''Newes from Scotland - declaring the damnable life and death of Dr. Fian, a notable sorcerer'' is a pamphlet printed in

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in 1591, and likely written by James Carmichael, who later advised

King James VI James VI and I (James Charles Stuart; 19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until hi ...

on the writing of his book '' Daemonologie''. It describes the

North Berwick witch trials The North Berwick witch trials were the trials in 1590 of a number of people from East Lothian, Scotland, accused of witchcraft in the St Andrew's Auld Kirk in North Berwick on Halloween night. They ran for two years, and implicated over seventy ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and the confessions given before the king, and was published in ''Daemonologie'' by King James in 1597.

Content

Included in the pamphlet is an account of the alleged witches

Agnes Sampson Agnes Sampson (died 28 January 1591) was a Scottish healer and purported witch. Also known as the "Wise Wife of Keith", Sampson was involved in the North Berwick witch trials in the later part of the sixteenth century. Background Sampson live ...

, known as the Wise Wife of

Keith Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons i ...

, and the principal accuser Geillis Duncan. It also described the death of

Archibald Douglas, 8th Earl of Angus Archibald Douglas, 8th Earl of Angus and 5th Earl of Morton (15554 August 1588) was the son of David, 7th Earl of Angus. He succeeded to the title and estates in 1558, being brought up by his uncle, James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, a Presby ...

who was said to have been bewitched to death in a disease so strange his physician could find no cure or remedy. The pamphlet details the initial events leading up to the trials, how each of the suspected witches were found out and captured. This led to the eventual apprehension of Dr. John Fian who was declared a notable sorcerer, under compact with the devil and the supposed head of the coven. During his examination, he confessed to be the register of the witches under the service of Satan. Afterwards, he renounced his compact with Satan and swore to live an honourable Christian life. He also testified that Satan came to him the same day to convince him to uphold his original pact. Fian stated that he renounced Satan to his face. It was the next day when he confessed what happened that he managed to steal a key to his cell from one of the guards and escaped his imprisonment. After he was recaptured, he was tortured to obtain his confession but denied all his previous confessions. Implements described as used during his interrogation included the

boot A boot is a type of footwear. Most boots mainly cover the foot and the ankle, while some also cover some part of the lower calf. Some boots extend up the leg, sometimes as far as the knee or even the hip. Most boots have a heel that is c ...

, which crushed his feet and lower legs, with turcas, a type of

pincer Pincer may refer to: * Pincers (tool) *Pincer (biology), part of an animal *Pincer ligand In chemistry, a transition metal pincer complex is a type of coordination complex with a pincer ligand. Pincer ligands are chelating agents that binds tig ...

, and needles to forcibly extract his nails. Geillis Duncan's earlier testimony had been secured by the use of pilliwinks.

Historical significance

The pamphlet contains virtually the only contemporary illustrations of Scottish witchcraft and was the earliest Scottish or English printed document dedicated to only covering witchcraft in Scotland. It provided the first descriptions of the '' osculum infame'', also known as the ''kiss of shame'' or the ''obscene kiss'', to the English population. Original copies are kept at

Glasgow University , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

, and in the

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References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

Digitization of an 1816 facsimile reprint of the pamphlet
from the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

1591 books 16th century in Scotland Books about Scotland Occult books Pamphlets Scottish non-fiction literature Witch hunter manuals Witchcraft treatises Witchcraft in Scotland Works by James VI and I {{Scotland-hist-stub