North Berwick witch trials
Encyclopedia
The North Berwick witch trials were the trials
in 1590 of a number of people from East Lothian
, Scotland
, accused of witchcraft
in the St Andrew's Auld Kirk in North Berwick
. They ran for two years and implicated seventy people. The accused included Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell
on charges of high treason
. The "witches" held their covens on the Auld Kirk Green, part of the modern-day North Berwick Harbour
area. The confessions were extracted by torture
.
sailed to Copenhagen to marry Princess Anne
, sister of Christian IV, King of Denmark. During their return to Scotland they experienced terrible storms and had to shelter in Norway for several weeks before continuing. The admiral of the escorting Danish fleet blamed the storm on the wife of a high official in Copenhagen whom he had insulted. Several nobles of the Scottish court were implicated, and witchcraft trials were held in both countries.
Very soon more than a hundred suspected witches in North Berwick were arrested, and many confessed under torture to having met with the Devil in the church at night, and devoted themselves to doing evil, including poisoning the King and other members of his household, and attempting to sink the King's ship. One of the accused in particular, Agnes Sampson
was examined by James VI at his palace of Holyrood House. She was fastened to the wall of her cell by a witch's bridle
, an iron instrument with 4 sharp prongs forced into the mouth, so that two prongs pressed against the tongue, and the two others against the cheeks. She was kept without sleep, thrown with a rope around her head, and only after these ordeals did Agnes Sampson confess to the fifty-three indictments against her. She was finally strangled and burned as a witch.
Nearly 2,000 witchcraft trials survive in the Scottish archives, the vast majority from the period 1620-1680. According to T. C. Smout, between 3,000 and 4,000 accused witches may have been killed in Scotland in the years 1560-1707.
/doom metal
group Cathedral
have a song called "North Berwick Witch Trials" on their 2006 album The Garden of Unearthly Delights
.
Trial (law)
In law, a trial is when parties to a dispute come together to present information in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court...
in 1590 of a number of people from East Lothian
East Lothian
East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, accused of witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
in the St Andrew's Auld Kirk in North Berwick
North Berwick
The Royal Burgh of North Berwick is a seaside town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is situated on the south shore of the Firth of Forth, approximately 25 miles east of Edinburgh. North Berwick became a fashionable holiday resort in the 19th century because of its two sandy bays, the East Bay and the...
. They ran for two years and implicated seventy people. The accused included Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell
Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell
Francis Stewart, Earl Bothwell , was Commendator of Kelso Abbey and Coldingham Priory, a Privy Counsellor and Lord High Admiral of Scotland. Like his stepfather, Archibald Douglas, Parson of Douglas, he was a notorious conspirator, who died in disgrace...
on charges of high treason
High treason
High treason is criminal disloyalty to one's government. Participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps...
. The "witches" held their covens on the Auld Kirk Green, part of the modern-day North Berwick Harbour
North Berwick Harbour
The Harbour at North Berwick in East Lothian, Scotland, was originally a ferry port for pilgrims travelling to St. Andrews in Fife. Today the water is home to leisure craft, a famous tourist launch and the remains of the fishing fleet that once dominated the area, while on dry land the Scottish...
area. The confessions were extracted by torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
.
History
This was the first major witchcraft persecution in Scotland, and began with a sensational case involving the royal houses of Denmark and Scotland. King James VIJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
sailed to Copenhagen to marry Princess Anne
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
, sister of Christian IV, King of Denmark. During their return to Scotland they experienced terrible storms and had to shelter in Norway for several weeks before continuing. The admiral of the escorting Danish fleet blamed the storm on the wife of a high official in Copenhagen whom he had insulted. Several nobles of the Scottish court were implicated, and witchcraft trials were held in both countries.
Very soon more than a hundred suspected witches in North Berwick were arrested, and many confessed under torture to having met with the Devil in the church at night, and devoted themselves to doing evil, including poisoning the King and other members of his household, and attempting to sink the King's ship. One of the accused in particular, Agnes Sampson
Agnes Sampson
Agnes Sampson was a Scottish healer and purported witch. Also known as the "Wise Wife of Keith", Sampson is most famous for her part in the North Berwick witch trials in the later part of the sixteenth century....
was examined by James VI at his palace of Holyrood House. She was fastened to the wall of her cell by a witch's bridle
Scold's bridle
A scold's bridle, sometimes called "the branks", was a punishment device for men and women, also used as a mild form of torture. It was an iron muzzle in an iron framework that enclose the head. The bridle-bit was about 2 inches long and 1 inch broad, projected into the mouth and pressed down on...
, an iron instrument with 4 sharp prongs forced into the mouth, so that two prongs pressed against the tongue, and the two others against the cheeks. She was kept without sleep, thrown with a rope around her head, and only after these ordeals did Agnes Sampson confess to the fifty-three indictments against her. She was finally strangled and burned as a witch.
Nearly 2,000 witchcraft trials survive in the Scottish archives, the vast majority from the period 1620-1680. According to T. C. Smout, between 3,000 and 4,000 accused witches may have been killed in Scotland in the years 1560-1707.
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Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
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Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
group Cathedral
Cathedral (band)
Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style,...
have a song called "North Berwick Witch Trials" on their 2006 album The Garden of Unearthly Delights
The Garden of Unearthly Delights (album)
The Garden of Unearthly Delights is the eighth full-length album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released on January 26, 2006...
.