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# The Demonology of King James I_ Includes the Original Text of Daemonologie and News from Scotland

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THE DEMONOLOGY

OF KING JAMES I


#### DONALD TYSON

## DEMONOLOGY
##### THE

## KING I
##### OF
# JAMES

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota


The Demonology of King james I: Includes the Original Text of Daemonologie and News from
Scotland© 2011 by Donald Tyson. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used

or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written

permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the case of brief quotations embod­

ied in critical articles and reviews.


First Edition

First Printing, 2011


Book design by Donna Burch

Cover art © Dover Publishing

Cover design by Kevin R. Brown

Editing by Tom Bilstad


For a complete list of illustration sources, see page 328.


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OTHER BOOKS BY DONALD TYSON
The Messenger
(Llewellyn, January 1990)


Ritual Magic: What It Is & How To Do It
(Llewellyn, January 199 2)


Three Books of Occult Philosophy
(Llewellyn, January 1 99 2)


Scrying For Beginners
(Llewellyn, February 1997)


Enoch ian Magic for Beginners: The Original System of Angel Magic
(Llewellyn, September 2002)


Familiar Spirits: A Practical Guide for Witches & Magicians
(Llewellyn, January 2004)


The Power of the Word: The Secret Code of Creation
(Llewellyn, March 2004)


1-2-3 Tarot: Answers In An Instant
(Llewellyn, October 2004)


Necronomicon: The Wanderings of Alhazred
(Llewellyn, December 2004)


Alhazred: Author of the Necronomicon
(Llewellyn, july 2006)


Portable Magic: Tarot Is the Only Tool You Need
(Llewellyn, October 2006)


Soul Flight: Astral Projection and the Magical Universe
(Llewellyn, March 2007)


Grimoire of the Necronomicon
(Llewellyn, August 2008)


Runic Astrology
(Llewellyn, July 2009)


The Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy
(Llewellyn, November 2009)


The 13 Gates of the Necronomicon
(Llewellyn, July 201 0)


##### CONTENTS

Illustration Captions . . . xi
Introduction: james and the Witches . . . 1


DEMONOLOGY


The Preface: To the Reader . . . 45

The First Book . . . 53
Chapter I . . . 55
Chapter II . . . 63
Chapter III . . . 67
Chapter IV . . . 73
Chapter V . . . 81
Chapter VI . . . 89
Chapter VII . . . 99


The Second Book . . . 103
Chapter I . . . 1 05
Chapter II . . . 1 1 1
Chapter III . . . 1 1 5
Chapter IV . . . 1 2 1
Chapter V . . . 127
Chapter VI . . . 137
Chapter VII . . . 1 43


The Third Book . . . 147
Chapter I . . . 149
Chapter II . . . 157

Chapter III . . . 163
Chapter IV . . . 1 69
Chapter V . . . 1 73
Chapter VI . . . 1 79


X CONTENTS


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


To the Reader . . . 187
A True Discourse . . . 189


Appendix A: Original text of Daemonologie . . . 221
Appendix B: Original text of News From Scotland . . . 285
Appendix C: Witchcraft Act and Tolbooth Speech of
james the First . . . 301
Bibliography . . . 307
Index . . . 313


ILLUSTRATION CAPTIONS


Figure 1: Original title page of Daemonologie, 1597, reproduced in
the Bodley Head reprint. page xv


Figure 2: Turning the riddle, or sieve, from the Opera omnia of Cor­
nelius Agrippa, sixteenth century. It is difficult to judge from the
illustration, but it may be that the oracle was given when the sieve
slipped down between the blades of the shears, causing it to ro­
tate slightly. page 77

Figure 3: Knot magic was believed to be a favorite method of
witches. A sorcerer stands on a headland and sells two sailors
favorable winds bound up in three knots. In the background an­
other ship has been driven into the rocks by adverse winds and
has foundered. From Olaus Magnus' Historia de gentibus septentri­
onalibus, 1 555. page 78


Figure 4: A complex magic circle from Reginald Scot's Discoverie of
Witchcraft, 1584. Below it is the descriptive text: "This is the circle
for the master to sit in, and his fellowe or fellowes, at the first call­
ing, sit backe to backe, when he calleth the spirit; and for the fair­
ies make this circle with chalke on the ground, as is said before."
page 87


Figure 5: Four familiar demons perform tasks for witches. In the
center, one sweeps out a stable; left, another digs for treasure with
a pointed rod; top, a third draws four witches through the clouds
in a wagon; right, the fourth creates a wind to propel a ship. From
Olaus Magnus' Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, 1 555. page 93

Figure 6: Satan impresses his mark into the forehead of a young
male witch, from Francesco Maria Guazzo's Compendium Malefi­
carum, 1626. page 1 13


Figure 7: Witches kiss the Devil's buttocks, from Francesco Maria
Guazzo's Compendium Maleficarum, 1 626. page 1 19


XI


XII ILLUSTRATION CAPTIONS


Figure 8: A winged demon supports a witch flying on a pitchfork,
from Ulrich Molitor's Hexen Meysterey, 1 545. Demons are often
depicted riding with witches through the air on their brooms or
staffs. The intention is to show that the Devil provides the occult
power that propels the witch through the air, not the witch her­
self. page 125


Figure 9: A female witch raises a storm to sink a ship by pouring liq­
uid from a small kettle while brandishing a knife. Note the waning
crescent of the Moon. In the lower part of the panel, a male witch
with a skull-headed staff sits and bewitches livestock. From Olaus
Magnus' Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus, 1 5 55. page 134


Figure 10: A werewolf attacks a traveler just outside the gate of a
town. A woodcut from johann Geiler von Kaysersberg's Die
Emeis, 1 5 1 7. page 1 55


Figure 11: An incubus seduces a witch in a secluded meeting place.
From Ulrich Molitor's Von den Unholden und Hexen. page 1 67


Figure 12: A knight approaches in supplication the queen and king
of fairy and their court, who wait to greet him beneath a fairy
knoll. page 1 77


Figure 13: Public execution by burning of three witches in Derne­
burg, Germany, from a 1 555 broadsheet. At the right we see two
of the witches setting fire to a building, while a man lies appar­
ently dead outside the door. The background shows an execution
by beheading with a sword, and three learned and prosperous
men who watch the burning of the witches and comment upon
it. At the top, a demon descends to catch the soul as it leaves the
mouth of one of the dying witches. Center, two men tend the
fire. When witches were burned alive, it sometimes happened
that their bindings burned off before they died, and they had to be
cast back into the fire when they tried to escape. page 1 84


Figure 14: Original title page from a 1 592 edition of News From Scot­
land, reproduced in the 1924 Bodley Head reprint. page 185


ILLUSTRATION CAPTIONS XIII


Figure 15: This is one of two woodcuts in the Bodley Head reprint
of an early edition of News From Scotland that was not designed
specifically for the work. It may have been included to suggest
how the North Berwick witches were chastised with a rod before
Kingjames and the chief magistrate. page 191


Figure 16: The initial of two woodcuts included in the first edition
of News From Scotland, designed to illustrate the material in the
text. In the Bodley Head reprint of a slightly different 1 592 edi­
tion of the tract, this woodcut is reproduced twice-just after the
title page, and again in the body of the work. Clockwise from the
left, it depicts the Devil of the North Berwick witches preaching
from an outdoor pulpit to an audience of female witches while
john Pian sits at a table recording his words with pen and paper; a
ship foundering in a storm at sea; four female witches brewing a
potion in an iron kettle with a long-handled ladle, a peddler lying
upon his side; and finally, the same peddler lying in a similar pos­
ture in a wine cellar in Bordeaux, France. page 197


Figure 17: The second of two woodcuts made specifically for the
first edition of News From Scotland depicts the activities of john
Fian. Clockwise from the upper right, we see Pian attempting to
remove the bewitchment from an amorous cow; Pian riding on
an illuminated black horse behind a man clothed in a black cape
and hat; the church at North Berwick; and a gallows. The cow
refers to the story attributed to Fian that was borrowed from the
Golden Ass of Appuleius. As for the illuminated horse, part of the
charges read against Pian at his trial were that when he was rid­
ing past Tranent on horseback with another man in the middle
of the night, he "by his devilish craft, raised up four candles upon
the horse's two legs, and another candle upon the staff which the
man had in his hand; and gave such light, as if it had been day­
light; like as, the said candles returned with the said man, upon
his homecoming; and caused him to fall dead at his entry within
the house." The gallows, which appears to have been inserted


XIV ILLUSTRATION CAPTIONS


into the woodcut, shows that the artist was an Englishman, since
witches were burned in Scotland, not hanged. page 200


Figure 18: This is the second of two woodcuts in the 1 924 Bodley
Head reprint of a 1 592 edition of News From Scotland that was not
created specifically for the tract. It is located at the end of the work,
after the text, and appears to show a man being led to prison be­
tween a jailor with keys hanging at his waist and a nun who grasps
the man by the ear. page 203

Figure 19: Wedges are driven into the boots to shatter the bones in
the shins and ankles of the unfortunate man being tortured. At
the right, a standing inquisitor asks questions while one seated at
a desk records the man's confession. Although this is not a partic­
ularly good illustration of the boots themselves, it does show the
type that were used in Scotland during the North Berwick affair.
A woodcut from the late sixteenth century. page 2 1 8


Figure 20: Title page to the first edition of News From Scotland, pub­
lished in 1 592. page 284


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Figure 1


DEMONOLOGY,
In the Form
of a Dialogue,
Divided into Three Books.
Edinburgh
Printed by Robert Waldegrave
Printer to the King's Majesty, anna 1597.
With Royal Privlege.


### INTRODUCTION
#### james and the Witches

THE ONCE AND FUTURE KING


James Stuart was born on June 19, 1566, at Edinburgh, from the
union of Mary, Queen of Scots, with her second husband, Henry
Stewart Lord Darnley. When his mother was forced to abdicate her
throne by Queen Elizabeth, James was proclaimed King James the
Sixth of Scotland on July 24, 1567. For the first twelve years of his life
he was not permitted to participate in state affairs, but was kept for
his own security in Sterling Castle, safe from the constantly bickering
Scottish factions.
Physically he was weak and sickly, a misfortune of health that
played a significant part in his tendency in later life to achieve his
purposes by manipulation and deceit rather than the bold exercise
of power. For the first six or seven years of his life he was unable
to stand up or walk without aid. As a young man he developed a
love for horseback riding, but it was necessary that he be tied on
to his horse due to the weakness in his legs, and once when he fell
into a body of water while out riding he nearly drowned because he
was unable to help himself. Throughout his life he preferred to walk
leaning on the shoulder of an attendant.
Weakness of body was in part compensated for by keenness of
intellect. When Sir Henry Killigrew saw the boy in 1574 he was im­
pressed by the skill of eight -year-old James in translating Latin and


2 INTRODUCTION


French texts. From an early age he was trained by his guardians in
the Protestant faith, and developed an aversion for Catholicism, al­
though this did not prevent him from sending a letter to the pope in
1 584, hinting that he might be persuaded to change his faith if it for­
warded his political goals. James was always ready to imply friend­
ship and favor, provided there was no actual necessity of ever giving
them.
There seems little doubt that James was a coward. He fought
against this tendency throughout his life, but it was his nature and
he could never overcome it. In 1 582 he was kidnapped by a faction
of Scottish nobles during the Raid of Ruthven. Although he was
then old enough to shave, he was so terrified of his captors that he
cried like a child. Sir Thomas Lyon, one of the men keeping him
hostage, gruffly told the young king it were better 'bairns [children]
should greet [cry] than bearded men." James parted from his cap­
tors in 1 583 and began to rule his kingdom, but always remained
timid. The Marquis de Fontenay, French ambassador to the Scottish
court during the early part of his reign, spoke of James as cowed by
the violence around him. When in 1 587 his mother was executed by
order of Elizabeth, he made little effort to prevent it.
His personal appearance and manners were not attractive. He
had a tendency to bluster and make promises he had no intention
of ever fulfilling. He talked too much in a very thick Scottish ac­
cent, and was pedantic and put on airs of scholarship that he did not
merit. In dress he was slovenly and unclean. His physical caresses
and frequent gifts to male favorites in his court gave rise to gossip
that he was homosexual. A these tendencies were strongly despised
by the English people when he ascended to the throne of England in
1 603 at the death of Elizabeth, but they swallowed their distaste and
welcomed him in a practical spirit, as the only alternative to bitter
civil war.
In 1 589 James married Anne, second daughter of Frederick the
Second, king of Denmark. This union between the Protestant mon

INTRODUCTION 3


arch and the Protestant princess greatly alarmed the Catholic fac­
tions in England and Scotland, who saw their hope for a restoration
of the papacy slipping away. Until this marriage, James had done
his best to maintain a cordial relationship with both the Vatican and
the royal family of Spain, but this choice of a bride left no question
about his religious leanings. Perhaps the only romantic and coura­
geous action James ever took was to sail out to meet Anne after her
ship was driven by storm into the port of Oslo in Norway. It was
there that James enjoyed his first night of connubial bliss with his
fifteen-year-old bride.
The trials of the North Berwick witches (who received this title
because they were supposed to congregate in the kirk, or church, at
North Berwick near Edinburgh in the dead of night to meet with
the Devil and concoct their plots) took place mainly between the
years 1590 and 1592, although the fallout of the affair dragged on for
years. It marked a major turning point in the thinking of the young
king. The charges against the accused included numerous attempts by
magic on his life, and even one effort to kill the queen while she was
on her voyage from Denmark to England. Previously James had only
faced plots by the rebellious Scottish nobles that endangered his life by
physical means, but now he found himself and his new bride threat­
ened by the supernatural.
James keenly interested himself in the trials, and was a direct par­
ticipant in much of the questioning. He mentioned in his Tolbooth
speech of 1 591 (see Appendix C) that the proceedings against the ac­
cused witches occupied him for a full nine months, and it would not
be excessive to say that he was the prime mover in the whole affair.
Undoubtedly he observed the torture of the accused, and heard the
confessions wrung from their own agonized mouths. He was grati­
fied to learn from Agnes Sampson that the Devil considered him to
be his chief opponent, and it was for this reason that Satan hated
him and wished to bring about his death. She testified that when
the witches asked Satan why he hated the king so much, the Devil


4 INTRODUCTION


replied: "By reason the king is the greatest enemie hee hath in the
world."
By this extraordinary statement the Devil cast James into the role
of an avenging knight of the Christian faith. James was fond of mak­
ing reference to the warrior mounted upon a white horse (Revela­
tion 1 9: 1 1-16) who is prophesied to descend to Earth to punish the
wicked in the latter days, which James believed to already have ar­
rived. As an intensely religious man, and as the leader of his nation
in matters military, spiritual, and judicial, it would have been difficult
for James to decline the role of Satan's chief adversary. He accepted
it as a challenge and spent the better part of the next four decades
trying to do it honor.
Since this mythic figure upon his white horse is so central to the
view James held of his own crusade against witchcraft, it is worth
quoting the relevant verses from the King James Bible version of the
text:


And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True; and in righ­
teousness he doth judge and make war.
His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were
many crowns; and he had a name written that no man knew
but he himself:
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and
his name is called The Word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he
should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod
of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and
wrath of Almighty God.


Can there be any doubt that James saw in the brave knight on the
white horse with "many crowns" a reflection of himself? Or that the


INTRODUCTION 5


sharp sword that proceeds from his mouth was for james the book
Demonology and the 1 604 Witchcraft Statute of England? He viewed
himself as a general in the army of Christ, "clothed in fine linen,
white and clean." It must have struck James as significant, in light of
this biblical passage, that the accused North Berwick witches sought
to bring about his death by procuring a piece of linen that he had
soiled, so as to use his bodily excretions in their magic against him.
James was a strong believer in the supernatural and the power of
magic, but he ascribed all working of magic to the Devil. He did not
recognize what Cornelius Agrippa called "natural magic," or what
was sometimes termed "white magic," as a lawful activity. The ef­
ficacy of herbs and stones was either an inherent part of their com­
position, and so a matter of medicine and science, or it was infused
into them by the power of Satan in order to deceive those who used
them for healing or other purposes. For James, there was no such
thing as occult forces that could be used for benevolent purposes.
On the one hand there was the power of God, which had ceased to
produce prophecies or miracles since the time of Christ, and on the
other hand there was the power of Satan, which waxed stronger in
the modern age than at any other time in history due to the immi­
nence of the end of the world, and was responsible for all marvelous
effects that were other than natural.
The supernatural must have terrified him at least as much as the
political intimidations used by his Scottish nobles. In an effort to
know his spiritual enemies as well as he knew his temporal foes, he
made an extensive study of the available literature on the subjects
of magic, witchcraft, and demons. It is tempting to assume that his
reading was wider than it was deep. Summers wrote disparagingly
about the degree of learning he displayed in his treatise on witch­
craft: "In many passages King james has borrowed from the Conti­
nental demonologists, whom he read with more diligence than acu­
men. For all his zeal and dexterous learning one feels that there is
something just a little superficial in his grasp of the more scholarly


6 INTRODUCTION


writers and theologians" (Summers, Geography of Witchcraft, page

224).
In the king's defense, he had been present during the actual ques­
tioning of the accused North Berwick witches, and had heard their
testimony, so James' knowledge of the subject was not entirely the­
oretical, as was the knowledge of his critic Summers. In any case,
James was hardly about to instruct his readers in the finer points
of practical necromancy and witchcraft, regardless of how much
theoretical knowledge he might himself possess. The purpose of
his book, which arose as a direct visceral reaction to the North Ber­
wick trials and the supposed plots against his life by magic, was to
increase the persecution of witches in Scotland and England. Every­
thing in the work is tailored to achieve this end.
Shortly after assuming the English throne in 1603, James ordered
a new edition of his book published in London so that he could ex­
tend his crusade against witchcraft into England. A Dutch transla­
tion was published in 1 604, and Latin editions came off the presses
in Hanover in 1604 and 1 607. A year after his coronation, James suc­
ceeded in getting the 1563 witchcraft statute that had been enforced
during most of the long reign of Elizabeth abolished, and a new
statute erected in its place that contains harsher and broader punish­
ments for witches and practitioners of magic. So keen was James on
this matter that his reinterpretation of the witchcraft laws went to
the House of Lords for consideration only eight days after the first
sitting of parliament of his reign as the English king, and passed on
first reading.
The main difference between the law of Elizabeth and that
of James concerned what should be the focus of the punishment.
Under Elizabeth, those who practiced witchcraft and sorcery were
subject to the most severe punishment only if they were found to
have used these arts to commit murder or other injuries. It was the
crimes in which witchcraft had been employed that were the pri­
mary object of punishment, not the practice of witchcraft itself,


INTRODUCTION 7


which was of secondary concern. James wanted the practice of any
form of magic punished severely, regardless of whether it was used
to commit injuries to others, because he held all such practice to be
trafficking with the Devil, whom he believed to be the source of the
efficacy for all magic.
Under the law of Elizabeth, anyone who bewitched another
without causing his death was subject to a penalty of one year in
prison; the law of James made the same crime punishable by hang­
ing. Minor infractions, such as using divination to locate stolen prop­
erty, making love potions, or damaging property such as laming a
cow or causing hail to flatten a crop in the field were still punishable
by a year in prison and a term in the pillory, as they had been under
the old law. James caused it to become a felony to invoke any evil
spirit, or to have any dealings with an evil spirit. This meant that to
keep a familiar spirit in the form of a cat, dog, rabbit, or other pet
was punishable by death. The Devil was thought to mark those with
whom he made a pact. To be found to have a witch mark anywhere
on the body was also enough evidence of consultation with an evil
spirit to be punishable by death, hence the vigorous questioning by
the courts about familiars, and the intensity of the search for the
witch mark.
The statute of James made it a crime punishable by hanging to:


1) invoke, consult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed, or re­
ward any evil spirit for any purpose


2) take any dead body, or any part of a dead body, for use in any
witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or enchantment


3) practice any form of witchcraft, enchantment, charm, or sor­
cery in which any person is killed, destroyed, wasted, con­
sumed, pined, or lamed in the body, or any part of the body


4) aid, abet, or counsel others in any of the above acts


The statute also made it a crime punishable by one year in prison
to use witchcraft, enchantment, charms, or sorcery to:


8 INTRODUCTION


1 ) locate any treasure of gold or silver in the earth or other hiding places


2) locate any lost or stolen goods or things


3) intend to provoke any person to unlawful love


4) destroy, waste, or impair any chattel or goods of another
person


5) attempt without success to hurt or destroy any person in the
body


All of the offences punishable by a year in prison on the first of­
fence were felonies on the second commission, and punishable by
hanging.

On the matter of capital punishment for witchcraft, in England
it was hanging, the same as for other more common felonies such
as murder. In Scotland, witchcraft was punished by burning, but the
custom was to strangle the condemned witch at the stake before
lighting the fire, and in this way to lessen the suffering of the witch.
This was done as an act of mercy when the witch confessed to her
supposed crimes, and did not recant the confession once the torture
used to extract the confession had been halted. If the witch retracted
the confession, the mercy of strangulation might be withdrawn and
she might be burned alive, though this barbarity was uncommon.
In practice, the English courts carried on much as they had before
the passage of the witch statute of James in meting out the death
penalty. It was usually only given to those who had been convicted
of causing the death of another person with witchcraft or necro­
mancy. For example, even though it was a capital offence under the
new law to dig up a corpse for use in magic, no one was ever put to
death for this crime. There were exceptions. In 1 645 seven women
were hanged at Chelmsford for entertaining evil spirits, which is to
say, for keeping familiars. What the law did accomplish was the more
frequent and vigorous prosecution of accusations of witchcraft in


INTRODUCTION 9


England, and later in America. The Salem witch trials were carried
out under the statute of James, which was not abolished until 1 736.
During the early part of his reign as English monarch, James was
as rabid in his prosecution of witchcraft as he had been while living
in Scotland, but as the years passed, his fervor began to wane. He
was able to prove to his satisfaction that several of those who had
accused others of witchcraft had been lying.
In 1 605 James paid three hundred pounds to the Reverend Sam­
uel Harsnett to question a fourteen-year-old girl, Anne Gunter, who
had accused three woman in Abingdon of witchcraft. The girl ad­
mitted under the sharp questioning of Harsnett that she had only
been pretending to fall into fits, and had falsely accused the women.
While traveling north in 1 6 1 8, James stopped at Leicester when
six women were due to be hanged as witches on the evidence of a
twelve-year-old boy, John Smith, who claimed that his convulsions
were caused by their bewitchment of him. Nine other women had
already been executed on the lad's testimony. James examined the
boy and determined to his satisfaction that his fits were nothing but
fraud. The women were freed, and Chief Justice Sir Edward Coke,
who had presided over their trial, was disgraced.
In 1 621 James questioned yet another youthful accuser, a girl
of the town of Westham in Essex (now a part of greater London)
named Katherine Malpas, who pretended to be subject to fits of de­
monic possession, and accused two women of bewitching her. Since
James had personally witnessed cases of possession, he was difficult
to fool. A woman was made to confess that she had taught the girl to
simulate the fits so that she could charge money of those who came
to watch her convulsions.
This and similar evidence of deception both enraged James and
shook his confidence in his beliefs. It is asserted by some historians
that James went so far in his later years as to completely repudiate
the reality of witchcraft. Robbins quoted Thomas Fuller as assert­
ing in his Church History of Britain that James "grew first diffident


IO INTRODUCTION


of, and then flatly to deny, the workings of witches and devils as but
falsehoods and delusions" (Robbins, Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and
Demonology, page 279). This seems unlikely in view of the strength
of these convictions, particularly since the intensity of his religious
faith never wavered. Whether his own attitude changed or not, dur­
ing his last nine years as king it is recorded that only five convicted
witches were executed.
Viewed as a whole, the prosecution of witches under his rule,
though more vigorous than it had been during the reign of Eliza­
beth, was not so severe as might appear from the tenor of his book
and his statute. Montague Summers observed that there are only
fifty cases of witches having been executed in England during the

entire reign of King James. Summers wrote: "It would appear that
the popular ideas concerning the holocausts in the reign of James
the I are anything but historically exact, and instead of shuddering at
the large numbers who perished, we may well be surprised that the
executions in England were so few" (Geography of Witchcraft, page

132).
Only fifty executions in England, yet many more women were
tried, and even those who did not suffer imprisonment as a result
of a guilty verdict had to face the humiliation of having their bod­
ies shaved of all hair and a search made of their private parts for the
witch mark, the censure and condemnation of their family, friends,
and neighbors, and worst of all the protracted ordeal of torture used
on them in an effort to extract a confession. It is probable that the
number of executions would have been much higher had James
been able to freely work his will during the early part of his reign,
but his personal crusade against witchcraft was in part inhibited by
the conservative nature of English common law, which is slow to
change its way of doing things, and perhaps also by the common
sense of many of the judges.
One more incident must be related of James before we leave his
life and proceed to a closer examination of the North Berwick affair.


INTRODUCTION II


Margaret Murray related in God of the Witches that as James lay on
his deathbed, an attempt was made in his bedchamber by his atten­
dants to lessen his pain by transferring it into the body of an animal.
A young pig was for this purpose dressed in the clothing of a human
baby. One of the ladies of the court played the part of its mother,
and the Duchess of Buckingham assumed the role of midwife. A
gentleman who was dressed in the robes of a bishop read the ser­
vice of baptism, while the Duke of Buckingham and other nobles
played the part of the pig's godfathers. The pig was baptized, and
then chased out of the room.
It may be assumed that James was in a very bad state at that
point, perhaps not even conscious of his surroundings. Yet if he did
retain any of his mental faculties, what must he have thought of the
performance of what was clearly a blasphemous ritual of witchcraft
for his personal benefit? Was he inwardly horrified by what his con­
cerned attendants were doing in their effort to lessen his suffering,
or was he hypocritical enough to justify it in some way in his own
mind, even though it was opposed to everything he had ever writ­
ten or said concerning witchcraft? History has not recorded his last
thoughts, only the incredible irony of the performance of a magic
ritual over the deathbed of a man who all his life was steadfast in his
loathing and rejection of anything remotely connected with the art
of magic.


THE NORTH BERWICK WITCHE S


The incidents that formed the basis for the North Berwick witch
trials, which are partially detailed in the tract News From Scotland,
may have been instigated, insofar as they have any factual basis, by
the determination of James to wed Anne of Denmark. Among the
charges against the witches is that they tried to sink the ship carrying
James to Denmark to meet with his future bride, and also the ship
bringing Anne to England. Two of the items filed against john Fian,
one of the supposed leaders of the plot, read as follows:


12 INTRODUCTION


(7) ITEM, for the raising of winds at the King's passing to
Denmark, and for the sending of a letter to Marian Linkup
in Leith, to that effect, bidding her to meet him and the rest
on the sea within five days; where Satan delivering a cat out
of his hand to Robert Grierson, and gave the word to "Cast
the same in the sea, hola!" And thereafter, being mounted in a
ship and drunk like unto others, where Satan said, "You shall
sink the ship;" like as they thought that did.


(8) ITEM, for assembling himself with Satan, at the King's re­
turning from Denmark, where Satan promised to raise a mist,
and cast the King's Majesty in England: and for performing

thereof, he took a thing like to a soot -ball, which appeared to
the said John like a wisp, and cast the same in the sea; which
caused a vapor and a reek to rise.


A charge against Agnes Sampson accused her of sending a letter to
another witch ordering her to "warne the rest of the sisteris, to raise
the wind this day, att eleavin houris, to stay the Quenis cuming in Scot­
land."
At the same time that women and men were being accused in
Scotland of trying to prevent the union of James and Anne, similar
accusations were being made in Denmark. The spy of Lord Burghley
in Copenhagen wrote to him in a letter dated July 23, 1 590, that the
admiral Peter Munk in Denmark "hathe caused five or six witches
to be taken in Coupnahaven, upon suspicion that by their witche
craft they had staied the Queen of Scottes voiage into Scotland, and
sought to have staied likewise the King's retorne." A woman named
Anna Koldings was interrogated, and under the fear of greater tor­
tures was compelled to give the names of five other women, one of
them being the wife of the burgomaster of Copenhagen. Eventually
all were induced to confess to raising a storm to sink Anne's ship,
and of having sent demons to climb the keel of the vessel and pull it
under the waves.


INTRODUCTION 13


It is a curious coincidence that the same storm that held back
Queen Anne from initially sailing to Scotland also sank a ferry trav­
eling between Burntisland and Leith with Lady Mary Melville of
Garvock aboard. Burntisland is just west of Kinghorn on the oppo­
site side of the Firth of Forth from Edinburgh. Lady Mary was the
wife of Sir Andrew Melville, the master of the household affairs of
King James, and was traveling to meet Anne upon her arrival in Scot­
land. Concerning this tragedy of September, 1 589, Sir James Melville
wrote in his Memoirs, "She, being willing to mak diligence, wald not
stay for the storm, to sail the ferry; when the vehement storm drave
a ship upon the said boat, and drownit the gentlewoman and all the
persons except twa."
Why this sudden furor to prevent the king from bringing his new
bride back to Scotland? Margaret Murray, Montague Summers, and
others have speculated that the purported attempts by the accused
witches to kill James and Anne were motivated by the royal ambi­
tions of Francis Stewart, the Earl of Bothwell. His title descended
through his mother Jane Hepburn, who was the sister of the for­
mer Earl of Bothwell that had married Mary, Queen of Scots, but
his claim to the throne was from his father, Lord John Stewart, the
illegitimate son of James the Fifth of Scotland. For so long as James
remained without an heir, Bothwell could make a plausible claim
for the Scottish crown at his death, but once James married and had

children, that claim was void.
There is some evidence to support this theory of Bothwell's
involvement with the North Berwick witches. In her confession,
Agnes Sampson revealed that she had constructed a wax image of

James, saying: "This is Kingjames the sext, ordonit to be consumed
at the instance of a noble man Francis Erie Bodowell." Murray and
Summers both believed that Bothwell played the part of the Devil at
the sabbat meetings of the witches, and it is true that in later years
during his exile in Italy, Bothwell kept the reputation of being a pow­
erful magician.


14 INTRODUCTION


This fanciful theory depends on a rather startling presupposi­
tion-that prior to the exposure of the plots of the witches, Both­
well was the active head of a large coven of witches accustomed to
meet at the North Berwick Kirk and elsewhere in the dead of night,
where he dressed up in costume and played the part of Satan. If such
nocturnal meetings took place, they must have been executed with
a mastery of stealth and guile since this considerable undertaking
of manpower and resources passed unnoticed in the small, closely
knit communities near the church, where the members of the coven
lived.
James despised Bothwell for his pretensions to the succession. In
a speech to the Scottish parliament in 1 592 he denounced Bothwell

and said of him that he was 'but a bastard and could claim no title to
the crown" (Margaret Murray, Witch-cult in Western Europe, page 56).
Murray pointed out that this was not accurate-Bothwell's father
was a bastard, but Bothwell himself had been born of a legal mar­
riage; and in any case, Bothwell's father had been granted a letter of
legitimacy by Mary, Queen of Scots.
Though he felt contempt for this upstart, James was deathly
afraid of him. When Bothwell came to Holyrood Castle in July of
1 593 seeking a pardon from the king for the crimes he stood ac­
cused of, he was admitted directly and without warning into the
king's bedchamber by a lady of the court, where he caught James
in the middle of dressing. The terrified James tried to run and hide
in his wife's bedchamber, but the men who accompanied Bothwell
blocked his path of escape and locked the door to prevent him from
leaving before Bothwell had his say. James asked them their purpose:
"Came they to seek his life? Let them take it-they would not get his
soul" (Murray, Witch-cult in Western Europe, page 59). If James consid­
ered Bothwell as the leader of the witches who conspired to bring
about his death and a powerful necromancer in league with Satan
against him, little wonder the sudden apparition of Bothwell in his
bedchamber gave James a nasty turn.


INTRODUCTION IS


The whole business of the North Berwick witches started inno­
cently enough with the uncanny healing abilities of a maidservant
named Gilly Duncan. Although she had never been a healer before,
she began to go to those who were sick or infirm to try to help them.
Her neighbors took notice of this admirable charity when her efforts
suddenly began to succeed with astonishing frequency. Rather than
praise Duncan for her good works and count themselves fortunate
to know her, they began to murmur behind her back that she must
be accomplishing the miraculous cures with means that were other
than natural.
Duncan had the misfortune to work for David Seaton, the dep­
uty-bailiff of the town. He decided to question his maid as to where
she had acquired the skill to work such amazing cures, and why she
was in the habit lately of stealing out of his house to sleep elsewhere
every other night. It is impossible not to speculate about the per­
sonal motives that prompted Seaton to question Duncan. Did he
have some affection for her that was not returned, and did he take
this excuse to ferret out information about his imagined rival? Or
was Seaton upset with her because he thought her night wanderings
were bringing scandal upon his household?
Whatever his original suspicions, her stubborn silence enraged
him. He had her held down and applied a set of thumbscrews to her
fingers in an effort to compel her to speak. When she still did not
answer to his satisfaction, he bound her head and wrung it with a

rope, a popular form of torture in the sixteenth century. Duncan still
refused to say what Seaton wanted her to say, so he decided to probe
her for a witch mark, which was considered to be a sure sign of a
witch. A witch mark is a small mole or other skin blemish insensi­
tive to pain that is supposedly impressed on to the body of a witch
at the time of her initiation into the craft by Satan himself. The way
of locating it was to take a long, thick needle and thrust it deeply
and successively into all moles, scars, or other marks on the skin,
presumably with the unfortunate individual blindfolded, until one


16 INTRODUCTION


was located that did not produce a shriek of pain. He found what he
was looking for in the front of her throat, and this apparent evidence
broke her will and induced her to confess that she was a witch, and
that all her cures had been the work of Satan.
Duncan was cast into prison, where she shortly began to name
the names of her supposed accomplices in witchcraft. They were
not all of low station in life. Agnes Sampson, the key figure among
the women accused who was known locally as the Wise Wife of
Nether-Keith, was a mature, educated woman said to be grave in
her manner and settled in her answers to her inquisitors. Effie Mc­
Calyan was the daughter of Lord Cliftonhall, and a woman of some
social stature. John Fian was a schoolmaster. Barbara Napier was de­
scribed as a woman of good family. These four appear to have been
the leaders in the affair, or at least were nominated as its leaders by
James and the magistrates, and were not in a position to decline the
elevation.
As more individuals were implicated and questioned, two threads
emerged. One was the standard fantastic tale of malicious acts of
magic worked at the behest of the Devil against ordinary townsfolk
in the region around Edinburgh. The other was the plot to assas­
sinate James and his wife. It is impossible to know how much truth
is contained in either thread of the confessions. Although the inter­
rogations of the accused have provided boundless matter for specu­
lation, it will probably never be definitively proven either that there
was any witchcraft going on or that there was ever a witch plot to
kill James. Since the confessions were extracted under torture, or
threat of torture, not a word of them can be trusted.
It may be useful to gain some notion of how local was the affair
of the North Berwick witches. Most of the communities involved
were on the same side of the Firth of Forth as Edinburgh and were
within walking distance of each other. The town of Tranent where
the unfortunate Gilly Duncan was tortured by her master was about
eight or nine miles from Edinburgh. Leith was only a mile or two


INTRODUCTION I7


away. Saltpans, where John Fian taught school, also sometimes
called Saltpreston, was where Prestonpans is today, and some five or
six miles from the city. The notorious North Berwick Kirk occupied
a headland around twenty miles from Edinburgh. All these places
are on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth. Kinghorn and Burn­
tisland, from where the ferryboat sailed that was supposed to have
been sunk by the witches, with a loss of sixty lives, are both located
opposite Leith across the Firth. The whole affair might be said to
have occurred in the backyard of the king, which may be one reason
he took so active an interest.
The heart of the testimony concerned a sabbat meeting that
took place in 1590 on Halloween at around midnight at the North
Berwick Kirk. Here the witches, drunk and merry after riding down
the Firth on their sieves and dancing on the green outside the church
to the sound of a Jew's harp played by Gilly Duncan, entered the
church to convene with the Devil, who stood in the pulpit dressed
in a black hat and black gown, surrounded by burning black candles.
In Melville's Memoirs he is described as terrible in appearance, with
a nose like the beak of an eagle, great burning eyes, hairy hands and
legs, with claws upon his hands and feet like those of a griffon.
In a low voice the Devil called the roll, naming each witch by his
or her witch name, with the exception of one named Robert Grier­
son, who was quite annoyed when the Devil addressed him by his
real name, since it had been agreed that they use only nicknames, his
being "Rob the Rower." The Devil asked the witches what evil they
had worked in his name, and after hearing their deeds, they discussed
their efforts to bewitch a wax image of Kingjames to bring about his
death. The Devil instructed them to dig up four corpses, two outside
the church in the graveyard and two that had been buried inside the
building in vaults. From the corpses they removed the joints of the
fingers, toes, and knees, and divided the parts up between them. The
Devil told them to let the joints dry, then powder them and use the
powder in works of evil magic. At one point during the evening they


I8 INTRODUCTION


all kissed the Devil's bared buttocks as a homage to him. His skin was
described as being cold and as hard as iron.
The account of this Halloween meeting, contained in the some­
what disordered confessions of the accused, has provided the pro­
totype for countless subsequent descriptions of the witches' sabbat.
Many of its elements are mentioned in earlier confessions of those
accused of witchcraft in different European nations, but the North
Berwick Kirk sabbat is perhaps the most complete and well-rounded
of the descriptions.
The judicial proceedings began in 1 590 and extended for three
years to the trial of the Earl of Bothwell in August 1 593. There is
some evidence that they dragged on even longer than this. In all
some seventy persons were implicated. Margaret Murray wrote that
thirty-nine persons were involved in the affair, a number she per­
ceived as significant because it is three times thirteen, and thirteen
is sometimes supposed to be the number of members in a witch
coven. Murray also wrote that only four were ever tried (Witch-cult
in Western Europe, page 50). Neither of these numbers is accurate.
There were various gradations of involvement. Not all those ac­
cused were arrested, and not all those arrested were convicted. The
exact numbers of persons arrested in the affair remain unknown,
but the initial round of arrests took place in the months of Novem­
ber and December in 1 590, and the trials began in 1 59 1 .
The execution of justice was capricious. A few of the accused
fled to England, and the king instructed the same David Seaton
who had started the whole affair to follow after them and recapture
them. At least one woman was identified and imprisoned in Eng­
land, causing james to go to great lengths to have her extradited to
Scotland, where she was tortured and gave the names of more sup­
posed accomplices. John Pian also escaped for a brief time, and tried
to hide himself near his home in Saltpans, but was recaptured and
was executed on Castle Hill in Edinburgh in january 1 59 1, after the
most terrible tortures that James could conceive to use upon him.


INTRODUCTION 19


Fian was killed in the usual way, by strangulation at the stake, im­
mediately before his body was burned. John Grierson, who had his
name spoken aloud at the Halloween sabbat, died in prison. Agnes
Sampson, who undoubtedly was a witch in the more conventional
sense of one who predicts the future and makes magic charms, was
strangled and then burned to ashes on Castle Hill.
Barbara Napier may or may not have been a witch, but she cer­
tainly led a charmed life. When her stake was prepared for her ex­
ecution on May 11, 1591, and the townspeople had assembled to
watch her be strangled and burned, her friends made the claim that
she was pregnant, and her execution was delayed until this could be
demonstrated to be either true or false. Her jury had refused to find
her guilty of treason against the king, on grounds of insufficient evi­
dence, which enraged James and led him to declare her verdict an
"assize of error." He called for a new trial against her, and started
legal proceedings against the jury members themselves. His strident
address to the jury has been preserved, and is known as his Tolbooth
speech, because it occurred at the Tolbooth building in Edinburgh
where the law courts were located (see Appendix C). There is no re­
cord of Barbara Napier ever having been executed, so it may be that
after the elapse of time the wrath of the king cooled, or her friends
were able to provide reasons for him to mitigate his persecution of
this woman.
When Effie McCalyan discovered that her six lawyers were no

help in her defense, she also tried the pregnancy ploy, but with less
success than Barbara Napier. McCalyan was due to be burned alive
on june 19, 159 1, but when she declared that she was with child,
her execution was delayed. She could not have been very convinc­
ing, since she was executed on June 25, only a week after making her
plea. There may have been a last-minute mitigation in the severity of
her punishment, since contemporary records show that McCalyan
was not burned alive, but was strangled first in the usual manner
for executing witches. Just before being strangled, McCalyan made a


20 INTRODUCTION


statement to the spectators declaring that she was innocent of all the
crimes charged against her.
There can be little doubt, in view of the persecution of Bothwell
by James, that the king firmly believed Bothwell to be the leader in
the North Berwick affair. On April 1 7, 1 591, Bothwell confronted the
king and his council and demanded to know what james intended
to charge him with. Robert Bowes wrote of the meeting to Lord
Burghley, "The King answered, with practice to have taken his life.
Bothwell asked if he would lay any other matter than that only. The
King said it sufficed, and willed him to clear himself thereof." In
May of 1 59 1 the king began to actively work to have Bothwell tried
for witchcraft and high treason. On May 9, Bothwell was held in Ed­
inburgh Castle for "conspyringe the King's death by sorcerye." On
June 25 a proclamation was issued against Bothwell accusing him of
"consultatioun with nygromancris, witcheis, and utheris wickit and
ungodlie prsonis, bayth without and within this cuntre for bereving
of his Hienes lyff."
The king was unable to muster enough support to have Both­
well, who was a powerful man, put on trial, so he sent Bothwell out
of Scotland. In June he wrote to john Maitland: "Sen theire can na
present tryall be hadd of the Erl Bothuell, I thinke best he praepaire
him self to depairt uithin threttie or fourtie dayes, his absence to
be na neirairhande nor Germanie or Italie." His fear of Bothwell's
power of magic probably played a part in this decision, although it
may also have had political motives.
In the spring of 1 592 Bothwell sent a letter to the ministry de­
fending himself against the rumors and charges gathering over his
head like a thundercloud, but the king was not to be denied. The
next year, in August, Bothwell was finally tried. Most of the evi­
dence against him came from the accusations of a minor courtier
and would-be necromancer named Richard Graham. When the de­
fense was able to demonstrate that Graham had never accused Both­
well of anything until after threatened with torture and execution


INTRODUCTION 21


for witchcraft, and that he was promised his release and continuing
protection if he spoke against his master, Graham's testimony was
discredited. This, coupled with the testimony of many accused of
witchcraft in the North Berwick affair that they knew nothing of
Bothwell other than his reputation as a man of noble character, pro­
cured Bothwell's acquittal.
The North Berwick affair exerted a profound influence in shap­
ing laws against witchcraft, and the attitudes of the general popu­
lation of Scotland, England, and New England toward witches and
magic, for more than a century. Its influence was not finally lifted
until the repeal of the witch statute of james in 1 736. It is impos­
sible to understand the character of james the First without know­
ing how deeply shaken he was by the supposed magical plots on his
life at the time of his marriage. His reaction to the alleged statement
by the Devil in the North Berwick church that james was his great­
est foe was to cast himself into the role of the white knight of God
who dispensed the wrath of heaven against the wicked, using as his
weapon the power of the word.


