Walker,Catharin
Case Reference: C/EGD/1855
| Case Ref | C/EGD/1855 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Catharin Walker |
| Case Start Date | 11/4/1650 |
| Case Date | 27/6/1650 |
| Common Name | Walker,Catharin |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | ✓ | ✓ |
It appears that the accused was searched by John Kincaid and that devil's marks were found but Walker did not confess or admit to any pact. She appears to have confessed in prison to getting the marks from the devil in the shape of a cat, but that she had been apprehended before she could go further with the pact or causing harm.
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Devil's Mark |
Devil Appearances
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Animal Devil | cat |
| Animal Devil | dog |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | ✓ |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | — |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: Walker was asked about her practice of going to each corner of her house and saying the following: 'Here I cast a compass, there I cast a compass'. She said she believed it was a prayer.
Ritual Objects
- Water
- Foxtree Leaves
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: Witnesses reported Walker had kicked a man in the groin who then died. Others suffered after she had quarrelled with them. Also confessed to have caused the death of her own children by suffocation and poisoning with a drink of foxtree leaves.
- Sorcery
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Kincaid | Investigator | ||
| David Ochterlony | Mr | Confession Witness | |
| William Raitt | Mr | Investigator | also heard her confession |
| Alexander Ramsay | Mr | Confession Witness | |
| Alexander Simpson | Mr | Investigator | |
| Lawrence Skinner | Mr the younger | Confession Witness | |
| David Souter | Investigator | ||
| James Valentine | Investigator |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brechin Presbytery records | CH2/40/1, f 82-3, 94v-95v. |