants, and.suffered your bodies quilke aught to have
mdictments had developed mto a common form which did not va been temples to the Hohe ghost to be polluted defiled by suffering
much for the rest of the centurv. ry him to have carnal! copulation with you. 33
A-coridensed- exa:niple of the' Pact is given in the con1n1ission to
Jonnet Dempstar.in Fife in 1626 ~ho confessed 'the renuncemg ofl'.7r , The formula was the normal usage for the second half of the seven-
bapt1sme, ressavemg of the dev~lhs mark, and gevmg ofhir soule nd teemh century. It was given fuller detail in individual cases bur
bodie over to the devilhs service . 31 An example of a developed version remained essentially the same.
from the Restoration witch-hunt comes from the indictment of Ja How then did the Scottish peasantry see the Devil? In the earliest
Daill, wife of George Bell, who was tried along with four others fr:,~: case for which a detailed indictment has been found, that of Janet
Musselburgh near Edinburgh on the 29th July r66r: Bayman of the Canongate in Edinburgh in I 572, 34 the demonic force
which she conjured up to perform her cures and malefices was
Notwithstanding that both be the law of Almightie God and be described as being like a whirlwind, 'and thairafter came the shape of
the !awes and acres of parliament of this king dome the cryme of ane man and stood on the other side of the wall'. It is not clear from
sorcene and witc.hcraft is expressly forbidden and discharged, and the context that this human figure was Satan himself. It was not until
the pam and pumshment of death ordained to be inflicted upon all the trials of l 590 that his identity was made quite unambiguous. And
that are gwlty and convict thereof. Nevertheless it is of verity even m these tnals, despite the fully formed figure of the Devil in some
that the said Janet Dale having shaken off all fear of God reverence witnesses' accounts, others did not appear to be so certain. To Catherine
and regard to the !awes of this kingdome Hes about fourteen yrs Wallace the Devil 'appea;ed lyke a quale of hay at this convention',
ago or thereby betaken herself to the service of Satan the enemie and to Janet Straton too the divell appeared first lyk a tusk of hay'.
of her Salvation entered in a covenant and paction with hin1 For Donald Robeison, however, 'the divell had ane blak goune and
whereby she has renounced her baptisme and interest in Jesis ane skull bonnett evil! favoured on his head'. 35 And for others accused
Christ, and engaged herselfe to be the Devil! servant and took ane in these trials and their aftermath the Devil appeared in adult male
other name upon her ... human guise though variously dressed.
By th7earlyyears of theseventeenth century the popular images of
The indictment then described her meetings with other witches and the Dev1I'Nereasstereotyped as they were ever to become. Occasion-
then returns to the Pact: ally he appeared in a':i!11al. form, usually that of a dog, but sooner or
later.he.. :ippeared like.. a man, often tall (meikle), often dark, but
She comeing from Dalkeith the Devil! met her at Newtonhall dressed ma vaneryof ways. He appeared to Elene Case 'iri the likness
burne in the likeness of ane man with grey clothes who promised of ata11ffi.aJill1,$reendoaths'; 36 JoJaJ1etPaxtoi:, tried in l66r, healso
to give her. money and the marks upon her body ane upon her appeared dad m grem as was his Comon habit as ever she saw him
shoulder and between her thys and her body. wherefore she in'."Uonald MafrofKilleaman in Ross-shire saw him at the end of the
consented to be his servant and give herself over to him albeit she centui;Y 'inthe l.ik~ness o.f a. Black Man with, cloven feet and bigg
knew he was the devilL Next she had ane meeting with the Devil! h~nos . 36 Tq ]3ea.tnx Leslie he appeared first in the likeness of ane
at the same place where the Devill had carnal dealling with her uncouth beast', latt:r'in tlie lykness ofa halfling lad' (an adolescent) ill
and caused her renounce her baptism." which form h.e had mterc.ourse with her. In a later confession she
changed her des;;iption to a 'm,eikle ?rown dog' later turning into the
The following month five women and a man were tried in Edin- shape of a man. Agnes Pegav1e earlier mennoned as the receiver of a
burgh and their indicrinents were first sun1med up together in these 'sklait stane' saw him first 'in the lykness of a dog which foamed on
terms: ~er' and later 'in the form of a meikle man' .' 0 To another he appeared
m the likeness of a man at the kirkland in dynsyre' and Bessie Flinkar
ilk and ane of you haveing shaken off all fear of God Reverence and many others 'in the likeness of her own husband'." It may not be
and regard. to the Lawes of this kingdome, hes betaken yourselves too fanaful to suggest that when the accused identified the Devil as
to the service of Satan the enemie of your salvations entered in a appearin.g in the form of a. known individual that she was responding
Covenant and paction. with him whairby you renounced your to quesnons about sexual mtercourse with the Devil. Under pressure
bapt!Smes and mterest m jesus Christ engadged yourselves to be the women w~"'.ld work out that if they had indeed had carnal dealing
with the Devil it must be most likely to have been any extra marital
ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) 149
intercourse in which they had indulged; the halfling lad in the barn, or repressive culture1 control over behaviour was exercised directly on
the man in the kirkland in Dyusyre, !n the absence of any such fornicators and adulterers, as such. The evidence that we have suggests
encounter it must indeed have been in the shape of their husbands, that the Scottish peasantry m the seventeenth century took it for
It is also interesting to note that when we have the accounts of a granted that sex was uncomplicated and enjoyable for both sexes.
group of accused who were alleged to have met together with the They were in process of learning slowly, through endless reprimand,
Devil there is little agreement between them as to his appearance, and payment of fines which were the main support of the system of
This is not, of course, conclusive proof that there was no meeting: poor relief, that God disapproved of it outside marriage. Accusations
witnesses rareiy agree . .But the collection of suspects at the Crook of a?.~i115t..wit.ches that they caused impotence~ common in EiiiOpe, did
Devon in Angus in r661 had strikingly different coloured spectacles. Crop . up, bllt .were surprisingly. _rare" It was s_exua1 repression rather
Isobel Rutherford first saw 'three women with black heads and Satan than sexual performance which caused difficulties.
wit]i'ane blue bonnet and grey clothes'. Bessie Henderson saw him as The accounts of demonic intercourse are therefore not very varied or
'a'Iialflong fellow with an dusti-coloured coat'; Janet Brough as 'an . detailed, Although one accused witch said that 'she fell in Satanis
uncoath man with black cloathes and ane hood on his head'; another as service through the lust of her flesh by seik a man who had promised
'a long old man with ane white beard'; Christian Grieve as 'a!le little her marriage', many had a-specific complaint: that 'his nature was cold'.
m:mwith a blue bonnet on his head and rough grey clothes on him' The idea that the flesh of the Devil was icy was common throughout
Rob.err Wilson, one of the two males accused at this trial, saw hirurt1ore Europe. It is not clear whether this idea is directly related to the
grandiosely 'riding on ane horse with fulycuit clothes and an Spanish educated scientific theory that the Devil took on a body of 'con-
cape' .<12 densed air', 44 but it is an almost routine observation. From Margaret
Typically, he appeared as a thoroughly human, often rather scruffy, Watson, tried in 1644, we do get some indication of Satanic fore play,
male (though Janet Man of Stenton saw him with his hat on his head According to her indictment he came to her 'lyke ane blak man and
like a gentleman), 43 of any age from puberty to pre-senility. He was gripped thee about the left pape and then had carnall deale with thee
identified as the Devil not by his appearance but by his behaviour, and thow discerned his nature to be cold'. 45 From this we may deduce
which followed a much more stereotyped pattern. He approa<;li,ed _the that the Devil, in common with other left handers, caresses with
intended witch: she rarely conjured him up. He then invited her to his right hand.
becom~ ~is .-~_er::v'<i_~~-- p~on1isirig her in return certa_in e,conomic:__ behe~ts. The Devil's sexual relations with male witches are ambiguous,
The-Demonk Pact initiated, in fact, a standard feudal relationship, Sodomy with the Devil never appears in the indictme.nts of male
refleciing standard assumptions about all significant human bonds in witches, but Thomas Black did find him 'lying heavy upon him in 'the
this l'eriod. We noted in discussing the sociahtatus of the accused that shape of a man'. 46 And to John Scott in 1661 'the divell appeared, , ,
the benefits promised were rarely very extensive. Jhere was lmlescope after twylight at the back of his oune house and took him in his armes
in seventeenth~century Scotland for hope of sudden wealth for the and speired at him if he would be his servant'." Some accused males
ordinary peasant. Hope lay in absence of dire misforttnie; in avoi~nce provided the Devil with a female accomplice in their confessions.
of famine, disease, disgrace or displacement. The feudal mfenots ot the James Welsh had 'gone out to ease himself in the evening, and at the
Devil in Scotland were promised over and over again simply that they end of the bame there apperat to him Ane bonnie lass quha desyret him
'should never want'. to ly wt hir and he refussit'. She was followed by the Devil himself
The formula for the renuncia.tion of baptism also occurred repeti- who asked him to become his servant. 48 Patrick Lowrie in r605, how-
tiousffiii ilie corifessions and indictments, A ritual was performed in ever, went to the logical extreme. To him 'the devil came as a woman
which the new witch put one hand on her head and another on the sole named Helen Mc.Brune. She gave him a belt with four claws like the
of her foot and promised to the Devil all that lay between. A variant devil's.' 49 With most male witches, however, the relationship does not
was laying a hand on the head and giving all under it to ilie Devil, appear to have been sexual. The Devil gave Robert Wilson 'ane sair
Th_e_._sealin,g.,of the Pa_c_t__often at a _subsequent m_eeting __involved,. --~exual stroke on the right shoulder'. 50 The principal seal of the Pact was the
ill'ter_cqurs_ef"_the ConfeITinfS__ of-~ -mark or _mar~s_, __and in so_Il1_e_ instances Devil's mark which was bestowed on all witches male and female,
the conferring of a new name, Although sexual intercourse, tisually The bestowal of a new name was another possible addition to the
called 'carnal' dealing' to emphasize that there was nothing imaginary proceedings. Elspeth Blackie in 1661 was to call herself Janet Dairy;
about it, was an almost essential ingredient in female accounts of the Janet Paiston was to be called General Janet; Janet Man in 1659 who
Pact, it cannot be said that details of sexual relationships were an had seen the Devil as a gentleman was to call herself Bessie, but her
important part of Scottish demonic beliefs, In so far as it was a sexually co-accused, Bessie Lacost, claimed she herself had resisted being given
150 ENEMIES OF GOD
THE .BELIEF SYSTEM (1) ISI
a new name. 'The devil wold have called hir Jeanie but sh--ma,
woId. not .have two names shee was already called Bessie and he i lt no doubt varied greatly from person to person, but in so far as the
Bessie be It then and thereafter did ly with her but she thou h
bod1e was harder and colder than a man'. 51 It has been suggest~d ttb,~
't/ accused fully accepted that they deserved to die, this represented a
second revolution in their sense of personal identity and their relation-
ce~tam names. usually Janet or Margaret, were specially associated . i ship to the community and its God. Identification of the self as a
w1tches, but this suggestion is often related to the belief in a witch ~n deviant and witch, represented warfare on the dominant values;
In fact there was such a small number of female first names in com t. identification of the self as deserving to die meant reacceptance of these
currency in seventeenth-century Scotland that it is impossiblmon values and personal defoat. Not all of them made this second internal
. 1rot~ t heir
de duce anythtng use among accused witches. Nearlye to1 revolution. The range of possible postures were from innocent,
11 1 confused, guilty but repentant, to guilty and unrepentant. 'And when I
women were
called Ehzabeth, Margaret
. '
Jane/t' Catherine ChriSt1an
'
Mary/Manon: Ann, Agnes, Ahsan, Helen, Isobel, or derivatives of gave my malison it always lighted'.
th~se. More i_di~syncrar_1c 1:"ere Barbara, Euph~mia, Beatrice, Annabe( The central poi~ts ~f the Pact and the personal responsibility of the
Gnssell, Marione, or G1lle1S; but there the ch01ce more or less ended. individual accused formed the final indictment. The confessions, how-
Sometimes theDevil rnS1sted on being given a particular name. He ever, supplied a wider variety of detail than were needed for the
told Isobel Rutherford, who had seen him with a blue bonnefat c indictment. ~.anY. iI?:dic~~~n.~ 90 Ilo.t men.tion. ~itch.es' meetin$s at
. v , root all, but near!)' all the multiple trials refer to them at least in passing.
?f Dev?n, to eaII hIm --~"~.~-~<?Y...:... Bessie Henderson to call him
S~1n_~ __accc:>ll_n~s o_f meetings are_i_n fac_t simply an extension of descrip-
<:;hades : Thon:as Ro~ to call him I,11cifer. The Devil of the Stemon
52
witches called ~mself ?(111on'. Most of the accused however seem to tions of thePact which is said to have taken place in the company of
have called him !Tl)'. l()rd 1f they addressed him directly. other V,itches. Some said that they went in the first place to a meeting
. The confessions of the Pact were reported in the final indictment to seek vengeance against some individual, and had then been pressed
either much as they had appeared in the pre-trial papers or somewhat to make a pact with the Devil. The prime purpose of the demand for
pared down to t~e essential details of meeting the Devil 'knowing fum infor1nation about meetings was essentially to extra_ct more nan1es.
to be the Devil , renunciation of baptism, and sealing with sexual Bessie Lacost said that 'Marion Wilson and Isobel Kerr1p who ar burnt
mtercours; and the bestowal of the mark. It was important to establish and Alison Fermer who is yett alive did first take hir to the devill's
the witch s consciousness and responsibility for what she did, and companie' and that Alison Fermer, Jean Sydserffe, Helen Herriott,
:nany of the prefaces to the c"'.nfessions emphasize that it was given Marion Angus, andJonett Wood, were 'also as great \Vitches as shee'. s4
freely .and of hir aw1ne accord. Lawyers greatly preferred to have a The last bit of power given to the confessing and about to be con-
confess10.n of an explicit Pac~ rathe~ than have to make an assumption victed witch as she was forced into her trap was the power to settle
of a taCit Pact through witnesses accounts of her behaviour and old scores. Not everyone on trial availed themselves of this. Helen
performances. This preference reflected the changing focus of criminal Cumine, one of the Stenton group, said that she saw a great number of
law m which the rational punishment of individual acts of wrong women, 'shee thought above fortie but ther .was so great a mist
do1~g was gradually replacm15 .the restorative system of justice in betwixt her and them that she could not know them; lykways shee saw
which. the sat1Sfact1on of the v1ct1m was of prime importance. At the a great number of men in another place. but ther was a great n1ist
same time it gave women for the first time personal responsibility for betwixt her and them too'. Bessie Henderson of Crook of Devon in
their own actions. It was a common feature of the confessions that the r66r compromised and identified her colleagues by their voices. 'She
witch declared herself to be wicked, guilty, and deserving of the death did not see them in regard of the weakness of her sight saying that she
penalty. Alison Fermer of Stenton after describing her activities saw not well in the niche this many a year.'ss
summed up that 'for the which causes forsaid she deserves nott not Apart from the naming of names the actual details of what took place
desyres to .leive'. Bessie Lacost, the principal figure in the Stenton at the. Illeetingswere not legally significant and therefore reflect a
trial, described by Marion f ...ngus as 'the officer' 'being seriously wider range of collective belief than do accounts of the Pact. The most
exhorted to declare the trewth whither ever schee had entered into ane immediately obvious feature of Scottish beliefs is that they represent a
expresse Covenant with the deivell did most freelie and of hir awine less extreme collective. nightmare than th.ose of the European con-
accord confes that schee was a meiserable creature and one not tin,~11t: lnfallt s~crifice is '!nknmvn; cannibalisrn,formal worship of the
worthi~ to leive for leiving. so long in a direct league with the devill'." Devil, and communal sex are rather rare: The confessions which niosc
It IS impossible to tell m these oft repeated declarations to what nearly parallel those of the coiiiiiient are those of Isobel Gowdie of
extent the accused had absorbed internally the truth of her statements. Au!dearn and those of the Forfar group of suspects. Not even in these
IS there actual infant sacrifice, bnt unbaptized infants were said to have
x52 ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1) 153
bee11exhuil1edand, eaten. In the indictments of the Forfar group it w:is vvent foorth to the san.dis, and that ther thrie other won1en n1et
alleged that they went up to the church wall about the south e~ them, and that the dive!! was there present with them all, in the
doore, and raisit a young bairn unbaptised, and took his hi: shape of ane great horse; and that they concludit the sinking of
ha.nds, a pairt of the head and butock: and maid a py thereof, that they ane shipp, lying not farr off from Barrie, and that presentlie the
might eat of it, and by that means might never mack a confessione (as said company appoynted her selfe to tak hold of the cable tow, and
they thought) of their witchcraft.',. to hold it fast untill they did retume, and she herselfe did pre-
The descriptions given by the accused. at these trials, which took sentlie take hold of the cable tow, and that the rest with the dive!!
