The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft

Non-natural beings

Notes

She met the Devil in the Kirk of Auldearn. He was at the reader's desk with a black book in his hand. He baptised her with blood he sucked out of her Devil's mark, spouted it in her hand and sprinkled it over her head. His nature was cold. She said that each witch had a spirit to wait on them. One woman's was named 'swein' and was clothed in grass-green. The text has detailed descriptions of people's spirits. Her spirit was called 'The read reiver' and was dressed in black. The Devil baptised her as 'Janet'. The Devil's member was great and long. She said that younger women had greater pleasure in sex with the Devil than with their own husbands. The Devil beat them at meetings. The Devil gave them money that turned into horse dung.

• Male with cloven feet
• Male meikle black roch man
• Animal Devil deer
• Female Fairy Queen dressed in white and brown
• Male Fairy King, a braw, well favored man with a broad face.
• Spirit to wait upon each witch

Demonic pacts

• Anti-baptism
• Head and foot
• Devil's Mark shoulder
• Sex
• New name Janet

witches meetings

• Witches meeting
• Devil present
• Malificium
• Communal sex
• Dancing

Notes

At Nairn she claimed that she and two others raised an unchristened child and used it to make a potion (see folk culture section for details). She talked about covens and claimed to have 13 people in her coven. Her coven danced on a hill with another coven. At one meeting she yoked a plough of paddocks (toads). They used this to take the fruit of the land. The officer of her coven was man. They often stole food from people. She described taking grain and animals and leaving empty husks (later developed in fairylore). Described flying on straw (corn straw, wild straw). They did a ritual with a thread with three knots in a dye-house, they took away the dye and turned it all black. She said that each coven of 13 had an officer (who is male) and a maiden (who is female). The Devil took the maiden over the dyk.

Meeting places

• The Kirk of Auldearn Kirk
• Kirk of Nairn Kirk
• Hill of Earlfeat Hilltop
• Auldearn Dye-House

Folk culture

• Elphane or Fairyland
• Food and drink
• Specific Verbal Formulae
• Specific ritual acts
• Shape changing
• Unorthodox religious practice
• Sympathetic magic

Notes

She confessed to mixing the body of an unchristened child with nail trimmings, grain and cole-wort and chopping it all up very small and used it to take away the fruit of a man's corn. Described night flight and flying on straw and a broom. Said she used shot to send a soul to heaven but the body remained on earth. She met the Queen of Fairy in the downie-hill and was given meat. In the fairy hill she saw elf-bulls. Took away milk using a tether (could restore milk by cutting the tether). Did all this in the Devil's name. She made an image of the Laird of Park to destroy his children (with others). Detailed description of how the image was made. Nearly the same description given by Janet Braidheid of the wax image! She confessed to shape-changing with others- she was a kea (jackdaw) and the others were a cat and a hare. They tied a thread with three knots and did something widdershins. They raised the wind with a wet cloth and a beetle and specific words. Their spirits can raise the wind. She linked the elves and the Devil by saying that the Devil gave elves instructions on how to use and make elfshot and that they fire the shot in the Devil's name. Special ritual described for shape-changing. Had different words for each animal (cat, hare, crow, horse. She lists different verbal charms to use for healing various ailments (bone-shaw, fevers). For her first 'voyage' she went to the plough lands and shot a man and they made a potion by boiling ingredients and saying words they learned from the Devil.

Counter strategies

• no information

white magic

• no information

Elf/fairy elements

• Elfshot
• Queen of Fairy
• King of Fairy
• Fairy hill
• Green

Shape-changing

• Animal cat
• Animal hare
• Animal Jackdaw (Kea)

Ritual objects

• Corpse
• Nail trimmings
• Grain
• Herb
• Wax/clay images
• Thread
• Water
• Beetle
• Toad
• Flesh
• Liver
• Cloth

Religious motif

• Three
• Trinity
• Saints

Calendar customs

• Lammas
• Yule
• Easter
• Candlemas

Diseases or illness

• Human illness
• Human death
• Animal illness
• Healing humans

Notes

She took away cow's milk by using a tether. She also took away ale. Words used o cure boneshaw and fevers,

Cause of witch's malice

• no information

Other maleficia

Damage to property

• Crops
• Dairy
• Ale
• Fishing

weather modification

• Wind

Notes

Raised the wind with a wet cloth wet and a beetle in water.

Other charges

• no information

Notes

None

Plea

Claimed bewitched

no

Claimed possessed

no

Admitted lesser charges

no

No defence

no

Claimed natural causes

no

Notes

None

Case Notes

None