Williamsone,Agnes
Case Reference: C/EGD/434
| Case Ref | C/EGD/434 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Agnes Williamsone |
| Case Start Date | 1649 |
| Case Date | 27/1/1662 |
| Age at Case | 31 |
| Common Name | Williamsone,Agnes |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: All of the accusations against her revolved around business type dealings, land, borrowing money, payments in kind. She seemed to have been suspected of witchcraft after many convicted witches accused her. The accusations were believable because of quarrels followed by harm. Many documents mention her common repute as a witch. She was previously denounced in 1649 with no mention of what happened there. She was denounced by James Welch sometime before 1662. Petition to parliament from Earl of Haddington. He claimed that witchcraft was increasing in his lands and had imprisoned the suspects. He also claimed that two of them were accused of robbery as well.
Accused of giving her newly born baby to the Devil and claiming that it had died in childbirth. Confessed that she became a witch after discord with her husband.
| Type | Text |
|---|---|
| Anti-baptism | |
| Devil's Mark | Shoulder |
| New name | Marie Luckifoot |
| Sex | |
| Servant |
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: Her husband offered ale to one of her accusers.
Shape Changing
| Type | Details |
|---|---|
| Apparition | to man in his sleep |
| Apparition | to a man caught in a whirlwind |
Ritual Objects
- Flesh
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: She was heard to say 'a ha, a ha' before killing a horse by taking a piece of flesh the size of a golf ball out of its mouth and leaving pieces of flesh that looked like tobacco pipes nearby. She possibly deliberately aborted her pregnancy.
Property Damage Types
- Meal
- Buildings
- Mill
- Crops
Weather Modification Types
- Whirlwind
- Business interactions
- Failed business interaction
- Fastings eve
- Sorcery
- Charming
- Appeasement
| Claimed Bewitched | — |
|---|---|
| Claimed Possessed | — |
| Admitted Lesser Charge | — |
| Claimed Natural Causes | ✓ |
| No Defence | — |
Notes: No acts alleged
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Butler | Mr of Kirkland | Commissioner | |
| James Cockburn | Mr | Commissioner | |
| Thomas Haliburton | of Eaglescarnie | Commissioner | |
| John Hamilton | Earl of Haddington | Investigator | complained to parliament |
| Alexander Hay | Mr of Baro | Commissioner | |
| Francis Hepburn | of Beanston | Commissioner | |
| William Seton | Commissioner | ||
| John Sinclair | Sir of Herdmanston | Commissioner | |
| Patrick Young | Commissioner |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Books of Adjournal | JC2/11; JC2/10 fos 60r-64r | JC2/11 and JC2/10 have the same text. Also found in the High Court Record Index, no. 1 for 27/1/1662. |
| APS | Vol 7, p 123, appendix p 31 | |
| RPC | 3rd S v1 p. 78 | |
| RPC | 2nd S, v8 pp. 204-5 | |
| Process Notes | JC26/28 | mentioned |
| Process Notes | JC26/28 item 1 | memorandum to draw up an indictment. |
| Process Notes | JC26/28 item 2 | dittay |
| Process Notes | JC26/28 item 3, 4 | witness statements |
| Process Notes | JC26/28 items 5, 6 | trial text |