Unmasking the Witches of Aberdeen: Contagious Accusations and Persecution With Dee Lawlor

The Scottish witch trials, a dark chapter in history, unfolded with chilling intensity. From the late 16th to the early 17th century, the city of Aberdeen witnessed a frenzy of accusations and persecutions against those accused of practicing witchcraft. Fear and superstition gripped the populace, leading to the torture, trial and execution, of mainly women, suspected of maleficent deeds. The trials left a haunting legacy, forever etched in the annals of Aberdeen's past, a stark reminder of the perils of mass hysteria and the tragic consequences of unfounded beliefs.

My Special Guest is Dee Lawlor  

Dee is a professional writer and editor, based in Aberdeen, Scotland. She has a special interest in history, superstition, and local myths and legends. 'Contagious Enemies: First-hand accounts from the Aberdeen witch trials' is her second book. It recounts the witch trials in Aberdeen that ran from 1596-1597. The book takes the original court records from the witch trails and transcribes and translates them for the modern reader.

St Mary's Chapel

In the years before the Reformation, a small chapel in a church on the outskirts of Aberdeen had provided a quiet place for Catholic women to pray in peace. But within 30 years of the switch from Catholicism to the Protestant faith, St Mary's Chapel at the Kirk of St Nicholas in Aberdeen took on a far darker and sinister role. Historians have uncovered evidence that the chapel, built during the 15th century, served as a prison for suspected witches while they faced trial and before they were led away to their deaths. But records unearthed from Aberdeen's city archives have revealed this two inch wide ring was installed to chain the witches up while they were being held in the prison. They reveal that 23 women and one man were tried and executed for witchcraft in the city during the Great Scottish Witch Hunt of 1597.

Extracting Confessions

In Scotland's grim history of witch trials, torture was all too common, as authorities sought to extract confessions and evidence from the accused. One of the infamous methods used was pricking, where the accused was subjected to sharp instruments, often needles or bodkins, in an attempt to find the 'witch's mark' – a supposed spot on their body that was believed to be left by the Devil himself. Another horrifying practice was the dunking or swimming ordeal, where suspected witches were bound and thrown into water. If they floated, it was believed to indicate guilt, as water was seen as repelling evil spirits, and the accused would be considered a witch. If they sank, they were deemed innocent, but tragically, they often drowned. These barbaric methods, driven by fear, ignorance, and superstition, led to countless innocent lives being lost, forever haunting the pages of Scotland's history with a dark stain of suffering and injustice.

In this episode, you will be able to: 

1. Uncover some of the accounts of witch trials from Aberdeen.

2. Explore some of the language of the Aberdeen witch trial court records.

3. Explore some of the motivations for the persecution of witches.

4. Examine the process of identifying, prosecuting and executing an accused witch within Scotland.

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