Oswald,Katharine
Case Reference: C/EGD/162
| Case Ref | C/EGD/162 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Katharine Oswald |
| Case Start Date | 14/7/1628 |
| Case Date | 13/11/ 1629 |
| Age at Case | 37 |
| Common Name | Oswald,Katharine |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Fairies | — | ✓ |
| Folk Healing | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: Most of the accusations resulted after a dispute about business type things, selling cows milk, the use of kailyards, fostering a child (foster care not wet-nursing), corn, coal and salt. She was denounced by Elizabeth Stevin alias Toppok and Alexander Hammilton, but her neighbours were quick to provide evidence.
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Notes: Meeting at the suspect's house. Very small gatherings. Meetings at salt pans, again small gatherings but they raised a big storm at the 'Borrowing days' 29-31/3/1625. The road was near a hole in a valley near Edmetstoun (Edmonston?).
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| Road | Heid of the broken Clasay of Nydrie | No |
| Den | near Niddrie | No |
| Salt pans | pan brae of salt pans | No |
| House | suspect's in Nyddrie Myln | No |
| Salt pans | Salt Coitmure | No |
The information about her demonic pact comes from testimony by Alexander Hammilton another suspected witch at the time of her trial. He is later convicted. Sex with D on a hill in a den (valley) for 15min. with K. Gilmore (from A. Hammiltoun).
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Devil's Mark | Shoulder |
| Sex | |
| Body and soul |
Devil Appearances
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Male | black man in black clothes |
| Animal Devil | Foil |
| Male | Man |
| Male | green clad man |
| Elphane/Fairyland | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: Ritual involved plucking a nettle by the root, urinating on it and walking around it three times to cure a disease. Her servant saw her light a fire between two doors and walk a new born calf over it. A neighbour found her in a trance-like state laying on her floor by the fire, they heard a great din and mumbling.
Elf/Fairy Elements
- Green
Ritual Objects
- Fire
- Nettle
- Urine
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: These things happened after quarrels.
Other Maleficia Notes: Lots of damage to crops - kale, flax, hemp, corn.
Property Damage Types
- Crops
- Malt
- Animals
- Buildings
Weather Modification Types
- Storm
- Failed business interaction
- Verbal Insult
- Revenge
- Lammas
- Borrowing days
- Sorcery
- Appeasement
| Claimed Bewitched | — |
|---|---|
| Claimed Possessed | — |
| Admitted Lesser Charge | ✓ |
| Claimed Natural Causes | ✓ |
| No Defence | — |
Notes: Claimed that the only thing in her dittay that was an offence of any kind was the ritual with the nettle and the urine which the defence argued was a superstitious rite not witchcraft. Lots of detailed legal pleadings, very rich on this.
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Aird | Mr | Witch-pricker | |
| Patrik Carkettill | Expert Witness | witnessed the pricking | |
| James Jonkiesone | Expert Witness | witnessed the pricking | |
| Andrew Learmouth | Mr | Investigator | gave information to PC for the commission of arrest |
| Roger Mowat | Mr | Assessor (judge's assistant) | to assist the Sheriff in her trial |
| Alexander Pearson | Mr | Assessor (judge's assistant) | to assist the Sheriff in her trial |
| John Sandilands | Mr | Assessor (judge's assistant) | to assist the Sheriff in her trial |
| William Scott | Investigator | she was denounced by E. Stevin to him | |
| Walter Smart | Investigator | she was denounced by E. Stevin to him | |
| Lewis Stewart | Mr | Assessor (judge's assistant) | to assist the Sheriff in her trial |
| John Wauchope | of Niddrie | Commissioner | to apprehend her |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SJC | vol. I, pp. 130-140 | JC2/6 p. 303r-309r; 309r-310r. Also found in the High Court Record Index, no. 1 for 14/11/1629. |
| SJC | v1, p. 146 | Mentioned in A. Hammiltoun's trial. |
| RPC | 2nd S v3 p. 206 | |
| RPC | 2nd S v3 p. 278 | ordered to hold the trial. |
| RPC | 2nd S v3, p. 290 | |
| RPC | 2nd S v3, p. 293 | |
| Books of Adjournal | JC2/6 fos. 303r-309r; 309r-310r | |
| Process Notes | JC26/9 item 1, 5, 6 'Katherine Oswald bundle' | calling of assize and witnesses. |
| Process Notes | JC26/9 item 7 'Katherine Oswald bundle' | |
| Process Notes | JC26/9 items 2, 3, 4 'Katherine Oswald bundle' | witness statements 14, 19, 21 July 1628; 4 July 1629; 13 Sept. 1629 |
| Edinburgh Town Treasurer's Accounts | ECA, Town Treasurer's Accounts, vol. 5 (1623-36), pp. 713-4 | mention of the miller's wife in Niddrie being burnt. |