INTRODUCTION

This case is from the regality court of Broughton, like that of the ‘Leith Witches’ of 1579 edited above. As with that case, here we have the minutes of the court, summarising the accused's offence and the court's deliberations, but no full dittay.

The case illustrates the overlap found occasionally between witchcraft and beneficial magic. William Murray's crime is categorically stated to have been ‘witchecraft and sorcerie’, but he was treated basically as a magical practitioner. His first offence was the use of magic to heal John Hutson's child, and there was also mention of the healing of the son of the goodwife of Wariston ( Jean Livingston, a member of the elite who later became notorious). Murray was not said to have committed malefice, nor was there any mention of a demonic pact. Nevertheless, this was a criminal court, not a kirk session, and he received a criminal sentence rather than being made to do penance.

The interrogators were John Brand, minister of the Canongate, and Robert Pont, minister of St Cuthbert’s, both veteran ministers who had taken leading roles in the church. Pont was also a noted intellectual with an interest in quasi-magical topics.2 Brand's role is natural, as the court was attached to the burgh of the Canongate, but the reason for Pont's involvement does not appear. It would be interesting to know whether it was Brand and Pont who employed the words ‘witchecraft and sorcerie’ to describe Murray's offence, but this cannot be ascertained for certain from the record as we have it.

Murray's healing rituals, involving the blood of a cat, a bannock with special ingredients, and a Gaelic incantation, are of interest.