Overview

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.

Full Product Details

Author:   Professor Julian Goodare
Publisher:   Scottish History Society
Imprint:   Scottish History Society
ISBN:  

9780906245521

ISBN 10:   0906245524
Pages:   392
Publication Date:   03 February 2026
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Forthcoming
Availability:   Not yet available  
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Table of Contents

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

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Author Information

JULIAN GOODARE is Emeritus Professor of History, University of Edinburgh. His books include The European Witch-Hunt (London, 2016), and he has edited three books about witchcraft in Scotland. He is Director of the online Survey of Scottish Witchcraft.

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