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Witches
and Heretics |
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It
is very difficult to estimate how many people have been killed
throughout Europe for the crimes of witchcraft or heresy with
opinions ranging from 200,000 to 9,000,000, however between
1563 and 1603 there were reputedly over 17,000 executions in
Scotland alone: although I now believe a more conservative figure
of between 3,000 - 5,000 to be more accurate. The
practise of burning witches was never really adopted in England
although direct dissenters with the established religion were
treated as heretics and then burned (not much better). Witches
were burned in Scotland and, again unlike England, torture was
used to gain confessions of guilt from them. Not
only was much of the potency of the witch-hysteria in Europe
lost in reaching Britain, but it arrived at a later date and
the type of heretic-witch who was constantly pursued by the
Inquisition in Europe was virtually unknown in Scotland, until
a law was passed against them by Mary Queen of Scots in 1563.
At
the same time the Scottish Reformation was taking place. The
Protestant John Knox lived to see the Catholic Queen Mary lose
her power when she flew to England, Elizabeth I and her death,
but the punishment of witches remained the same under the reformed
church and the persecution of witches was carried out with more
thoroughness than before. Although witch-hunting in Scotland
continued sporadically between about 1500 and 1700, there were
three main peak-periods of activity, 1590-97, 1640-44 and 1660-63. James
I and VI was born in 1566 and crowned the following year when
his mother fled Scotland, and was brought up from that date
under the control of the (at the time fanatical) Presbyterian
clergy. As might be expected, he grew up to be something of
a neurotic, if clever, man with a fixation about witchcraft.
After his marriage in 1589 his life was threatened by a group
of witches (motivated by political ends), and they were burned
to death as both traitors and witches. He became utterly convinced
of the reality of witches after this incident, and wrote a master
book on the subject entitled "Demonology" in 1597,
which became the textbook for future witch-hunters. According
to this he believed that there was a "fearful abounding
at this time in this country of these detestable slaves of the
Devil, the witches or enchanters". From that time he actively
incited the witch hysteria which created the 1590-97 peak in
burnings. On
the death of Elizabeth I of England in 1603, he became the ruler
of both Scotland and England (Union of the Crowns), which he
ruled jointly until he died in 1625. One of his first acts on
coming to the throne of England was to tighten Elizabeth's Witchcraft
Act (also of 1563), although he did not introduce the punishment
of burning. In England, the punishment was hanging; provided
that it was proved that the witchcraft caused death (which wasn't
all that difficult to prove since evidence was routinely manufactured),
but James changed this to hanging in any form of witchcraft
that was confessed or proved. It is also very clear that he
believed in all the various types of allegations, which had
been made on the Continent against Witches including those of
cannibalism and similar rituals, since he introduced the following
wording into the Act: " If any person or persons
shall use, practise or exercise any Invocation or Conjuration
of any evil or wicked spirit, or shall consult, covenant with,
entertain, employ, feed or reward any evil or wicked spirit
to or for any intent or purpose; or take any dead man or child
out of his or her grave, or the skin, bone or any other part
of any dead person, to be employed or used in any manners
of Witchcrafts.....(they) Shall suffer the pains of death". Thus,
there was probably no other individual who influenced the escalation
of witch burning in Britain as much as James I and VI and his
influence continued long after his death. All the Witchcraft
Acts were repealed in 1736 and replaced with a maximum sentence
of one year's imprisonment and three months in the pillory.
This was to apply to all who practised occult arts or pretended
to tell fortunes. Bo'ness Witches During
1648 a Commission of Gentlemen from the Parish of Carriden found
six women guilty of witchcraft. All were found guilty and duly
executed. The following year Isobel Wilson is charged with practising witchcraft but
surprisingly in this case the Carriden Parish Council found
the accusation to be false.
In 1704 Anna Wood was accused by
Robert Nimmo to have been one of a group of six witches that
chased him when he was walking home from Linlithgow to Carriden
shore. He could however only identify Anna Wood and claimed
to have witnessed her changing from a cat to human form and
from a bird to human form. Anna was found guilty by Carriden
Kirk Session, but fearing for her life fled before hearing the
verdict, and was never seen in Bo'ness again: at least not in
human form! It is said that the Bo'ness Witches were burnt
at the east end of Pan Braes near the then shoreline. There
was for many years a large circular piece of ground where grass
didn't grow legend to be the spot. This would probably be near
where 101 Corbiehall now stands. Carriden
seams to have had its own site of execution, rumoured to be
where the "Witches Stone" is situated today; about
200 meters south-west of where the original Carriden Church
was. Children still run round this stone three times before
making a wish. HISTORICAL WITCH TRIAL STATS (REVISED) All
dates given refer to dates of the trials for those areas. Where
recorded numbers have been unspecific 3 estimates have been
given: the minimum of 2 required to make the plural "witches",
an estimate of 13 and a (to me) maximum probable estimate of
100 per trial (since trials that large are generally noteworthy
enough to be better documented. In
direct contradiction to that statement, however, the trial of
the Templars is NOT included in the figures Note
that some of these trials may be redundant (referring to the
same trial or defendant in more than one place) but this can
not be clearly determined. In cases where things and numbers
were unclear I opted to err on the side of increasing the number
of victims as far as seems reasonable. These estimates are noted. England, Essex (1560-1680) 290
92.1% Women England, Home Circuit (1552-1722)
456 89% Women; 23.9% executed. England, York (1567-1640) 117 Scotland (1510-1727) (Note: the very high figure for Scotland compared
to Europe and England most of which had much bigger
populations.) New
England (1645-1662) New
England, Native Americans - Unspecified Number (1645-1662)
*Minimum Estimate: 2 New
England (1663-1692) New France ( -1700) Jura (1365-1683)
1365 77.7% Women Alsace (1640-1695)
94 Castillian
Inquisition (1540-1685) 456 71.1% Women Belgium,
Namur County (1509-1646) 366 92.1% Women France,
Nord (1542-1679) 260 81.2% Women Ajoie (1574-1659)
150 95% Women St.
