Introduction to Scottish Witchcraft

Map of Accused Witches. CC-BY-SA 4.0

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries Scotland went through a series of changes to the state and church which fuelled the Scottish witch hunt. As a result of the Reformation, when Scotland broke away from the Catholic Church and moved towards Protestantism, the church went through an upheaval of religious belief and became much more interested in what ordinary people did and believed. The Church was particularly worried about the people of Scotland committing sins, for instance having sex outside of marriage, breaking sabbath (not attending church on a Sunday), quarrelling with each other, whether they practised the ‘right’ religion in the right way or not, and witchcraft. Parish committees known as kirk sessions were established to enforce these rules. They could impose fines or penances (public shaming rituals) on offenders and could be backed up by the secular authorities. Both church and secular authorities sought ‘godliness’ as they worried that if sins were to go unpunished, then God would punish Scotland with plagues, famines, natural disasters and wars. Church and state were both occupied with becoming more ‘godly’ and ultimately worked together to fight against sin and expose and prosecute suspected witches. Witchcraft became a secular capital crime in 1563 by an act of the Scottish parliament.

Newes from Scotland - Woodcut of North Berwick Witches. Public Domain

Of these people accused as witches it is estimated that around 2,500, around two-thirds, were executed. The majority of those executed were women, approximately 85%, but men were certainly not safe from suspicion, accusation, and condemnation. This gender division is similar to that in other mainland European countries. As can be seen on the map, the majority of accused witches in Scotland lived in the central belt with 32% of named accused witches coming from the Lothians. East Lothian, historically known as Haddingtonshire, is the county in which witch-hunting was most fierce. There were various ‘panic periods’, periods of high levels of accusation and prosecution, particularly in 1590-1, 1597, 1628-30, 1649, and 1661-2; these can also be explored through the map’s timeline function. After 1662, central courts became increasingly less convinced by the usual kinds of evidence that were used to prove guilt. In particular, the credibility of the use of torture in obtaining confessions was questioned. As the state became more secular going into the eighteenth century, it no longer needed to prove its godliness. The last prosecution of an accused witch in Scotland occurred in 1727 and the Scottish Witchcraft Act was repealed in 1736.