The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft

1563-1736

By Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin, Joyce Miller and Louise Yeoman, January 2003

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Case Details

C/EGD/783 Jannett Sawer

name of accused
Jannett Sawer
designated title
no information
Accused Reference
A/EGD/772
Case date start
7/10/1651
Given case date
no information
Case commission
no information
case complaint
no information
case correspondence
no information
case chronicle
no information
other details
no information

characterisation

  • demonic (secondary characteristic)
  • maleficium (secondary characteristic)
  • Implicated by another (secondary characteristic)
  • neighbourhood dispute (secondary characteristic)
  • neighbourhood dispute (primary characteristic)
Characterisation Notes
Definitely neighbourhood dispute, lots of quarreling over work, animals, ale purchases, stolen aqua vitae fire, rent collection. She was accused of flyting. She threatened a Kirk searcher who found her not at church on a Sunday. Another accused witch had been hired by her neighbours to stop her and in the process she implicated Sawer for witchcraft. She was denounced by Helen Gavin. She denied it all!

Qualitative information

Non-natural beings

Notes
None
  • no information

Demonic pacts

  • Devil's Mark

witches meetings

Notes
None

Meeting places

  • no information

musical instruments

  • no information

Folk culture

Notes
horses that died on lammas were blamed on her. A woman saw four cats dancing 'as it weir dancing the reill dance', the cats went to Jannet's house. Jannett also accused a woman of stealing an ingle [fire] from the aqua vitae pot, the supposed thief suffered great pain and boils. I think this was a counter-strategy tried on Jannett. A man who was going to report her to the session for missing church on a Sunday got ill on the Monday and just before his death saw her with 'a devil out of hell'.

Counter strategies

  • Counter-magic

white magic

  • no information

Elf/fairy elements

  • no information

Shape-changing

  • no information

Ritual objects

  • no information

Religious motif

  • no information

Calendar customs

  • Lammas
  • Whitsunday

Diseases or illness

  • Human illness
  • Human death
  • Animal illness
  • Animal death
  • Quarreling
  • Cursing
Notes
she was mentioned as taking away a woman's milk, bewitching people and animals, and killing a bairn. Quarrelling over stables, over payment to her son, rent collection, theft. She was summond to the Kirk session for stealing wort and ale.

Cause of witch's malice

  • Social slight

Other maleficia

  • Property damage
  • Weather modification

    • Damage to property

    • Ship

    weather modification

    • Storm
    Notes
    The Ship of Balfast came to Ayr for takell (it was bound for Barbados), she supposedly raised a storm to destroy it. Jannett was seen lying within the sea mark with her mouth up, sucking the air 'lyk ane adder'.

    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
    Her execution was described in a letter of Colonel Robert Sawrey, dated 26 April 1658. He described her speech in which she denied all witchcraft and confessed to her wicked life and made exhortations to the living. The speech is used in the letter to show that Ayr is hunting witches. We already knew this from the many trial records we have.
    references
    name notes
    Circuit Court Books JC10/1 fo. 214r-215v, None
    Process Notes JC26/25 Ayr Court list from 6/4/1658, and three porteous rolls.
    Process Notes JC26/25 Her dittay
    Ayr Council Records (MS in Carnegie Library Ayr) II, 80b and 91b None
    Scotland and the Protectorate, C H Firth p. 382 None