Paton,Bessie
Case Reference: C/EGD/292
| Case Ref | C/EGD/292 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Bessie Paton |
| Case Start Date | 11/5/1658 |
| Case Date | 3/9/1658 |
| Common Name | Paton,Bessie |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Consulting | — | ✓ |
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Midwifery | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: She denied all charges related to demonic pact. She was denounced by at least four people.
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Notes: Supposedly killed two bairns and a cat. The woman with the black pock was there, Katherine Kay. She denounced people and gave specific details. They killed the bairns with meal that was in the black pock/pot.
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| House | No |
Margaret Talzeor claimed that Paton had been at meetings with the devil. Paton denied all charges related to demonic pact, although she did admit that she might have been carried to meetings as a spirit while she was asleep.
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Devil's Mark | secret member |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: Described how Sybilla Drummond had told her to use salt and south running water for a woman in labour. Accused of putting raw flesh under a threshold to kill animals. She put a clout in a hole in a man's wall.
Ritual Objects
- Water
- Salt
- Flesh
- Cloth
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: Denied all charges of malefice but confessed that she had been instructed to go to another woman in Dunblane (Sybilla Drummond) for advice about a woman in labour. Woman later died.
Property Damage Types
- Boats
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Menstrie | Laird of | ||
| Mathias Simpson | Mr | Investigator | to write letter to civil authorities |
| Robert Wright | Mr | Investigator |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Process Notes | JC26/24 | JP investigation of extrajudicial toture |
| Stirling Presbytery records | CH2/722/6, pp 89-97. | |
| Process Notes | JC26/24 | JPs order assize to appear in Edinburgh 3/9/1658 for trial. Also found in the High Court Record Index, no. 1 for 3/8/1658. This index did not distinguish between circuit and high court cases. This list of names was added in the margins with a modern hand, no indication of where the person got the list. |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 bundle 3 'Stirling witches', item 20 | Mentioned |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 bundle 3 'Stirling witches', item 21 |