place in r66r and r662, are quite exceptional .in the richness of the went in to the sea upone the said cable as shee thought, and that
detail which has been recorded, but at neither of them are accounts of about the spaice of an hour thereafter they returned all in the
fori:iaI devil worship given. The part played by the.De.vii was in same likeness as befor, except that the divell was in the shape of a
eating: drinking, danciJag, kissing, and copulating with. them. Super- man upone his return and that the rest were sore traiked (fatigued)
ficially they provide the best case for those who wish to maintain the and that the divell did kiss them all except her selfe, and that he
reality of witches' meetings and they conform more Close! y than other kist her hand only, and that then they condudit another meeting
Scottish confessions w a continental stereotype iI1 that they refer fo the to be at the nixt hallowes. 60
nuinber of their gathering being thirteen, and they refer to regUiai
m~etings: 'at Candlmas, Rood Day, Lammas and Hallowmass'. They The confessions of the accused at Forfar and Auldcam do not appear
are particularly detailed in descriptions 0 revelry: 'they ckunced to represent the tip of an iceberg in the sense that many more as rich
togither, and the ground under them was all fyre flauchter, and and detailed lie in the archives unpublished. The examination of
Andrew Watson hade his usuale staff in his hand, althou he be a blind numbers of unpublished confessions suggests that the most colourful
man yet he daunced also nimblie as any of the companye, and made confessions were published in the nineteenth century. The typical
also great moviement by singing his old ballards, and Isobel! Shyrrie unpublished confession is scrappy. Those of Forfar and Auldearn,
did sing her song called Tinkletum Tankletum'." They also, however, however, are typical in the sense that all the features which they
are particularly rich, as Cohn has pointed out, in example of incidents mention in such detail are echoed in the often more fragmented con-
which can only relate to dreams, nightmares, and collective fantasies. fessions still in the archives. What they .allhave in common is not
Agnes Spark said that she worship an,ciritual, other thanthose formal pacts which took place at
meetings; 1he ~tandard account of a witches' meeting is not of for-
heard people ther present did speake oflsobell Shirie, and say that biddeI1 ;y()rsh!p o~ an inversion of the services they knew. The Scottish
the divell did always ryde upon hir, and that she was shoad lyke DeY.i.Ldidnot. deliY<:r:JongseEtnons;yhich .were pati~mly listened to.
ane mare, or ane horse. 58 The staI1dard acc;ounti~ an a.cco.unt of disorder. It is about ea~ing an.cl
drinl<:ingand rnusica11d dancing. It is about gorrovage (uproar). It was
Isobel Gowdie commoll practice for Kirk sessions and burgh councils to forbid
asSeniblies of more than a certain number under one roof. Enactments
haid a little horse and wold sav Horse and Hattock in the Divellis were made against 'penny bridals' (wedding parties to which the
name! and we wold flie up.on an hie-wey. We will flie lyk guests brought their own refreshment), and o.ther forms of revelry and
strawes quhan we pleas; wild strawes and come scrawes wil be conviviality. The details of witches' meetings appear to reflect most
horses to us and we put them betwixt our foot and say Horse and frequendya particular kind of seventeenth-century deprivation.
Hattock in the Divellis name! Quhan we wold ryde we tak Bessie Lacost, who had named all her neighbours, said,
windle-strawes of bean stakes and put them betwixt our foot and
say thryse. that once at the Gallowhop the devill made them a feast of aill and
Horse and Hattock, horse and gre, wheat bread where they sat all about a great stone and the devill
Horse and pellake; ho! ho! 59 said three words like a grace but shee did nor remember them that
he dranke to them all and bad them be true to him and see that
The Forfar group were also said to have gone out to sea as part of they were not fals and then bad them adieu. That in all there
their group performance of a particular malefice: the sinking of a meitingis the devil whisles and they sung one to another and
ship: Elspet Bruice said that after drinking three pints of ail she and dawnced and mad gorrovage and ther last meitting was about half
two other women ane yeire since. 31
154 ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (r) 155
Her neighbour and fellow accused, Marion Angus, describing the was in the mill simply wasting time when she should have been
same set of meetings said that they attending to her 'stuff then grinding in the miln', but the prosecutor
argued that she was up to no good because 'it is th~ custom of witches
had a meitting in the Gallowhope in the night tym and yair had a to have their meetings and dancmgs w1thm milns . " This could well
peace of Jlesche lyke beiffe. And eftir they had all eattene of the have been produced ad hoe by the lawyer since there is not a grear deal
samen The devil! haveing ane bonnitt on his head Tooke Bessir of support from the confessions for any particular preference for mills.
Lacost by the hand and the rest having one another by the hand Apart from feasting, dancing, and disorder, the recurrent then1e _~n
daunced in ane ring rownd about the broad stoun in the Gallow- acccl~f!_t~ _ 5?f~~~~-~tings i,\f:lS cornmunal s_?_rcery_ suc_h _a_s the F~rfar ship
hope and sung ane to another and stayed ther ane houre. Then the sinkiI!g, .. designed to effect more complex maleficc than . could be
devill bad them be honest to him and ane to another and then bade achieved solo. Indeed the accounts of the use of corpses by w1tches were
them guidnight. And about three quarters of ane yeare yairefter usually for the purposes of sorcery rather than worship. A I 644 indict-
They all mett at Sandies hill qua they sung and daunced a Why! ment said that the accused 'did lift corpses of deceissit persones fra
and returned horn. 62 quhoum ye tuik membres to accompleische thy devillische designes
upone men and women:. 70 Som~times there v;as. n~ obvious ~orcery
Bessie Flinker of Liberton said that 'she was taken upon the hills bv involved in the evil domg. Bessie Henderson s md1ctment said that
a whirle of wind and masked herselfe, and there daunced with the 'Janet Paton in cruik ofD.ev.on.w~s with y~u a: ane meeting when they
rest'." John Douglas of Tranent was the piper at meetings in 1659." trampit down Thos. Whites ne mthe begmnmg of harvest, r66r, ,n_d
At Aberdeen in r 597 the accused were said to have danced at the that she had broad soals and tramp1t down more nor any of the rest . ' 1
'mercat and fish cross', where it was particularly remarkable that no All that was needed for that particular malefice was sufficient labour-
external wimesses saw them. power. Elizabeth Bathgate's companions' malcfice was performed to
avoid discovery. It was alleged that they
You came [went the indictment] under the conduct and gyding of
the dcvill, present with you all in company, playing before you on met upon the shore ofEymouth under night and cruelly murder,ed
his kynd of instruments. Yc all dansit about baythe the said David Hynd amongst them, who was wacchmg the boats una.er
cross and the meill mercat ane Jang space of tym; in the quhilk night during the herring drove, for fear he should have dIS-
devyll' s clans chow, the said Thomas was foremost and .led the covered their unlawful actions and meeting. 7 2
ring, and clang the said Kathren Mitchell because she sp01lt your
clans, and ran nocht so fast as the rest. 65 The same group also sank a ship. This was a common malcfice among
witches in fishing towns and villages. The indictment alleged that
Other details, such as times, places, numbers present, and method of
transport are diverse. The number thirteen, so beloved of twentieth- the pannel and her associat witches being conveyed by. the Devil
century demonologists, occurs fairly rarell'. and seems t~ have little or from a meeting they had upon the shear of Eymouth mto a sh1p
no significance. A large round number is the most rrequent. One wherein George Holdie in Eymouth was with his company the
account to the r649 Parliament alleged that there were 500 present." pamael and her accompliees cruelly sank and destroyed the ship
At a convention upon a hill in Athole in I 597 there were exactly wherein they all perished with the ship and goods. 13
twenty-three hundred. 67 Elspeth Blackie in Liberton in r66r thought
there were about 40 at the meeting: 'she kend non of them bot Elspeth Sometimes the accused said they had asked particular personal
Mowat, the rest wer all masked'. 68 favours of the Devil at the meetings with regard to a specific malefice.
Times varied, but were always at night. Midnight was commonly Alison Fermer said that
mentioned, but one suggested 'two hours before day'. .The. plac~
were nearly always local and specific: the Benes of Balrudd1e, Gibson s shee took the devell by the hand and desyre amends of Alexr
Craig, 'where the gallows stand before midn!ght', the g~lowhope, Crumbie for his sonnes malt that daft Anna Crumbie took away
'ane place in Stentoune paroche called the horn , Sand1es Hill, or very and Bessie Calder brought back again and the devill said shee
frequently the churchyard, or the Kirk itself: the hie Kirk of Lanark, should gett a sufficient mendis of him. That shee desyred the malt
the Kirk of Carnwath were both mentioned. One defendant argued barne to hir sonne for he had mor to plenische it with then
against a charge that she was running widdershins in the mill, that she Alex'r. 74
I56 ENEMIES OF GOD
I
leading questions. There is no case for suggesting that their spmtual hunt we find that none of the problems had been resolved. A con-
right hand did not know what. tlmr physical _left hand was domg. siderable amount of documentation has been preserved from the trial
Delumeau' s suggestion that witch-huntmg died down when the of the Paisley witches of 1697 and this includes one sermon which
peasantry had been finally wooed from their animist beliefs by the was preached to the Commissioners of Justiciary before they reached
preaching and education of a spiritual clergy, 16 rather underestimates . their verdict on the r3th April, and .another which was preached to
the extent to which the clergy shared and encouraged a very flexible l the seven convicted witches on the 9th June, the day before their
and ambiguous view of the relationship between the physical and the execution.
spiritual. . James Hutchison, who preached to the Commissioners, was born
ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (n) 165
in 1626. He was deprived of his living in 1662, reinstated in I688 a d plans for a late redemption. B_ur witches, who had ,Personally coni~
retired in 1690, but seems to have been brought out for the pu;po~e rnitted themselves to reprobat10n were worthy of aeath along with
of this sermon at the age of 7r. 20 His text was from Exodus, r 1. 18 . others vvho had committed crimes so terrible that it was an offence
'Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live', and his purpose was to exho to God to permit them to live.
the Commissioners, whom he likened to the judges of Israel, to rt" Hutchison also discussed how it was possible for members of the
their duty and convict. He insisted that the particular kind of evi!~ visible church to become witches. He attributed this to the Fall and
doer referred to in the text was well translated 'witch' and added . added:
great show of erudition, with reference to Hebrew, Greek, and Lati~
words, to demonstrate that this was indeed so. He then defined whar If God had not more to do with Adam's posterity it had been
was meant by a witch: easy for Satan to have made Adam and Eve both witches. But
that God had his Elect to bring out of their Loins and had a
By a witch is understood a person that bath immediate converse covenant of grace to transact with Adam and Eve.
with the Devil. That one way or another is under a compact with
him acted and influenced by him in reference to the producing Hutchison went on to draw certain inferences: (r) that children of
such effects as cannot be produced by others without this witches might be justly regarded as being under a real compact with
compact. 21 Satan; (2) that those who joined witches in murder by wax image
were not only murderers but partakers in devilry; (3) that those who
He compared the Demonic Pact with Christian baptism and suggested confessed to having been with witches were to be counted witches;
that_ while _the external sign of baptism was a seal whereby a (4) that the compact was to the effect that they were guided and
ChnstJan child was to be counted as a visible professor of Christ, influenced by Satan; (5) that 'carnal dealing' with Satan was witch-
craft; (6) that when a person was thrown into a fit by another person
No less doth Satan require of them that will follow in his way touching them and only by that other then it was owing to witch-
than either personal covenanting with him and receiving his mark craft; and (7) that those that could 'tell secrets' or 'prophesie' were
upon their flesh, or that the parent give their children to him and either guilty of witchcraft or else 'privie to the enchanters deals and
they receive his mark, and where this is I doubt not such a "socii criminis" '. The reference to fits was a late addition to the
person is really a witch or a warlock, and even suppose it be a structure of witch-beliefs. Only in the closing stages of witch-hunts
child it will be found afterwards (if the Lord's powerfully con- did demonic possession feature at all frequently. In the Paisley witch-
verting of the soul to himself prevent it not) that such persons hunt it had been a central feature.
will be as really in covenant with Satan, as the children of Hutchison concluded by emphasizing that it was the express com-
professing parents receiving baptism will be found to be in mand of God that such people as he described should be put to death.
covenant with God. He reminded the judges that they were gods themselves in this act of
judgement, and exhorted them to convict. He ended:
Two of the accused, the Lindsay brothers, were pre-pubertal bovs,
and since the alleged victim, Christian Shaw, a laird's daughter, wa; a Let this humble us all and let us bewaill it as a great evil that such a
girl of about the same age, the status of children with reaard to place as the west of Scotland where the gospell of Christ has
election, redemption, reprobation. and witchcraft was an issu~ at this been purely preacht should have so many in it under suspicion of
trial. the crime of Witchcraft. Ye that are free, Bless God that hath
Hutchison also attempted to distinguish between the sinner who kept you from the wicked one, and pray that out of zeall to God
did wicked things because the Devil had blinded him to goodness, and his Glory that he would bring their works of darkness to
and those who sinned directly because of the compact and were light that marrs your solemnities and are fearful! sports in your
therefore guilty of witchcraft. The problem about whether it is worth feasts. I go no furder. Amen.
distinguishing between categories of sinners and reprobates is solved
by relating it to the kind of treatment which they should be Hut;:hiso11 emerges from this sermon as a cold and vindictive old
accorded on earth. It was never suggested that the reprobate be man for whom the convicted witches have. been completely stripped
physically punished or executed unless they had fallen foul of the law of liuman characteristics. He laid particular stress on the possibility
of the land. Certain sinners, too, may have been included in God's of children being servants of the Devil, and added a socio-economic
r66 ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (n)
explanation fo(r the easy entrance o~ witchcraft at this t~me; It ~as been guilty of 'war upon the whole of creation except the Devil'. He
caused by the prevelancy of unmorufied lust and corruption and oy went on to point out their danger:
the 'love of gain' in the west of Scotland. Further, witchcraft was the
means whereby 'others of the poorer sort could get their malice and Will it not be sad that your heart should be hardened now, when
envy satisfied'. The theme that the poor and tl1e greedy were par- ye are come to your extremity, and when it might be expected
ticularly prone to the temptations of witchcraft goes back to James that messengers of grace should be acceptable to you. We are come
VI' s Daemonologie" and reflects the fact that both those who were to you, when ye are within a few hours of eternity, to intreat
accused and those who appear to have been attracted to witchcraft you, before ye perish for ever, to embrace the offers of Christ.
practices came from oppressed groups and classes. For, first, ye go aback from the remedy, if ye close not with Christ.
