From folk custom to open accusation...
This article looks at one of the customs prevalent in Scotland’s North East regions. Scots have long enjoyed a reputation for being thrawn - the continued existence of the Guidman’s Croft, despite the imprecations of the Kirk to abandon such an idolatrous practice, bears testimony to this fact!
The “Guidman's Croft”, also known as
the “Morrigan’s Field”.
This concept, common in virtually all Scottish farming communities, was an open acknowledgement to the forces of Nature, and one which the Church singularly failed to stamp out, despite dire imprecations of eternal damnation to any who defied religious pressure. It was believed that any cultivation of this ground would bring misfortune, particularly in the form of cattle diseases. Not only did the field have to remain unploughed, but neither were livestock permitted to graze upon it. For the Kirk authorities this was regarded as an openly defiant act - a dedication of land to the devil. So terrified was the Kirk of anything which smacked of pagan practices that heavy fines were imposed on those who refused to cultivate this ground. Not until the onset of the 19th Century were fields dedicated to the “Auld Guidman” beginning to be ploughed -and only then as the result of solely economic pressure.
Other names given to these fields were: the Halyman's Rig, the Goodman's Fauld, the Gi'en Rig, the Deevil's Craft, Clootie's Craft, the Black Faulie and Given Ground. It is interesting therefore that the Kirk preferred to instil fear into its congregations by referring to all of these fallow fields as “Devil’s Fields”. Yet this was the belief of the Kirk, and in those days, the devil - a totally Christian concept - became an object of fear and revulsion. Dire imprecations were made as to the powers of this entity, and the Church were quick in Scotland to latch onto the other, more sinister profits to be gained by creating such a spectre of fear and revilement…
The devil makes work for idle hands…
The Devil, (also known as Auld Horny or Auld Nick) is part of Christian mythology, not of any pantheistic or animistic paganism. It was necessary to typify witchcraft as being not only outwith the established religion, but more importantly in direct opposition to it. To this end, witches were portrayed as venerating the devil, with both Church and State typifying witches as heretics.
The Presbyterian Church had a particularly shameful record in bringing accusations and encouraging this holocaust which, in Scotland, reached genocidal proportions. King James the VI (1st of England) also played a key role; his book (Demonology 1597) setting the pattern for many Scottish witch trials in accord with the beliefs of European demonologists. Between the passing of the Witchcraft Act in 1563 and the last burning of Janet Horne in Dornoch in 1727 (the repeal of the 'Acts anentis witchcraft' was in 1736) it is estimated that over 4,000 men and women were judicially murdered. Many others, including children, died in custody, were tortured, branded and banished, or were killed extra judicially. (In fact, only Germany exceeded Scotland in anti-witch zealotry.)
A charge of 'Habit and Repute' was sufficient to convict without other evidence. The standard of justice a defendant could expect was less and the tortures used were far greater than with ordinary charges. Torture which was not officially allowed in England was the norm in Scotland, as was the seizure of the accused’s property. In the case of paupers, the community or their landlord had to pay for judicial costs, tortures and punishments. The cost of burning Janet Wishart and Isobel Crocker in Aberdeen in 1596 came to £7.9s Scots. The rate of exchange with the English pound at that time was approximately £6 Scots to £1 Sterling. Obviously more than a few people had a vested economic interest in maximising the supply of victims - including the Church for which this was a considerable source of income!
Aberdeen’s Devillish “Christsonday”
The person that the prosecution in the Aberdeen witch trials referred to as 'the devil', was referred to by the accused by the decidedly undiabolic appellation of “Christsonday”.
Quoting from the accusation against Andro Man:
"the Devill, thy maister, quhom thow termes Christsonday, and supponis to be ane engell, and Goddis godsone, albeit he hes a thraw by God, and swyis to the Quene of Elphen, is rasit be the speaking of the word Benedicite.
Upon the Ruidday in harvest (14th September, the exaltation of the cross, not Rood Day in May), in this present yeir, quhilk fell on a Wedinsday, thow confessis and affermis, thow saw Christsonday cum out of the snaw in likenes of a staig (the word staig, in Scots, usually refers to a horse, however as elsewhere in this trial the word horss is used describing one appearance of 'the devil' and staig to distinguish another, I presume a usage in the English sense), and that the Quene of Elphen was their, and utheris with her, rydand on quhyt haikneyes, and that thay com to the Binhill and the Binlocht, quhair thay use commonlie to convene, and that thay quha convenis with thame kissis Christsonday and the Quene of Elphenis airss. Thow affermis that the quene is verray plesand, and wilbe auld and young quhen scho pleissis; scho mackis any kyng quhom scho pleisis, and lyis with any scho lykis".
From the above it can be seen that records of witch trials provide additional evidence of folk beliefs. Scottish witch trials in general, and in particular the Aberdeen witch trials of 1597, are notable for their accounts of interaction with fairies, especially the Queen of Elfhame. The words fairy and elf have been used for many different concepts. It is of interest here that the fairies of the witches are in the heroic mould suggesting descent from the Celtic pantheon. They compare with the Queens of Elfland in the ballads of 'Tamlane' and 'Thomas the Rhymer' both of which deal with abductions into the fairy reality.
Indeed, it is worthwhile noting that the canny Scots – despite the ravages of the witchtrials, still maintained their belief in the powers of the “Guidman’s Croft” - such croft lands remained untilled and ungrazed, until the start of the 19th Century…
NOTES: Aberdeenshire’s Council’s Internet resource for the study of the culture & traditions of North East Scotland.
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