Charred History: The Witch Burnings in Scotland

Her name was Allison Peirson, she lived in Byre Hills, Fifeshire, and it was the year 1588. Accused of witchcraft, she was burned at the stake. Her crimes: prescribing healing potions and corresponding with the queen of Elphame (the queen of the fairies)--a common accusation at the time. Allison's torture, if typical of most tortures during that period in Scotland, may have consisted of ( among other things) thumbscrews, other vices applied to various parts of the body, Spanish boots-- a device wherein one's legs were placed in a wedge and given blows. This torture broke bones and turned flesh to pulp. She may have been scourged with ropes. Sleep deprivation and burning of the skin with branding irons were also common tortures. After the torture she was burned at the stake.

Allison's case was only one of many. Countless people--men, women, and children--were accused of witchcraft, tortured until they confessed to bizarre supernatural "crimes" and named others, and then killed by either hanging or by being burned at the stake. Some were mercifully strangled before being brought to the stake; others were not so lucky.

It was a time of mental and physical hardship and superstition. Taking a cue from other countries, Mary Queen of Scots had officially banned witchcraft in Scotland in 1563. The law covered a broad range of activities and included any kind of divination. Those accused of seeking help from a supposed witch were also punished and killed.

To live in Scotland in the 16th century was to live a life on edge. Imagine for a moment that you lived during this time period. You likely lived in daily fear that a neighbor or a scorned lover would turn your name into the authorities. If you were thus accused of sorcery, even if it was something as simple as giving a common herbal remedy to a neighbor, you knew that not only would you be killed in a gruesome and painful way, first you would be tortured without a fair trial.

As if torture followed by a gruesome public execution were not enough, your estate would, in addition, be billed for the instruments of torture used on you, the wage of the torturers who torture you, and, if you are killed, the peat and wood used to burn you.

We read these accounts now with interest at the barbarity and superstitious nature of these old societies. We are comforted by the notion that this sort of situation would not happen in these modern times. But that is not true. Although it has taken on a new face, torture without fair trial does still exist. People throughout the world are still incarcerated, tortured, and killed due to a mere accusation or due simply to their religious or ethnic associations.

The burning of heretics and those poor souls accused of witchcraft all through Europe had much to do with the superstitions of the time, but it had also to do with the tremendous power the government wielded as well as the very biased judicial system and religious intolerance. This must never be forgotten.

Fear was also an important factor--and it was a fear which authorities helped instill in the common people. Fearful people are inclined to base their actions on fear rather than on reason. They readily accuse anyone who invokes that fear in them--whether the person is guilty of a real crime or not. Reason, ethics, and good judgement are set aside. It is not too difficult to imagine what it must have been like at that time.

Whenever fear replaces fairness and reason, and spreads throughout a society or a group, the result is always harmful. History is full of lessons about the attitudes and actions that make or break a society. Unless we learn from history, we will continue to make these mistakes.

Research Sources: Facts about Allison Peirson and methods of torture during the Scottish witch burnings were harvested from from the book "Witch Hunt, History of a Persecution" by Nigel Cawthorne. Copyright Arcturus Publishing Limited 2004