Witches

[bogart]

Here's a bizarre question. I have a letter written at Balnagowen in December 1851 stating briefly that the "last Scotch Witch" died in late November at "Rhydown" (Rheindown?). I live in the U. S., so can't easily check this out! Anyone ever come across this person?

[Jamjar]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Scottish_Witch_Hunt_of_1597

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Horne

Jamjar

[Cell]

Hi and welcome to Rootschat.
It does not mean that the person (the so-called Witch)was  executed for being a witch( like in the earlier centuries). I would assume from that one line that the person has just " died "( whether it was from natural causes, or being run over by a horse etc.)

Google Helen Duncan The Last Witch of Scotland. Helen was  the last person to be prosecuted under the Witchcraft Act of 1735, she was prosecuted in the 1900's! (WW2).

Have you tried searching any online  Scottish newspapers for the word Witch etc around the date of your letter?

Kind Regards

[bogart]

Thanks Jamjar and Cell for your suggestions!

[Blue70]

Just to correct any misunderstandings Helen Duncan was a medium not a witch here is a decent link about her, ignore wiki articles about anything psychic as they appear to assume all psychic phenomena is fraudulent in their articles:-

http://www.helenduncan.org.uk/


Blue

[Cell]

Just to correct any misunderstandings Helen Duncan was a medium not a witch here is a decent link about her, ignore wiki articles about anything psychic as they appear to assume all psychic phenomena is fraudulent in their articles:-

http://www.helenduncan.org.uk/


Blue

What is a Witch? Serious question
(The church  invented the word Witch. There was no -such word as Witch before Christianity)
Helen was prosecuted  under the witchcraft act whether you think a medium is  a definition of a Witch or not.



Kind Regards

[KGarrad]

I agree Cell

First defined in Scotland as The Scottish Witchcraft Act 1563.
It was reinforced by The Scottish Witchcraft Act 1649 that ratified the existing act of 1563 and extended it to deal with consulters of "Devils and familiar spirits", who would now be punished with death.

These Acts remained on the statute book until the post-union Witchcraft Act of 1735 (9 Geo. 2 c. 5).
Penalties for the practice of witchcraft as traditionally constituted, which by that time was considered by many influential figures to be an impossible crime, were replaced by penalties for the pretence of witchcraft. A person who claimed to have the power to call up spirits, or foretell the future, or cast spells, or discover the whereabouts of stolen goods, was to be punished as a vagrant and a con artist, subject to fines and imprisonment. The Act applied to the whole of Great Britain, repealing both the 1563 Scottish Act and the 1604 English Act.

This Act remained in force until  its eventual repeal with the enactment of the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951 (itself repealed on 26th May 2008).

The maximum penalty under the 1735 Act was 1 year's imprisonment.


But witchcraft itself remained, well after the last trial in 1727.

[Blue70]

I think you're both missing the point Helen Duncan was a medium she was not a witch 

Are you likewise saying Jesus was a warlock for speaking with the dead prophets of old at the Transfiguration?


Blue

[Cell]

It would be really interesting to see the letter.
Is it a correspondence to family? ( a personal letter)


Kind Regards

Blue, what is a Witch to your understanding? Define

No I'm not missing the point , For you to say she was not a witch is telling me that you have a  clear definition of Witch, when the church and the law does not have definition of a witch either ( even though the church made up this word themselves ) and prosecuted people.