NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 87pact with the devil could be proved by a confes-
sion. Because of the perceived societal threat
posed by the devil, the courts accepted flimsy
evidence. In Scotland convicted witches were
burned, as in most European countries. Rather
than being burned alive, however, it was the cus-
tom in Scotland to strangle suspected witches
at the stake first.
Panics Die Down
In the late 17th century religious pluralism be-
came more acceptable. New scientific ideas un-
dermined the dogmatic certainty about witch-
craft. Courts refused to accept confessions that
might have been extorted by torture. Witch-
hunting became less vital to the state, and there
were no more national panics after 1662.
Local panics still flared up for another half
century or so. Scotland’s unique case of vigi-
lante justice occurred in the small fishing town
of Pittenweem in the early 1700s. This late epi-
sode illustrates what might happen when the
populace had been persuaded to fear witches,
but the authorities were no longer willing to
execute them. Four of the Pittenweem suspects
confessed to witchcraft, but then they retracted
their confessions. The central authorities in Ed-
inburgh refused to allow a trial, and the suspects
had to be released. However, on January 30, 1705,
a crowd killed one of the accused women, Janet
Cornfoot, by dragging her to the beach, placing
a door on top of her, and piling stones onto the
door until she died.
For all the gruesomeness of its mob justice,
the Pittenweem case would be among Scotland’s
last witch panics. The last execution of all took
place in Dornoch in 1727, and in 1736, the British
Parliament repealed the 1563 witchcraft statute.
Since then some small monuments have been
erected to the victims of witch panics in Scot-
land, but there are calls for a larger, more for-
mal monument to recognize the great injustice
perpetrated against the thousands of innocent
women and men tortured and killed during the
great panics of four centuries ago.NEAR THE VILLAGE OF DUNNING in southern Scotland stands a stone
monument, bearing the words, “Maggie Wall burnt here 1657
as a witch.” There are no records of a woman named Maggie
Wall being executed during Dunning’s witch trials in the 1600s.
Researchers believe this cairn was built later, in the 18th or 19th
century. Since then, it has become an unofficial memorial to the
thousands killed during Scotland’s witch hunts.MONUMENTAL MYSTERY
JULIAN GOODARE IS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH,
SCOTLAND. HE HAS EDITED THREE BOOKS ON SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT AND WAS
DIRECTOR OF THE ONLINE SURVEY OF SCOTTISH WITCHCRAFT.GEOFFREY DAVIES/ALAMY/ACI