Ursanne (1571-1670) 40 95% Women Neuchatel (1568-1675)
318 81% Women Montebeliard (1554-1661)
71 86% Women Besancon (1584-1660)
38 84% Women Saarland (1575-1632)
439 72% Women Nassau-Dillenburg (1629-1659)
231 88% Women Franche-comte,
Parlament (1599-1668) Finland,
Ostrobothnia (1665-1684) 152 78.3% Women Switzerland,
Geneva (1527-1681) 285 75% Women; 22% Actually executed. Switzerland,
Solothurn (1541-1720) 137 81% Women Germany,
Southwest (1562-1684) 1288 81.5% Women Venetian
Inquisition (1552-1722) 549 78.3% Women Europe (1300-1500)
Total
Trials (1300-1500, based on estimates): *Minimum:
3043 "Europe" Fudge
factor (based on 1300-1500 figures) (1500-1550) Total: Rounded
up to 14,000 to 23,000 between 1300 and 1700. Sources Include: SCOTTISH
WITCHCRAFT The
Highlands of what is now Scotland were earlier inhabited by
people known as the Picts, or Pechts. In fact, this area was
then known as "Pictland" and did not become "Scotland" until
as late as the eleventh century. A second century Roman geographer,
Ptolemy, drew the earliest map of the region. On it he showed
four tribes: the Venicones, Tazali, Vacomagi and Caledoni. By
the third century these four had become two tribes, the Caledoni
and the Maeatae, and by the end of the third century merged
as one nation, the Picts. These
people have long been a mystery, partly because they spoke a
language that is now lost. When the Scots became a dominant
force in the welding together of medieval Scotland, it was not
in their interests to keep alive any Pictish traditions. The
Scots, incidentally, were immigrants from Ireland who, having
come first as raiders, by the fifth century had settled in the
under-populated areas of the west. By the seventh century they
were virtually masters of the lowlands. The
right of succession to the throne was matrilinear-in other words,
reckoned through the mother. This practice was in existence
for well over three hundred years, that we know of, and probably
much longer. Most
of what was learned about the Picts was through their art. They
used powerful animal symbols and geometric forms. Jewelry, metalwork,
stone carvings: all show the same highly skilled craftsmanship. The
form of Witchcraft that we shall be dealing with is that which
stems from the time of the Picts. The late Aidan Breac, a respected
teacher and practitioner, termed it "PectiWita", or "Pictish
Witchcraft." From just how far back it comes it is impossible
to say, but it is certain that it differs in many ways from
the Wicca of England; of the Gardnerian, Keltic, Saxon, Alexandrian
and other varieties. This is of the old Scotland. Witchcraft
was practised in Scotland from earliest times. During the reign
of Natholocus, in the second century, there was a famous Witch
living on the island of Iona (a tiny island off the coast of
the large island of Mull, in the Hebrides, off the west coast
of Scotland.) Such was her renown that the king sent a trusted
messenger to her to find out what was going to be the result
of a rebellion then building in him kingdom. The Witch said
that the king would soon be murdered, not by an enemy, but by
one of his most trusted friends. When the messenger demanded
who it was, she said it was him. After thinking it over, not
wanting to report what the Witch had said, and perhaps be killed
by the king in anticipation, the messenger did stab the king
to death. There
are many cases of Witchcraft throughout Scottish history, reflecting
the bitter crusade pursued by Protestants and Catholics alike,
in their paranoia over possible "servants of the devil." The
vast majority of Scottish Witches, like their Pictish forebears,
practiced as Solitaries, only occasionally coming together for
special celebrations. Witchcraft was first made legally punishable,
in Scotland, by an Act passed by the Scottish Parliament, in
the reign of Mary (Queen of Scots), in 1563. HISTORIC
SCOTTISH MAGICK GODS
OF THE PICTS The "Mother
of All" was CAILLEACH: an old "hag" often
depicted with the teeth of a wild bear, or with boar's tusks.
She was reputed to be a great worker of spells. Cailleach has
also been identifies with Scotia, after whom Scotland was named. If
there was a male deity who was especially acknowledged it was GRUAGACH.
This name means "the long-haired one." In the western
highlands he was placated by oblations of milk, which were poured
into a hollow stone. He was looked upon as the guardian of cattle
and as a valiant warrior and a sorcerer. Others
were:
Brownie The little hairy brownies, with
their flat faces and pinhole nostrils, are not very attractive,
but their happy smiles and extrovert characters makes up for
that. The innocent nature of children allows them to see the
brownies, but disbelieving adults will never get a glimpse of
them. This however does not prevent the brownies from helping
adults in countless minor ways.
Fionn Muireartach
Sluag Taranis Reference: The Encyclopaedia
Mythica. |
1542, was the wife of the Dauphin of
France and inherited the throne of Scotland on the death of
her mother (Mary of Guise). She brought many European ideas
with her and her Act was based on the assumption that witchcraft
equated with heresy, hence burning became the prescribed punishment
for a traitor, a heretic or a witch - but not for a murderer.
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Calor
Scotland
Scottish Community of the Year 2002 WEBSITE COMMENDED |
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