In contrast is the other Paisley sermon, that preached by the Again, you lay a foundation for a great many challenges through
Reverend David Brown, a local minister in his early thirties, 23 to the eternity, if ye close nor with Christ; for though now conscience
victims themselves on the day before they were executed. The be secure, yet it will rise like a roaring lion at the last, and
. contrast may indeed be due partly to the fact that Hutchison was though ministers would weep over you, as if we were seeking
trying to galvanize a group of Edinburgh lawyers to convict; Brown from you some great thing for ourselves, yet ye will stand it out.
was faced with human asp<;cts of the servants of the DeV!l. What will conscience say, when the devil will be at the gallows
Instead of the standard witchcraft verse he took his text from rst foot, ready to harle you down to hell? and no sooner in hell, but
Timothy, 1.16: 'Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me conscience will say, when God sent his ministers to you, ye
first Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffenng for a pattern to believed the devil,. and would not yield to Jesus Christ, and what
them that should hereafter believe in him to life everlasting.' The will ye say to conscience then? when conscience will say, UO\V
sermon opens with a discussion of the_ doctrine of _salvation. Brown this is your lodging for ever; now eternity! eternity! what will
declared with the aid of numerous cttattons from scnpture, that Chmt ye do through etemity? .. ye are laying a foundation of challenges
came n~t primarily to judge but to save sinners, and he directly through eternity. Another thing that makes your case dangerous,
criticizes Luther' s view that Christ can1e as a judgement on sinful ye declare you will not be in Christ's reverence for mercy. [ will
humanity. He demonstrated by elaborate arguments, carefully sub- tell how so, if you will be in his reverence, why will ye not
divided in the idiom of the period, the truth of his position, which confess your sin, and renounce the deed of gift to the devil? ye
appears to have been essentially Arminian. He then moved on to declared your denial (of Christ) in the face of the courts, and
explain that even the most wicked of all sinners could avail themselves frequently since ye have done. 0 how dreadful will your condition
of salvation and suggested reasons why God is pleased to. act ~n th;s be if ye die in such a case! ... Ye have murdered your own
merciful spirit. He concluded that one need never qu_esnon God s souls; your time is nigh a close, your glass is nigh run.. Ye should
good will to pardon', and continued his general evangelical argument confess therefore that God's people may pray for you. [f ye would
in highly conventional re;ms: the smner must know ,Chtlst, but be out of the claws of the devil it will take all the prayers you can
knowledge is not enough; the devils believe and tremble. As well as get.24
knowledge o( the gospels there must be assent to the!t truths; there
must be consent to Christ. Finally, the Sinner must lean on Christ; He ended: 'and now we take God to record that we have offered to
there must be a 'recumbency and resting on him'. Full belief ensures you Jesus Christ and if ye will nor take him we are free of your blood.'
divine mercy, but this does not mean that one .1s at liberty to stn in Brown's sermon demonstrates the way in which the normal idiom
expectation of a late repentence. It is rather a mmulus, bem~ assured of evangelical appeal, offered weekly or even oftener to their
of God's goodness in his mercy to lead m grantude a good life. How partially literate peasant congregations, needed only the slightest
terrible on the other hand will be the fate of those who, when offered modification to be applicable to the abnormal case of convicted
this mercy, yet refuse it. . . witches about to be hanged. Hutchison' s sermon was concerned with
Brown then turned to the particular cases of those m front of hnn, the special crime of witchcraft and with the importance of law and
and described their sin as 'the highest act of rebellion against_ the God order. He wished to convince the justices (and some of the accused in
of heaven and earth'. These preachers never failed unconsaously to the case had already been acquitted) of the social, legal, and divine
glamorize witchcraft. In contracting with the Devil the witches have necessity of conviction and demonstrate the power of the church. His
shown that they care not for Christ: 'there is your sin'. In wagmg war purpose was overtly political. Brown on the other hand was con-
against Christ and against 'children, .ministers, and others' they have cerned with the particular individuals in the case, and was engaged in
168 ENEMIES OF GOD
THE llELlEF SYSTEM (ll)
saJva~9_n, _rl:i~y_c_on~entrate
on aspects which rarely_appeax;ed_in the court
the principal activity of seventeenth-century Scottish preache .
r . d h rs. the material. In particular the witches' meetings, which in the confessions
strug~ le ror peasant n11~ s. T e parry differences were fought out at
the el1te end of the social and educational structure (thoueh b appear to have been jollifications, in the hands of the theologians
covenanting period these ideological distinctions within yb the emerge as inversions of Christian worship.
framework had clearly penetrated very.deeply). At the parish level ~h~
work of the preacher was mll evangelical. Christianity itself w 11 nor is any place so piacular or sacred, but that the Devil and his
. d' assn Creatures (by permission) may meet therein, nay even the verie
e1t to be insecure,
. an the central theme ' at least of surviving set m~
was a1ways the importance of personal co1nmitment ('embracing' , ' Churches themselves, where he makes bold to mount the Pulpit,
t h e Jargon wor
cl) to Ch Browns
. nst. sermon, like so n1any others, '-'as
was
black candles with a blew Low, burning all the while, both about
centred on the doctrmes of atonement and salvation. Substantially the the Pulpit and Binch, and in several parts and quarters through-
same address could have out, and in all places wherever they meet. 25
f been given . at any normal service Therf\Vas
no n1entton o ~lectton, no par~cular stress on the omnipotence of
God, no suggemon that the convicts were predestinately reprobate An even more detailed account of inversion is given by Robert Law
that .their deaths would. be to the greater glory of God. Brown sa~J in his journal entry for 1678. The reference is to the trial of Gideon
nothmg about the details of the behaviour of the witches. He . Penman and the story is used to illustrate the evangelical devotion of
. d. . h r l
1ntereste in w1tc crart ess as a social menace than as a sin against G,Od,'
v.as those covenanting ministers who came back into the post-Restoration
as. the most defiiant act, not of unbelief. but of enmity. Brown put episcopal church under the Indulgence of 1669.
witchcraft firmly at the centre of Chnsnan dogma, where indeed it
belongs. It was not a. strange aberration superstitiously added on the The devil! had a great meeting of witches in Loudian (Lothian)
orthodox Chnsnan faith. Witchcraft had a natural, dominant place in where, among others, was a warlock who formerly had been
the hierarchy of, sin, sec?nd only to the always mysterious isin against admitted to the ministrie in the presbyterian tymes, and when the
the Holy Ghost to which Brown makes a reference. A Christianity bishops came in conformed with them. But being found flagitious
which does not actively oppose witchcraft has either no popular base and wicked w~s deposed by them, and now he turnes a preacher
as In the llliddle ages, or has lost Jts. political ideological significance or under the dev1ll of hellish doctnne; for the devil! at this tyme
had to tr1n1 1ts content to fir uneasily with a new sctennfic paradign1 preaches to his witches really (ifI may so term it) the doctrine of
as in the period beginning about 1700. ' the infernal! pitt, Viz. blasphemies against God and his son
Although the preaching of sermons was routine at witch-trials and Christ. Among other things, he told them that they were more
executions very few have survived. Our knowledge of the mental map happy in him than they could be in God; him they saw, but God
of the preachers is based on these, on other routine sermons, journals, they could not see; and in mockerie of Christ and his holy
letters, and on a few P.amphlets. As suggested the majority of ordinance of the sacrament of his supper he gives the sacrament
pamphlets o.n Scornsh wJtchcraft were printed in England for an to them, bidding them eat it and to drink it in remembrance of
English readmg public. The kind of reading matter which had been himsel This vil!an was assisting to Sathan in this action, and in
available to the English for over a century was, in the late seventeenth preaching. The way how this was detected was thus: some of
century, mll a luxury for the Scots whose literary diet was restricted these witches being present at a sermon of an indulged minister,
to b1bhcal studies, theological tracts, and other learned works. The was struck with convictjon and horrour of conscience, and made
English had . a market for astrological, diversionary, and popular confession of it, and particularly delated this warlock minister,
hrerature which exonc tales from Scotland helped to fill. By the end whereupon he was apprehended, and cast up in the tolbooth of
of the century, however, Scottish publishing houses had begun to Edinburgh; a sufficient evidence of the successfulness of the
explore this market. indulged ~strie in the work of the Gospel! against all their
Two of the most revealing of these bits of clerical J.ou_rn?-_lis!ll \Vere open mouth d slanderers. It seems the Lord is giving more
theanonymousWitchcraji Proven published in Glasgowin 1697 and length of reignes to Sathan in these days which should call us to be
the Tryal of Witchcraft"' published in 1705, also in Glasgow. These are more in watching and prayer. 21
parncularly valuable sources because they deal with witchcraft in
general rather than with individual. cases. Both of them. cover aspects This was elaborated on by Sharpe in his introduction. According to
of witchcraft which are. dealt with by the lawyers such as standard him the witches confessed that the Devil 'kissed them, but was cold
methods of proof, but hke the sermons, whicl1 consider questions of and his breath was like damp air; that he cruelly beat them when they
ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (ll) I7I
had done the evil he had enjoined them, for that he was, said thev a ble~5ers, bur are themselves witches and in league with the Devil.
most wicked and barbarous master. That he adventured to give tf.'1
The Church had no simple means for dealing with bewitchment other
th~ communion. or holy sacra1nent; the bread was like wafers, tli~ than initiating proceedings against the alleged offender which might
dnn.k was sometimes blood, and other times black moss-water T' lead to her death. Individuals believing themselves to be bewitched
sometimes he transformed them into bees, ravens, and crows, and th:~ had only one properly godly recourse:
flew to_ such and such remote places.' 28 This account of Penman's tt1 i
for which the source is not given, unlike the majority of confessio~' the best means is fasting and prayer, for God only can best force
sees the inversion of reformed worship as the centre of the rneerin ' us fi-om Divels, and in the use of his means alone it is, that we are
though it does also feature the orgy. g, to expect a blessing: so that if we would prevent Wirches and
There were other ways, too, in which clerical writers laid different whatever else the Devil can do, let us always rely on God,
emphasIS from those of lawyers. They were interested in the quesnon who hath promised to such, rhat he will cover them under his
of demonic and divine power and in this the theme was very wings. 32
ob~iously Calvinistic. According to the author of the 1703 Tryal of
Witchcraft, probably the Reverend John Bell of Gladsmuir in Ea;r The only legitimate action apart from these ecclesiastical rituals
Lothian, which the bewitched or the anxious could take to protect himself
from witchcraft, therefore, was accusation which might in tum bring
Three things concur to the bewitching of a Person; viz. a Divine the whole machin~ry of state into play. Reducing legitimate means of
permission, a. Devilish operation or the evil spirits working: and self-help against witchcraft may have been a factor in promoting large
lastly, the Wttches consent; so that the Devil does all, and thev scale prosecutions.
consent to all, which to wit, is done in their behalf, for no doubt We have to consider, however, what the relationship was in general
Satan can go of, and for himself, where he hath no League with between the Christian indoctrination which the peasant was receiving
the witch. 29 at least once a week, and his belief in witchcraft, and (despite the
qualifications which have been made about the possible role of
This eighteenth-century formulation has a very clear echo of the Calvinism as such) whether tl1ere were features in Calvinism which
fifteenth century Malleus Maleficarnm in whi_ch 'the three necessary affected the particular forms or strength of witch-beliefs in
concormtants of witchcraft are the Devil, a wttch, and the permission Scotland..
of Almighty God'. 30 The Church, however, was offering an ambigu- Mair has made the point that in any society in which misfortune is
ous message to its congregations on this matter. While some seen to be the result of the just revenge of angry gods, witch-beliefs
preachers. dealt with the question of the Devil's alleged earthly prowess provide a particular psychological ballast. 33 Christianity in its
by avo1dmg It altogether and concentrating on the spiritual tempta- Calvinist form exemplified though not consistently this view of earthly
tiom presented ,by him, others admitted his powers t11ough empha- misfortune. Desr.ite the emphasis of all preacher> on the evil nature of
smng that God s powers were supenor and the Devil part of God's the physical world, and the human body, all agreed that God operated
creation. Yet others had a concept of'superstirion', a word which they in the physical world on behalf of his. creation. God was expected to
used freely to indicate false or impossible popular beliefs. Particularl~ reward his faithful followers on this earth and likewise to punish
in later demonological writings such as the anonymous tracts there is sinners. Misfortune, in popular Calvinism at least, was held to be the
doubt cast on the physical possibility of witchcraft: 'They be often just result of sin. According to Robert Leighton, Archbishop of
feasted (tho' but in show) with meat, drink, and musick of the best, Glasgow in the 1660s
or with whatever else may ravish and captivat the senses' said the
author of Witchcraft Proven. 'They are carried in soirit through the
air. ~ . Though it were an error to think that all temporal evils are
intended of God as punishments of some particular guiltiness and
There are also problems for the Church about how Christians should so to be taken as infallibly concluding against either persons or
counter witchcraft. The standard anti-witchcraft devices of the causes as evil, yet certainly the hand of God either upon ourselves
peasantry would not do: they were superstitious usages and near witch- or others is wisely to be considered and it will often be found a
craft themselves. Indeed the very concept of white witchcraft was punishment pointing to the sin. 34
argued against more overtly by the clergy than by lawyers. White
witches according to the Tryal of Witchcraft are known as healers or The popular interpretation, reinforced rather than otherwise by the
172 ENEMIES OF GOD
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (n) r73
subtleties and modifications of the Archbishop, was that misfo tu witches of 1659, whose view of the Devil was noted in the last
was not totally fortuitous; it was likely to be the just punishmen; pe chapter1 said in her confession
just God for particular sins. Afflicted persons could therefore ex 0 '
neighbours to weigh up why they deserved their illness accident ~ecr that she could not get a heart to repent for the cle".ill was locked
of crops, death of child, rather than to sympathize with them ' ~s
0 in her heart till once efter prayer made by the nuruster she got
cards which had been dealt to them. Witchcraft as an alternnti: e freedome to confess her other sinnes and then she thowght hir
I r r th
exp anation ror nusrortune erefore had a peculiar attraction over d
a Ve
heart was something lifted up and now shee thankes god she hath
above that normally re9uired. for such happenings in non-Chris~';,, gotten a heart to confesse the sinne of \Vitchcraft too. She con-
societies. For the Calvm!St believer abnormally afflicted it was a most fesseth that she was guiltie of manie other sinnes such as neglect of
welcome resource.
rhe ordinances for the spaice of Tuentie yeires she had not
A nother featurhe ofdthe wfitch-beliefs which was especially strong in
C a1.vm15m was t e 1 ea o Covenant. Scottish theology which was receaved anie beniffeitt o.f the kirk, and that she leived nyne
yeires in uncleannes with one. Alex' r cathill and brought furth
strongly rooted m the Old Testament made the idea of a covenanted three children for him for which she never yett repented. 36
people peculiarly its own. It was reflected elsewhere in Europe in the
nsmg secular conce~t of the social compact, but in Scottish hands it Janet Man had in fact been a natural target for witch-labelling,
was firmly theocranc.. The covenanted peo.ple were God's people, though her list of sins. contams. nothing that would have otherw!Se
firmly bound to him m a special relattonship by a special promise. got her into trouble with the ~nnunal law. She was a social deviant.
/he term has lmgere~ long m Scotnsh vocabulary as in the phrase an She had rejected patriarchal rehgton and had lived for nme. years with
uncovenanted mercy , meaning some advantage which was unmerited
one man to whom she had borne children. But conformity did not
and unlooked for. The Demonic Pact was .therefore for the Scots necessarily save won1en from trial and execution, and established
particularly horrific. inversion. The term 'covenant; was frequencl;
Christian commitment could make it difficult for the clergy to extract
used m the final md1ctments and the confessions as a synonym for the a confession. When Janet Saers of Ayr, in 1658, the year before Janet
Pact.
Man was urged by her local minister to confess, she answered 'S1r, 1
So far as basic Christianity was concerned, however even in
am shortly to appear before the Judge of all the earth'. and .lye may
Calvinistic forms which most consciously resisted it, there w~s in all its damme my soule to hell. I am clear of witchcraft for which I am
popular forms .in this period a strong pull towards Manicheism. This
anracnon lS e.vtdent_ both for those who used witchcraft as an cxplana- presently to suffer.'" . . .
This dignified speech is one of the few in which an a_ccused witch lS
non for their m1Sfortunes and predicaments and for those who recorded as making a direct reference to the Chnsnan God. Janet
consc10usly or semi-consc10usly took on the name of witches. If the Saers saw him primarily as judge, as ultimately more potent than the
Devil is once admitted to have power (whether of himself or by per- Devil, and as controlling a real future for her soul. At th!S level of
nuss10n makes. very lmle psychological difference) then he may in any belief the preachers had succeeded in making spiritual eternity more
given set of circumstances be a better proposition than God. In the real to the peasant mind than the physical present. Janet Saers was one
first place he mad; himself visible. As the renegade minister Gideon of their successes and the accusation of witchcraft was, from the pomt
Penman observed they were more happy in him than they could be in of view of the authorities though she may well have been in trouble
God; him they .saw, but God they could not see'. He promised them with her neighbours, misdirected. Both these women differ ag,ain
benefits i~, this life which God never did. There was a chance of faring from Janet Macmurdoch who was .not broken. The account of ner
bet~er wim him, either at. the modest levei of escape from penury confession in the indictment was enttrely formal. Though she must m
whtch he normally prom1Sed or occasionally at a more ambitious fact have offered this confession her own words recorded in the trial
level. Robert, known as Hob, Grieve of Lauder, whose wife, inci- papers make her, appear independent, nei;her confirming nor denying
dentally. had b~en burnt more than twenty years before, said that the her witchcraft. If they say so, so I am. .
Devil fitting his d1Scourse to the man's tentation (temptation) made At the end of the day the accused witch had to make some kmd of
many pronuses to him that if he would become his servant he would statement with regard to the most fundamental aspects of the beliefs
teach him m~ny ways, how to be rich, and how to be made ;,,uch of in of her society. Where does power lie? With God or the Devil? Who
the Country . "'
represents it on earth? Janet Man and Janet. Macmurdoch accepted
The breaking of a witch under interrogation was often aided by neither the values of the Church nor the social values of patnarchal
evangelical appeal by the local minister. Janet Man, one of the Stenton society: they were followers of Satan on either count, and Janet Man
r74 ENEMIES OF GOD
freely admitted it and begged to be readmitted She . .
{.ree. Janet Saers can only have fallen foul of th~ Ch;1~ ~1 fact gn
oul_ of her neighbours. She declared her lo c. Y falling
Chnstian faith as preached in her arish ng term allegiance to the
mverstons were conflated and P ,ftoh no ava1L The two CHAPTER THIRTEEN
enemy of God. an enemy o t e people became an
The last two chapters considered the basic features of the belief system
as demonstrated by peasant, lawyer, and minister in court, pulpit,
and pamphlet. It was suggested that there was a sufficient agreement
about these basic features to justify calling the different strands of
belief a 'system', and that despite strife on theological details and
political implications, despite an amount of peasant abstention and
detachment sufficient to cause continuous anxiety and distress to the
clergy, there was a homogeneity about the conceptual map of the
universe unthinkable in a pluralist industrial society.
