Schedule for Scottish ViC 2022 is Now Confirmed

The next Scottish ViC will take place on Saturday, January 22, 2022. The schedule has now been confirmed:

9:15    Scottish Covenanters presented by Jimmy Fisher                               

10:30    Culloden presented by Hugh Allison                               

11:40     LUNCH                          

12:30     Survey of Scottish Witch Trials presented by Ciaran Jones                               

2:00       British Slave Owner Database presented by Matthew J Smith                               

3:30        Wrap-up

To meet our presenters: https://www.genealogyvic.com/ViC-2022

Registration is open. All presentation will be live, but are being recorded to allow access for those with time zone challenges. Access to the recordings will remain open for 30 days after the live event. 

If Your Scottish Ancestor Was Accused of Witchcraft

Witchcraft trials in Scotland were tried in the High Court . The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, under a grant, has taken the trials maintained by the University of Edinburgh Archives, and has created an online, searchable database of Scottish. In this database, you will find:

·         The accused's name
·         Start  and end dates of the trial
·         "Characterisation" (eg: "Demonic")
·         Who the accused was implicated by

·         Any notes pertaining to the circumstances - whether tried as an individual, a group such as the North Berwick witch hunt (1590-92) or the Paisley accusations of 1699

·        The accusation - including details of time, place, other present and what the witch was purported to have done that was supernatural.  This may include healing illnesses, transferring illness from an animal to a human, causing natural disasters etc.

·         Appearance of Non-natural beings - whether the person claimed to have seen spirits who encouraged their witch craft. The type of spirit - person, animal etc

·         Whether they were known to have attended a "witches meeting" and whether said meeting included food and drink, dancing or the presence of the devil.

·         Whether the accused was then imprisoned and if so where.

Here is the link to the searchable database: http://www.shca.ed.ac.uk/Research/witches/

You can search by name, trial date, location or others involved in the trial. Your results will be returned and then you click on the hyperlink. From there you will get a box with the basic information (similar to an index card). Be sure to click on the hyperlinks within the index-card style box to get to the actual information regarding the trial(s).

Witch's Stone marks the spot where the last woman
 in Scotland was hanged for witchcraft

The Witches Stone, Dornoch

In Dornoch, there is a rather unremarkable stone. It marks the spot where the last witch in Scotland was executed for witchcraft. The stone is actually in the back yard of a private home, but is well maintained and easily viewed from the street. Execution for practicing witchcraft was repealed 7 years after Janet Horne was executed.

If you believe your ancestor may have been accused of witchcraft, you can search the witch trials database at: http://webdb.ucs.ed.ac.uk/witches/