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Who Did What Now
164. The North Berwick Witch Trials
01:15:44
King James VI and the Conspiracy of Witches
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Mayra Amit
A mochi moment from Mark who writes I just want to thank you for making GLP1s affordable. What would have been over $1,000 a month is just $99 a month with Mochi. Money shouldn't be a barrier to weight. Three months in and I have smaller jeans and a bigger wallet.
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Katy Charlwood
You're the best.
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Mayra Amit
Thanks, Mark. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.
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Katy Charlwood
Mark is a Mochi member, compensated for his story. Hello delicious friends, and welcome to who did what Now? The history podcast. That's not your estuary class. With me, your host, Katy Charlwood, history harlot and reader of books who's feeling a wee bit lightheaded right now because I have had two nosebleeds today. I haven't had a nosebleed in 25 years. So guess who has to go get their blood pressure checked tomorrow. Oh, my. Oh, my. And so, yes, more gag information is coming out so soon for dates in Ireland. I do have The London Show, November 8th. If you haven't got your tickets yet, get your damn tickets. Because once they're gone, they're gone. And I don't know if I'm going to make it to the UK next year, depending on how things work out. So busy, busy be. So that is happening. Oh, I've got blood on myself. Honestly, I. I just started bleeding at work. And then as I was walking home, I was like five minutes away from the house and I'm like, oh, my nose is bleeding again. And next thing you know, blood has covered half of my face. I look like a messy vampire, really. Which fitting for the season because it's, you know, the Halloween season. And I was like, oh, God, what if I scare all the children on the street as I'm walking home? Like, I can't do that. So I'm trying to, like, cover myself up. And all I keep thinking is, like, why don't I have a tampon in my bag? Because that would have, like, plugged this up real good. But I'm also. Next month is my birthday month, so I'm working on, like, stuff that I really love, stuff that's very me. So instead of having like a full month of a specific topic, like le. Witches. You know, witches, Witches, bookie bitches. I'm gonna be doing like one on week on Cult and one week on something else and all that kind of good stuff. But I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, katie, quit your jibber jabber. In fact me. In fact you. I will. But first we have to get our source on. Our sources are the Story of Witches by Willow Wencham. Witches, Midwives and Nurses by Barbara Enrich and Deirdre English. Queen James by Gareth Russell. Agents of Witchcraft in Early Modern Italy and Denmark by Louise Nyholm Kalstrup. Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland, James vi. Demonology and the North Berwick Witch Trials by Lawrence Normand. The framework for the Scottish Witch Hunting in the now 1590s. Scottish witchcraft trials by Julian Goodia and Helen Woollimson. And of course, we have our old friends history.com and biography.com. are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then let's begin. Before I actually get into this episode, I should warn anyone and everyone that, you know, this is the abuse of women in history, you know, so be Prepared. If you are uncomfortable with torture, abuse, assault, attacks on women, physically and verbally, I suppose, and death, murder, this might not be the episode for you. You might want to exit stage left and we'll see you next time. But for the rest of you, it would be both difficult and downright foolish to try and talk about the history of witches, not discuss King James's part in it. King James VI of Scotland, first of England, who also tried to get parliament to call him the King of Great Britain. And they were like, no, pal. Like, you cannot demand your own nickname. When you give yourself a nickname, that. That's just not cool. Okay? That's not a thing that you do. But King James VI of Scotland, first of England, was instrumental in fanning the flames of witch fever. He even wrote the book on it and some Jesus fan fiction. But that's neither here nor there. If you listened to the previous episode regarding the Pendle witches, you may already know. But if you haven't, or you want a wee bit of a refresher, let's slip into some context. Women, yes, mainly women had been accused of witchcraft for centuries. Like, if you want the stats, it's approximately 85% of those accused of witchcraft were women. Okay. Some men, some children. Majority adult women. They were accused of cavautting with the devil or his demons for everything from angry words, accidents, natural disasters, anything that could not be explained or that needed a villain. So when things happen in life, like, a lot of the time you want a cause. You want something or someone to blame for whatever incident has occurred. Like, nobody likes the idea that stuff just happens. No rhyme, no reason, but stuff happens, right? And there isn't always a solution, There isn't always a reason or a cause. Sometimes stuff happens and you cannot stop it. It's why I'm terrified of natural disasters, because it's stronger than me. And so you need a scapegoat. You need someone to blame. Enter witches. Because, like, magic has been infused in culture, like, for as long as people have lived. Although a lot of what some people call, like witchcraft and like alchemy and the like is just science that people didn't understand yet. But it is what it is. So the witch trials, they occurred as early as the 13th century. Now, they may have been earlier, but we do not have the documentation to support that. But they really hit their stride between the 15th and 18th centuries in Europe and the New World in, like, North America. Patriarchal societies in which men held the positions of power. Legal, political, religious areas that were typically under the rule of Christendom. I could have just said Christianity, couldn't I? But no, Christian, dumb. I've said it now the words are out there. The spread and grip of Christianity throughout the Western world pushed the