This homogeneity becomes even clearer when we consider the
arguments used by members of the legal profession in the defence of
those accused of witchcraft. Those who have apportioned 'blame'
among the witch-huoters have attached it primarily to the clergy, and
attributed to the lawyers the virtue of quelling and reducing the
witch-hunt. The fact that the belief in witchcraft was closely inte-
grated with religion in this period lends.credibility to this theory, but
it underestimates the extent to which two other elites--the lawyers
and the lairds-were involved. In all cases which went through the
Privy Couocil local landowners sat on the commission and were the
ultimate judges. They also sat on juries in . the High Court of
Jusriciary. No-one was executed for witchcraft without their case
being processed by members of the laity, and there are several cases
in which lairds rather than ministers appear to have initiated
proceedings either on their own behalf as victims of the witch or on
behalf of others.
The case for suggesting that the lawyers had a moderating influence
onthe fate_ ofptosecii!ions resrs on the fact that cases whidr came to
the }iigh Court at Edinburgh where th~ accused was rel'rese!lted by a
la"Vi):er appeared to have had a higher rate of acquittal than those
which were tried on local commissions, and on the fact that in the
I67os and x68os there was a long series of acquittals after whicli the
supply of cases more or less dried up.
While stimelawyers had ill-concealeddoubts about the possibility
owitclicrafr in general, and many felrincreasingly that particular
injustices were being done, not one)awyer was. explicit about_ his
general doubts at any point prior to the abolition of the offence by the
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (!!l) 177
ENEMIES OF GOD
convicted witch, being unable to shed tears, inability to say the Lord's
Witc~craft Act r735. \JV'hile this was partly due to a struc.tural
Prayer, and possession of the Devil's mark. These 'presumptions of
servatism m the legal profesSlon (theJt task is defined as th . con:
t f th l ) I .e mterpre~ witchcraft', he admits to be slender, and suggests that other 'presump-
ion o . e . a:v as It is '. 1t was a so related to the .fact that-, altho--.
<-4"',
tested by the pricker (who in this case was a Mr. John Aird, minister).
He reminded them of the oaths and declarations made by those who to his house and sayhmgd n.o d g . ht of the said Agnes her bairn
wimessed to her maleftces and 'protests for wilful] Error against the . r. bdside s e esire astg
h ts . d h
w1 e s ~ . ' d with her which, when she obta1ne s e
assize if they acquit'. They did not acquit, and Katharine followed that datltlyb"fn:~ ~~ugh (butto;ks) so as it skirled to the terror of
Isobel and the many others that year to the Castle hill. mppe e a d d. I turned to the door and went out.
a
In similar case a few years later, that of Elizabeth Bathgate of the mother, an immble iate yk . the child's hough which never
Whih adea aemar m hid
Eyemolith in June r634, .whose well documented trial ..h.as been c mp ml . r d And from that time forth. the c t
referred to --~1or.e .~~~n. o.~c_e:,,, tJ:ie defenc~ were _n1or_e successful_: 10 The went out so ong as It ive f vear and died.
difference ihtlle.verdict rnay have been affected by the fact that there pined pitifully for the spt~:;,:~~~ed;;~:~:Jr~;ne: Bunkle' s child
was no iliajor witch panic at rhis ti1ne, and a consideratio'ii afeath case And the pannel having h annel' s maid without her know-
oii'"its inerits was made that n1uch easier. but against that must be set for buying twtho e~s ~:;'bet Iefr eggs to those that got then;.
the fact that minute details were similarly scrutinized during the ledge that eyth oluk fan egg did strike out of the child s
panics. On this occasion nine people. seven women and two men, And thereupon e 1 eness 0
were accused at Eyemouth. Three of the women, two of them sisters, body.
were executed, one of the men, William Mearns, comm.itted suicide d h e that there were two different and mutttally
before his trial, Elizabeth Bathgate was acquitted and the fate of the The defence argue er th h.ld' d th that she was not accused
others is unknovvn. 1 1 incompatible accounts of c c I s eq '
ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (1u)
of any sorcery with regard. to the child's death .but simply of nip in an implicit pact. The second line of defence. was for the accused to
it. Th!S would mfer the cnme of murder and 1f she were accu5e~ ~
ant any confession that she had made. A piece of half quarto dated
murder she would be able to prove at the bar by sufficient w 1 P! ~~cJuly i661 from a box of'. precognitions' has the recantations of three
that the death of the child was occasioned by its own father. So~esse, accused won1en from Orn11ston:
the eggs were concerned 'it is not probable that the pannel war ld
keep enchanted eggs in the house and leave them open to her se::u Compered Marion Grein!aw. and being lnterogated whither. or
whereby her husband might have gotten them'. nt, or shee was "uiltie of the sme of wrtchcrafte she declared that
In dealing with allegations of consultations and meetings with h ~he said to Whythill that about half a yere since she renounced
Devil the defence brought in the weapon of mockery. One allegati. c her baptism and that thee becam the devills servant But now she
of neighbours was that they had seen Elizabeth 'in her sark cw~: denyies that it was of a truth because shee was affrayed for
coat (petti~oar) and bare-legged' standing outside her own door !i;;; punishn1ent .
. The same day Compered Marg.aret St~vinstene who being
the Devil m the likeness of a man having grey cloths'. The dcfcn
argued 'that the san1e is altogether irrelevant For how could rh" Interogat whither or not she was gu1ltle of t~1e sine of w1tchcrafre
bycomers have known the man to have been the Devil unless they ha~ she said she once saw the devil at the Ornmtoune burne and he
been s.orcer~rs themselves seeing they saw him in a human shape, not said to her welcom and she sayed that she renounced her Bapnsme
changmg his form at all nor assuming to himself an ugly shape with and that the devil called her Magic Spead and that she once said
horns and claws as the .Devil used to be painted or represented in that the devil lay wirh her But now shee utterly denyes that thes
comedies and plays as 1s confessed of sundry witches'. They also things wer of truth being affrayed of punishment when shcc said
argued that on an occasion when they were alleged to have met bv them. .
the sea shore to sink the ship of one George Holdie no-one had And sicklyke competed Jeane Howieson who bemg Inrerogat as
suggested that they 'were seen flying like Crows, Ravens, or other aforsaid shee said that she once confessed to be the d~vdle servant
fowls about the ship as use is with witches'. If this had been alleged the But now she denyes. 12
defence wo':1ld. have argued, as Mackenzie did, for its impossibility.
The conv1ct1on of a witch at law was the last triumph of the forces Marion Greinlaw and Jeane Howieso.n were ~ent for trial on con1-
of the state in the battle for minds. It was an essential element in the mission on the 6th of August. Their fate 1S not recorded, but
conviction, therefore, that the mind in question should concede guilt Margaret Stevinstene does not appear again and her case may have
and sorrow and that the mmd should be worth having in the first place been dropped at this stage. . ,
That is to say the accused witch should confess, not only as a necessan: Janet Blackie of Dalkeirh told the court. m August 1661 that the
means of proof in a hidden and secret crime, but also as an ack- man who lay with her the. first and s~cond nme was cold, but that the
nowledgement of the correctness of official beliefs and values. The third time he was lyk another man. Later she recanted completely.
mind of the accused should be, as Christian Calvinist minds had to be 'The devill never desyred her to be his servant, that she knew hm1 not
13
sentient an~ educa:ed. It is a. received maxim of political socio log; to be the devill bot to be onlie Henry Bear.'
today that 1deolo~1cal c~mtrutment requires a fairly high degree of A further line of defence was that of appearing simple, demented,
1deolog1cal educanon: this was held very clearly by the ministers of or incompetent. It was a matter of con:incin~ the court that y~ur
seventeenth-century Scotland. Minimal literacy, Bible-reading, preach- mind was not worth having. The Dalkerth witches who were tned
ing and 1nstrucnon, and personalized salvation were rhe essential in the Court ofJusticiary in August 1661 were all executed apart from
ingredients in the struggle. The witch could only be a witch in the Katherine Hunter. Extreme age did not help Isobel Fergussone who
fullest .possible consciousness. s,he had to make her pact with the Devil was seventy one, nor Bearrix Leslie who, though eighty-four, was
knowmg him to be the Devil . She had to confess knowing what she noted as having carnal copulation with an adolescent Satan; but a very
was confessing. low intelligence saved Katherine. The handwrmng of the. scnbe
The firs_t line of defence open to the accused then, after the legal recording the confessions of this group one after another deteriorated
techmcalmes, was .to deny the allegation and refuse to confess. when he attempted to make sense of her confession. 'Katherine Hunte;
Al.though people were occasionally executed after refusing to confess Confesses that she renounced her baptisme, she knowes not bapmme
this wa~ reg~rded as a failure by the judiciary. Jurors were reluctant is crossed out, and starts again: 'Katharine Hunter Confcss.es _that the
m conV!ct without a confession, and ol'ly very strong evidence from divill lay with her because she was swome. She was grossehe ignorant
witnesses of malefice and sorcery which would allow them to assume and could speak no further.' This formulation clearly pleased them for
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (Ill)
r86 ENEMIES OF GOD
lose their life-in gaining knowledge, and to persecute ?ne: an~_ther,
a further pretrial paper recorded the same day, August 3rd, gives b~t cannot comprehend what his rival doth, would 1mmed1ately
formal indictment for Katherine~ and written in the margin is the note make him passe for a Wizard. It is natmal for men to th.1nk that to
'The justices passes fra this woman in respect she is grosselie ignorant.'H be above the reach of Nature which !S above theirs. If thIS
As indicated already the most comprehensive source which we have principle had raken place amongst our predecessors, who durst
for the methods and arguments for saving accused witches from the have us'd the Adamant? For certainly nothing looks liker a Charm,
stake are the writings of Sir George Mackenzie. His Laws and Customs Spell than to see a Stone draw Iron; and men are become now
was actually the first comprehensive legal commentary on the Witch- ~~ wise as to laugh at .those who burnt a Bi.shop for alledging the
craft Act of r563. Sir James Balfour in his Practicks, written before the World was round, so blind and cruel a thrng IS ign?rance: And
r59r trials, inerely mentions the Act in passing; 15 more surprisingly if fhis principle of beleiving nothing whereof we do not see <l
Sir Thomas Hope who acted as prosecutor in several cases during the cause were admitted we may chose to d.oub.t whether the. curing
1629-30 hunt made no rnention of witchcraft at all in either his Minor of the King's Evil by the touch of a Monarch. may not be likewise
Practicks or his Major Practicks. called charming.I'
Mackenzie in his 'Defence of a Maevia' gives a detailed account of
his defence of a particular woman indicted for witchcr:ift. 'Maevia' The last reference was a well-placed topical allusion, for Restoration
was accused of flying in the shape of a dove with two other witches England was seeing a great revival of the belief m the magical powers
to their meeting place and of putting on and then removing a disease of the monarch. What] a11ies VI and !. had. performed in England with
with a charm. Mackenzie began his defence with a theological argu- distaste as a political necessity his grandson Charles II did with relish
n1ent to prove the existence_ of witchcraft to undercut any -attempts to as a demonstration of his miraculous kmgly powers.
discredit his defence on the grounds of atheism or 'saduceeism', but The argument for the openness of scientific discovery was followed
added: by a discussion about whether the mere threat by. an alleged witch
followed by some calamity could behdd proof of witchcraft, m which
Yet I cannot think that our Saviour who came to dispossesse the Mackenzie followed all defence tradmon m assertmg that the threaten-
devil, who wroght more Miracles in his own tiine upon possest ing must be specific and the precise misfortune should follow, and after
persons then upon any else, at whose first appearance the oracles citing Canon lawyers including the Jesmt demonologISt Del Rio and
grew dumb, and all the devils forsook their temples; and who the English puritan William Perkins in his support he added that 'no
promised (John 12) that the Prince of this World was now to be "malefice" alone can be sufficient ground to condemn a witch, except
cast out, would yet suffer hi1n to reign like a Soveraign, as our that she either confess, or that it be proven by two famous (1.~.
fabulous representations would now persuade us. 16 respectable) "Witnesses, that she used means that nught have produc d
that effect', adding that 'if it were otherwise, Judges might condemn
Having established his credentials Mackenzie went on to the charge upon guessing or malice, ar;~;o more would b, m danger to die by
of malefice and using the;argmnent from science appealed for caution injustice than by witchcraft . , . ,
in the face of our ignorance of the ways of nature: The actual charge of malefrce and sorcery was that ~aev1a .ha4
quarrelled with her neighbour who ha4 then fallen mto a d1stract1on
As to the imposing or taking off diseases by Charmes, I conceive which she had then cured by applymg a plantam bf to the left side of
it. is undenyable that there are many diseases whereof the Cures, as her head and binding a paper to her wnst on wluch was .wntten the
well as die Causes, are unknown to us: Nature is very subtilein its name ofJesus. Mackenzie. suggested that the. sufferer and lus client had
operat'!'Ons, and" We very ignorant in 'our inquiries; from the been quite simply reconciled and that the dIStraction had been caused
conjunction of which two arises the inany errors and n1istakes we in the first place simply by their quarrel. So far as the sorcery, was
co1nmit in our reflections upon the productions of nature: to differ concerned Mackenzie pointed out, perhaps rather weakly, that tnere
then fro1n one .another because of these errors is sufferable though is nothing so cold as a Plantane Leaf and so it might have been very fit
to be regretted; but to kill one another because we cannot compre- for curing a distraction, which IS the most malignant and bummg of
hend the reason of what ea.eh other do, is the effect of a terril:ile all feverish distempers'. The name of Jesus he was well aware was
distraction; and ifthis were allowed the most Learned should still dangerous ground, but he argued boldly that it was not likely that the
be in greatest danger, because they do ofrimes find mysteries which Devil being an enemy of mankmd would employ charms for their
astonish the ignorant; and this should give occasion to theTeamed advantage. He admitted that such a use of the name of Jesus was
to forbear deep searches into natural mysteries, lest they should
I88
ENEMIES OF GOD
i111prop~r, 'but to bum a poor i norant wo
to be evil which she used were tog . k . man, who k.ncw not
ma e ignorance be ,
THE BELIEF SYSTEM (nr)
cons.ukers of witches. Mackenzie's direcr use of it for the defence was
,
'
an d ourseIves more criminal than th corne Witcher "' bold and unusuaLWhether his pleading was successful he does not say.
added further the familiar defence e person we would condemn' >It
against. all pofular belief, that one 1;i~~)t~a:;,~~i:cl; have noted
off a disease, for it seems the Dev'l
b h 1 th'nk
1
h .
s t at it we
put on and tL
"'e
g: In !iii chapter on witchcraft in his later Laws a11d Customs of Scotla11d
in Matters Criminal, Mackenzie sets out much the sa1ne ground in a
more formal mariner, and co_vers some topics such as the Pact and the
Mark, both of which heaccepts,thotigh he does not think much of the
esto"".' sue a.vours upon one of his favourites' 19 re too n1Uch ro
. fl ew like. Mark . ~~-.- e_vidt:n_ce _"u_nless th~_r_e _is an accompanying confession. The
.Inhhis refutation
h . of the charge th at h'IS c1lent d . chapter is foll of admonitions to judges concerning circumstances in
w1tc es. t.o t eir meeting place he dear! felt a ove with the
urged the absurdity of the idea that th . b 1 far Jdore confident, l-!e which they should not prosecute, and implicit advice to defence
bodily, and, the impossibility of transfo:mi~1 ac~o transport Witches lawyers for grounds of defence. Those who are accused are more often
of a dove, for how can the soul of a wo ~ . . man . . the shape than not innocent. They are norrr1ally poor ignorant creatures,
body of a Dove'. He cited the canon e . m.n mform and actuat the
Bishops), St Augustine and D l R' P.1scop1-(a tenth-centurv guide to and oft-times Women who understand not the nature of what
_,, ' e io m support 1
any comess10ns of witches in wh. h .. h cl an d conc.uded that they are accused of; and many mistake their own fears and
transformed into beasts 'is but an iilcl t ey. fstahte fthat they had been apprehensions for Witchcraft; of which I shall give you two
D 1 th . . . us10n o t e ancy h b. ...
instances, one of a poor Weaver, who after he had confessed
eHy1 ufipon eir melancholy brains whilst they l ; ::;rog .t. y tlie
. .e . urther argued that the two wo s eep . . witchcraft, being asked how he saw the Devil, he answered, like
mcnmmated his client had ther r . nl1edn whose confessions had Flies dancing about the Candle. Another of a woman, who asked
' cl ewre SJmp y reamed th t h
th~em: an were it not a horrid thina t . a s e was with seriotJ>ly, when she was accused, If a Worrianmight be a Witch
upon meer dreams'. He would have the _o donde.mn innocent persons and not!mow it? And it is dangerous that these who are of all others
the ground that they were soc"' . . . JU ge re1ect their evidence on die most simple should be tryed for a Crime which of ail others
.