SEPARATING TRUTH FROM FICTION


Although it is not possible to know with any exactitude how much
of the testimony extracted under torture, or threat of torture, from
those accused in the North Berwick affair was true and how much a
mere fabrication to forestall further suffering, there is enough infor­
mation available to construct a plausible scenario explaining the
principal motives and main events surrounding the trials.
In 1 589 James married Anne of Denmark by proxy. Hence when
she sailed to Scotland she was already queen, though the marriage
had not been consummated. On the way the Danish fleet encoun­
tered a terrible storm that sprang a plank on Anne's own ship, so
that it began to take on water. The Danish admiral guiding Anne to
her new home, Peter Munk, put in at Oslo, Norway, for repairs. This
was the same storm that sank the ferryboat carrying Lady Mary


22 INTRODUCTION


Melvi e across the Firth of Forth from Burntisland to Leith to meet
with the Queen and present her with jewels and other gifts.
James must have regarded this storm with suspicion even as he
made the impetuous decision to sail to Oslo and remain with his
new bride over the winter. His voyage was uneventful, and his wed­
ding night successful, but Peter Munk, a superstitious man who had
already in his own mind attributed the storm to the malicious magic
of witches in Denmark, must have filled the imagination of James
with frightening conjectures. He and Anne would have ample op­
portunity to discuss the prevalence of witchcraft in her homeland
on the long and snowy nights that James spent in Denmark with his
wife. James himself may have been instrumental in initiating the
great witchhunt that took place in Copenhagen in the summer of
1590, although by that time he was back in Edinburgh with Anne.
Their return voyage was hindered by the same sort of unnatu­
ral weather that had prevented Anne's initial coming into Scotland.
Even though the ships that accompanied James and Anne sailed as
a fleet, his ship was the only one that encountered contrary winds.
They also ran into dense fog, but with the help of the English navy,
they were safely guided into port without tragedy. Whatever suspi­
cions had been aroused in the mind of the King by the first storm,
and by the superstitious opinions of Admiral Munk, were confirmed
by this foul wind and treacherous mist. Magic was afoot, and was
being worked against him specifically to prevent his union with
Anne.
Who would have a reason to want him to remain without a wife?
Someone who desired that he should not engender a child and suc­
cessor. It would not have taken james long to narrow the list of can­
didates. Among the nobility of Scotland, no one held him in lower
regard than the heroic warrior of the Border Marches, Francis, Earl
of Bothwell. James viewed Bothwell with contempt because of his
dubious birth and lack of refinement and learning. He probably also
envied Bothwell for his courage. Bothwell, for his part, regarded


INTRODUCTION 23


james as a sniveling cleric with pretensions of scholarship and an ar­

rogant air of superiority that was unfounded on any virtue in his
nature. The two men truly despised each other. It is quite possible
that Bothwell had a reputation as a necromancer, whether merited
or not, and this would only have served to confirm the suspicions of
james.
These suspicions might never have born fruit had not the deputy­
bailiff of Tranent, David Seaton, decided to torture his maid about
her nocturnal disappearances and her suddenly acquired skill as a
healer. It is significant that among those first named by Gilly Dun­
can in her confession was Agnes Sampson, the renowned midwife
and healer known as the Wise Wife of Nether-Keith. Sampson was
indeed a witch. This is persuasively indicated by the content of the
numerous accusations made against her. However, she was not a
witch by the definition of james, who believed that all witches had
made a pact with Satan to work evil, and who met with the Devil
periodically for carnal unions. She was, as her rustic title indicates,
a wise woman, one who employed spoken prayers and natural ma­
terials for use in midwifery, healing, divination, and such relatively
innocuous activities as the manufacture and sale of love charms.
It is not unreasonable to speculate that Gilly Duncan's sudden
skill in healing had been acquired through her friendship with Agnes
Sampson. Perhaps on some of the nights Duncan spent away from
the residence of her master, she was studying the art of witchcraft
from the elder Sampson. She must have been a gifted pupil, to judge
by her success in healing her neighbors, but it was inevitable that the
appearance of this gift, where none had been noticed to exist before,
should give rise to rumors and gossip about her doings at night.
If Gilly Duncan was an apprentice to magic, Agnes Sampson was
its mistress. She was the first of the accused in the North Berwick
affair to be extensively questioned, and the list of accusations against
her is longer and more varied than against any other. The accusa­
tions also differ in quality. The majority of the crimes Sampson was


24 INTRODUCTION


charged with involved healing the sick or divining information of a
harmless or personal nature on behalf of her clients. These charges
have an air of plausibility that is lacking in the wild charges that con­
cern conventions with the Devil and sailing over the sea in sieves.
Sampson was a professional witch. She made her living not only as
a midwife but as a healer and prognosticator. The testimony sur­
rounding her activities shows that she was a shrewd judge of human
nature, able to play upon the superstitions and fears of her clients to
force them to pay their bills and to increase the fame of her powers
of witchcraft.
James became interested in the Sampson interrogation late in
1 590. We can only speculate about what may have attracted his at­

tention to the case. Probably Sampson was asked if she had been
responsible for the storms that hindered the union between the King
and Queen, which must still have been a topic of conversation only
a few months after the second storm. By this point, Sampson's will
had been broken. The humiliation of having her entire body shaved
and probed with a sharp instrument more like a dagger than a pin,
the probing having been concentrated in her genitals and other se­
cret places of the body, must have overwhelmed her natural dignity.
Coupled with the ordeal of the witches' bridle she was made to wear
to prevent her uttering charms, and the deprival of her sleep, these
indignities rendered her willing to say anything at all in the hope of
shortening her ordeal.
Sampson was a clever woman and vain about her abilities. When
at one point James jumped up in fury and declared that she was a
liar, Sampson took him aside and convinced him of her power by
telling him secret matters he had whispered to his wife on their wed­
ding night in Oslo. James was astounded, and from then onward
had no doubt as to the guilt of the accused. What Sampson did was
nothing that would have been beyond the ability of any competent
fortuneteller adept in the art of reading facial expressions, and who
knew how to present information acquired long ago through ordi

INTRODUCTION 25


nary channels as occult revelations. It is even possible that she did
indeed possess some degree of psychic ability. Why she did it is obvi­
ous-as long as the King thought she was lying, he would continue
to have her tortured. Once he believed that she was telling the truth,
the torture would stop.
Much of the underlying structure of the events attributed to the
accused in the North Berwick affair was supplied by Agnes Sampson,
who as a true witch was able to provide details about magic prac­
tices, such as the use of joints, or knucklebones, from corpses, and
the casting into the sea of a cat to cause a storm. She probably had
not employed either of these methods herself, but she would have
had knowledge of them. James, having read deeply in the works of
the Continental demonologists such as Weyer and the occult writ­
ers such as Agrippa, was perfectly capable of supplying any material
that was lacking that concerned the association and allegiance of the
accused to the Devil.
The confession of Agnes Sampson was the evidence James had
been looking for that the storm that had almost taken the life of his
wife, and the contrary wind that had delayed his voyage home, were
the work of the Devil. As God's anointed upon the Earth, and as
the living embodiment of the brave knight of Revelation, mounted
upon the white horse, robed in white linen stained with the blood
of the wicked, wearing many crowns, who used as his weapon the
power of the word, James saw it as not only his duty, but his destiny,
to confront Satan and triumph over him. That is why he involved
himself personally in the interrogations and tortures of the accused.
When he suggested to Sampson that her magic was directed against
him, she was eager to agree as a way of stopping her torture.
As Agnes Sampson continued to name names, and more sus­
pected witches were questioned, at some point the focus moved
beyond the small rural region around Saltpans and Tranent and en­
larged to embrace Edinburgh. In the beginning only those of lower
social standing were implicated. However, Sampson in her capacity


26 INTRODUCTION


of midwife and healer had moved in higher circles, and had become
acquainted with those of wealth and title. That she ever knew Both­
well is doubtful, but she testified that Bothwell had asked her to di­
vine how long james should reign, and what would happen after his
death; and that he had induced her to send her familiar spirit to kill
the king, but that it had failed.
One of those arrested of higher social standing was Barbara Na­
pier, a personal friend of the Earl of Bothwell. She wrote to him in
April 1 59 1, telling him to stand fast, that his enemies were conspir­
ing against him, so it is clear that Napier was asked leading ques­
tions about his involvement in the affair, though she refused to im­
plicate Bothwell. The letter came open during transit, and was read
by many, and its contents found their way back to the King, who
was left in no doubt concerning a connection between the accused
witches and Bothwell.
Near the end of 1 590 a courtier of limited importance named
Richard Graham was taken into custody. Graham practiced some
form of magic, though it would be the height of charity to call him
a necromancer. Bothwell had felt sorry for the man, because Gra­
ham had been excommunicated, and had given him shelter. Both­
well only saw him a few times. He testified at his trial in 1 593 that
once, in an attempt to impress him, Graham had shown him "a
sticke with nickes in yt all wrapped about with lange haire eyther of
a man or a woman, and said yt was an enchanted stick." This may
have been a rune staff, and the nicks carved into its sides may have
been runes, though it is impossible to know either the details of the
stick's appearance or its intended function. Another time Graham
tried to sell Bothwell a ring with a familiar spirit inside it. Bothwell
paid scant attention to Graham, his stick, or his ring. Graham simply
was not important enough to occupy the attention of the Earl.
When he was taken in the North Berwick affair, having been im­
plicated by the confession of those already arrested, Graham was
confronted with a simple choice. He could accuse Bothwell of being


INTRODUCTION 27


the leader of the witches, and the instigator of their magical attacks
against the King, whereupon he would be released and given physi­
cal protection for the rest of his life-which he would need, since
Bothwell had a great many friends-or Graham could remain silent
and suffer unimaginably agonizing tortures until his execution on
Castle Hill. At Bothwell's trial several defense witnesses testified that
Graham had told them "tht he must eyther accuse the Erle Both­
well falselye, or els endure such tormentes as no man were able to
abyde." Graham's own brother testified that Graham had "protested
to him that he was forced to accuse the Erle Bothwell for feare of
maymynge with the bootes and other tortures."
It is easy to see why Bothwell was acquitted. Yet these testimo­
nies had no effect on James, who continued to believe that Bothwell
was his enemy, had tried to murder him numerous times by magic,
and was a great necromancer. James was convinced that the more
vigorously he persecuted those he viewed as the servants of the
Devil, the less power the Devil would have to harm him or anything
that was his. This included not only his wife and household but the
entire nation of Scotland. By using the utmost severity against the
accused witches, James was defending his realm against the power
of Satan.
John Fian, who figures so prominently in the tract News From
Scotland, seems to have had very little to do with anything. There
is no plausible evidence that he knew magic, or had ever practiced
magic. He was simply an easy target, a well-known young man who
through his work as a teacher came into contact with a large num­
ber of local people, and through his strong sexual appetites had car­
nal knowledge of a great many women, some of whom were mar­
ried. In the sixteenth century anyone who could read and write, and
who had much to do with books written in Latin or Greek, was apt
to be suspected by the uneducated people around him of possessing
forbidden knowledge.


28 INTRODUCTION


The only two accused in the affair who can be demonstrated to
have had both knowledge and practice of magic are Agnes Samp­
son and Richard Graham. Sampson's magic, though extensive, was
confined mostly to good works. The testimony that she used her
arts to cause harm and death, having been extracted by torture, is
worthless. Graham was a dabbler trying to impress his betters with
his arcane knowledge. Gilly Duncan and Bothwell may or may not
have had some slight acquaintance with magic. In my opinion, no
significant evidence exists to show that there ever was a plot to kill
King james, or that there was any form of organized witchcraft in
the North Berwick area. The only devil in the affair wore the crown
of Scotland.


DESCRIPTION OF THE CONTENTS

OF DEMONOLOGY


Demonology is in the form of a dialogue between two men,
Philomathes and Epistemon. They meet and begin to talk about
the "strange news" that is the only subject of conversation lately,
the doings of witches. Philomathes is a bit skeptical about the real­
ity of witches and witchcraft, but Epistemon, who is obviously the
alter ego of King James himself, uses his powers of logical argu­
ment and his depth of learning to convince his friend that witchcraft
does exist, and that every form it takes is a serious crime because all
witchcraft involves dealings with the Devil. Many of his examples
are drawn from the Bible.
In Book One of the work, after arguing that there is indeed such
a thing as witchcraft, and that its practice is sin, Philomathes divides
the arts of magic into two branches, one that he calls magic or nec­
romancy, and the other sorcery or witchcraft. Magicians or necro­
mancers are those who are allured to this sin by a curiosity after
obscure and deep learning; sorcerers or witches are motivated by
either a thirst for revenge against others or a desire for gain. Episte­
mon ultimately rejects what he calls the vulgar distinction between


INTRODUCTION 29


these two types of occult practices, although there is much to be
said for the brevity and clarity of the popular definitions: "Surely, the
difference the vulgar put between them is very merry, and in a man­
ner true; for they say, that the witches are servants only, and slaves to
the Devil; but the necromancers are his masters and commanders."
Epistemon divides the occult arts into what he terms the Devil's
school and the Devil's rudiments. The first is the study of the ma­
gicians and necromancers, who are often men of great learning. It
involves complex circles, conjurations, numerous types of spiritual
beings, and divine words of power. The second, the rudiments, is
the study of the unlearned sorcerers and witches, and involves the
manipulation of common words, herbs, and stones for the making
of what Epistemon terms "unlawful charms" that operate without
natural causes.
Philomathes, the skeptic, objects that many of the practices that
fall under these definitions have always been regarded as lawful and
harmless, such as the practice of astrology. Epistemon divides astrol­
ogy proper into two branches, the observation of the natural effects
of the heavenly bodies on the seasons and the weather, which he re­
gards as not strictly unlawful when used in moderation, and the use
of such observations to foretell the future, which is always unlaw­
ful in his opinion, even though such practices are widely condoned.
From this unlawful type of astrology spring many other pernicious
forms of divination, such as palm reading and numerology, all of
which he condemns on the grounds that foretelling the future by the
planets and stars is forbidden in the Bible.
The study of necromancy is said not in itself to be an offense,
although it is perilous, but the use of magic circles and conjurations
is always unlawful, in the opinion of Epistemon, since no one can
be a student in a school without being subject to the master of that
school, and the master of the school of magic is the Devil. Although
the magician may start out using magic circles and words of power
to bind the Devil and his servants, Epistemon asserts that he quickly


30 INTRODUCTION


moves toward the making of a pact with Satan. Philomathes is a bit
skeptical as to why a magician should give up the circles and other
aspects of his art that allow him to rule and control demons, and
instead voluntarily subject himself to the Devil's authority by means
of a contract. The answer of Epistemon seems a bit weak on this
point. He asserts that the conjuration of spirits by means of a magic
circle is long and arduous, and that if the magician has omitted or
spoiled even one detail in the process, he will immediately be seized
by the Devil and carried away to hell, whereas if he enters into a
pact with Satan, he can summon familiar spirits easily and safely to
do his bidding for the term of the contract.
The two enter into a discussion of what the pact with the Devil
entails, and what benefits it provides, and of the different types
of fallen angels. Epistemon denies that there are elemental spirits
on the grounds that the fallen angels did not fall by gradations of
weight, to be differentiated into the various elemental layers, but
fell all together according to their nature, and wander the world
as God's hangmen, ready to execute his wrath upon the wicked.
He also denies the complex hierarchies of fallen spirits such as are
printed in the grimoires, on the grounds that the order of heaven
was broken when these angels fell into hell; and in any case, we can­
not know what their hellish hierarchies may be because God would
not permit this information to be conveyed by demons. The Devil
is not to be trusted. Some of his revelations are true, the better to
beguile humanity, but the rest are false.
Concerning the black pact itself, Epistemon states that it is ei­
ther written out in the magician's own blood or is signified by a
mark which the Devil makes somewhere on the body of the magi­
cian. Unlike the witch's mark, the magician's mark is not necessar­
ily visible.
Philomathes asks why it is that whereas witches are universally
condemned and persecuted, many states not only allow magicians
to live untroubled, but rejoice in demonstrations of their skill. He


INTRODUCTION 31


offers two possible justifications: first, that it is the long-held custom,
and second, that Moses was himself a magician. Epistemon counters
with the argument that an evil custom should never be considered a
good law. As to Moses working magic, he doubts that was ever the
case, but suggests that if Moses did study or even practice the magic
of Egypt, he did so before he was called upon by God. He asserts
that magicians should be punished with exactly the same severity as
witches.
In Book Two of the work, Philomathes raises three objections to
the existence of witchcraft. The first, which has a bearing on the lan­
guage of the Kingjames version of the Bible, is that many scholars
believe that the references to magic in the Bible refer to magicians
and necromancers only, not to witches. The second is that those
who believe themselves to practice witchcraft are mentally ill and
self-deluded. The third objection is that if witches really possessed
all the powers that are claimed for them, there would be no godly
person left alive on the face of the Earth.
Epistemon agrees that many referred to in the Bible who used
magic were necromancers and magicians, but asserts that others
were witches, according to the vulgar definition of a witch being
one controlled or ruled by the Devil. As to the objection that witches
are afflicted with melancholy madness, he argues that they exhibit
none of the symptoms of melancholy. The answer to the third ob­
jection is that the Devil himself is bridled by God in the amount of
harm he can work, so naturally his chosen instruments are similarly
limited.
Epistemon defines the term "sorcery," that it signifies the casting
of a lot, and divides sorcerers into two types according to their sta­
tion in life. The rich are motivated to practice sorcery by a desire for
revenge against others, while the poor practice it in the hope that it
will lead to the acquisition of money or goods.
The Devil comes to the sorcerer or witch while they brood in sol­
itude, either as a disembodied voice or in the form of a man, and he


32 INTRODUCTION


asks them what is troubling them. Then the Devil offers to remove
all their difficulties if they follow his advice and do all he requires of
them. So much for the first meeting. At the second encounter the
Devil persuades the candidate to pledge service to him, then reveals
himself to the witch, compels the witch to renounce God, and gives
the witch a mark on some hidden part of the body where it will not
be easily noticed. The mark remains unhealed and extremely painful
until the time of the third meeting, when the Devil heals it as a dem­
onstration of his power. Forever thereafter it remains completely in­
sensible to pain. At the third meeting the Devil also begins to teach
the new witch the art of witchcraft.
Philomathes inquires what are the practices of the witch, and
Epistemon divides them into two classes: actions pertaining to them­
selves, and actions pertaining to others. The first consists mainly of
meeting in groups to worship Satan. The main form of adoration in­
volves kissing the Devil on the buttocks. Epistemon lists some of the
supposed powers of witches employed in getting to these meetings,
such as flying through the air, making themselves invisible, trans­
forming into small beasts so that they can find their way through the
smallest crack into a sealed house, and causing their souls to leave
their bodies while they lie in a trance.
Flying, Epistemon believes, is possible when the Devil carries the
witch, but the agency of a great wind could not be used for a longer
time than the witches could hold their breath, or they would suffo­
cate. Invisibility is also possible in his view, by the Devil thickening
the air to conceal the witch from sight. He offers the opinion that
the transformation of witches into small animals to pass through
tiny cracks is implausible, but says the Devil can simulate the appear­
ance of this change. He also rejects the concept of the soul leaving
the body, since surely this only occurs after death, and it is not in the
Devil's power to restore the dead to life.
Philomathes asks what the actions of witches are directed against
others. Epistemon answers that witches first gather in churches, and


INTRODUCTION 33


at these gatherings propose their intended evil doings to the Devil,
who approves them and also instructs the witches on the meth­
ods. His friend interrupts him, asking why there are twenty female
witches for every male witch. Epistemon's response is the stock an­
swer of the demonologists-women are inherently weaker than
men, and ever since the Serpent deceived Eve, he has been more at
home tricking women than men.
The ways of witches for working evil are examined by Episte­
mon. They are pictures of wax or clay bearing the name of the in­
tended victim that are roasted over a fire, occult poisons that receive
their active virtues from the Devil, spells that cause love or hate, the
spreading of diseases, the raising of tempests, the inducing of mad­
ness, the causing of spirits to haunt persons or houses, and the caus­
ing of individuals to become possessed.
Philomathes wonders whether God would permit such misfor­
tunes to befall men and women who believe in him, and Epistemon
assures him that witches can afflict both the godly and the wicked. Is
it ever lawful to seek out a witch for a cure to a disease that has been
caused by witchcraft? Never lawful, Epistemon assures his friend; the
only lawful remedy is prayer.
If all men are subject to the evil effects of witchcraft, Philomathes
asks how any man can be brave enough to punish them. His friend
rather stiffly replies that we should not refrain from virtue merely
because the way may be perilous; and in any case, no one is more
protected against witchcraft than those who zealously prosecute
witches. The magistrate who sits in judgment over a witch is pro­
tected from her malice in proportion to the degree of his severity
toward her-the more lenient he is, the more he is in danger. On the
contrary, if the magistrate applies the just laws of God in a rigorous
way to the examination and punishment of witches, God will pro­
tect him.
In response to the question, does the Devil visit witches while
they languish in prisons, Epistemon says that Satan only visits the


34 INTRODUCTION


unrepentant witch, in order to give false hope, but he never comes
to the witch who has repented and rejected him. When he does visit
a prison, the Devil comes to apprentice witches in the form they pre­
viously agreed that he would adopt when coming to them, but to
master witches he comes in any form he pleases or deems best for
his purposes, which he can easily do since his body is composed of
air.
How can he be felt by witches if his body is of air, Philomathes
wonders. Epistemon admits that there is not much on this matter
contained in the confessions of witches, but he believes it is done ei­
ther by the Devil animating and possessing a corpse, or by deluding
the witches' sense of touch. As to whether others can see the Devil
when he comes to witches in prison, Epistemon says sometimes yes,
sometimes no. The talk shifts to why spirits and ghosts were com­
monly seen when Scotland was Catholic, but are very rare now that
it is Protestant; yet at the same time, witches were rare in past times,
but are now become common. Epistemon puts it down to the gross
ignorance of the papists, which caused God to punish them with
night terrors, whereas in the present the error is one of arrogance,
punished by God with an abounding of witchcraft.
Book Three opens with a consideration of the four main sorts of
spirits: spirits that haunt houses or deserted places, spirits that fol­
low and trouble individuals, spirits that enter into and possess indi­
viduals, and the spirits commonly known as fairies. Yet all these four
types are really only one type, asserts Epistemon, who take on vari­
ous shapes and perform various offices to more efficiently plague
mankind.
Epistemon explains that the first type received different names
from the ancients depending on their works. Those that haunted
houses were called lemures, or specters, but if they appeared in the
form of a dead man to his friends, they were termed "shades of
the dead." They haunt deserted places rather than large gatherings
because God will not permit the Devil to dishonor the societies of


INTRODUCTION 35


Christians, and besides, men are more apt to be frightened in lonely
places. When they haunt an inhabited house, it is a sure sign that
those who live there are ignorant of God's laws, or are wicked.
Philomathes wants to know how such a spirit can enter a house
the doors and windows of which are sealed. Epistemon is not en­
tirely convincing in his answer. If the spirit possesses the body of a
dead person, it can easily open a door or window without any great
noise, he says, but does not explain how the spirit bypasses locks or
bolts. Philomathes wonders if God would allow a spirit to desecrate
a body. It is no desecration, says Epistemon, because the soul is ab­
sent. The Devil can as easily cause the disinterment for his purposes
of the body of a godly man as one who is ungodly. What is the best
way to banish a spirit from a house? Two ways, says Epistemon,
prayer to God and the amending of a life of sin.
In response to Philomathes' query about the spirits that appear
to impersonate the newly dead to his friends, Epistemon says they
are called "wraiths" in English, and were very common among the
pagan nations, where they were believed to be good spirits sent to
forewarn them of the death of their friend or teach them the way
of his end, but all this was only the deception of the Devil. What
about werewolves, asks Philomathes. Are they not a form of this
kind of spirit? His learned friend agrees that this was the opinion
of the Greeks, but for his own part, he believes them nothing more
than men afflicted with a melancholy humor that has unhinged their
reason and made them run wild.
The next two types of spirits are those who either trouble men
by following them or by possessing their bodies. This only happens
to those of the worst sort who are guilty of serious offenses, as a
punishment of God; or to the best sort of persons, as a test of their
faith. Why should the Devil bother doing God's work for him in
this way, Philomathes wonders, and his friend replies that the Devil
has two goals: the lives and the souls of those he persecutes in this
manner.


36 INTRODUCTION


Considering the spirits that follow after men, Philomathes ob­
serves that there are two sorts, those who trouble the individuals
they associate with, and another kind that does them good service
and warns them against future dangers. He asks whether the second
sort are what is known as guardian angels. Epistemon retorts that
the pagan belief that everyone has a good angel and an evil angel
is a gross error, but that in Christian times the Devil attempts the
same sort of fiction by sending spirits that are known as brownies
into houses to do necessary work, in order to make the inhabitants
believe that they are good spirits. But what possible reason could the
Devil, who is only interested in doing evil, have for sending spirits to
do good? Is it not reason enough, demands Epistemon, to deceive
the ignorant into believing the Devil to be their friend?
Another type of following spirit is treated, those called incubi or
succubi, who have sex with women or men. Philomathes wants to
know if they exist, and if there is any difference of sex among spirits.
Epistemon replies that this sort of spirit operates either by stealing
the sperm of dead men and injecting it into women, which caused
many nuns to be burnt, or else by animating a corpse. Either way,
the sperm used by the Devil is always icy cold. Epistemon denies
that spirits have any inherent sexual differentiation, since the division
of the sexes is confined to living things, or that such spirits can en­
gender monsters. The seed of a dead man cannot impregnate, being
also dead, and if the seed of a living man is stolen and used, over­
looking for the moment the fact that it would cool down and be­
come infertile in transit, the child engendered will be normal, since
the seed is normal. However, the Devil can make a woman who is
not pregnant get a swollen belly, and appear to be pregnant, and on
such occasions the midwife may pretend that she has given birth to
something monstrous.
Philomathes raises the interesting question as to why incubi and
succubi are more common in northern lands, such as Lapland, Fin­
land, or the islands of Orkney and Shetland. His learned friend sets


INTRODUCTION 37


this down to the greater ignorance of their populations. Do any give
their willing consent to the lovemaking of this class of following
spirit? Some witches do, Epistemon admits, and they are to be pun­
ished and detested, but as for those women who suffer this indignity
unwillingly, they are only to be pitied and prayed for.
Philomathes wonders if what is called "the mare" is this type of
sexual spirit, but he is answered that the mare is only a kind of natu­
ral sickness caused by thick phlegm lying over the heart, and giving
the impression that a weight is holding the body down while at the
same time sapping the body of its strength to move.
Two matters interest Philomathes concerning the class of pos­
sessing spirits: how can the possessed be distinguished from the in­
sane, and how can the priests of the Catholic church, being heretics,
cast these spirits out? There are various ways to tell a person pos­
sessed from one who is insane, Epistemon tells him. The possessed
fear the cross and the name of God, have unnatural strength and
agility, and have the power to speak in languages they never learned,
which they do in a hollow voice that seems to emanate from the
breast rather than the mouth. As for how the priests can cure the
possessed, usually the cure is not permanent but only temporary,
and when it is permanent, as it sometimes is, the cure proceeds not
from any virtue of the priests but from the virtue of Christ, when
the priests follow his instructions for exorcism, which are fasting,
prayer, and that the action be done in his name.
Progressing to the last class of spirits, the fairies, Epistemon de­
clares that stories about them were much more common under the
papists, but that for his part, he does not believe in their existence,
except on occasions when they are mere deceptions of the Devil.
Philomathes objects that many men have gone to their deaths swear­
ing that they were transported by the fairies into a hill, where they
met the fairy queen and received from her a magic stone that they
were able to produce in evidence. His friend responds that in the
same way the Devil can make men believe that their soul can leave


38 INTRODUCTION


their body, so can he deceive them into thinking they have visited
fairyland while they lie senseless in a trance, and can convey a com­
mon stone into their hand. And when they see those they know
among the fairies, and take this for an omen of the imminent deaths
of those persons, it is only another trick of the Devil.
Philomathes wonders if fairies only appear to witches, or can
appear to others also? To both, says Epistemon. They come to oth­
ers either to frighten them or to impersonate a cleaner sort of spirit
than they really are, but to witches they serve as a way of persuading
gullible magistrates that they ought to be punished with less severity.
The first group should be pitied, but those who use these spirits for

divination deserve an even more severe punishment than the aver­

age witch, because they are less honest.
The two discuss briefly the question of the multitude of names
of spirits. Epistemon dismisses this as just another knavery of the
Devil, used for the purpose of deception.
As they approach the end of their conversation, they consider
the matter of suitable punishment for magicians and witches. Epis­
temon states flatly that they should be put to death. In what way, he
is asked. Commonly it is done by fire, but any form of execution
accepted by the laws of the nation will serve as well. Should any
sex, age, or rank be exempted from this punishment? None at all,
says Epistemon. Not even children, asks Philomathes. Yes, but only
because they are not yet capable of reason. All the rest, those who
consult, or trust in, or turn a blind eye to, or entertain, or incite to
magic are just as guilty as those who practice it, and should be put to
death. May the prince or chief magistrate spare the life of one guilty
of witchcraft? He may delay the punishment, says Epistemon, if he
has good reason for doing so, but must not shirk to apply it in the
end.
Philomathes observes that judges ought to beware condemning
any unless they are sure the accused is guilty, and his friend agrees
that no one should be condemned on the testimony of only one


INTRODUCTION 39


man of poor reputation. How much weight is to be given to the
multiple confessions of the guilty in finding against the accused?
Epistemon gives his opinion that since in cases of treason defamed
persons may act as witnesses, their testimony should also be suffi­
cient in cases of witchcraft, which is treason against God; for who
but witches can prove the doings of witches?
What if witches accuse others of having been present at their
imaginary conventions, while their physical bodies lie in trance,
Philomathes wants to know. In the view of Epistemon, such persons
are not a hair the less guilty, since the Devil would never dare to bor­
row their image to place at the witches' convention without their
consent. And consent in these matters is death under the law. Think­
ing to score debating points with his learned friend, Philomathes
quickly answers, then Samuel must have been a witch, since the
Devil borrowed his shape to appear before Saul. But his friend is
ready for this argument-Samuel was already dead at the time and
for this reason could not be slandered by the Devil. God never per­
mits innocent persons to be slandered in this way, says Epistemon,
and as proof of this, those who are carried away by the fairies never
see the shade of anyone in the fairy court who is not involved in
some way with witchcraft. Indeed, those whom witches accuse,
even when witchcraft cannot be actually proved against them, al­
ways turn out to be of evil life and reputation.
There are two methods for determining a witch, according to
Epistemon. One is to find the witch mark and test that it is insensi­
tive to pain. The other is the floating of the accused person on the
water. Those who have renounced the sacred water of baptism and
refused its benefits are themselves rejected by water, which will not
receive them into its depths; indeed, they cannot even shed tears
no matter how much you threaten or torture them, despite the fact
that women cry dissembling tears like crocodiles at the lightest of
occasions.


40 INTRODUCTION


The two friends, having exhausted their topic, say goodbye to
each other. Philomathes offers the hope with his final words that
God will purge Scotland of the scourge of witchcraft, which was
never before so common as it is now. Epistemon offers his last snip­
pet of erudition by observing that the reasons for it are manifest.
On the one hand, the great wickedness of the people has procured
this punishment of God; while on the other hand, the approaching
end of the world causes Satan to be all the more anxious to work
as much evil as he can before his power is ended. And so ends the
discourse.


NOTE ON THE ORIGINAL TEXTS


This new edition of Demonology by James the Sixth of Scotland, who
would later go on to become James the First of England, is designed
to make this historically important book on witchcraft and magic
fully accessible to the modern reader. The original text was penned
during the late Elizabethan Age. Its spelling is archaic, and its para­

graphing and sentence construction irrational, rendering a complete
comprehension of the material an ordeal. Understanding is further
inhibited by the many obsolete Scottish terms that pepper the book.
These terms would not have been immediately familiar even to
educated individuals in the south of England in the same decade in
which the work was written, and to the average reader of today they
are incomprehensible.
While modernizing the work, I endeavored wherever possible to
retain the words and prose structure used by James. Where it was nec­
essary to substitute a modern equivalent in place of an archaic Scottish
word, I tried to not only find the closest synonym but the word that
best preserved the sound and connotation of the original. Biblical refer­
ences that appear as abbreviated marginal glosses in the original have
been expanded and inserted into the body of the text in parentheses.
In the few instances where words have been interjected into the text
to clarifY its meaning, they are enclosed in square brackets. Those who


INTRODUCTION 4 [I ]


wish to compare the modernized version with the original, or who

need the original text for purposes of reference or quotation, will fmd
it in Appendix A.
Once the difficulty in comprehending the text itself is sur­
mounted, there is still the problem of the numerous obscure refer­

ences to magic and witchcraft made by James throughout the work.

The explanatory notes that appear at the end of each chapter will
help the reader to understand not only what James wrote but what
he meant. Woodcuts from the late sixteenth and early seventeenth
centuries have been inserted were applicable to further clarify topics

mentioned by James.

The modernized text of Demonology is based on the 1924 Bodley
Head reprint of the original 1 597 edition of the work. The Bodley
Head reprint also contains the full text of a 1 592 edition of the tract
News From Scotland and reproductions of its woodcuts. The title pages

of the original editions of Demonology and News From Scotland included
with the present work, along with the woodcut illustrations of News
From Scotland, were derived from the Bodley Head edition.
News From Scotland has long accompanied Demonology, and for

good reason. The events it details were the impulse that triggered
the lifelong battle waged by James against witchcraft, and inspired
him to write Demonology. James regarded witchcraft as a personal
threat because he believed that his death had been plotted by the

accused men and women involved in the New Berwick witch affair,

described in the tract. He looked upon Satan as a personal foe. In
the testimonies of these supposed witches, spoken in the presence
of the King, the Devil was reported to have identified James as his
greatest enemy.

The authorship of News From Scotland is not know, but it may

have been based on an account of the North Berwick affair written
by James Carmichael, the Minister of Haddington. Sir James Mel­
ville recorded in his Memoirs that Carmichael had written "the his­
tory whereof, with their whole depositions." The work itself was


42 INTRODUCTION


written in England rather than Scotland, to judge by the language
and other internal evidence. William Wright, the publisher, is un­
likely to have been the author, but probably edited the work exten­
sively. Although 1 591 appears on the title pages of early editions,
that date refers to the execution of John Fian. The work has been
dated at 1 592, though the document upon which it was based was
probably written in the latter half of 1 59 1 .
Copies of the first edition are extremely rare-only a handful sur­
vive. Two other editions, also undated, were published shortly after
the first printing of the work, probably in 1 592, with slight variations
in the format of the title page. The original contained two wood­
cuts. One of the other early editions duplicated the first of these il­
lustrations at the start of the work. The 1 924 Bodley Head reprint was
based on this edition with the duplicate woodcut, and contains two
other woodcuts that obviously were not created for the work itself but
were added for decorative purposes. The early editions are in black
letter, except for the section To the Reader and the concluding section,
which are in Roman typeface.
News From Scotland is here treated as a natural companion to De­
monology. Its text has been similarly modernized, and its matter illu­
minated by a complete set of notes that provide information about
the larger context of the North Berwick witch trials not covered in
the tract. The original text appears in Appendix B for purposes of
comparison with the modernized version and quotation.
Appendix C is occupied by a modernized version of the full text
of the infamous witch act, or witchcraft statute, of 1 604, passed by
the English parliament shortly after the ascension of James to the
throne of England. Also in this appendix is a modernized version of
the Tolbooth Speech, which James uttered in 1 59 1 after overturning
the acquittal by an Edinburgh jury of one of the accused witches he
believed had plotted to kill him with magic. Both documents convey
very clearly the attitude of the king toward witchcraft and its legal
prosecution.


INTRODUCTION 43


Modernization of the texts, coupled with the explanatory notes,
introductory essay, and additional period illustrations, make these
unique documents of the witch persecutions in Scotland fully ac­
cessible to all readers, especially to modern Wiccans and pagans, for
whom the doings during the reigns of James are not mere historical
abstractions but matters of direct interest and concern.


#### T H E PR E FACE to the Reader

The fearful abounding at this time, in this country, of these detest­
able slaves of the Devil, the witches or enchanters, has moved me
(beloved reader) to dispatch in the post, this following treatise of
mine, not in any way (as I protest) to serve for a show of my learn­
ing and ingenuity, but only (moved by conscience) to press thereby,
so far as I can, to resolve the doubting hearts of many both that such
assaults of Satan are most certainly practiced, and that the instru­
ments thereof merit most severely to be punished, against the dam­
nable opinions of two principally in our age. Whereof, the one
called Scot, 1 an Englishman, is not ashamed in public print to deny
that there can be such a thing as witchcraft, and so maintains the old
error of the Sadducees in denying spirits. The other called Wierus,Z a
German physician, sets out a public apology for all these craftsfolk/
whereby, procuring for their impunity, he plainly betrays himself to
have been one of that profession.
And to make this treatise more pleasant and easy, I have put it in
the form of a dialogue, which I have divided into three books: the
first speaking of magic in general and necromancy in particular, the
second of sorcery and witchcraft, 4 the third containing a discourse
of all these kinds of spirits and specters that appear and trouble per­
sons, together with a conclusion of the whole work.


4 [5 ]


46 DEMONOLOGY: PREFACE


My intention in this labor is only to prove two things, as I have
already said: the one, that such devilish arts have been and are; the
other, what exact trial and severe punishment they merit. And there­
fore I reason what kind of things are possible to be performed in
these arts, and by what natural causes they may be: not that I touch
every particular thing of the Devil's power, for they are infinite, but
only, to speak scholastically (since this cannot be spoken in our lan­
guage), I reason upon genus, leaving species and direntia to be com­
prehended therein. 5
As, for example, speaking of the power of magicians in the first
book, sixth chapter, I say that they can suddenly cause to be brought
unto them all kinds of dainty dishes by their familiar spirit, since as
a thief he delights to steal, and as a spirit he can subtly and suddenly
enough transport the same. Now, under this genus may be compre­
hended all particulars, depending thereupon, such as bringing wine
out of a wall (as we have heard of to have been practiced) and such
things, which particulars are sufficiently proved by reasons of the
general. And similarly, in the second book of witchcraft in particular,
the fifth chapter, I say and prove by diverse arguments that witches
can, by the power of their Master, cure or cast on diseases. Now, by
these same reasons that prove their power by the Devil of diseases
in general, is as well proved their power in particular, as of weak­
ening the nature of some men to make them unable for women, 6
and making it to abound in others more than the ordinary course of
nature would permit, and such like in all other particular sicknesses.
But one thing I will pray you to observe in all these places where
I reason upon the Devil's power, which is the different ends and
scopes that God as the first cause, and the Devil as his instrument
and second cause, shoots at in all these actions of the Devil (as God's
hangman): for where the Devil's intention in them is ever to kill ei­
ther the soul or the body, or both of them, that he is so permitted
to deal with, God by the contrary draws ever out of that evil, glory
to himself, either by the wreck of the wicked in his justice, or by the


DEMONOLOGY: PREFACE 47


trial of the patient and amendment of the faithful, being wakened
up with that rod of correction.
Having thus declared to you then, my full intention in this trea­
tise, you will easily excuse, I doubt not, as well my omitting to de­
clare the whole particular rites and secrets of these unlawful arts,

and also their infinite and wonderful practices, as being neither of
them pertinent to my purpose, the reason whereof is given in the
latter part of the first chapter of the third book.
He who likes to be curious of these things may read, if he will

hear of their practices, Bodin's Demonomania/ collected with greater

diligence than written with judgement, together with their confes­
sions, that have been at this time apprehended. If he would know
what has been the opinion of the ancients concerning their power,
he shall see it well described by Hyperius8 and Hemmingius,9 two
late German writers, besides innumerable other modern theolo­
gians that write at length upon that subject. And if he would know
what are the particular rites and curiosities of these black arts (which
is both unnecessary and perilous), he will find it in the Fourth Book10

of Cornelius Agrippa, and in Wierus who spoke of it. And so, wish­

ing my pains in this treatise (beloved reader) to be effectual in arm­
ing all those that read the same against these above mentioned er­
rors, and recommending my good will to your friendly acceptance, I
bid you hearty farewell.

James, Regent


NOTE S ON THE PREFACE


Note 1 : Reginald Scot, author of The Discoverie of Witchcraft, a work

first published in 1 5 84. Scot provoked the ire of King James not
only because he dared in his book to reveal details of the lore of
magic, such as the names and offices of demons, but also because
he maintained that those accused of witchcraft were deluded
and incapable of committing the crimes of which they stood ac­

cused. After James became king of England, he ordered all copies


48 DEMONOLOGY: PREFACE


of Scot's book gathered up and burned. Examining the work, it
is easy to see what troubled James so greatly. For example, Scot
wrote:
I am also well assured, that if all the old women in the world

were witches; and all the priests, conjurers: we should not have

a drop of raine, nor a blast of wind the more or the !esse for

them. For the Lord hath bound the waters in the clouds, and

hath set bounds about the waters, untill the daie and night come

to an end: yea it is God that raiseth the winds and stilleth them:

and he saith to the raine and snowe; Be upon the earth, and

it falleth. The wind of the Lord, and not the wind of witches,

shall destroie the treasures of their plesant vessels, and drie up

the fountaines, saith Oseas. Let us also learne and confesse with

the Prophet David, that we our selves are the causes of our af­

flictions; and not exclaime upon witches, when we should call

upon God for mercie. (Scot, Discoverie of Witchcraft, page 2)

Note 2: Johann Weyer, author of De praestigiis daemonum, first pub­
lished in 1563. Weyer, whose last name is sometimes spelled "Wi­
erus," annoyed James in a number of ways-by revealing practical
details of ceremonial magic, by defending the reputation of his
teacher Cornelius Agrippa, who was widely regarded as a sor­
cerer, and by denying the powers of witchcraft, as shown by his
quotation from the Decretum of Gratian:

This very phenomenon is confirmed by the Decretum: "Cer­

tain silly women who are devoted to Satan and who have been

seduced by demonic illusions believe that they also commit

other unspeakable deeds, such as tearing young children away

from their mother's milk and roasting and eating them, or en­

tering into homes through chimneys and windows and disturb­

ing the inhabitants in various ways. But all of these things and

others like them happen to them only in fantasy. Indeed, when

the woman makes a small ditch and pours urine or water into it,

and thinks that by moving a finger she is stirring up a storm, the

demon acts in collusion with her, disturbing the air in order that


DEMONOLOGY: PREFACE 49


he may keep her bound in service to him." (Weyer, On Witch­

craft [De praestig s daemonum], pages 91-92)


Note 3: james' use of the term "craft" for witchcraft and "craftsfolk"
for witches is worth noting because witchcraft is in modern times
often referred to simply as the Craft. Here, he was punning on
"craft" in the sense of slyness and deceit.


Note 4: james regarded magic as synonymous with necromancy,
and sorcery as synonymous with witchcraft. The best definition
of the distinction between these two branches of the occult arts
that James can find is what he refers to as "the difference vulgar
put betwixt them" (Bk. I, Ch. III): that magicians and necroman­
cers are the Devil's masters, but sorcerers and witches are the
Devil's servants. He did not accept this definition, believing as he
did that all who work any form of magic will eventually fall under
the power of Satan, but he could not present a more concise or
meaningful alternative.
If we leave the Devil out of the mix, the distinction is very
similar to what we today call high magic and low magic. High
magic involves elaborate rituals, circles, pentacles, divine names,
and words of power; whereas low magic is more concerned with
intuitive healing, scrying, and the occult properties of natural
things such as herbs and stones. High magic tends to be some­
what intellectual and abstract, low magic to be immediate and
intuitive. High magic has its roots in the wisdom teachings of
Egypt and Greece; low magic has arisen largely from the indig­
enous practices of northern Europeans.
Neither branch of Western occultism can be said to exist
in a pure form in modern times, and even four centuries ago,
witches probably derived at least some of their methods from
the grimoires of high magic, especially when they were led and
instructed by educated individuals. Those who could read and
write were more likely to study high magic because its methods


50 DEMONOLOGY: PREFACE


were available in manuscripts and printed texts; the uneducated
were inclined to seek to acquire the folk wisdom of divinations
and charms directly, by observing and imitating the practices of
their elders. In the sixteenth century, the division between magi­
cians and witches was based largely on social class, since stand­
ing in society determined the level of education, or lack of it. As
Charles Leland put it, "it was only the aristocracy who consulted
Cornelius Agrippa, and could afford Ia haute magie" (Leland,
Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling, page x iii).


Note 5 : James was making the point that he has based his argument
on general principles that comprehend specific instances.


Note 6: The Malleus Maleficarum lists five ways that a man may be
rendered unable to copulate by the Devil, enumerated by Peter
of Palude: first, by physically preventing a man from approach­
ing a woman; second, by freezing his desire with "secret things
of which he best knows the power;" third, by making the woman
appear loathsome; fourth, by directly preventing erection of the
penis; fifth, by preventing the emission of semen (Kramer and
Sprenger, Malleus Maleficarum, page 55). Witches were also sup­
posed to have the power to take away the male genitals entirely
so that only a smooth patch of skin remained between the legs,
though it is argued in the Malleus Maleficarum that this is only a
type of glamour (ibid., page 58).


Note ?: Jean Bodin (1 530-1 590) was a professor of law at the Univer­
sity of Toulouse and an active trial judge, as well as a member of
the Parlement de Paris. He had children tortured to extract confes­
sions, and was reluctant to admit even the possibility that anyone
accused of witchcraft might be innocent. His book on witchcraft,
De la demonomanie des sorciers, more commonly known in English
as Demonomania, published in 1 580, may have offended the puri­
tanical sensibilities of James with its explicit sexual references­
for example, Bodin wrote that the Devil sexually seduces girls as
young as the age of six. This work opens with Bodin's famous


DEMONOLOGY: PREFACE 51


definition of sorcery or witchcraft (the terms were used more or
less interchangeably): "A sorcerer is one who by commerce with
the Devil has a full intention of attaining his own ends."

Note 8: A. Hyperius ( 1 5 1 1-1 564), also known as Gerhard of Ypres,
was a conciliatory Lutheran and a professor of theology at Mar­
burg. In 1553 he wrote De Formandis Concionibus, a work that
earned him the honorary title of father of homiletics. His 1 556
work Four Books on the Study of Theology is said to be the first ap­
pearance in print of practical theology.


Note 9: Nicholas Hemmingius, also known as Niels Hemmingsen
( 1 5 1 3-1 600). A Danish Lutheran who traveled to Wittenberg
to study theology. He has been called one of the most learned
Protestant theologians of the sixteenth century. He wrote about
witchcraft and its use in curing illnesses. His work De lege naturae
apodictica methodus appeared in 1 566. In 1 575 his work Admonitio
de superstitionibus magicis vitandis was published at Copenhagen.


Note 1 0: Cornelius Agrippa (1446-1 535) was both famous and in­
famous in the time of King James as the author of Three Books
of Occult Philosophy, first published in its complete form in 1533.
This is a practical encyclopedia of all aspects of Western magic.
A work known as the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy was often
attributed to Agrippa, and bound up with his other works, but
it was not written by Agrippa. It falls into the class of the anony­
mous grimoires, or grammars, of practical magic, and contains
some interesting material. It was supposed to have been the key
to the true understanding of Agrippa's Occult Philosophy, but hav­
ing studied the work, I can find little basis for this claim.


### TH E F IRST BOOK

ARGUMENT
The exordium of the whole. The description of magic especially.


#### C HA P T E R I

ARGUMENT:
Proven by the Scripture that these unlawful arts in general have been,
and may be, put into practice.


PHILOMATHES and EPISTEMON reason the matter.


Philomathes
I am surely very glad to have met you this day, for I am of the opin­
ion that you can better resolve me of something, whereof I stand in
great doubt, than any other with whom I could have met.


Epistemon
In what I can, of that you like to speak to me, I will willingly and
freely tell my opinion, and if I prove it not sufficiently, I am heartily
content that a better reasoning carry it away.


Philomathes
What think you of this strange news1 which now furnishes the only
purpose to all men at their meeting, I mean of these witches?


Epistemon
Surely it is wonderful, and I think so clear and plain confessions in
that purpose have never fallen out in any age or country.


Philomathes
No question if they be true, but thereof the doctors doubt.


