Craig,Jeane
Case Reference: C/EGD/1605
| Case Ref | C/EGD/1605 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Jeane Craig |
| Case Start Date | 17/3/1649 |
| Case Date | 26/4/1649 |
| Age at Case | 47 |
| Common Name | Craig,Jeane |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: No details of accusations or confessions in the Presbytery accounts. We have a large dossier of documents in JC26/13 bundle B. Her case is one of the more detailed ones. She was denounced by her mother. Her threats and curses were accompanied by the gesture of blowing in the 'victims' face.
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Notes: Another witch was described as 'ane of your devilishe soldiers' who Craig sent out to do harm. The harmed man was troubled by wicked spirits that came riding out from under his bed. Craig had divers associates in the coal pit.
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| House | Her house | No |
Was accused of killing babies and stealing them from her sister-in-law for the Devil. Her mother testified that she did this. She did a ritual after childbirth to get the infants for the Devil (see folk culture for description)
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Devil's Mark | |
| Servant | |
| Anti-baptism | |
| Sex |
Devil Appearances
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Animal Devil | cat |
| Male |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | ✓ |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: She caused people to see many 'sichts' [sights] like ugly beasts and whelps. She used a ritual to steal babies from her sister-in-law. She rubbed her with three little enchanted stones after birth and she rubbed the child and the child died. She did something with fox cure and south-running water. She tried to enchant a man by causing his fire to take on the appearance of ugly cats with her likenss in the face. And she cast lumps of raw flesh and blood around his floor. She caused a man to have visions of wiched spirits riding out from under his bed. It is unclear who scratched whom?
Shape Changing
| Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Animal | cats in a fire |
Ritual Objects
- Stones
- Herb
- Water
- Flesh
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: Caused someone to go mad and die; caused cows to give blood instead of milk. She caused her goodsister to loose her breast milk so Jeane could take her children. Caused a disease where blood flowed from a man's skin.
Other Maleficia Notes: She blew in people's faces when uttering curses.
- Sorcery
- Charming
- Scratching
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Baillie | Investigator | ||
| Robert Balcanquhal | Mr | Investigator | heard her confession |
| Archibald Douglas | Sir of Whittingham | Investigator | |
| John Oswald | Mr | Investigator | |
| James Ramsay | Investigator | heard her confession | |
| Thomas Renton | Investigator |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Books of Adjournal | JC2/8 pp. 740-742 | Also found in the High Court Record Index, no. 1 for 27/4/1649. |
| Haddington Presbytery records | CH2/185/6, p. 26, 34. | Note in presbytery records that she was apprehended under order of the Lord Chancellor and the presbytery to assist in bringing her 'to a confession'. Further note requesting brethren to attend her assize but no details of trial or verdict. |
| Process Notes | JC26/13 Bundle B, items 1, 2x, 3, 6, 7b, 8, 9 | witness statements. Not sure about document number 11? |
| Process Notes | JC26/13 Bundle B, item 4, 5 | commissions and requests for commissions. |
| Process Notes | JC26/13 Bundle B, item 7a, 10, 12 | Jury notes and lists. |
| Committee of Estates | PA11/8 fo. 49r. |