older religions to sort of the edges, the fringes of society to the uncommon. Now, older religions, sort of different, older, all these, they become associated with evil and witchcraft. And not only do you have that spreading its wings, but religious upheaval played a great part when the Christian church split. So the Roman Catholic Church, as it is now known it splintered with the introduction of Protestant Christianity, which created distrust within communities. So you had, you know, Christianity, and so you would have like Roman Catholic, sort of that Christian side, and then you would have Eastern Orthodox. Those were the two big boys in the whole Christian system. And then Christianity starts splintering off, right? So you've got Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran. I think the Huguenots were one. There's just Christians, kind of Christians, Christian lights. Can't believe they've got Christians. You know, there's everybody, right? So on top of religion, you have economic and societal challenges which led to many women, some men, and yes, even a few children being accused of witchcraft. And as I said in the previous podcast episode on the Pendle Witches, whenever there is a rise in moral conservatism, there is also an application of othering in society in which the marginalized are demonized, dehumanised and branded as morally corrupt. Women were convenient scapegoats for plague, pestilence, famine and a stormy sea. But we'll get to that in a moment. The Malleus Maleficarum was Originally published in 1486 by a Dominican inquisitor, Heinrich Kramer. Translated as the Hammer of the Witches, this misogynistic vitriolic text is a very, very lengthy witch hunting manual. And it was sold in bookstalls and cathedral and university towns. But it wasn't just there. It was popular because it had a vast readership. It spread beyond the clergy, right? Beyond religious leaders. You had the gentry and the nobles. Royals were reading this. Kings, queens, dukes, everybody, right? This wasn't something on the fringes. This was very much like I'm trying to think of if we ever get another Game of Thrones book. Well, we probably not. He's probably going to die before it comes out. Unless it's already written. Sidebar. What if George R. Man has Martin, Martin, Martin. That was weird. If George R.R. martin has written Winds of Winter, he's written the end of Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire. If he has written the ending to the saga of the Song of Ice and Fire and he's got it set aside only to be published upon his demise so that, you know, he doesn't have to deal with the backlash and the, like, people's feelings regarding the end of the story. Because I have a feeling it's like that probably if he has finished it, because, you know, the TV show was good to a point, and then they just like, I've never seen something lose momentum as quickly as that. Like, ow. But anyway, back to this. So King James of Scotland, King James VI of Scotland, I should say, was one such reader of books. Oh, I don't like that. I got a dirty taste in my mouth there. No, I'm the reader of books. You're just a book reader. Blech. James had become King of Scotland when he was only 13 months old, when his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate the throne. So you may notice that he is King James of Scotland and she is Mary Queen of Scots. So, like, before him, right, the whole concept of being like the crowned person in Scotland, right, wasn't that you were a ruler of the land, you were a ruler of the people, you represented the people. So you would have been King of Scots. Queen of Scots, not King or Queen of Scotland. Like, that was the idea behind it. But he's like, no, no, no, no. I am the King of Scotland. So Mary, Mary Queen of Scots was a Catholic, but Scotland had undergone a Protestant Reformation, and so James had been raised to be an obedient Protestant king. Being Protestant was something that was going to hold him in good stead, royally, politically, as Queen. Elizabeth I, who was Church of England and also Protestant, had no heirs. And so good Queen Bess would be looking for an heir to the throne of England and Wales, a Protestant heir to the throne. Like, I'm not sure when it was, but it did happen that they changed the law, like Parliament changed the law, so that no Catholic could become like the King or Queen of England. Anyway. Scotland had been in turmoil since James ascended the throne, with many, and I do mean many, kidnapping and murder attempts on the young king's life. And events like the Black Dinner with would make an impact on the manner in which James would dole out punishment in the name of self preservation. When James VI of Scotland was 23, it had not gone unnoticed by everyone around him, everyone important that he avoided. Women lacked an heir and had many intense attachments with male friends. Here's the thing. Legitimate children were necessary in carrying on the royal line. And so a marriage was on the cards. Like, you had to be married, you had to have a legitimate heir. This was something that was required in order for the legacy to continue. Because if not, like, it's. It's a power struggle, it's an issue. And James, he had been raised and molded in such a way that like, they wanted this to continue to create the Scotland that they wanted. And so he needed to get hitched. A marriage was arranged between James and Anna of Denmark. She would then change her name to Anne because that's what happened. You'd be whatever your name was in the country you were from. And then you would come over after you got married and you change your name. Like Catherine of Aragon, she was Catalina, like, because it, she was fucking Spanish, you know. And her name was changed when she moved, you know. So Anne was a princess, a daughter of the Danish Norwegian king, Frederick ii. So Denmark, Norway was one kingdom at the time and it was a Protestant nation. It had what was called a real union. So it was a dual monarchy. Yeah. So it was also fairly close with Scotland. It had a shared history. And of course it had like the Orkney Islands. They're like close to Norway. Like Stavanger in Norway is actually closer to Edinburgh than London is. Like many royal marriages at the time, the couple were wed by proxy. And what that means is that