SCOTTISH WITCHES AND WARLOCKS

Volume III - Witchcraft in the British Isles

(Three Hands Press $23.50/£15.99)

 

In the village of Cullen in Forfarshire, Scotland an arrest warrant was served in January 1657 for Margaret Philp accusing her of practising witchcraft. Her female servant testified she had seen her mistress have dealings with a spirit in the shape of a talking hare. Philp put out a bannock or oak cake, a jug of beer and a piece of meat for the sprite and the next morning they were gone. On another occasion the spirit hare entered the house through a window and drank some beer left out for it in a bowl. Far from an isolated account magic traffic with such spirits was well documented into the 19th century with Highlanders leaving offerings of milk and honey at prehistoric burial mounds and standing stones for the faeries. Magical intercourse with the faery folk was only one aspect of Scottish witchcraft as revealed in this book. Witches stole milk from their neighbour’s cows, raised storms to down sailors at sea and cursed their enemies with wasting diseases. Scottish Witches and Warlocks examines the witchcraft beliefs of early modern Scotland, such as spirit conjuration, herbal healing, faery lore and the diabolical pact, as well as the close links between Scottish witches, the nobility and royalty.