beIieved. II cnm1111s and as s eh h is most mystcrious. 22
Mackenzie concluded b . h u oug t not to be
in fact a witch the civil law h!cJ a~gd'."g t jf
even if the woman was
everything that Divines condemneda S~nona y not _always punished He further warned that when a confession had been received it
for lawyers 'havin so .much . menmes It is more tolerant should be established that 'the person who emitted it is not weary of
careful how they p~ish'. more power than divines should b~ life, or opprest with melancholy'. Mackenzie was also well aware of
It hasalready been noted that th_t) 6 . . the significance and effects of labelling and warned against the possi-
the prosecutions fook lace w 5 . 3 WitchcrafrAct under which bility that such labelling might have reached a point at which the
ment.Death was the lenalty :~e~s~~~tical, tf ?ugh not a liberal docu- accused could no longer sustain life in the coirm1Unity.
unlike other defence lawye h consu tmg a witch. Mackenzie
Witchcraft Act for its illiber~i w o tended to be nervous of th; I went when I was a Justice Deput to examine some'Woman, who
ltS sceptidsm. Re suggested that1 ilide frequent reference to It for had confest judicially, and one of them who was a silly (simple)
people were condemned and . y e Achct only arts for abusing the Creature, told me under Secresie, that she had not confest
hxs . therefore the item
. c1i.eJ1t ' smce. no su art .
w.as use d in
the case of because she was Guilty, but being a poor Creature who wrought
fall into .a distraction 'cannot bccus~g 1]1 of causmg her neighbour to (begged) for her Meat, and being defamed for a Witch she knew
Act of Parliament' .21 e sai to a under the prohibition of the she would Starve, for no person thereafter would either give her
It was ofcourse true that the ur o f h Meat or Lodging, and that all men wo\1ld Beat her, and hound
relation to the purpose of th P P se oh t e r563 Act bore very little Dogs at her, and that therefore she desired to be out of the World;
of malefice or of the Churche phasant w en he accused his neighbour whereupon she wept most bitterly and upon her knees call' d God
when it identified apostasy as w ~n 1t ~ursued apostasy or of rhe state to witness to what she said. 23
dated from a period when o:l ph o _treason.It':asan Act which
supersritfon and religion and wtf t e eh:~ saw a difference between Mackenzie, who was the most acute participant-observer of the
the unscrupulous fron'.1 explo':. pa~erna ist~cintent wished to prevent Scottish witch-hunt, argued for caution against the current beliefs and
sorcery. It served the prosec~r'ng the s1mp e through an impossible practices of Kirk sessions and secular courts in relation to the
teenth century by its sim l ion, . owevfer, throughout the seven- provenance of individual cases. He also argued against particular
' P e assernon death for witchcraft and theories common in the law and theology of witchcraft which he
190 ENEMIES OF GOD THE BELIEF SYSTEM (ru)
deen1ed to be in1possible, contrary to current scientific understan<ling. 1
dare to delatc persons of the greatest integritie and qualitic in the
and based upon popular fantasy. He specifically denied, for example, Kingdom their prosecutors could suggest. And therefore Bessie
that witches could penetrate walls or that the Devil could transform Gibb persewer is known and has been ever repute to be of a good
one species into another. He allowed no legal precedents here and lyff and conversar and of intire fame and repute so that (it is not
guoted Del Rio with disfavour rather than, as he frequently did, as a fit) to ruin her good name and disgrace her husband and
supporting authority. At.the sa,me time he .anchored his remar]ssjl.rmiy children. 25
within the central points of current official belief concerning God and
the Devil. The. Devil does have cerrai.n powers throughwhichhe may Bessie Gibb was acquitted along with five other women from
manipulate human beings even if he does not actually confer this Bo'ness on the 27th March r68o. Her acquittal was typical of a number
power upon them. The Devil may 'make Bruits to speak or at least in the last thirty years of the century. It was based on lack of evidence.
speak .out of them'. He can also raise storms and caim them. He can The crime itself was never argued out of court.
inflict diseases and cure then1 \vhen he has laid then1 on. -He n1ay even
cure 'i:iatural' diseases 'better than Physicians can, who are not present
\vhen DiseaseS are contracted, and who being younger than he n1ust
have less experience'. 24 This is an echo of James V!'s theory that the
power of theDevil lies in his exr,eqely long accumulation of worldly
wisdom which is n1ore considerable than the n1ost wicked or
knowledgeable of ordinary worldly men.
Mackenzie argued against the opinions of Weyer, who was still over
a hundred years after his.death the most notorious of the small body of
witchcraft sceptics, and set his entire piece in the context not only of
local rheological opinion but of the body of continental legal and
rheological theory as expressed in Canon law and in specialist manuals
on witchcraft. Quring. the height. of the .Restoration witchcraft cm1s
he appears to have defended witches who came to court by using the
kind :p-(-~~t-gd11~.ents cited here: circu1nstance, science, an_d_ the vv_irch's
incapacity; but in the twenty years that followed he simply d1.d his
best, by legal tedinicalities,to prevent them coming to trial at aJJ, or if
they came to trial to acquit on lad of evidence. A series of acquittals
and dismissal.s with warnings in the late 1670s and early l68oSappears
io have been largely due to his influence.
In 1680 Bessie Gibb, spouse to James Hunter, skipper in Bo'ness in
East Lothian, sent in a petition, presumably under legal supervision,
possibly Mackenzie's since the case came under him, complaining
that the magistrates ofBo'ness were intending to try her for witchcraft,
and that they planned
access to Edinburgh was important, and on all sides of that well- Pro_tcstant Europe is the witch's mark. He has den1onstratcd that it
trodden. path from the Scottish capital to the English border there were w:is a c6rri-iiiOn feature of trials in Protestant Jura and nluch less com-
cases; hkewISe on the road from Stirling to Edinburgh and fro 1non in trials in Catholic Jura. 10 P~o_te~t-ants la_id stress Ort the personal
Glasgow to Edinburgh. rn relarioll'lhip withthe Devil; Catholics on the potency of communal
The parallelism with parts of the continent are strong. The special worship. The dominance of the witch's mark, which provided an
nature of the. Scottish hunt, however, can perhaps best be seen when intellectual bridge between popular and educated belief, and the
placed alongside that of her English neighbour. T],e relative mildness consequent role of the pricker, also appear strongly in Scotland.
of the .English hunt ~an partly be explained by a lower level of religious There are two theological factors which seem particularly significant
111 Scotland. The first is that Calvinists believed that a just God
intens11:y. Jhi: English do not seem to have had the same sharp break
with tradmon that the Scots had at the Reformation: Except for certain rewarded sin with earthly afflictions. Misfortune was therefore not
stron,~Iy.Pu.ntan. areas c~an_~_es were_ gradual and the iritense evarlgeliCal to be seen as the afflictions ofJob: as a test of virtue and fidelity. They
zeal ;hat characterized . the Scottish church was largely abs;nt in were to be seen as an indication of sin and of God's just punishn1ent for
England. The struggle for legitimacy had been won earlier in England this sin. Witchcraft \.Yas an al temative and under these circun1stances
by Hrnry Vil and the break from Rome was a mere completion of particularly attractive explanation for disease, bereavement, or
effective Tudor control. ~-~~ n1ost important differences, however, economic misfortune. This is a psychological factor which one would
we.re probably in the nature of the judicial machinery. England's expect to be present in all Protestant, and particularly Calvinist,
Witchcraft Acts of r 542 and 1563 contained detailed instructions m cultures although its actual operation is difficult to demonstrate. The
relation to different types of sorcery. Minor offences warranted minor second factor which is even more characteristic of Scotland is the
penal(ies. The Acts knew nothing of the notion common to Roman potency. and political significance of the idea of covenant. The legal
Lav:cou.nt;iessuch as Scotland that the crime was that ofbeing a \vitch, records 111 Scotland normally referred to a pact or paction with the
that the pnmary act of witchcraft was the Demonic Pact and that all Devil, but they did sometimes use the actual term covenant. The
wfiches -were part of a Satanic conspiracy. Admittedly the;e ideas were central position of the Old Testament concept of the covenanted
current in Puritan writers such as Perkins and Gilford, but they did not people in Scottish political thought gave the inversion of a covenant
penetrate to the law courts, which were separate and secular. The with Satan a poV1..<er and an intensity \vhich it inay not have had under
organization, too, of English law was not conducive to the creation of other regimes.
mass hunts or national panics. Because there was no notion of con- It would in some respects be true to say that Scotland_otfers a middle
spirac_y_ _ ~_4_<:F:_,,:v_as_,,~o need o_f tO!-tUre ro: extracrthe-riames of i~c01n- po~itionbetween the witchcraft of England and that of the. connnent.
plices .. Further, the crime of witchcraft was not centrally mail.aged. Th~re are similarities with England in the local functioning of witch-
The circmt judges de:ilt with witchcraft on. site, and there was no behefs andin the details of the Demonic Pact, though in Srntland the
machinery for one witch-finding judge to transmit his enthusiasm D'en,t?nic l'~c_t is inore prominent. There are similarities with, the
elsewhere. contirl:e!1_t i_n _d:e op_era6on of the la_~ 'in _rhe .i~_qui_sfr6rial-SVs_te111,_ and
.In Scotland the central organization, combined with the competitive in the belief in conspiracy and witches' meetings,. though i~. Scodand
spmt of local clergy and landlords, helped to stimulate panics. Yet in the concept of !neetings was weaker and less ritualistic than on the
one ;ispect Scottish witch-beliefs had more in common with English cogtjll.ent. The idea of a middle positi.on is perhaps most conviiiciiig
than with con.tinental beliefs, The witches' communal occasions were m the pracnce of the Court of Justiciary where the continental in-
relatively non-horrific. There was very little actual Devil worship or quisitorial system was uneasily juxtaposed with an emerging adver-
other forms of inverted Christian. ceremony. Reported sexual orgies, sary system in which the outcome depended on a duel between
other than pnvate. copulations with the Devil, were relatively rare, prosecution and defence. It is nevertheless misleadingto think of witch-
and baby-eating almost. unknown. Even when a baby was believed beliefs and witchcraft control operating on a range from severe
to be eaten it was not specially murdered for the purpose. It was dug up continental to gentle English, with Scotland in the middle. There
and 111ade into a pie to in1prove the consun1ers' powers of Sorcery. On were parts of the continenfSuch asDeninark and Russia where wireh-
the _whole Scottish witches' meetings were similar to the verY few crafrtorilfolw'!s iimifar fo its opeI;itiori to Engl:i11.d; a.nd .other parts
English ones which were reported. They were jollifications for e'ating, where governments did not hunt witches. at all. There were regions,
drinking, and dancing of which in Scotland at least peasants were in es.peciall}' in France arid . S~itzerla!ld,. where witchcraft. control was
real life deprived. sit.rijlarto; or ~lightlymilder than in Sc6il:ind. Iii particular, Protestant
The feature which Monter has shown is especially typical of areas of continental Europe resembled~ Scotland in their beliefs and
THE COMPARATIVE SETTING 203
202 ENEMIES OF GOD
arching in r 842 for contemporary parallels
practices. Ir:i __the European context then1 witchcraft control in Scotland remote pas t . Dalyell ' Se n1 fi cl
should be seen as fairly severe. to Scottish seventeenth-century barbarism, could o y m rumours
of such things in Turkey." Today we are in the uuhappy posmon of
There ren1ains finally the question as to :V~ethe~ the pr~mi!1ence given knowing that punitive societies are recurrent, and that_ the chanhcehs for
.ing born into one of those societies whic ave
to the content and autonomy of the Chnsnan witch-belief m this study any h uman o f be . . . h. h
is deserved. Certainly many sociologists of both marxist and functiona~ undamaging relationships with their gods are not ig .
list persuasions would argue that beliefs and ideologies are social or
socio/economic products. They cannot affect the social or econon11 c
structure itself which can only be altered in so far as there is a change in
the means of production, or through some internal strain.
There is an obvious sense in which this is true. Ideas are social
products in that they are not handed down on tablets of stone from on
high. They are developed by humans in a social context. There are also
some social constraints, though not actually very n1any on the 1
1580 1580
1590 National panic (1590-91) 1590
1591 Marriage to ;111d n1n11ution of Q. Anne
1594 F:uninc ( J 594-8)
1597 Episcopal Co111111issious National panic
Modified Episcopacy Witchcraft C<J1111nbsions revoked
with Presbytery Nun1bers fall to a few per yc;ir
1600 Plagt!C !600
1603 Jauics dcp;irts to England
Ad1nin. by Privy Council thereafter
1607 Plague
1610 Ad1ninistratiou by Privy Council 1610
1658
1660
National panic (1661~2)
166o RESTORATION Episcopacy Srnall loc:il panics & isobccd c1scs
1661 Cl:iARLES H Middkton/L:iudcrdak
1666 (Covcn:uitcrs)/Pcntland Rising/llullion GrcenX 11670
1670 f..uninc
Loe.ii panic (E. Lothi:in)
1675
1678 J\-1urdcr of
1679 J;uncs, l)ukc of York Archbishup Sharpe
Dru1ndogXJ'Thc Killing Ti1ncs' (uuril i684) xi:58o
isolated ciscs/n1J.ny ;icquittals
1680
1685 JAMES VII
1688 WILLIAM & MARY
1689 KiUiccr:inkicX 1690
Abnlition of episcopacy
1690 Gen. Asscn1bly HlCL'tS
Presbytery
1692 l)aricn Sd1unc f;uninc 'Seven
Lean Years" Local p;1nic (P;iislcy)
i695
1697 1700
COMMISSIONS
I. Commission 'in ordinary form' to try Jonet Murry. El.spcth Ranaldson, and .
Agnes Waterston, of Burncisland, Fife, given to
Sir Jas. Melvill
Robert Aytoun of Inchdemy
Alexander Orroch of that ilk
Robert Ged of Baldrig
The baillies of Bumtisland
Burnrisland, 27th September 1649
RPC, 2nd Ser., Vol. 8, p. 200
2. Presbytery of Paisley asked the Committee of Estates to grant a conunission
for the trial and punishment of Margaret Finlayson and requested the
Lairds of Houston
Nether Pollock
Craigends
Ralstoun
Glanderstoun
Southbarr
Westland
John Sprcull, Provost of Renfrew
Paisley, 2rst March 1650
RPC, 2nd Ser., Vol. 8, p. 2II
3. Commission to try Euphaim Adair issued to
Sir W. Murray of Neatoune
Alexander Borthwick of Johnston burn
Jas Scott of Lockquarrat
William Scott, bailie ofDalkeith
Andro Borthwick of Sachlan
Martin Grinlaw of Costertoun
Crichton, East Lothian, 7th November 1661
RPC, 3rd Ser., Vol. 1, p. 74
4. For Duddingston and Liberton the Justice Deputes were sent out because of
the proximity to Edinburgh.
Alexander Colvill of Blair
APPENDJX II 209
208
Just1ce Deputes
g, Commission to try Isobel Gowdie of Auldeamf (N~irn) given to
William Dallas of Cantry, Sheriff Depute o Nairn
Thomas Dunbar of Grange
to atten~ and the heritors ( and owners) and their prisoners were to appear
The hentors were to produce the evidence. Master Harry Forbes, Minister of Auldeam
Duddingston, rst August r66r Alexander Brodie. younger of Leathin
RPC, Jrd Ser., Vol. 1, pp. 16-17 Alexander Dunbar of Brath
James Dunbar, younger thereof
5. Commission to try Anna Kemp, Isobel Smith, and Margaret Kerr of Henry Hay of Brightmanney
Belston, East Lothian, given to Hew Hay of Newtoune
Sir R. Hepburn of Keith William Dunbar of Clune
[legally qualified RPC, Jrd Ser., Vol. I, p. 57.J David_ Smith} . Auldeam
*Patrik Broun of Colston John Weir m
Alexander Cockbume of Let.ham r 3rh August r 662
[on co1nntission to try accidental homicide RPC, 5th Ser., p. Io.J Pitcairn. Criminal 'Trials, Vol. Ill, p. 6o2.
Alexander Hay of Baro
*Thos Haliburton of EgHncamo
*John Butler of Kirkland
*Doctor Hepburn of Monkrig
Belston 7thJune r66r
APS, Vol. 7, p. 247.
* On a commission to try eight witches at Carriden in r649.
