The Witch Trials of Scotland

Historians have uncovered evidence that the chapel, built during the 15th century, was a prison for accused witches while they faced trial and before they were taken away to be executed.

Many historians believe that Aberdeen buried more witches than any other city. 

An iron ring in the north wall of the chapel is all that's left of it's murderous past.

Records have been discovered from Aberdeen's city archives revealing that this ring was installed to chain the witches up while they were being held in the prison.

Aberdeen has meticulous records of their witch trials. These records include payments to the black smith for installing the iron rings that were used to imprison the accused. 

They discovered that 23 women and one man were tried and executed for witchcraft in the city during the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.

This ring was installed specially to secure those who had been accused of committing witchcraft.

This was the last place these people saw before they were taken off to be killed and their bodies burned.

In 1597 Scotland was in the middle of it's great Witch Hunt under the order of King James VI of Scotland. (that's the King below)

They had everything needed for witchhunting – peat for burning, tar barrels, rope and stakes.

The city’s records include a detailed cost of materials that were used to tar and burn the accused women.

Like so many other stories of accusations of witchcraft, they were often made by people in the community who just maybe perhaps had a motive to see the accused convicted.

The names and crimes of each ‘witch’ are recorded in the city’s records and signed by the provost of the time. There's even a plaque with Alexander's name still in the church. (See below)

Each of those found guilty of witchcraft were taken from St Mary’s chapel, strangled and then their bodies were burned.

No remains of the witches have been found at the site, but excavations at the church have found the remains of more than 2,000 individuals buried at the site.

The remains of the accused “witches” would have been buried somewhere else near or on “unhallowed ground.”

350 Year Old Scottish Witch Trials Book

The pages of a 350-year-old book used to record the names of those accused of witchcraft in Scotland have been published.

The Names of Witches in Scotland, 1658 collection, was drawn up during a time when the persecution of supposed witches was fever pitched.

The book also lists the towns where the accused lived and includes the confession.

It is believed many were healers, practicing traditional folk medicine. 

Some of the notes give small insights into the lives of those accused. 

A majority of those accused of witchcraft were women although the records reveal that some men were also persecuted. 

Folk medicine was Witchcraft 

The passing of the Scottish Witchcraft Act in 1563 made witchcraft, or consulting with witches, capital crimes in Scotland.

It is estimated that between 3,000 and 5,000 women were publicly accused of being witches in 16th and 17th Century Scotland.

The outbreak of witch-hunting in the years 1658-1662, the period in which the list of names was created, is generally seen to be the height of persecution against witches in Scotland.

In many cases, the victims were healers, part of a tradition of folk medicine. Their treatments sometimes helped poor communities but accusations of witchcraft could crop up if they did not work.

Miriam Silverman, Ancestry senior content manager, said: "In the 17th century, people believed that the unholy forces of witchcraft were lurking in their communities, and those accused of being witches were persecuted on the basis of these dark suspicions."

"This might mean charms and spells, or the use of healing herbs and other types of folk medicine, or both. We'll probably never know the combinations of events that saw each of these individuals accused of witchcraft.

"It's a mysterious document: "It gives us a fleeting view of a world beyond orthodox medicine and expensively trained physicians, in which people in small towns and villages looked for their own routes to understanding the world and came into conflict with the state for doing it."