they each had a service and someone stands in for the bride or the groom in their respective locations. And this was really common with, with sort of royal marriages. It was like, here's a little like proxy wedding and then they would have like a proper royal wedding after. Right. As it was necessary. So anne, she's like 14 at the time, which is a little younger than James, who's 23, and she's about to set sail for Scotland. Unfortunately, the weather had other plans. There is an unprecedented storm during storm season and Anne is unable to get there. So she actually sails from Denmark and then has to turn around because it's so stormy and has to return to Norway. Like Norway is the only place she can go. So when James, mail order bride doesn't arrive by the estimated shipping date, he takes matters into his own hands. And by his own hands, I mean a well trained group of seamen. Oh, sorry. A well trained group of seamen would help James traverse across the North Sea to collect his new bride. And because he has to sail there, he has to get to her before, like the storm season gets too bad, like before the seas get too rough. And so he has to he has to like, contact Queen Elizabeth the First, he has to like write her a letter or get the ambassador to do it. And he has to inform them that he's sailing to get his bride, that it's not like a war fleet. He's like, I just want to let you know because, like, the English navy at this point was doing very well. And James is like, ah, I don't. I'm not doing anything. I'm not doing anything at all. Don't be scared and don't destroy my fleet of ships. So off he sails to Norway to get to his new bride and they are together for the first time and they travel down to Copenhagen in Denmark and this is where he is exposed to the Danish royal court. And as it turns out, his new in laws were they believed that they knew the exact cause of this emergency. Witches. Witches. Spooky bitches. Witch hunting had been the norm in the southern section of Denmark Norway for over 40 years, with the first documented executions in 1540. As far back as the 1530s, it was seen as the duty of godly people to hunt down witches like wolves. When Denmark Norway had converted to Protestantism from Catholicism in, it was expected that such extremist views would peter out. Spoiler alert. They did not. In fact, demonologists would use the terms like heresy, apostasy, idolatry, sacrilege and Catholicism to describe witchcraft. Basically, anything non Protestant could fall under the veil of witchcraft. And what's interesting is that it's not the clergy, it's not the church leaders pushing this narrative at the time, but royal officials. And it was here that James had arrived. James, who had been raised by the most dour of Christians. Now, I would say that Scottish Presbyterians, like historically, were as miserable as sin, but sinning's not allowed. So Queen Anne's fleet had tried to pass through Denmark Skagerak Strait six times and failed on the last attempt. Her boat began to leak and they had to retreat to the nearest port and that was in Oslo. And like Oslo is the. The capital of Norway and that is actually where her and James met in person for the first time. And that's when they got married properly, officially in person irl. So like she tried six times, didn't make it, had to just retreat. So once as just weather, twice is disheartening. But sex storms, well, that's witchcraft and magic. The newlywed royal couple spent Christmas at Anne's Brother King Christian IV's court at Helsingal, where admirals and courtiers were arguing over whether witches had attacked the royal family. So here's the thing. By preventing the Queen to get to the King and have the royal wedding and the royal bedding, most importantly, this would prevent royal heirs being produced. And so this is an attack on the line of succession. And anyone who has heard anything about Henry VIII knows, and I understand it's a different country, but like, this is sort of a general rule with a lot of royals in the lineage. Right. And it is the idea that the line of succession and to attack the line of succession is to attack the Crown itself. Any attempt to poison or destroy the line of succession for a lot of countries was considered treason. So the following summer, it was alleged that witches had caused sea storms by sending demons out to the ships in barrels. Obviously, because they may be demonic entities, but flying is outwith the realm of possibility. And so these demons that had floated across the sea in barrels had attacked the hull of Queen Anne's ships. This resulted in Anna Koldings, Karen Weffers, Marin Morgensis, Marin, Mats Bruges and eight others put on trial for witchcraft in Copenhagen. These women were tortured and they confessed. And two of them were executed. Like they confessed to causing storms by sending demons out in barrels to attack the hull of the Queen's ships while making a storm. Which honestly just feels like they don't have a lot of respect for the demons. Also, like, but in all seriousness, two women were executed for allegedly sending demons in barrels to attack a ship on the North Sea. Or not. Wasn't even on the North Sea at that point, but it's, you know, on a treacherous part of the sea. The royal couple sailed to Scotland in May after the storm season. But this journey was also plagued with bad weather. And by bad weather, I mean a terrible storm. Naturally, both the Scottish and the Dano Norwegian royal families believed that witches were plotting to murder them. Back in Scotland, the Scottish Witchcraft act had been introduced in 1563, which is almost 30 years prior. This was a serious offence. Practicing any form of witchcraft, even consulting with a witch, was punishable by death. And King James was going to utilise these laws to set up his new tribunal, the purpose of which was to root out all of the witches in his kingdom.
- [28:41]
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Mayra Amit
A Mochi moment from Tara, who writes for years, all my doctor said was eat less and move more, which never worked. But you know what does? The simple eating tips from my nutritionist at Mochi. And after losing over 30 pounds, I can say you're not just another GLP source, you're a life source. Thanks, Tara. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.
