Wilsone,Christiane

Case Reference: C/EGD/383

Case Summary
Case RefC/EGD/383
AccusedChristiane Wilsone
Case Start Date10/6/1661
Case Date3/8/1661
Common NameWilsone,Christiane
Characterization
TypePrimarySecondary
Maleficium
Implicated by Another
Neighbourhood Dispute

Elphane/Fairyland
Food/Drink
Verbal Formulae
Ritual Acts
Familiars
Shape Changing
Dreams/Visions
Unorthodox Religious Practice
Sympathetic Magic
Riding Dead
Shape Changing
TypeDetails
Animalgrey cat
PhantomRat

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: threatened that a woman would remain childless; confessed to killing her brother saying that she was worthy of death for that reason, fall outs, cursing, death

  • Social slight
  • Revenge for being called a witch
  • Failed business interaction

  • Sorcery
  • Charming

NameTitleInvolvementNotes
John Biggar Major of WomettCommissioner
Alexander Calderwood Investigator
Robert Dobie of StanehillCommissioner
John Kincaid Witch-pricker
William Murray Sir of NewtonInvestigator
Robert Porteous Investigator
James Rutherford Sir of SmeatonCommissioner
Patrick Scott of LangshawCommissioner
William Scott Investigatoralso commissioner
Walter Scott of St LeonardsCommissioneralso investigator

SourceReferenceNotes
Books of AdjournalJC2/11; JC2/10 fos. 10v-17vJC2/11 and JC2/10 have exactly the same text! Except the sederunt in JC2/10 doesn't say that the trial happened in Dalkeith. Also found in the High Court Record Index, no. 1 for 3/8/1661, 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.
Books of AdjournalJC2/11; JC2/10 fos. 34r-41rmentioned
High Court Process NotesJC26/27/9 item 2ItÔÇÖs a preliminary report with witness testimony, a preliminary dittay.
High Court Process NotesJC26/27/9 item 4Draft of the JC2 trial
High Court Process NotesJC26/27/9 item 7similar content as JC26/27/9 item 4, only with better hand writing
High Court Process NotesJC26/27/9 item 20witnesses, bad handwriting, mostly repeat of info in other docs. Seems to be a draft of the Books of Adjournal text.
Trials (2)
Trial RefDateYearVerdictSentenceExecution
T/LA/332 No
T/LA/288 3/8/16611661 GuiltyExecution Yes
Case Notes
The main issue in her case was that she killed her brother, for which she expressed extreme remorse and thought she should die (lots of witnesses testified to this). She seemed to have lived with her brother at the time, more likely she lived just next door, perhaps in a semi-attached kind of house. She had many conflicts within her immediate family, her brother and a nephew.