The spoiling of crops is one of the standard harms in Scottish witch trials. The toad plough is distinctive to Gowdie's testimony and is cited in discussions of the folk magic recorded in it. Poor harvests in the years 1649 to 1653 formed part of the background to the witch hunts that followed.
Witchcraft
The Puddock Plough
Fields near Auldearn (the Laird of Park's land)
1662 confession
- Evidence
- Contemporary written record
- Access
- Access unrecorded
- Location
- 57.588, -3.799 (Parish-level only, treat as an area)
Sources: Spooky Scotland, The trial of Isobel Gowdie [other]; Wikipedia, Isobel Gowdie [other]
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