Isobel Watson: FAIRIES AND WITCHCRAFT IN 16TH-CENTURY PERTHSHIRE

Scotland experienced intense witch hunts during the 16th and 17th centuries. Out of a population of about one million, roughly 4,000 witches were formally accused and perhaps around 2,500 were executed.

Scotland’s witch-hunts were severe, with about 2.5 executions per thousand of the population. It had about five times the European average of executions per capita. There are many reasons which help to explain Scotland’s intense crackdown on witches. In the early modern period, the country possessed a weak legal system, where the central government, at least for a time, struggled to control and reduce the number of witch trials being conducted locally, often by men who had no formal legal training. Scotland’s witch hunts also happened at a time of radical religious reform.

After the Reformation in 1560, Scotland became, at least formally, a Protestant country. This in turn led to nationwide attempts to purge the land of ungodliness in the hope that Scotland would become a truly godly society. From the king at the top, right down to your local, ordinary Scot who lived in the village, there was a collaborative and concentrated effort to root out all those deemed ungodly. And among the fornicators, adulterers and blasphemers, witches were also