Agnes Bishop was executed in February 1644, Jonet Bruce in July, and Agnes Vassie, Marion Gibson and Helen Stewart before the end of the summer. The project says the hunt was driven by the parish minister, Hew Kennedy, and local nobles. In September 1644 a wealthy woman, Isobel Ewart, accused the kirk session of scolding and railing against the session and of making money from the witches. She said Kennedy had done many things behind people's backs that he dared not say to their faces.
Margaret Thomsone's appeal to the Privy Council succeeded, and no further accusations followed in the records until 1720. Two women, Margaret Watson and Jean Lachlane, were tried in a separate case at Carnwath in 1644 and 1645, and the Tamethemoon legend is thought to draw from their story.
The pin is placed at West Calder and is approximate, since the parish covered both Mid Calder and West Calder.
Comments