McNaught,Janet
Case Reference: C/LA/3135
Case Summary
| Case Ref | C/LA/3135 |
|---|---|
| Accused | Janet McNaught |
| Case Start Date | 19/5/1658 |
| Case Date | 5/4/1659 |
| Common Name | McNaught,Janet |
|---|
Characterisation
| Type | Primary | Secondary |
|---|---|---|
| Demonic | — | ✓ |
| Maleficium | — | ✓ |
| Implicated by Another | — | ✓ |
| Neighbourhood Dispute | ✓ | ✓ |
| White Magic | — | ✓ |
Notes: We have a dittay and comments from witnesses.
| Devil Present | Yes |
|---|---|
| Communal Sex | No |
| Devil Worship | No |
| Food and Drink | No |
| Dancing | No |
| Singing | No |
Notes: Supposedly seen at a witches' meeting by a man who then killed himself by going over the craigs and into the sea.
Meeting Places
| Place | Location | Inversion |
|---|---|---|
| Kirk | Chaple Stair | No |
| Elphane/Fairyland | — |
|---|---|
| Food/Drink | — |
| Verbal Formulae | — |
| Ritual Acts | — |
| Familiars | — |
| Shape Changing | — |
|---|---|
| Dreams/Visions | — |
| Unorthodox Religious Practice | — |
| Sympathetic Magic | — |
| Riding Dead | — |
Notes: McNauth was the object of counter-magic. Her victim was to seek her health and get three stopings of straw from Janet's lintel and burn them. She was seen at the ale house with cats and carlings. Use of a magic charm for protection.
Ritual Objects
- Straw
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: After cursing a woman hired someone to do magic on McNaught. Janet was in charge of taking cows to pasture, she was angry over a late one and it stopped giving milk. A witch testified that a woman died refusing drink (either Janet or the woman?)
White Magic
- Protective
- Revenge for being called a witch
- Counter-magic
- Appeasement
| Source | Reference | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Process Notes | JC26/26 Dumfries dittays 1659 (Biggest dittay roll) | |
| Process Notes | JC26/26 Dumfries Bundle | |
| Circuit Court Books | JC10/1 fos. 262v.-263v., 264v., 269r. |