6. CoIIllnission to try Barbara Hood and Helen Belshes in Eyemouth granted to
Col. John Home of Plendergaist
Arch. Douglas of Lumsden
George Craw of Netherbyre
William Craw of Henchheid
Robert Ruell, Peilwalls
Samuel Lauder, bailie of Eyemouth
Jon Curry Merchant in Eyemouth
Jon Robison Merchant in Eyemouth
Thos. Robison Merchant in Evemouth
Thos. Gray, Portioner of Eve~outh
7th Noven1ber I661 '
RPC, Jrd Ser., Vol. r, p. 73.
7. Con:mis~ion to try Elspeth Seaton, Elspeth Bruce, and Margaret Bell in
Abd1e, Fife, granted to
Sir John Aytoun of that ilk
David McGill of Rankzil!our
Robt. Paterson of Dinruin
James Arnot of Woodmilne
Mitchell Balfour of Pitmedden
Robt. Batclav of Col!airnie
Mitchell Ra1llsey, Portioner of Berriehill
Gavin Adan1son} .
George Orme PortJ.oners of Newburgh
23rd January 1662
RPC, 3rd Ser., Vol. 1, p. 14r.
In I661 Aytoun and McGill had fallen out over who was to have the best
seats in Abdie Kirk. The Presbytery had supported Ayroun.
NOTES
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER ONE
38 Jean Delun1eau. Catholicis1n between Luther and Voltaire, London, 197.., ofVVitcfu:raft, Anon. N.P., x705. ~ee C .. Larn~r. Two Late Scotti.sh Witchcreft
PP I 70-72. ' I, Tracts, Anglo (ed.), loc. cit., 1977, for a discussion of these:
39 Muchembled, Culture Populaire et (,'ulturt: des elites, Paris, 1978, p. 295, and !2 William Forbes The Institutes of the Law of Scotland, Edmburgh, 1730.
in Dupont-Bouchat et ai., op. cit., pp. 27-9" IJ John Erskine, The Principles of the Law of Scotland, Edinburgh, r764 (Third
40 Monter, op" cit., pp. 10-II. edition), and An Jnstit"te of the Law of Scotland, Edinburgh, r773; Hugo
41 Marvin Harris, Cows, Pigs! Wars, and Witches, London, 1974, pp. 230-40 . Arnot, History of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, 1779; David Hume, Commen-
42 E. Le Roy Ladurie, Les Paysans de Languedoc, Paris, 1966, pp. 407-x3, Extract taries on the Law of Scotland, Edinburgh, I8t9 (znd ed.). . . . .
in E.W. Monter (ed.), European Witchcraft, New York, 1969, p. 165. 14 Hugo Arnot, A Collection and Abridgement of Celebrated Criminal Tnals 1n
Scatlandfrom 1536 to t784, Edinburgh, 1785. . .
15 John Millar (ed.), A History of the Witches of Renfrewshlfe, Paisley, 1809, and
Webster (ed.), Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts. .
16 Robert Pitcairn, Criminal Trials in Scotland 1488-1624, Edmburgh, r833.
CHAPTER THREE
I7 Robett Law, Memoria/ls, Edinburgh, 1818, with_ introdu~tion by Charles
1 See H. G. Aldis, List of Books Printed in Scotland Before 1700, Edinburgh, :Kirkpatrick Sharpe published in an extended version as Historical Account of
1904; John Ferguson, 'Bibliographical Notes on the Witchcraft Literattire the Belief in Witchcraft in Scotland, Glasgow, 1884. .
of Scotland', in Proceedings of the Edinburgh Bibliographical Society, Edin- r8 J. G. Dalyell, The Darker Superstitions of Scotland, Edinburgh, r834.
burgh, 1899; C. Lamer, 'Two Late Scottish Witchcraft Tracts', in Sydney 19 Walter Scott Letters on Demonology and W~tchcrafi, Londo~. 183?; ~- C.
7
Anglo (ed.), The Damned Art, London, 19n. Boatright 'Witchcraft in the Novels of Sir Walter Scott, University of
2 See Bernard Capp, Astrology and the Popular Press, London, r979, esp. Texas Studies in English, Xl!I, 1933; C. 0. Parson, Witchcraft and Demonology
pp. 274-5. in Scott1s Fiction, Edinburgh, r964.
J Newes from Scotland, London, 1591, reprinted in D. Webster (ed.), Collection zo Robert Kirk The Secret Commonwealth, Edinburgh, 1815, 1893, and 1933.
of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft. Edinburgh, 1820. The 1815 edition says that it was 'reprinted' from the 169~ edition b_ut this
4 James VI of Scotland, Daemonologie, Edinburgh, 1597 and London, 16c3. is an error. It was printed from one of two kn~wn ~an1:scnpts of which the
See the commentary by Stuart Clark, 'KingJames's Daemonologie: Witch- second is the only survivor. (Edinburgh Uruvers1;y Library La. III 55')
craft and Kingship', in Anglo foe. cit. and Rhodes Dunlap, 'King James and See M. M. Rossi, 'Text Criticism of Robert K1rk s Secret Commonwealth ,
Some Witches: the date and text of the Daemonologie'. Philological Quar- Edinburgh Bibliographical Society Transactions, Vol. III, P:rt 4, 1957.
terly, 54, 1975. 21 Charles Mackay, Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, London, 1841;
5 Trial, Confession, and Execution o_fisobel Inch, John Steivart, Margaret Barclay, W. E. H. Lecky, Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe,
and Isobel Crawford)Or Witchcraft at Irvine, Anno 1618, N.P. N.D.; reprinted London, 1865.
N.P., 1855. 22 Lecky, op. cit., pp. 126-g.
6 Sir George Mackenzie, Pleadings in some Remarkable Cases, Edinburgh, 1872, 23 H. T. Buckle. History of Civilisation in England, London, 186I.
and Laws and Custonts of Scotland in Matters Criminal, Edinburgh, 1678. 24 F. Legge, 'Witchcraft in Scotland', in The Scottish Review, 1891.
7 RPC, Vol. X., Third Ser., p. l6I. 25 Fergwon, lac. cit.
8 George Sinclair, Satan 1s Invisible World Discovereef, Edinburgh~ 1685. 26 Margaret Murray, op. cit., pp. 98 ff, 139 ff.
9 It was republished in Edinburgh in 1746, 1764-i 1769, 1779, 1789, 1808 1 183 r, 27 Cohn, op. cit., pp. no-15. . .
and 1871 1 and in London in 1814 and 1815. 28 Alex Keiller, The Personnel of the Aberdeenshire !1tchcraft CoPens, London,
10 A Relation ~f the diabolical practice of above Twenty Wizards and Witches of the 1922.
Sheriffdam of Renfrew, London, 1697, was followed by a Scottish account: 29 J. M. McPherson, op. cit., pp. 134-74. , .
A True Narration ofthe Sufferings and Reliefofa Young Girl, Edinburgh, 1698, 3o Helen Stafford, 'Notes on Scottish Witchcraft Cases ~590-1591, in Norton
which contained an abstract of the London tract and was itself republished Downes (ed.), Essays in Honour of Conyers Read, Chicago, 1953. .
as Sadducistnus Debellatus, London, r6g8. Other pamphlets of this period J 1 See for example.Thomas Davidson, Rowan Tree and Red Thread, Edmburgh,
were Alexander Telfair's True Relation of an Apparition, Edinburgh 1696, 1949; Ronald Seth, In the Name of the Dml, London, 1969; Nicholas A.
which was republished as A Neiv Confutation of Sadducism, London, 16g6, MacLeod, Scottish Witchcraji, St. Ives, 1975
and the Pittenweem pamphlets, A True and Full Relation of the Witches of 32 G. F. Black, CalendarofCasesofWitrhcraftinScotland 1510-1727, New York,
Pitten1veen1, Edinburgh, 1704, and Letters Concerning the Witches oj Pitun- 1938, and Some Unpublished ~coltish Witchcraft Trials'. New >;ork, 1941.
weem, Fifeshire, Edinburgh, 1705. 33 Clark, foe. cit. Also C. Lamer, James VI and land Witchcraft , m A. G. R.
l l Witchcraji Proven, Arreigned and Condemn' d in its Professors Professions and Smith (ed.), The Reign of]ames VI and I, London, 1973. .
Marks by diverse pungent and convincing Arguments excerpted forth of the most 34 Wallaee Notestein, History of Witchcraft in England, Washington, 19II;
Authentick Authors, Divine and humane, Ancient and Modem, by a Lover of G. L. Kittredge, Witchcraft in Old and New England, Cambndge, Mass.,
the Truth, Glasgow, 1697; The Tryal of Witchcreft or Witchcraft arraigned and 1929; C. L'Estrange Ewen, Witch-hunting and Witch Trials, London, 1929.
Condemned, Anon, Glasgow, 1705, and An Ingenious and Scientific Discourse 35 T. C. Smout, A History of the Scottish People, London, 1969, PP 198-207;
216 NOTES TO PAGES 35-42 NOTES TO PAGES 42-54 217
Rosalind Mitchison, A History of Scotland London 1970 pp 143 9 Smout, A History of the Scottish People, p. r44.
6 D d h ' ' rso--~, rn Smout, ibid., pp. r 57-<), and S. G. E. Lythe & J. Bott, An Economic History of
J avt son, op, CJ!.; Set , op. ell.; Macleod, op. cit. Angus Black (ed) y(,"
!Jevil' s C~ven, London, 1972. Interesting fictional accounts of real tria( Scotland, Glasgow, r975. pp. 28-J+
5 II J.E. Handley, Scottish Fanning in the Eighteenth Century, London. 1953, p. 48.
mclude Eh~abeth Sutherland, The Eye of God, London, 19n, and Isob
Adam, W11ch Hunt, London, r978. John Buchan's Witchwood L d el 12 Thorner, ibid., p. 205. ,.
1929, while pure fiction, is unrivalled in its evocation of the period on on, I3 Ian Carter. Farm Life in North East Scotland 1840-1914, Ecunburgh. 1979.
37 RPC, Vol. IV, p. 680. . r4 J. Foster, foe. cit., p. 143 , . , .
JS RPC, Vol. V, pp. &09-IO. 15 J.M. Wormald(J. M. Brown), The Exercise of Power, mJ. M. Brown
39 Pitcairn, op. cit.; ~lack,_ lJnpublished Witchcrqfi Trials; R. Scott-Moncrieff. (ed.), Scottish Society in the Fifteet11h Century, London, r977, PP 54-5. .
Records of Proceedings t?f the Justiciary Co11rt, Edinburgh 1661-1678 S h' 16 I. F. Grant, Social and Economic Development oj Scotland Bejore 1603, Edin-
Historical Society, Vol. 4s. ' ' cottis burgh, r9JO, p. 183.
40 ]. M. Thomson, The Public Records or Scotland Glasgow r922 Lenm d I7 Smout, op. cit., p. 135.
p ar ker, 'C nm.e
Eary
1n I Modem Scotland',
" ' cit.
foe. an an r8 Ibid.
41 One set of gu.estion.s and answers for the trial of Isobel Haldane (9s7; 991 ) . r9 Ibid., p. r36.
has been published m Rossell Hope Robbins, The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft 20 Grant. op. cit., p. 204-
and ~etnonology, Feltham, r959, ppl 382-4. No reference is given but the 2I See Smout, op. cit . p. 145.
question and answer form has been extracted from the questions implicit 22 Donaldson, op. cit. p. 238.
the formal record of the trial in RPC, 2nd ser., Vol. 8, pp. 352_4. in .23 G. S. Pryde, Scotland from 1603 to the Present Day, London, 1962, pp. 26-27
42 ~auree~ Ander~on, .'Calendar of Witchcraft in Moray', undergraduate 24 Christopher Hyde Lee, Jurisdictions in Early Seventeenth-Century Scot-.
d1ssertanon, Uruvers1ry ~f St. ~ndrew 1976; A. E Truckel1, Dumfries
0
land', unpublished paper.
Burgh Museum; unpublished list of witchcraft cases in Galloway a d 25 S.G.E. Lythe, The Economy oj. Scotland in its European Setting 1550-1627,
Dunlfriesshi~e. ~ee also his 'Unpublished Witchcraft Trials' in Transactio:s Edinburgh, l96o.
of the Dumfr1ess~1re ~nd Galloway Natura! History and Antiquarian Society 1975 26 H. Hamilton. An Economic History of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century, 1963.
an~ 1976-1977, Bnan ,Levack, unpublished paper on 'The Great Scottish 27 Smout, op. cit. .
:W1t~h Hunt of 1661-2 ; Ben Benson, unpublished list of cases of witchcraft 28 Smout in M. Flinn (ed.), Scottish Population History, Cambndge, r977
in Fife. 29 K.]. Logue, Popular Disturbances in Scotland 1780-1815, Edinburgh, 1979.
43 For ~xample, Diur~al of R~1~1arkable Occurents, Maitland Club, Edinburgh, JO Tom Johnson, History of the Working Classes in Scotland, London'. 1946.
1833 ,]. Lamont, Diary, Mamand Club, Edinburgh, r83o;J. Nicoll, A Diary JI Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down, 1972 (Pengum, r975),
of P11bhc Transactions, Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, r836; D. Laing (ed.), p. 19.
The Diary of Alexander Brodie, Spalding Club, Aberdeen, 1863; R. Birrell, J2 Smout, op. cit., pp. 177-8, 226-7.
Diary, Edinburgh, r195. 33 Donaldson, op. cit., p. 241. ,. .
44 See SBSW, pp. 288-302. 34 Lythe, 'The Economy of Scotland under James VI and I m A.]. R. Smith
(ed.), The Reign ofjomes VI and I, p. 6o.
35 Ibid.
CHAPTER FOUR 36 Whyte, op. cit., p. 63. .
37 H. Hamilton. Economic History of Scotland, p. xiv.
r See for example W. L. Math~eson, Politics and Religion, Glasgow, 1902; JS Donaldson, op. cit., p. 239.
Gordon Donaldson, The Scottish Reforntation, Cambridge, 1960, and Scot- 39 Wormald, foe. cit., p .. 59.
land, James V-James VII, Edinburgh, r965; H. Trevor-Roper in Religion 40 Whyte, op. cit., pas$im.
tl~e- ~ejonnation and Social Change, London, r967; G. D. Henderson, Religiott; 41 Hugo Arnot, History of Edinburgh, 1826, p. 374 . .
Li)e :n Seventeenth Century Scotland, Cambridge, 1937. 42 Stair Society, Introduction to Scottish Legal History, Stair Soc1ety Vol. ~o,
2 David Steve~son,. TJ~e Scottish Revolution, Newton 1\bbot, r973, p. 325. Edinburgh, r958. See also Donaldson, 'The legal profession in Scomsh
J John Foster, Capttahsm and the Scottish Nation', in G. Brown (ed.), The society in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries', Juridical Review, v. :X:Xl,
Red Paper on Scotland, Edinburgh, 1975. r976.
4 See Ian \Vhyte, Agriculture and Society in Seventeenth-Century Scotland, 43 Christopher Hyde Lee, 'Jurisdictions in Early Seventeenth Century Scot-
Edinburgh, r979 land'. The following paragraphs draw extensively on this paper.
5 Whyte, op. cit., p. r3r. 44 Peter Mcintyre, 'The Franchise Courts', in Introduction to Scottish Legal
6 David 1:'horner, 'Peasant Economy as a Category in Economic History', in History, p. 376. .
. T. Sharun ,(e.d.), Peasants and Peasant Societies, Harmondsworth, 1971, p. 2 02. 45 See David Robertson, 'Burgh Court Records', in An Introductory Survey of
7 Thorner, 1b1d., p. 205. the Sources and Literature of Scots Law, Stair Sociery Vol. I, Edinburgh, 1936.
8 Thorner, ibid., p. 205. 46 Arnot, History of Edinburgh, p. 37r.
219
NOTES TO PAGES 651-78
218 NOTES TO PAGES 55-68
47 See Erving Goffman, Asylums, Harmondsworth, 1968, pp. 2 4 ff CHAPTER SIX
48 R. Mitchison, 'A Parish and its Poor' in Transactions of the East
See H. Stafford, 'Notes on S~ottish Witchcraf;;:~~~s r~~ra~;:.J~:::a~~
.1ntiquarian and Field Naturalists' Society, VoL 14, 1974, pp. r5-r6.
49 W: R. Foste:, T~e Church BejOre the Covenants, Edinburgh, 19 75 , pp.&;!-, 1
50 Brian Manning, The Nobles, the People and rhe Constitution' m C .. 70 in Honor of Conyers F;ead, c.hicago, 1953'. ~PCJark. 'K.ingjames's Daernono-
Europe, ed. Trevor Aston, London. 1965, pp. 251-2.
' TISI$' d l and Witchcraft , foe. cit., PP 74-90
W'tchcraft and Kingship', lac. cit., PP Ij6- 8 r.