55


56 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


Epistemon

What part of it doubt you of?


Philomathes
Even of all, for aught I can yet perceive: and namely, that there
is such a thing as witchcraft or witches; and I would pray you to
resolve me thereof if you may, for I have reasoned with several in
that matter and yet could never be satisfied therein.


Epistemon
I shall with good will do the best I can. But I think it the more dif­
ficult, since you deny the thing itself in general, for as it is said in the
logic schools, contra negantem principia non est disputandum.2 Always
for that part, that witchcraft and witches have been, and are, the
former part is clearly proved by the Scriptures, and the last by daily
experience and confessions.


Philomathes
I know you will produce as evidence Saul's Pythoness,3 but that, as
appears, will not make much for you.


Epistemon
Not only that place [in Scripture], but diverse others. But I marvel
why that should not make much for me?


Philomathes
The reasons are these: first, you may consider that Saul, being trou­
bled in spirit and having fasted long before, as the text testifies (I
Samuel 28), and being come to a woman that was reputed to have
such knowledge, and that to inquire so important news, he having so
guilty a conscience for his heinous offences, and especially, for that
same unlawful curiosity and horrible defection, that the woman cry­
ing out upon the sudden in great admiration for the uncouth sight
that she alleged to have seen, discovering him to be the king, though
disguised, and denied by him before, it was no wonder, I say, that his


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 57


senses being thus distracted, he could not perceive her feigning of

her voice, he being himself in another chamber and seeing nothing.
Next, what could be, or was, raised? The spirit of Samuel? Pro­
fane and against all theology. The Devil in his likeness? As unappar­
ent, that either God would permit him to come in the shape of his
saints (for then could never the prophets in those days have been
sure what spirit spoke to them in their visions), or then that he could
foretell what was to come thereafter; for prophecy proceeds only of
God, and the Devil hath no knowledge of things to come.


Epistemon
Yet if you will mark the words of the text, you will find clearly that
Saul saw that apparition; for, giving you that Saul was in another
chamber at the making of the circles and conjurations needful for
that purpose (as none of that craft will permit any others to behold
at that time), yet it is evident by the text that how soon that once
that unclean spirit was fully risen, she called in upon Saul. For it is
said in the text, that Saul knew him to be Samuel, which could not
have been by the hearing tell only of an old man with a mantle, since
there were many more old men dead in Israel than Samuel, and the
common dress of that whole country was mantles.
As to the next, that it was not the spirit of Samuel, I grant, in the
proving whereof you need not insist, since all Christians of whatso­
ever religion4 agree upon that, and none but either mere ignorants
or necromancers or witches doubt thereof. And that the Devil is per­
mitted at some times to put himself in the likeness of the saints, it
is plain in the Scriptures, where it is said that Satan can transform
himself into an angel of light (II Corinthians 1 1 : 14). Neither could
that cause any inconvenience with the visions of the prophets, since
it is most certain that God will not permit him so to deceive his own,
but only such as first willfully deceive themselves by running unto
him, whom God then suffers to fall into their own snares, and justly
permits them to be deluded with great efficacy of deceit, because
they would not believe the truth (as Paul says).


5 [8 ] DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


And as to the Devil's foretelling of things to come, it is true that
he knows not all things future, but yet that he knows part, the tragic
event of this history declares it (which the wit of woman could
never have forespoken5); not that he hath any prescience which is
only proper to God, or yet knows anything by looking upon God, as
in a mirror (as the good angels do), he being forever debarred from
the favorable presence and countenance of his creator, but only by
one of these two means: either, as being worldly wise, and taught by
continual experience ever since the creation, he judges by the like­
lihood of things to come according to the like that has passed be­
fore, and the natural causes in respect of the vicissitude of all things
worldly; or else, by God's employing of him in a turn, and so fore­

seen thereof, as appears to have been in this, whereof we find the
very like in Micaiah's prophetic discourse to King Ahab (I Kings 22).
But to prove this my first proposition, that there can be such a
thing as witchcraft and witches, there are many more places in the
Scriptures than this (as I said before). As first, in the law of God it is

plainly prohibited (Exodus 22);6 but certain it is that the law of God
speaks nothing in vain, neither doth it lay curses or enjoin punish­
ments upon shadows, condemning that to be ill which is not in es­
sence, or being, as we call it. Secondly, it is plain, where wicked Pha­
raoh's wise men imitated any number of Moses' miracles (Exodus
7-8) to harden the tyrant's heart thereby. Thirdly, said not Samuel to
Saul (I Samuel 1 5) that disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft?7 To
compare to a thing that were not, it were too too absurd. Fourthly,
was not Simon Magus (Acts 8) a man of their craft? And fifthly, what
was she that had the spirit of Python? (Acts 16: 16) Beside innumer­
able other places that were irksome to recite.


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 59


NOTES ON BOOK I, CHAPTER I


Note 1 : The allusion of James to "strange news" may be a pun­
ning reference to the tract News From Scotland, published in 1592,
which describes the doings in the North Berwick witchcraft affair
of the year previous.


Note 2: 'There is no disputing a negative premise."


Note 3 : The Python was an enormous serpentine dragon that
guarded the oracle of Gaia at Delphi, on the slope of Mount Par­
nassus. The god Apollo slew the Python and took over the oracle,
making it his own. The oracle was a woman who was known
as the Pythoness. She sat above a fissure of rising gases upon

a tripod or three-legged seat, her body positioned so that the
steam from the fissure rose between her legs and was presumed
to enter her womb. Whether as a result of breathing this vapor,
or from some natural inclination of her nature, she fell into pro­
phetic trances during which she uttered future events in the form
of enigmatic verses. The term "Pythoness" came to be applied
generally to any woman who uttered oracular information, and
is synonymous with "prophetess." To have a spirit of Pytho, or
spirit of Python, is to be possessed by a familiar spirit that speaks
oracular information.


Note 4: Catholic or Protestant.


Note 5: "To forespeak" has two meanings, "to prophesy" and "to
bewitch." Here, James employs the term in the first sense.


Note 6: In the King james Bible, Exodus 22: 1 8 reads: "Thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live." There has been considerable debate
among modern Wiccans and pagans as to what the word "witch"
actually represents in the original Hebrew text. In the Knox trans­
lation of the Bible, which is considered to be one of the most ac­
curate, the verse reads "Sorcerers must not be allowed to live."
However, Knox has added the footnote, "In the Hebrew the word
is feminine, 'witch."' The Hebrew word in question is MKShPH,


60 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


a feminine form of the word MKShP, which Gesenius translates
as "enchanter" or "magician." The Hebrew word is based upon
KShP, "to use enchantment" -to use magical songs, to mutter.
Hence the best translation would seem to be "enchantress."
In Isaiah 8: 19 reference is made to "wizards that peep and
that mutter." This quaintly worded description concerns the two
ways in which those who used magic were supposed to work evil
on their neighbors. The first way is through the use of the evil
eye, which is sometimes referred to as "overlooking." The sec­
ond supposed manner of projecting evil was through verses or
charms spoken quietly under the breath, which James refers to
later in his book as "forespeaking." "To enchant" is to do magic

through the use of spoken or sung words.
The Vulgate uses maleficus in place of "witch," which is to say,
one who does wickedness. It appears in the title of the most no­
torious of all the books on witch persecution, the Malleus Malefi­
carum, or Hammer of Witches. The Latin term maleficia was some­
times employed for noxious creatures such as serpents. Since the
Latin is only an interpretation of the Hebrew and Greek verses, it
is not relevant in attempting to determine what the Hebrew orig­
inal actually means, but it exerted a profound influence on the
interpretation of the verse over the centuries. The word "witch"
in the KingJames Bible has often been presumed, unjustly, to be
a mistranslation of the words "poisoner" or "murderer."
King James recognized no distinction between a sorcer­
ess and a witch. Both terms held for him a connotation of one
who works magic for evil. For him, the translation of MKShPH
as "witch" seemed perfectly appropriate, particularly since he
believed that female witches outnumbered their male counter­
parts by a ratio of twenty to one. It is only in the last century that
witch and witchcraft have been able to escape from under this
shadow of malice in the understanding of a minority of enlight

DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 61


ened individuals; however, for the greater portion of the world's

population, the term "witch" still signifies an evildoer.


Note 7: In the King james Bible, the word "witchcraft" appearing in
I Samuel 15:23 is glossed as "divination."


### CHA PTE R II

ARGUMENT:
What kind of sin the practitioners of these unlawful arts commit.
The division of these arts. And what are the means that allure
any to practice them.


Philomathes
But I think it very strange that God should permit any of mankind
(since they bear his own image) to fall into so gross and filthy a
defection.


Epistemon
Although man in his creation was made to the image of the Creator
(Genesis 1), yet through his fall having lost it, it is but restored again
in a part by grace only to the elect; so all the rest, falling away from
God, are given over into the hands of the Devil, that enemy, to bear
his image, 1 and being once so given over, the greatest and the gross­
est impiety is the most pleasant and most delightful unto them.


Philomathes
But may it not suffice him to have indirectly the rule, and procure
the perdition, of so many souls, by alluring them to vices and to the
following of their own appetites, suppose he abuse not so many sim­
ple souls in making them directly acknowledge him for their master?


64 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


Epistemon

No, surely, for he uses every man, whom of he has the rule, accord­
ing to their complexion and knowledge, and so whom he finds most
simple, he most plainly uncovers himself unto them. For he being
the enemy of man's salvation, uses all the means he can to entrap
them so far into his snares, as it may be impossible to them thereaf­
ter (suppose they would) to rid themselves out of the same.


Philomathes
Then this sin is a sin against the Holy Ghost.


Epistemon
It is in some, but not in all.


Philomathes
How that? Are not all these that run directly to the Devil in one cat­
egory?


Epistemon
God forbid, for the sin against the Holy Ghost has two branches. The
one, a falling back from the whole service of God, and a refusal of
all his precepts. The other is the doing of the first with knowledge,
knowing that they do wrong against their conscience, and the testi­
mony of the Holy Spirit, having once had a taste of the sweetness
of God's mercies (Hebrews 6: 10). Now in the first of these two, all
sorts of necromancers, enchanters, or witches, are comprehended;
but in the last, none but such as err with this knowledge that I have
spoken of.


Philomathes
Then it appears that there are more sorts than one that are directly
professors of his service, and if so be, I pray you tell me how many,
and what are they?


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 65


Epistemon

There are principally two sorts, whereunto all the parts of that
unhappy art are redacted; whereof, the one is called magic or necro­
mancy, and the other sorcery or witchcraft.


Philomathes
What, I pray you, and how many, are the means whereby the Devil
allures persons into any of these snares?


Epistemon
Even by these three passions that are within ourselves: curiosity at
great ingenuities; thirst of revenge for some offenses deeply held; or
greedy appetite of possessions, caused through great poverty. As to
the first of these, curiosity, it is only the enticement of magicians or
necromancers; and the other two are the allures of the sorcerers or
witches. For that old and crafty Serpent, being a spirit, he easily spies
our affections, 2 and so conforms himself thereto to deceive us to our
wreak.


NOTES ON BOOK I, CH APTER II


Note 1 : A reference to the mark of the Beast. See Revelation 13: 1 6,
where those who worship the image of the first Beast that has
seven heads and ten horns (Revelation 1 3 : 1 ) are given a mark
upon their foreheads or the palms of their right hands by the sec­
ond Beast that has two horns like a lamb (Revelation 1 3 : 1 1). This
is obviously the basis for the belief that the Devil impressed each
witch with a mark as a symbol of his or her acceptance of Satan
as master. The shape of the mark is not described, nor is there
any reason to necessarily connect the mark with the number of
the Beast (Revelation 13:18).


Note 2: james seems to mean that the Devil, being a spirit, is able to
hide unseen and watch us to spy out our secret desires. He then
uses this knowledge to present to us the prospect of attaining those


66 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


things we desire, whether they be occult and forbidden learning in
the case of magicians and necromancers, or a way to exact revenge
and attain wealth in the case of sorcerers and witches. Elsewhere
James mentions that the Devil cannot read our thoughts, so he
must learn our desires by observing our actions.


### CHA P T E R I I I

ARGUMENT :
The significance and etymology of the words magic and necromancy.
The dierence between necromancy and witchcraft. What are the
entrances and beginnings that bring any to the knowledge thereof


Philomathes
I would gladly first hear what thing is it that you call magic or neeromancy.


Epistemon
This word magic in the Persian tongue 1 imports as much as to be a
contemplator or interpreter of divine and heavenly sciences: which
being first used among the Chaldeans, through their ignorance of
the true divinity, was esteemed and reputed among them as a prin­
cipal virtue, and therefore was named unjustly with an honorable
style; which name the Greeks imitated, generally importing all these
kinds of unlawful arts. And this word necromancy is a Greek word,
compounded of nekron and manteia, which is to say, the prophecy by
the dead. 2 This last name is given to this black and unlawful science
by the figure synecdoche,3 because it is a principal part of that art, to
serve themselves with dead carcasses in their divinations.


Philomathes
What difference is there between this art and witchcraft?


68 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


Epistemon

Surely, the difference vulgar [persons] put between them is very
merry, and in a manner true; for they say that the witches are ser­
vants only, and slaves, to the Devil, but the necromancers are his
masters and commanders.


Philomathes
How can that be true, that any men being specially addicted to his
service can be his commanders?


Epistemon
Yes, they may be, but it is only secundum quid, for it is not by any
power that they can have over him, but ex pacto4 all and only,
whereby he obliges himself in some trifles to them, that he may on
the other part obtain the fruition of their body and soul, which is the
only thing he hunts for.


Philomathes
A very inequitable contract, in truth. But I pray you discourse unto

me, what is the effect and secrets of that art?


Epistemon
That is over large a field you give me, yet I shall do good will, the
most summarily that I can, to run through the principal points
thereof. As there are two sorts of folk that may be enticed to this art,
to wit, learned and unlearned, so is there two means which are the
first stirrers up and feeders of their curiosity, thereby to make them
to give themselves over to the same; which two I call the Devil's
school, and his rudiments.
The learned have their curiosity wakened upon, and fed by that
which I call his school: this is the astrology judicial.5 For diverse men,
having attained to a great perfection in learning, and yet remained
over bare (alas) of the spirit of regeneration and fruits thereof, find­
ing all natural things common, as well to the stupid pedants as unto
them, they assay to vindicate unto them a greater name by not only


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 69


knowing the course of things heavenly, but likewise to claim to the
knowledge of things to come thereby. Which, at the first face ap­
pearing lawful unto them, in respect the ground thereof seems to
proceed of natural causes only, they are so allured thereby, that find­
ing their practice to prove true in sundry things, they study to know
the cause thereof; and so mounting from degree to degree upon the
slippery and uncertain scale of curiosity, they are at last enticed, that
where lawful arts or sciences fail, to satisfy their restless minds, even
to seek to that black and unlawful science of magic. Where, finding
at the first that such diverse forms of circles and conjurations rightly
joined thereunto will raise such diverse forms of spirits, to resolve
them of their doubts, and attributing the doing thereof to the power
inseparably tied, or inherent, in the circles, and many words of God6
confusedly wrapped in, they blindly glory of themselves, as if they
had by their quickness of ingenuity make a conquest of Pluto's
dominion, and were become emperors over the Stygian habitats.7
Where, in the mean time (miserable wretches) they are become,
in very deed, bond slaves to their mortal enemy; and their knowl­
edge, for all that they presume thereof, is nothing increased except
in knowing evil, and the horrors of hell for punishment thereof, as
Adam's was by the eating of the forbidden tree (Genesis 3).


NOTES ON BOOK I, CH APTER III


Note 1 : "Magic" is a word signifying the art of the magi, a priestly
cast of wise men in ancient Persia who may originally have come
from a single Median tribe. "Magus" is a Latin word, from the
Greek flayocr, which in turn is from the Old Persian magu.


Note 2: "Necromancy" is from the Greek word nekromanteia, a com­
bining of nekros ("corpse") and manteia ("divination").


Note 3 : Synecdoche is a figure of speech in which a part is used to
represent the whole, or the whole is used to represent its individ­
ual parts. James' meaning is that the art of necromancy is called


70 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


necromancy, or corpse divination, because one of its principal ac­
tivities is divination through the use of corpses. The name of the
part is applied to the whole.


Note 4: "From the pact." Magicians were supposed by King james
and his more credulous contemporaries to acquire their powers
by signing a pact with the Devil, who would then send them a
familiar demon to serve their needs.


Note 5: James used the term "judicial astrology" for all forms of
astrology that seek to interpret the occult or nonphysical influ­
ences of the stars and planets upon human affairs. Since the sev­
enteenth century, all astrology is judicial astrology in this broad
sense. James was distinguishing judicial astrology from natural
astrology, which in the sixteenth century was the observation of
the movements of the stars and planets in order to predict natural
events such as solar and lunar eclipses, and to establish the dates
of the equinoxes, solstices, and holy days such as Easter. We now
class natural astrology as a part of astronomy.


Note 6: Divine names play a central role in Western high magic.
Drawn from the Old Testament, they embody both the power
and the authority of God. The supreme name is i11i1", called by
the Greeks ''Tetragrammaton," a word that means "name of four
letters" (tetra: "four," gramma: "letter"). In the grimoires this is ei­
ther found in the original Hebrew, or is written as "Tetragramma­
ton." More rarely it occurs in the form "Jehovah." Other divine
names from the Bible are Adonai, Elohim, Shaddai, and Eheieh.
During the Renaissance the previously secret teachings of the
system of Jewish mysticism and magic known as the Kabbalah
became known to Europeans, and began to be employed by magi­
cians. Cornelius Agrippa wrote extensively about the uses of the
Hebrew names of God in the third book of his Occult Philosophy.
In addition to divine and angelic names drawn from the Bible
and the Kabbalah, Western magic also makes use of what are
known as barbarous words of power. These are unrecognizable


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 71


words or names held to convey occult energies, even though
their meanings have been forgotten. Many of the grimoires con­
tain barbarous words in their invocations. Barbarous words found
their way into the grimoires from Egypt and Greece through the
teachings of the Gnostics, and also by a simple process of cor­
ruption in which names were misspelled and misread repeatedly,
until their meanings were lost. Many barbarous words of power
were originally the names of pagan gods.


Note 7: The river Styx encircles the Greek underworld, which is
ruled by Hades (Pluto to the Romans), hence Stygian habitats are
the regions of hell.


### CHA PTE R IV

ARGUMENT:
The description of the rudiments and school, which are the
entrances to the art of magic. And especially the dierences between
astronomy and astrology. Division of astrology into diverse parts.


Philomathes
But I pray you likewise, forget not to tell what are the Devil's rudi­
ments.


Epistemon
His rudiments, I call first in general, all that which is called vul­
garly the virtue of word, herb, and stone, which is used by unlaw­
ful charms, without natural causes. As likewise all kind of practices,
freits, 1 or other extraordinary actions which cannot abide the true
touch of natural reason.


Philomathes
I would have you to make that plainer by some particular examples,
for your proposition is very general.


Epistemon
I mean either by such kind of charms as commonly daft wives use
for healing of forespoken2 goats, for preserving them from evil
eyes,3 by knitting rune-trees,4 or various kinds of herbs, to the hair
or tails of the goats; by curing the worm, by stemming of blood/
by healing of horse-crooks, by turning of the riddle,6 or doing of


73


74 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


such like innumerable things by words, without applying anything
meet to the part offended, as mediciners do; or else by stopping mar­
ried folks to have naturally to do with [each] other (by knitting so
many knots7 upon a point at the time of their marriage), and such­
like things, which men use to practice in their merriness.
For since unlearned men (being naturally curious, and lacking
the true knowledge of God) find these practices to prove true, as
some of them will do, by the power of the Devil for deceiving men,
and not by any inherent virtue in these vain words and freits; and
being desirous to win a reputation to themselves in suchlike turns,
they either (if they be of the shamefaced sort) seek to be taught by
some that are experienced in that art (not knowing it to be evil at the
first), or else being of the grosser sort, run directly to the Devil for
ambition or desire of gain, and plainly contract with him thereupon.


Philomathes
But I think these means which you call the school and rudiments of
the Devil are things lawful, and have been approved for such in all
times and ages: as especially, this science of astrology, which is one
of the special members of the mathematics.


Epistemon
There are two things which the learned have observed from the
beginning, in the science of the heavenly creatures, the planets,
stars, and such like. The one is their course and ordinary motions,
which for that cause is called astronomia, which word is a compound
of nomos and astron, that is to say, the law of the stars;8 and this art
indeed is one of the members of the mathematics and not only law­
ful but most necessary and commendable. The other is called astro­
logia, being compounded of astron and logos, which is to say, the
word and preaching of the stars,9 which is divided into two parts:
the first by knowing thereby the powers of simples, and sicknesses,
the course of the seasons and the weather, being ruled by their influ­
ence, which part depending upon the former, although it be not of


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 75


itself a part of mathematics, yet it is not unlawful, being moderately
used, though not so necessary and commendable as the former;
the second part is to trust so much to their influences, as thereby to
foretell what commonwealths shall flourish or decay, what persons
shall be fortunate or unfortunate, what side shall win in any battle,
what man shall obtain victory at singular combat, what way and
of what age shall men die, what horse shall win at match running,
and diverse suchlike incredible things, wherein Cardanus, 1° Corne­
lius Agrippa, and diverse others have more curiously than profitably
written at large.
Of this root last spoken of spring innumerable branches, such
as the knowledge by the nativities, I I the chiromancy, 12 geomancy, 13
hydromancy, 14 arithmancy, 15 physiognomy, 1 6 and a thousand others,
which were much practiced and held in great reverence by the pa­
gans of old. And this last part of astrology whereof I have spoken,
which is the root of their branches, was called by them pars fortu­
nae. This part now is utterly unlawful to be trusted in, or practiced
amongst Christians, as leaning to no ground of natural reason, and
it is this part which I called before the Devil's school.


Philomathes
But yet many of the learned are of the contrary opinion.


Epistemon
I grant, yet I could give my reasons to fortify and maintain my opin­
ion, if to enter into this disputation it would not draw me quite off
the ground of our discourse, besides the misspending of the whole
day thereupon. One word only I wi answer to them, and that in the
Scriptures (which must be an infallible ground to all true Christians),
that in the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1 0) it is plainly forbidden to
believe or harken unto them that prophesy and forespeak by the
course of the planets and stars.


76 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


NOTE S ON BOOK I, CH APTER IV


Note 1 : A freit is an omen, augury, charm, or magical practice, espe­
cially done with a religious significance. The word has no modern
equivalent. It comes from the Old Norse frett, meaning "inquiry"
or "augury."


Note 2: In this place, James uses the term "forespoken" to mean 'be­
witched." A forespoken goat is one that has had a curse muttered
over it.

Note 3: Since the time of the ancient Greeks, witches were supposed
to possess the power of the evil eye. It was thought that merely
with their glance they could cause misfortune or even death. The
effect of the evil eye was more potent when it was cast slantwise,
out of the corner of the eye, by the witch, and when it met the
gaze of the victim. It was also thought to be more virulent when
the eye of the witch was bloodshot.


Note 4: By rune-tree (or in the original, "roun-tree"), James prob­
ably meant a small wooden wand incised with magic symbols,
which may or may not have been actual runes.


Note 5: Spoken charms for stopping the flow of bloQd from a
wound were common, as was the application of the bloodstone
to the injured part. Bloodstone is a type of rock with red flecks in
it that resemble spots of blood, and because of this association it
was thought to have the power of staunching open wounds.

Note 6: A - - - : riddle is a type of coarse-screened sieve used to separate -- .

chaff from grain. Turning the riddle was a form of divination that
resembled somewhat the use of the dowsing wand. Two indi­
viduals would support by the handles on the tips of their middle
fingers a large pair of shears. Between the opened blades of the
shears a sieve was held in such a way that it was free to revolve
under variations of pressure on its sides. The sieve moved in the
same way that the planchette of the Ouija board moves, through


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 77


minute and unconscious forces exerted by the hands of the par­
ticipants. Grillot de Givry gives an explanation of the method
by Pietro d'Abano, drawn from Agrippa's Opera omnia (Collected
Works):

[T]he sieve is suspended by tongs or pincers which are sup­

ported by the middle fingers of two assistants. So may be dis­

covered, by the help of the demons, those who have commit­

ted a crime or theft or inflicted some wound. The conjuration

consists of six words-understood neither by those who speak

them nor by others-which are Dies, Mies, Juschet, Benedoefet,

Dowima, and Enitemaus; once these are uttered they compel

the demon to cause the sieve, suspended by its pincers, to turn

the moment the name of the guilty person is pronounced (for

all the suspected persons must be named), and thus the culprit

is instantly known. (de Givry, Witchcraft, Magic and Alchemy,

page 300)


Figure 2


78 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


Note 7: Knot magic is a form of magic believed to be especially
favored by witches. An intention was spoken through a loop of
thread as the thread was drawn tight into a knot. The belief was
that the knot captured and held the intention so that it would not
fade away, but would endure and fulfill itself. Knot magic involved
tying significant numbers of knots, such as three, or seven, or
nine, and using specific colored threads, for different purposes.


Figure 3


Note 8: The word "astronomy" is from the Greek astronomia (astron:
"star," nomos: "law").


Note 9: The word "astrology" is from the Greek astrologia (astron:
"star," logia: "to speak").


Note 10: Girolamo Cardano (1501-1576) was an Italian mathemati­
cian, astrologer, and physician. He was educated at the universities
of Pavia and Padua, where he received a degree in medicine, but
was excluded from the College of Physicians in Milan due to his
illegitimate birth. He attained celebrity as both a mathematician
and as an astrologer through his published writings, and in 1 547


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 79


was appointed professor of medicine at Pavia. In 1 5 5 1 he traveled
to Scotland to act as the medical advisor to Archbishop Hamilton
of St. Andrews, who he successfully treated for asthma. He cast
the horoscopes of important figures of the day such as Edward VI
of England and Martin Luther. So antagonistic were his feelings
about Luther, Cardano deliberately changed the time of Luther's
birth in order to make his horoscope unfavorable. In later life
Cardano's fortunes declined. He was arrested for heresy in Italy,
a charge that was dropped at the intercession of his friends, but he
was prohibited from teaching or publishing thereafter. He is best
remembered for his autobiography De Vita Propria.


Note 1 1 : A nativity is the birth chart or horoscope used in astrology
to examine and prognosticate the life of an individual.


Note 12: Divination by reading the lines in the palm of the hand.


Note 1 3 : Geomancy is a method of divination by means of sixteen
geomantic figures. Each figure is made up of four rows, each row
containing either one dot or two dots. They are somewhat simi­
lar to the figures of the Chinese method of divination known as
the I Ching, save that the I Ching hexagrams consist of six rows,
not four, and each row is composed of either a broken or solid
line, rather than two or one dots. Selection of the geomantic
figures to be included in a divination is accomplished by poking
random number of holes in lines along the ground with a stick,
then counting the number of holes in each line to see whether it
is even or odd. An even number produces a row in a geomantic
figure with two dots, an odd number a row with one dot. Sixteen
horizontal lines of holes are poked one above the other in the
ground, and when reduced to even or odd summation, yield four
geomantic figures to take part in the divination. It is this method
of deriving the figures from holes poked in the ground that is re­
sponsible for the name "geomancy," which means "earth divina­
tion" (geo: "earth," manteia: "divination"). There are other forms


So DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


of geomancy, but it is likely that James refers to divination by the
sixteen geomantic figures, which were quite popular in his time.


Note 14: Hydromancy is divination by water. The method james
probably had in mind was that thought to have been used by Nos­
tradamus, which involves gazing into a basin of water in order to
see visions, in a way similar to crystal gazing.


Note 1 5 : Arithmancy is what we would today call numerology-div­
ination by interpreting numerical values associated with the let­
ters in a person's name.

Note 1 6 : Physiognomy is divination by interpreting the lines and
other features in the face, and is similar in its general principles to
palmistry.


### CHA PTE R V

ARGUMENT:
How far the using of charms is lawful or unlawful. The description
of the forms of circles and conjurations. And what causes the
magicians themselves to weary thereof


Philomathes
Well, you have said far enough in that argument. But how prove you
now that these charms or unnatural practices are unlawful? For so
many honest and merry men and women have publicly practiced
some of them, that I think if you would accuse them all of witch­
craft, you would affirm more than you will be believed in.


Epistemon

I see if you had taken good attention (to the nature of that word,
whereby I name it) you would not have been in this doubt, nor mis­
take me, so far as you have done. For although, as none can be schol­
ars in a school and not be subject to the master thereof, so none
can study and put in practice (for the study alone, and knowledge, is
more perilous than offensive; and it is the practice only that makes
the greatness of the offence) the circles and art of magic, without
committing a horrible defection from God. 1 And yet, as they that
read and learn their rudiments are not the more subject to any
school master, if it please not their parents to put them to the school
thereafter, so they who ignorantly prove these practices, which I call
the Devil's rudiments, unknowing them to be baits cast out by him


S r


82 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


for trapping such as God will permit to fall into his hands, this kind
of folk I say, no doubt, are to be judged the best of, in respect they
use no invocation nor help of him (by their knowledge at least) in
these turns, and so have never entered themselves into Satan's ser­
vice. Yet to speak truly for my own part (I speak but for myself), I
desire not to make so near riding, for in my opinion our enemy is
over-crafty, and we over-weak (except the greater grace of God) to
assay such hazards where he presses to trap us.


Philomathes
You have reason indeed, for as the common proverb says: They that
sup kettle with the Devil have need of long spoons. But now I pray
you, go forward in the describing of this art of magic.


Epistemon
After they be come once unto this perfection in evil, in having any
knowledge (whether learned or unlearned) of this black art, they
then begin to be weary of the raising of their Master by conjured
circles, being both so difficult and perilous, and so come plainly to
contract with him, wherein is specially contained forms and effects.


Philomathes
But I pray you before ever you go further, discourse [with] me some­
what of their circles and conjurations, and what should be the cause
of their wearying thereof, for it should seem that that form should
be less fearful yet, than the direct haunting and society with that foul
and unclean spirit.


Epistemon
I think you take me to be a witch myself, or at the least would fain
swear yourself apprentice to that craft. All ways, as I may, I shall
shortly satisfy you in that kind of conjurations which are contained
in such books which I call the Devil's school. There are four princi­
pal parts: the persons of the conjurers, the action of conjuration, the
words and rites used to that effect, and the spirits that are conjured.


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 83


You must first remember to lay the ground, that I told you be­
fore; which is, that it is no power inherent in the circles, or in the
holiness of the names of God blasphemously used, nor in what­
soever rites or ceremonies at that time used, that either can raise
any infernal spirit or yet limit him perforce within or without these
circles. For it is he only, the father of all lies, who having first of all
prescribed that form of doing, feigning himself to be commanded
and restrained thereby, will be loath to pass the bounds of these in­
junctions; as well thereby to make them glory in the empiring over
him (as I said before), as likewise to make himself so to be trusted in
these little things, that he may have the better commodity thereafter,
to deceive them in the end with a trick once and for all, I mean the
everlasting perdition of their soul and body.
Then, laying this ground, as I have said, these conjurations must
have few or more in number of the persons, conjurers (always pass­
ing the singular number)2 according to the quality of the circle, and
form of apparition. Two principal things cannot well in that errand
be wanted: holy water (whereby the Devil mocks the Papists) and
some present of a living thing unto him.3 There are likewise cer­
tain seasons, days, and hours, that they observe in this purpose.4
These things being all ready, and prepared, circles are made trian­
gular, quadrangular, round, double, or single, according to the form
of apparition that they crave.5 But to speak of the diverse forms of
the circles, of the innumerable characters and crosses that are within
and without, and throughout the same, of the diverse forms of ap­
paritions that that crafty spirit deludes them with, and of all such
particulars in that action, I remit it to overmany that have busied
their heads in describing of the same, as being but curious, and alto­
gether unprofitable.
And this far only I touch, that when the conjured spirit appears,
which will not be until after many circumstances, long prayers, and
much muttering and murmuring of the conjurors, like a Papist
priest dispatching a hunting Mass; how soon, I say, he appears, if


84 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


they have missed one iota of all their rites, or if any of their feet
once slide over the circle through terror of his fearful apparition, he
pays himself at that time in his own hand, of that due debt which
they own him; and otherwise would have delayed longer to have
paid him.6 I mean he carries them with him body and soul. If this be
not now a just cause to make them weary of these forms of conju­
ration, I leave it to you to judge upon; considering the longness of
the labor, the precise keeping of days and hours (as I have said), the
terribleness of apparition, and the present peril that they stand in, in
missing the least circumstance or freit that they ought to observe.
And on the other part, the Devil is glad to move them to a plain and
square dealing with him, as I said before.


NOTES ON BOOK I, CH APTER V

Note 1 : This is an important point. Someone like Cornelius Agrippa
or John Dee could publicly proclaim themselves well versed in the
techniques of necromancy or natural magic, and could even pub­
lish books on the subject, without placing themselves at risk of
legal prosecution, provided they could prove that they had never
put their knowledge into practice. A danger always existed for
those who studied magic that their friends or neighbors would
accuse them of actually working it.
When John Dee was accused of being a magician during the
reign of James the First, he was eager to force a trial so that he
could prove his innocence and regain his reputation. On June 5,
1 604, just four days before the witchcraft statute of James was
passed into law by the English Parliament, Dee sent James a pe­
tition in which he demanded that the king should "cause your
Highnesse said servant to be tryed and cleared of that horrible
and damnable, and to him most grievous and dammageable
sclaunder, generally, and for these many yeares last past, in this
kingdom raysed and continued, by report and Print against him,


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 85


namely that he is or hath bin a conjurer or caller or invocator of
divels" (Smith,john Dee: 1527-1608, page 293).
In 1 592 Dee had been called in print "the conjuror of the
Queen's Privy Council." This still rankled with Dee, but presum­
ably more recent gossip had impelled his petition to James. Dee's
audacity is quite breathtaking, since his own records of the com­
munications he had years before conducted with a hierarchy of
spirits identifying themselves as the angels who had instructed
Enoch in a system of heavenly magic were evidence enough to
have had him hanged a thousands times. However, Dee's hand­
written transcripts of the angelic communications were kept
carefully hidden by Dee, and did not come to light until after his
death.
Dee's petition was ignored. It may be that James saw noth­
ing to be gained by putting on public trial one of the favorites of
Queen Elizabeth. Dee lived out the last years of his life widely
regarded as a magician, which, indeed, he was, and thoroughly
detested by James, who remained convinced that the gossip
about Dee was true. James refused to give Dee any financial aid
when he was in dire need, and there is no question that he would
have liked nothing better than to have watched Dee hanged as a
witch. Perhaps he respected Dee's legal knowledge and oratorical
skills enough to suspect that an accusation of witchcraft might
fail against him, or perhaps Dee had a friend or two left. In any
event, no formal accusation was ever made against him.


Note 2: It is sometimes specified in the grimoires that the magician
should have an assistant or assistants, though there is no obvious
reason for this directive.


Note 3 : james meant the blood sacrifice of a beast. Animal sacri­
fice is mentioned in some of the grimoires, either directly or in­
directly. For example, in the most celebrated of all the grimoires,
the Key of Solomon, the directions concerning animal sacrifice
read:


86 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


In many operations it is necessary to make some sort of sac­

rifice unto the Demons, and in various ways. Sometimes white

animals are sacrificed to the good Spirits, and black to the evil.

Such sacrifices consist of the blood and sometimes of the flesh.

They who sacrifice animals, or whatsoever kind they be,

should select those which are virgin, as being more agreeable

unto the Spirits, and rendering them more obedient.

When blood is to be sacrificed it should be drawn also from

virgin quadrupeds or birds, but before offering the oblation, say:

May this Sacrifice which we find it proper to offer unto ye,

noble and lofty Beings, be agreeable and pleasing unto your de­

sires; be ye ready to obey us, and ye shall receive greater ones.

(Mathers, The Key of Solomon the King, page 1 19).


Note 4: This was known as the observation of times, and was ex­
pressly forbidden in the Old Testament. In Leviticus is written:
"Ye shall not eat any thing with the blood; neither shall ye use
enchantment, nor observe times" (Leviticus 1 9:26). In Deuter­
onomy we read: "There shall not be found among you any one
that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or
that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter,
or a witch . . . . For these nations, which thou shalt possess, har­
kened unto observers of times, and unto diviners: but as for thee,
the Lord thy God has not suffered thee to do so" (Deuteronomy
18:10, 14). Operations in ritual magic were believed only to be ef­
fective when done under auspicious aspects of the stars and plan­
ets, and in the hours dedicated to spirits helpful to the work. It
was generally held that if rituals were performed at the wrong
time, they would fail.


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 87


Figure 4


Note 5 : Evil spirits considered dangerous to deal with were called
forth to visible appearance into a triangle, while the magician and
his assistants stood within the protective circle, or circles. Beside
a picture of such a triangle, the text of the Goetia reads: "This is
the Form of the Magical Triangle, into the which Solomon did
command the Evil Spirits. It is to be made at 2 feet distance from
the Magical Circle and it is 3 feet across. Note that this triangle is
to be placed toward that quarter whereunto the Spirit belongeth.
And the base of the triangle is to be nearest unto the Circle, the
apex pointing in the direction of the quarter of the Spirit. Ob­
serve thou also the Moon in thy working" (Mathers, Goetia, pages
71-72). The image in Mathers' book shows an equilateral triangle
with a circle inside it, the letters of the angelic name Michael writ­
ten in its three points ("Mi-cha-el") . Outside and along its base is


88 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


written the word of power "Primeumaton," outside and along its
left side the word and outside and along its right
side the word "Tetragrammaton."
Although the triangle of evocation lies flat on the floor, it is to
be conceived as upright upon the air, and as actively revolving so
that it creates a vortex shaped like an inverted tornado. The spirit
is induced to come into being within the triangle through the
point at the apex of this vortex. These matters were not spelled
out in the texts of the grimoires, but were details transmitted
from teacher to student, as indeed they still are today. The refer­
ence in the Goetia to observing the Moon in the working is an
example of the observation of times. The waning phase of the
Moon is most appropriate for the evocation of evil spirits.


Note 6: The fanciful tale is told of the student of Cornelius Agrippa
who, one day when his master was away from home, took out
Agrippa's book of conjuration and summoned a demon. The
demon demanded of the student why he had been summoned,
and when the terrified youth was too overcome with dread to
respond, the demon immediately killed him. Upon returning
home, Agrippa was confronted with his corpse, which the magi­
cian was forced to spirit away by magic lest he be implicated in
the student's death. It need hardly be added that this story has
not one shred of truth in it. However, it does illustrate the belief
that to step outside the magic circle during evocation, or to make
an error in the words spoken or procedures enacted, was to risk
death at the hands of the thing called. This belief is still held by
many practitioners of high magic in modern times.


### CHA P T E R V I

ARGUMENT :
The Devil's contract with the magicians. The division thereof in two
parts. What the dirence is between God's miracles and the Devil 's.


Philomathes
Indeed there is cause enough, but rather to leave him at all, than to
run more plainly to him, if they were wise he dealt with. But go for­
ward now I pray you to these turns, until they become once deacons
in this craft.


Epistemon
From the time that they once plainly begin to contract with him, the
effect of their contract consists of two things; in forms and effects, as
I began to tell already, were it not you interrupted me (for although
the contract be mutual, I speak first of that part wherein the Devil
obliges himself to them). By forms, I mean in what shape or fashion
he shall come unto them, when they call upon him. And by effects,
I understand, in what special sorts of services he binds himself to be
subject unto them.
The quality of these forms and effects is less or greater, accord­
ing to the skill and art of the magician. 1 For as to the forms, to some
of the baser sort of them he obliges himself to appear at their call­
ing upon him, by such a proper name which he shows unto them, 2
either in the likeness of a dog, a cat, an ape, or suchlike other beast;
or else to answer by a voice only. The effects are to answer to such


90 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


demands, as concerns curing of diseases, their own particular house­
work, or such other base things as they require of him.
But to the most curious sort, in the forms he will oblige himself
to enter in a dead body, and there out of, to give such answers of
the event of battles, of matters concerning the estate of common­
wealths, and such like other great questions;3 yea, to some he will be
a continual attender, in the form of a page;4 he will permit himself
to be conjured, for the space of so many years, either in a table5 or
a ring, 6 or suchlike thing, which they may easily carry about with
them. He gives them power to sell such wares to others, whereof
some will be dearer, and some better cheaper, according to the lying
or true speaking of the spirit that is conjured therein.
Not but that in very deed, all devils must be liars, but so they
abuse the simplicity of these wretches, that become their scholars,
that they make them believe that at the fall of Lucifer, some spir­
its fell in the air, some in the fire, some in the water, some in the
land; in which elements they still remain. 7 Whereupon they build,
that such as fell in the fire, or in the air, are truer than they who fell
in the water or in the land; which is all but mere gossips, and forged
by the author of all deceit. For they fell not by weight, as a solid
substance, to stick in any one part; but the principal part of their fall,
consisting in quality, by the falling from the grace of God wherein
they were created, they continued still thereafter, and shall do until
the latter day, in wandering through the world, as God's hangmen,
to execute such turns as he employs them in. And when any of them
are not occupied in that, return they must to their prison in hell (as it
is plain in the miracle that Christ wrought at Gennesaret (Matthew
8)), therein at the latter day to be all enclosed forever.
And as they deceive their scholars in this, so do they in imprint­
ing in them the opinion that there are so many princes, dukes, and
kings among them, every one commanding fewer or more legions,
and empiring in diverse arts, and quarters of the earth.8 For though
that I will not deny that there be a form of order among the angels


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 9I


in heaven, and consequently, was among them before their fall, yet

either that they brook the same since then, or that God will permit
us to know by damned devils such heavenly mysteries of his, which
he would not reveal to us neither by Scripture nor prophets, I think
no Christian will once think it. But to the contrary, of all such mys­
teries as he hath closed up with his seal of secrecy, it becomes us to
be contented with a humble ignorance, they being things not neces­
sary for our salvation.
But to return to the purpose, as these forms wherein Satan
obliges himself to the greatest of the magicians are wonderful cu­
rious, so are the effects correspondent unto the same. For he will
oblige himself to teach them arts and sciences, which he may easily
do, being so learned a knave as he is; to carry them news from any
part of the world, which the agility of a spirit may easily perform;
to reveal to them the secrets of any persons, so being they be once
spoken: for the thought, none knows but God, except so far as you
may guess by their countenance, as one who is doubtlessly learned
enough in the physiognomy. Yea, he will make his scholars to creep
in credit with princes, by foretelling them many great things, part
true, part false, for if all were false he would lose credit at all hands;
but always doubtsome, as his oracles were. For no man doubts but
he is a thief, and his agility (as I spoke before) makes him to come

[with] such speed.
Likewise, he will guard his scholars with fair armies of horsemen
and footmen in appearance, castles and forts: which are all but impres­
sions in the air, easily gathered by a spirit drawing so near to that sub­
stance himself. As in like manner he will learn them many jugglery9
tricks at cards, dice, and suchlike, to deceive men's senses thereby; and
in such innumerable false practices, which are proven by overmany
in this age, as they who are acquainted with that Italian called Scoto,
yet living, can report. And yet are all these things but deluding of
the senses, and nowise true in substance, as were the false miracles
wrought by King Pharaoh's magicians, for counterfeiting Moses's. For


92 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


this is the difference between God's miracles and the Devil's: God is
a creator, what he makes appear in miracle, it is so in effect, as Mo­
ses's rod being cast down, was no doubt turned into a natural serpent;
whereas the Devil (as God's ape) counterfeiting that by his magicians,
made their wands to appear so, only to men's outward senses, as
shown in effect by their being devoured by the other. For it is no won­
der that the Devil may delude our senses, since we see by common
proof, that simple jugglers will make a hundred things seem both to
our eyes and ears otherwise than they are.
Now as to the magician's part of the contract, it is in a word that
thing which, I said before, the Devil hunts for in all men.


Philomathes

Surely you have said much to me in this art, if all that you have said
be as true as wonderful.


Epistemon
For the truth in these actions, it will be easily confirmed to any that
pleases to take pains upon the reading of diverse authentic histo­
ries, and the inquiring of daily experiences. And as for the truth of
their possibility, that they may be, and in what manner, I trust I have
alleged nothing whereunto I have not joined such probable reasons,
as I leave to your discretion, to weigh and consider. One word only
I omitted, concerning the form of making of this contract, which is
either written with the magician's own blood, 10 or else being agreed
upon (in terms) his school master touches him in some part, though
1 1
peradventure no mark remains, as it does with all witches.


NOTE S T O BOOK I, CH APTER VI

Note 1 : Spirits of greater power and authority assume shapes that
are more refined and complex, whereas spirits of lesser power
take on the shapes of simpler and lower forms of life. For ex­
ample, in the Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy the particular forms
of the spirits of Saturday are listed as a bearded king riding on


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 93


a dragon, an old man with a beard, an old woman leaning on a
staff, a hog, a dragon, an owl, a black garment, a hook or sickle,
and a juniper tree (Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy, page 43). The
more skilled the magician, the more potent the spirits he is able
to summon and employ, and the more refined and complete their
manifestation.
Francis Barrett commented in a footnote concerning the
forms of the spirits of Saturday: "Those spirits who appear in a
kingly form have a much higher dignity than them who take an
inferior shape; and those who appear in a human shape, exceed
in authority and power them that come as animals; and again,
these latter surpass in dignity them who appear as trees or in­
struments, and the like: so that you are to judge of the power,
government, and authority of spirits by their assuming a more
noble and dignified apparition" (Barrett, The Magus, Bk II, Part
III, page 1 27).


