03/01/2026
While March 1st marks the start of the Salem Witch Trials, let’s not forget there were Witch hunts all over the world and so many innocent victims lost their lives.
Witchcraft in Scotland
Witchcraft in medieval times was an accepted part of medieval life, and a woman with knowledge of herbal cures and "gift of the gab" found it profitable to be a witch.
The Reformation of 1560 however changed that when Witchcraft became a heinous offence against God. Calvin The Swiss Protestant leader that had such an influence on the Scottish Church declared "the Bible teaches us that there are witches and they must be slain" .In 1563 Parliament decreed death for anyone practicing witchcraft or consulting a witch.
There was however relatively few cases initially, however the General Assembly of the Church in calling for a general new reformation of the whole country and a crusade against all forms of immortality, passed acts between 1640 and 1649 and called on Presbyteries and Kirk Sessions to take the lead in searching out and destroying witches. A burst of cases happened in this decade, but by 1700 the Authorities had become disgusted with the whole business and trials after then were almost unknown, although later on you will learn about one that was held in Mid Calder in 1720.
The process was that a woman suspected of being a witch would be denounced and brought to trial. If there was no confession she would be severely tortured by sleep deprivation, thumbscrews or witch-pricking to extort proof of guilt. When a confession was obtained, the woman had to denounce twelve others, as witches were supposed to meet in covens of thirteen, leading of course to more trials.
Between 1560 and 1707 over 3000 witches were put to death in Scotland, and the last recorded burning of a witch in Scotland took place in Sutherland in 1722.
An interesting footnote for those who think that trials for witchcraft were confined to our superstitious ancestors long ago; In 1944, Helen Duncan (1898-1956), a Scottish medium, was the last person to be jailed under the 1735 Witchcraft Act. A court was told she claimed to have conjured up the spirit of a sailor killed on HMS Barham during World War II. The sinking of this ship was supposed to be a military secret and the British authorities decided to prosecute because they reportedly feared that Helen Duncan might reveal plans for the D- Day landings. She was convicted of "pretending to raise spirits from the dead" and sentenced to 9 months in prison. The 1735 Witchcraft Act was only finally repealed in 1951.