/11
in
CH.A..PTER FOURTEEN
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INDEX 237
Calamities. 82-3. See also Misfommes, Copenhagen, 83
Disasters at Sea Counter Reformation, ror; Counter
Calder, 108 Reformation forces, r9
Calvin, John, 66, 158 Counter-witchcraft, 9, 138, 144, 170
Calvinism, 41, 51, 66, 157, 158, 163, Court ofJusdciary, 12, 35, 36, 50, 53,
171-2, 184; Calvinists, 20! 54-5, 62, 63, 75, 77, 87, 91, I07, II2,
INDEX Cambodia, 195 117, r20, r38, 175, 20I
Cannibalism, 10, 137, ISI-52, 200 Coupland, Elspeth, 125, 128
Over 250 individual accused witches, spouses of witches, accusers, and jurors Canonbie, 199 Covenant, 172, 20I; Covenanter.;, 60,
mentioned in the text have not been indexed unless referred to more than once. Canongate, 147, 18! 9r, !08, 143, 159; Covenanting
References to accused witches can be found in the Notes. Canon Law, 9, II, 59, 66, 138, 142, party, 198; Covenanted state, r3
145, 178, I82, 190, 197. See also Craigmillar, 56
Aberdeen, 30, 82, IIJ, II6, r54, 199; Baron courts, 44, 54, 91, 113 Roman Law, Civil Law Crighton, II7
Presbytery of, 72~ Bishop of, 84; Barons, .see LJ.irds Capitalism, 22, 40, 196; Capitalizing Crime. 4, 20, 53, 55, 64, 67, 72-3, 85,
University of, r76; Aberdeenshire, Basque country, 18, 72, 199 agriculture, 42, IOI, 193; Capitaliza- 87, 179; witchcraft as, r, r6, 25, 35,
34, 3 5, 80, 82 Bathgate, Elizabeth, 97, 145, 155, tion, 87 60, 64, 67, 7I, IOI, 145, 177, I9I,
Acquittals, JI, 63, 77, rr6-I8, r19, r32, 182-4 Carcassonne, 17 200; criminology, 5, 16
175, 178, 190-91 Bavaria, 18 Camwath, l 54 Crimen exceptum, 68
Act of Union, 199 Bayreuth, 197 Carriden, 87 Cromwell, Oliver, 75; Cromwellian
Adulter;.:, 91; landlords summoned for, Beliefs, popular and educated, 17, 19, Carron, I04 rule, 55, 75, 76, 86, 119, 198
56, 74 23-4, 26, 88, r34-7, 144, 156, 170, Carter, Ian, 43 Crook of Devon, 30, 39, 80, 148, r50,
Africa, 7-8, ro; East Africa, 9; West I98, 201; socio-economic products, Cewa, the, lo I5I, I55
Africa, IO, 96; African tribesmen, 8 3, 202; witch beliefs, 1~2, 7-10, 13, Charles, I, s5 Cuba, 195
Agriculture, 40, 42-3, 48, 50; capitalist, 15, I9-2J, 26-7, JI, 67, 78, 158; Charles II, 132, 187 Culross, ro6, ro7, rr6
42, IOI, 193 belief systems, I, 3, II-13, 127, Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, II Cultures, see Societies
Alloa, JO, 76 134-91, 202 Charming, 9, 3 8; Charms, I 39-43, Cunning men and women, 9, 94, I 39.
Alsace, r8 Bell, Rev. John of Gladsmuir, 170 186-7; Charmers, 98 See also Healing
An1boyna, 75 Ber~vick, 30, roo, 199; Berwickshire, Chemyak. E., I 96 Currie, .20, 197
America, 7. See also Massachusetts 74 China, 195 Cursing, 2, 7, 9, 21, 96, 97, 125, r36,
'Amnesty', 109 Bierricht, r 10, 126 Christianity, 4. 41, 57, I57, 159, 162, 142-4; as perfonnative utterance,
Angus, Marion, 150-51, 154, 156 Black, G. F., 34, 35, J7, JS, 179 163, r71, 193, r95; insecure, r68; 143; Curser, 9, 98
Anne of Denmark, 83 Black Mass, 10. See al.so Witches' as political ideology, 194. 199;
Anrhropology, .see Social Anthropo- meetings political status of, 195 Dalkeirh, JO, J7, 95, 144, 146, 185;
logy Black Isle, 81 Christianization, 25, 88, r57, 193 Presbytery of, 84
Ardrossan, 82 Bbckie, Elspeth, 95, 149, 154 Circuit courts, .see Court ofJusticiary Dalry, IIO
Argyli, 55 Blair, Magdalen, 135, 141-2, 144 Civil Law, 9, 142. See also Roman Law, Dalyell,J, G., JJ, 203
Arrninianism, 157-9, 166 Bo'ness, 30, 82, 190, 191 Canon Law Dark figure for witchcraft, 63-4
A.rminius, ! 58 Borders, 80, 81, 199, 200; Border Clanchy, M. T., 193 Degradation rituals, 55, 9r
Arnot, Hugo, 33, 53, 55, 179 areas, 199 Clark, Stuart, 34 Del Rio, Martin, 187-8, I90
Arson, 25, 108 Bothwell, Earl of, 69, 160 Class, 4, 35, 50, 104-5, 199; class- Delumeau,Jean, 25, 162
Aston, Sir Thomas, 56 Bowes, Robert, 69-70 consciousness, 49. See also Rank Demonic Pact, ro-rr, 13, r7, 25, 26,
Atholl, I to, I 54 Brandenberg, 18 consciousness, Ruling Class 39, 64, 95-6, IOO, 107, 120, 129-30,
Aulde:irn, 30, 39, So, 15I, 152 Branding, I 19 Clergy, see Ministers 133, 135, 145-.51, 156, r59, 164, 172,
Austin,]. L., I43 Brechin, 30, 113 Clyde, 90 185, 193, 200, 20I
Ayr, 30, 37, 76, 82, 117, II9, 173; Brown, Rev. David, 166-8 Cohn, Norman, x, 4, r6, r7, I8, 19, 23, Demonology, 4, 9, 23, 137, 161
A vrshire, 80, 82 Bruce, Rev, Robert, 160 26, 34, 65, 136, 137, 138, 152, I93 Denmark, 5, 66, I97, 201
Azar1de, the, 7-8, 9, 12 Buchan, 82 Commissions for witch trials, 3 5-7, Dependent status of accused witches,
Buckle, H. T., 34 7Q-71, 831 85-7, 112, 115, II8 96-8, 124-5
Baby-e:iting, see Cannibalism Burgh courrs, 48, 53, r53 Committee of Estates, 36, 37, 63, 73, Deprivation, 83, 153, 200; relative, 95
Baden, 18 Burghley, Lord, 70 74, IQ9, !12, II8 Deviance, 5, 41, 59, 97, 98, 125, I5I,
Balfour, Sir James, r86 Bumtisland, 118 Como, Italy, 18 173; deviants, Io2, 195; theory, 20.
Bamberg, 5, 18, 197 Bute, Isle of, 30, So, 90 Confessions, 22, 31, 34, 37-8, 64, HY7, See also Labelling
Banishment, 31, 62, I05, 116, 119, r42 109, 135, 136, 145-56, 169, 177, I84 Devil, the, 9, ro, II, 32, 64, 78, 92--5,
Baptism, Renunciation of, II, I07, I46, Constitutio Criminalis Carolina, r I, 194 IOO, 104, 107-8, IlO, II2, II7, 119,
148, 150, 185; compared with Cairnes, Robert, 122-4 Continent of Europe, see Europe 123, 127-8, 130-32, 134, 138-9, I4I,
Demonic Pact, 164 Caithness, 69 Control waves, 64 145, 157-9, 164-74, 180, 182, 184-5,
INDEX 239
INDEX
Hope, Sir Thomas, 178-<J, 186
Devil-cont. Essex:, 20, 2I, 23, 26, 35, 92, 124, Y3r
General Assembly, 66-8, 7I-4, 83--5 Hopkins, Matthew, I9
r90, I9J, 196, 201; prime ene1ny of, Europe, 7-8, IO, 12, 15-16, rS-:.:c, Geneva. 66 Hume, David (lawyer), 3 3
69; human forms of, r6o-63; accum- 22-4, 38-41, 44, 51-2, 60, 64-6, Germany, 1 o, 17-19, 27-8, 57, 65, x4o, Hutchison, Rev. James, 163-7
ulation of worldly wisdom of. r90; 68-9, 72, 89, 91-2, IOI, IJ7-::\, 144, 193; Central, 196; North-western,
4 ; South-western, 4. 24. 61. 9 ~
2
worship of, 200; carnal copulation 193-4, 196--202 Ideology, 4, 35, 41, 56, 5.8 1l4, Ss, IOI:
German princedoms, 194, 197
With, 2, I I, I JO, 146-50, 165, I76, I 85 European witchcraft, 4, II, 15, 16, 19 , 168 192 ; Refonnauon, 51, 57
Diabolism, 17, 18, 24, 26, IJ5, 137, J5,202 Gifford. George, 200 se~lar, 196; political, 194, 198,.199;
138, 145, 180, 197 European witch-hunt, 15-I7, 19, 23, Glasgow, 30 , 7o-71 , so, 86, 160, 168, ideological commitment:, 184; ideo-
Disasters, at sea, 82, 83, 152-3, 155; 26, 28, 94, 192, I98; European 2 00; Synod of, 112 logical conformity, 25, 199
demographic, 25. Ser also Calam- witch-hunting, 3, 7, 22 God, IJ, 55. 94. r22, 127, r3I, r34, Ideologies, 138; offi~ial, 26; secular,
ities, Misfortunes Evans-Pritchard, E. E., 7-8 139, 146, 149, 151, r57, 159-74.1_98, 195 socio-economic products, 202
Disease, 82, 139-42, 190, 201; by.ing Evil eye, 8, 98, 197 202. trinitarian, 13' r61; pohncal '
Imprisonment, 76, 77, 7 8 ro 6 ' 108 '
on Jnd taking off, 9, 141, 179-81, Ewen, C. L'Estrange, J5 dethronement of, 14; just, 2 5 201 ;
democracy under, 56; two swords 117-19
!88 Excommunication, 143 Incantation, 2, 7, 9, 140-42
Ditton, Jason, 64 Executions for \Vitchcraft, 19, 20, J r, of, 58; righteousness of. 74; ~ork
Incest, 91, 194
Divination, 137, 142 62, 65, 75, 78, So, 113-15, II9, 132; of xr8 processes of, r19; on:rupo- Indictments, 31, 38, 129-JO, 135, r36,
Divine Right of Kings, r92, 198 number of. I 5-16, 34, 36, 62-5, 182; t~ce ;f,15 8; sovereignty .of. r59; I46-7, 151, I55, I79
Donaldson, Gordon, 47, 50 expense of, 108, r15-16.' 132, 197; terrors of, 1 6o~ delight in, 16!;
Infanticide, 4, 51, 9I
Dornoch, 30, 78 expenses charged to husbands, II5, greater glory of, 168; kingdom of, Infralapsarianism, 158-9 ~ee. also Pre-
Dumbarton, 108 II8 195 ; enemies of, 5, 20, 92, 98, 174, destination. Supralapsanan1sm
Dumfries, JO, 72, 77, 82, 85, 97, 99, Eyemouth, 30, 118, 155, 182, 183 195. 199 Inverkeithing, 30, 61, 82, 83-4
III, II8, I20, 128, IJl, 132, 141, Godliness, certificates of, 57 Inverklp, 30, s2, 86
145, 199 Falconner, Isabell, 99, 118 Godly state, 5, 72-3, r92, 198-9 Inverness-shire, 55, 6I, So
Dunbar, 178, 179 Fairies, 8, 33, 67, 198 Gonja, the, ro, 96 Inversion,9, 134, r53, r6r-.2, 169 170
Dunblane, Bishop of, 84 Familiars, 110 Goody, E., to, 96 _ . _ 172. 181, 201
Dunfermline, JO, 66, roo, 107, lIJ; Famine, 49, 82-J Gordon, William of M1n1bou1e, 12I,
Iran, I95
Presbytery of, 85, ro8, rr6, 118; Fasts, So, r43, 161, r71 1)2 Irvine, 3i
magistrates of, 108; Kirk session of, Ferguson, John, 34 Graham, Bessie, I 12, 142 Italy, 17 , 13, z8; mezzadria in, 50;
I I 8 Fermer, Alison, 150, 151, 155 Grant, L F., 46 Southern, 8, 197
Dupont-Bouchat, Marie Sylvie, 16 Fertility religion, 19; fertility rite, 123 Gray, Andrew, Minister in Glasgow,
Durkheim, E., 20 Feudalism, 22, 40, 43, 53, 90; feudal 160 James III of Scotland, 65
mode of production, 43; feudal Gretna, 199 James VI and I, 31, 34, 42, 55, 56, 6o,
East Anglia, 21 jurisdictions, 54-5 69, 70, 72, 76, 8 3, 87 93' ro8' r66,
East Lothian, 60, 65, 74, 76, 77, 80, 82, Feuferme, 44, 46, 49, 57 Haddington, 30 , 119; Sheriff of, 99;
187, 190, 198
89, ro5, 117, IJ3, I90, 197. See also Fife, J2, J5, J/, 41, 52, 71, So, Sr, 82, Ear! of, 76, 86 James Vil and II, 108
Lothians, West Lothian 89, 146, 197 Hamilton, 48 Jedburgh, JO, 65, 77, 199
Economic structure of Scotland, see Finland, 5, 197 Hansen, ]. , 17 Jesuit evangehzation of Poland, 19.
