Glenkens Youth Correspondent - Balmaclellan
Joshua Wells, age 14, is our Gazette youth correspondent and will be writing each issue about things which interest him. In this edition he looks at Balmaclellan and the history of witch hunting in Scotland.
What does Outlander's Sam Heughan, a witch and Old Mortality have in common?
They have all got links to Balmaclellan; not bad for somewhere with a population of around 130 people! When I heard about the witch I had to find out more...
In 1428, the first ‘witch’ was tried, in Valias, Switzerland. This led to countless other ‘witches’ being tried across Europe. Witches were tried for many reasons, for example: having a black cat, taking part in strange rituals, talking to themselves, living alone, being deformed or disabled, or having a ‘witch spot’ - moles and warts were called a ‘witch spot’, and were supposedly left by the devil. I feel as if this is quite shocking as many of these things are seen as normal today.
There was a big outbreak of witch hunts in 1661-1662, in Scotland (this was called the Great Scottish Witch Hunt and it lasted for 16 months). At this time it was believed that 660 people were tried for witchcraft, but it is unknown just how many were executed. However, after that there was a sharp decline of witch trials. The belief of witches still continued, and the elite began investigating witchcraft more than before, so why was there a decline in the hunt? Trials were more tightly overseen by the government, torture was more sparingly used and the standard of proof was increased.
On 24 August 1698, the last 'witch' in the southwest of Scotland died. Elspeth McEwan was accused of tormenting her neighbours by bewitching their poultry and causing hens, ducks or geese to stop laying their eggs, fall ill or die. She also apparently kept a wooden pin hidden in her rafters which she used to steal milk by touching it to the cow’s udder.
She was jailed in the Kirkcudbright Tolbooth for two years, in a dark dungeon, in very bad conditions. I can only imagine that it was damp, smelly and pest-ridden and quite frightening. When at the Tolbooth she confessed, probably being forced into this outcome. Her punishment for witchcraft was being strangled and then burnt at the stake.
Photograph of Elspeth McEwan's gravestone in Balmaclellan kirkyard, taken by Joshua Wells
She was buried in the graveyard of the Balmaclellan parish - you can find the gravestone by the left-hand side of the church near the back as you enter. The gravestone is a rough uncut stone. In folklore and superstition it is thought that if the witch was not marked with an uncut stone the witch would be able to rise from the dead and cause harm to the living. It was also thought if a witch's head was cut off they would be able to die, and that if their graves were not marked with uncut stones, their spirits would be able to return.
I believe it was a massive tragedy that swept through the whole of Europe, against mostly women. It is also disgusting that many people did this, just for financial gain. I think many people will be glad they didn't have to live through that time.