Stevenson,Bessie
Case Reference: C/EGD/317
| Case Ref | C/EGD/317 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Bessie Stevenson |
| Case Start Date | 16/3/1659 |
| Case Date | 22/3/1659 |
| Age at Case | 49 |
| Common Name | Stevenson,Bessie |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Folk Healing | ✓ | ✓ |
| White Magic | — | ✓ |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | ✓ |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: she knows a blasted person, which means a bewitched person 'by the gogling of their eyes and turning hither and tither to ather side.' Washes their clothes in St. Ninian's well for healing. This will either 'end them or mend them.' She learned it from lady McFarlens daughter 24 years prior. She transfers the disease if she meets anyone on the way back from the well. Also layed two foxtree leaves under their head and middle. She cures maw turning by leading people around an oak tree three times, repeating words. For curing persons forespoken she recites words and takes some of the illness into herself. For curing heart fires she uses a belt and two threads she rolls them and if the threads are on the top and the bottom the person has heart fires.
Ritual Objects
- Pin
- Flesh
- Shirt
- Foxtree Leaves
- Water
- Belt
- Thread
Religious Motifs
- Holy well
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 | — |
White Magic
- Diagnose Bewitchment
- Charming
- Sorcery
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court Books | JC10/1 fo. 239r-240r | |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 bundle 3 'stirling witches', item 17 | arraignment list |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 bundle 3 'stirling witches', item 11 | the manner of charmes of the Stirling witches. |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 bundle 3 'stirling witches', item 12, item 14, 22 | witnesses summond, 2 witness lists |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 Stiriling Court Roll |
| Trial Ref | Date | Year | Verdict | Sentence | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/LA/1130 | 22/3/1659 | 1659 | Guilty | No |