Peasant economv Finnie, Agnes, 97, 99 Harris, Marvin, 27, 196 See also Poland
Edinburgh, JO, JI: J6, 47, 62. 6J, 66, Flanders, I 8 Hawick, 199 Judicial Revolution, 22. 194
Healing, 9, 129, 138-43, 180-82, 187;
77, 80, 82, 8J, 97, 99, 100, IOI, 110, Flinkar, Bessie, I47, 154
healers, 9, 98, 101, 122-3, 138-43. Jura, 201
113, 115, 138, 146, 147, 169, r75, Forbes, William, 33, 176-7
178, 181, 199, 200 Forfar, JO, 39, 151-3, 155 See also Cunning men and women
Keiller, Alex, 34
Elgin, 115, 140 Fornication, 56 Heine, P. J., 97 f Kelso, I99
Elite, see Ruling class Fortrose, JO, 144 Hell, r6o, 167 ; social structure o , Kieckhefer, Richard, r6, 17, 18, 24, 26,
Elizabeth, Queen of Englani..l, 69 Foster,]., 43 202 65, 137, 144, 193
Foster, W. R., 56 Henderson, Bessie, 148, r50, 151, 155
Emigration, 49, 57 Kilsyth, Battle of, 82
Enclosures, 21, 4r Fouller, Elizabeth (Elspech), 105, 119 Henry VII of England, 200 Killeaman, 143, I47
England, 9, II, 15, I8, 19, 20, 21, 22, Fountainhall, Lord, 117, 119 Heresy, 94, 195 Kincaid, John, 76, 87, III, 115
23, 28, JI, J2, 40-41, 44, 50, 52, France, 5, 17, 18, 19, 27, 28, 57, 108, Heritors, see Landlords Kincardineshire, So
136, r45, 192, 199, 201; Eastern, 17 High Court of Justiciary, see Court of
55-7, 64-6, 69, /2, 92, 94, 96, IlO, King's Evil, 187 . h f
II7, 136, lJ9, 162, 168, 196-8, 200 Franche-Comte, 18, r9, 25, 26, 199 Justiciary Kingship, 51. See also Divine Rig t o
English witchcraft, 4, 7, I 5, 20, 23, 201; Franconian 'Switzerland', 196 Highlands, the, 8, 42, 80, 98, 202
Kings
alleged uniqueness of, 102 Functionalism, 20-3, 26-7, 64, 135 Hill, Christopher, 50 _ . Kinship, 51, 94, 99, 194
Episcopalianism, 157, 159, 178 Historians. 13, 15, 157, 192 ; h~stor~cal Kirk, Rev. Robert, 33
Erikson, Kai, 20 Galloway, J2, 37; Bishop of, 84 evidence, 2-3, 31, 39; histoncal Kirkcudbright, 30, 118, 120
Erskine, 33 Gellner, Ernest, 11-12 writing, 29, 35
240 INDEX INDEX
Kirkliston, 99 Lothians, 35, 4r, 52, 80, 81, 86. See Modes of production, 48, 196 tionary purpose of, 27; insecurity of
Kirk Sessions, 37-8, 55-6. 58, 62-3, also E:i.st Lothian, West Lothian Modes of thought, r36; Aristotelcan, in Scotland, 50; beliefs of, r93;
73-4, 79-80, 84, 85, 87, 90-91, 100, Lugbara, the, 9, 10 19; traditional, 12. See also Beliefs dissident, 196; unrest of, I92;
ro4-6, II5-16, r38, 153, 157, r89; Luther, Martin, 166 Molucca, see Amboyna quiescence of, 19 3
.is police force, 56, 84 Lutheranism, I 58 Monter, E. W., 16, 25, 26, 6r, 62, 94. Peebles. 30, 80, 109, I 13
Kirricmuir, I ro Luxembourg, 5 137. 158, 201 Pegavie, Agnes, 95, 147
Kittredge, G. L,, 35 Lynching, 78, 196 Mora, Sweden, 19 Penman, Gideon, r69-70, 172
Knox, John, 66, 143 Lythe, S. G. E., 48, 50 Moral cleansing, 58 Pentcaidand, 117
Moral panic, !98-9 Perkins, William, 127, I 87, 200
Labeiling, 98-100, ro3, r25, 189; Macfarlane, A., 4, 7, ro, 16, 20, 2r, 23, Moray, 37, 41 Perth, 30; Perthshire, So
process, 99. Sec afsQ Devi~tnce, 26, 34, 35, 88, 92, 124, !27, 136 Morris, T., 58 Pitcairn, R., 33, 36
Rcputarion Mackay, Charles, 34 Muchembled, R., 16, 23, 25 Pittenweem, 30, 32, 82, 85, 115
Lacost, Bessie, 149, r50, r5I, 153 Mackenzie, Sir George, 32, 33, 77, ro3, Muirtown, 107 Plague, 18, 82, 204-5
Lairds, 44, 56, 84, 85. See also Land- I4I, I76, 184, r86-90 Murray, M., r9, 34 Pliny, 93
lords Mclachlan, H. V., 35 Musselburgh, 84, 146 Poland, 15, 19
Lan1b:i.rr, 97 Macmurdoch,Janct, 120-33, r4r, 143, Poncio, the, IO
LJ.nark. 30, r ro, I 54; Lanarkshire, So, 173 Nadel, E., 100-1 Political Sociology, 192
100 McPherson,]. M., 34 Political ideology, 194, I95
Nation state, 57, 193, 194. 198
Landless labourers, 4 7, 49, 56 MJgic, 25; black, 8-9, 137-9, 142; Popular literature, 31, 35, r68
National Library of Scotland, 36
Landlords, 36, 44-8, 56, So, 84-7, 113, white, 8-9, IJ7-9, 142, 171 Possession, 110, 165
Navaho, the, 8, 10
200. See also Lairds, Ruling class Mair, Lucy, 15, 19, 23, 27 Potterrow, 97
Necromancy, 66, 123
Land tenure, 43-7, 50-51 Malefice, 7-8, 10-11, 13, 24, 26, 39, 62, Predestination, 13, 158, r62: See also
New Guinea, 7
Langedorf, 94 64, 67, 76, 95, 97. 99, 103-4, 106-7, Inf:ralapsarianism, Supralapsarianism
New regimes, 8, 198, 199
Largs, 30, 82 120-33, 135, 137-8, 142, 145, 155-6, Pregnancy, I 18-I9
Lass\vade, I 17
Niddry, roo, 181
176, 178, 180, 181-4 North Berwick, 30, 68, 69, 82, 160 Presbyterianism, 56, 157, 159, 178,
Larin America, 109 lvtale/ici11111, see Malefice 198. See also Calvinism
Norway, 140
Lauder, 30, 112, rr~ Malison, r35, 141, 151 Presbyteries, 38, 55, 58, 73, 85, 161
Notestein, W., 35
Law, I, 7, 25, 40. 104, 175, 191, 193; 1\1an,Janet, 148, I49, 172-3 Prestonpans, 72, 82
Nupe, the, IOO
statute, 35; ecclesiastical, 55; Scots, J\rlanicheism, r 58, 172 Pricker, see Witch pricker
Nuremberg, 197
r 38: secub.riz::ition of, 198; English, Manning, Brian, 56 Printing, 25, 193
Nyakusa, the, 8, ro
200; inguisitoriJJ, 201: ia\v and Mar, Earl of, 65 Privy Council, 32, 35, 36, 37, 53, 55,
l)rdcr, 83, 86, 87, 198 Marwick, M. G., 21 58,62,63,66,68,70-76,83,84,85-7,
La\v, Robert. 33, 169 Marx, Karl, 196 Ordeals, 109-12. See also Bierricht, I06-g, 112, IIJ, II7, II9, 138,
L:l\vyers. 47-8, 49. 55, 59, 97, rr5, r18, 1\1arxism, 27, 43, 196 Witch prickers 175, 198
!38, I45, 1)0, I75-9I Massachusetts, 5, 19, 20, 136 Orkney, JO, 33, 37, 97, 109 Protectorate, see Crom\vellian rule
Lecky, W. E. H., 34, 202 Maxwell, Elsbeth, 99, r n, I 12, 145 Ormiston, 117, 185
Lee, Christopher Hyde, 35 Mbugwe, the, 10 Oswald, Katharine, 181-3 Queensferry, 113
Legge, F., J4, 63 Mecklenberg, 18 Over-looking, 8. See also Evil Eye
Legitimation, 58, r92; legiti1nacy, 195, Medicine, see Healing Rank consciousness, 44, 49, 57
200 Menstruation, 93 Pact, see Demonic Pact Rationalism, 31, 33, 34, 84, 195
Leighton, Robert, Archbishop of Mid .Calder, r 17 Paisley, 19, 163, 166 Rationality, 11-12, r3, 35
Glasgov., r6r, 171 Middle East, 12 Paiston, East Lothian, 61 Redgrove, P., 93
Leith, 83, II8 Middfort, Erik, r6, 24, 26, 61, 92, Paiston, Jonet, I I 1, 149 Reformation, 42, 51, 53, 57, 74, IOI,
Lcnman, B., 4 94 Parker, G., 4 200
Le Roy Ladurie, E., 27, 196 Midwifery, IOI Parliament, 36, 37, 53, 62, 66-7, 73-5, Regalities, 37, 53, 54, 58, 71, 113
Leslie, Bc:i.rrix, 147, I85 I\tiilitary courts, 75, 84 85, 106, 112, rr6, 154; Parlia- Relationships of accusers to accused
Levack, Brian, 86 fvlinisters, 19, 32, 47, 49, 56-8, 66, 72, mentary Records, 37. See also witches, 20, 52, 97, 120-33, 14I-4,
Lex Talionis, 193 75, 80, 84-7, 105, 106, 119, 162, 175, Committee of Estates I55-6, 181
Liberton, r 54 201; self-perpetuating class, 56 Paris, Parliament of, 72 Relativism, 3, 11-12, 13
Linlithgov.., Prcsbyrery of, 87 Misfortunes, 2, 8, ro, 21, 23, 82, Paterson, Mr., 76, l 1I Religion, 51, IOI, 188, r93; officiai, 25,
LiterJcy, 32, 184, 193 120-29, r37; as punishment for sin, Patriarchy, 4, 35, 93, 102, 173, 197 58; patriarchal, 4, ro1; true, 25;
Livingstone, D:i.vid, r ro 171-2, 201; witchcraft as explanation Peasanteconorny,40-43,48, 193, 196 Religious belief, 39; zeal, 19; strife,
Lochnltton, 13r for, 20-21, 172, 201 Peasantry, 1-2, 21, 23-5, 40, 42, 46-7, 25; issues, 50, language of, 139;
Logue, K. ]. , 49 Mitchison, R., 35 57, 6o, 64, 84-7, 138, 142., 147, 149, intensity of, 200
London, 3 I Mobility, geographical, 53, 56-7; 157, 202; European, 8, 46; partly Renfrewshire, 32, 60, 77, 80, 83
Lorraine, 197, 199 social, 40, 49, 5 I Christianized, 25; possible revolu- Reputation, 8, 26, 76, 94, 98, 99, 100,
242 INDEX INDEX 243
Reputation-cont. witchcraft, 25 Strathglass. So 94; social status of, 89-97; sex of,
IOJ-6, 119, 120-JJ, IJ8, 145, Sinclair, George, 32 Suicide, 62, 63, II6, 119, I82 9-10, 8cr-xo2; as mother and
176-7; distance of, IJI. Sec also Slander, 76, I04, 116-17, 178, 194 Superstition, 66, 67, 75, 79, 158, 177, daughter, 99; as husband and wife,
Deviance, Labelling Sleep-deprivation, 34, 107-8 ro9 181, 188 99; supply of, 2, 71, 92, 98
Restoration witch-hunt, 60, 83-4, 86, Smith, Adam, 138 Supralapsarianism, I 58-9. See also Witch-beliefs, see Beliefs
109, 118, 146, 178, 190, r98 Smith, George, r78, 181 Infralapsacianism, Predestination Witchcraft, Acts against, 22, 26, 32, 66,
Rhineland, I 8 Smout, T. C., 35, 42, 46, 48, 50 Sweden, I9 78, 176, 194, 198, 200. See also
Riot, 50 Social Action, 98 Swimming the witch, 109-10 Scottish Witchcraft Act; attribute of
Role theory, 97, 99 Social Anthropology, Soda! Anthro~ Switzerland, 5, 17, 18, 19. 25, 26, 6I, ordinary people, 7; attribute of
Roman Law, 22, 55, 107, 200. See also pologistS, 9, i r, 1_3, I 5, 20, 26-7, 52, 201 particular individuals, 138; death
Canon Law, Civil Law 64; Anthropolog1cal theory, 192 penalty for, 32, 35, 67; distinguished
Romanticism, 31 Social change, 21, 52, 57 from sorcery, 8; elite attitudes to, I 5;
Rome, 41, 140, 200 Social control, 19, 20, 25-6, 27, 40-41, Tain, 30, 80, r 17 as explanatory model, 20--21, 172,
Ross-shire, 61, 78, 80, 143 Tallens:i, the, lo 201; as total evil, 7, 195; idea of, 2,
53--9, 60, 64, 66, 73. 74, 84, 87, 198
Rothesay, 90. See also Isle of Bute Social guilt, 21 .Teall,]. L., 158 7-14, 3I; inheritable substance in
Social mobility, see Mobility Thomas, K., 4, 7, I 5, 16, 20, 23, 34, 88, the stomach, 7-8; as malice, 7, 133;
Ruddiman, Thomas, 33
Ruling class, 1-2, 15, 19, 25-7, 39, Social science, 26, 3 5 94. 95, 136, 139, 141 manuals of, 197; murder by, 12, 64,
Thomson, Elspeth, 120, 125-33, !.<j.I, 67; primary, 7; sex-related, 92;
42-4, 57, 68, 76, 84, 86-8, 113, 138, Social status, 26, 89-91, 96, 124
r93, 198, 202; cleavages, 50; be- Social stress, 17, 21-3, 25, 41, 52 18! control of, 201-2. See also Beliefs,.
haviour, 64; cognitive map of, 79 Social stratification, 40, 41, 44-50, 57, Thomer, D., 41-3, 47 Charming, Counter-witchcra_ft,
Russia, 5, II, r5, 22, 94, 197, 20I
Thurso, 112 Crime, Cursing, Deviance, English
84, 90, 95
Russian witchcraft, 22 Social structure, 4, 21, 27, 40, 4I-53, Torture, 17, 26, 34. 62, 70, 75, 76, witchcraft, European witchcraft,
r25, 138, 202 107-g, 118, 119, 197 Magic, Malefice, Misformnes,
Sabbath, 24, 27. See also Witches' Societies, African, 8; European, 8, 201; Toulouse, 17 Russian witchcraft, Women
primitive, pre-literate, simple, 3, 8, Tranent,30,76,82,84, 104-6, 119, 154 'Witch-craze, 16, 18
meetings
II, 12, 15, 21-2, 136; pre-industrial,
Transformation, 10, 170, 180, 181, 188
Sabbath-breaking, 55 Witch-cult, 19, 34, 35
Transition from feudalism to capital-
Saers, Janet, 173-4 partially literate, peasant, 8, 13, 22, Witch doctor, 8, 12; witch-doctor
St Andrews, 30, 65, 70, 110; Arch- 136, 144; modem, industrial, 3, 12, ism, 22, 43 cultures, I 38
bishop of, 163 175; punitive, 202-3; secret, 3-4; Transylvania, 18 Witches' meetings, 10, II, 24, 34, 39,
St .>\ugustine, I 88 witch-believing, 8-10 Treason, 37, 71, 87 96, 135-6, 145, 151-6, 169-70,
Trevor-Roper, H. R., 16, 18, 19
Salem, see Massachusetts Society, the godly, 5 200-l
Society, the good, 161-2 Trials for witchcraft, 17, 19, 23, 26, 3 I, Witches' Sabbath, see Witches'
Saltpreston, II7
Satan, see Devil, the Sociology, 98; historical,_ 13, 21; 33, 36, IIJ; Russian, 23; mass, 17,
meetings
sociologists, I, 13, 19-20, 192, 202 25, 69; small, 25; diabolic, 25;
Scalloway, 99 Witch-finder, 19, 141; witch-finding,
French, 25; European, 9; political,
Schormann, G., 16 Soldan, W. G., 17 70. See also Witch pricker
Solemn League and Covenant, 73-4 17, 65, 69; illegal, 78 Witch-hunt, 4, 15-16, IS, 20, 22, 25,
Scot, Reginald, 3 I
Scott, Sir Walter, 33 Soman, A., 16, 25, 26 Turkey, 203 28, 60, 70, 86-8, 1.00; of 1590o-97,
Scott-Moncrieff, R., 36 Sorcery, 7, 8, 9, II, 17, 18, 24-6, 66, 37; natioal, 61; aftermath of, Ir5;
Scottish Highlands, see Highlands, the 98, 107, 116, 137-8, 198, 200; Vagabonds, 47, 56, 90, 91, 105, 116 mass, 7-9, 26, 199; urban, 199;
Scottish Historical Clubs, 33, 39 English, 26 Vietnam, 195 cleansing, 8; Scottish, as a major
Scottish Record Office, 36, 37 Spott, 78 witch-hunt of Europe, 197; witch-
Scottish Witchcraft Act, 9, 66, 67, 73, Spottiswode, Archbishop, 70, 71 Warner, Sylvia Townsend, 96 hunters, 86-'y; witch-hunting, 1-3,
74, 78, 177, 188; repeal of, 32-3. Sprat, George, 97, 183 West Lothian, 99. See also Lothians, 15-19, 21, 23-4, 27-8; episodic
See also Witchcraft, Acts against Sprot,Jean, 122-4, 133 East Lothian nature of, 3 8; major patterns of,
Sebald, H., 196 Stafford, Helen, 34 Weyer.Johannes, 31, 190 60; peaks of, 72-3; control of, 85;
Seven Lean Years, 49, 8 3 Stair, Lord, 46 Whyte, Ian, 40, 50, 51 role of peasantry in, 87; cost-
Sexual offences, 55, 67, 130-31, 195 State, the, 72-4, 84, 98, 143, 184; Widdershins, 123, 154 effectiveness of, I IS; geographical
Sexual orgies, ro, 151, 170, 200 Covenanted, 74. See also Godly Winch, P., 12 distribution of, 197-8. See also
Sexual relations, 55, 195; with the state, the Witch, social characteristics of, 20. English witch-hunt, European
Devil, see Devil, the, carnal copula- Stenton, 30, 76, 148, 150, 151, 154 89-91; stereotype of. 3, 9, 10, 92. witch-hunt, Prosecutions, Trials
tion with Stevenson, D., 40 96-7, 98, IOI, 152; role of, 94; Witch panics, 16, 18-19, 6o-62, 92;
Sharpe, Charles K., 33, 169 Stirling, 30, 80, 84, 100, 141, 199, 200; night-flying, 10, 24, 137; last small-scale, 25, 61
Sheriff courts, 48, 53, I I 3 Stirlingshire, 105 executed, 32: Witches, activities of, Witch pricker, 76, 87, 107, 110-12,
Shedand, 30, 99 Stockholm, 19 xo; anonymous, 8, 38; consulter.; of, 115, 131, 145, 201
Shuttle, P,, 93 Storm-raising, 32, 82. See also 9, 74, 178, 189; existence of, 15; Witch's mark, II, 110-12, 115, 118,
Sin, 25, 118, 158-68, 201; caused by Disasters identification of, 8, male, 3, 9, 91-2, 146, 201
244 INDEX
Wittfogel, Karl, 202 Wood,Jonett, 151, 156
Wodro\v, Robert, 33 Wormald,J., 43
Women, 3, 4, 9, ro, 49, 51-2, 82, 89, Wiirttemberg, r8
90, 91-102, I04, r8o, r95; as evil, Wiirzburg, I 8
ro; Arisrotelean view of, 92;
Judea-Christian view of, 92; meno- Young, Isobel, 178-82
pausal, lJI; responsibility for
actions, 150; status of, 197; women- Zambesi, I 10
hunting, 3, 100-2, r97 Zguta, Russell, 22