Thomson,Jean
Case Reference: C/EGD/789
| Case Ref | C/EGD/789 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Jean Thomson |
| Case Start Date | 4/5/1658 |
| Case Date | 5/4/1659 |
| Age at Case | 39 |
| Common Name | Thomson,Jean |
|---|
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — | ✓ |
| Folk Healing | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
Notes: The circuit court record is just witness commentary on their deposition. No clear indication of what the dittay said or what she was charged with. Witness depositions mentioned some healingn activities, but this was more in the range of people asking her to remove illness that they believed she had caused (i.e. asking for removal of bewitchment). She does not appear to have been a charmer. The main problem seems to have been quarrelling, cursing and illness - i.e. neighbourhood dispute.
| Devil Present | No |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | — |
| Familiars | ✓ |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | ✓ |
| Sympathetic Magic | — |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: After she gave birth she caused the midwife to use supersticious rites, used salt for the baptism, instructed eveyone to walk home speechless from the baptism, and burn hindberry leaves around the child.
Ritual Objects
- Salt
- Herb
Religious Motifs
- Prayer
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 also prayed for healing, but it seemed to fail quite a lot. She was denied peats after a healing attempt failed. Her dittay is all about quarrels and threats, specifically about her lambs stealing grain and milk, and cow trouble. Malicious prayers
- Protective magic
| Name | Title | Involvement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| John Carsan | of Sewick | Investigator | |
| William Greensone | of Bargatton | Investigator | |
| Andrew Kane | Mr |
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Circuit Court Books | JC10/1 fo. 260v-261v, 262r, 269r | |
| McDowall, W 'History of the burgh of Dumfries' (Edinburgh, 1867), p. 376. The project did not check Larner's reference to this printed secondary source as part of the research. | ||
| Circuit Court Papers | JC10/15/2 | |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 Dumfries dittays 1659 (Biggest dittay roll) | |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 loose papers | witness summonds |
| Trial Ref | Date | Year | Verdict | Sentence | Execution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T/LA/1144 | 2/4/1659 | 1659 | Guilty | Execution | Yes |