Graham,Bessie
Case Reference: C/EGD/212
Case Summary
| Case Ref | C/EGD/212 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Bessie Graham |
| Case Start Date | 21/1/1650 |
| Case Date | 21/1/1650 |
| Common Name | Graham,Bessie |
|---|
Characterisation
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Folk Healing | ✓ | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | — | ✓ |
Notes: She was part of a wife and husband team. She definitely took the lead in their healing business. She was paid quite a bit for healing.
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | ✓ |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — |
| Sympathetic Magic | — |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: Her documents specify what she was paid for healing. Described her healing as 'melt the belt' for a sick child. This is likely to be mett or metting the belt - which involved measuring a child round the middle or from head to toe as a form of predicting the outcome of an illness.
Ritual Objects
- Belt
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: She seems to have specialised in healing children.
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Burgess | Commissioner | requested | |
| John Crichton | of Crawfordton | Commissioner | requested |
| James Douglas | of Mawswall | Commissioner | requested |
| Thomas Ferguson | of Caitloch | Commissioner | requested |
| Thomas MacBurnie | Commissioner | requested | |
| Robert Richardson | Commissioner | requested |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Process Notes | JC26/13 Bundle A |
Trials (1)
| Trial Ref | Date | Year | Verdict | Sentence | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/LA/1503 | No |
Case Notes
She confessed to being a charmer but denied witchcraft. Her records describe some of the same witchcraft incidents as her husband T. Paton, but from a different perspective. Part of a group of 7 investigated by the presbytery of Dumfries on this date.