Scotlands witches

Part of the Halloween series.

The Scotsman 03/03/2008

Scotland's last witch:

Fraud or innocent victim of witch hunt?

Published Date: 03 March 2008

By Karin Goodwin

TO HER supporters she was a hard-working housewife and mother whose ability to communicate with the spiritual world saw her persecuted and wrongly imprisoned.

But now a Scottish peer has branded Helen Duncan – known as Scotland's last witch – a fraudster, who should not be given the pardon campaigners are seeking.

Ms Duncan, born in Callander, was jailed for nine months after being found guilty under the 1735 Witchcraft Act in 1944. She claimed that, at a seance in Portsmouth, a dead sailor told her of the sinking of the battleship HMS Barham. The information had not yet been released by the war office.

Her supporters lodged a petition with the Scottish Parliament last week, and are hoping she will be pardoned. An appeal to Westminster failed last year.

However, Lord Moncreiff of Kinross has called for the petition to be rejected, claiming figures that show she made £112 – worth almost £3,000 today – in less than a week prove she preyed on the vulnerable.

"I have to question why she made so much money from bereaved relatives," he said. "The ethics of that ring alarm bells."

Neither was she "branded a witch" by the court, he said, but was instead tried for earning money through fraudulent means.

"If the parliament accept this petition, they must also accept that Helen Duncan was genuinely able to communicate with the spirit world," he added. "That would be a great step back."
However, Ms Duncan's family say she was targeted because she revealed sensitive war secrets.
Ewan Irvine, a medium from Full Moon Investigations, which lodged the petition, disputes Lord Moncreiff's claims.
"She was an elderly Scottish housewife who made use of her extraordinary gifts," he said.

"I'm hopeful that the parliament will recognise that but if they don't we won't give up."

Scottish Witchcraft

This is one area where Scotland has nothing to be proud of, Scotland was second only to Germany in the torture, barbarity and number of its witch trials. Far more witches were tried and condemned per head of population in Scotland than in England, it could be as many as 4,500 witches being executed overall. Unlike the practice in England, Scotland followed the continental, inquisitorial model, a confession was not necessary before conviction and execution. General reputation as a witch was considered sufficient proof for an conviction. Once an indictment was drawn, the accused could not dispute its accuracy!

Execution also followed the continental form with witches commonly being burnt and the costs of the trial and execution being borne by the condemned persons family

Belief in witchcraft continued in Scotland into the 18th century. In 1727 Janet Horne was the last person to be tried and burned at Dornoch, Ross Shire, Scotland for having used her daughter as a flying horse, the devil shoeing her so that she was permanently lamed. The Act against witchcraft was repealed in 1736, though the Presbyterian Church was to still state a belief in the practice through one of its resolutions as late as 1773.

Dornoch in the 18th century

1727 saw the last judicial execution of a person charged with witchcraft in Scotland. Janet Horne was the last person in Scotland to be tried and executed for witchcraft. In 1727 she and her daughter were arrested and jailed in Dornoch, Scotland. According to her neighbours who had reported her, her crimes were devilish’ and she was accused of turning her daughter into a pony, and of getting the pony shod by Satan himself and thus solving her families transport problems. It’s now believed that at the time of her execution Janet Horne was showing signs of dementia. Her daughter had a genetic deformity of the hands and feet, proof in her neighbours’ eyes that this was a result of the daughter being turned into a pony and shod. The daughter later passed this strange ‘condition’ on to her own child. The trial was rushed and no more than a formality. Captain David Ross, sheriff-depute of Sutherland, found both women guilty and ordered them to be burned to death the following day. The younger woman escaped but Janet was clearly very confused. She was stripped, covered in tar and paraded through Dornoch in a barrel. When she arrived at her execution place, Janet is said to have smiled and warmed herself at the very fire which was about to consume her.

Her last words were "It's a bonnie fire" as she warmed her hands at the barrel!

Her innocence was proved ( if it were necessary )  several years later when her granddaughter was born with the same genetic deformity to her hands and feet. 

The stone that marks the site of Janet Horne’s burning can still be seen in Littletown, although the date on the stone – 1722 – is wrong, it should read 1727. Nine years after her death the Witchcraft Acts were repealed in Scotland and England and it became unlawful to execute anyone for alleged witchcraft.

Ferguson collection

An exhibition of books relating to the history of witchcraft and demonology, drawn mainly from the Ferguson collection

John Ferguson (1837-1916), Regius Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow from 1874-1915, is best remembered for his Bibliotheca chemica, Glasgow, 1906, which is a standard tool for every investigation in the history and bibliography of chemistry. Ferguson was a keen book collector and in 1921 an important section of his private library was bought by the University of Glasgow. This consisted of over 7000 books and some 300 manuscripts. Most of the books in the Ferguson collection are on chemistry and alchemy, but there are important smaller groups of books, such as those on

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delete reply brendainmad wrote on Nov 1, '08 What would these people think of the Internet? After all, we claim to be talking to one another on it. Would we be tried as witches and wizards if we were to go back to this time in history? Probably so!

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 31, '08 starfishred said great post here in germany where I live in Freiburg we had the last so called witch burned at the stake in 1842 sad isn't it. OMG..................sad is not the word for it, I thought 1722 was bad enough..............I guess when people get scared they get dangerous.....In fact if you break it down to that one simple fact.............scared people = dangerous people, lots of awful things that happen begin to have reasons behind them

edit delete reply forgetmenot525 wrote on Oct 31, '08 veryfrank said , but Westminster in this day and age; what is their excuse? yep very weird. But think this is a bit complicated and no one knows what to do about it. She went to trial in 1944 and the only reason they bothered was because it seems as if she got hold of sensitive war information before it was released and claimed it came from a dead sailor. The very old witch laws were cited but she was actually convicted of fraud..............because she took money from people to talk to their dead relatives and friends. And Now they want her pardoned which would mean the courts would have to admit she actually WAS communicating with the dead,,,,.......................weird case

delete reply starfishred wrote on Oct 31, '08 great post here in germany where I live in Freiburg we had the last so called witch burned at the stake in 1842 sad isn't it.

delete reply veryfrank wrote on Oct 31, '08 I stand amazed at the ignorance that pervades the peoples of this world. Ignorance may be an acceptable excuse for the 18th Century, but Westminster in this day and age; what is their excuse?

delete reply bennett1 wrote on Oct 31, '08 Many people in the USA still believe in witchcraft and that witches are real. The Harry Potter books are banned in many school libraries after parents protest them saying they are about wizards and witches and glorify witchcraft. The celebration of Halloween is abandoned in most schools due to protests over witchcraft. People actually believe that children running around in goofy outfits are pawns of the devil to win over converts to satanism. This is a very pertinent blog.

delete reply greenwytch wrote on Oct 31, '08, edited on Oct 31, '08 fascinating, and a very sad time in history.