Smyrna times., 1937-01-07
SCOTLAND LED
IN WITCHCRAFT
Palm Given to NOrthland i'm a
Revived Discussion Con-
cerning 1t
1000 EXECU TION

London Although several anti
quarians have presented evidence
in London papers giving the Ameri-
can colonies a clean bill of health
in regard to repeated accusations
that alleged witches were once actu-
ally burned there. mooted ques-
tion still remains and its discussion
has mounted to fever attitude: What
part of the United Kingdom was
most culpable in this respect, Eng
land, Wales. Ireland or Scotland?
Scientific opinion is making out
good case for Scotland, with a rec
ord of 1000 executions, although one
writer declares that strangulation
(worryit, and not fire, was used as
a means of exit at the stake. An
other writer, however, while admit
ting that strangulation was some
times used, declares that the stake
with fire was a much more popular
form of execution, and he writes:
"Rev. Dr. Lauchlan MacLean
Watt, Glasgow, tells that in 1858
warlock, duly condemned, was 'wor-
ryit' (strangled) at the stake on the
Castlehill of Edinburgh. But in that
same year four women were burned
to death in the same place, all con-
Tossing their covenant with hell,
while presently nine witches from
Tranent all went the same way,
with confessions in their mouths.
School Master Done to Death.
Then there was the noted case of
DR.. Fian, school master, Saltpans,
1891, who was first strangled, then
put into great fire. and burned on
the Castlehill of Edinburgh.
"Or we may take what is known
as the wittiest representation of a
witch trial in the English language
the sketch, The Devil to Pay in
the Table Talk of Shirley by Skel-
ton. There the minister of Cudie-
stane declared that the witch on tri-
al had no title to be burned alive.
She was not, he said. first-class
witch. She must be 'worryit' first.
But even there, out of .en old worn-
en-, although two were strangled,
eight were burned to death.
From the official records-and
many are available-it is clear that
of the 1000 so-called witches burned
in Scotland only a fraction under
went the minor horrible death by
strangulation before the burning at
the stake.
But l shall confine myseL to the
case of Aberdeen, dreadful exam
pie, where the records are clear
and full, and where, in 1596-97 alone,
% women and man were burned to
death. Says Kennedy, the annalist:
They were, of course, condemned
to the flames, and in order to make
due impression on the minds Of
the people their sufferings took
place at short intervals at the Cas-
tlehill.'
Last Execution in l722.
These shocking occurrences
went on in Aberdeen well into the
Seventeenth century, although the
last person to be tried by a lord of
justiciary was brought up at Dunn
fries Circuit court as late as 1709,
and the very last person to under
go trial for witchcraft ir Scotland
was an old woman who was brought
before the deputy sheriff of Suther-
land and condemned, at Dornoch,
in l722.
mot everybody in Scotland was
pleased by the cessation of witch
burning, and the repeal of the stat
ute of King James authorizing the
same, 1735.
in 1743 the Associate Presbytery
of Scotland-the noted Erskine Sc
ceders from the Church of Scotland
declared that the penal statutes
against witches have been repealed
by Parliament contrary to the ex-
press law Of God; and more singu-
lar still even in falS Rev Iarpoc