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Katy Charlwood
Tara is a mochi member compensated for her story. King James VI of Scotland has just returned from Denmark, which was being very overt with its tackling of witchery and the like. And so he has this mixed in with his extreme religious upbringing and obsession with demonology. Like, and something to remember as well is that the accusation of witchcraft was a legitimate or legal way to target any women that a royal man may feel threatened by. It's just another avenue to take. It's a possibility that James VI may have been concerned by female power. England had had two female rulers, two queens, one after the other, Mary and Elizabeth, led the country of England. So he's grown up surrounded by female power and the more powerful nation, you know, because it was at the time, like, again, he had to write a letter to Elizabeth to be like, hey, don't attack my ships. I'm just trying to get my wife. So he already had that. And his own mother, who was probably just an idea to him, really, because he didn't know her because again, he became king at 13 months old. His own mother, Mary, Queen of Scots, was the Scottish monarch who was accused of plotting the murder of her husband, his father, Lord Darnley, and then married the chief suspect of of her late husband's murder. And James was raised by Protestant men, fostered by them in a way. And so when she rebelled and tried to reclaim her throne, James's foster father, the Earl of Mar, was poisoned. Then the Earl of Morton, who succeeded him, was executed. And then the Earl of Lennox, who may or may not have been his lover, was also executed, which is basically a, like, domino effect of things happening for him. And so James has grown up surrounded by dominant women. Elizabeth, who held power and was the only one who could give him more, and his mother, a possibly murderous militant, who had been executed by the woman who held all the cards, right, like and all his life, he has grown up with the threat of danger of being kidnapped or killed. Plots galore against him. So I wouldn't be surprised that that kind of environment would make someone, I don't know, slightly paranoid. So, yes, when he returns to Scotland with his new bride, James is there. And he doesn't believe that it was merely Danish witches attacking him. He feared the enemies within his own court had employed witches to attack him. Of course, a witch would still need a good view of the North Sea in order to cast a prominent spell on it, and that will. Which will bring us to the coastal town of. Of North Berwick, but not yet. So a lot of previous witch accusations in Europe had dealings with the devil specifically, and that the devil witches were direct enemies of God's church and they attacked the church. That's kind of. That's kind of the gist, you know. Whereas James had a more royally focused version of demonology, effectively, he believed that there was an international conspiracy of witches, hundreds of them, deliberately attacking kings. What's going on? It's a conspiracy of witches. Okay, I need to put that on a T shirt, right, don't I? What's this? Conspiracy of witches attacking king? Since 1540, James suspected his own cousin, Francis Stuart, the Earl of Bothwell, the man who he had left in charge of the country while he sailed to Denmark, Norway, to retrieve his new wife. He suspected him of using magic to try and depose him. Which brings us to two women, Gaelish Duncan and Agnes Samson. Gaelish, known as Gilly. Yet outlander fans. Yes. This was clearly a deliberate choice. Okay, clearly a choice. They named a character after her. Yes. So Gilly was a servant of David Seton, a bailie or magistrate of Tranent in Lothian. This town was only like 10 miles outside of Edinburgh, and it's the home of Lord Setting, David's very important cousin. So, like, he actually acted as, like a man of the chamber for him and stuff because he was, like, fancier than he was because David is not tailed. Like, he's doing well for himself, but he doesn't have that. So Gilly, although she worked for the Bailey during the day, cooking, cleaning, laundry, she was also busy in the evenings. Known as a healer, she knew enough remedies to care for those in need. Her employer, of course, believed that she was using magic to cure people.
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Momentous Brand Representative
Because.
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Katy Charlwood
Because as a woman, she couldn't possibly have any knowledge of medicine. I mean, legally at the time, she wasn't allowed to study medicine, but, you know, people didn't survive for 1500 years. Without knowing a thing or two about which plant makes the itching stop or soothes your throat or kamsa fever. Suspecting his servant of toiling over a cauldron and using the dark arts, he did what was the most reasonable thing at the time, which was to illegally and unofficially torture her with thumb screws to get her to confess to the crime of witchcraft. As with most confessions, Gilly provided a list of women who were also possibly witches, one of which being Agnes Sampson, who was actually imprisoned at this time. So Agnes hailed from Netherkeith, which is near Haddington, and she was suspected by churchmen and local magistrates for witchery. And she was a bigger fish to fry than Gellie, as her patients were of higher birth. Like, this is the funny thing. It's like word of mouth is the best form of promotion. And clearly someone got help from her. And then it spreads and it spreads and it spreads and it just shows you that, like witchcraft is, it's illegal. Like, consulting with a witch is illegal and is punishable by death. But when you're desperate enough, you don't care who kills you sometimes. You know what I mean? So Agnes is viewed as one of the cunning folk, and cunning is someone with all the knowledge and cures, you know, the old ways. And her supposed patients. So allegedly, these were Ladies Littledean and Roslyn, the lady of Kilberbarton, Laird Parker's daughter, Laird, Rachel's son, and the wife of the Sheriff of Haddington. And if this is true, if these people did seek out Agnes for cures and treatments, well, they are just as guilty as she is in the eyes of the law with the Witchcraft Act. They're all to blame. Which brings us to the wives and daughters of the wealthy Lord Patrick Edmiston. They claim to have been attacked by the Grim, a supernatural black dog, and when questioned, tortured. Agnes said that she utilized the demon dog to use its magic powers to reveal which patients would live or die. Well, I mean, no point wasting the poultice, I suppose. The dog revealed to her that the Dowager Lady Euphen would die, but at least two of her daughters would survive. But not all. The devil had a plan. And Agnes, she's thrown a spanner in the works because she saved Lady Torrance. Torrance. No, don't do it. Don't do it, Kitty. You're stronger than this. No, I'm not. I'm sexy, I'm cute, I'm popular. The boot. I'm bitching. Great hair. The boys all love to stare. I'm Wanted. I'm hot, I'm everything you're not. I'm pretty, I'm cool. I dominate the school. Who am I? Just guess. Guys wanna touch my chest. I'm rocking. I smile and many think I'm vile. I fly in, I jump. You can look, but don't you hump. Woo. I major, I roar. I swear I'm not a. We cheer and we lead. We act like we're on speed. Hate us cuz we're beautiful. Well, we don't like you either. We're cheerleaders. We are cheerleaders. Roll call. So sorry about that sidebar. I couldn't. I had to. I'm sorry. Will I even keep it in? Will I? You