The Survival of Witch Belief in South West Scotland: A Case Study

  • Lizanne Henderson
Chapter
Part of the Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic book series (PHSWM)

Abstract

At the time of Robert Heron’s travels through Galloway in 1792, legal prosecutions for witchcraft had long since ceased and the Kirk had turned its attentions towards other matters. Interest in witches, however, had not yet abated. In previous chapters it was argued that witch belief, as opposed to witch-hunting, has had a much longer and more complex history than was previously assumed by most scholarly inquiry. In this chapter, focus will be directed toward one area of Scotland, the South West — encompassing Dumfriesshire, a county in its own right, and Galloway, which combines the shires of Wigtown and Kirkcudbright. The county of Ayrshire will be included to a lesser extent, for although there is evidence to suggest that witch belief was still present into the eighteenth century, and possibly beyond, official action against witches was mainly over after the 1680s, ending several serious bouts of witch-hunting. Though the incident is poorly documented, what is claimed to be “the last trial for witchcraft by the Court of Justiciary in Scotland” occurred at Dumfries in 1709 when Elizabeth, or Elspeth, Rule was accused of cursing her neighbours and “corresponding with the Devil.” She was condemned to be branded on the cheek with a red-hot iron: “People living in 1790 have been told by their parents, that the smoke caused by the torturing process was seen issuing out of the mouth of the unhappy woman.”2

Keywords

Sick Child Folk Belief Nail Clipping Western County Northern County 
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Notes

  1. 2.
    Trial of Elizabeth [Elspeth] Rule, 1709, SSWD. See also William McDowall, History of the Burgh of Dumfries with Notices of Nithsdale, Annandale, and the Western Border (Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, 1867) 434–5. Black’s Calendar cites the Southern Circuit Book 1708–1710 in MSS that I have so far been unable to locate.Google Scholar
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Copyright information

© Lizanne Henderson 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  • Lizanne Henderson
    • 1
  1. 1.University of GlasgowUK

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