What is the image that appears in your mind when you think of the word "witch"? I'm guessing you're picturing an ugly, old women with a big nose and a wart on her face, armed with a broom and wearing a black dress? If that's how you do imagine witches, you are not a minority. But you are wrong. Read this article to see how the story of witchcraft actually unfolded.
Such outward projections of medieval witches are common whenever they are pictured in movies or theatre, and it is actually quite an exaggerated image. In actuality, however, all it took to be accused of and executed for being a witch was a peculiar birthmark or freckle, or simply dancing and singing outside where you could be seen, or eventually, simply someone's suspicions or an accusation. Times were rougher back then.
Stories relating to witchcraft have been going around since the dawn of time. However, it was not until the 16th century that persecution of witches started. It was in 1563 that the Witchcraft Act was ratified and this made it illegal for anyone to be a witch or to consort with one. Thirty years later, the first major persecution took place. In 1590 King James I and VI started the North Berwick Trials. Having recently returned from Denmark with his bride, he had almost gotten killed by a powerful storm. This, the king believed, was a conspiracy against him by the witches. He had a hundred people arrested, most of which were tortured and burned alive.
Major persecution again took place in 1661 and 1662 with the Forfar Witch Hunt and the Auldearn Trials respectively. These were prolonged by accusations made by so-called witches in order to save themselves. Especially strange were the Aberdeen Trials where seven women were accused of using mystical powers to murder people, and using body parts from their victims for making potions. And it gets stranger - in 1704 the Trials of Pittenween were based only on the words of a 16-year old boy, and all of the accused were tortured heavily. Only later was it discovered that everything had been made up by the boy.
Another curious case which deserves mention are the Renfrewshire Trials of 1695. An 11-year old girl called Christian Shaw witnessed a housemaid drinking forbidden milk and threatened to tell her mother this, but the housemaid told the girl that if she did this, the devil would take her to hell. And the little girl, the story goes, started having visions and tempers, accusing the maid of torturing her. Some accounts say she was throwing up feathers, wax, stones, hay, even a hot coal. The most extreme descriptions are of her floating in mid-air, throwing things around in the room without touching them. As a result, over 20 people were examined and also tortured. Several of them were found dead. Six of these people were found guilty and burned alive.
The Witchcraft Act was abandoned only in the year 1736. According to some estimates, around 4000 people were executed in Scotland alone as a result of this persecution.
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