Accused witches were treated worse in Scotland than they were in England. Their torture was more brutal and they were usually burned rather than hanged. The main law under which people accused of witchcraft were burned in Scotland was passed in 1563 by Queen Mary’s parliament. It stated that anybody who used ‘any manner of witchcrafts, sorcery or necromancy’ would be subject to death penalty. Not only that, but this law also applied to anybody who sought the counsel of a witch or who claimed to know how to perform witchcraft.
Bessie Dunlop was a midwife and, as such she was skilled in herb lore. She was successful enough to be visited by many wealthy people who wished to enlist her services. She was also known for being able to locate stolen goods.
She admitted that she was helped by a spirit called Thom Reid who dwelled in Elfame, the home of the fairies. She said that they had asked her to leave her dreary life and join them, but that she had refused. She claimed that it was Thom who told her which herbs to use, and where lost items could be found.
All this seems pretty harmless, but somebody didn’t think so and complained about Bessie to the local magistrate. Bessie was burned on Castle Hill, Edinburgh. She was one of the first Scottish witches to be burned under the 1563 law.
After Queen Mary died her son James I became king of Scotland, and later, JamesVI of England. There are some reports of him being ruthless against witches, and others which say that he had a hand in exposing many fraudulent ‘bewitchings’. There is little to support either of these claims but it is known that James took a great interest in witchcraft prosecutions, and that he wrote a book in 1599 called the ‘Demonologie’ which was almost as influential in England and Scotland as the ‘Malleus Maleficarum’ was in Europe. In his book he described many abilities of witches as fact, raising winds, creating storms, flying, sending demons to possess people, etc. He also stated that there were more female witches than male because females, like Eve in the bible, were spiritually and morally weaker than men.
The first major wave of witch trials in Scotland (of which there were three) lasted from 1590 to 1597. At this time there was so much angry preaching against witches that most people were afraid of being accused of witchcraft. This meant that people were less likely to be kind to accused witches for fear of being condemned themselves.
There are tales of a certain Scottish witchpricker who was hanged when it was found that he was a fraud. He pricked an accused witch and stated that she had not bled. When asked to repeat the test in public, it was found that the woman bled like anyone else. He had his reasons for this fraud however. He was paid 20 shillings per witch. Matthew Hopkins was only paid 20 shillings per town. Before he was hanged, this fraudulent witchpricker confessed to being instrumental in the deaths of over 220 women in England and Scotland.
The second big wave of witch trials in Scotland was between the years 1640 and 1650. So many people were put to death that mass executions were held
The third wave was between 1660 and 1663. By this time the accusations had become so numerous that 14 special commissions were appointed to try them.
Towards the end of the 17th century, George Mackenzie became lord advocate. He believed in witchcraft but also believed that the trials were not being run properly. He felt that many of the accused only confessed through fear, hunger, pain, thirst and lack of sleep. By exposing cases of fraudulent accusations he slowly managed to convince the authorities that more care needed to be taken on who was accused and what evidence was accepted.
The last witch burned in Scotland (according to most records) was Janet Horne. She was accused of turning her daughter into a pony and riding her. The daughter was lame, supposedly from being ‘shod by the Devil’. Janet was burned on Castle Hill sometime between 1722 and 1727.
Adapted from ‘Witches’ by Nancy Garden
