Looking through seventeenth-century stories of witchcraft I came across this tale. Elspeth M'Ewen was an elderly woman who lived in Bogha, near a farm in Cubbox, Balmaclellan in Western Scotland. Elspeth seems to have made a number of local enemies, perhaps preferring her own company to that of others, or openly speaking her mind. In 1696 she found herself standing in front of a court of officials accusing her of being a witch.
Accusers stated that Elspeth owned a wooden pin that she would remove from the rafters of the walls of her home. She used it, they said, to draw huge amounts of milk from her neighbours' cows by placing the enchanted pin near the udders of the animals, which she used to do 'freely'. Others accused her of meddling with the egg-laying of their hens. Sometimes they would produce vast quantities of eggs, while other times they would stop laying altogether. Elspeth, who seems to have been made a scapegoat by a suspicious and fearful community, was blamed. The man in charge of the investigation, M'Lambroch, seems to have not known what to do with the elderly woman, and decided to clap her into a prison in Kirkcudbright for two years.
 |
| CreditDepiction of witches in The history of witches and wizards: giving a true account of all their tryals in England, Scotland, Swedeland, France, and New England; with their confession and condemnation / Collected from Bishop Hall, Bishop Morton, Sir Matthew Hale, etc. By W.P. Source: Wellcome Collection. |
During that time Elspeth fell into a deep depression. It was noted that she begged her jailers to end her life, and there were claims that she was treated badly. She admitted her guilt in a confession, although this may have been simply an elderly woman's reaction to harsh interrogation, Elspeth eventually questioning herself in confusion and being made to believe she was guilty of the offences. Equally, it is possible that Elspeth had falsely professed her guilt in order to convince the jailers to end her life. One woman came forward to argue for Elspeth's innocence, Janet Corbie. In July 1698 Janet said that 'people sinned their soul who said she was a witch', and advised Elspeth to redact her confession. The council briefly listened, but concluded that Janet was a pickpocket and thief and had her banished from the town.
Elspeth, who was tried with another woman accused of witchcraft, Mary Millar, was told that she was 'of a compact and correspondence with the devil, and of charms and of accession to malefices'. Special note was made of that fact that she had openly confessed to jailers. She was sentenced to death by burning at the stake.
The accounts books dealing with Elspeth's trial make difficult reading. They include food and drink purchased by officials on the day of her execution and candles used during her imprisonment. Coals and fuel 'to burn Elspet with' were scrawled into the record, along with a barrel in which to carry it. Hugh Anderson was paid to carry the fuel to the place of execution. William Kirk was named as the executioner.
Elspeth was burned on the site of Silver Craigs Park in Kirkcudbright on 24 August 1698.
Source:
J. Maxwell Wood. Witchcraft and Superstitious Record in the South-West District of Scotland. Maxwell and Son, Dumfries. 1911.
0 Comments