About the Survey

Overview

The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft documents individuals accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1563 and 1736. This project, directed by Julian Goodare at the University of Edinburgh, created a comprehensive database funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Project Goals

The initiative aimed to create a database of people accused of witchcraft in Scotland between 1563 and 1736 and make it accessible through web interfaces with search, graphing, and mapping capabilities. Researchers could examine biographical information, social patterns, legal procedures, and geographic variations in witchcraft accusations.

Project Team

The four-person team included:

• Dr Julian Goodare (Project Director)
• Dr Louise Yeoman (Co-director)
• Dr Joyce Miller (Researcher)
• Lauren Martin (Researcher)

The project launched in early 2001 and went online in January 2003.

Previous Research

The Survey built upon earlier work:

• George F. Black (1938): Published a calendar listing approximately 1,000 witchcraft cases from published sources.
• Christina Larner et al. (1977): Systematically gathered trial records, identifying 3,069 cases.
• Stuart Macdonald (1990s): Refined the data to 3,230 cases and created a modern computer database.

Acknowledgements

The team thanked the National Archives of Scotland, various local archives, and numerous scholars who contributed references and corrections, significantly expanding the database's coverage.