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This book is a scholarly edition of primary sources for witch-hunting and demonic possession in Scotland. It contains narratives of remarkable witchcraft prosecutions, and tracts expounding witchcraft theory.
The narratives provide the intense emotional drama, eye-catching colour and nightmarish horror that made witchcraft such a compelling idea. The accused witches' own voices are sometimes heard, under the harrowing circumstances of interrogation under torture. Meanwhile, educated ministers and lawyers develop their theoretical ideas about witches and the Devil. Not every theorist agrees with the prosecutions, and doubts arise that would eventually lead witch-hunting to lose its credibility. The book's most detailed narrative concerns the Bargarran witches of 1697, in which seven witches were executed for the demonic possession of the 11-year-old Christian Shaw. The book shows how this was connected with the sensational witchcraft panic in 1692 at Salem, Massachusetts.
The narratives provide the intense emotional drama, eye-catching colour and nightmarish horror that made witchcraft such a compelling idea. The accused witches' own voices are sometimes heard, under the harrowing circumstances of interrogation under torture. Meanwhile, educated ministers and lawyers develop their theoretical ideas about witches and the Devil. Not every theorist agrees with the prosecutions, and doubts arise that would eventually lead witch-hunting to lose its credibility. The book's most detailed narrative concerns the Bargarran witches of 1697, in which seven witches were executed for the demonic possession of the 11-year-old Christian Shaw. The book shows how this was connected with the sensational witchcraft panic in 1692 at Salem, Massachusetts.
Price: $60.00
Pages: 392
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Inc.
Imprint: Scottish History Society
Series: Scottish History Society 6th Series
Publication Date:
03 February 2026
Trim Size: 8.50 X 5.43 in
ISBN: 9780906245521
Format: Hardcover
BISACs:
HISTORY / Europe / General, HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain / General, Witchcraft
The Editor
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Editorial Conventions
1. Trial, Confession, and Execution of Isobel Inch, John Stewart, Margaret Barclay and Isobel Crawford, for Witchcraft, at Irvine, anno 1618
2. Sir James Turner, 'Of Magicke' and 'Of the Jewes Cabale', c.1670
3. Sir George Mackenzie, 'For Maevia, Accused of Witchcraft', 1672
4. Witch-Craft Proven, 1697
5. A Relation of the Diabolical Practices of Above Twenty Wizards and Witches of the Sheriffdom of Renfrew, 1697
6. The 'Bargarran Witches' Manuscript, 1697
Appendix
7. A True Narrative of the Sufferings and Relief of a Young Girle, 1698
8. Five Pamphlets on the Pittenweem Case, 1704-1705
An Account of the Wicked and Terrible Confederacy of Betty Laing (1704)
A True and Full Relation of the Witches at Pittenweem (1704)
An Account of a Horrid and Barbarous Murder (1705)
An Answer of a Letter from a Gentleman in Fife (1705)
A Just Reproof, to the False Reports ... Dropt in Two Late Pamphlets (1705)
9. [John Bell,] The Tryal of Witchcraft, c.1705
10. Appendix: Alloa and Related Witches, Clackmannanshire, 1658-1661
Index
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction
Editorial Conventions
1. Trial, Confession, and Execution of Isobel Inch, John Stewart, Margaret Barclay and Isobel Crawford, for Witchcraft, at Irvine, anno 1618
2. Sir James Turner, 'Of Magicke' and 'Of the Jewes Cabale', c.1670
3. Sir George Mackenzie, 'For Maevia, Accused of Witchcraft', 1672
4. Witch-Craft Proven, 1697
5. A Relation of the Diabolical Practices of Above Twenty Wizards and Witches of the Sheriffdom of Renfrew, 1697
6. The 'Bargarran Witches' Manuscript, 1697
Appendix
7. A True Narrative of the Sufferings and Relief of a Young Girle, 1698
8. Five Pamphlets on the Pittenweem Case, 1704-1705
An Account of the Wicked and Terrible Confederacy of Betty Laing (1704)
A True and Full Relation of the Witches at Pittenweem (1704)
An Account of a Horrid and Barbarous Murder (1705)
An Answer of a Letter from a Gentleman in Fife (1705)
A Just Reproof, to the False Reports ... Dropt in Two Late Pamphlets (1705)
9. [John Bell,] The Tryal of Witchcraft, c.1705
10. Appendix: Alloa and Related Witches, Clackmannanshire, 1658-1661
Index