Leslie,Beatrix
Case Reference: C/EGD/385
| Case Ref | C/EGD/385 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Beatrix Leslie |
| Case Start Date | 20/7/1661 |
| Case Date | 3/8/1661 |
| Age at Case | 84 |
| Common Name | Leslie,Beatrix |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Folk Healing | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Midwifery | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: Her charges seem to have stemmed from disputes about her pock with her neighbours. She also had disputes about the death of her cat, and she seemed to have been a midwife, but it was the disputes that seem to be the crux. In her confession she was interrogated about her midwife practices, but she said there was no ill in them. She was delated by Issobel Fergusson
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| Barn | her byre while milking | No |
| Road | while ridding a horse to the coal hill | No |
Someone testified that they saw a strange cat standing on its hind legs (implying that it was Beatrix).
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Sex | |
| Anti-baptism | |
| New name | Bold Leslie |
| Servant |
Devil Appearances
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Male | a half long lad |
| Animal Devil | meikle brown dog |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | ✓ |
| Ritual Acts | ✓ |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | ✓ |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — |
| Sympathetic Magic | ✓ |
| Riding Dead | ✓ |
Notes: After a quarrel about Beatrix storing a pock in the house of William Young and Agnes his wife, they tried to appease her with ale. She drank but wouldn't speak. Later Beatrix ,as an apparition cat, attacked him, and their children were hurt in the coal pit. She said that after meeting the devil she was frequently carried in her sleep to the company of many brave souls. She practised definite rituals in midwifery. She stuck a baro knife between the bed and the straw and sprinkled salt and saying words.
Shape Changing
| Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Apparition | cat |
Ritual Objects
- Knife
- Salt
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: Quarrelled and cursed, harm followed. The two wifes that suffered harm had also killed Beatrix's cat. The coal pit collapsed The deaths were in revenge for killing her cat. Tried to heal her cow by rubbing a sick woman's shirt on it.
Other Maleficia Notes: Burned down a house
Property Damage Types
- Coal Pit
- Buildings
- Revenge
- Sorcery
- Charming
- Appeasement
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Edsley | Confession Witness | ||
| George Johnston | Mr | Confession Witness | |
| John Kincaid | Witch-pricker | ||
| John Wilson | Confession Witness |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Books of Adjournal | JC2/11; JC2/10 fo. 10v-17v | JC2/10 and 2/11 are 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. |
| High Court Process Notes | JC26/27/9 item 4 and item 5 | draft of JC2 trial. Item 5 is a continuation of item 4 |
| High Court Process Notes | JC26/27/9 item 9 | |
| High Court Process Notes | JC26/27/9 item 13 | |
| High Court Process Notes | JC26/27/9 item 19 | witness statements during the trial |
| High Court Process Notes | JC16/27/9 item 20 | witnesses, bad handwriting, mostly repeat of information in other documents. Seems to be a draft of the books of adjournal text. |
| Trial Ref | Date | Year | Verdict | Sentence | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/LA/292 | 3/8/1661 | 1661 | Guilty | Execution | Yes |