wcinscotland

Witchcraft in Scotland

Although it took time for the trials to reach Scotland when it did it was exceptionally strong and affected the country more than it did England, as Scotland�s link with Europe was stronger. The people in Scotland accused of witchcraft were treated far brutally than in England. Their punishments were indeed on par with many European countries. Although the Inquisition was not involved their methods of trial were. The Presbyterian Church and secular courts took the steps toward the obliteration of witchcraft.
In 1563 Mary Queen of Scots introduced tougher legislation against witchcraft and in James VI (later James I of England) brought witchcraft hysteria into its own. Originally skeptical of the idea of witchcraft, James VI studied the subject and then later wrote a book on the subject in 1597 called, �Daemonologie�.

Scotland�s trials were notorious for their use of barbaric forms of torture such as thumb screwing, boots and sleep deprivation. The country was like Europe in the manner of their executions and convicted witches were burnt.

In 1700 the number of witchcraft trials tapered off in Scotland. In June 1727 Janet Horne was the last person to be put to death in Dornoch for conviction of witchcraft. She was placed in a burning barrel of pitch