know, what? If you did it along with me? By the way, you're my people. Okay, so where was I? Lady Torrance. So Lady Torrance, also known as Elizabeth Pringle, that's one of Lady Edmonton's daughters, she saves her from drowning herself. So she like just throws a spanner in the works. Like she stops it from happening, right? And the way that she stops her from drowning, like the way that she makes this happen is that she has a variation of the Apostles Creed for those of you who will not raise to mumble things. In drafty buildings with stained glass depictions of a man wearing only a loincloth heading to his very public death is a Catholic prayer. And well, for Agnes, it was a personal prayer. And others, they may have seen it as a bastardization of the Apostles Creed. Although for people like Agnes, religions seeped in. They blended the old with the new. Like folklore and traditional healing methods, they all sort of came together. Christianity sort of meshed with traditional culture, right? So when Christianity first sort of made its way into the Isles, so like Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales, all those, all those areas, it sort of mixed in with the folklore. Now you see this very, very obviously in Irish sort of legends, myths and legends, tales, right? Because it's sort of like Christianity becomes a sort of improv. It's very much yes, and it's that sort of idea of yes, and. And that's what Christianity is in a lot of these tales. And I think the most obvious is like the children of Lur. So it's Clanlar, which is the. The children are turned into swans by their evil stepmother. Because that. That's just a theme throughout all stories, apparently. So they are cursed. They are cursed to live their lives as swans. And they're sent to like these three terrible places and they end up telling their story to a bard. Because a bard is how, like, information gets around. So the bard goes on, tells her stories, and that's usually kind of where the traditional end of it would be. But there became a yes, and. Which is like, they're found by a monk who. Because they can speak and sing like humans, but they're swans. So there are swans, and they're singing and talking, and so they learn prayer and they sing like a mass, and the curse is broken and they all die. But the thing is, it's like they turn to human and then they die. And that's because all of our stories end in a very depressing way. But, like, the. The monk wasn't originally in the story. It was just tacked on. And this kind of happens through, like, different pieces. And so the easiest way for something to be part of a culture, to become part of a culture is to actually integrate, is to meld and mesh and mix. And this happened with sort of traditional cultural healings and medicines and Christianity, like, they would meld. And this is where someone like Agnes exists. So Agnes has a prayer, one taught to her by her father. And the way that this works is that if she makes it through the full prayer, you're going to survive. If she does not make it through the entire prayer uninterrupted, Right. If she's interrupted in any way, if someone, like, bursts in, if someone comes into the room or talks to her or anything like that and stops her doing the prayer, or if she messes up the words as she's doing it, like, you're gonna die. Like, that's. That's how it works. And this is Agnes. I trow in Almighty God that wrought both heaven and earth and all of naught into his dear son Christ Jesu into that Annapolis, Lord, I true was gotten of the Holy Ghost born of the Virgin Mary. Stop it. To heaven that all will then. And. And sits at his father's right hand he bade us come and there to doom both quick and dead as he thought convene I trow also in the Holy Ghost in Holy cock. My hope is most that holy ship o' er Hallowell's winds to ask forgiveness of my sins and sign to rise in flesh and bone the life that never more has gain. Thou sayest, Lord, loved mocked be ye that formed and made mankind of me. Thou cost me on the holy cross and lent me body, soul and voice and ordained me to heaven's bliss. Wherefore I thank thee, Lord, of this and all your halloweris loved be to pray to Them to pray to me and keep me from that felon who fee and from the sin that soul would slay thou, Lord, for thy bitter passion to keep me from sin and worldly shame and endless damnation. Grant me the joy never will be gain. Sweet Jesus Christus, Amen. But prayer was not the only weapon in her arsenal. She brought special charms. A token for under your pillow and another at the foot of your bed. And this was followed by another prayer. And when she repeated this, she would hold you all kinds of ills that ever may be. In Christ's name, I conjure thee. I conjure thee. Be more and less with all the virtues of the mass. And right so by the nail sore that nailed Jesus and no more. And right so by the same blood that wrecked over the rueful rood. For forth of the flesh and of the bone and in the earth and in the stone, I conjure thee in the Lord's name. And so she does this prayer, and taking off the pain and suffering of the patient, right? And taking it upon herself. So she removes the sickness, the illness, the pain, and sort of absorbs it. Weakened by the experience, Agnes would be helped home by her daughter. And the next morning, after a night of agony, the sickness is thrown from her window and onto a passing dog. I felt like everybody needed to know that information because specifically a passing dog, which makes me wonder how often were dogs passing by her window that she was throwing illness upon it. And also, what are you deliberately hurting dogs, Agnes? I mean, I was on your side until now. I mean, I'm still on your side because you don't deserve what's coming. So the dog, the stuff would be thrown at the dog or the. I don't know, the idea of illness, pain would be thrown at the dog, and that's when the patient would start to heal. Now, this. This was a. A fairly common practice for healers of the time to take the sickness and then sort of pass it on, like to send it away. But the prayers, the prayers and all of the sort of idolatry that she. That she referenced, these. These are Catholic in nature. She had learned them from her father. And this is like she even knew the Latin, like the prayer of Ave Maria, right? Because Latin was how church was taught, how the church was taught. That was all of your sermons in the Catholic Church were in Latin. That was just how it worked, right? And this would have all been taught to her. Like everything that she learned from her father was before the Protestant Reformation had taken hold in Scotland. It would have been what he knew, and with changes, especially changes over an entire country, like they start in sort of the cities and the populated areas and then they spread out. And like in her father's time, they were revered holy words, but now in the Protestant state and in the mouth of a woman, they were dangerous words indeed. Another accused witch, Janet Kennedy, claimed that she had been compelled to meet with Agnes Samson and that her magic was, was too strong to resist. Like, Agnes Samson was sort of, I want to say, kind of had a reputation, not quite like a celebrity, but she was well known. And so she was known as a healer, as a person who cured ails and the like. She did so much. And so when her name brought about, well, people recognize it. When Agnes and Gilly were both questioned, they admitted that Agnes had conspired with Danish witches to interfere in royal affairs and to stop the Queen making it to Scottish shores. This would be a fatal confession.
