Finnie,Agnes
Case Reference: C/EGD/183
Case Summary
| Case Ref | C/EGD/183 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Agnes Finnie |
| Case Start Date | 8/7/1644 |
| Case Date | 6/3/1645 |
| Age at Case | 53 |
| Common Name | Finnie,Agnes |
|---|
Characterisation
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: Maleficium followed disputes about her work as a shop-keeper. She may have been thought to lift a disease from someone, but she was not a folk healer at all.
Described as being in 'cumpany with the Devill, in consulting wi him'
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | ✓ |
| Ritual Acts | — |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | ✓ |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | — |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: Tried to remove witches' malice with a gift of ale. Against defence saying prayer is not demonic, it was argued that it could be if it was used as a devilish charm.
Shape Changing
| Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Apparition | Agnes and her daughter haunting after a flyting |
Religious Motifs
- Prayer
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: Paralysis, sweating , pain, broken legs, 'bloodie flux'; after childbirth she caused sweating and loss of speech esp. at 4 and 12pm
Other Maleficia Notes: Revenge for a godchild not being given her name.
Property Damage Types
- Whole Estate
- Revenge for being called a witch
- Social slight
- Taunting
- Debt
- Failed business interaction
- Lammas
- Michaelmas
- Murder
- Appeasement
| Claimed Bewitched | — |
|---|---|
| Claimed Possessed | — |
| Admitted Lesser Charge | — |
| Claimed Natural Causes | ✓ |
| No Defence | — |
Notes: Discredited witnesses, no words or deeds specified
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Colville | Mr | Investigator | kirk session/presbytery interrogation |
| James Eleis | Investigator | Kirk session/presbytery interrogation | |
| Patrick Henderson | Mr | Investigator | Kirk session/presbytery interrogation |
| Mungo Law | Mr | Investigator | kirk session/presbytery interrogation |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SJC | v3, pp. 627-675 | |
| Books of Adjournal | JC2/8 fos. 390-408; 408-409 | trial proceedings |
| Books of Adjournal | JC2/8 fos. 409-418 | Also found in the High Court Record Index, no. 1 for 18/12/1644 |
| RPC | 2nd S v8, pp. 134-5 | |
| Witchcraft Papers | JC40/9 | indictment 1644 |
Trials (1)
| Trial Ref | Date | Year | Verdict | Sentence | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/LA/40 | 18/12/1644 | 1644 | Guilty | Execution | Yes |
Case Notes
An extremely complicated case with lots of legal reasoning.