INTRODUCTION

This rare financial document itemises the payments made by the burgh of Dundee for executing a witch in about 1591. From it we can learn about the practicalities of executions. The context of the document may also shed light on the notorious North Berwick witchcraft panic of 1590–2.

There are many things that this document does not tell us. It does not tell us the witch's name or even gender. And it does not give the exact date of the execution. The financial accounts cover the terms of Martinmas 1590 and Whitsun 1591 – the financial year 16 May 1590 to 15 May 1591 – and the text gives no more precise date. As we shall see, a date towards the end of this period seems likely. Another significant point that the document omits is the nature of the court that tried and convicted the witch.

It may, however, be possible to reconstruct some of this contextual information. Here we may begin with a consideration of four hypothetically possible types of court that might have tried the witch. Hypothetically, it could have been the burgh court, or the sheriff court, or a justice court held under royal authority (a commission of justiciary), either in Dundee or in Edinburgh. These options might overlap if (for instance) the magistrates of the burgh were granted a commission of justiciary. Unfortunately, the keeping of the records of a court held under a commission of justiciary did not form part of the responsibilities of any local officials, and the survival rate for such courts’ records is very low. Before 1608, there is no surviving central record of the granting of commissions of justiciary either. So it would not be surprising if gaps in the record evidence were to limit what could be said. Nevertheless, some probable conclusions can be drawn.