Figure 5


94 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


Note 2: The first act of a magician after making contact with a spirit
is to demand of the spirit its true name, by which it may be sum­
moned and controlled. Lower spirits are reluctant to divulge their
names, but may be compelled to do so by the authority of the
names of God or the names of the angels that rule over them.
This is why the purity of the magician is so often stressed in the
grimoires. In order to use a name of God or a name of an angel
to command a lower spirit that has been evoked, it is necessary
for the magician to invoke that aspect of God, or that angel, into
himself, so that he becomes the vessel of God or the angel. Only
then can he speak with the power and authority of the holy name
to command the lower spirit to reveal its true identity. Once the
name of the lower spirit is known, it can be effectively used to
command the spirit to appear and do whatever work the magi­
cian requires of it.


Note 3: This is the primary activity of necromancy. john Dee's crys­
tal scryer, the alchemist Edward Kelley, is reputed to have exhumed
the corpse of a pauper from his grave in the churchyard of Wal­
ton-le-Dale, near Preston in Lancashire, with the help of a friend
named Peter Waring. This was done at the request of a young man
of wealth and social position, who wished Kelley to animate the
corpse with necromantic magic and compel it to reveal the young
man's term of life and future prospects. The success or failure of
the effort has not been recorded, but in my opinion the story itself
is very likely true. This instance of graverobbing took place before
Kelley entered into Dee's employ, and it is probable that Dee never
knew anything about it. Contrary to some reports, Dee was not
present at the time, since he and Kelley had yet to meet. Dee met
Kelley in the spring of 1 582. Kelley's experiment in necromancy
may have occurred around 1 580. Under the witchcraft statute of
Elizabeth in force at the time, he would not have been subject to
the death penalty for his crime, only a year in prison for a first of­
fense, but under the statute of 1604 brought in by James he would


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 95


theoretically have faced hanging, although in actuality no one was
ever executed in England solely for digging up a corpse and using it
in works of magic.

Note 4: The Devil was supposed to appoint a demon to act as a fa­
miliar to a magician with whom he had signed a pact. The most
famous example is that of Mephistopheles, the familiar serving
demon of the magician Faust. The relationship between Faust
and his familiar is examined in the play The Tragical History of Doc­
tor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe, and the play Faust by Johann
Wolfgang von Goethe.


Note 5 : The summoning of spirits into tables played a key part in
the spiritualist movement of the nineteenth century. Spirits of the
dead were supposed to enter into the table around which the me­
dium and her clients were seated, then to respond to questions ei­
ther with a series of raps from within the table, or by moving, lift­
ing, or tipping the table so that its legs banged alternately against
the floor.


Note 6: Magicians commonly possessed rings containing familiar
spirits. For example, the Greek sage Apollonius of Tyana was
presented as a gift a set of seven rings containing spirits by the
leader of the Brahmans of India. His biographer Philostratus
wrote: "And Damis says that Iarchas gave seven rings to Apollo­
nius named after the seven stars, and that Apollonius wore each
of these in turn on the day of the week which bore its name"
(Philostratus, Life of Apollonius, Bk III, Ch. XLI). A ring has the
advantage of being always on the person of the magician, allow­
ing instant access to the familiar spirit when its services may be
required.


Note 7: James refers to the elemental spirits of Paracelsus, the Sala­
manders of Fire, the Sylphs of Air, the Undines of Water, and the
Gnomes of Earth. Since the elements Fire and Air tend to rise
upward, their spirits might be considered more spiritual, but since


96 DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


Water and Earth tend to fall downward, their spirits might be
viewed as more earthy. The notion that spirits are divided into the
elements is quite old. It occurs in the Key of Solomon, but in a less
orderly form than that established by Paracelsus:


For when thou shalt have conjured any Spirits in any art or

experiment, they will not come when the air is troubled or agi­

tated by winds, seeing that Spirits have neither flesh nor bones,

and are created of different substances.

Some are created from Water.

Others from Wind, unto which they are like.

Some from Earth.

Some from Clouds.


Others from Solar Vapours.


Others from the keenness and strength of Fire; and when

they are invoked or summoned, they come always with great

noise, and with the terrible nature of fire. (Mathers, Key of Solo­

mon the King, page 82).


Note 8: The seventy-two infernal demons of the Goetia are each
given a rank and a certain number of legions of spirits under their
command. For example, the demon Foras is called a mighty Presi­
dent, and said to rule twenty-nine legions of spirits; Asmoday is
said to be a great King, and to rule seventy-two legions. These
seventy-two demons are in turn ruled by four demon kings, each
presiding over one of the four quarters of the world: Amaymon
rules the east, Corson the west, Zimimay the north, Goap the
south (Mathers, The Goetia, page 67).


Note 9: jugglery was what we would today call stage magic, or
slight of hand.


Note 10: Written pacts signed by magicians and various demons ac­
tually exist. For example, one of the contracts found in the pos­
session of Urbain Grandier, the priest of Loudoun, was written in
blood, presumably his own, and reads in French:


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 97


My Lord and Master, I own you for my God; I promise to

serve you while I live, and from this hour I renounce all other

gods and jesus Christ and Mary and all the Saints of Heaven

and the Catholic, Apostolic, and Roman Church, and all the

goodwill thereof and the prayers which might be made for me.

I promise to adore you and do you homage at least three times

a day and to do the most evil that I can and to lead into evil as

many persons as shall be possible to me, and heartily I renounce

the Chrism, Baptism, and all the merits of jesus Christ; and, in

case I should desire to change, I give you my body and soul, and

my life as holding it from you, having dedicated it for ever with­

out any will to repent. Signed Urbain Grandier in his blood. (de

Givry, Witchcraft, Magic and Alchemy, pages 1 1 8-1 19).


Grandier was accused by the nuns at the Ursuline convent at
Loudun of causing them to become possessed by demons. He
was tortured by Capuchin monks, but refused to confess, and
was burned alive on August 1 8, 1634, "together with all compacts
and magical apparatus used by him" (Robbins, Encyclopedia of
Witchcraft and Demonology, page 3 1 5). Apparently some of his de­
monic contracts escaped the fire. Another document of Urbain
Grandier is written in mirror script, and shows the highly distinc­
tive signatures of six demons: Lucifer, Beelzebub, Satan, Elimi,
Leviathan, and Astaroth. Each signature is completely different
in style from all the others. Leviathan used a particularly heavy
hand with his pen, which is perhaps to be expected (Seligmann,
The History of Magic, page 242).


Note 1 1 : Because the mark of the pact supposed to be impressed on
magicians was not visible, they were not subject to pricking, as
were witches.


### CHA PTER V I I

ARGUMENT :
The reason why the art of magic is unlawfUl.
What punishment it merits, and who may be accounted
guilty of that crime.


Philomathes
Surely you have made this art to appear very monstrous and detest­
able. But what, I pray you, shall be said to such as maintain this art
to be lawful, for as evil as you have made it?


Epistemon

I say they savor of the pan themselves, or at least little better; and yet

I would be glad to hear their reasons.


Philomathes
There are two principally, that ever I heard used, beside that which
is founded upon the common proverb (that the necromancers
command the Devil, which you have already refuted). The one is
grounded upon a received custom, the other upon an authority
which some think infallible. Upon custom, we see that diverse Chris­
tian princes and magistrates, severe punishers of witches, will not
only overlook magicians living within their dominions, but even
sometimes delight to see them prove some of their practices. The
other reason is, that Moses being brought up (as it is expressly said
in the Scriptures) in all the sciences of the Egyptians, 1 whereof no


99


IOO DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK


doubt this was one of the principals, and he not withstanding of this
art, pleasing God, as he did, consequently that art professed by so
godly a man could not be unlawful.


Epistemon
As to the first of your reasons, grounded upon custom, I say, an
evil custom can never be accepted for a good law, for the over-great
ignorance of the word in some princes and magistrates, and the
contempt thereof in others, moves them to sin heavily against their
office in that point. As to the other reason, which seems to be of
greater weight, if it were formed in a syllogism, it behooves to be in
many terms and full of fallacies (to speak in terms of logic).
For first, that that general proposition affirming Moses to be
taught in all the sciences of the Egyptians, should [give cause to]
conclude that he was taught in magic, I see no necessity. For we
must understand that the spirit of God there, speaking of sciences,
understands them that are lawful; for except they be lawful, they are
but abusively called sciences, and are but ignorances indeed: nam
homo pictus, non est homo.2
Secondly, giving that he had been taught in it, there is great dif­
ference between knowledge and practicing of a thing (as I said be­
fore), for God knows all things, being always good; and of our sin
and our infirmity proceeds our ignorance.
Thirdly, giving that he had both studied and practiced the same
(which is no less than monstrous to be believed by any Christian), yet
we know well enough that before that ever the spirit of God began
to call Moses, he was fled out of Egypt, being forty years of age,
due to the slaughter of an Egyptian; and in his good father Jethro's
land, first called at the fiery bush, having remained there another
forty years in exile: so that suppose he had been the wickedest man
in the world before, he then became a changed and regenerate man,
and very little of the old Moses remained in him. Abraham was an
idolater in Ur of the Chaldeans before he was called, and Paul, being


DEMONOLOGY: THE FIRST BOOK 101


called Saul, was a most sharp persecutor of the saints of God, before
that name was changed.


Philomathes
What punishment then think you merits these magicians and necro­
mancers?


Epistemon
The like, no doubt, that sorcerers and witches merit; and rather so
much greater, as their error proceeds of the greater knowledge, and
so draws nearer to the sin against the Holy Ghost.3 And as I say of
them, so say I the like of all such as consult, enquire, entertain, and
oversee them, which is seen by the miserable ends of many that ask
counsel of them: for the Devil has never better tidings to tell of any,
than he told to Saul; neither is it lawful to use so unlawful instru­
ments, were it never for so good a purpose, for that axiom in theol­
ogy is most certain and infallible: nunquam faciendum est malum ut
bonum inde eveniat 4 [marginal gloss: Ast 3.].


NOTE S TO BOOK I, CH APTER VII


Note 1 : Acts 7:22, which reads, "And Moses was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds."


Note 2: "For man embellished is not man."


Note 3 : The point made by James is that magicians and necroman­
cers, being better educated than sorcerers and witches, are more
likely to commit the second branch of the sin against the Holy
Ghost defined in Chapter II: a falling back from the whole service
of God and a refusal of all his precepts, with full knowledge that
it is a sin.


Note 4: "Evil is never to be done so that therefrom good will hap­
pen." This popular saying had its origin in Romans 3 :8.


### TH E S E CON D B O OK

ARGUMENT :
The description of sorcery and witchcraft in particular.


### CHA P T E R I

ARGUMENT :
Proved by the Scripture, that such a thing can be. And the reasons
refuted of all such as would call it but an imagination
and melancholy humor.


Philomathes
Now, since you have satisfied me now so fully concerning magic or
necromancy, I will pray you to do the like in sorcery or witchcraft.


Epistemon
That field is likewise very large; and although in the mouths and
pens of many, yet few know the truth thereof so well as they believe
themselves, as I shall so briefly as I can make you (God willing) as
easily to perceive.


Philomathes
But I pray you before you go further, let me interrupt you here with
a short digression, which is, that many can scarcely believe that there
is such a thing as witchcraft. Whose reasons I will briefly allege unto
you, that you may satisfy me as well in that as you have done in the
rest.
For first, whereas the Scripture seems to prove witchcraft to be,
by diverse examples, and specially by sundry of the same which you
have alleged, it is thought by some that these places speak of magi­
cians and necromancers only, and not of witches. As in special, these


105


I06 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


wise men of Pharaoh's that counterfeited Moses's miracles were
magicians, say they, and not witches; as likewise that Pythoness that
Saul consulted with; and so was Simon Magus in the New Testa­
ment, as that very styling imports.1
Secondly, where you would oppose the daily practice and confes­
sion of so many, that is thought likewise to be but very melancholy
imaginations of simple raving creatures.
Thirdly, if witches have such power of witching of folks to death
(as they say they have), there had been none left alive long since in
the world but they; at least, no good or godly person of whatsoever
estate could have escaped their devilry.


Epistemon
Your three reasons, as I take, are grounded the first of them upon
Scripture; the second affirmative upon physic; and the third upon
the certain proof of existence.
As to your first, it is most true, indeed, that all these wise men
of Pharaoh were magicians of art; as likewise it appears well that
the Pythoness with whom Saul consulted was of that same profes­
sion; and so was Simon Magus. But you omitted to speak of the law
of God wherein are all magicians, diviners, enchanters, sorcerers,
witches, and whatsoever of that kind that consult with the Devil,
plainly prohibited, and alike threatened against. 2 And besides that,
she who had the spirit of the Python in the Acts, whose spirit was
put to silence by the apostle (Acts 1 6), could be no other thing but
a very sorcerer or witch, if you admit the vulgar distinction to be in
a manner true, whereof I spoke in the beginning of our conference.
For that spirit whereby she acquired such gain to her master was not
at her raising or commanding, as she pleased to appoint, but spoke
by her tongue, as well publicly as privately; whereby she seemed to
draw nearer to the sort of demoniacs or possessed, if that conjunc­
tion between them had not been of her own consent, as it appeared
by her not being tormented therewith, and by her acquiring of such
gain to her masters (as I have already said).3


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK !07


As to your second reason, grounded upon physic, in attributing
their confessions of apprehensions to a natural melancholic humor,
any that please medically to consider upon the natural humor of
melancholy, according to all the physicians that ever wrote there­
upon, they shall find that that will be over-short a cloak to cover
their knavery with. For as the humor of melancholy in the self is
black, heavy, and earthy, so are the symptoms thereof, in any persons
that are subject thereunto, leanness, paleness, desire of solitude, and
if they come to the highest degree thereof, mere folly and mania.
Whereas, by the contrary, a great number of them that ever have
been convicted or confessors of witchcraft, as may be presently seen
by many that have at this time confessed, they are by the contrary, I
say, some of them rich and worldly wise, some of them fat or cor­
pulent in their bodies, and most part of them altogether given over
to the pleasures of the flesh, continual haunting of company, and
all kinds of merriness, both lawful and unlawful, which are things
directly contrary to the symptoms of melancholy whereof I spoke.4
And further experience daily proves how loath they are to confess
without torture, which witnesses their guiltiness; whereby the con­
trary, the melancholies, never spare to betray themselves by their
continual discourses, feeding thereby their humor in that which they
think no crime.
As to your third reason, it scarcely merits an answer. For if the
Devil, their master, were not bridled, as the Scriptures teach us, sup­
pose there were no men nor women to be his instruments, he could
find ways enough without any help of others to wreck all mankind;
whereunto he employs his whole study, and goes about like a roar­
ing lion (as Peter says) to that effect (I Peter 5). But the limits of his
power were set down before the foundations of the world were laid,
which he hath not power in the least jot to transgress.
But beside all this, there is overgreat a certainty to prove that
they are [witches], by the daily experience of the harms that they
do, both to men and whatsoever thing men possess, whom God will


108 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


permit them to be the instruments so to trouble or visit, as in my
discourse of that art you shall hear clearly proved.


NOTE S TO BOOK II, CH APTER I


Note 1 : Refer to Acts 8:9-24. The name "Simon Magus" might be
translated "Simon the Magician," since magus is a Persian word
that signifies "magician." lrenaeus described a pre-Gnostic sect
called the Simonians that supposedly traced its beginning to the
teachings of Simon Magus. Simon was denounced by the Church
fathers as the founder of Gnosticism, the source of all Gnostic
doctrines, and the father of all heresy (Barnstone, The Other Bible,
page 603). Saint Clement of Alexandria related the fable that
when Simon was acting as court magician to Nero at Rome, Saint
Peter went to confront him. To demonstrate his power, Simon
flew out a window, whereupon Peter muttered a fervent prayer,
and Simon dropped to the ground, breaking both his legs, and
shortly thereafter died of his injuries.
If the story has any truth, it might be speculated that Simon
was a stage magician, that he flew out the window on wires, and
that while suspended high above the ground, something mal­
functioned with his apparatus. It is difficult to see how the prayer
spoken by Paul at the time differs in any significant way in its in­
tention from the malevolent forespeaking of a sorcerer resulting
in death, so strongly condemned by James.


Note 2: The condemnation in Deuteronomy 1 8 : 1 0-1 1 against all
forms of occult practice is quite sweeping, and reads a bit like the
all-inclusive language of James's own witchcraft statute of 1 604.
Prohibited are those who use divination, those who observe times
(astrologers), enchanters, witches, charmers, consulters with fa­
miliar spirits, wizards, and necromancers.


Note 3: This passage is a bit convoluted, but what James is saying
is that the woman who was possessed by a spirit of divination


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK I09


(Acts 16: 16-1 8) cannot be called a magician by the vulgar defini­
tion of his day-that is, one who commands the Devil-because
she did not control the spirit that was using her voice. It might
be assumed that she was merely possessed, something that was
believed to happen to many innocent individuals, were it not that
her prophecies brought great profit to her masters, and were it
not that she obviously had consented to act as host for the spirit.
The implied conclusion of James is that the spirit was her familiar.

Note 4: Ancient medicine recognized four humors, or subtle fluids,
flowing through the body. These humors took their prevailing
nature from the elements with which they corresponded. Choler
was hot and dry, like the element Fire. The humor of blood was
moist and hot, like Air. Phlegm was cold and moist, like Water.
Melancholy was dry and cold, like Earth.
When the humors of the body were in balance, the result was
physical and mental health. An imbalance of the humors resulted
in disease. The primary pursuit of physicians was to restore the
balance of the humors-hence, the practice of bleeding, which
was designed to allow a superabundant humor to flow out of the
body and restore a natural equipoise between the four. Imbal­
ance in the humors not only produced sickness but eccentric and
socially unacceptable behavior, and served as a source of amuse­
ment for the English playwrights of the late sixteenth century,
as the titles of the comic plays by Ben Jonson, Every Man in his
Humour (1 598) and Every Man out of his Humour (1 599), suggest.
Shakespeare made extensive use of the theory of humors in the
exaggeration of his characters, as did other Elizabethan and jaco­
bean playwrights such as Marlowe and Webster.
An ordinary excess of the cold and dry humor of melancholy
results in what we call depression. It makes us sour, withdrawn,
sullen, brooding, sluggish, and sad. However, there is another type
of melancholy, sometimes called heroic melancholy, that creates a
kind of frantic intensity in the mind, giving rise to unrealistic


IIO DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


ambitions, fantastic visions, irrational plans, cynical but brilliant
witticisms, intense periods of creativity, inspirations, emotional
outbursts, persistent delusions, and obsessions. Heroic melancholy
is what we might call manic depression . James referred to this sec­
ond type of melancholy as the "highest degree thereof."
James was correct in asserting that witchcraft, as it is de­
scribed in the testimonies of accused witches, does not corre­
spond with common melancholy. Witches frequently testified
that they gathered together, sang, danced, drank, made love, and
otherwise enjoyed themselves in a manner quite out of keeping
with the low form of melancholy, which results in withdrawal
from society and inertia of mind and body. Whether witchcraft
corresponds with heroic melancholy is a more interesting matter
to consider. Some accused witches exhibited delusions of gran­
deur, related wild and unrealistic plans, and reported fantastic vi­
sions that are in harmony with the higher form of melancholy.
However, since not all witches were the same, there is no reason
to suppose that they all suffered from the same affliction. A mi­
nority of them probably could be classed as melancholies of the
highest degree, but the majority does not appear to have shown
any signs of melancholy humor, either of the common or the
extreme kind.


### CHA P T E R I I

ARGUMENT:
The etymology and signification of that word, sorcery.
The first entrance and apprenticeship of them that give
themselves to that craft.


Philomathes
Come on then, I pray you, and return where you left.


Epistemon
This word of sorcery is a Latin word, which is taken from casting
of the lot, and therefore he that uses it is called sortiarius, a sorte.1
As to the word witchcraft, it is nothing but a proper name given in
our language.2 The cause wherefore they were called sortiarii pro­
ceeded of their practices seeming to come of lot or chance: such
as the turning of the riddle, the knowing of the form of prayers or
such like tokens, if a person diseased would live or die. And in gen­
eral, that name was given them for using of such charms and freits
as that craft teaches them. Many points of their craft and practices
are common between the magicians and them; for they serve both
one master, although in diverse fashions.
And as I divided the necromancers into two sorts, learned and
unlearned, so must I divide them in another two: rich and of bet­
ter account, poor and of baser degree. These two degrees now of
persons that practice this craft answer to the passions in them, which
(I told you before) the Devil used as means to entice them to his


I I I


112 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


service. For such of them as are in great misery and poverty, he al­
lures to follow him by promising unto them great riches and worldly
commodity. Such as, though rich, yet burn in desperate desire of re­
venge, he allures them by promises to get their turn satisfied to their
heart's contentment.
It is to be noted now, that that old and crafty Enemy of ours as­
sails none, though touched with any of these two extremes, except
he first find an entrance ready for him, either by the great ignorance
of the person he deals with, joined with an evil life, or else by their
carelessness and contempt of God. And finding them in utter de­
spair from one of these two former causes that I have spoken of, he
prepares the way by feeding them craftily in their humor, and filling
them further and further with despair, until he finds the time proper
to reveal himself unto them. At which time, either upon their walk­
ing solitary in the fields, or else lying brooding in their bed, but al­
ways without the company of any other, he either by a voice or in
likeness of a man, inquires of them what troubles them; and prom­
ises them a sudden and certain way of remedy upon condition on
the other part that they follow his advice, and do such things as he
will require of them.
Their minds being prepared beforehand, as I have already spoken,
they easily agree unto that demand of his, and soon set another tryst
where they may meet again. At which time, before he proceeds any
further with them, he first persuades them to addict themselves to his
service; which being easily obtained, he then reveals what he is unto
them, makes them renounce their God and baptism directly, and gives
them his mark upon some secret place of their body, which remains
sore unhealed until his next meeting with them, and thereafter ever
insensible, howsoever it be nipped or pricked in any way, as is daily
proved; to give them a proof thereby, that as in that doing he could
hurt and heal them, so all their ill and well doings thereafter must de­
pend upon him. And besides that, the intolerable distress that they feel
in that place where he has marked them serves to waken them, and
not to let them rest until their next meeting again; fearing lest other

DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK II3


wise they might either forget him, being as new apprentices and not

well enough founded yet in that fiendly folly: or else, remembering of

that horrible promise they made him at their last meeting, they might

balk at the same, and press to call it back.

At their third meeting he makes a show to be careful to perform

his promises, either by teaching them ways how to get themselves

revenged, if they be of that sort, or else by teaching them lessons

how, by most vile and unlawful means, they may obtain gain and

worldly commodity, if they be of the other sort.


NOTES ON BOOK II, CHAPTER II


Note 1 : The word "sorcerer" is from the Latin sortiarius, "one who

casts a lot" (sortis).


Note 2: James was mistaken about the word "witchcraft," but his

error is understandable, in view of the difficulty we still have

today in determining the origins of the word "witch." In Anglo­

Saxon, wicca is the term for a male witch, wicce for a female witch,
and wiccian for the verb "to witch or bewitch." Webster's Dictionary

traces these forms back to the Indo-European root weiq, meaning


Figure 6


II4 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


"violent strength." Skeat states that wicca is a corruption of the An­
glo-Saxon witga, "prophet, soothsayer, or wizard." The word witga,
originally a seer, is from witan, "to see," and is allied to the Anglo­
Saxon word witan, "to know" (Skeat, An Etymological Dictionary of
the English Language, page 714). If Skeat is correct, the word "witch"
signifies "someone who is knowing or wise," and witchcraft is the
craft of the wise.


### CHA PTER III

ARGUMENT:
The witches' actions divided into two parts: the actions proper to
their own persons, their actions towards others. The form of their
conventions, and adoring of their master.


Philomathes
You have said now enough of their initiating into that order. It
remains then that you discourse upon their practices, before they be
passed apprentices: for I would fain hear what is possible to them to
perform in very deed.


Epistemon1
Although they serve a common master with the necromancers (as
I have before said), yet serve they him in another form. For as the
means are diverse which allure them to these unlawful arts of serv­
ing of the Devil, so by diverse ways use they their practices, answer­
ing to these means which first the Devil used as instruments in
them; though all tending to one end, to wit, the enlarging of Satan's
tyranny, and crossing of the propagation of the Kingdom of Christ,
so far as lies in the possibility, either of the one or other sort, or of
the Devil their master.
For where the magicians, as allured by curiosity, in the most part
of their practices seek principally the satisfYing of the same, and to
win to themselves a popular honor and estimation, these witches on
the other part, being enticed either for the desire of revenge, or of


115


II6 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


worldly riches, their whole practice is either to hurt men and their
goods, or what they possess, for satisfying of their cruel minds in the
former; or else by the wreck, in whatsoever sort, of any whom God
will permit them to have power of, to satisfy their greedy desire in
the last point.
In two parts their actions may be divided: the actions of their
own persons, and the actions proceeding from them towards any
other. And this division being well understood, will easily resolve

[for] you what is possible to them to do. For although all that they
confess is no lie upon their part, yet doubtlessly, in my opinion, a
part of it is not indeed according as they take it to be: and in this I
mean by the actions of their own persons. For as I said before, speak­
ing of magic, that the Devil deludes the senses of these scholars of
his in many things, so say I the like of these witches.


Philomathes
Then I pray you, first to speak of that part of their own persons, and
then you may come next to their actions toward others.


Epistemon
To the effect that they may perform such services of their false mas­
ter as he employs them in, the Devil as God's ape counterfeits in
his servants this service and form of adoration, that God prescribed
and made his servants to practice. For as the servants of God pub­
licly convene for serving of him, so makes him them in great num­
bers to convene (though publicly they dare not) for his service. As
none convenes to the adoration and worshipping of God except
they be marked with his seal, the sacrament of baptism, so none
serves Satan and convenes to the adoring of him that are not marked
with that mark, whereof I already spoke. As the minister sent by
God teaches plainly at the time of their public conventions how to
serve him in spirit and truth, so that unclean spirit, in his own per­
son teaches his disciples at the time of their convening how to work
all kinds of mischief; and craves accounting of all their horrible and


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 1 17


detestable proceeding past, for advancement of his service. Yea, that

he may the more vilely counterfeit and scorn God, he often times
makes his slaves to convene in these very places which are destined
and ordained for the convening of the servants of God (I mean by
churches).
But this far, which I have yet said, I not only take it to be true in
their opinions, but even so to be in deed. For the form that he used
in counterfeiting God among the pagans makes me so to think: as
God spoke by his oracles, spoke he not so by his? As God had as well
bloody sacrifices, as others without blood, had not he the like? As
God had churches sanctified to his service, with altars, priests, sacri­
fices, ceremonies, and prayers, had he not the like polluted to his ser­
vice? As God gave responses by Urim and Thummim,2 gave he not
his responses by the entrails of beasts,3 by the singing of fowls, and
by their actions in the air?4 As God by visions, dreams, and ecstasies
revealed what was to come, and what was his will unto his servants,
used he not the like means to forewarn his slaves of things to come?
Yea, even as God loved cleanness, hated vice and impurity, and ap­
pointed punishments therefore, used he not the like (though falsely
I grant, and but in eschewing the less inconvenient to drew them
upon a greater); yet dissembled he not, I say, so far as to appoint
his priests to keep their bodies clean and undefiled5 before their ask­
ing responses of him? And feigned he not God, to be a protector of
every virtue, and a just revenger of the contrary?
This reason then moves me, that as he is that same Devil, and
as crafty now as he was then, so will he not spare openly in these
actions that I have spoken of concerning the witches' persons. But
further, witches oftentimes confess not only his convening in the
church with them, but his occupying of the pulpit; yea, their form
of adoration, to be the kissing of his hinder parts.6 Which, though
it seem ridiculous, yet may it likewise be true, seeing we read that
in Calicut/ he appearing in form of a goat-buck, had publicly that
dishonest homage done unto him by every one of the people. So


II8 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


ambitious is he, and greedy of honor (which procured his Fall) that
he will even imitate God in that part, where it is said that Moses
could see but the hinder parts of God, for the brightness of his glory
(Exodus 33); and yet that speech is spoken but anthropopathically.8


NOTES TO BOOK II, CH APTER III


Note 1 : The text of the two paragraphs that follow is in the original
work attributed to Philomathes. This is an obvious error. I have
returned this section of text to Epistemon.

Note 2: Urim and Thummim were two mysterious objects carried
by the high priest of Israel within the sacred breastplate bear­

ing the twelve stones of the tribes (see Leviticus 8:8). They were

used as an instrument of divination on important matters. When
Joshua was publicly chosen to succeed Moses as leader of Israel,
he was confirmed by the oracle of Urim (Numbers 27:2 1). The
Hebrew word AVRIM means "lights"; the word ThMIM means
"truth." Both are plural forms. Philo Judaeus believed these ob­
jects were two small images, the first representing revelation and
the second truth. However, the biblical commentator Rashi states
unequivocally that they were "the writing of the Divine Name,"
that is, the four Hebrew letters of Tetragrammaton.

In my book Tetragrammaton I speculate that the oracle con­
sisted of two disks, one of gold (Urim) and the other of silver
(Thummim). I believe they represented the Sun and the Moon,
and each was engraved with two of the letters of the Divine
Name, a single letter on each side of the two disks (Tyson, Tetra­
grammaton, pages 82-86). The manner of using the oracle is not
known, but one of the disks may have indicated a yes and the
other a no, when blindly drawn from within the breastplate; or
the letters may have been used to spell out one of the twelve pos­
sible permutations of the letters of the Name, corresponding to
the twelve tribes of Israel.


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 1 19


Note 3 : Divination by the inspection of the still-warm entrails of

a sacrificed beast was the method favored by the Etruscans, and

was later adopted by the Romans as their preferred method of of­

ficial divination. The Romans employed Etruscan priests to inter­

pret the oracle . The appearance of the liver was critical. A healthy

liver was a good sign, but a liver that was discolored, misshaped,

or diseased portended disaster.

Note 4: The Romans placed great reliance on prognostication by the

flight of birds. Of chief importance was the direction of their pas­

sage, but they also took note of the manner of their flight and

their number, and of the species of the birds involved. The eagle

was thought to give important oracles, since it was one of the pri­

mary symbols of the Roman state.


Figure 7


!20 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


Note 5: Many of the pagan priestly casts observed scrupulous physi­
cal cleanliness. The Egyptian priests were particularly noted for it,
going so far as to shave their entire bodies. Some orders of priests
and priestesses also maintained a sexual cleanliness by remaining
virgin. The reason for physical cleanliness was to avoid dishon­
oring the deities they served, but the reason for celibacy was to
accumulate sexual energy so that it could be devoted to esoteric
purposes.


Note 6: When James mentions the Devil occupying the pulpit of
the church, and causing the witches at the gathering to kiss his
buttocks in homage, he is referring to testimony that he heard
with his own ears during the interrogations of the North Berwick
witches six years earlier. These practices are described in the tract
News From Scotland.


Note 7: Calicut is a town in southern India, on the Malabar Coast.


Note 8: Anthropopathy (av8pwnona8Eta) is the ascription of
human emotions to God. The Greek word James was looking for
here was "anthropomorphic" (av8pw7tOilOp<pocr), not "anthro­
popathic." Anthropomorphism is the ascription of the human
form and characteristics to God-in this case, buttocks.


### CHA P T E R I V

ARGUMENT :
What are the ways possible whereby the witches may transport
themselves to places far distant. And what are impossible and mere
illusions of Satan. And the reasons thereof.


Philomathes
But by what way say they or think you it possible that they can come
to these unlawful conventions?


Epistemon
There is the thing which I esteem their senses to be deluded in,
and though they lie not in confessing of it, because they think it to
be true, yet not to be so in substance or effect: for they say that by
diverse means they may convene, either to the adoring of their Mas­
ter, or to the putting into practice any service of his committed unto
their charge. One way is natural, which is natural riding, going, or
sailing, at what hour their Master comes and advises them; and this
way may be easily believed. Another way is somewhat more strange,
and yet is it possible to be true: which is, by being carried by the
force of the spirit which is their conductor, either above the earth or
above the sea, swiftly to the place where they are to meet; which I
am persuaded to be likewise possible, in respect that Habbacuc was
carried by the angel in that form to the den where Daniel lay (Apoc­
rypha of Bel and the Dragon).


122 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


So, think I, the Devil will be ready to imitate God as well in that,
as in other things: which is much more possible to him to do, being
a spirit, than to a mighty wind, being but a natural event, to trans­
port from one place to another a solid body, as is commonly and
daily seen in practice. But in this violent form they cannot be carried
but a short bounds, agreeing with the space that they may retain
their breath: for if it were longer, their breath could not remain un­
extinguished, their bodies being carried in such a violent and forcible
manner. As, by example: if one fall off a small height, his life is but
in peril, according to the hard or soft landing; but if one fall from a
high and steep rock, his breath will be forcibly banished from the
body before he can win to the earth, as it oft seen by experience.1

And in this transporting, they say to themselves that they are
invisible to any other, except among themselves; which may also
be possible in my opinion. For if the Devil may form what kind of
impressions he pleases in the air, as I have said before, speaking of
magic, why may he not far easier thicken and obscure so the air that
is next above them by contracting is close together, that the beams
of any other man's eyes cannot pierce through the same to see
them?2
But the third way of their coming to their conventions is that
wherein I think them deluded: for some of them say that being
transformed into the likeness of a little beast or fowl, they will come
and pierce through whatsoever house or church, though all ordinary
passages be closed, by whatsoever opening the air may enter in at.
And some say that their bodies lying still, as in ecstasy, their spir­
its will be ravished out of their bodies, 3 and carried to such places.
And for verifying thereof, will give evident tokens, as well by wit­
nesses that have seen their bodies lying senseless in the meantime,
as by naming persons with whom they met, and giving tokens what
purpose was amongst them, whom otherwise they could not have
known: for this form of journeying, they affirm to use the most
when they are transported from one country to another.


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 123


Philomathes

Surely, I long to hear your own opinion of this, for they are like old
wives' tattles about the fire.


Epistemon4
The reasons that move me to think that these are mere illusions are
these. First, for them that are transformed in likeness of beasts or
fowls, can enter through so narrow passages, although I may easily
believe that the Devil could by his workmanship upon the air make
them appear to be in such forms, either to themselves or to others,
yet how can he contract a solid body within so little room? I think
it is directly contrary to itself, for to be made so little, and yet not
diminished; to be so tightly drawn together, and yet feel no pain. I
think it is so contrary to the quality of a natural body, and so like to
the little transubstantial God in the Papists' Mass, that I can never
believe it. So to have a quantity, is so proper to a solid body, that as
all philosophers conclude, it cannot be any more without one, than
a spirit can have one. For when Peter came out of the prison, and
the doors all locked (Acts 12), it was not by any contracting of his
body in so little room, but by the giving place of the door, though
unspied by the jailers. And yet is there no comparison when this is
done, between the power of God, and of the Devil.
As to their form of ecstasy and spiritual transporting, it is cer­
tain the soul's going out of the body is the only definition of natural
death: and who are once dead, God forbid we should think that it
should lie in the power of all the devils in hell to restore them to
their life again (although he can put his own spirit in a dead body,
which the necromancers commonly practice, as you have heard),
for that is the office properly belonging to God. And besides that,
the soul once parted from the body cannot wander any longer in
the world, but to the one resting place must it go immediately, abid­
ing the conjunction of the body again at the Latter Day. And what
Christ or the prophets did miraculously in this case, it cannot, in any
Christian man's opinion, be made common with the Devil. As for


124 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


any tokens that they give for proving of this, it is very possible to
the Devil's craft to persuade them to these means. For he being a
spirit, may he not so ravish their thoughts, and dull their senses, that
their body lying as dead, he may appear to their spirits as it were in a
dream, and (as the poets write of Morpheus5) represent such forms
of persons, of places, and other circumstances, as he pleases to de­
lude them with?
Yea, that he may deceive them with the greater efficacy, may he
not at that same instant, by fellow angels of his, delude such other
persons so in that same fashion, whom with he makes them to be­
lieve that they met: that all their reports and tokens, though sepa­
rately examined, may every one agree with another. And that what­
soever actions, either in hurting men or beasts, or whatsoever other

thing that they falsely imagine at that time to have done, may by
himself or his minions at that same time be done indeed. So as, if
they would give for a token of their being ravished at, the death of
such a person within so short space thereafter whom they believe to
have poisoned or witched at that instant, might he not at that same
hour have smitten that same person by the permission of God, to
the further deceiving of them, and to move others to believe them?
And this is surely the likeliest way, and most according to reason,
which my judgement can find out in this, and whatsoever other un­
natural points of their confession.
And by these means shall we sail surely between Charybdis and
Scylla,6 in eschewing the not believing of them altogether on the
one part, lest that draw us to the error that there are no witches; and
on the other part in believing of it, make us to eschew the falling
into innumerable absurdities, both monstrously against all theology
divine, and philosophy humane.


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 125


NOTES TO BOOK II, CH APTER I V

Note 1 : Since the impact with the ground after a fall from a high
place would cause death, it is difficult to know how James could
assert that someone falling from a high place dies through loss
of breath before striking the earth. This is nothing but a fable,
but one that was still believed in recent times. When trains began
to travel faster than a horse could run, many were afraid to ride
in them because they believed that the speed of their progress
would tear the breath from their lungs and suffocate them.

Note 2: The belief was that the sense of sight operated by means of
beams or rays projected from the eyes to touch the objects seen.
Only when the beams from our eyes contacted something could


Figure 8


126 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


we see it. The eye was thought to be an active, rather than a pas­
sive, organ. It is in this false but plausible context that the evil eye
was assumed to function, by projecting rays that carried an occult
contagion from the witch to the person overlooked.


Note 3: Astral projection during a trance state.


Note 4: The name of Epistemon does not appear here in the origi­
nal text, but it is obvious that the following long and learned ex­
planation belongs to him and not to Philomathes.

Note 5 : Morpheus is the Greek god of dreams, the son of Hypnos,
god of sleep.


Note 6: The Scylla is a great rock on the Italian side of the Straits of

Messina, directly opposite the whirlpool known as Charybdis. It
was perilous to sail between them, since in an effort to avoid one
there was danger of running headlong into the other.


### CHA P TE R V

ARGUMENT:
Witches' actions towards others. Why there are more women
of that craft than men. What things are possible to them
to effictuate by the power of their Master. The reasons thereof
What is the surest remedy of the harms done by them.


Philomathes
For truth, your opinion in this seems to carry most reason with it,
and since you have ended, then, the actions belonging properly to
their own persons, say forward now to their actions used toward
others.


Epistemon
In their actions used toward others, three things ought to be con­
sidered. First, the manner of their consulting thereupon; next, their
part as instruments; and last, their Master's part, who puts the same
into execution.
As to their consultations thereupon, they use them oftenest in
the churches, where they convene for adoring; at what time their
Master, enquiring at them what they would be at, every one of them

proposes unto him what wicked turn they would have done, either
for obtaining of riches, or for revenging them upon any whom they
have malice at: who, granting their demand, as no doubt willingly he
will since it is to do evil, he teaches them the means whereby they
may do the same. As for little trifling turns that women have ado


!27


128 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


with, he causes them to disjoint dead corpses, and to make powders
thereof, 1 mixing such other things there amongst as he gives unto
them.


Philomathes
But before you go further, permit me, I pray you, to interrupt you
one word, which you have put me in memory of, by speaking of
women. What can be the cause that there are twenty women given
to that craft, where there is one man?


Epistem.on
The reason is easy, for as that sex is frailer than man is, so is it easier
to be entrapped in these gross snares of the Devil, as was overwell
proved to be true by the Serpent's deceiving of Eve at the beginning,

which makes him the friendlier with that sex since then.


Philomathes
Return now where you left.


Epistemon
To some others at these times he teaches how to make pictures of
wax or clay, 2 that by the roasting thereof, the persons that they bear
the name of may be continually melted or dried away by continual
sickness. To some he gives such stones or powders as will help to
cure or cast on diseases. And to some he teaches kinds of uncouth
poisons, which mediciners understand not (for he is far more cun­
ning than man in the knowledge of all the occult properties of
nature).
Not that any of these means which he teaches them (except the
poisons, which are composed of things natural) can of themselves
help any thing to these turns, that they are employed in, but only
being God's ape, as well in that, as in all other things. Even as God by
his sacraments, which are earthly of themselves, works a heavenly
effect, though nowise by any cooperation in them, and as Christ by
clay and spittle wrought together, opened the eyes of the blind man


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 129


(John 9), suppose there was no virtue in that which he outwardly
applied, so the Devil will have his outward means to be shows, as it
were, of his doing, which have no part of cooperation in his turns
with him, how far that ever the ignorant be abused in the contrary.
And as to the effects of these two former parts, to wit, the con­
sultations and the outward means, they are so wonderful as I dare
not allege any of them, without joining a sufficient reason of the
possibility thereof. For leaving all the small trifles among wives, and
to speak of the principal points of their craft (for the common trifles
thereof, they can do without converting well enough by themselves),
these principal points, I say, are these.
They can make men or women to love or hate [each] other,
which may be very possible to the Devil to effect, seeing he being a
subtle spirit, knows well enough how to persuade the corrupted af­
fection of them whom God will permit him so to deal with.
They can lay the sickness of one upon another, which likewise is
very possible unto him: for since by God's permission, he laid sick­
ness upon job, 1 why may he not far easier lay it upon any other? For
as an old physician, he knows well enough what humor dominates
most in any of us, and as a spirit he can subtly waken up the same,
making it peccant or to abound, as he thinks meet for troubling us,
when God will so permit him. And for the taking off of it, no doubt
he will be glad to relieve such of present pain, as he may think by
these means to persuade to be caught in his everlasting snares and
fetters.
They can bewitch and take the life of men or women, by roast­
ing of the pictures, as I spoke before, which likewise is very possible
to their Master to perform; for although (as I said before) that instru­
ment of wax has no virtue in that turn doing, yet may he not very
well even by that same measure that his conjured slaves melt that
wax at the fire, may he not I say at these same times, subtly as a
spirit, so weaken and scatter the spirits of life of the patient, as may
make him on the one part, for faintness to sweat out the humor of


130 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


his body, and on the other part, for the not concurrence of these
spirits, which cause his digestion, so debilitate his stomach, that his
humor radical continually, sweating out on the one part, and no new
good suck being put in the place thereof, for lack of digestion on the
other, he at last shall vanish away, even as his picture will do at the
fire. And that knavish and cunning workman, by troubling him only
at some times, makes a proportion so near between the working of
the one and the other, that both shall end as it were at one time.
They can raise storms and tempests in the air, either upon sea
or land, though not universally, but in such a particular place and
prescribed bounds, as God will permit them so to trouble: which
likewise is very easy to be discerned from any other natural tem­
pests that are meteors,4 in respect of the sudden and violent raising
thereof, together with the short enduring of the same. And this is
likewise very possible to their Master to do, he having such affinity
with the air as being a spirit, and having such power of the forming
and moving thereof, as you have heard me already declare. For in
the Scripture, that styling of the Prince of the Air is given unto him
(Ephesians 2).
They can make folks to become frantic or maniac, which likewise
is very possible to their Master to do, since they are but natural sick­
nesses. And so he lays on these kinds, as well as any others. They can
make spirits either to follow and trouble persons, or haunt certain
houses, and affright oftentimes the inhabitants; as hath been known
to be done by our witches at this time.5 And likewise they can make
some to be possessed with spirits, and so to become very demoniacs:
and this last sort is very possible likewise to the Devil their Master to
do, since he may easily send his own angels to trouble in what form
he pleases, any whom God will permit him to so use.


Philomathes
But will God permit these wicked instruments by the power of
the Devil their Master, to trouble by any of these means, any that
believes in him?


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 131


Epistemon

No doubt, for there are three kinds of folks whom God will permit
so to be tempted or troubled: the wicked for their horrible sins, to
punish them in the like measure; the godly that are sleeping in any
great sins or infirmities and weaknesses in faith, to waken them up
the faster by such an uncouth form; and even some of the best, that
their patience may be tried before the world, as Job's was. For why
may not God use any kind of extraordinary punishment when it
pleases him, as well as the ordinary rods of sickness or other adversi­
ties?


Philomathes
Who then may he free from these devilish practices?


Epistemon
No man ought to presume so far as to promise any impunity to him­
self, for God hath before all beginnings preordained as well the par­
ticular sorts of plagues as of benefits for every man, which in their
own time he ordains them to be visited with; and yet ought we not
to be the more afraid for that, of anything that the Devil and his
wicked instruments can do against us, for we daily fight against the
Devil in a hundred other ways. And therefore as a valiant captain
fears no more being at the combat, nor stays from his purpose for
the rummishing shot of a cannon nor the small clack of a pistol,
suppose he be not certain what may light upon him, even so ought
we boldly to go forward in fighting against the Devil without any
greater terror for these his rarest weapons, than for the ordinary
whereof we have daily the proof.


Philomathes
Is it not lawful then by the help of some other witches to cure the
disease that is cast on by that craft?


132 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


Epistemon

Nowise lawful, for I gave you the reason thereof in that axiom of
theology, which was the last word I spoke of magic. 6


Philomathes
How then may these diseases be lawfully cured?


Epistemon
Only by earnest prayer to God, by amendment of their lives, and by
sharply pursuing every one, according to his calling, of these instru­
ments of Satan, whose punishment to the death will be a salutary
sacrifice for the patient. 7 And this is not only the lawful way, but like­
wise the most sure. For by the Devil's means, can never the Devil
be cast out (Mark 3), as Christ says. And when such a cure is used,
it may well serve for a short time, but at the last, it will doubtlessly
tend to the utter perdition of the patient, both in body and soul.


