Bell,Margaret
Case Reference: C/EGD/2373
Case Summary
| Case Ref | C/EGD/2373 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Margaret Bell |
| Case Start Date | 3/6/1649 |
| Case Date | 19/8/1649 |
| Age at Case | 43 |
| Common Name | Bell,Margaret |
|---|
Characterisation
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Demonic | ✓ | ✓ |
| Folk Healing | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Notes: She confessed to meeting the devil and others at the quarrel hole or quarry. She said the others were all dead of the plague ?= ghosts.
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| Town wall | town wall at West Post, Edinburgh | No |
| Quarry | Quarrell hole (quarry) | No |
| place of Merchiston | No |
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Anti-baptism | |
| Servant | |
| Sex |
Devil Appearances
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Male |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | — |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — |
| Sympathetic Magic | — |
| Riding Dead | ✓ |
Notes: Said she met people who had died of the plague.
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: Asked to restore health. Witnesses from several other parishes gave depositions (St Cuthbert's, Duddingston).
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| George Forrester | Sir of Corstorphine | Investigator | |
| Charles Lumsden | Mr | Investigator | took depostion from witness from Duddingston |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Corstorphine Kirk Session records | CH2/124/1, pp. 30-31. | See also C Hallon, A W and J H Stevenson 'The Scotttish Antiquary' or Northern Notes and Queries, Edinburgh, 1888-9, Vol 4 pp. 27-29. The project did not check this secondary reference as part of the research. |