Kirk Sessions of Dunfermline 1650

[nellie d]

 I am trying to find the outcome of an event that I discovered in:

 Extracts from the Kirk-Session records of Dunfermline : (from A.D. 1640 to 1689 inclusive;) or a glimpse of the ecclesiastical history of Dunfermline, (for a period of fifty years.) with illustrative notes / edited by E. Henderson

https://archive.org/details/extractsfromkirkhend/page/33/mode/1up


The date of the event I am interested in was on the 7th May 1650, regarding accusations made by Jonet Huton against Marion Cunnynghame. She is reported to have called Marion a witch. Several people came forward to support the accusation and the outcome was that Marion was to appear again at the Kirk Sessions in 14 days. Unfortunately there is no mention of her again in the above publication, as it is only extracts and not the full record of the Kirk Sessions.

Does anyone know where I might be able to access the original or copies of the original Kirk Sessions in their entirety, so that I can discover Marion’s fate please?

[Forfarian]

Does anyone know where I might be able to access the original or copies of the original Kirk Sessions in their entirety, so that I can discover Marion’s fate please?

www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk has digitised versions of the original Kirk Session records.

[nellie d]

Thank you Forfarian, I am wading through them now! 🤞🏻

[hdw]

You may find this useful.

http://witches.hca.ed.ac.uk/

Harry

[nellie d]

Thank you Harry
That is where I first found out about her.
I was looking on the site as i have ancestors from Fife and thought I would see if any of the family surnames were recorded.
Lo and behold there was a Cunningham. My 11x gt grandmother was Janet Cunningham from Dunfermline. I had a look at my tree and it transpired that she had a sister called Marion. Marion was born at the right time and the right place to potentially be the Marion Cunningham that was accused of being a witch. Obviously, I am not saying that this is definitely her, but it is enough to pique my interest and try to discover more.
Unfortunately the records of women (and men) accused of witchcraft in Scotland at this time is quite thin on the ground for the majority, but I do like to try my best to discover as much as I can.
Someone gave me a link to this site:
https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/
And it is a pretty good place for some old printed sources that have been digitised.

[hdw]

Robert Louis Stevenson's childhood nurse Alison Cunningham was a strong influence on him in many ways. She was from Torryburn, almost Dunfermline!

https://robert-louis-stevenson.org/family/

Harry

[hdw]

Her parents were David Cunningham, weaver, and Alison Hastie.

Harry

[nellie d]

Oooo….that’s interesting Harry. I will check that out 👍🏼