NOTES ON BOOK II, CH APTER V


Note 1 : The accusation that the North Berwick witches dug up
corpses and removed their joints for working malicious magic oc­
curs in the charges laid against them. The joints were specifically
the joints of the fingers and toes, as well as the kneecaps. These
joints were either used whole, or were dried and reduced to a
power, to be mixed with other materials having occult virtues.
It was charged against John Pian at his trial of December 20,
1 590, that at the command of the Devil he had dismembered the
bodies of the dead, and especially unbaptised children. At the
January 27, 1 591, trial against Agnes Sampson she was accused of
having fastened to the four legs of a cat four joints from a dead
man, and of then having thrown the cat into the sea for the pur­
pose of sinking a ship (the cat swam back to shore, and presum­
ably was uninjured, apart from the assault on its dignity). She was
also charged with having each night put the powder or "mwildis"


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 133


of pulverized joints from corpses under the bed of Effie McCa­
lyan, beginning ten days before she gave birth, for the purpose of
reducing her labor pains. She was charged with participating at
the North Berwick church in the digging-up and dismembering
of four corpses, so that the witches present could divide between
them the joints of the fingers, toes, and knees-Agnes got two
joints and a winding sheet, which she "kept negligently."

Note 2: Small figures molded out of wax or clay, and made through
magic to possess a sympathetic link with their subjects. This is
perhaps the most characteristic of all forms of magic associated
with witchcraft down through the centuries. Anything done to
the image affects the subject of the image in a similar way. For ex­
ample, a pin thrust into the head would induce a headache. Wax
figures were "roasted" or melted over a fire to cause a wasting
disease in their subjects-as the figure of wax dripped away, so
did the vitality of the person it depicted. For the image, which
was sometimes called a poppet, to be effective, it was necessary
that the link with the person it represented be strong. Hence,
such figures were embedded with the hair, nail clippings, or other
waste products of the body secretly gathered from their subjects,
baptized in the name of that person and inscribed with the name,
and dressed in a scrap of clothing worn or used by the subject.
The image might be made of almost any material. Indeed, onions
were used for this purpose in England, wrapped with a strip of
paper upon which the name of the intended victim was written,
and affixed with pins, then inserted into a kitchen chimney to be
constantly subjected to the heat and smoke of the fire (Elworthy,
The Evil Eye, page 55).


Note J: job 2:7.


Note 4: A "meteor" was for James any natural atmospheric phenom­
enon. The term was used much more broadly in the Jacobean
period than today, when it solely denotes a streak of light across


134 DEMONOLOGY : THE SECOND BOOK


the heavens. There were aerial meteors (winds), aqueous meteors
(rain, snow, hail, dew), luminous meteors (rainbows, the aurora,
halos), and igneous meteors (lightning, shooting stars).


Note 5 : One of the accusations against the North Berwick witches
was that they entered houses by magical means to frighten the
inhabitants. They were also supposed to be able to magically
transport themselves onto ships for the purpose of sinking them.
While on the ships, they remained invisible to the crews.


Figure 9


Note 6: That evil should never be done for a good cause. See the end
of Book I, Chapter VII.


Note 7: This is one of the more evil instructions given by James in
his book. He is saying that the best way to cure illnesses and mis­
fortunes caused by witchcraft is to locate, arrest, and execute the
witch who caused them. As a result, anyone believing in witchcraft
who had the misfortune to fall sick from some lingering disease or
infirmity would begin to look with suspicion at his neighbors, in
the expectation that the death of one of them would cure the sick­
ness. This attitude would increase the hysteria surrounding anyone


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 135


accused of witchcraft, and multiply the accusations. Notice the use
by james of the word "sacrifice." He seems to be suggesting that
the execution of a witch is a kind of offering to God that will be
compensated for by the lifting of the curses placed on the witch's
victims.


### CHA P T E R V I

ARGUMENT :
What sort of folks are least or most subject to receive harm
by witchcraft. What power they have to harm the magistrate,
and upon what respects they have any power in prison.
And to what end may or will the Devil appear to them therein.
Upon what respects the Devil appears in dirent shapes to various
of them at any time.


Philomathes
But who dare take upon him to punish them, if no man can be sure
to be free from their unnatural invasions?


Epistemon
We ought not the more of that restrain from virtue, that the way
whereby we climb thereunto be narrow and perilous. But besides
that, as there is no kind of person so subject to receive harm of
them, as these that are of infirm and weak faith (which is the best
buckler against such invasions), so have they so small power over
none as over such as zealously and earnestly pursue them, without
sparing for any worldly respect. 1


Philomathes
Then they are like the pestilence, which smites these with most sick­
ness, that fly it farthest and apprehend deepest the peril thereof.


138 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


Epistemon

It is even so with them. For either is it able to them to use any false
cure upon a patient, except the patient first believe in their power,
and so hazard the tinsel of his own soul, nor yet can they have less
power to hurt any, than such as condemns most their doings, so
being it comes of faith and not of any vain arrogance in themselves.


Philomathes
But what is their power against the magistrate?


Epistemon
Less or greater, according as he deals with them. For if he be slothful
towards them, God is very able to make them instruments to waken
and punish his sloth. But if he be the contrary, he according to the
just law of God, and allowable law of all nations, will be diligent in
examining and punishing them, God will not permit their Master to
trouble or hinder so good a work.


Philomathes
But after they be once in hands and confinement, have they any fur­
ther power in their craft?


Epistemon
That is according to the form of their detention. If they be but
apprehended and detained of any private person, upon other private
respects, their power no doubt either in escaping or in doing hurt, is
no less than ever it was before. But if on the other part, their appre­
hending and detention be by the lawful magistrate, upon the just
respects of their guiltiness in that craft, their power is then no greater
than before that ever they meddled with their Master. For when God
begins justly to strike by his lawful lieutenants, it is not in the Devil's
power to defraud or bereave him of the office, or affect of his power
and revenging scepter. 2


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK 139


Philomathes

But will never their Master come to visit them, after they be once
apprehended and put in confinement?


Epistemon
That is according to the estate that these miserable wretches are in.
For if they be obstinate in still denying, he will not spare, when he
finds time to speak with them, either if he find them in any comfort,
to fill them more and more with the vain hope of some manner of
relief; or else if he find them in a deep despair, by all means to aug­
ment the same, and to persuade them by some extraordinary means
to put themselves down, which very commonly they do.3 But if they
be penitent and confess, God will not permit him to trouble them
any more with his presence and allurements.


Philomathes
It is not good using his counsel, I see then. But I would earnestly
know when he appears to them in prison, what forms does he then
take?


Epistemon
Diverse forms, even as he used to do at other times upon them. For
as I told you, speaking of magic, he appears to that kind of crafts­
man ordinarily in a form, according as they agree upon it among
themselves. Or if they be but apprentices, according to the qual­
ity of their circles or conjurations. Yet to these capped4 creatures,
he appears as he pleases, and as he finds best for their humors. For
even at their public conventions he appears to diverse of them in
diverse forms, as we have found by the difference of their confes­
sions in that point. For he deluding them with vain impressions in
the air, makes himself to seem more terrible to the grosser sort, that
they may thereby be moved to fear and reverence him the more, and
less monstrous and uncouth again to the craftier sort, lest otherwise
they might stare and shudder at his ugliness.


140 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


Philomathes

How can he then be felt, as they confess they have done him, if his
body be but of air?


Epistemon
I hear little of that among their confessions, yet may he make him­
self palpable, either by assuming any dead body, and using the min­
istry thereof, or else by deluding as well their sense of feeling as see­
ing; which is not impossible to him to do, since all our senses, as
we are so weak, and even by ordinary sickness will be oftentimes
deluded.


Philomathes
But I would spare one word further yet, concerning his appearing to
them in prison,5 which is this: may any that chance to be present at
that time in the prison see him as well as they?


Epistemon
Sometimes they will, and sometimes not, as it pleases God.


NOTES ON BOOK II, CH APTER VI


Note 1: This is another calculated statement by James. His assertion
is that the more aggressively anyone seeks to locate and persecute
those believed to be witches, the more God will defend that per­
son's health and security against their magic. As a consequence
of this belief, it was inevitable that neurotic and hysterical mem­
bers of society-those most likely to see witches around every
corner-would be the most active in making accusations against
their neighbors, as a way of ensuring their own security against
witchcraft.

Note 2: James refers to himself when he writes of the "revenging
scepter" that punishes witches. These are his own personal be­
liefs, and the essential motives of his actions against witchcraft.
According to his opinion, by vigorously pursuing the persecution


DEMONOLOGY : THE SECOND BOOK I4I


of witches he was not only performing the will of God but was
ensuring his own security against any spells that might have been
worked against him. His motive for so active an involvement in
the North Berwick affair becomes plain. He was not so much
driven by righteous indignation, as he was by fear. He believed
that by taking the most aggressive of all possible roles in the af­
fair, and becoming its leader, he would guarantee the most com­
plete protection for himself and his wife from the evil magic of
the Devil.


Note 3 : There is no way to estimate how many of those accused
of witchcraft, and confined for long periods while undergoing
extreme tortures, took their own lives. James asserts this to be
very common, and no doubt it occurred with regularity. This may
have been the fate of Robert Grierson, one of the North Berwick
witches, who on April 1 5, 1 59 1, was said to have died in prison
"by the extremyty of the tortours applyed to him." Anyone con­
fined in a prison cell who wanted to commit suicide would be
forced to use "extraordinary means," as James put it, since the
more common means would be unavailable.


Note 4: The cap and gown symbolized someone who had earned a
degree from a university.


Note 5 : John Fian testified that the Devil came to his prison cell in
the middle of the night, dressed all in black, the same day he had
made his initial confession under torture, which he later retracted.
There is no mention of anyone else seeing the Devil in Fian's cell.


#### C HA P T E R V I I

ARGUMENT :
Two forms of the Devil's visible conversing in the earth,
with the reasons wherefore the one of them was commonest
in the time of the Papistry, and the other since then.
Those that deny the power of the Devil, deny the power of God,
and are guilty of the error of the Sadducees.


Philomathes
Has the Devil then power to appear to any other, except to such as
are his sworn disciples: especially since all oracles, and suchlike kinds
of illusions, were taken away and abolished by the coming of Christ?


Epistemon
Although it be true indeed that the brightness of the Gospel at his
coming, scaled the clouds of all these gross errors in paganism,
yet that these abusing spirits cease not ever since at some times to
appear, daily experience teaches us. Indeed, this difference is to be
marked between the forms of Satan's conversing visibly in the world.
For of two different forms thereof, the one of them by the spreading
of the Evangel, 1 and conquest of the white horse2 in the sixth chap­
ter of the Revelation, is much hindered and become rarer thereby:
this, his appearing to any Christians, troubling of them outwardly,
or possessing of them constrainedly. 3 The other of them is become
commoner and more used since then, I mean by their unlawful arts,
whereupon our whole purpose has been. This we find by experience


143


144 DEMONOLOGY: THE SECOND BOOK


in this isle to be true. For as we know, more ghosts and spirits were
seen than tongue can tell in the time of blind Papistry in these coun­
tries, where now by the contrary, a man shall scarcely all his time
hear once of such things. And yet were these unlawful arts far rarer
at that time, and never were so much heard of, nor so rife as they are
now.


Philomathes
What should be the cause of that?


Epistemon
The diverse nature of our sins procures at the justice of God diverse
sorts of punishments answering thereunto. And therefore as in the
time of the Papistry, our fathers erring grossly and through igno­
rance, that mist of errors overshadowed the Devil to walk the more
familiarly among them, and as it were by childish and frightening
terrors, to mock and accuse their childish errors. By the contrary, we
now being sound of religion, and in our life rebelling to our profes­
sion [of faith], God justly by that sin of rebellion, as Samuel calls it,
accuses our life [for] so willfully fighting against our profession.4


Philomathes
Since you are entered now to speak of the appearing of spirits, I
would be glad to hear your opinion in that matter. For many deny
that any such spirits can appear in these days, as I have said.


Epistemon
Doubtlessly, who denies the power of the Devil would likewise deny
the power of God, if they could for shame. For since the Devil is
the very contrary opposite to God, there can be no better way to
know God, than by the contrary: as by the one's power (though a
creature), to admire the power of the great Creator; by the false­
hood of the one, to consider the truth of the other; by the injustice
of the one, to consider the justice of the other; and by the cruelty
of the one, to consider the mercifulness of the other. And so forth


DEMONOLOGY: THE SECON D BOOK 145


in all the rest of the essence of God, and qualities of the Devil. But
I fear indeed, there be overmany Sadducees in this world, that deny
all kinds of spirits, for convincing of whose error, there is cause
enough, if there were no more, that God should permit at some
times spirits visible to make known.


NOTES ON BOOK II, CHAPTER VII


Note 1: The Evangel (from the Greek: euangelion: "good news") is
the Gospel, or teachings of Jesus. Usually the word is applied to
the first four books of the New Testament.


Note 2: As I mentioned in the Introduction, James saw himself as
the brave knight mounted on the white horse of Revelation 6:2
and 1 9: 1 1, or at least as an agent serving that knight.


Note 3: Obsession and possession by spirits.


Note 4: The rebellion of rationalism against faith during the Elizabe­
than Age, which we now know as the English Renaissance, caused
the rise in the number of incidences of witchcraft, which accord­
ing to James is a punishment of God for the sin of rebellion. By
contrast, in former times while Scotland was Catholic, the pun­
ishment of God took the form of numerous sightings of ghosts
and other spiritual creatures, which was the punishment of God
against the sin of ignorance. We have two sins described here­
the skepticism of modern times, and the ignorance of past times.


#### T H E T H I R D B O OK

ARGUMENT
The description of all these kinds of spirits
that trouble men or women.
The conclusion of the whole dialogue.


### CHA P TE R I

ARGUMENT :
The division of spirits into four principal kinds.
The description of the first kind of them,
called spectra and umbriae mortuorum.
What is the best way to be free of their trouble.


Philomathes
I pray you now then go forward in telling what you think fabulous,
or may be trusted in that case.


Epistemon
That kind of the Devil's conversing in the earth, may be divided in
four different kinds, whereby he frightens and troubles the bodies of
men; for of the abusing of the soul, I have spoken already. The first
is, where spirits trouble some houses or solitary places. The second,
where spirits follow upon certain persons, and at diverse hours trou­
ble them. The third, when they enter within them and possess them.
The fourth is these kinds of spirits that are called vulgarly the fairies.
Of the three former kinds, you heard already how they may artifi­
cially be made by witchcraft to trouble folk. Now it rests to speak of
their natural coming, as it were, when not raised by witchcraft.
But generally I must forewarn you of one thing before I enter
into this purpose: that is, that although in my discoursing of them, I
divided them into diverse kinds, you must notwithstanding thereof
note my phrase of speaking in that; for doubtlessly they are in effect,


149


150 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


but all one kind of spirits, who for abusing the more of mankind
take on these sundry shapes, and use diverse forms of outward ac­
tion, as if some were of nature better than others. Now I return to
my purpose.
As to the first kind of these spirits, they were called by the an­
cients by diverse names, according as their actions were. For if they
were spirits that haunted some houses, by appearing in diverse and
horrible forms, and making great din, they were called lemures1 or
spectra. [2 ] If they appeared in likeness of any deceased to some friends
of his, they were called umbrae mortuorum. [3 ] And so innumerable styl­
ings they got, according to their actions, as I have said already. As we
see by experience, how many stylings they have given them in our

language in the like manner. Of the appearing of these spirits, we
are certified by the Scriptures, where the prophet Isaiah, chapters
13 and 34, threatening the destruction of Babylon and Edam (Isaiah
13; Jeremiah 50), declares that it shall not only be wrecked, but shall
become so great a solitude, as it shall be the habitation of owlettes, 4
and of ZIIM and IIM,5 which are the proper Hebrew names for these
spirits.
The cause why they haunt solitary places, it is by reason that they
may frighten and shake the more the faith of such as them alone
frequenting such places. For our nature is such, as in company we
are not so soon moved to any such kind of fear, as being solitary,
which the Devil knowing well enough, he will not therefore assail
us but when we are weak. And besides that, God will not permit
him so to dishonor the societies and companies of Christians, as in
public times and places to walk visibly among them. On the other
part, when he troubles certain houses that are dwelt in, it is a sure
token either of gross ignorance, or of some gross and slanderous
sins among the inhabitants thereof, which God by that extraordinary
rod punishes.


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 15 1


Philomathes

But by what way or passage can these spirits enter in these houses,
seeing they allege that they will enter, door or window being shut?


Epistemon
They will choose the passage for their entrance, according to the
form that they are in at that time. For if they have assumed a dead
body, whereinto they lodge themselves, they can easily enough open
without din any door or window, and enter thereat. And if they
enter as a spirit only, any place where the air may come in at is large
enough an entry for them: for as I said before, a spirit can occupy no
quantity.


Philomathes
And will God then permit these wicked spirits to trouble the rest of
a dead body, before the resurrection thereof? Or if he wi so, I think
it should be of the reprobate only.


Epistemon
What more is the rest troubled of a dead body, when the Devil car­
ries it out of the grave to serve his turn for a space, than when the
witches take it up and disjoint it, or when swine root up the graves?
The rest, of them that the Scripture speaks of, is not meant by a
local remaining continually in one place, but by their resting from
their travails and miseries of this world, until their latter conjunction
again with the soul, at that time to receive full glory in both.
And that the Devil may use as well the ministry of the bodies of
the faithful in these cases, as of the unfaithful, there is no inconve­
nience; for his hauntings with their bodies after they are dead can
nowise defile them, in respect of the soul's absence. And for any dis­
honor it can be unto them, by what reason can it be greater than the
hanging, beheading, or many such shameful deaths that good men
will suffer? For there is nothing in the bodies of the faithful more
worthy of honor, or freer from corruption by nature, than in these
of the unfaithful, until the time they be purged and glorified in the


152 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


latter day, as is daily seen by the vile diseases and corruptions that
the bodies of the faithful are subject unto, as you will see clearly
proved, when I speak of the possessed and demoniacs.


Philomathes
Yet there are some that affirm to have haunted such places, where
these spirits are alleged to be, and could never hear nor see anything.


Epistemon
I think well: for that is only reserved to the secret knowledge of God,

whom he will permit to see such things and whom not.


Philomathes
But where these spirits haunt and trouble any houses, what is the

best way to banish them?


Epistemon
By two means may only the remedy of such thing be procured. The
one is ardent prayer to God, both of these persons that are troubled
with them, and of that church whereof they are. The other is the
purging of themselves by amendment of life from such sins, as have
procured that extraordinary plague.


Philomathes
And what means then these kinds of spirits, when they appear as the
shade of a person newly dead, or to die, to his friends?


Epistemon
When they appear upon that occasion, they are called wraiths in
our language. Among the pagans the Devil used that much, to make
them believe that it was some good spirit that appeared to them
then, either to forewarn them of the death of their friend, or else to
discover unto them the will of the deceased, or what was the way of
his slaughter, as is written in the book of the Histories Prodigious. And
this way he easily deceived the pagans, because they knew not God.
And to that same effect is it, that he now appears in that manner to


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 153


some ignorant Christians. For he dare not so delude any that know

that neither can the spirit of the deceased return to his friend, or yet
an angel use such forms.


Philomathes
And are not our werewolves one sort of these spirits also, that haunt
and trouble some houses or dwelling places?


Epistemon
There has indeed been an old opinion of such like things; for by the
Greeks they were called lukanthropoi, which signifies man-wolves.6
But to tell you simply my opinion in this, if any such thing has been,

I take it to have proceeded but of a natural superabundance of mel­
ancholy, which as we read, that it has made some think themselves
pitchers, and some horses, and some one kind of beast or other.
So suppose I that it has so vitiated the imagination and memory of
some, as per Iucida interualla/ it has so highly occupied them, that
they have thought themselves very wolves indeed at times, and so
have counterfeited their actions in going on their hands and feet,
pressing to devour women and children, fighting and snatching with
all the town dogs, and in using suchlike other brutish actions, and
so to become beasts by a strong apprehension, as Nebuchadnezzar
was seven years (Daniel 4).8 But as to their having and hiding of their
hard and shelly sloughs, I take that to be but learned by uncertain
report, the author of all lies.


NOTES TO BOOK III, CH APTER I

Note 1 : Lemures, or ghosts of the dead, were sometimes divided into
two classes by the Romans-lares, the ghosts of good men, and
larvae, the ghosts of evil men.


Note 2: Our word "specter" comes from the Latin spectrum, "an ap­
pearance or apparition."


Note 3 : "Shades of the dead."


154 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Note 4: Certain night spirits known to the Romans as stirges were
believed to come in the form of owls. "Large are their heads, fixed
is their gaze, for plunder are their beaks adapted; on their wings
is a grayish colour, crooked talons are on their claws. By night
they fly, and they seek the children unprotected by the nurse, and
pollute their bodies, dragged from their cradles. With their beaks
they are said to tear the entrails of the sucklings, and they have
their maws distended with the blood which they have swallowed"
(Ovid, Fasti, page 2 1 6). This is evidently the same sort of winged
night spirit that was fabled to visit Jewish children and stop their
breath. It was identified by Kabbalists with Lilith, originally a Bab­
ylonian demoness who was elevated by Jewish Kabbalists to the
rank of queen of hell. Both spirits may have their origin in the

phenomenon known as crib death, or sudden infant death syn­
drome. A small percentage of very young children, for no appar­
ent reason, simply stop breathing in the middle of the night and
die.


Note 5: The spirits called in Hebrew ZIIM and liM are mentioned in
the notes of the King James Bible. Both are translated simply as
"wild beasts," the ZIIM as the "wild beasts of the desert" (Isaiah
1 3:2 1 ) and liM as the "wild beasts of the islands" (Isaiah 1 3:22).
Gesenius identifies TziiM (CJ<43><4A><EFBFBD>) as "dwellers in the desert," in
this case wild animals such as the jackal and ostrich, although the
term was also applied to desert nomads (Gesenius, Hebrew and
Chaldee Lexicon, page 708).


Note 6: The word "lycanthrope" is from the Greek ADKav9pwnocr
-ADKOCJ: a wolf; avepwnocr: a man. Summers quotes Richard
Rowlands, who in 1605 wrote on the topic: "The were-wolves are
certaine sorcerers, who hauing annoynted their bodyes, with an
oyntment which they make by the instinct of the deuil; and put­
ting on a certaine inchanted gridel, do not only vnto the view of
others seeme as wolues, but to their own thinking haue both the
shape and nature of wolues, so long as they weare the said girdel.


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 155


Figure 1 0


And they do dispose themselues as very wolues, in wurrying and
killing, and moste of humaine creatures" (Summers, The Were­
wolf, page 3).
The account of the murders committed by Peter Stumpp in
Germany, who was executed for his crimes in 1 589, shows that
the belief in werewolves was still very much alive at the time the
North Berwick witches were supposed to be seeking the deaths
of James and Anne, and that it was inextricably mingled with a
belief in the power of sorcery and malice of the Devil. A year
after Stumpp's execution, a tract was published in London detail­
ing his activities. Contained in it is the following account of how
Stumpp, called in the tract Stubbe Peeter, became a werewolf:


The Devil, who saw him a fit instrument to perform mis­

chief as a wicked fiend pleased with the desire of wrong and

destruction, gave unto him a girdle which, being put around

him, he was straight transformed into the likeness of a greedy,

devouring wolf, strong and mighty, with eyes great and large,

which in the night sparkled like unto brands of fire, a mouth

great and wide, with most sharp and cruel teeth, a huge body


156 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


and mighty paws. And no sooner should he put off the same

girdle, but presently he should appear in his former shape, ac­

cording to the proportion of a man, as if he had never been

changed. (Bores, The Damnable Life and Death of Stubbe Peeter,

1 590).


Note 7: "during lucid intervals"


Note 8: Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, lost his reason for
seven years and lived in the open like a beast on wild plants, so
that his hair and beard became unkempt and his fingernails and
toenails grew long. See Daniel 4:33.


### CHA P TE R I I

ARGUMENT :
The description of the next two kinds of spirits, whereof the one
follows outwardly, the other possesses inwardly, the persons that
they trouble. That since all prophecies and visions are now ceased,
all spirits that appear in these forms are evil.


Philomathes
Come forward now to the rest of these kinds of spirits.


Epistemon
As to the next two kinds, that is, either these that outwardly trouble
and follow some persons, or else inwardly possess them: I will con­
join them in one, because as well the causes are alike in the persons
they are permitted to trouble, as also the ways whereby they may be
remedied and cured.


Philomathes
What kind of persons are they that are used to being so troubled?


Epistemon
Two kinds especially: either such as being guilty of grievous
offences, God punishes by that horrible kind of scourge, or else
being persons of the best nature peradventure, that you shall find in
all the country about them, God permits them to be troubled in that
sort, for the trial of their patience, and wakening up of their zeal, for
admonishing of the beholders not to trust overmuch in themselves,


157


158 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


since they are made of no better stuff, and peradventure blotted
with no smaller sins (as Christ said, speaking of them upon whom
the tower in Siloam fell (Luke 13)); and for giving likewise to the
spectators, matter to praise God, that they meriting no better, are
yet spared from being corrected in that fearful form.


Philomathes
These are good reasons for the part of God, which apparently moves
him so to permit the Devil to trouble such persons. But since the
Devil has ever a contrary respect in all the actions that God employs
him in, which is, I pray you, the end and mark he shoots at in this
turn?


Epistemon
It is to obtain one of two things thereby, if he may. The one is the
tinsel of their life, by inducing them to such perilous places at such
times as he either follows or possesses them, which may procure the
same: and such like, so far as God will permit him, by tormenting
them to weaken their bodies, and cast them into incurable diseases.
The other thing that he wishes to obtain by troubling of them, is
the tinsel of their soul, by enticing them to mistrust and blaspheme
God, either for the intolerableness of their torments, as he assayed
to have done with job (Job 10), or else for his promising unto them
to leave the troubling of them, in case they would so do, as is known
by experience at this same time by the confession of a young one
that was so troubled.


Philomathes
Since you have spoken now of both these kinds of spirits, compre­
hending them in one, I must now go back again in casting some
questions of every one of these kinds in particular. And first for
these that follow certain persons, you know that there are two sorts
of them: one sort that troubles and torments the persons that they
haunt with, and another sort that are serviceable unto them in all


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 159


kinds of their necessities, and omit never to forewarn them of any
sudden peril that they are to be in. And so in this case, I would under­
stand whether both these sorts be but wicked and damned spirits, or
if the last sort be rather angels (as should appear by their actions)
sent by God to assist such as he specially favors. For it is written in
the Scriptures, that God sends legions of angels to guard and watch
over his elect (Genesis 32; I Kings 6; Psalms 34).


Epistemon
I know well enough wherefrom that error which you allege has pro­
ceeded: for it was the ignorant pagans that were the fountain thereof.
Who for that they knew not God, they forged in their own imagina­
tions, every man to be still accompanied with two spirits, whereof
they called the one genius bonus, the other genius malus. [1 ] The Greeks
called them endaimona and kakodaimona, whereof the former they
said, persuaded him to all the good he did, the other enticed him to
all the evil. But praised be God we that are Christians, and walk not
among the Cimmerian2 conjectures of man, know well enough that
it is the good spirit of God only, who is the fountain of all goodness,
that persuades us to the thinking or doing of any good; and that it
is our corrupted flesh and Satan that entice us to the contrary. And
yet the Devil for confirming in the heads of ignorant Christians, that
error first maintained among the pagans, he bides among the first
kind of spirits that I speak of, appeared in time of Papistry and blind­
ness, and haunted diverse houses, without doing any evil, but doing
as it were necessary tasks up and down the house: and this spirit they
called brownie3 in our language, who appeared like a rough man;
yea, some were so blinded, as to believe that their house was all the
more prosperous, as they called it, that such spirits resorted there.


Philomathes
But since the Devil's intention in all his actions is ever to do evil,
what evil was there in that form of doing, since their actions out­
wardly were good?


I60 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Epistemon

Was it not evil enough to deceive simple ignorants, in making them
to take him for an angel of light, and so to account of God's enemy,
as of their particular friend: where by the contrary, all we that are
Christians ought assuredly to know that since the coming of Christ
in the flesh, and establishing of his church by the apostles, all mir­
acles, visions, prophecies, and appearances of angels or good spir­
its are ceased. 4 Which served only for the first sowing of faith, and
planting of the church. Where now the church being established,
and the white horse5 whereof I spoke before, having made his con­
quest, the law and prophets are thought sufficient to serve us, or
make us inexcusable, as Christ says in his parable of Lazarus and the
rich man (Luke 16).


NOTES TO BOOK III, CH APTER II


Note 1: The good spirit and the evil spirit. It is from this ancient
pagan belief that we get the Christian fable that everyone has a
angel on their right shoulder and a devil on their left shoulder,
forever whispering suggestions into their ears.

Note 2: The distant northern land of Cimmeria was said by the
Greek poet Homer to be a land of perpetual mists and darkness.


Note 3: "The Nis, Kobold, or Goblin, appears in Scotland under the
name of Brownie. Brownie is a personage of small stature, wrin­
kled visage, covered with short curly brown hair, and wearing a
brown mantle and hood. His residence is the hollow of an old
tree, a ruined castle, or the abode of man. He is attached to par­
ticular families, with whom he has been known to reside, even for
centuries, threshing the corn, cleaning the house, and doing ev­
erything done by his northern and English brethren" (Keightley,
The Fairy Mythology, pages 357-358).


Note 4: By denying the possibility of any form of miracle, proph­
ecy, or vision since the time of Christ, James is able to class all


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 161


supernatural events as devilish, no matter what their nature or
utility. His sweeping statement excludes the miracles of God,
the angels, and the saints that have been given formal recogni­
tion by the Catholic Church. From the perspective of James, the
appearance of the stigmata, or wounds of Christ, on the hands
of a pious Christian would be regarded as devilish, and a sign of
some hidden sin; the miraculous restoration of sight to the blind
at Lourdes would be dismissed as a ruse by Satan intended to be­
guile the ignorant. There is something of the fanatic in this com­
prehensive rejection of even the possibility of any divine super­
natural event, coupled with a willingness to believe in the most
fantastic supernatural evils.


Note 5: Another reference to the white horse of Revelation 19: 1 1,
which was a symbol of profound personal significance to James.


### CHA PTER III

ARGUMENT :
The description of a particular sort of that kind of following spirit,
called incubi and succubi. And what is the reason wherefore
these kinds of spirits haunt most the northern
and barbarous parts of the world.


Philomathes
The next question that I would speak, is likewise concerning this first
of these two kinds of spirits that you have conjoined, and it is this:
you know how it is commonly written and reported, that among the
rest of the sorts of spirits that follow certain persons, there is one
more monstrous than all the rest, in respect as it is alleged they have
intercourse naturally with them whom they trouble and haunt with?
And therefore I would know in two things your opinion herein: first,
if such a thing can be; and next, if it be, whether there be a differ­
ence of sexes among these spirits, or not.


Epistemon
That abominable kind of the Devil's abusing of men or women was
called of old incubi and succubi, according to the difference of the
sexes that they had congress with. 1 By two means this great kind of
abuse might possibly be performed. The one, when the Devil only as
a spirit, and stealing out the sperm of a dead body, abuses them that
way, they not clearly seeing any shape or feeling any thing, but that
which he so conveys in that part: as we read of a monastery of nuns


164 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


which were burnt for their being that way abused. The other means
it when he borrows a dead body and so visibly, and as it seems unto
them naturally, as a man copulates with them.
But it is to be noted, that in whatsoever way he uses it, that sperm
seems intolerably cold to the person abused. For if he steals out the
nature of a living person, it cannot be so quickly carried, but it will
both lose the strength and heat by the way, which it could never have
had for lack of agitation, which in the time of procreation is the pro­
curer and wakener up of these two natural qualities. And if he oc­
cupying the dead body as his lodging, expel the same out thereof in
the due time, it must likewise be cold by the participation with the
qualities of the dead body whereout of it comes.
And whereas you inquire if these spirits be divided in sexes or
not, I think the rules of philosophy may easily resolve a man of the
contrary: for it is a sure principle of that art, that nothing can be di­
vided in sexes, except such living bodies as must have a natural seed
to generate by. But we know spirits have no seed proper to them­
selves, nor yet can they engender one with another.


Philomathes
How is it then that they say various monsters have been gotten by
that way?


Epistemon
These tales are nothing but aniles fabulae.2 For that they have no
semen of their own, I have shown you already. And that the cold
semen of a dead body can work nothing in generation, it is more
than plain, as being already dead of itself as well as the rest of the
body is, wanting the natural heat, and such other natural operations,
as are necessary for working that effect. And in case such a thing
were possible (which were all utterly against all rules of nature), it
would breed no monster, but only such a natural offspring as would
have come between that man or woman and that other abused per­
son, in case they both being alive had had ado with [each] other.


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 165


For the Devil's part therein is but the naked carrying or expelling of
that substance, and so it could not participate with no quality of the
same.
Indeed, it is possible to the craft of the Devil to make a woman's
belly to swell after he hath that way abused her, which he may do
either by stirring up her own humor, or by herbs, as we see beggars
daily do;1 and when the time of her delivery should come to make
her labor with great anguish, like unto that natural course, and
then subtly to slip into the midwife's hands sticks, stones, or some
monstrous child brought from some other place. But this is more
reported and guessed at by others, than believed by me.


Philomathes
But what is the cause that this kind of abuse is thought to be most
common in such wild parts of the world, as Lapland and Finland,4 or
in our north isles of Orkney and Shetland?


Epistemon
Because where the Devil finds greatest ignorance and barbarity,
there assails he most grossly, as I gave you the reason wherefore
there were more witches of womenkind than men.


Philomathes
Can any be so unhappy as to give their willing consent to the Devil's
vile abusing them in this form?


Epistemon
Yea, some of the witches have confessed that he has persuaded them
to give their willing consent thereunto, that he may thereby have
them tangled the deeper in his snares; but as the other compelled
sort is to be pitied and prayed for, so is this most highly to be pun­
ished and detested.


Philomathes
It is not the thing which we call the mare, which takes folks sleeping
in their beds, a kind of these spirits, whereof you are speaking?


166 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Epistemon

No, that is but a natural sickness, which the mediciners have given
that name of incubus unto, ab incubando, because it being a thick
phlegm, falling into our breast upon the heart while we are sleep­
ing, intercedes so our vital spirits, and takes all power from us, as to
make us think that there were some unnatural burden or spirit lying
upon us and holding us down.5


NOTES TO BOOK III, CH APTER III


Note 1 : The incubus is a sexual spirit in the form of a male, and
the succubus a sexual spirit in the form of a female. It was be­
lieved by many demonologists that this appearance of gender was
not an essential part of the nature of these spirits, but that they
could change from male to female at will, depending on the sex
of the person with whom they intended to have intercourse. How
spirits copulated with humans, whether they stole human semen
to inject into the womb during these unions, and whether it was
possible that such lovemaking could result in pregnancy, were all
topics of hot debate. However, there was general agreement that
the incidence of willing sexual union with spirits had increased in
recent times.


But the theory that modern witches are tainted with this

sort of diabolical filthiness is not substantiated only in our opin­

ion, since the expert testimony of the witches themselves has

made all these things credible; and that they do not now, as in

times past, subj ect themselves unwillingly, but willingly em­

brace this most foul and miserable servitude. For how many

women have we left to be punished by secular law in various di­

oceses, especially in Constance and the town of Ratisbon, who

have been for many years addicted to these abominations, some

from their twentieth and some from their twelfth or thirteenth

year, and always with a total or partial abnegation of the Faith?


DEMONOLOGY : THE THIRD BOOK 167


All the inhabitants of these places are witnesses of it. For with­

out reckoning those who secretly repented, and those who re­

turned to the Faith, no less than forty-eight have been burned in

five years. (Kramer and Sprenger, Malleus Maleficarum, page I l l )


Note 2: "old wives' tales"


Note 3: James seems to mean that in his day one could often see fe­
male beggars who had eaten specific herbs in order to swell their
bellies and make themselves appear pregnant, and so increase the
amount of charity they might receive. However, it may have been
the case that beggars would eat wild herbs merely to ease their
hunger, and end up with distended stomachs as a result of the
noxious properties of the plants they had consumed. Even in the
absence of herbs, hunger itself will distend the belly


Note 4: That sexual unions with spirits were more common in Lap­
land, Finland, and other northerly parts of the world is probable


Figure 1 1


!68 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


since shamanism survived as an active religion in these places dur­
ing the Jacobean period, and a feature of shamanism is marriage
between the shaman and supernatural beings, who act as the sha­
man's tutelary and serving spirits.


Note 5: This is now referred to as "sleep paralysis." The theory is
that the body is naturally held immobile in dreams to prevent
us thrashing around and injuring ourselves, and sometimes we
become conscious while this physical inhibitor is still in effect,
making us feel as through we are being pressed or stifled. Having
personally experienced the mare on numerous occasions, I can
state that it is a very clear and distinct feeling of palpable weight
pressing on a particular part of the body, but not on the rest of

the body. Sometimes there is a sensation of the weight shifting,
as though whatever causes it were moving around. This sensation
of weight is accompanied by an inability to move the limbs that
must be consciously and willfully thrown off. I suspect that the
sensation of weight, and the inability to move, are not directly
connected; that the first is caused by a spiritual creature, and the
second by our natural sleep paralysis.


### CHA P TE R I V

ARGUMENT:
The description of the demoniacs and possessed.
By what reason the Papists may have power to cure them.


Philomathes
Well, I have told you now all my doubts, and you have satisfied me
therein, concerning the first of these two kinds of spirits that you
have conjoined. Now I am to inquire only two things at you con­
cerning the last kind, I mean the demoniacs. The first is, whereby
shall these possessed folks be discerned from them that are troubled
with a natural frenzy or mania? The next is, how can it be that they
can be remedied by the Papist's church, whom we count as heretics?
It should appear that one devil should not cast out another, for then
would his kingdom be divided in itself, as Christ said (Matthew 1 2 ;
Mark 3).


Epistemon
As to your first question, there are diverse symptoms whereby that
heavy trouble may be discerned from a natural sickness, and spe­
cially three, omitting the diverse vain signs that the Papists attribute
unto it, such as the raging at holy water, their fleeing aback from the
cross, their not abiding the hearing of God named, and innumerable
such like vain things that were alike tiresome and worthless to recite.
But to come to these three symptoms then, whereof I spoke, I ac­
count the one of them to be the incredible strength of the possessed


170 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


creature, which will far exceed the strength of six of the stoutest and
strongest of any other men that are not so troubled.' The next is
the rising up so far of the patient's breast and belly, with such an un­
natural stirring and vehement agitation with them, and such an iron
hardness of his sinews so stiffly bended out, that it were not pos­
sible to prick out, as it were, the skin of any other person so far: so
mightily works the Devil in all the members and senses of his body,
he being locally within the same; although of his soul and affections
thereof, he has no more power than over any other man's. The last
is the speaking of different languages, which the patient is known by
them that were acquainted with him never to have learned, and that
with an uncouth and hollow voice, and all the time of his speaking,

a greater motion being in his breast than in his mouth.2 But from
this last symptom is excepted such as are altogether, in the time of
their possessing, bereft of all their senses, being possessed with a
dumb and blind spirit, whereof Christ relieved one, in the twelfth
chapter of Matthew.
And as to your next demand, it is first to be doubted if the Papists
or any not professing the only true religion, can relieve any of that
trouble. And next, in case they can, upon what respects it is possible
unto them. As to the former, upon two reasons it is grounded. First,
that it is known so many of them to be counterfeit, which deception
the clergy invents for confirming of their rotten religion. The next
is, that by experience we find that few who are possessed indeed are
fully cured by them: but rather the Devil is content to release the
bodily hurting of them, for a short space, thereby to obtain the per­
petual hurt of the souls of so many that by these false miracles may
be induced or confirmed in the profession of that erroneous reli­
gion: even as I told you before that he does in the false cures, or cast­
ing off of diseases by witches.
As to the other part of the argument, in case they can, which
rather (with reverence of the learned thinking otherwise) I am in­
duced to believe, by reason of the faithful report that men sound of


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 171


religion have made according to their sight thereof, I think if so be, I
say these may be the respects whereupon the Papists may have that
power. Christ gave a commission and power to his apostles to cast
out devils, which they accordingly thereunto put into execution. The
rules he had them observe in that action were fasting and prayer, and
the action itself [was] to be done in his name. This power of theirs
proceeded not, then, of any virtue in them, but only in him who
directed them. As was clearly proved by judas, his having as great
power in that commission as any of the rest. It is easy, then, to be
understood that the casting out of devils is by the virtue of fasting
and prayer, and invoking of the name of God, even though many
imperfections be in the person that is the instrument, as Christ him­
self teaches us of the power that false prophets shall have to cast out
devils (Matthew 7). It is no wonder, then, these respects of this ac­
tion being considered, that it may be possible to the Papists, though
erring in various points of religion, to accomplish this, if they use
the right form prescribed by Christ herein. For what the worse is
that action, that they err in other things, more than their baptism
is the worse that they err in the other sacrament, and have added
many vain freits to the baptism itself.


Philomathes
Surely it is no little wonder that God should permit the bodies of
any of the faithful to be so dishonored, as to be a dwelling place to
that unclean spirit.


Epistemon
There is it which I told right now, would prove and strengthen my
argument of the Devil's entering in the dead bodies of the faithful.
For if he is permitted to enter in their living bodies, even when they
are joined with the soul, how much more will God permit him to
enter in their dead carcasses, which is no more man, but the filthy
and corruptible case of man. For as Christ says, it is not anything


172 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


that enters within man that defiles him, but only that which pro­
ceeds and comes out of him (Mark 7).


NOTES ON BOOK III, CHAPTER IV


Note 1 : James was himself the witness of a case of possession on
Christmas Eve, 1 590, during the interrogation of John Fian. It
is described in News From Scotland. Fian confessed to having be­
witched a man so that for one hour every day he fell into a raving
fit. It seems likely that Pian was aware of this man's bizarre men­
tal illness, which was probably well-known in the area where he
lived, and in an attempt to avoid more torture, Fian confessed to
having caused the fits through witchcraft.
james had the man brought before him in the King's chamber,
and watched the possession happen. Suddenly the man gave a
screech and began to bend his body and caper about and spring
up so that his head touched the ceiling of the room. Those with
James who were watching this Christmas entertainment tried to
hold the man down, but he was too strong for them. More at­
tendants had to be called in so that he could be tied up until his
fit passed. When he came to his senses, James asked him what
awareness he retained of his actions, and the man told him that
he had been asleep.


Note 2: In Greek and Roman times, those from whom issued the
voices of spirits were known as belly-speakers, or ventriloquists
(venter: "belly,"' loquor: "to speak"). They were characterized in this
way because the voices of the spirits did not seem to come from
the mouths of the possessed individuals, but from their abdom­
inal regions. The term is now applied to stage performers who
pretend to throw their voices outside themselves.


### CHA P T E R V

ARGUMENT:
The description of the fourth kind of spirits called the fairies.
What is possible therein, and what is but illusion. How far this
dialogue entreats of all these things, and to what end.


Philomathes
Now I pray you, come on to that fourth kind of spirits.


Epistemon
That fourth kind of spirits, which by the pagans was called Diana
and her wandering court, 1 and among us was called the fairies (as

I told you), or our Good Neighbours/ was one of the sorts of illu­
sions that was rifest in the time of Papistry. For although it was held
odious to prophesy by the Devil, yet whom this kind of spirits car­
ried away and informed, they were thought to be luckiest and of
best life. To speak of the many vain prattles founded upon that illu­
sion, how there was a king and queen of fairy, of such a jolly court
and train as they had, how they had a tithe and duty, as it were, of
all goods, how they naturally rode and went, ate and drank, and did
all other actions like natural men and women, I think it more like
Virgil's Campi Elysii, 3 than anything that ought to be believed by
Christians, except in general, that as I spoke various times before,
the Devil deludes the senses of many simple creatures, in making
them believe that they saw and heard such things as were nothing so
indeed.


173


174 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Philomathes

But how can it be then, that many witches have gone to death with
that confession, that they have been transported with the fairies
to such a hill, 4 which opening, they went in, and there saw a fairy
queen, who being now lighter, gave them a stone5 that had various
virtues, which at different times has been produced in judgement?


Epistemon
I say that, even as I said before of that imaginary ravishing of the
spirit forth of the body. For may not the Devil present to their fan­
tasy, their senses being dulled, and as it were asleep, such hills and
houses within them, such glistening courts and trains, and what­
soever such like wherewith he pleases to delude them? And in the

meantime, their bodies being senseless, to convey into their hands
any stone or such like thing, which he makes them to imagine to
have received in such a place.


Philomathes
But what say you to their foretelling the death of various persons,
whom they allege to have seen in these places? That is a sooth-dream
(as they say) since they see it walking.


Epistemon
I think that either they have not been sharply enough examined, that
gave so blunt a reason for their prophecy, or otherwise, I think it
likewise as possible that the Devil may prophesy to them when he
deceives their imaginations in that sort, as well as when he plainly
speaks unto them at other times; for their prophesying is but a kind
of vision, as it were, wherein he commonly counterfeits God among
the pagans, as I told you before.


Philomathes
I would know now whether these kinds of spirits may only appear
to witches, or if they may also appear to any other.


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 175


Epistemon

They may do to both. To the innocent sort, either to affright them,
or to seem to be a better sort of folk than unclean spirits are; and to
the witches, to be a color of safety6 for them, that ignorant magis­
trates may not punish them for it, as I told even now. But as the one
sort, for being perforce troubled with them ought to be pitied, so
ought the other sort (who may be discerned by their taking upon
them to prophesy by them), that sort I say, ought as severely to be
punished as any other witches, and rather the more, in that they go
dissemblingly to work.


Philomathes
And what makes the spirits have so different names from others?