- [51:43]
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- [52:13]
Mayra Amit
A Mochi moment from Tara who writes for years all my doctor said was eat less and move more, which never worked, but you know what does? The simple eating tips from my nutritionist at Mochi. And after losing over 30 pounds, I can say you're not just another GLP source, you're a life source. Thanks, Tara. I'm Mayra Amit, founder of Mochi Health. To find your mochi moment, visit joinmochi.com.
- [52:39]
Katy Charlwood
Tara is a mochi member, compensated for her story. I'm not saying it's suspicious. I'm just saying that if the very Protestant king returns home and sets up a tribunal to hunt out witches and this Catholic gentry adjacent magistrate is suddenly like, here's a witch conveniently chopping carrots in my kitchen. I'm just saying I'd have questions. The news of these two witches catches the 20 something year old king's attention and he tells royal officials that the witches were to be tried in Edinburgh, not their hometowns, and he would preside over the trial himself. The women were to be tried in King James VI of Scotland's own home. The palace Holyrood House, with its inner council in attendance and a token jury of local gentry. Of course, the King's decision to try the witches himself transformed what would have been a local hearing into a national show trial. Unsurprisingly, when the King is leading a trial, it is no longer a normal court process. It is a show, a flex of power, and inevitably would lead to injustice. Gallus Duncan and Agnes Samson are questioned by the King himself. And they named more suspects, more women accused. He took great delight presiding over the trial and his active participation in it, not only for his skewed perception of justice, but as a power play of King James VI for facing those who threatened him with ungodly magic. Later that year, the women were tortured to discover which had attempted to curse him and his new wife. And this. This is fucking horrid. Agnes entire body had been shaved as jailers searched her for a devil's mark, a spot or wart allegedly made by a demon or familiar. They saw nothing on her naked skin, and so they shaved her. Her head, her armpits, her pubis. A rope tightly wrapped around her head and squeezed at the temples until she squirmed and cried in agony. It was only when she was sexually assaulted that that a mark was found. A mark discovered when her privities were searched. Her genitals. I swear, whenever they claim to find something between the legs, like, it's a witch's wart, it's a secret nipple, it's between the legs, it's a clitoris, right? Like, they find something between the legs and the men are like, oh, what's this? Mmm. I'm convinced. And Agnes was strong. She had survived this long. She had been arrested, questioned by the King, imprisoned and tortured. But this, this made her say, fuck this for a game of soldiers. This was too much. It was this sexual assault that led to her giving a false confession. Other suspects, like Janet Stratton and Donald Robinson, publicly claimed that they had been tortured into giving false evidence in the trial. Unsurprisingly, all of the suspects parroted off exactly what the King wanted to hear. And Gilly? The thing about Gilly is we don't even know if she actually knew Agnes before the trials. Like, had she heard of her? Was the information fed to her? We don't know. But she had stated that Agnes had conspired to thwart the King's marriage since the previous storms in November in 1589. Allegedly, Agnes Sampson proclaimed to Gilly, now the King is going to fetch his wife, but I shall Be there before them. And Agnes, she agreed to the statement in court. In late 1590, almost a year after the alleged magic attack, Agnes told the court that the devil himself had told her that the queen could not reach Scotland unless the king fetched her. Which feels like the devil is like, you know what? She needs to be accompanied by her husband. I don't think it's fair that she travels an unaccompanied queen without a king. That's just not right. Like, the devil said that. Really? Really. And what's the nail in the coffin is that Agnes says that she asked if the king should have any bairns. Like she asked the devil, and she said that she had magically been there at his wedding night. And she proved it by whispering in the king's ear the very words that he had said to his new wife. This is something that people bring up, actually all the time when it comes to Agnes, Samson, they're like, how did she know? How could she possibly have any concept of what was said? As if royals were not constantly surrounded by servants, right? They were constantly servants that they have learned to ignore, right? It's lisleps, the sink ships you dip sheds, not demons in barrels. But to King James VI of Scotland, those words were proof of magic. Not by gossipy servants or anything. Angelus Duncan and Agnes Sampson were both poor, uneducated people. And like many roped into the trail, they were used to a world where powerful men spoke for them and spoke over them. And to be questioned by the king himself, well, that's. That's a level of power that would instill fear in them. And so Agnes, she didn't defy her prosecutors when she was asked when she started serving the devil, she gave an answer when she was widowed. An isolated, impoverished woman who shared a bed with her youngest children for warmth. A woman who struggled, a woman who used the knowledge passed on to her from her father to try and keep her head above water. And Gilly said that she and the others worked for the Earl of Bothwell to provide gold and silver for Agnes and her children to provide for them. After the trial, Gully admitted to slandering Agnes and that she had been afraid and was tortured into lying. The claims they made during the trial, which served to reinforce King James belief in demonology, those claims got wilder and wilder. They claim to have created a storm during storm season on a particularly rough part of the sea. Via a Danish Scottish witch alliance. Copenhagen witches sent a black dog to swim underneath and damage the royal ships, especially the keel of Queen Anne's personal ship. Meanwhile in Leith, a christened cat. A christened cat was thrown into the sea with limbs robbed from the graves of dead men, and yet no mention of demons in barrels. Then allegedly the devil made Agnes mould a wax picture of the king and he