Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters is a collection of essays that showcases some of the latest research on Scottish witchcraft. It has been planned to range over the whole topic: from beginning to end of the period of witch-hunting; from individual case studies to international connections; from the perspective of central government to the perspective of local communities. As well as fresh studies of the well-established topic of witch-hunting, the book also launches an exploration of some of the more esoteric aspects of magical belief and practice.
This book is to some extent a follow-up to two previous books: Julian Goodare (ed.), The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2002) and Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller (eds.), Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008). The latter book, indeed, was the first volume in the present series, Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic. Three of the contributors to the present book also contributed to these earlier collections, though on very different subjects. For seven of the other contributors, their chapter will be their first publication.
I am particularly grateful to Professor Brian P. Levack for friendship, advice and encouragement. Dr Joyce Miller and Dr Louise Yeoman have provided regular inspiration. Karen Howie helped me with the map. The series editors, Professor Jonathan Barry, Dr Willem de Blécourt and Professor Owen Davies, have been consistently supportive, as have the publishers.
Julian Goodare
April 2013
Abbreviations
|
APS |
Acts of the Parliaments of Scotland, 12 vols., eds. Thomas Thomson and Cosmo Innes (Edinburgh, 1814–1875) |
|
BL |
British Library, London |
|
Chambers, Domestic Annals |
Robert Chambers, Domestic Annals of Scotland, 3 vols. (2nd edn., Edinburgh, 1860–1861) |
|
CSP Scot. |
Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland and Mary, Queen of Scots, 1547–1603, 13 vols., eds. Joseph Bain et al. (Edinburgh, 1898–1969) |
|
FM |
Finnmark District Magistrate |
|
HCP |
High Court Processes (NRS) |
|
HMC |
Historical Manuscripts Commission |
|
HP |
Highland Papers, 4 vols., ed. J. R. N. Macphail (SHS, 1914–1934) |
|
Hunter (ed.), Occult Laboratory |
Michael Hunter (ed.), The Occult Laboratory: Magic, Science and Second Sight in Late Seventeenth-Century Scotland (Woodbridge, 2001) |
|
NAD |
National Archives of Denmark, Copenhagen |
|
NLS |
National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh |
|
Normand and Roberts (eds.), Witchcraft |
Laurence Normand and Gareth Roberts (eds.), Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland: James VI’s Demonology and the North Berwick Witches (Exeter, 2000) |
|
NRS |
National Records of Scotland, Edinburgh |
|
ODNB |
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004) |
|
Pitcairn (ed.), Trials |
Criminal Trials in Scotland, 1488–1624, 3 vols., ed. Robert Pitcairn (Edinburgh, 1833) |
|
PSAS |
Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland |
|
RAT |
Regional State Archives of Tromsø |
|
RMS |
Registrum Magni Sigilli Regum Scotorum (Register of the Great Seal of Scotland), 11 vols., eds. J. M. Thomson et al. (Edinburgh, 1882–) |
|
RPC |
Register of the Privy Council of Scotland, 38 vols., eds. J. H. Burton et al. (Edinburgh, 1877–) |
|
RPS |
Records of the Parliaments of Scotland, ed. Keith M. Brown et al. (www.rps.ac.uk, 2007) |
|
SHR |
Scottish Historical Review |
|
SHS |
Scottish History Society |
|
SJC |
Selected Justiciary Cases, 1624–1650, 3 vols., eds. S. I. Gillon and J. I. Smith (Stair Society, 1954–1974) |
|
Spalding Misc. |
Miscellany of the Spalding Club, 5 vols. (1844–1852) |
|
SSW |
Julian Goodare, Lauren Martin, Joyce Miller and Louise Yeoman, ‘The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, 1563–1736’ (www.shc.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/, archived January 2003, updated November 2003) |
|
STS |
Scottish Text Society |
|
TA |
Accounts of the (Lord High) Treasurer of Scotland, 13 vols., eds. T. Dickson et al. (Edinburgh, 1877–) |
Contributors
Victoria Carr is a postgraduate student at the University of Bristol, UK. She is a graduate of the Universities of Swansea and Edinburgh, UK. Her chapter in this volume arose from research towards her MSc by Research degree in Edinburgh.
Anna Cordey is a history teacher at Robert Gordon’s College, Aberdeen. She is a graduate of the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, UK; her chapter in this volume arose from her MSc by Research thesis in Edinburgh.
Margaret Dudley is a community worker in Edinburgh. Her chapter in this volume arose from her honours dissertation at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Julian Goodare is Reader in History, University of Edinburgh, UK. His books include The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context (2002) (as editor) and Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland (2008) (as co-editor with Lauren Martin and Joyce Miller). He was Director of the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, which went online in 2003.
Alistair Henderson recently qualified as an archivist following postgraduate studies at the University of Dundee, UK. His chapter in this volume arose from his honours dissertation at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Alexandra Hill is a solicitor at a London law firm. Her chapter in this volume arose from her honours dissertation at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Paula Hughes recently completed her thesis ‘The 1649–50 Scottish Witch-Hunt, with Particular Reference to the Synod of Lothian and Tweeddale’ (University of Strathclyde PhD thesis, 2008).
Lauren Martin is Director of Research at the Urban Research Outreach-Engagement Center at the University of Minnesota, US. She is co-editor of Witchcraft and Belief in Early Modern Scotland (2008) (with Julian Goodare and Joyce Miller). She was a researcher with the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, which went online in 2003.
Laura Paterson is a postgraduate student at the University of Strathclyde, UK. Her chapter in this volume arose from her honours dissertation at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
Michael Wasser teaches at Dawson College in Montreal, Canada. He is the author of several articles on crime, witchcraft and the law in Scotland. He is currently working on a book provisionally titled Violence on Trial: Elite Violence and State-Building in Early Modern Scotland, 1573–1638.
Emma Wilby is an Honorary Fellow in History, University of Exeter, UK. She is author of Cunning Folk and Familiar Spirits: Shamanistic Visionary Traditions in Early Modern British Witchcraft and Magic (2005) and The Visions of Isobel Gowdie: Magic, Witchcraft and Dark Shamanism in Seventeenth-Century Scotland (2010).
Liv Helene Willumsen is Professor of History, Department of History and Religious Studies, University of Tromsø, Norway. She has published several books and articles on Scottish and Norwegian witchcraft. Her books include Witchcraft Trials in Finnmark, Northern Norway (2010) and Witches of the North: Scotland and Finnmark (2013).