Witch! This was perhaps the most fearsome word encountered by Kathrin Key, resident of the small fishing town of Newburgh in Fife. Witches were powerful. They could curse and cure, make cattle sick, kill children and fly broomsticks. Their magical abilities came from the devil. Satan! Auld Nick! In order to gain that power, they [...]
Between 1563 and 1763 Scotland was a country in flux and the resulting paranoia fueled the Scottish Witch Trials. Belief in witchcraft was common during the Middle Ages, but the leaders of the Catholic church were largely skeptical, seeing it as folklore rather than something sinister. Lawyers were only interested in cases were harm [...]
No doubt a muffled sound rippled through the crowd before the onlookers fell silent. The witch-pricker stepped forward, ready to ply his trade on the accused. Transfixed, the crowd stared in ghoulish horror as the man began to shave his next victim. Perhaps the whole affair discomforted some of the gathered rabble. It was often [...]