would shake some evil at it and then melt it, which would then dissolve the king's life. The witches were also to kill and roast a toad and then, like, hang it up and let the poison drop out onto an oyster shell mixed with stale urine and an adder's skin, which was to be dropped onto the king or, like rubbed onto his clothing to then poison him. They were then to convene at North Berwick with over a hundred delegates, six men and buckets of. Buckets of women. So the Sabbath meeting of the witch cult was held in St Andrew's Kirk, which is like the church in North Berwick, 20 whole miles north of Netherkeith, with an inverted church service that mocked the Christian rites. She claimed to have sailed to the church on sieves. She claimed to have sailed to the church on sieves. Right. Sieves, the thing that you sieve flour in. You sift with a sieve. It's full of holes. How did she magically. She magically sailed, but that's okay. I mean, she did originally say that her, like, brother in law or son in law or like some man had driven her up. And then she was like, no, I sailed on a sev. So she gets there and witches, they're dancing jigs and reels up at North Berwick and Gilly is playing the Jew Trump. Okay, that's J, E U. It's also known as the Jew harp. And it's. It's a mouth harp or. And I looked this up, a lamellophone instrument. I feel like mouth harp is the nicest term out of all of them here. So there's dancing, there's like some music going on. And they break into the church using black magic. And there a local schoolmaster took a roll call of everyone there, allegedly. Gaylos Duncan. Here. Agnes Samson. Here. Beelzebub. Here. What? Okay. The devil himself demanded a report of all the work done in his name since the last meeting, because he really likes paperwork. Say what you want about that fallen angel, but he really loves a spreadsheet. The devil had it in for King James, specifically because, direct quote, the king is the greatest enemy he hath in the world. So this plays very much into the sort of idolatry, the imagery of how James presents himself. So King James, he instills in his son Charles, the divine right of kings, right, that you are destined by God, chosen by God to rule, right? You are an agent of God, you are all powerful, right? And it shows how he sees himself. Like he is the early modern version of a superhero, right? That's how he sees himself. And so after the devil does his wee speech, all of the witches have to rem him that. That's just how you become a witch. You have to rim the devil. Anyway, the supposed witches were kept in prison at Holyrood House through the Christmas of 1590. And the trial dragged on through 1591. And as the trial progressed, the list of accused in this magical conspiracy against the Crown grew. The court tried to check the demonological elements in the confessions, sort of planning confrontation to weed out leasings, which is like lies or mistruths. And the stories all followed the same core plot, although the coven itself, its attendants were varied from person to person. Like it was often. This was often overlooked that, like nobody could agree who the hell was there. How can you not agree? They had a roll call. Allegedly, the accusations of witchery spread and spread even to the city of Edinburgh and the respectable ladies within using magic to win favorite court receiving anti morning sickness cures. Ginger. They just got ginger. A magic ring, some magic poison, seduction charms and remedies to ease labour in childbirth. The wealthy women could at least afford lawyers. They could not stop the trials because, well, the King was in charge. But the women who didn't have that family support or funding like that power behind them, well, they didn't stand a chance. At the end of her trial, on 27 January 1591, Agnes Simpson was found guilty. She confessed to 58 of the 102 charges brought against her. She was found guilty and was taken to Edinburgh Castle and imprisoned until a stake and pyre could be built. It took a day. She was taken to the stake on 28 January 1591. She was manually strangled. So here's the thing. Strangling a person is not a quick act, it is time consuming. It takes a lot to choke someone. It's not an easy or quick act to do. And it's one of those methods of killing which I think is quite personal. Like you have to have determination to finish that. She is taken out to the stake, manually strangled and then her dead body dumped onto the pyre and burned to ashes to cleanse. Like the whole point of burning witches, the whole point of burning them was to cleanse, like fire cleansed the soul. It Cleansed the evils out, you know. Now, Gilly Duncan, she was still being questioned in December of 1591. She was being tried alongside Agnes's daughter, Bessie Thompson. Also charged were the schoolmaster, John Fean. John was the one accused of telling fortunes and doing magic tricks and also of being the man who did the roll call. He was tortured with hammers and metal leggings. Before he was executed, more were accused of conspiring to depose the King and put Francis Stuart, the Earl of Bothwell, on the throne in his stead. So many people were accused in this, in this conspiracy. Marion Ranking, Janet Campbell, Maggie Thompson, Kate Gray, Isabel Lauder, Alexander Whitelaw, Janet Fairlie, Marion Paterson, Janet Nicholson, Barbara Napier, Helen White, Euphra McAlzian and many, many more. And what's interesting is in this accusation of trying to get rid of him and replace him with someone else in this trial, there isn't a motive, there's no motive, there is no reason given as to why they would want to remove him and replace him with his cousin. It's never brought up, it's never questioned, it's never considered. Like, all of these people are accused, what's the motive? Like, why, why would they care? Especially the people out, like rural, the people living out with Edinburgh, the people who were not directly affected. Like, why would they care who was king? Like, I didn't vote for you, you don't vote for kings. I was like, I didn't know we had a king. I thought we had an autonomous collective. You're fooling yourself. So, no, we all vote for kings. Strange women in ponds distributing sold should not be a basis of our system of government anyway. Why would they care who's king? For a lot of them, it wouldn't affect them, you know. Gilly Duncan and Bessie Thompson were found guilty and executed side by side on 4 December 