Epistemon
Even the knavery of that same Devil, who as he deludes the necro­
mancers with innumerable feigned names for him and his angels,
as in particular making Satan, Beelzebub, and Lucifer to be three
different spirits, where we find the two former but different names
given to the prince of all the rebelling angels by the Scripture. As by
Christ, the prince of all the devils is called Beelzebub in that place
which I alleged against the power of any heretics to cast out devils.
By john in the Revelation, the old tempter is called Satan, the prince
of all the evil angels. And last, to wit, Lucifer is but by allegory taken
from the Day Star7 (so named in diverse places of the Scriptures)
because of his excellence (I mean the prince of them) in his creation
before his fall. Even so I say he deceives the witches by attributing to
himself diverse names, as if every different shape that he transforms
himself into were a different kind of spirit.


Philomathes
But I have heard many more strange tales of these fairies, than you
have yet told me.


176 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Epistemon

As well I do in that, as I did in all the rest of my discourse. For
because the ground of this conference of ours proceeded of your
inquiring at me at our meeting, if there were such a thing as witches
or spirits, and if they had any power, I therefore have framed my
whole discourse only to prove that such things are and may be, by
such number of examples as I show to be possible by reason, and
keep myself from dipping any further in playing the part of a dic­
tionary, to tell whatever I have read or heard in that purpose, which
both would exceed faith, and rather would seem to teach such
unlawful arts, not to disallow and condemn them, as it is the duty of
all Christians to do.


NOTES ON BOOK III, CHAPTER V


Note 1 : Summers quotes from the work De ecclesiasticis disciplinis of
the Abbot Regina of Priim, written in 906:


This too must by no means be passed over that certain ut­

terly abandoned women, turning aside to follow Satan, being

seduced by the illusions and phantasmical shows of demons

firmly believe and openly profess that in the dead of night they

ride upon certain beasts along with the pagan goddess Diana

and a countless horde of women, and that in those silent hours

they fly over vast tracts of country and obey her as their mis­

tress, whilst on certain other nights they are summoned to

do her homage and pay her service (Summers, The History of

Witchcraft and Demonology, page 1 2 1).


Note 2: Fairies were sometimes referred to as "the good folk" as a
form of avertive magic, to propitiate them and turn aside their
wrath. It is exactly the same impulse of human nature that caused
the Greeks to refer to the Furies, who originally were named the
Erinyes (Angry Ones) as the Eumenides (Gracious Ones). The
true character of fairies was strange and terrifying, and no man or
woman wished to encounter them alone in the mists of twilight.


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 177


Figure 1 2


Note 3 : The Elysian Fields, described by the Roman poet Virgil in
his epic the Aeneid, Book VI, lines 637-659.

Note 4: "There is scarcely a district of the Highlands without its
fairy knoll, generally the greenest hillock in the place" (Evans­
Wentz, The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, page 86). The fairies
were thought to dwell in the depths of these hills in hidden cav­
erns and passageways. Those who climbed the hill might chance
to see the fairies dancing in a ring on the grass. If they inadver­
tently offended the good people, for example by refusing an offer
of hospitality, they might find themselves suddenly swept under
the hill and unable to escape. Entire palaces were said to be be­
neath these hills.


Note 5: This perhaps refers to the elf-shot or fairy arrow (saighead
sith), a stone arrowhead, or a stone shaped like an arrowhead,
which was believed to have been made by fairies, and to possess
magical properties. It was thrown or shot by unseen fairies at
those who ventured too near their habitations.


178 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Note 6: In Scottish law, a "color" was a plea that seems probable
but was actually without solid merit-what we might today refer
to as a "technicality." It was usually raised in an attempt to get a
decision moved from the hands of the jury into the hands of the
judges.


Note 7: The planet Venus, when seen in the mornings in the east,
is known as the Morning Star, and was sometimes poetically re­
ferred to as Lucifer, a name that literally means "light-bringing"
or "light-bearer" (lucis: "light," ferre: "to bear"). It is fabled to be
the original name of Satan before his expulsion from heaven.


### CHA P TE R V I

ARGUMENT :
Of the trial and punishment of witches. What sort of accusation
ought to be admitted against them. What is the cause of the
increasing so far of their number in this age.


Philomathes

Then to make an end of our conference, since I see it draws late,
what form of punishment think you merit these magicians and
witches? For I see that you account them to be all alike guilty.


Epistemon

They ought to be put to death according to the law of God, the civil

and imperial law, and municipal law of all Christian nations.


Philomathes

But what kind of death, I pray you?


Epistemon

It is commonly used by fire, but that is an indifferent thing to be
used in every country, according to the law or custom thereof.


Philomathes

But ought no sex, age, nor rank to be exempted?


179


180 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Epistemon

None at all (being so used by the lawful magistrate), 1 for it is the
highest point of idolatry, wherein no exception is admitted by the
law of God.


Philomathes
Then children may not be spared?


Epistemon
Yea, not a hair the less of my conclusion. For they are not that capa­
ble of reason as to practice such things. And for any being in com­
pany and not revealing thereof, their less and ignorant age will no
doubt excuse them.


Philomathes
I see you condemn them all that are of the counsel of such crafts.


Epistemon
No doubt, for as I said, speaking of magic, the consulters, trusters
in, overlookers, entertainers, or stirrers up of these craftsfolk, are
equally guilty with themselves that are the practitioners.


Philomathes
Whether may the prince, then, or supreme magistrate, spare or
overlook any that are guilty of that craft, upon some great respects
known to him?


Epistemon
The prince or magistrate for further trials' cause, may delay the pun­
ishing of them such a certain space as he thinks convenient: but in
the end, to spare the life, and not to strike when God bids strike, and
so severely punish in so odious a fault and treason against God, it is
not only unlawful, but doubtless no less sin in that magistrate than
it was in Saul's sparing of Agag (I Samuel 1 5). And so comparable to
the sin of witchcraft itself, as Samuel alleged at that time.


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK I8I


Philomathes

Surely then, I think since this ought to be so severely punished,

judges ought to beware to condemn any, but such as they are sure

are guilty; neither should the clattering report of an accused old

woman serve in so weighty a case.


Epistemon

Judges ought indeed to beware whom they condemn, for it is as

great a crime (as Solomon says) to condemn the innocent, as to let
the guilty escape free (Proverbs 1 7); neither ought the report of any
one infamous person be admitted for a sufficient proof, which can

stand of no law.


Philomathes
And what may a number then of guilty persons' confessions work
against one that is accused?


Epistemon

The assize must serve for interpreter of our law in that respect. But
in my opinion, since in a matter of treason against the prince, chil­
dren or wives or never so defamed persons may of our law serve for

sufficient witnesses and proofs, I think surely that by a far greater

reason, such witnesses may be sufficient in matters of high treason

against God. For who but witches can be proofs, and so witnesses,
of the doings of witches?


Philomathes

Indeed, I trust they will be loath to prosecute any honest man upon
their counsel. But what if they accuse folk to have been present at
their imaginary conventions in the spirit, when their bodies lie sense­
less, as you have said?


Epistemon

I think they are not a hair the less guilty, for the Devil dared never
have borrowed their shade or likeness to that turn, if their consent


182 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


had not been at it, and the consent in these turns is death under the

law.


Philomathes

Then Samuel was a witch: for the Devil resembled his shape, and

played his person, in giving response to Saul.


Epistemon

Samuel was dead as well before that, and so none could slander him

with meddling in that unlawful art. For the cause why, as I take it,

that God will not permit Satan to use the shapes or similitudes of any

innocent person at such unlawful times, is that God will not permit

that any innocent person shall be slandered with that vile defection. 2

For then the Devil would find ways anew to calumniate the best. And

this we have in proof by them that are carried with the fairies, who

never see the shades of any in that court, but of them that thereafter

are tried for having been brethren and sisters of that craft. And this

was likewise proved by the confession of a young lass, troubled with

spirits, laid on her by witchcraft. That although she saw the shapes

of diverse men and women troubling her, and named the persons

whom these shades represented, yet never one of them was found to

be innocent, but all clearly tried to be most guilty, and the most part

of them confessed the same.

And besides that, I think it has been seldom heard tell of, that

any whom persons guilty of that crime accused, as having known

them to be their companions by eyesight, and not by hearsay, but

such as were so accused of witchcraft could not be clearly tried upon

them, were at the least publicly known to be of a very evil life and

reputation: so jealous is God I say, of the fame of them that are in­

nocent in such causes. And besides that, there are two other good

helps that may be used for their trial. The one is the finding of their

mark, and the trying of the insensibleness thereof. The other is their

floating on the water: for as in a secret murder, if the dead carcass

be at any time thereafter handled by the murderer, it will gush out


DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK 183


of blood, as if the blood were crying to the heaven for revenge of

the murderer, God having appointed that secret supernatural sign,

for trial of that secret unnatural crime; so it appears that God has

appointed (for a supernatural sign of the monstrous impiety of the

witches) that the water shall refuse to receive them in her bosom,

that have shaken off them the sacred water of baptism, and willfully

refused the benefit thereof. No, not so much as their eyes are able to

shed tears (threaten and torture them as you please) before first they

repent (God not permitting them to dissemble their obstinacy in so

horrible a crime), albeit the womenkind especially, be able otherwise

to shed tears at every light occasion when they will; yea, although it

were dissemblingly, like the crocodiles.


Philomathes

Well, we have made this conference to last as long as leisure would

permit. And to conclude then, since I am to take my leave of you, I

pray God to purge this country of these devilish practices: for they

were never so rife in these parts, as they are now.


Epistemon

I pray God that so be, too. But the causes are over manifest, that

makes them to be so rife. For the great wickedness of the people on

the one part, procures this horrible defection, whereby God justly

punishes sin, by a greater iniquity; and on the other part, the con­

summation of the world, and our deliverance drawing near, makes

Satan to rage the more in his instruments, knowing his kingdom to

be so near an end (Revelation 2). And so, farewell for this time.


NOTES TO BOOK III, CH APTER VI


Note I : james asserts that no exceptions should be made to the pun­

ishment of witches based on age, other than those that are com­

monly recognized in the law for other crimes.


184 DEMONOLOGY: THE THIRD BOOK


Figure 13


Note 2 : The implications o f this bit o f reasoning are chilling. A s far

as James was concerned, anyone accused of witchcraft must be

guilty, since God would never allow an innocent to be so slan­

dered. Even those accused of having been present at imaginary

sabbats of witches, which the magistrate and members of the

jury know to have been imaginary, are to be condemned and ex­

ecuted since God would not permit them to be identified as pres­

ent unless they had themselves consented to be present at the

imaginary gatherings.


## SX!Jes fom Scotland,
# Declaring the Damna::
##### ble life ana death ofVcflor Pian, a

notable Sorcerer, who was burned at
Edenbrough an Ianuary !aft.
I S 9 '·






##### W.i t h e true of the taide De>aor

and W itc<74>s, as theyv **t** rcd them JD the pre­
P"" t{11H Sclltijh King.
##### Difcouering how they pretended

IO <20>ncb md dro'R'nt bis MMtfl[t uubeSt4
comming from Dcnowkc, with fuch
tJturwnu **l** nfl JIUittrl tU tbt Iiles
ht **l**,, ll **t** ht•J tJ/ I **l**
""',.,,
#### PubMled a c rding to the Sco t ih Cop pie.

AT L O ND ON
##### Printed for \Vi l am
#### Wright.


Figure 1 4


rSs


NEWS FROM SCOTLA ND,


Declaring the damnable
life and death of Doctor Fian,
a notable Sorcerer, who was burned at
Edinburgh, in January last,
159 1 .


Which Doctor was Register to the Devil
that sundry times preached at North Berwick Kirk,
to a number of notorious witches.


With the true examinations of the said Doctor
and Witches as they uttered them
in the presence of the Scottish King.


Discovering how they pretended
to bewitch and drown his Majesty in the Sea
coming from Denmark, with such
other wonderful matters as the like
has not been heard of at
any time.


Published according to the Scottish copy.
AT LONDON
Printed for William Wright.


#### TO T H E R EA DE R

The manifold untruths which are spread abroad concerning the

detestable actions and apprehension of those witches whereof

this history following truly treats, has caused me to publish the

same in print: and the rather for that a number of written copies

are lately dispersed thereof, containing, that the said witches were

first discovered by means of a poor peddler traveling to the town

of Tranent, 1 and that by a wonderful manner he was in a moment

conveyed at midnight, from Scotland to Bordeaux in France (being

places of no small distance between) into a merchant's cellar there,

and after being sent from Bordeaux into Scotland by certain Scottish

merchants to the King's Majesty, that he discovered those witches

and was the cause of their apprehension: with a number of matters

miraculous and incredible, all which in truth are most false.

Nevertheless, to satisfy a number of honest minds, who are de­

sirous to be informed of the verity and truth of their confession,

which for certain is more strange than the common report runs, and

yet with more truth, I have undertaken to publish this short trea­

tise, which declares the true discourse of all that has happened, and

as well what was pretended by those wicked and detestable witches

against the King's Majesty, as also by what means they wrought the

same.

All which examinations (gentle reader) I have here truly pub­

lished, as they were taken and uttered in the presence of the King's

Majesty, praying thee to accept it for verity, the same being so true as

cannot be reproved.2


188 N EWS FROM SCOTLAND


NOTES ON TO THE REA DER


Note 1 : This mythical peddler is depicted twice in a woodcut that ac­

companies the early editions of News From Scotland. He is shown
reclining on his side, his head propped up on his elbow and rest­
ing on his hand. In the upper panel of the woodcut he lies beside
a group of witches, and in the lower panel he is shown similarly

posed inside a wine cellar in Bordeaux.


Note 2: The authorship of News From Scotland is unknown. It is based

on the actual court records, or a detailed account of them, prob­

ably the latter. The "Scottish copy" referred to on the title page may

have been penned by James Carmichael, Minister of Haddington,
who composed a record of the entire North Berwick witchcraft af.
fair. Sir James Melville wrote in 1592 in his Memoirs that Carmichael

had written "the history whereof, with their whole depositions."

It seems unlikely that News From Scotland is the actual text of Car­

michael's account of the affair, due to the incomplete state of the
charges and testimony in the tract, and the interpolation of a fanci­
ful tale of a lovesick cow that was obviously inspired by a similar

account in the Golden Ass of Lucius Apuleius, but it may well have

been based on Carmichael's document.

Internal evidence suggests that the tract itself was written by
an Englishman in the latter part of 1 591, and underwent exten­
sive editorial revision after the two original woodcuts that accom­

pany it had already been made, since there is matter in the wood­

cuts that is not referred to in the text. For an excellent analysis of

these woodcuts, see the paper by Edward H. Thompson "More
Newes from Scotland: the woodblock illustrations of a witchcraft
pamphlet," presented at the conference for Authorship, Reading

and Publishing held at the University of Edinburgh in 1995.


### A TRU E DIS COURS E

Of the apprehension of sundry

witches lately taken in Scotland: whereof

some are executed, and some are

yet imprisoned.


With a particular recital of their examinations,
taken in the presence of the King's Majesty.


God by his omnipotent power, has at all times and daily does take

such care, and is so vigilant, for the well-being and preservation of

his own, that thereby he disappoints the wicked practices and evil

intentions of all such as by any means whatsoever seek indirectly

to conspire anything contrary to his holy will. Yea, and by the same

power, he has lately overthrown and hindered the intentions and

wicked dealings of a great number1 of ungoldy creatures (no better

than devils, who suffered themselves to be allured and enticed by the

Devil whom they served, and to whom they were privately sworn)

entered into the detestable art of witchcraft, which they studied and

practiced so long a time, that in the end they had seduced by their

sorcery a number of others to be as bad as themselves, dwelling in

the bounds of Lothian, which is the principal shire or part of Scot­

land, where the King's Majesty used to make his chief residence or

abode.

And to the end that their detestable wickedness which they pri­

vately had pretended against the King's Majesty, the commonweal

of that country, with the nobility and subjects of the same, should


190 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


come to light, God of his unspeakable goodness did reveal and lay it
open in very strange sort, thereby to make known unto the world,
that their actions were contrary to the law of God, and the natu­
ral affection which we ought generally to bear one to another. The
manner of the revealing whereof was as followeth.
Within the town of Tranent2 in the kingdom of Scotland, there
dwells one David Seaton,3 who being deputy-bailiff in the said town,
had a maid servant called Gilly Duncan, who used secretly to be ab­
sent and to lie forth of her master's house every other night. This
Gilly Duncan took in hand to help all such as were troubled or
grieved with any kind of sickness or infirmity, and in a short space
did perform many matters most miraculous, which things foras­
much as she began to do them upon a sudden, having never done
the like before, made her master and others to be in great admira­
tion, and wonder thereat, by means whereof the said David Seaton
had his maid in some great suspicion, that she did not those things
by natural and lawful ways, but rather supposed it to be done by
some extraordinary and unlawful means.
Whereupon, her master began to grow very inquisitive, and ex­
amined her which way and by what means she was able to perform
matters of so great importance. Whereat, she gave no answer. Nev­
ertheless, her master, to the intent that he might the better try and
find out the truth of the same, did with the help of others, torment
her with the torture of the pilliwinks4 upon her fingers, which is a
grievous torture, and binding or wrenching her head with a cord or
rope,5 which is a most cruel torment also. Yet would she not confess
anything.
Whereupon they, suspecting that she had been marked by the
Devil (as commonly witches are), made dilligent search about her,
and found the Enemy's mark to be in her forecrag, or forepart of her
throat. Which being found, she confessed that all her doings were
done by the wicked allurements and inticements of the Devil, and
that she did them by witchcraft.


N EWS FROM SCOTLA N D 191


Figure 15


After this her confession, she was committed to prison, where
she continued for a season, where immediately she accused these
persons following to be notorious witches, and caused them forth­
with to be apprehended one after another, viz. Agnes Sampson, the
eldest witch of them all, dwelling in Haddington; Agnes Tompson6
of Edinburgh; Doctor Fian, alias John Cunningham, master of the
school at Saltpans7 in Lothian, of whose life and strange acts, you
shall hear more largely in the end of this discourse. These were by
the said Gilly Duncan accused, as also George Matt's wife, dwelling
in Saltpans; Robert Grierson, skipper; and Janet Bandilandis; with
the porter's wife of Seaton, the smith at the brig Hallis, with innu­
merable others in that parts, and dwelling in those bounds aforesaid.
Of whom, some are already executed, the rest remain in prison to


192 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


receive the doom of judgement at the King Majesty's will and plea­
sure.
The said Gilly Duncan also caused Euphemia McCalyanR to be
apprehended, who conspired and performed the death of her god­
father, and who used her art upon a gentleman, being one of the
Lords and justices of the Session, for bearing goodwill to her daugh­
ter. She also caused to be apprehended one Barbara Napier,9 for be­
witching to death Archibald, last Earl of Angus, who languished to
death by witchcraft, and yet the same was not suspected, but that
he died of so strange a disease, as the physician knew not how to
cure or remedy the same. But of all other the said witches, these two
last before recited, were reputed for as civil honest women as any

that dwelled within the city of Edinburgh, before they were appre­
hended. Many other besides were taken dwelling in Leith, who are
detained in prison, until his Majesty's further will and pleasure be
known, of whose wicked doings you shall particularly hear, which
were as followeth.
1 0
This aforesaid Agnes Sampson who was the elder witch, was
taken and brought to Holyrood House before the King's Majesty and
various others of the nobility of Scotland, where she was narrowly
examined, but all the persuasions which the King's Majesty used to
her with the rest of his Council, might not provoke or induce her to
confess anything, but [she] stood stiffiy in the denial of all that was
laid to her charge. Whereupon they caused her to be conveyed away
to prison, there to receive such torture as has been lately provided
for witches in that country.
And foreasmuch as by due examination of witchcraft and
witches in Scotland, it has lately been found that the Devil does gen­
erally mark them with a private mark, by reason the witches have
confessed themselves, that the Devil does lick them with his tongue
in some private part of their body, before he does receive them to
be his servants, which mark commonly is given them under the hair
in some part of their body, whereby it may not easily be found out


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 193


or seen, although they be searched. And generally, so long as the
mark is not seen to those which search them, so long the parties
that have the mark will never confess anything. Therefore by special
commandment this Agnes Sampson had all her hair shaved off, in
each part of her body, and her head thrawn with a rope according to
the custom of that country, being a pain most grievous, which she
continued almost an hour, during which time she would not confess
anything until the Devil's mark was found upon her privates. Then
she immediately confessed whatsoever was demanded of her, and
testified those persons aforesaid to be notorious witches.
Item, the said Agnes Sampson was afterwards brought again be­
fore the King's Majesty and his Council, and being examined of the
meetings and detestable dealings of these witches, she confessed
that upon the night of All Hallows' Eve last, she was accompanied
as well with the persons aforesaid, as also with a great many other
witches, to the number of two hundred, 1 1 and that all they together
went by sea each one in a riddle or sieve, 12 and went in the same very
substantially with flaggons of wine, making merry and drinking by
the way in the same riddles or sieves, to the kirk13 of North Berwick
in Lothian, and that after they had landed, took hands on the land
and danced this reel, or short dance, singing all with one voice.


Comer go ye before, comer go ye,
If ye will not go before, comer let me.


At which time she confessed, that this Gilly Duncan did go before
them playing this reel or dance upon a small trump, called a Jew's
trump, 14 until they entered into the kirk of North Berwick.15
These confessions made the King in a wonderful admiration, and

[he] sent for the said Gilly Duncan, who upon the like trump did
play the said dance before the King's Majesty, who in respect of the
strangeness of these matters took great delight to be present at their

examinations.


194 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


Item, the said Agnes Sampson confessed that the Devil being
then at North Berwick Kirk, attending their coming in the habit
or likeness of a man, and seeing that they tarried overlong, he at
their coming enjoined them all to a pennance, which was, that they
should kiss his buttocks, in sign of duty to him: which being put
over the pulpit bar, everyone did as he had enjoined them. And hav­
ing made his ungodly exhortations, wherein he did greatly inveigh
against the King of Scotland, he received their oaths for their good
and true service towards him, and departed. Which done, they re­
turned to sea, and so home again.
At which time the witches demanded of the Devil why he did
bear such hatred to the King, who answered, by reason the King is
the greatest enemy he hath in the world: all which their confessions
and depositions are still extant upon record.
Item, the said Agnes Sampson confessed before the King's Maj­
esty various things which were so miraculous and strange, as that
his Majesty said they were all extreme liars, whereat she answered,
she would not wish his Majesty to suppose her words to be false, but
rather to believe them, in that she would discover such matter unto
him as his Majesty should not any way doubt of.
And thereupon taking his Majesty a little aside, she declared
unto him the very words which passed between the King's Majesty
and his Queen at Oslo in Norway the first night of their marriage, 17
with their answer each to other. Whereat the King's Majesty won­
dered greatly, and swore by the living God, that he believed that all
the devils in hell could not have discovered the same, acknowledging
her words to be most true, and therefore gave the more credit to the
rest which is before declared.
Touching this Agnes Sampson, she is the same woman who by
the Devil's persuasion should have intended and put in execution the
King Majesty's death, in this manner.
She confessed that she took a black toad, and did hang the same
up by the heels three days, and collected and gathered the venom


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 195


as it dropped and fell from it into an oyster shell, and kept the same
venom close covered, until she should obtain any part or piece of
fouled linen cloth, that had appertained to the King's Majesty, as
shirt, handkerchief, napkin, or any other thing, which she practiced
to obtain by means of one john Kers, who being attendant in his
Majesty's chamber, desired him for old acquaintance between them,
to help her to one or a piece of such a cloth as is aforesaid. Which
thing the said john Kers denied to help her to, saying he could not
help her to it.
And the said Agnes Sampson, by her dispositions since her
apprehension, said that if she had obtained any one piece of linen
cloth which the King had worn and fouled, she had bewitched him
to death, and put him to such extraordinary pains, as if he had been
lying upon sharp thorns and ends of needles.
Moreover, she confessed that at the time when his Majesty was
in Denmark, she being accompanied with the parties before specially
named, took a cat and christened it, 18 and afterward bound to each
part of that cat, the chiefest parts19 of a dead man, and several joints
of his body,20 and that in the night following, the said cat was conveyed
into the midst of the sea by all these witches sailing in their riddles or
sieves as is aforesaid, and so left the said cat right before the town of
Leith in Scotland. This done, there did arise such a tempest in the sea,
as a greater hath not been seen, which tempest was the cause of the
perishing of a boat or vessel coming over from the town of Burntis­
land to the town of Leith, wherein were many jewels and rich gifts,
which should have been presented to the new Queen of Scotland, at
her Majesty's coming to Leith.
Again it is confessed, that the said christened cat was the cause
that the King's Majesty's ship at his coming forth from Denmark had
a contrary wind to the rest of his ships, then being in his company,
which thing was most strange and true, as the King's Majesty
acknowledged, for when the rest of the ships had a fair and good
wind, then was the wind contrary and altogether against his Majesty.


196 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


And further the said witch declared, that his Majesty had never
come safely from the sea, if his faith had not prevailed above their
intentions.
Moreover, the said witches being demanded how the Devil
would use them when he was in their company, they confessed that
when the Devil did receive them for his servants, and that they had
vowed themselves unto him, then he would carnally use them, albeit
to their little pleasure, in respect of his cold nature:21 and would do
the like at various other times.
As touching the aforesaid Doctor Fian, alias John Cunningham,
the examination of his acts since his apprehension declares the great
subtlety of the Devil, and therefore makes things to appear the more
miraculous: for being apprehended by the accusation of the said
Gilly Duncan aforesaid, who confessed he was their Register,22 and
that there was not one man suffered to come to the Devil's readings
but only he,23 the said doctor was taken and imprisoned, and used
with the accustomed pain provided for those offenses, inflicted upon
the rest as is aforesaid.
First, by wringing of his head with a rope, whereat he would
confess nothing.
Secondly, he was persuaded by fair means to confess his follies,
but that would prevail as little.
Lastly, he was put to the most severe and cruel pain in the world,
called the boots, 24 which after he had received three strokes, being
enquired if he would confess his damnable acts and wicked life, his
tongue would not serve him to speak, in respect whereof the rest
of the witches willed to search his tongue, under which was found
two pins thrust up into the head, whereupon the witches did chant,
now is the charm stinted, and showed that those charmed pins were
the cause he could not confess anything. Then he was immediately
released of the boots, brought before the King, his confession was
taken, and his own hand willingly set thereunto, which contained as
follows.


N EWS I'IW M SCOTLA N D 197


Figure 1 6


First, that at the general meetings of those witches, he was al­

ways present; that he was clerk to all those that were in subjection to

the Devil's service, bearing the name of witches; that always he did

take their oaths for their true service to the Devil; and that he wrote

for them such matters as the Devil still pleased to command him.

Item, he confessed that by his witchcraft he did bewitch a gentle­

man dwelling near to the Saltpans, where the said doctor kept school,

only for being enamoured of a gentlewoman whom he loved himself,

by means of which his sorcery, witchcraft, and devilish practices, he

caused the said gentleman that once in twenty-four hours he fell into a

lunacy and madness, and so continued one whole hour together. And

for the proving of the same, he caused the gentleman to be brought

before the King's Majesty, which was upon the twenty-fourth day of

December last 2'

And being in his Majesty's chamber, suddenly he gave a great

screech and fell into a madness, sometimes bending himself, and

sometimes capering so directly up, that his head did touch the ceil­

ing of the chamber, to the great admiration of his Majesty and others


198 N EWS FROM SCOTLAND


then present, so that all the gentlemen in the chamber were not able
to hold him, until they called in more help, who together bound him
hand and foot. And suffering the said gentleman to lie still until his
fury was past, he within an hour came again to himself; when being
demanded of the King's Majesty what he saw or did all that while, an­
swered that he had been in a sound sleep.
Item, the said doctor did also confess that he had used means at
various times to obtain his purpose and wicked intent of the same
gentlewoman, and seeing himself disappointed of his intention, he
determined by all ways he might to obtain the same, trusting by
conjuring, witchcraft, and sorcery to obtain it in this manner.
It happened this gentlewoman being unmarried, had a brother
who went to school with the said doctor, who calling his scholar to
him, demanded if he did lie with his sister, who answered he did. By
means whereof he thought to obtain his purpose, and therefore se­
cretly promised to teach him without stripes, so he would obtain for
him three hairs of his sister's privates, at such time as he should spy
best occasion for it. Which the youth promised faithfully to perform,
and vowed speedily to put it in practice, taking a piece of conjured
paper of his master to wrap them in when he had gotten them. And
thereupon the boy practiced nightly to obtain his master's purpose,
especially when his sister was asleep.
But God, who knoweth the secrets of all hearts, and revealeth
all wicked and ungodly practices, would not suffer the intents of
this devilish doctor to come to that purpose which he supposed it
would, and therefore to declare that he was heavily offended with
his wicked intent, did so work by the gentlewoman's own means,
that in the end the same was discovered and brought to light. For
she being one night asleep, and her brother in bed with her, sud­
denly cried out to her mother, declaring that her brother would not
suffer her to sleep, whereupon her mother having a quick capacity,
did vehemently suspect Doctor Pian's intention, by reason she was a
witch of herself, and therefore presently arose, and was very inquisi­
tive of the boy to understand his intent, and the better to know the


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 199


same, did beat him with many stripes, whereby he discovered the
truth unto her.
The mother therefore being well practiced in witchcraft, did
think it most convenient to meet with the doctor in his own art, and
thereupon took the paper from the boy, wherein he should have put
the same hairs, and went to a young heifer which never had born
calf nor gone to the bull, and with a pair of shears, clipped off three
hairs from the udder of the cow, and wrapped them in the same
paper, which she again delivered to the boy, then willing him to give
the same to his said master, which he immediately did.
The schoolmaster so soon as he had received them, thinking
them indeed to be the maid's hairs, went straight and wrought
his art upon them. But the doctor had no sooner done his intent
to them, but presently the heifer or cow whose hairs they were in­
deed, came unto the door of the church wherein the school master
was, into which the heifer went, and made towards the schoolmas­
ter, leaping and dancing upon him, and following him forth of the
church and to what place soever he went, to the great admiration of
all the townsmen of Saltpans, and many others who did behold the
same.26
The report whereof made all men imagine that he did work it by
the Devil, without whom it could never have been so sufficiently ef­
fected. And thereupon, the name of the said Doctor Fian (who was
but a very young man) began to grow so common among the people
of Scotland, that he was secretly nominated for a notable conjurer.
All which although in the beginning he denied, and would not
confess, yet having felt the pain of the boots (and the charm stinted,
as aforesaid), he confessed all the aforesaid to be most true, without
producing any witnesses to justify the same, and thereupon before
the King's Majesty he subscribed the said confessions with his own
hand, which for truth remain upon record in Scotland.
After that the depositions and examinations of the said Doctor
Fian, alias Cunningham, were taken, as already is declared, with his


200 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


Figure 1 7


own hand willingly set thereunto, he was by the master of the prison

committed to ward, and appointed to a chamber by himself, where

foresaking his wicked ways, acknowledging his most ungodly life,

showing that he had too much followed the allurements and entice­

ments of Satan, and fondly practiced his conclusions by conjuring,

witchcraft, enchantment, sorcery, and such like, he renounced the

Devil and all his wicked works, vowed to lead the life of a Christian,

and seemed newly connected towards God.

The morrow after upon conference had with him, he granted

that the Devil had appeared unto him in the night before, appar­

eled all in black, with a white wand in his hand, and that the Devil

demanded of him if he would continue his faithful service, accord­

ing to his first oath and promise made to that effect. Whom (as he

then said) he utterly renounced to his face, and said unto him in this

manner, avoid Satan, avoid, for I have listened too much unto you,


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 201


and by the same you have undone me, in respect whereof I utterly

foresake you. To whom the Devil answered, that once before you
die you shall be mine. And with that (as he said) the Devil broke the
white wand, and immediately vanished forth of his sight.
Thus all the day this Doctor Fian continued very solitary, and
seemed to have care of his own soul, and would call upon God,
showing himself penitent for his wicked life. Nevertheless the same
night he found such means, that he stole the key of the prison door
and chamber in the which he was, which in the night he opened and
fled away to the salt pans, where he was always resident, and first
apprehended. Of whose sudden departure, when the King's Maj­
esty had intelligence, he presently commanded diligent inquiry to
be made for his apprehension, and for the better effecting thereof,
he sent public proclaimations into all parts of his land to the same
effect. By means of whose hot and hard pursuit, he was again taken
and brought to prison, and then being called before the King's High­
ness, he was reexamined as well touching his departure, as also
touching all that had before happened.
But this doctor, notwithstanding that his own confession ap­
peared remaining in the record under his own handwriting, and the
same thereunto fixed in the presence of the King's Majesty and sev­
eral of his Council, yet did he utterly deny the same.
Whereupon the King's Majesty perceiving his stubborn willful­
ness, conceived and imagined that in the time of his absence he had
entered into new conference and league with the Devil his Master,
and that he had been again newly marked, for the which he was nar­
rowly searched, but it could not in any way be found. Yet for more
trial of him to make him confess, he was commanded to have a most
strange torment, which was done in the manner following.
His nails upon all his fingers were riven and pulled off with an
instrument called in Scottish a turkas, which in England we call a
pair of pincers, and under every nail there was thrust in two needles
over even up to the heads. At all which torments notwithstanding


202 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


the doctor never shrank any wit, neither would he then confess it the
sooner for all the tortures inflicted upon him.
Then was he with all convenient speed, by commandment, con­
veyed again to the torment of the boots, wherein he continued a
long time, and did abide so many blows in them, that his legs were
crushed and beaten together as small as might be, and the bones and
flesh so bruised, that the blood and marrow spurted forth in great
abundance, whereby they were made unserviceable forever. And
notwithstanding all these grievous pains and cruel torments, he

would not confess anything, so deeply had the Devil entered into his
heart, that he utterly denied all that which he had before avouched,
and would say nothing thereupon but this, that what he had done
and said before, was only done and said for fear of pains which he
had endured.
Upon great consideration therefore taken by the King's Majesty
and his Council, as well for the due execution of justice upon such
detestable malefactors, as also for example's sake, to remain a terror
to all others hereafter, that shall attempt to deal in the like wicked
and ungodly actions, as witchcraft, sorcery, conjuration, and such

like, the said Doctor Fian was soon after araigned, condemned, and
adjudged by the law to die, and then to be burned according to the
law of that land, provided in that behalf. Whereupon he was put
into a cart, and being first strangled, he was immediately put into a
great fire, being ready provided for that purpose, and there burned
in the Castle Hill of Edinburgh on a Saturday in the end of January
last past, 1 59 1 .
The rest of the witches which are not yet executed, remain in
prison till further trial, and knowledge of his Majesty's pleasure.


This strange discourse before recited, may perhaps give some occasion
of doubt to such as shall happen to read the same, and thereby conjecture
that the King's Majesty would not hazard himself in the presence of such
notorious witches, lest thereby might have ensured great danger to his per­
son and the general state of the land, which thing in truth might well have


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 203


been feared. But to answer generally to such, let this suffice: that first it is
well-known that the King is the child and servant of God, and they but ser­
vants to the Devil; he is the Lord's annointed, and they but vessels of God's
wrath; he is a true Christian, and trusts in God, they worse than infidels,
for they only trust in the Devil, who daily serves them, till he has brought
them to utter destruction.
But hereby it seems that his Highness carried a magnanimous and un­
daunted mind, not frightened with their enchantments, but resolute in this,
that so long as God is with him, he ftars not who is against him. And truly
the whole scope of this treatise does so plainly lay open the wonderful provi­
dence of the Almighty, that if he had not been defended by his omnipotence
and power, his Highness had never returned alive in his voyage from Den­
mark, so that there is no doubt but God would as well defend him on the
land as on the sea, where they pretended their damnable practice.


FINIS


Figure 1 8


204 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


NOTES ON NE WS FROM SCO TL A ND


Note 1 : The principal accused witches in the affair were four: Agnes
Sampson, john Fian, Effie McCalyan, and Barbara Napier. All
were tortured, tried, and sentenced to death in 1 59 1 . By the ex­
traordianry efforts of her family and friends, Barbara Napier
avoided the fire. Agnes Sampson was strangled at the stake and
her body burned on Castle Hill in Edinburgh, the usual manner
and place of execution for convicted witches. Effie McCalyan was
sentenced to be burned alive, perhaps because she refused to im­
plicate the Earl of Bothwell, but at the end she was afforded the
mercy of strangulation before being consumed by the fire. john
Fian faced unimaginably severe tortures, which he withstood as
bravely as any man could have done, and maintaining his inno­
cence to the end was executed by strangulation and burning. Not
one of the witches was burned alive.
Other key figures were Gilly Duncan, Richard Graham, Rob­
ert Grierson, and Francis, Earl of Bothwell. Gilly Duncan was
tried but does not appear to have been executed. Her life may
have been spared in return for her accusations of witchcraft
against her friends and neighbors, and her public repentence.
Robert Grierson died in prison on April 1 5, 1 59 1, probably as a
result of the severity of his torture, although it is possible he took
his own life. Richard Graham was executed in the usual fashion
on February 29, 1 592, on Castle Hill. Bothwell was tried on Au­
gust 10, 1 593, but was acquitted by a jury of his peers. However,
he found it prudent to change his residence from Scotland to
Italy.
Lesser figures executed included Marion Ersche, Margaret
Downey, Christian Todd, Begie Todd, Gilbert McGillis, john Mc­
Gillis (Gilbert's son), john Gordon (known as Graymeal), Kather­
ine Gray, Isabel Grierson, and Meg Dun.
Among those that went through the legal process were Don­
ald Robinson, Meg Begton, Margaret Aicheson, Charles Watt,


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 205


Masie Aicheson, Anne Richardson, Thomas Fian, Janet Straton,
Margaret Thomson, Catherine Duncan, Janet Gall, Annie Nairn,
janet Logan, Thomas Cockburn, Marion Ranking, Catherine
McGillis, Bessie Cowan, Marion Congilton, Helen Lauder, Isabel
Lauder, Duncan Buchanan, Marion Nicholson, Annie Simson,
janet Nicholson, !so bel Gylor, Bessie Wright, Marion Shaw, janet
Campbell, Bessie Brown, Marion Longniddry, Malie Geddie,
Helen White, Katherine Muirhead, Christian Carrington, janet
Drummond, Archie Farquhar, Janet Fairley, Bessie Thomson,
Marion Peterson, Alexander Whitelaw, Marion Bailzy, Catherine
Wallace, Ninian Chirnside, porter's wife of Seaton (unnamed),
Thomas Brounhill and his wife, John Ramsey's wife (unnamed),
George Matt's wife (unnamed), and Nichol Murray's wife (un­
named). A number of the accused managed to escape and flee
to England, causing james to send the deputy-baliff of Tranent,
David Seaton, who knew them all by sight, in pursuit. At least
one of these witches was returned to Scotland by the English au­
thorities for additional torture, and named additional names.
Some of the names of those accused of witchcraft in the con­
fessions of the witches, extracted from them by torture, are Mar­
ion Linkup, Michael Clark, John Sibbet, Janet Duncan, George
Matt, Meg Stillcart, Agnes Stratton, john Cooper, Bessie Gwlene,
Archie Henill's wife (unnamed), Sir Robert Bowes (the English
ambassador), David Nesbitt, and Arran Lord Farneyer.
The spellings of the names of those involved in the affair are
hopelessly corrupt in the documents of the period, and undoubt­
edly there are instances when the same individual is mentioned
under two different names as a result of this confusion. The
most prominent instance in News From Scotland is where Agnes
Sampson is referred to in several places as Agnes Tompson. I have
corrected this duplication where it is unambiguous, and have at­
tempted to modernize the names when a modern equivalent is


206 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


obvious. Margaret Thomson and Bessie Thomson may be the
same person.
The total numbers of persons executed, imprisoned, or tor­
tured in the North Berwick affair are not known with certainty.
According to the testimony of some of the accused, the num­
ber of witches supposed to be present at their conventions, or
sabbats, ranged from around seventy to two hundred, but those
actually named were fewer in number. Margaret Murray, act­
ing under the questonable assumption that there was organized
witchcraft going on, put the number of witches at thirty-nine,
or three covens of thirteen. This number seems arbitrary and is
inaccurate, and in any case groups of witches did not always con­
tain thirteen members. An examination of the names shows that
family members were often accused together, husband and wife,
sister and sister, mother and daughter, father and son. The scale
of the human tragedy is considerably larger than what is con­
firmed in the printed records.


Note 2: David Seaton was not only instrumental in initiating the
North Berwick witch affair, which he did when he questioned his
maid, but must have been involved throughout the entire process
of identifying and arresting the accused. We can make this sur­
mise because, after a number of the accused fled to England at
the beginning of Feburary, 1 59 1, James was willing to pay Seaton
to hunt them down and bring them back. The King prepared let­
ters of introduction for Seaton to the English nobles Sir John Fos­
ter, Sir Henry Woddrington, and Sir John Selby, instructing them
to give Seaton every possible help in apprehending and confining
the fugitives until they could be safely conveyed back to Scotland
for trial. Seaton was also mentioned in the testimony of Agnes
Sampson, who confessed that she had tried and failed to end
Seaton's life with witchcraft. John Pian was accused of opening
locks by magic in Seaton's house at Tranent, and also at the house
of Seaton's mother.


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 207


Note 3 : Tranent is a small town about ten miles east of Edinburgh.


Note 4: The pilliwinks was an instrument of torture similar to the
thumbscrews, with which pressure was applied to the ends of the
fingers by means of a screw to cause pain. Those who endured
this type of torture reported that the blood would spurt from
under the fingernails. By subjecting his maid to torture, Seaton
was acting completely outside the authority of the law. However,
at the end of the sixteenth century, it was common for the master
of a household to physically discipline not only the members of
his own family, but his servants as well. Seaton may have justified
his actions on these grounds, although he greatly overstepped the
bounds of custom.


Note 5 : This torture, called "thrawing" in the Scottish dialect, in­
volved tightening a binding around the head by twisting a stick
through it, in a manner similar to that of a tourniquet. In this way
strong pressure could be applied to the skull.


Note 6: 'Agnes Tompson" may merely be a misreading of the name
'Agnes Sampson."


Note 7: Saltpans, sometimes referred to as the salt pans or Saltpres­
ton, seems to be the place presently known as Prestonpans, lo­
cated in East Lothian on the south shore of the Firth of Forth,
about two miles northwest of Tranent.


Note 8: Euphemia, or Effie, McCalyan, the daughter of Lord Clif­
tonhall, was arraigned on June 9, 1 59 1 . She was the wife of Pat­
rick Moscrop, a wealthy man, and was defended at her trial by six
lawyers, but James was determined to see her dead, and dismissed
the foreman of the jury in order to procure a verdict of guilty.
Her trial lasted from June 9 to June 1 3, a much longer period than
the usual trial of the time, thanks to the exhaustive efforts of her
lawyers, who "pleaded so subtillie for her, that the assise could not
be resolved befo<66>e the l Yh of June." [Sh] e was condemned to be
burned alive, an extreme sentence usually only given to witches


208 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


who refused to confess, or who confessed and then recanted
their confession. Effie maintained her innocence throughout her
ordeal.
James himself took an active part in directing her torture. He
wrote to John Maitland, who was overseeing the interrogation:
"Let Effie McCalyan see the stoop two or three days, and upon
the sudden stay her in hope of a confession." The stoop was the
wooden post to which the condemned was bound. It had to be
set in the ground at each execution by a woodwright, who was
paid ten shillings for the job. It seems that James hoped that by
showing her the stake that would be used at her burning, she
would break down and confess. The Earl of Bothwell and his
supporters were quite nervous that she would accuse Bothwell,
who was her friend, and hoped that her execution would proceed
swiftly, as a way of closing her mouth. This does not necessar­
ily imply any guilt on Bothwell's part, merely a concern that a
woman would not be able to withstand torture as well as a man,
and might say anything to relieve the pain. As it happened, they
need not have worried, since she endured her ordeal with great
courage and loyalty to Bothwell.
Accounts of her execution indicate that she was strangled
before being burned on Castle Hill on June 25, 1 59 1, though no
reason is given as to why the severity of her sentence was miti­
gated. In her statement to the crowd at her execution, she "tooke
it upon her conscience that she was innocent of all the crymes
laid to her charge." The long delay between her sentencing and
death was the result of an assertion by Effie, after the verdict was
read against her, that she was pregnant. Since the unborn child of
a convicted criminal was considered to be innocent, execution of
a pregnant woman was delayed until after the birth of the baby.


