NcLevin,Margaret
Case Reference: C/EGD/1533
| Case Ref | C/EGD/1533 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Margaret NcLevin |
| Case Start Date | 26/1/1662 |
| Case Date | 14/2/1662 |
| Age at Case | 29 |
| Common Name | NcLevin,Margaret |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Folk Healing | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: There is quite a lot of detail from NcLevin's confessions. She named at least 20 or more other people who attended meetings. The objective for these meetings would appear to have been malefice, particularly killing children and adults.
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | Yes |
| Singing | No |
Notes: A group carried a corpse on a beirtree. NcLevin appears to have named various people who attended different meetings.
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| Moor | Corsmore | No |
| between Kilmachalmok and Edinmore | No | |
| Moor | between Mikell Kilmorie and Killeferne Moore | No |
| Lochfyne | No |
She refused his advances initially but the the devil hurt the middle finger of her right hand - he almost cut it off - which was very painful. Also her right leg was hurt. She then agreed to make a covenant with him in return for his healing her injuries.
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| New name | Jonat |
| Paction | made covenant |
Devil Appearances
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Male | man |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | ✓ |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: Said she knew charms to cure the evil eye, wristing or brising (?) and the glaick. These involved rituals and charms spoken in Gaelic. She used water, a curchif (handkerchief or scarf), herbs. To cure the glaik she would take the person (child) to the place where the herb grew, avoiding seeing any other person. Picks up the herb through a broch (brooch) takes it home and seiths (sains?/bless) it on the fire. Thsi she would give as a drink, three times.
Ritual Objects
- Water
- Cloth
- Herb
Religious Motifs
- Three
Harm
| Human Illness | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Human Death | ✓ |
| Animal Illness | — |
| Animal Death | — |
| Female Infertility | — |
| Male Impotence | — |
Methods
| Aggravating Disease | — |
|---|---|
| Transferring Disease | — |
| Laying On | — |
| Quarreling | — |
| Cursing | — |
| Poisoning | — |
Healing / Other
| Removal of Bewitchment | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Recognised Healer | — |
| Healing Humans | ✓ |
| Healing Animals | ✓ |
| Midwifery | — |
| Property Damage | ✓ |
| Weather Modification | ✓ |
Disease Notes: Said they took the life of a child when they went to Scoulage. Also confessed to other killings on different occasions, and they all seem to have been children. Asked to remove a bewitchment
Other Maleficia Notes: Claimed the devil took her under his arm out to a boat. She was then to pull out the mast, but the boat did not sink because God intervened. Also said she raised a storm by throwing a stone in the sea.
Property Damage Types
- Boats
Weather Modification Types
- Storm
- All Saints Day
- Harvest
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ninian Allan | Investigator | ||
| Ninian Bannatyne | younger of Kames | Investigator | |
| John Glass | Investigator | ||
| Alexander MacIntyre | Investigator | ||
| David Ramsay | Major | Investigator | |
| James Stewart | Mr | Investigator | |
| Walter Stewart | Investigator | ||
| John Stewart | Mr | Investigator | |
| James Stewart | of Auchinleck | Investigator |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Highland Papers | Vol III, pp 4-12. | |
| Highland Papers | Vol III, p 24-5 | Named in another person's confession. |