1591 at Castle Hill outside Edinburgh Castle. Euphan Macalzian was burned alive on 15 June 1591 because she had tried to use witchcraft to try and murder her husband and father in law and magically seduce another man. So here's a fun fact. In this patriarchal society, any, any crimes like this against your husband were considered petty treason. And because of that, Euthan got burnt alive at the stake. Barbara Napier, she is acquitted. Like, so they're like, the jury's like, she's not a witch. And then King James put the jury on trial and so they had to reverse it, like they had to reverse their acquittal. Like he Wanted her to be disemboweled publicly. He wanted Barbara Napier to be publicly disemboweled. Then it was discovered that she was pregnant and she says, fuck this for a game of soldiers. Disappears from history. She's just gone, right? She leaves like, there's no grave, there's no mention of her death, there's nothing. Like, I think she just left and created a new identity or something because, like, it's a period of time where you could do that. The Earl of Bothwell got the heck at a dodge being named as the instigator of the witchcraft conspiracy. And he only returned in 1593 when it had all cooled down a wee bit and he was acquitted, thanks to being a rich dude under courtier, of course. So, like, he had all these people on his side being like, James, really, It wasn't him. Clearly the witches wanted you to think it was him because they're witches. Witches. Spooky bitches. All in all, somewhere between 70 to 200 people were rounded up and accused of being witches. Like that is for this trial. Like, we don't have an exact number just because of the amount of accusations that are being thrown about over the next century. Like, over the next century or so, over 4,000 people were executed in Scotland for the crime of witchcraft. And, like, Scotland didn't have that massive a population anyway, but 4,000, that's a lot. That is quite a lot. After the North Berwick witch trials, King James VI of Scotland continued with his witch obsession and he writes and publishes a three part book called Demonology in 1597. Six years later, he ascends to the English throne and continues pushing the witch hunting narratives, which led to the death of even more innocent people. So ends our story, and so ends our story of the North Berwick witch tribals. It's interesting, right, that it's North Berwick that is the name of the witch trials. Not like the Edinburgh witch trials, because they were held in Edinburgh. Not King James's witch trials, not that, but North Berwick, the town where they allegedly broke into a church and threw a dead cat into the sea. Like, that's that a cat. They got christened as well. First of all, who did they get to christen the cat who did that, who was like, let's baptize this feline. Who. Who was gonna do that? But it's interesting that it was named this, like it made it. Oh, it's out there, it's up there, it's away, it's not here, it's there. And King James, what an Actual shit. I hate King James so much. So thus ends our story. I may have got a bit angry into it. Full on. A wee bit. Sorry. If you were listening with headphones on, I'm sorry, but I just get so pissed off because so many innocent people, marginalized people especially, died and died horribly because this man thought that women made a storm happen and put demons in barrels. Like, I mean, like, he knew about the Danish witch trials. He knew about those. He was aware of those. Right. And his obsession with it just. It just snowballed and it made it grow and it just shows, really. I mean, the majority of people were women. That's not an accident. But we will continue on with more Witchy History next week. So if you liked my retelling of the North Berwick witch trials, apologies for any of the names I mispronounced from Norway and Denmark. So it's time, I guess, to tell you where you can find me, which is everywhere. I'm everywhere. I'm in your cupboard now. No, I'm. Fuck me sideways. I am on all of the socials. I don't really use X, but I'm on all of the socials. I have a. I have something happening soon. I've got news. News is coming. And, yes, it is recommendation time. How could I go without recommendation time? So for listening, let's fight those demons, baby. Golden by Huntrix. Okay, no. Golden by Huntrix. I. I get feelings when I listen to this song. Like, human emotions. I don't really like those, but apparently I have to have them. So I. I love. I love it. I love golden by Huntrix, and I think they deserve it. And it's a bloody bop, by the way, for reading. Now, of course, I am going to recommend Queen James by Gareth Russell, because it's just. It's so good. So good. And watching. You know what I've been watching, right? Rivals. Jillia Kooples. She wrote a book called Rivals, and it's now a TV show. And it stars David Tennant and Danny Dwyer. And I. I have never been more attracted to Danny Dyer in my life. Like, I was never really into Danny Dyer, but seeing him as, like, a middle aged, mustachioed, schlubby man who's, like, really, really sweet. I don't know what it is, right. I love a lost cause, I think, but. Oh, be still my heart. Fred. Fred. Okay. Be still my heart. But also, rip Jolly Cooper. Which is, like, why I ended up watching it, because I was like, I have never paid attention to her stuff, but I should. And so I watched it and huzzah. But yes. So that is it. That is everything for this evening. And I shall bid you good night. Adios. Au revoir. Au revoirs. Aime, my friends. Bye Bye. Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend. Welcome to Brave Commerce. I'm Rachel Tippograph, the founder and CEO of Micmac. And I'm Sarah Hofstadter, chairwoman of Profitero Plus. And this is a show that talks about what's relevant in commerce for the world's biggest brand. Every week, we talk with C Suite executives from the brand shaping our world. Unilever, PepsiCo, Colgate. So many more. We get into the strategies behind their most impactful moves, from digital transformations to new product launches. And. And of course, we always end with our famous last question. What's the bravest thing you've ever done? Each conversation is real, insightful, and always surprising. So if you want unfiltered lessons on leadership and growth, plus a laugh or two along the way, hit subscribe and join us on Brave Commerce.
- [81:12]
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