Note 9: Barbara Napier, the sister-in-law of the Laird of Carschog­
gill, was convicted by a jury on May 8, 1 59 1, for consulting with
witches, specifically Richard Graham and Agnes Sampson. The


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 209


other more serious charges against her, chief among them that
she had attempted to kill the King with a "picture of wax," that
she had caused a ferryboat to sink between Leith and Kinghorn,
resulting in the loss of sixty lives, and that she was responsible for
the death of the Earl of Angus, were dismissed by the jury. The
partial acquittal was accomplished by packing the jury box with
her friends. The English ambassador Sir Robert Bowes wrote in
a letter to Lord Burghley: "By the counsel assigned to her, and by
her challenges and shifts, she both put off the gentlemen returned
to have been of her assize, in whose places others of this town­
where she has many kinsfolk and friends of good credit-were
received, and also continued the matter in debate until two of the
clock in this morning, before the jury or assize-as they term it­
could be chosen and charged."
Although they found her guilty of consultation with witches,
no judgement was pronounced against her. As Bowes put it, she
was at "the King's pleasure." Obviously the king was not pleased.
She was sentenced to be strangled and burned on Castle Hill on
May 1 1, but on that day, when the stake had been erected and
piled all around with flammable materials ready for the torch,
and the townsfolk had gathered to watch the show, her friends
announced that she could not be put to death because she was
pregnant.
James was beside himself with rage. He instructed John Mai­
tland: "Try by the mediciners whether Barbara Napier be with
child or not. Take no delaying answer. If you find she be not, to
the fire with her presently, and cause bowel her publically." To
bowel someone (Bowes spelled it 'bouell") is to disembowel that
person. James wanted her strangled at the stake, and her belly cut
open to prove to the crowd that she had not been with child. He
was determined not to allow this clever and able woman whom,
as he believed, had made an attempt on not only his own life,


210 N EWS FROM SCOTLAND


but the life of his young queen, to escape the fire through legal
trickery.
While Barbara's pregnancy was being examined, her friends
were working hard in the background on her behalf. Because the
act of Parliament against simple consultation with a witch had
not actually been put into execution, it was decided that a death
sentence was too harsh a punishment for her crime. James be­
came convinced that her acquittal of the more serious charges,
including the charge of high treason for attempting to end his
life, was a plot against him intended to frustrate his will in the
matter. He was particularly upset that the men he had hand­
picked to be a part of the trial had been excluded through legal
maneuvering. Clerics in Edinburgh began to criticize his lack of
action publically from the pulpit.
On May 26, James had the jury members charged with an
assize of error. Bowes wrote to Burghley, "The assize of error
to reverse the verdict given in favor of Barbara Napier is pro­
claimed. The assizers are commanded to be here two days before
their appearance in court, that the King may speak with them.
Thus to reverse the verdict is lawful, but a great novelty, not hith­
erto practised." The speech James delivered to the jury on June

7, 1 59 1, is his famous Tolbooth speech, the relevent portions of
which are reproduced in Appendix C. James caused the court to
be reassembled and ordered that Barbara Napier be strangled,
burned, and her property forfeited to him. The original jury was
then itself tried on the charge of acquitting a witch.
Although it would have seemed that Barbara Napier's fate
was sealed by the extraordinary machinations of the King against
her, there is no record of her execution. After a passage of time,
her prosecution was quietly dropped without ever being re­
solved. This is difficult to explain. Perhaps she actually was preg­
nant, having had the foresight to put herself in this condition
just prior to her trial. That would have bought her some time,


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 211


almost a year. James may have allowed himself to be persuaded

by his advisors that he was walking on thin ice, legally, and that

it would be prudent to allow the matter to fade away. However
it happened, her "many kinsfolk and friends of good credit" pre­

vailed in her behalf, and she was the only one of the four princi­
pals in the North Berwick affair who was not burned.


Note 10: Agnes Sampson, known locally as the Wise Wife of Keith,

was described by a contemporary as being "a woman not of the

base and ignorant sort of witches, but matron-like, grave and
settled in her answers, which were all to some purpose" (Spot­
tiswoode, History of the Church of Scotland, Vol. II, pages 41 1-412).

Her skills as both a midwife and a healer were held in high regard

in Edinburgh and the surrounding towns. There can be little ques­
tion that she relied upon magic practices and the occult virtues of
herbs and stones for her cures. Many of the charges against her in­

volved accurate diagnoses of diseases, and cures by occult means.

One technique she used was to take the disease of the sick person

onto herself, then, after suffering with it until the morning, cast it
off onto a dog or cat.
She was also an accomplished seer. She kept a large black

dog named Elva that may have served as the host for her famil­

iar spirit, and used the dog for purposes of divination. A certain

amount of theatrics must have been employed to impress on­
lookers. She would ask the dog questions, and the dog would an­

swer her. The dog was summoned with the magic word "hola,"

which appears in several places in the North Berwick testimonies.

It was her practice to diagnose whether or not an individual
would recover from sickness by reciting a prayer. If she stopped
speaking once before the prayer was done, it was a sign that

the sick person was bewitched, but if she stopped twice, it was

a sure sign that the person would die. Sometimes when asked
to come and heal, she would refuse after saying the prayer, on


212 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


the grounds that there was nothing she could do, the person was
going to die in any case.
When first accused of witchcraft, she denied all charges. Her
torture was extreme. A the hair was shaved off from every part
of her body, and she was pricked for the witch mark, a not only
painful but humiliating experience. The mark was found on her

vulva. A witch's bridle was placed on her head, an instrument of
iron that pressed four sharp spikes into her mouth to prevent her
from muttering or chanting magic charms. She was "thrawed"

like Gilly Duncan and John Fian, and deprived of sleep for a pro­

longed period. Finally, her proud spirit broke and she began to
implicate others, and to offer fantastic details of evil works and
plots against the king. The list of charges made against her at her
trial of January 27, 1 59 1, is longer than that of any other accused.

Robert Bowes wrote to Lord Burghley that of the one hundred
and two charges that were brought against her, she confessed to
fifty-eight. The sentence read against her was that she "be taken
to the Castle of Edinburgh, and there bound to a stake and stran­
gled until she was dead, and thereafter her body to be burned

to ashes." The records do not show a date of execution, but it
was probably no more than a few days following her conviction.
At the stake she apologized for causing the death of the Earl of
Douglas with a small figure of yellow wax.


Note 1 1 : There was a belief that witches travelled across the sea

using sieves for boats. A riddle is a coarse-screened sieve for sepa­
rating chaff from grain. The witches related that while they were
crossing the sea, and making merry with wine, they could see

the Devil going before them over the waves, looking in the dis­

tance somewhat like a large rolling haystack (Scot, Demonology and
Witchcraft, page 302). Agnes Sampson confessed that they went
across the water in a boat shaped like a chimney, and that the
Devil resembed a hayrick. It is tempting to think that when asked

about these matters by her interrogators, she responded with the


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 213


most absurd things that popped into her head, with the expecta­

tion that they were so silly they would not be believed. Instead
they were solemnly pronounced against her at her trial.

Note 12: The transcript of the questioning of Agnes Sampson puts
the number in the church on All Hallow's Eve at around ninety
women and six men, not two hundred women. According to Bar­
bara Napier, there were "seven score" present, or around 1 40 per­
sons.


Note 1 3 : "Kirk" is a Scottish term for a church.


Note 14: "Jew's trump" was the earlier name for the instrument
known as the "Jew's harp." It consists of a metal frame with a flex­
ible steel tongue. The frame is held between the teeth while the
steel tongue is struck with the finger, and the twanging tone is
varied by enlarging or diminishing the cavity of the mouth.


Note 1 5 : The great sabbat meeting at North Berwick Kirk is one of
the most notorious in all the records of the witch trials. It is sup­
posed to have happened on Halloween in the year 1 590, and if it
was indeed a real event, probably took place around midnight­
in her testimony concerning a previous solitary meeting with the
Devil at the North Berwick Kirk, Agnes Sampson stated that it
occured at eleven o'clock. North Berwick is located on a headland
on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, and the towns of
Tranent, Edinburgh, and Leith are ranged to the west along the
same side of this body of water, although Tranent is somewhat
inland. Saltpans, presently known as Prestonpans, is located about
two miles from Tranent on the coast. On that memorable night
the witches stood or sat in their sieves and were borne, some of
them as much as fifteen miles, over the sea along the southern
shore of the Firth of Forth in an easterly direction, laughing, call­
ing out to each other, and drinking wine, while the Devil in the
form of a tumbling vortex went before them on top of the waves
to lead the way.


214 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


When they landed next to the church, they all held hands
and danced a reel on the green, singing "Comer, go you before,
comer go you, if you will not go before, comer let me," as Gilly
Duncan played on her Jew's harp to provide the music. Barbara
Napier led the dance up and down the longest dimension of the
kirkyard. The six male witches whirled themselves around nine
times widdershins, or counterclockwise, with, according to the
testimony of Agnes Sampson, John Pian leading the ring, his face
covered or muffled with cloth. The far more numerous female
witches twirled about six times in the same direction, widder­
shins. In magic, turning widdershins is usually done for works of
evil. Doctor Pian blew his breath into the keyhole of the lock on

the front doors of the church, causing the lock to spring open.
The church was illuminated inside with black candles that
burned with a strange blue light. In the pulpit the Devil awaited
them, dressed in the clothing of an ordinary man. He was de­
scribed as a 'black man" by Doctor Pian, although this may have
meant only that he was clothed all in black garments. If this ex­
traordinary meeting ever took place, it is likely that the man play­
ing the part of the Devil had his face obscured in some manner,
as did John Pian, to conceal his identity. The Devil was exceed­
ingly annoyed at their late arrival, and ordered as a penance and a
sign of their continuing loyalty that they kiss his buttocks, which
he exposed by dropping his hose and extending his ass over the
rail of the pulpit. One by one the witches filed up and kissed his
backside before seating themselves for the meeting.
The purpose of the gathering was to work black magic
against King james and cause his death. This was to be done
using a wax image of the king that had previously been given
to the Devil by Agnes Sampson for the Devil to bewitch. How­
ever, the Devil had neglected to bring the prepared image with
him, which caused a good deal of irritation among his congrega­
tion. I will quote from the partial transcript of the accusations


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 2!5


against Barbara Napier presented by Margaret A. Murray. I have

modernized the text, since the original is quite difficult to read
because of the archaic spelling .


And the Devil stood up in the pulpit like a great black

man, having a black book in his hand, and called on every one

of them, desiring them all to be good servants to him, and he

should be a good master to them. Robert Grierson and john

Fian stood on his left hand; and the said Robert found great

fault with the Devil and cried out, that all witches were worried

greatly here, because his Highness' picture was not given them,

as was promised: the said Effie McCalyan remembered and bid

the said Robert Grierson to inquire for the picture, meaning

his Majesty's picture, which should have been roasted. Robert

Grierson said these words: "Where is the thing you promised?"

Meaning the picture of wax, devised for roasting and undoing

his Highness' person, which Agnes Sampson gave to him; and

Robert cried to "have the turn done"; yet his Highness' name

was not named, until they that were women named him; crav­

ing in plain terms his Highness' picture . But he answered, "It

should be gotten the next meeting; and he would hold the next

assembly for that cause the sooner: it was not ready at that

time . " Robert Grierson answered, "You promised to us, and

false it was." And four forthright women were very earnest and

insistent to have it. And the said Barbara and Effie McCalyan got

then a promise of the Devil, that his Highness' picture should

be gotten to them two, and that right soon: and this matter of

his Highness' picture was the cause of that assembly. (Murray,

Witch-cult in Western Europe, page 55)

Much of the account of the meeting at North Berwick Kirk,
and probably the whole of it, is fantasy. However, there is a plau­
sibility about the homely details of the event that makes it dif­
ficult not to suspect that it may have had some basis in reality.
It is scarcely to be believed that the witches would have stood
up in the church and berated the Devil for being late with the


216 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


king's portrait, but that they might treat a man representing the
Devil in this way, who was dressed in a black costume with his
face masked or darkened with burnt cork, especially if they were
drunk on wine, is more likely.


Note 1 6: The Devil of the witches' sabbat is so often described as a
man, who is sometimes masked, rather than as some sort of fan­
tastic monster, that Margaret Murray offered the opinion that he
was always a human being: "The evidence of the witches makes
it abundantly clear that the so-called Devil was a human being,
generally a man, occasionally a woman" (Murray, Witch-cult in
Western Europe, page 3 1 ).
Montague Summers identified the devil personage in the kirk
as Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, who wished to kill James in
order to open his own claim to the throne. Bothwell was men­
tioned by name in the testimony of Agnes Sampson, who de­
clared that she had constructed a wax figure of the king to be
melted and consumed in the fire "at the instance of a noble man

Francis Erle Bodowell" (Summers, Geography of Witchcraft, page

223). Summers pointed out that when Bothwell was living in
Naples in 1 6 1 0, he had the reputation of an accomplished necro­
mancer. It was also the conviction of Margaret Murray that the
devil of North Berwick Kirk was the Earl of Bothwell. She made
this identification on the assumption that where there is a plot to
murder, there must be motive, and Bothwell had the best reason
of anyone to wish to see James dead.
This sort of speculation is entertaining but should not be
given too much weight since it is unsupported by any hard evi­
dence. We have no way of knowing if there ever was a collec­
tive meeting of witches presided over by a man wearing a devil's
costume, much less that the man was Bothwell. It cannot be em­
phasized too often that the testimony extracted under torture is
worthless, and no other evidence exists for Bothwell as the leader
of the North Berwick witches.


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 217


Note 17: james and Anne romantically came together in Oslo after
Anne's ship sprang a leak on the voyage to Scotland and was
driven into the Norwegian port by bad weather, and James sailed
north to meet her.


Note 1 8: The purpose for christening the cat was to transfer the
identity of the intended victim into the cat, so that whatever was
done to the cat would also, by magical sympathy, be done to the
victim. Presumably it was christened in the name of Kingjames.


Note 1 9 : The "chiefest parts" of a man are probably his genitals.
They symbolize the life force or vitality.


Note 20: The knucklebones from the fingers or toes of a corpse.
Knucklebones have a long history in magic as an instrument of
divination. They are cast in a way similar to dice.


Note 2 1 : The explanation james might give for the coldness of the
Devil's member is that the Devil caused a corpse to be animated
for the purpose of intercourse with the witches. If the witches'
conventions actually occurred, and the lover in the kirk was a
man rather than a demon, the coldness might be explained in a
more natural way as the result of the employment of a dildo to
penetrate the witches, something that would likely be required
due to the sheer number of witches that must be coupled with.


Note 22: john Fian was said to have acted as the clerk or recorder at
the witch gatherings. Being a schoolteacher, he was the natural
choice for this office. One of the woodcuts accompanying News
From Scotland shows Fian seated at a desk with a pen in his left
hand (the sinister side of the body), writing upon a sheet of paper,
or perhaps into a records book.


Note 23: This statement is in disagreement with the testimony of
Agnes Sampson, who confessed that six men were present at the
North Berwick church during the Halloween gathering.


Note 24: The boot was a popular device of torture because it proved
so effective in extracting confessions. A heavy wooden frame was


218 NEWS FROM SCOTLAND


Figure 1 9


bound around the lower leg and foot of a seated victim, and large
wooden wedges were driven into the frame with a mallet in such
a way that its inner sides were forced together, crushing the foot,
ankle, and shin. We know this was the type of boot employed
against the witches since the records speak of specific numbers
of blows administered-that is, blows of the hammer upon the
wedges. Those who survived this form of interrogation were often
crippled for life. It is reported that no form of torture generated
greater agony than the boot.


NEWS FROM SCOTLAND 219


Note 25: Christmas Eve, 1 590.james and his courtiers seem to have
regarded the entire affair of the witches as something of a recre­

ational activity. This mentally ill man was brought to the King's

bedchamber to provide the same sort of Christmas entertainment
that might have been afforded by an acrobat or a juggler.


Note 26: This story is very old, and is related in a slightly different

form in the Golden Ass of Lucius Apuleius. Any educated man of

the late sixteenth century would know that it had been derived
from this classic second-century Roman work. The novelist Sir
Walter Scott, in his examination of the North Berwick witch tri­
als, assumed that it had been injected into News From Scotland by
its editor William Wright to enliven the content: "It is remarkable
that the Scottish witchcrafts were not thought sufficiently hor­
rible by the editor of this tract, without adding to them the story
of a philtre being applied to a cow's hair instead of that of the

young woman for whom it was designed, and telling how the ani­
mal came lowing after the sorcerer to his schoolroom-door, like a
second Pasiphae, the original of which charm occurs in the story
of Apuleius" (Scott, Demonology and Witchcraft, page 30 1 ) .


### A PPE N DI X A
#### Original text of Daemonologie

DAEMONOLOGIE, IN FORME
of a Dialogue,
Diuided into three Bookes.


EDINBVRGH
Printed by Robert Walde-graue
Printer to the Kings Majestie. An. 1 597.
Cum Privilegio Regio.


THE PRE FACE


to the Reader.


THE ftare.full aboundinge at this time in this countrie, of these detestable
slaues of the Deuill, the Witches or enchaunters, hath moved me (beloued
reader) to dispatch in post, this following treatise of mine, not in any wise
(as I protest) to serue for a shew of my learning & ingine, but onely (mo­
oued of conscience) to preasse I thereby, so farre as I can, to resolue the
doubting harts of many; both that such a aultes of Sathan are most certainly
practized, & that the instrumentes thereof, merits most severly to be pun­
ished: against the damnable opinions of two principally in our age, wherof
the one called SCOT an Englishman, is not ashamed in publike print to deny,


22!


222 APPENDIX A


that ther can be such a thing as Witch-craft: and so mainteines the old error
of the Sadducees, in denying of spirits. The other called VVIERVS, a Ger­
man Phisition, sets out a publick apologie for al these craftesfolkes, whereby,
procuring for their impunitie, he plainely bewrayes himselfe to haue bene
one of that profession. And for to make this treatise the more pleasaunt
and facill, I haue put it in forme of a Dialogue, which I haue diuided into
three bookes: The first spea-1 king of Magie in general, and Necroman­
cie in special. The second of Sorcerie and Witch-craft: and the thirde, con­
teines a discourse of all these kindes of spirits, & Spectres that appeares &
trobles persones: together with a conclusion of the whol work. My intention
in this labour, is only to proue two things, as I haue alreadie said: the one,
that such diuelish artes haue bene and are. The other, what exact trial and
seuere punishment they merite: & therefore reason I, what kinde of things
are possible to be peiformed in these arts, & by what natural! causes they
may be, not that I touch every particular thing of the Deuils power, for that
were infinite: but onelie, to speak scholasticklie, (since this can not bee spo­
ken in our language) I reason vpon genus leauing species, and differen­
tia to be comprehended therein. I As for example, speaking of the power of
Magiciens, in the first book & sixt Chapter: I say, that they can suddenly
cause be brought vnto them, all kindes of daintie disshes, by their familiar
spirit: Since as a thiefe he delightes to steale, and as a spirite, he can subtil­
lie & suddenlie inough transport the same. Now vnder this genus, may be
comprehended al particulars, depending thereupon; Such as the bringing
Wine out of a Wall, (as we haue heard oft to haue bene practised) and such
others; which particulars, are sufficientlie proved by the reasons of the gen­
eral. And such like in the second booke of Witch-craft in speciall, and fift
Chap. I say and proue by diuerse arguments, that Witches can, by the power
of their Master, cure or cast on disseases: Now by these same reasones, that
proues their power by the/Deuil of disseases in general!, is aswell proued
their power in speciall: as of weakening the nature of some men, to make
them vnable for women: and making it to abound in others, more then the
ordinary course of nature would permit. And such like in all other particu­
lar sicknesses; But one thing I will pray thee to obserue in all these places,
where I reason vpon the deuils power, which is the diferent ends & scopes,


APPENDIX A 223


that God as the first cause, and the Devill as his instrument and second

cause shootes at in all these actiones of the Deuil, (as Gods hang-man:) For
where the deuilles intention in them is euer to perish, either the soule or the
body, or both of them, that he is so permitted to deale with: God by the con­
trarie, drawes euer out of that euill glorie to himselfe, either by the wracke
of the wicked in his justice, or !by the tryall of the patient, and amendment
of the faithfoll, being wakened vp with that rod of correction. Hauing thus
declared vnto thee then, my full intention in this Treatise, thou wilt ease­
lie excuse, I doubt not, aswel my pretermitting, to declare the whole par­
ticular rites and secretes of these vnlawfoll artes: as also their infinite and
wounderfull practises, as being neither of them pertinent to my purpose:
the reason whereof, is giuen in the hinder ende of the first Chapter of the
thirde booke: and who likes to be curious in these thinges, he may reade, if
he will here of their practises, BODINVS D.rmonomanie, collected with
greater diligence, then written with judgement, together with their confes­
sions, that haue bene at this time apprehened. If he would know what hath
bene the opinion of the Aunci-1 entes, concerning their power: he shall see it
wel descrybed by HYPERIVS, & HEMMINGIVS, two, late Germaine writ­
ers: Besides innumerable other neoterick Theologues, that writes largelie
vpon that subject: And if he woulde knowe what are the particuler rites, &
curiosities of these black arts (which is both vnnecessarie and perilous,) he
will finde it in the fourth book of CORNELIVS Agrippa, and in VVIERVS,
whomof I spak. And so wishing my pains in this Treatise (beloued Reader)
to be effictual, in arming al them that reades the same, against these aboue
mentioned erroures, and recommending my good will to thy friendly accep­
tation, I bid thee hartely fare-well.
JAMES Rx.


224 APPENDIX A


DAEMONOLOGIE, IN FOR ME of ane Dialogue


FIRST BOOKE.
ARGVMENT,
The exord of the whole. The description of Magie in special!.


CHAP. I. ARGVMENT.
Proven by the Scripture, that these vnlawfull artes in genere, have bene and
may be put in practise.


PHILOMATHES and EPISTEMON reason the matter.


PHILO M ATHES.


I AM surely verie glad to haue mette with you this daye, for I am of
opinion, that ye can better resolue me of some thing, wherof I stand
in great doubt, nor anie other whom-with I could haue mette.
EPI. In what I can, that ye like to speir at me, I will willinglie and
freelie tell my opinion, and if I proue it not sufficiently, I am heartely
content that a better reason carie it away then.
PHI. What thinke yee of these strange newes, which now one­
lie furnishes purpose to al men at their meeting: I meane of these
Witches?
EPI. Surelie they are wonderfull: And I think so cleare and plaine
confessions in that purpose, haue neuer fallen out in anie age or cun­
trey.
PHI. No question if they be true, but thereof the Doctours
doubtes.
EPI. What part of it doubt ye of?
PHI. Even of all, for ought I can yet perceaue: and namelie, that
there is such a thing as Witchcraft or Witches, and I would pray you
to resolue me thereof if ye may: for I haue reasoned with sundrie in
that matter, and yet could never be satisfied therein.
EPI. I shall with good will doe the best I can: But I thinke it the
difficiller, since ye denie the thing it selfe in generall: for as it is said


APPENDIX A 225


in the logick schools, Contra negantem principia non est disputandum.

Alwaies for that part, that witchcraft, and Witches haue bene, and
are, the former part is clearelie proved by the Scriptures, and the last
by dailie experience and confessions.
PHI. I know Yee will alleadge me Saules Pythonisse: but that as ap­
peares will not make much for you.
EPI. Not onlie that place, but divers others: But I marvel why
that should not make much for me?
PHI. The reasones are these, first yee may consider, that Saul
being troubled in spirit, [marginal gloss: I Sam.28] and having fasted
long before, as the text testifieth, and being come to a woman that
was bruted to have such knowledge, and that to inquire so impor­
tant news, he having so guiltie a conscience for his hainous offences,
and specially, for that same vnlawful curiositie, and horrible defec­
tion: and then the woman crying out vpon the suddaine in great
admiration, for the vncouth sicht that she alledged to haue sene,
discovering him to be the King, thogh disguysed, & denied by him
before: it was no wounder I say, that his senses being thus distracted,
he could not perceaue hir faining of hir voice, hee being himselfe in
an other chalmer, and seeing nothing. Next what could be, or was
raised? The spirit of Samuel? Prophane and against all Theologie: the
Diuell in his likenes? as vnappeirant, that either God would permit
him to come in the shape of his Saintes (for then could neuer the
Prophets in those daies haue bene sure, what Spirit spake to them in
their visiones) or then that he could fore-tell what was to come there
after; for Prophecie proceedeth onelie of GOD: and the Devill hath
no knowledge of things to come.
EPI. Yet if yee will marke the wordes of the text, ye will finde
clearely, that Saul saw that apparition: for giving you that Saul
was in an other Chalmer, at the making of the circles & conjura­
tiones, needeful for that purpose (as none of that craft will permit
any vthers to behold at that time) yet it is evident by the text, that
how sane that once that vnclean spirit was fully risen, shee called in


226 APPENDIX A


vpon Saul. For it is saide in the text, that Saule knew him to be Samuel,
which coulde not haue bene, by the hearing tell onely of an olde
man with an mantil, since there was many mo old men dead in Is­
rael nor Samuel: And the common weid of that whole Cuntrey was
mantils. As to the next, that it was not the spirit of Samuel, I grant:
In the proving whereof ye neede not to insist, since all Christians
of whatso-ever Religion agrees vpon that: and none but either mere
ignorants, or Necromanciers or Witches doubtes thereof. And that
the Diuel is permitted at sam-times to put himself in the liknes of
the Saintes, it is plaine in the Scriptures, [marginal gloss: 2. Cor. 1 1 . 14.]
where it is said, that Sathan can transjorme himselfe into an Angell of
light. Neither could that bring any inconvenient with the visiones
of the Prophets, since it is most certaine, that God will not permit

him so to deceiue his own: but only such, as first wilfully deceiues
them-selves, by running vnto him, whome God then suffers to fall
in their owne snares, and justlie permittes them to be illuded with
great efficacy of deceit, because they would not beleeue the trueth
(as Paul sayth). And as to the diuelles foretelling of things to come,
it is true that he knowes not all things future, but yet that he knowes
parte, the Tragicall event of this historie declares it, (which the wit
of woman could never haue fore-spoken) not that he hath any pre­
science, which is only proper to God: or yet knows anie thing by

loking vpon God, as in a mirrour (as the good Angels doe) he being
for euer debarred from the fauorable presence & countenance of
his creator, but only by one of these two meanes, either as being
worldlie wise, and taught by an continuall experience, ever since the
creation, judges by likelie-hood of thinges to come, according to the
like that hath passed before, and the naturall causes, in respect of
the vicissitude of all thinges; worldly: Or else by Gods employing
of him in a turne, and so foreseene thereof: as appeares to haue bin
in this, whereof we finde the verie like in Micheas propheticque dis­
course to King Achab. [marginal gloss: I.King.22.] But to prooue this
my first proposition, that there can be such a thing as witch-craft, &


APPENDIX A 227


witches, there are manie mo places in the Scriptures then this (as I
said before). As first in the law of God, it is plainely prohibited: [mar­
ginal gloss: Exod.22.] But certaine it is, that the Law of God speakes
nothing in vaine, nether doth it lay curses, or injoyne punishmentes
vpon shaddowes, condemning that to be il, which is not in essence
or being as we call it. Secondlie it is plaine, where wicked Pharaohs
wise-men imitated ane number of Moses miracles, to harden the ty­
rants heart there by. [marginal gloss: Exod. 7 & 8.] Thirdly, said not
Samuel! to Saul!, that disobedience is as the sinne of Witch-craft? [mar­
ginal gloss: I.Sam. 15.] To compare to a thing that were not, it were
too too absurd. Fourthlie, was not Simon Magus, a man of that craft?

[marginal gloss: Acts.8.] And fiftlie, what was she that had the spirit
of Python? [marginal gloss: Acts 1 6] beside innumerable other places
that were irkesom to recite.


CHAP. II. ARGV


What kyndie of sin the practizers of these vnlawfo.ll artes committes.
The division of these artes. And quhat are the meanes
that allures any to practize them.


PHILOMATHES.


BVT I thinke it very strange, that God should permit anie man­
kynde (since they beare his owne Image) to fall in so grosse and
filthie a defection.
EPI. Although man in his Creation was made to the Image of the
Creator, [marginal gloss: Gen. l.] yet through his fall having once lost
it, it is but restored againe in a part by grace onelie to the elect: So all
the rest falling away from God, are given over in the handes of the
Devill that enemie, to beare his Image: and being once so given over,
the greatest and the grossest impietie, is the pleasantest, and most
delytefull vnto them.


228 APPENDIX A


PHI. But may it not suffice him to haue indirectly the rule, and
procure the perdition of so manie soules by alluring them to vices,
and to the following of their own appetites, suppose he abuse not so
many simple soules, in making them directlie acknowledge him for
their maister.
EPI. No surelie, for hee vses everie man, whom of he hath the
rule, according to their complexion and knowledge: And so whome
he findes most simple, he plaineliest discovers himselfe vnto them.
For hee beeing the enemie of mans Salvation, vses al the meanes he
can to entrappe them so farre in his snares, as it may be vnable to
them thereafter (suppose they would) to rid themselues out of the
same.
PHI. Then this sinne is a sinne against the holie Ghost.
EPI. It is in some, but not in all.
PHI. How that? Are not all these that runnes directlie to the Dev­
ill in one Categorie.
EPI. God forbid, for the sin against the holie Ghost hath two
branches: The one a falling backe from the whole service of GOD,
and a refusall of all his preceptes. The other is the doing of the first
with knowledge, knowing that they doe wrong against their own
conscience, and the testimonie of the holie Spirit, having once had
a tast of the sweetnes of Gods mercies. [marginal gloss: Heb.6.10.]
Now in the first of these two, all sortes of Necromancers, Enchant­
ers or Witches, ar comprehended: but in the last, none but such as
erres with this knowledge that I haue spoken of.
PHI. Then it appeares that there are more sortes nor one, that
are directlie professors of his service: and if so be, I pray you tell me
how manie, and what are they?
EPI. There are principallie two sortes, wherevnto all the partes of
that vnhappie arte are redacted; whereof the one is called Magie or
Necromancie, the other Sorcerie or Witch-craft.
PHI. What I pray you? and how manie are the meanes, whereby
the Devill allures persones in anie of these snares?


APPENDIX A 229


EPI. Even by these three passiones that are within our selues:

Curiositie in great ingines: thrist of revenge, for some tortes deeply
apprehended: or greedie appetite of geare, caused through great
pouerty. As to the first of these, Curiosity, it is onelie the inticement
of Magiciens, or Necromanciers: and the other two are the allureres
of the Sorcerers, or Witches, for that olde and craftie Serpent, being
a spirite, hee easilie spyes our affections, and so conformes himselfe
thereto, to deceaue vs to our wracke.


CHAP III ARGV


The significations and Etymologies of the words of Magie and
Necromancie . The dierence betuixt Necromancie and Witch-craft:
What are the entressis, and beginninges, that brings anie
to the knowledge thereof


PHILO M ATHES.


I Would gladlie first heare, what thing is it that ye call Magie or Nec­
romancie.
EPI. This worde Magie in the Persian toung, importes as muche
as to be ane contemplator or Interpretour of Divine and heavenlie
sciences: which being first vsed amongs the Chaldees, through their
ignorance of the true divinitie, was esteemed and reputed amongst
them, as a principall vertue: And therefore, was named vnjustlie
with an honorable stile, which name the Greekes imitated, generally
importing all these kindes of vnlawfull artes. And this word Nec­
romancie is a Greek word, compounded of NEKpwv & IJ.UV"tEta,
which is to say, the Prophecie by the dead. This last name is given, to
this black & vnlawfull science by the figure Synedoche, because it is a
principal part of that art, to serue them selues with dead carcages in
their diuinations.
PHI. What difference is there betwixt this arte, and Witch -craft.


230 APPENDIX A


EPI. Surelie, the difference vulgare put betwixt them, is verrie
merrie, and in a maner true; for they say, that the Witches ar ser­
vantes onelie, and slaues to the Devil; but the Necromanciers are his
maisters and commanders.
PHI. How can that be true, yt any men being specially adicted to
his service, can be his comanders?
EPI. Yea, they may be: but it is onelie secundum quid: For it is not
by anie power that they can haue over him, but ex pacto allanerlie:
whereby he oblices himself in some trifles to them, that he may on
the other part obteine the fruition of their body & soule, which is
the onlie thing he huntes for.
PHI. An verie in-<2D>quitable contract forsooth: But I pray you dis­
course vnto mee, what is the effect and secreets of that arte?

EPI. That is over large an fielde ye giue mee: yet I shall doe good­
will, the most summarlie that I can, to runne through the principal
points thereof. As there are two sorts of folkes, that may be entysed
to this arte, to wit, learned or vnlearned: so is there two meanes,
which are the first steerers vp & feeders of their curiositie, thereby
to make them to giue themselves over to the same: Which two
meanes, I call the Divels schoole, and his rudimentes. The learned
haue their curiositie wakened v e; and fedde by that which I call his
schoole: this is the Astrologie judiciar. For divers men having attained
to a great perfection in learning, & yet remaining overbare (alas)
of the spirit of regeneration and frutes thereof: finding all naturall
thinges common, aswell to the stupide pedants as vnto them, they
assaie to vendicate vnto them a greater name, by not onlie knowing
the course of things heavenlie, but likewise to dim to the knowledge
of things to come thereby. Which, at the first face appearing lawfull
vnto them, in respect the ground therof seemeth to proceed of natu­
rall causes onelie: they are so allured thereby, that finding their prac­
tize to prooue true in sundry things, they studie to know the cause
thereof: and so mounting from degree to degree, vpon the slipperie
and vncertaine scale of curiositie; they are at last entised, that where


APPENDIX A 231


lawfull artes or sciences failes, to satisfie their restles mindes, even to
seeke to that black and vnlawfull science of Magie. Where, finding
at the first, that such diuers formes of circles & conjurations right­
lie joyned thereunto, will raise such divers formes of spirites, to res­
olue them of their doubts: and attributing the doing thereof, to the
power inseparablie tyed, or inherent in the circles: and manie words
of God, confusedlie wrapped in; they blindlie glorie of themselves,
as if they had by their quicknes of ingine, made a conquest of Plutoes
dominion, and were become Emperours over the Stygian habitacles.
Where, in the meane time (miserable wretches) they are become in
verie deede, bond-slaues to their mortall enemie: and their knowl­
edge, for all that they presume thereof, is nothing increased, except
in knowing evill, and the horrors of Hell for punishment thereof, as
Adams was [marginal gloss: Gen. 3.] by the eating of the forbidden
tree.


CHAP. IIII. ARGV.


The Description of the Rudiments and Schoole, which are the
entresses to the arte of Magie: And in speciall the di.rences betwixt
Astronomie and Astrologie: Diuision of Astrologie in diuers partes.


PHILOMATHE S .


BVt I pray you likewise forget not to tell what are the Deuilles rudi­
mentes.
EPI. His rudimentes, I call first in generall, all that which is called
vulgarly the vertue of worde, herbe, & stone: which is vsed by vn­
lawful charmes, without naturall causes. As likewise all kinde of
practicques, freites, or other like extraordinarie actiones, which can­
not abide the true toutche of naturall reason.
PHI. I would haue you to make that playner, by some particular
examples; for your proposition is verie generall.


232 APPENDIX A


EPI. I meane either by such kinde of Charmes as commonlie
dafte wiues vses, for healing of forspoken goodes, for preseruing
them from euill eyes, by knitting roun-trees, or sundriest kinde of
herbes, to the haire or tailes of the goodes: By curing the Worme, by
stemming of blood, by healing of Horse-crookes, by turning of the
riddle, or doing of such like innumerable things by wordes, without
applying anie thing, meete to the part offended, as Mediciners doe;
Or else by staying maried folkes, to haue naturallie adoe with other,
(by knitting so manie knottes vpon a poynt at the time of their mar­
iage) And such-like things, which men vses to practise in their mer­
rinesse: For fra vnlearned men (being naturallie curious, and lacking
the true knowledge of God) findes these practises to prooue true, as
sundrie of them will doe, by the power of the Devill for deceauing
men, and not by anie inherent vertue in these vaine wordes and fre­
ites; & being desirous to winne a reputation to themselues in such­
like turnes, they either (if they be of the shamefaster sorte) seeke to
bee learned by some that are experimented in that Arte, (not know­
ing it to be euill at the first) or else being of the grosser sorte, runnes
directlie to the Deuill for ambition or desire of gaine, and plainelie
contractes with him thereupon.

PHI. But me thinkes these meanes which yee call the Schoole
and rudimentes of the Deuill, are thinges lawfull, and haue bene ap­
prooued for such in all times and ages: As in special, this science of
Astrologie, which is one of the speciall members of the Mathemat­
icques.

EPI. There are two thinges which the learned haue obserued
from the beginning, in the science of the Heauenlie Creatures, the
Planets, Starres, and such like: The one is their course and ordinary
motiones, which for that cause is called Astronomia: Which word is
a compound of YOI-.LOs & acrn:pwv that is to say, the law of the
Starres: And this arte indeed is one of the members of the Mathemat ­
icques, & not onelie lawful, but most necessarie and commendable.
The other is called Astrologia, being compounded of acr-rEpwv &


APPENDIX A 233


'Aoyo(, which is to say, the word, and preaching of the starres: Which
is deuided in two partes: The first by knowing thereby the powers of
simples, and sickenesses, the course of the seasons and the weather,
being ruled by their influence; which part depending vpon the for­
mer, although it be not of it selfe a parte of Mathematicques: yet it is
not vnlawful, being moderatlie vsed, suppose not so necessarie and
commendable as the former. The second part is to truste so much
to their influences, as thereby to fore-tell what common-weales shall
florish or decay: what, persones shall be fortunate or vnfortunate:
what side shall winne in anie battell: What man shall obteine victo­
rie at singular combate: What way, and of what age shall men die:
What horse shall winne at matche-running; and diuerse such like
incredible things, wherein Cardanus, Cornelius Agrippa, and diuerse
others haue more curiouslie then profitably written at large. Of
this roote last spoken of, springs innumerable branches; such as
the knowledge by the natiuities; the Cheiromancie, Geomantie, Hy­
dromantie, Arithmantie, Physiognomic: & a thousand others: which
were much practised, & holden in great reuerence by the Gentles of
olde. And this last part of Astrologie whereof I haue spoken, which
is the root of their branches, was called by them pars fortuna?. This
parte now is vtterlie vnlawful to be trusted in, or practized amongst
christians, as leaning to no ground of natural reason: & it is this part
which I called before the deuils schole.
PHI. But yet manie of the learned are of the contrarie opinion.
EPI. I grant, yet I could giue my reasons to fortifie & maintaine
my opinion, if to enter into this disputation it wold not draw me
quite off the ground of our discours; besides the mis-spending of
the whole daie thereupon: One word onely I will answer to them, &
that in the Scriptures (which must be an infallible ground to all true
Christians) That in the Prophet Ieremie [marginal gloss: Ierem. 1 0.] it
is plainelie forbidden, to beleeue or hearken vnto them that Prophe­
cies & fore-speakes by the course of the Planets & Starres.


234 APPENDIX A


CHAP. V. ARGV.


How farre the vsing of Charmes is lawfull or vnlawfull:
The description of the formes of Circkles and Coniurationes.
And what causeth the Magicianes themselues to wearie thereof


PHILOMATHES.


WEL, Ye haue said far inough in that argument. But how prooue ye
now that these charmes or vnnaturall practicques are vnlawfull: For
so, many honest & merrie men & women haue publicklie practized
some of them, that I thinke if ye would accuse them al of Witch­
craft, ye would affirme more nor ye wi be beleeued in.
EPI. I see if you had taken good tent (to the nature of that word,
whereby I named it,) ye would not haue bene in this doubt, nor mis­
taken me, so farre as ye haue done: For although, as none can be
schollers in a schole, & not be subject to the master thereof: so none
can studie and put in practize (for studie the alone, and knowledge,
is more perilous nor offensiue; and it is the practise only that makes
the greatnes of the offence.) The cirkles and art of Magie, without
committing an horrible defection from God: And yet as they that
reades and learnes their rudiments, are not the more subject to anie
schoole-master, if it please not their parentes to put them to the
schoole thereafter; So they who ignorantly proues these practicques,
which I cal the deuilles rudiments, vnknowing them to be baites,
casten out by him, for trapping such as God will permit to fall in
his hands: This kinde of folkes I saie, no doubt, ar to be judged the
best of, in respect they vse no invocation nor help of him (by their
knowledge at least) in these turnes, and so haue neuer entred them­
selues in Sathans seruice; Yet to speake truely for my owne part (I
speake but for my selfe) I desire not to make so neere riding: For in
my opinion our enemie is ouer craftie, and we ouer weake (except
the greater grace of God) to assay such hazards, wherein he preases
to trap vs.


APPENDIX A 235


PHI. Ye haue reason forsooth; for as the common Prouerbe saith:
They that suppe keile with the Deuill, haue neede of long spoones.
But now I praie you goe forwarde in the describing of this arte of
Magie.
EPI. Fra they bee come once vnto this perfection in euill, in hau­
ing any knowledge (whether learned or vnlearned) of this black art:
they then beginne to be wearie of the raising of their Maister, by
conjured circkles; being both so difficile and perilous, and so com­
meth plainelie to a contract with him, wherein is speciallie conteined
formes and effectes.
PHI. But I praye you or euer you goe further, discourse me
some-what of their circkles and conjurationes; And what should be
the cause of their wearying thereof: For it should seeme that that
forme should be !esse fearefull yet, than the direct haunting and soci­
etie, with that foule and vncleane Spirite.
EPI. I thinke ye take me to be a Witch my selfe, or at the least
would faine sweare your selfe prentise to that craft: Alwaies as I may,
I shall shortlie satisfie you, in that kinde of conjurations, which are
conteined in such bookes, which I call the Deuilles Schoole: There
are foure principall partes; the persons of the conjurers; the action
of the conjuration; the wordes and rites vsed to that effect; and
the Spirites that are conjured. Ye must first remember to laye the
ground, that I tould you before: which is, that it is no power inherent
in the circles, or in the holines of the names of God blasphemou­
slie vsed: nor in whatsoeuer rites or ceremonies at that time vsed,
that either can raise any infernall spirit, or yet limitat him perforce
within or without these circles. For it is he onelie, the father of all
lyes, who hauing first of all prescribed that forme of doing, fein­
ing himselfe to he commanded & restreined thereby, wil be loath
to passe the boundes of these injunctiones; aswell thereby to make
them glory in the impiring ouer him (as I saide before:) As likewise
to make himselfe so to be trusted in these little thinges, that he may
haue the better commoditie thereafter, to deceiue them in the end


236 APPENDIX A


with a tricke once for all; I meane the euerlasting perdition of their
soul & body. Then laying this ground, as I haue said, these conju­
rationes must haue few or mo in number of the persones conjur­
ers (alwaies passing the singuler number) according to the qualitie
of the circle, and forme of apparition. Two principall thinges can­
not well in that errand be wanted: holie-water (whereby the Deuill
mockes the Papistes) and some present of a liuing thing vnto him.
There ar likewise certaine seasons, dayes and houres, that they ob­
serue in this purpose: These things being all readie, and prepared,
circles are made triangular, quadrangular, round, double or single,
according to the forme of apparition that they craue. But to speake
of the diuerse formes of the circles, of the innumerable characters
and crosses that are within and without, and out-through the same,
of the diuers formes of apparitiones, that that craftie spirit illudes
them with, and of all such particulars in that action, I remit it to
ouer-manie that haue busied their heades in describing of the same;
as being but curious, and altogether vnprofitable. And this farre one­
lie I touch, that when the conjured Spirit appeares, which will not be
while after manie circumstances, long praiers, and much muttring
and murmuring of the conjurers; like a Papist priest, dispatching a
hunting Masse: how sone I say, he appeares, if they haue missed one
iote of all their rites; or if any of their feete once slyd ouer the circle
through terror of his feareful apparition, he payes himselfe at that
time in his owne hande, of that due debt which they ought him; and
other-wise would haue delayed longer to haue payed him: I meane
hee carries them with him bodie and soule. If this be not now a just
cause to make them wearie of these formes of conjuration, I leaue it
to you to judge vpon; considering the long-somenesse of the labour,
the precise keeping of dayes and houres (as I haue said) The terrible­
nesse of apparition, and the present perrell that they stande in, in
missing the least circumstance or freite, that they ought to obserue:
And on the other parte, the Deuil is glad to mooue them to a plaine
and square dealing with him as I said before.


APPENDIX A 237


CHAP. VI ARGV.


The Deuilles contract with the Magicians: The diuision thereof in two
partes: What is the dirence betwixt Gods miracles and the Deuils.


PHILO MATHES.


