Cliftonhall, and wife of Patrick Moscrop, a
man of wealth and standing; a firm, passionate, heroic woman, whom no
tortures could weaken into confession, no threats terrify into submission.
She fought her way, inch by inch, but she was "convict" at last, and
condemned to be burnt alive: the severest sentence ever pronounced against
a witch. In general they were "wirreit" or strangled before being burnt.
There is good reason to believe that her witchcraft was made merely the
pretence, while her political predilections, her friendship for the Earl
of Bothwell, and her Catholic religion, were the real grounds of the
king's enmity to her, and the causes of the severity with which she was
treated. Her indictment contains the ordinary list of witch-crimes,
diversified with the additional charge of bewitching a certain young
Joseph Douglas, whose love she craved and found impossible to obtain, or
rather, to retain. She was accused of giving him, for unlawful purposes,
"ane craig cheinzie (neck chain), twa belt cheinzies, ane ring, ane
emiraut," and other jewels; trying also to prevent his marriage with Marie
Sandilands, and making Agnes Simpson get back the jewels, when her spells
had failed. The young wife whom Douglas married, and the two children she
bore him, also came in for part of her alleged maleficent enchantments.
She "did the barnes to death," and struck the wife with deadly sickness.
She was also accused of casting her own childbirth pains, once on a dog,
and once on the "wantoune cat;" whereupon the poor beasts ran distractedly
out of the house, as well they might, and were never seen again. She
managed this marvellous piece of sleight-of-hand by getting a bored stone
from Agnes Sampson, and rolling "enchanted mwildis"--earth from dead men's
graves--in her hair. Another time she got her husband's shirt, and caused
it to be "woumplit" (folded up) and put under her bolster, whereby she
sought to throw her labour pains upon him, but without effect; as is not
to be wondered at. She bewitched John M'Gillie's wife by sending her the
vision of a naked man, with only a white sheet about him; and Jonett
Aitcheson saw him with the sleeves of his shirt "vpoune leggis, and taile
about his heid." She was also accused of endeavouring to poison her
husband; and it was manifest that their union was not happy--he being for
the most part away from home, and she perhaps thinking of the other
husband promised her, Archibald Ruthven; whic