Individuals

Question 1

David Seaton

Answer 1

• Local bailiff - had authority in local area
• Gilly Duncan was his maid - now believed they were having an affair
• Enabled in witch hunting by 1567 WC Act

Question 2

Gilly Duncan

Answer 2

• Had been learning how to heal people - successful but it meant taking time off work
• Things started to go missing from Seaton’s home
• When people don’t recover, Duncan accused of having ‘unnatural healing abilities’
• Social context means people think WC is involved, political context enables Seaton to investigate

Question 3

Gilly Duncan’s accusation

Answer 3

• Tortured with thumbscres and cords around he head - fails to confess
• Searched for witches’ mark and confesses - leads to further accusations (Fian & Sampson)

Question 4

Agnes Sampson

Answer 4

• Friend of Gilly Duncan - elderly woman with reputation as midwife and cunning woman
• Well trsuted - served people in the higher class
• Barbara Napier (upper class) accused by Sampson - widens the nature of people accused of WC

Question 5

Accusations against Agnes Sampson

Answer 5

• Healing the sick with unnatural abilities
• Sailing across the sea in a sieve to launch a storm that threatened the King’s life
• Calling on the devil in the form of a dog to help heal
• Able to tell James what he said to Anne on their wedding night - reassures him of her unnatural abilities

Question 6

Agnes Sampson’s Interrogation

Answer 6

• Tortured during questioning and while imprisoned (witches’ bridle, sleep deprivation)
• Admits to being responsible for North Sea storms
• Accuses many other witches, including ones in the upper classes

Question 7

John Fian

Answer 7

• Schoolmaster accused by Gilly Duncan
• Well educated, could speak Latin and Greek, locals didn’t trust him
• Demonstrates scope of people accused after Duncan

Question 8

Accusations against John Fian

Answer 8

• Being secretary at coven meetings, bewitching a man
• Attempted bewitching of a woman to fall in love with him through a cow
• Robbing graves for body parts to use in charms

Question 9

John Fian’s Interrogation

Answer 9

• Recorded in ‘Newes from Scotland’
• Heavily Tortured (nails under fingers, boots and head twisted with rope)

Question 10

Francis Stewart - Earl of Bothwell

Answer 10

• First cousin of James, loses his favour after openly criticising him
• Bothwell suggested James make the journey to/from DK that almost killed him
• His father had been accused of assassinating James’ father - already some suspicion and paranoia

Question 11

Accusations against Earl of Bothwell

Answer 11

• Arrested but escapes, returns and pleads with James, who puts him on trial
• Initially acquitted
• James still afraid, withdraws his pardon, Bothwell flees to Europe

Question 12

Significance of Bothwell

Answer 12

• Shows that belief in magic tightly intertwined with politics
• Increased paranoia of treason for James
• Suggests that there could be ulterior motives for accusations