Bigland,Katherine
Case Reference: C/EGD/2208
Case Summary
| Case Ref | C/EGD/2208 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Katherine Bigland |
| Case Start Date | 6/6/1615 |
| Case Date | 6/6/1615 |
| Common Name | Bigland,Katherine |
|---|
Characterisation
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Folk Healing | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Not Enough Info | ✓ | ✓ |
| Devil Present | No |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Notes: They supposedly walked out of the church into the church yard with drawn knives.
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| Kirkyard | Cross Kirk of Westray | No |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | ✓ |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: She rubbed a man with water and he saw visions of a 'ruche' sheep above his head. She said it was just his illness leaving him. She supposedly participated in some kind of ritual at the kirkyard of the Cross Kirk of Westray with her mother and a knife. She also gripped someone's pulse as part of a healing.
Ritual Objects
- Water
- Knife
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: Accused of causing an illness and then moving to someone else.
- Candlemas
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Court of the Bishopric of Orkney | Orkney and Shetland Court books, 1614-1615, Scottish History Society, p. 18-20 | |
| Lawting Sheriff and Justice Court | Acts and Statutes of the Lawting Sheriff and Justic Courts of Orkney and Shetland, pp. 167-168 | See also Maitland Club Miscellany, Vol 2, pp.176-8. The project did not check this secondary reference. |
Trials (1)
| Trial Ref | Date | Year | Verdict | Sentence | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/LA/1406 | 6/6/1615 | 1615 | Guilty | Execution | Yes |