INdeede there is cause inough, but rather to leaue him at all, then
to runne more plainlie to him, if they were wise he delt with. But
goe forwarde now I pray you to these turnes, fra they become once
deacons in this craft.
EPI. From time that they once plainelie begin to contract with
him: The effect of their contract consistes in two thinges; in formes
and effectes, as I be gan to tell alreadie, were it not yee interrupted
me (for although the contract be mutuall; I speake first of that part,
wherein the Deuill oblishes himselfe to them) by formes, I meane
in what shape or fashion he shall come vnto them, when they call
vpon him. And by effectes, I vnderstand, in what special sorts of se­
ruices he bindes himselfe to be subject vnto them. The qualitie of
these formes and effectes, is lesse or greater, according to the skil
and art of the Magician. For as to the formes, to some of the baser
sorte of them he oblishes him selfe to appeare at their calling vpon
him, by such a proper name which he shewes vnto them, either in
likenes of a dog, a Catte, an Ape, or such-like other beast; or else
to answere by a voyce onlie. The effects are to answere to such de­
mands, as concernes curing of disseases, their own particular me­
nagery: or such other base things as they require of him. But to the
most curious sorte, in the formes he will oblish himselfe, to enter in
a dead bodie, and there out of to giue such answers, of the euent
of battels, of maters concerning the estate of commonwelths, and
such like other great questions: yea, to some he will be a continu­
all attender, in forme of a Page: He will permit himselfe to be con­
jured, for the space of so many yeres, ether in a tablet or a ring, or
such like thing, which they may easely carrie about with them: He


238 APPENDIX A


giues them power to sel such wares to others, whereof some will
bee dearer, and some better cheape; according to the lying or true
speaking of the Spirit that is conjured therein. Not but that in verie
deede, all Devils must be lyars; but so they abuse the simplicitie of
these wretches, that becomes their schollers, that they make them
beleeue, that at the fall of Luciftr, some Spirites fell in the aire, some
in the fire, some in the water, some in the lande: In which Elemen­
tes they still remaine. Whereupon they build, that such as fell in the
fire, or in the aire, are truer then they, who fell in the water or in
the land, which is al but meare trattles, & forged be the author of
al deceit. For they fel not be weight, as a solide substance, to stick
in any one parte: But the principall part of their fal, consisting in
qualitie, by the falling from the grace of God wherein they were
created, they continued still thereafter, and shal do while the latter
daie, in wandring through the worlde, as Gods hang-men, to execute
such turnes as he employes them in. And when anie of them are
not occupyed in that, re-turne they must to their prison in hel (as it
is plaine in the miracle that CHRIST wrought at Gennezareth) [mar­
ginal gloss: Mat. 8.] therein at the latter daie to be all enclosed for
euer: and as they deceiue their schollers in this, so do they, in im­
printing in them the opinion that there are so manie Princes, Dukes,
and Kinges amongst them, euerie one commanding fewer or mo Le­
gions, and impyring in diuers artes, and quarters of the earth. For
though that I will not denie that there be a forme of ardour amongst
the Angels in Heauen, and consequentlie, was amongst them before
their fall; yet, either that they bruike the same sensine; or that God
will permit vs to know by damned Deuils, such heauenlie mysteries
of his, which he would not reueale to vs neither by Scripture nor
Prophets, I thinke no Christiane will once thinke it. But by the con­
trarie of all such mysteries, as he hath closed vp with his seale of se­
crecie; it becommeth vs to be contented with an humble ignorance,
they being thinges not necessarie for our saluation. But to returne
to the purpose, as these formes, wherein Sathan oblishes himselfe


APPENDIX A 239


to the greatest of the Magicians, are wounderfull curious; so are the
effectes correspondent vnto the same: For he will oblish himselfe to
teach them artes and sciences, which he may easelie doe, being so
learned a knaue as he is: To carrie them newes from anie parte of
the worlde, which the agilitie of a Spirite may easelie performe: to
reueale to them the secretes of anie persons, so being they bee once
spoken, for the thought none knowes but GOD; except so far as yee
may ghesse by their countenance, as one who is doubtleslie learned
inough in the Physiognomic: Yea, he will make his schollers to creepe
in credite with Princes, by fore-telling them manie greate thinges;
parte true, parte false: For if all were false, he would tyne credite
at all handes; but alwaies doubtsome, as his Oracles were. And he
will also make them to please Princes, by faire banquets and daintie
dishes, carryed in short space fra the farthest part of the worlde. For
no man doubts but he is a thiefe, and his agilitie (as I spake before)
makes him to come suche speede. Such-like, he will guard his schol­
lers with faire armies of horse-men and foote-men in appearance,
castles and fortes: Which all are but impressiones in the aire, easelie
gathered by a spirite, drawing so neare to that substance himselfe: As
in like maner he will learne them manie juglarie trickes at Cardes,
dice, & such like, to deceiue mennes senses thereby: and such in­
numerable false practicques; which are prouen by ouer-manie in this
age: As they who ar acquainted with that Italian called SCOTO yet
liuing, can repone. And yet are all these thinges but deluding of the
senses, and no waies true in substance, as were the false miracles
wrought by King Pharaoes Magicians, for counterfeiting Moyses: For
that is the difference betuixt Gods myracles and the Deuils, God
is a creator, what he makes appeare in miracle, it is so in effect. As
Moyses rod being casten downe, was no doubt turned in a natural
Serpent: where as the Deuill (as Gods Ape) counterfetting that by
his Magicians, maid their wandes to appeare so, onelie to mennes
outward senses: as kythed in effect by their being deuoured by the
other. For it is no wonder, that the Oeuill may delude our senses,


240 APPENDIX A


since we see by common proofe, that simple juglars will make an
hundreth thinges seeme both to our eies and eares otherwaies then
they are. Now as to the Magicians parte of the contract, it is in a
word that thing, which I said before, the Deuill hunts for in all men.
PHI. Surelie ye haue said much to me in this arte, if all that ye
haue said be as true as wounderfull.
EPI. For the trueth in these actiones, it will be easelie confirmed,
to anie that pleases to take paine vpon the reading of diuerse au­
thenticque histories, and the inquiring of daily experiences. And
as for the trueth of their possibilitie, that they may be, and in what
maner, I trust I haue alleaged nothing whereunto I haue not joyned
such probable reasons, as I leaue to your discretion, to waie and con­
sider: One word onlie I omitted; concerning the forme of making of
this contract, which is either written with the Magicians owne bloud:
or else being agreed vpon (in termes his schole-master) touches him
in some parte, though peraduenture no marke remaine: as it doth
with all Witches.


CH AP. VII. ARGV.


The reason why the art of Magie is vnlawfull. What punishment
they merite: And who may he accounted guiltie of that crime.


PHILOMATHES.


SVRELIE Ye haue made this arte to appeare verie monstruous &
detestable. But what I pray you shall be said to such as mainteines
this art to be lawfull, for as euill as you haue made it?
EPI. I say, they sauour of the panne them selues, or at least little
better, And yet I would be glad to heare their reasons.
PHI. There are two principallie, that euer I heard vsed; beside
that which is founded vpon the comon Prouerb (that the Necroman­
cers commands the Deuill, which ye haue already refuted) The one
is grounded vpon a receiued custome: The other vpon an authoritie,


APPENDIX A 241


which some thinkes infallible. Vpon custome, we see that diuerse
Christian Princes and Magistrates seuere punishers of Witches, will
not onelie ouer-see Magicians to liue within their dominions; but
euen some-times delight to see them prooue some of their prac­
ticques. The other reason is, that Moyses being brought vp (as it is
expreslie said in the Scriptures) in all the sciences of the AEgyptians;
whereof no doubt, this was one of the principalles. And he notwith­
standing of this arte, pleasing God, as he did, consequentlie that art
professed by so godlie a man, coulde not be vnlawfull.
EPI. As to the first of your reasones, grounded vpon custome: I
saie, an euill custome can neuer be accepted for a good law, for the
ouer great ignorance of the worde in some Princes and Magistrates,
and the contempt thereof in others, moues them to sinne heavelie
against their office in that poynt. As to the other reasone, which
seemes to be of greater weight, if it were formed in a Syllogisme; it
behooued to be in manie termes, and full of fallacies (to speake in
termes of Logicque) for first, that that generall proposition; affirm­
ing Moyses to be taught in all the sciences of the AEgyptians, should
conclude that he was taught in Magie, I see no necessity. For we must
vnderstand that the spirit of God there, speaking of sciences, vnder­
standes them that are lawfull; for except they be lawfull, they are
but abusiue called sciences, & are but ignorances indeede: Nam homo
pictus, non est homo. Secondlie, giuing that he had bene taught in it,
there is great difference, betwixt knowledge and practising of a thing
(as I said before) For God knoweth all thinges, being alwaies good,
and of our sinne & our infirmitie proceedeth our ignorance. Third­
lie, giuing that he had both studied and practised the same (which is
more nor monstruous to be beleeued by any Christian) yet we know
well inough, that before that euer the spirite of God began to call
Moyses, he was fled out of AEgypt, being fourtie yeares of age, for the
slaughter of an AEgyptian, and in his good-father Iethroes lande, first
called at the firie bushe, hauing remained there other fourtie yeares
in exile: so that suppose he had beene the wickeddest man in the


242 APPENDIX A


worlde before, he then became a changed and regenerat man, and
very litle of olde Moyses remained in him. Abraham was an Idolater
in Vr of Chalde£a, before he was called: And Paule being called Saule,
was a most sharp persecutor of the Saintes of God, while that name
was changed.
PHI. What punishment then thinke ye merites these Magicians
and Necromancers?
EPI. The like no doubt, that Sorcerers and Witches merites; and
rather so much greater, as their error proceedes of the greater
knowledge, and so drawes nerer to the sin against the holy Ghost.
And as I saye of them, so saye I the like of all such as consults, en­
quires, entertaines, & ouersees them, which is seene by the miser­
able endes of many that askes councell of them: For the Deuill hath
neuer better tydings to tell to any, then he tolde to Saule: neither is it
lawfull to vse so vnlawfull instrumentes, were it neuer for so good a
purpose: for that axiome in Theologie is most certaine and infallible:

[marginal gloss: Ast 3.] Nunquam faciendum est malum vt bonum inde
eueniat.


APPENDIX A 243


THE SECONDE BOOKE OF DJEMONOLOGIE


ARGVMENT.


The description of Sorcerie an Witch-craft in speciall.


CHAP. I. ARGV.


Proued by the Scripture, that such a thing can be:
And the reasones refuted of all such as would call it but an
imagination and Melancholicque humor.


PHILO M ATHES.


NOW Since yee haue satisfied me nowe so fullie, concerning Magie
or Necromancie I will pray you to do the like in Sorcerie or Witchcraft.

EPI. That fielde is likewise verie large: and althought in the
mouthes; and peones of manie, yet fewe knowes the trueth thereof,
so wei as they beleeue themselues, as I shall so shortely as I can,
make you (God willing) as easelie to perceiue.

PHI. But I pray you before ye goe further, let mee interrupt
you here with a shorte digression: which is, that manie can scarcely
beleeue that there is such a thing as Witch-craft. Whose reasons I
wil shortely alleage vnto you, that ye may satisfie me as well in that,
as ye haue done in the rest. For first, whereas the Scripture seemes
to prooue Witchcraft to be, by diuerse examples, and speciallie by
sundrie of the same, which ye haue alleaged, it is thought by some,
that these places speakes of Magicians and Necromancers onlie, & not
of Witches. As in special, these wise men of Pharaohs, that counter­
feited Moyses miracles, were Magicians say they, & not Witches: As
likewise that Pythonisse that Saul consulted with: And so was Simon
Magus in the new Testament, as that very stile importes. Second­
lie, where ye would oppone the dailie practicque, & confession of
so manie, that is thought likewise to be but verie melancholicque


244 APPENDIX A


imaginations of simple rauing creatures. Thirdly, if Witches had
such power of Witching of folkes to death, (as they say they haue)
there had bene none left aliue long sence in the world, but they: at
the least, no good or godlie person of whatsoeuer estate, coulde
haue escaped their deuilrie.
EPI. Your three reasons as I take, ar grounded the first of them
negative vpon the Scripture: The second affirmative vpon Physicke:
And the thirde vpon the certaine proofe of experience. As to your
first, it is most true indeede, that all these wise men of Pharaoh were
Magicians of art: As likewise it appeares wei that the Pythonisse, with
whom Saul consulted, was of that same profession: & so was Simon
Magus. But yee omitted to speake of the Lawe of God, wherein are

all Magicians, Diuines, Enchanters, Sorcerers, Witches, & whatsouer
of that kinde that consultes with the Deuill, plainelie prohibited, and
alike threatned against. And besides that, she who had the Spirite of
Python, in the Actes [marginal gloss: Act. 16.], whose Spirite was put
to silence by the Apostle, coulde be no other thing but a verie Sor­
cerer or Witch, if ye admit the vulgare distinction, to be in a maner
true, whereof I spake in the beginning of our conference. For that
spirit whereby she conquested such gaine to her Master, was not at
her raising or commanding, as she pleased to appoynt, but spake by
her toung, aswel publicklie, as priuatelie: Whereby she seemed to
draw nearer to the sort of Demoniakes or possessed, if that conjunc­
tion betwixt them, had not bene of her owne consent: as it appeared
by her, not being tormented therewith: And by her conquesting of
such gaine to her masters (as I haue alreadie said.) As to your sec­
ond reason grounded vpon Physick, in attributing their confessiones
or apprehensiones, to a naturall melancholicque humour: Anie that
pleases Physicallie to consider vpon the naturall humour of melan­
cholie, according to all the Physicians, that euer writ thereupon, they
sall finde that that will be ouer short a cloak to couer their knauery
with: For as the humor of Melancholie in the selfe is blacke, heauie
and terrene, so are the symptomes thereof, in any persons that are


APPENDIX A 245


subject therevnto, leannes, palenes, desire of solitude: and if they

come to the highest degree therof, mere folie and Manie: where as
by the contrarie, a great nomber of them that euer haue bene con­
vict or confessors of Witchcraft, as may be presently scene by manie
that haue at this time confessed: they are by the contrarie, I say,
some of them rich and worldly-wise, some of them fatte or corpu­
lent in their bodies, and most part of them altogether giuen ouer to
the pleasures of the flesh, continual haunting of companie, and all
kind of merrines, both lawfull and vnlawfull, which are thinges di­
rectly contrary to the symptomes of Melancholie, whereof I spake,
and further experience daylie proues how loath they are to confesse
without torture, which witnesseth their guiltines, where by the con­
trary, the Melancholicques neuer spares to bewray themselues, by
their continuall discourses, feeding therby their humor in that which
they thinke no crime. As to your third reason, it scarselie merites
an answere. For if the deuill their master were not bridled, as the
scriptures teacheth vs, suppose there were no men nor women to
be his instrumentes, he could finde waies inough without anie helpe
of others to wrack a! mankinde: wherevnto he employes his whole
study, and goeth about like a roaring Lyon (as PETER saith) to that ef­
fect, [marginal gloss: I.Pet.5.] but the limites of his power were set
down before the foundations of the world were laid, which he hath
not power in the least jote to transgresse. But beside all this, there
is ouer greate a certainty to proue that they are, by the daily experi­
ence of the harmes that they do, both to men, and whatsoeuer thing
men possesses, whome God will permit them to be the instrumen­
tes, so to trouble or visite, as in my discourse of that arte, yee shall
heare clearelie proued.


CHAP. II ARGV.


The Etymologie and signification of that word of Sorcerie. The first
entresse and prentishippe of them that giues themselues to that craft.


246 APPENDIX A


PHILOM ATHES.


Come on then I pray you, and returne where ye left.
EPI. This word of Sorcerie is a Latine worde, which is taken from
casting of the lot, & therefore he that vseth it, is called Sortiarius a
sorte. As to the word of Witchcraft, it is nothing but a proper name
giuen in our language. The cause wherefore they were called sor­
tiarij, proceeded of their practicques seeming to come of lot or
chance: Such as the turning of the riddle: the knowing of the forme
of prayers, or such like tokens: If a person diseased woulde liue or
dye. And in generall, that name was giuen them for vsing of such
charmes, and freites, as that Crafte teacheth them. Manie poynts of
their craft and practicques are common betuixt the Magicians and

them: for they serue both one Master, althought in diuerse fash­
ions. And as I deuided the Necromancers, into two sorts, learned and
vnlearned; so must I denie them in other two, riche and of better
accompt, poore and of basser degree. These two degrees now of
persones, that practises this craft, answers to the passions in them,
which (I told you before) the Deuil vsed as meanes to intyse them
to his seruice, for such of them as are in great miserie and pouertie,
he allures to follow him, by promising vnto them greate riches, and
worldlie commoditie. Such as though riche, yet burnes in a desperat
desire of reuenge, hee allures them by promises, to get their turne
satisfied to their hartes contentment. It is to be noted nowe, that
that olde and craftie enemie of ours, assailes none, though touched
with any of these two extremities, except he first finde an entresse
reddy for him, either by the great ignorance of the person he deales
with, ioyned with an euill life, or else by their carelesnes and con­
tempt of God: And finding them in an vtter despair, for one of these
two former causes that I haue spoken of; he prepares the way by
feeding them craftely in their humour, and filling them further and
further with despaire, while he finde the time proper to discouer
himself vnto them. At which time, either vpon their walking solita­
rie in the fieldes, or else lying pansing in their bed; but alwaies with

APPENDIX A 247


out the company of any other, he either by a voyce, or in likenesse
of a man inquires of them, what troubles them: and promiseth
them, a suddaine and certaine waie of remedie, vpon condition on
the other parte, that they follow his advise; and do such thinges as he
wil require of them: Their mindes being prepared before hand, as I
haue alreadie spoken, they easelie agreed vnto that demande of his:
And syne settes an other tryist, where they may meete againe. At
which time, before he proceede any further with them, he first per­
swades them to addict themselues to his seruice: which being easely
obteined, he then discouers what he is vnto them: makes them to
renunce their God and Baptisme directlie, and giues them his marke
vpon some secreit place of their bodie, which remaines soare vn­
healed, while his next meeting with them, and thereafter euer insen­
sible, how soeuer it be nipped or pricked by any, as is dailie proued,
to giue them a proofe thereby, that as in that doing, hee could hurte
and heale them; so all their ill and well doing thereafter, must de­
pende vpon him. And besides that, the intollerable dolour that they
feele in that place, where he hath marked them, serues to waken
them, and not to let them rest, while their next meeting againe: fear­
ing least otherwaies they might either forget him, being as new Pren­
tises, and not well inough founded yet, in that fiendlie follie: or else
remembring of that horrible promise they made him, at their last
meeting, they might skunner at the same, and preasse to call it back.
At their thirde meeting, he makes a shew to be carefull, to performe
his promises, either by teaching them waies howe to get themselues
reuenged, if they be of that sort: Or els by teaching them lessons,
how by moste vilde and vnlawfull meanes, they may obtaine gaine,
and worldlie commoditie, if they be of the other sorte.


CHAP. III. ARGV.


The Witches actiones diuided in two partes. The actiones proper to
their owne persones. Their actiones toward others. The forme of
their conuentiones, and adoring of their Master.


248 APPENDIX A


PHILOMATHES.


YE haue said now inough of their initiating in that ardour. It restes
then that ye discourse vpon their practises, fra they be passed Pren­
tises: for I would faine heare what is possible to them to performe in
verie deede. Although they serue a common Master with the Nec­

romancers, (as I haue before saide) yet serue they him in an other
forme. For as the meanes are diuerse, which allures them to these
vnlawfull artes of seruing of the Deuill; so by diuerse waies vse they
their practises, answering to these meanes, which first the Oeuill,
vsed as instrumentes in them; though al tending to one end: To wit,
the enlargeing of Sathans tyrannie, and crossing of the propaga­
tion of the Kingdome of CHRIST, so farre as lyeth in the possibili­
tie, either of the one or other sorte, or of the Deuill their Master.
For where the Magicians, as allured by curiositie, in the most parte
of their practises, seekes principallie the satisfying of the same, and
to winne to themselues a popular honoure and estimation: These
Witches on the other parte, being intised ether for the desire of
reuenge, or of worldly riches, their whole practises are either to
hurte men and their gudes, or what they possesse, for satisfying of
their cruell mindes in the former, or else by the wracke in quhat­
soeuer sorte, of anie whome God will permitte them to haue power
off, to satisfie their greedie desire in the last poynt.
EPI. In two partes their actiones may be diuided; the actiones
of their owne persones, and the actiones proceeding from them to­
wardes anie other. And this diuision being wei vnderstood, will eas­
ilie resolue you, what is possible to them to doe. For although all
that they confesse is no lie vpon their parte, yet doubtlesly in my
opinion, a part of it is not indeede, according as they take it to be:
And in this I meane by the actiones of their owne persones. For as
I said before, speaking of Magie that the Deuill illudes the senses of
these schollers of his, in manie thinges, so saye I the like of these
Witches.


APPENDIX A 249


PHI. Then I pray you, first to speake of that part of their owne
persons, and syne ye may come next to their actiones towardes
others.
EPI. To the effect that they may performe such seruices of their
false Master, as he employes them in, the deuill as Gods Ape, coun­
terfeites in his seruantes this seruice & forme of adoration, that God
prescribed and made his seruantes to practise. For as the seruants of
GOD, publicklie vses to conveene for seruing of him, so makes he
them in great numbers to conveene (though publickly they dare not)
for his seruice. As none conueenes to the adoration and worshipping
of God, except they be marked with his seale, the Sacrament of Bap­
tisme: So none serues Sathan, and conueenes to the adoring of him,
that are not marked with that marke, wherof I alredy spake. As the
Minister sent by God, teacheth plainely at the time of their publick
conuentions, how to serue him in spirit & truth: so that vncleane
spirite, in his owne person teacheth his Disciples, at the time of their
conueening, how to worke all kinde of mischiefe: And craues compt
of all their horrible and detestable proceedinges passed, for aduance­
ment of his seruice. Yea, that he may the more viuelie counterfeit and
scorne God, he oft times makes his slaues to conveene in these ver­
rie places, which are destinat and ordeined for the conveening of the
servantes of God (I meane by Churches) But this farre, which I haue
yet said, I not onelie take it to be true in their opiniones, but euen
so to be indeede. For the forme that he vsed in counterfeiting God
amongst the Gentiles, makes me so to thinke: As God spake by his Or­
acles, spake he not so by his? As GOD had aswell bloudie Sacrifices,
as others without bloud, had not he the like? As God had Churches
sanctified to his seruice, with Altars, Priests, Sacrifices, Ceremonies
and Prayers; had he not the like polluted to his seruice? As God gaue
responses by Vrim and Thummim, gaue he not his responses by the in­
tralls of beastes, by the singing of Fowles, and by their actiones in the
aire? As God by visiones, dreames, and extases reueiled what was to
come, and what was his will vnto his scruantes; vsed he not the like


250 APPENDIX A


meanes to forwarne his slaues of things to come? Yea, euen as God
loued cleannes, hated vice, and impuritie, & appoynted punishmen­
tes therefore: vsed he not the like (though falselie I grant, and but in
eschewing the lesse inconuenient, to draw them upon a greater) yet
dissimuled he not I say, so farre as to appoynt his Priestes to keepe
their bodies deane and vndefiled, before their asking responses of
him? And feyned he not God to be a protectour of euerie vertue, and a
iust reuenger of the contrarie? This reason then moues me, that as he
is that same Deui; and as craftie nowe as he was then; so wil hee not
spare a pertelie in these actiones that I haue spoken of, concerning the
witches persones: But further, Witches oft times confesses not only his
conueening in the Church with them, but his occupying of the Pulpit:
Yea, their forme of adoration, to be the kissing of his hinder partes.
Which though it seeme ridiculous, yet may it likewise be true, seeing
we reade that in Calicute, he appearing in forme of a Goate-bucke, hath
publicklie that vn-honest homage done vnto him, by euerie one of the
people: So ambitious is he, and greedie of honour (which procured
his fall) that he will euen imitate God in that parte, where it is said,
that Moyses could see but the hinder partes of God, for the brightnesse of
his glorie: [marginal gloss: Exo. 33] And yet that speache is spoken but

avSpwnwnaSEtav


CH AP. 1111. ARGV.


What are the waies possible, wherby the witches may transport
themselues to places far distant. And what ar impossible &mere
illusiones of Sathan. And the reasons therof


PHILO M ATHES.


BVt by what way say they or think ye it possible that they can com
to these vnlawful c6uenti6s?
EPI. There is the thing which I esteeme their senses to be de­
luded in, and though they lye not in confessing of it, because they


APPENDIX A 25 1


thinke it to be true, yet not to be so in substance or effect: for they

saie, that by diuerse meanes they may conueene, either to the ador­
ing of their Master, or to the putting in practise any seruice of his,
committed vnto their charge: one way is natural, which is natural
riding, going or sayling, at what houre their Master comes and adu­
ertises them. And this way may be easelie beleued: an other way is
some-what more strange: and yet is it possible to be true: which is
by being carryed by the force of the Spirite which is their conducter,
either aboue the earth or aboue the Sea swiftlie, to the place where
they are to meet: which I am perswaded to be likewaies possible, in
respect that as Habakkuk was carryed by the Angell in that forme, to
the denne where Daniell laie; [marginal gloss: Apocrypha of Bel and
the Dragon.] so thinke I, the Deuill will be reddie to imitate God, as
well in that as in other thinges: which is much more possible to him
to doe, being a Spirite, then to a mighty winde, being but a naturall
meteore, to transporte from one place to an other a solide bodie, as
is commonlie and dailie seene in practise: But in this violent forme
they cannot be carryed, but a shone boundes, agreeing with the
space that they may reteine their breath: for if it were longer, their
breath could not remaine vnextinguished, their bodie being carryed
in such a violent & forceable maner, as be example: If one fall off an
small height, his life is but in perrell, according to the harde or soft
lighting: But if one fall from an high and stay rocke, his breath wilbe
forceablie banished from the bodie, before he can win to the earth,
as is oft seen by experience. And in this transporting they say them­
selues, that they are inuisible to anie other, except amongst themse­
lues; which may also be possible in my opinion. For if the deuil may
forme what kinde of impressiones he pleases in the aire, as I haue
said before, speaking of Magie, why may he not far easilier thicken

& obscure so the air, that is next about them by contracting it strait
together, that the beames of any other mans eyes, cannot pearce
thorow the same, to see them? But the third way of their comming
to their conuentions, is, that where in I think them deluded: for


252 APPENDIX A


some of them sayeth, that being transformed in the likenesse of a
little beast or foule, they will come and pearce through whatsoeuer
house or Church, though all ordinarie passages be closed, by what­
soeuer open, the aire may enter in at. And some sayeth, that their
bodies lying stil as in an extasy, their spirits wil be rauished out of
their bodies, & caried to such places. And for verefying therof, wil
giue euident tokens, aswel by witnesses that haue seene their body
lying senseles in the meane time, as by naming persones, whomwith
they mette, and giuing tokens quhat purpose was amongst them,
whome otherwaies they could not haue knowen: for this forme of
journeing, they affirme to vse most, when they are transported from
one Countrie to another.
PHI. Surelie I long to heare your owne opinion of this: For they

are like old wiues trattles about the fire.
EPI. The reasons that moues me to thinke that these are meere
illusiones, ar these. First for them that are transformed in likenes of
beastes or foules, can enter through so narrow passages, although I
may easelie beleeue that the Deuill coulde by his woorkemanshippe
vpon the aire, make them appeare to be in such formes, either to
themselues or to others: Yet how he can contract a solide bodie within
so little roome, I thinke it is directlie contrarie to it selfe, for to be
made so little, and yet not diminished: To be so straitlie drawen to­
gether, and yet feele no paine; I thinke it is so contrarie to the qualitie
of a naturall bodie, and so like to the little transubstantiat god in the
Papistes Masse, that I can neuer beleeue it. So to haue a quantitie, is
so proper to a solide bodie, that as all Philosophers concludes, it can­
not be any more without one, then a spirite can haue one. For when
PETER came out of the prison, and the doores all locked: [marginal gloss:
Act. 12.] It was not by any contracting of his bodie in so little roome:
but by the giuing place of the dore, though vn-espyed by the Gaylors.
And yet is there no comparison, when this is done, betuixt the power
of God, and of the Deuill. As to their forme of extasie and spiritu­
all transporting, it is certaine the soules going out of the bodie, is the


APPENDIX A 253


onely difinition of naturall death: and who are once dead, God forbid
wee should thinke that it should lie in the power of all the Deuils in
Hell, to restore them to their life againe: Although he can put his owne
spirite in a dead bodie, which the Necromancers commonlie practise, as
yee haue harde. For that is the office properly belonging to God; and
besides that, the soule once parting from the bodie, cannot wander
anie longer in the worlde, but to the owne resting place must it goe
immediatlie, abiding the conjunction of the bodie againe, at the lat­
ter daie. And what CHRIST or the Prophets did miraculouslie in this
case, it cannot in no Christian mans opinion be maid common with
the Deuill. As for anie tokens that they giue for proouing of this, it is
verie possible to the Deuils craft, to perswade them to these meanes.
For he being a spirite, may hee: not so rauishe their thoughtes, and
dull their sences, that their bodie lying as dead, hee may object to their
spirites as it were in a dreame, & (as the Poets write of Morpheus) rep­
resente such formes of persones, of places, and other circumstances,
as he pleases to illude them with? Yea, that he maie deceiue them
with the greater efficacie, may hee not at that same instant, by fel­
low angelles of his, illude such other persones so in that same fashion,
whome with he makes them to beleeue that they mette; that all their
reportes and tokens, though seuerallie examined, may euerie one
agree with an other. And that whatsoeuer actiones, either in hurting
men or beasts: or whatsoeuer other thing that they falselie imagine, at
that time to haue done, may by himselfe or his marrowes, at that same
time be done indeede; so as if they would giue for a token of their
being rauished at the death of such a person within so shorte space
thereafter, whom they beleeue to haue poysoned, or witched at that
instante, might hee not at that same houre, haue smitten that same
person by the permission of GOD, to the farther deceiuing of them,
and to mooue others to beleeue them? And this is surelie the likeliest
way, and most according to reason, which my judgement can finde
out in this, and whatsoeuer vther vnnaturall poyntes of their confes­
sion. And by these meanes shall we saill surelie, betuixt Charybdis and


254 APPENDIX A


Scylla, in eschewing the not beleeuing of them altogether on the one
part, least that drawe vs to the errour that there is no Witches: and on
the other parte in beleeuing of it, make vs to eschew the falling into
innumerable absurdities, both monstruouslie against all Theologie di­
uine, and Philosophic humaine.


CHAP. V ARGV.


Witches actiones towardes others. Why there are more women of
that craft nor men? What thinges are possible to them to effictuate
by the power of their master. The reasons thereof What is the surest
remedie of the harmes done by them.


PHILOMATHES.


FOrsooth your opinion in this, seemes to carrie most reason with
it, and sence yee haue ended, then the actions belonging properly
to their owne persones: say forwarde now to their actiones vsed
towardes others.
EPI. In their actiones vsed towardes others, three thinges ought
to be considered: First the maner of their consulting thereupon:
Next their part as instrumentes: And last their masters parte, who
puts the same in execution. As to their consultationes thereupon,
they vse them oftest in the Churches, where they conveene for ador­
ing: at what time their master enquiring at them what they would
be at: euerie one of them propones vnto him, what wicked turne
they would haue done, either for obteining of riches, or for reueng­
ing them vpon anie whome they haue malice at: who granting their
demande, as no doubt willinglie he wil, since it is to doe euill, he
teacheth them the means, wherby they may do the same. As for lit­
tle trifling turnes that women haue ado with, he causeth them to
ioynt dead corpses, & to make powders thereof, mixing such other
thinges there amongst, as he giues vnto them.


APPENDIX A 255


PHI. But before yee goe further, permit mee I pray you to inter­
rupt you one worde, which yee haue put mee in memorie of, by
speaking of Women. What can be the cause that there are twentie
women giuen to that craft, where ther is one man?
EPI. The reason is easie, for as that sexe is frailer then man is, so
is it easier to be intrapped in these grosse snares of the Deuill, as was
ouer well proued to be true, by the Serpents deceiuing of Eua at the
beginning, which makes him the homelier with that sexe sensine.
PHI. Returne now where ye left.
EPI. To some others at these times hee teacheth, how to make
Pictures of waxe or clay: That by the rosting thereof, the persones;
that they beare the name of, may be continuallie melted or dryed
awaie by continuall sicknesse. To some hee giues such stones or
poulders, as will helpe to cure or cast on diseases: And to some he
teacheth kindes of vncouthe poysons, which Mediciners vnder­
standes not (for he is farre cunningner then man in the knowledge
of all the occult proprieties of nature) not that anie of these meanes
which hee teacheth them (except the poysons which are composed of
thinges naturall) can of them selues helpe any thing to these turnes,
that they are employed in, but onelie being Gods Ape, as well in that,
as in all other thinges. Even as God by his Sacramentes which are
earthlie of themselues workes a heavenlie effect, though no waies by
any cooperation in them: And as CHRIST by clay & spettle wrought
together, opened the eies of the blynd man, [marginal gloss: John. 9.] sup­
pose there was no vertue in that which he outwardlie applyed, so
the Deuill will haue his out-warde meanes to be shewes as it were
of his doing, which hath no part of cooperation in his turnes with
him, how farre that euer the ignorantes be abused in the contrarie.
And as to the effectes of these two former partes, to wit, the consul­
tationes and the outward meanes, they are so wounderfull as I dare
not allege anie of them, without ioyning a sufficient reason of the
possibilitie thereof. For leauing all the small trifles among wiues, and
to speake of the principall poyntes of their craft. For the common


256 APPENDIX A


trifles thereof, they can do without conuerting well inough by them­
selues: These principall poyntes I say are these: They can make men
or women to laue or hate other, which may be verie possible to the
Deuil to effectuat, seing he being a subtile spirite, knowes well in­
ough how to perswade the corrupted affection of them whom God
will permit him so to deale with: They can lay the siknesse of one
vpon an other, which likewise is verie possible vnto him: For since
by Gods permission, he layed siknesse vpon lOB, why may he not
farre easilier lay it vpon any other: For as an old practisian, he knowes
well inough what humor domines most in anie of vs, and as a spir­
ite hee can subtillie walken vp the same, making it peccant, or to
abounde, as he thinkes meete for troubling of vs, when God will so
permit him. And for the taking off of it, no doubt he will be glad to
reliue such of present paine, as he may thinke by these meanes to
perswade to bee catched in his euerlasting snares and fetters. They
can be-witch and take the life of men or women, by rosting of the
Pictures, as I spake of before, which likewise is verie possible to their
Master to performe, for although, (as I saide before) that instrumente
of waxe haue no vertue in that turne doing, yet may hee not verie
well euen by that same measure that his conjured slaues meltes that
waxe at the fire, may he not I say at these same times, subtilie as a
spirite so weaken and scatter the spirites of life of the patient, as may
make him on th' one part, for faintnesse to sweate out the humour of
his bodie: And on the other parte, for the not concurrence of these
spirites, which causes his digestion, so debilitat his stomak, that his
humour radicall continually, sweating out on the one parte, and no
new good suck being put in the place thereof, for lack of digestion on
the other, hee at last shall vanish awaie, euen as his picture will doe at
the fire. And that knauish and cunning woorkeman, by troubling him
onely at some times, makes a proportion so neare betuixt the woork­
ing of the one and the other, that both shall ende as it were at one
time. They can rayse stormes and tempestes in the aire, either vpon
Sea or land, though not vniuersally, but in such a particular place and


APPENDIX A 257


prescribed boundes, as God will permitte them so to trouble: Which
likewise is verie easie to be discerned from anie other naturall tem­
pestes that are meteores, in respect of the suddaine and violent rais­
ing thereof, together with the short induring of the same. And this is
likewise verie possible to their master to do, he hauing such affinitie
with the aire as being a spirite, and hauing such power of the forming
and moouing thereof, as ye haue heard me alreadie declare: For in the
Scripture, that stile of the Prince of the aire is giuen vnto him [marginal
gloss: Ephes. 2]. They can make folkes to becom phrenticque or Ma­
niacque, which likewise is very possible to their master to do, sence
they are but naturall sicknesses: and so he may lay on these kindes,
aswell as anie others. They can make spirites either to follow and
trouble persones, or haunt certaine houses, and affraie oftentimes the
inhabitantes: as hath bene knowen to be done by our Witches at this
time. And likewise they can make some to be possessed with spirites,

& so to becom verie D.emoniacques: and this last sorte is verie pos­
sible likewise to the Deuill their Master to do, since he may easilie
send his owne angells to trouble in what forme he pleases, any whom
God wil permit him so to vse.
PHI. But will God permit these wicked instrumentes by the
power of the Deuill their master, to trouble by anie of these meanes,
anie that beleeues in him?
EPI. No doubt, for there are three kinde of folkes whom God
will permit so to be tempted or troubled; the wicked for their hor­
rible sinnes, to punish them in the like measure; The godlie that are
sleeping in anie great sinnes or infirmities and weakenesse in faith,
to waken them vp the faster by such an vncouth forme: and euen
some of the best, that their patience may bee tryed before the world,
as lOBS was. For why may not God vse anie kinde of extraordinarie
punishment, when it pleases him; as well as the ordinarie roddes of
sicknesse or other aduersities.
PHI. Who then may he free from these Deuilish practises?


258 APPENDIX A


EPI. No man ought to presume so far as to promise anie impu­
nitie to himselfe: for God hath before all beginninges preordinated
aswell the particular sortes of Plagues as of benefites for euerie man,
which in the owne time he ordaines them to be visited with, & yet
ought we not to be the more affrayde for that, of any thing that the
Deuill and his wicked instrumentes can do against vs: For we dailie
fight against the Deuill in a hundreth other waies: And therefore as
a valiant Captaine, affraies no more being at the combat, nor stayes
from his purpose for the rummishing shot of a Cannon, nor the
small clack of a Pistolet: suppose he be not certaine what may light
vpon him; Euen so ought we boldlie to goe forwarde in fighting
against the Deuill without anie greater terrour, for these his rarest
weapons, nor for the ordinarie whereof wee haue daily the proofe.
PHI. Is it not lawfull then by the helpe of some other Witche to
cure the disease that is casten on by that craft?
EPI. No waies lawfull: For I gaue you the reason thereof in that
axiome of Theologie, which was the last wordes I spake of Magie.
PHI. How then may these diseases he lawfullie cured?
EPI. Onelie by earnest prayer to GOD, by amendement of their
liues, and by sharp persewing euerie one, according to his calling of
these instrumentes of Sathan, whose punishment to the death will be
a salutarie sacrifice for the patient. And this is not onely the lawfull
way, but likewise the most sure: For by the Deuils meanes, can neuer
the Deuill be casten out, as Christ sayeth. [marginal gloss: Mark. 3] And
when such a cure is vsed, it may wel serue for a shorte time, but at the
last, it will doubtleslie tend to the vtter perdition of the patient, both
in bodie and soule.


CHAP. VI. ARGV.


What sorte of folkes are least or most subiect to receiue harme by
Witchcraft. What power they haue to harme the Magistrate, and vpon
what respectes they haue any power in prison: And to what end may or
will the Deuill appeare to them therein. Vpon what respectes the Deuill
appeires in sundry shapes to sundry of them at any time.


APPENDIX A 259


PHILO MATHES.


BVt who dare take vpon him to punish them, if no man can be sure
to be free from their vnnaturall inuasiones?

EPI. We ought not the more of that restraine from vertue, that
the way wherby we climbe thereunto be straight and perrilous. But
besides that, as there is no kinde of persones so subject to receiue
harme of them, as these that are of infirme and weake faith (which
is the best buckler against such inuasiones:) so haue they so smal
power ouer none) as ouer such as zealouslie and earnestlie persewes
them, without sparing for anie worldlie respect.
PHI. Then they are like the Pest, which smites these sickarest,
that flies it farthest, and apprehends deepliest the perrell thereof.
EPI. It is euen so with them: For neither is it able to them to vse
anie false cure vpon a patient, except the patient first beleeue in their
power, and so hazard the tinsell of his owne soule, nor yet can they
haue !esse power to hurte anie, nor such as contemnes most their
doinges, so being it comes of faith, and not of anie vaine arrogancie
in themselues.

PHI. But what is their power against the Magistrate?

EPI. Lesse or greater, according as he deales with them. For if he
be slouthfull towardes them, God is verie able to make them instru­
mentes to waken & punish his slouth. But if he be the contrarie, he
according to the iust law of God, and allowable law of all Nationes,
will be diligent in examining and punishing of them: GOD will not
permit their master to trouble or hinder so good a woorke.
PHI. But fra they be once in handes and firmance, haue they anie
further power in their craft?
EPI. That is according to the forme of their detention. If they be
but apprehended and deteined by anie priuate person, vpon other
priuate respectes, their power no doubt either in escaping, or in
doing hurte, is no !esse nor euer it was before. But if on the other
parte, their apprehending and detention be by the lawfull Magis­
trate, vpon the iust respectes of their guiltinesse in that craft, their
power is then no greater then before that euer they medled with


260 APPENDIX A


their master. For where God beginnes iustlie to strike by his lawfull
Lieutennentes, it is not in the Deuilles power to defraude or bereaue
him of the office, or effect of his powerfull and reuenging Scepter.
PHI. But will neuer their master come to visite them, fra they be
once apprehended and put in firmance?
EPI. That is according to the estaite that these miserable
wretches are in: For if they be obstinate in still denying, he will not
spare, when he findes time to speake with them, either if he finde
them in anie comfort, to fill them more and more with the vaine
hope of some maner of reliefe: or else if hee finde them in a deepe
dispaire, by all meanes to augment the same, and to perswade them
by some extraordinarie meanes to put themselues downe, which
verie commonlie they doe. But if they be penitent and confesse, God
will not permit him to trouble them anie more with his presence
and alurementes.
PHI. It is not good vsing his counsell I see then. But I woulde
earnestlie know when he appeares to them in Prison, what formes
vses he then to take?
EPI. Diuers formes, euen as he vses to do at other times vnto
them. For as I told you, speking of Magie, he appeares to that kinde
of craftes-men ordinarily in an forme, according as they agree vpon
it amongst themselues: Or if they be but premises, according to the
qualitie of their circles or conjurationes: Yet to these capped crea­
tures, he appeares as he pleases, and as he findes meetest for their
humors. For euen at their publick conuentiones, he appeares to
diuers of them in diuers formes, as we haue found by the difference
of their confessiones in that point: For he deluding them with vaine
impressiones in the aire, makes himselfe to seeme more terrible to
the grosser sorte, that they maie thereby be moued to feare and
reuerence him the more: And les monstrous and vncouthlike againe
to the craftier sorte, least otherwaies they might sturre and skunner
at his vglinesse.


APPENDIX A 261


PHI. How can he then be felt, as they confesse they haue done
him, if his bodie be but of aire?
EPI. I heare little of that amongst their confessiones, yet may
he make himselfe palpable, either by assuming any dead bodie, and
vsing the ministrie thereof, or else by deluding as wel their sence of
feeling as seeing; which is not impossible to him to doe, since all our
senses, as we are so weake, and euen by ordinarie sicknesses will be
often times deluded.
PHI. But I would speere one worde further yet, concerning
his appearing to them in prison, which is this. May any other that
chances to be present at that time in the prison, see him as well as
they.
EPI. Some-times they will, and some-times not, as it pleases God.


CHAP. VII. ARGV.


Two formes of the deuils visible conuersing in the earth, with the
reasones wherefore the one of them was communest in the time
of Papistrie : And the other sensine. Those that denies the power of
the Deuill, denies the power of God, and are guiltie of the errour
of the Sadduces.


PHILO MATHES.


HAth the Deuill then power to appeare to any other, except to such
as are his sworne disciples: especially since al Oracles, & such like
kinds of illusiones were taken awaie and abolished by the cumming
of CHRIST?
EPI. Although it be true indeede, that the brightnesse of the Gos­
pell at his cumming, scaled the cloudes of all these grosse errors in
the Gentilisme: yet that these abusing spirites, ceases not sensine at
sometimes to appeare, dailie experience teaches vs. Indeede this dif­
ference is to be marked betwixt the formes of Sathans conuersing
visiblie in the world. For of two different formes thereof, the one of


262 APPENDIX A


them by the spreading of the Euangell, and conquest of the white
horse, in the sixt Chapter of the Reuelation, is much hindred and
become rarer there through. This his appearing to any Christians,
troubling of them outwardly, or possessing of them constraynedly.
The other of them is become communer and more vsed sensine, I
meane by their vnlawfull artes, whereupon our whole purpose hath
bene. This we finde by experience in this Ile to be true. For as we
know, moe Ghostes and spirites were seene, nor tongue can tell, in
the time of blinde Papistrie in these Countries, where now by the
contrarie, a man shall scarcely all his time here once of such things.
And yet were these vnlawfull artes farre rarer at that time: and neuer

were so much harde of, nor so rife as they are now.

PHI. What should be the cause of that?
EPI. The diuerse nature of our sinnes procures at the Justice
of God, diuerse sortes of punishments answering thereunto. And
therefore as in the time of Papistrie, our fathers erring grosselie, &
through ignorance, that mist of errours ouershaddowed the Deuill

to walke the more familiarlie amongst them: And as it were by bar­
nelie and affraying terroures, to mocke and accuse their barnelie er­
roures. By the contrarie, we now being sounde of Religion, and in
our life rebelling to our profession, God iustlie by that sinne of rebel­
lion, as Samuel calleth it, accuseth our life so wilfullie fighting against
our profession.
PHI. Since yee are entred now to speake of the appearing of spir­
ites: I would be glad to heare your opinion in that matter. For manie
denies that anie such spirites can appeare in these daies as I haue
said.
EPI. Doubtleslie who denyeth the power of the Deuill, woulde
likewise denie the power of God, if they could for shame. For since
the Deuill is the verie contrarie opposite to God, there can be no
better way to know God, then by the contrarie; as by the ones power
(though a creature) to admire the power of the great Creator: by the
falshood of the one to considder the trueth of the other, by the injus

APPENDIX A 263


tice of the one, to considder the lustice of the other: And by the cru­
elty of the one, to considder the mercifulnesse of the other: And so
foorth in all the rest of the essence of God, and qualities of the Deuill.
But I feare indeede, there be ouer many Sadduces in this worlde, that
denies all kindes of spirites: For convicting of whose errour, there is
cause inough if there were no more, that God should permit at some­
times spirits visiblie to kyith.


264 APPENDIX A


THE THIRDE BOOKE OF DJEMONOLGIE


ARGVMENT.


The description of all these kindes of
Spirites that troubles men or women.
The conclusion of the whole Dialogue.


CHAP. I. ARGV.


The diuision of spirites in foure principall kindes. The description
of the first kinde of them, called Spectra & vmbra: mortuorum.

What is the best way to be free of their trouble.


PHILOMATHE S .


I Pray you now then go forward in telling what ye thinke fabulous,
or may be trowed in that case.
EPI. That kinde of the Deuils conuersing in the earth, may be
diuided in foure different kindes, whereby he affrayeth and troubleth
the bodies of men: For of the abusing of the soule, I haue spoken
alreadie. The first is, where spirites troubles some houses or solitarie
places: The second, where spirites followes vpon certaine persones,
and at diuers houres troubles them: The thirde, when they enter
within them and possesse them: The fourth is these kinde of spirites
that are called vulgarlie the Fayrie. Of the three former kindes, ye
harde alreadie, how they may artificiallie be made by Witch-craft to
trouble folke: Now it restes to speake of their naturall comming as it
were, and not raysed by Witch-craft. But generally I must for-warne
you of one thing before I enter in this purpose: that is, that although
in my discourseing of them, I deuyde them in diuers kindes, yee
must notwithstanding there of note my Phrase of speaking in that:
For doubtleslie they are in effect, but all one kinde of spirites, who
for abusing the more of mankinde, takes on these sundrie shapes,


APPENDIX A 265


and vses diuerse formes of out-ward actiones, as if some were of na­
ture better then other. Nowe I returne to my purpose: As to the first
kinde of these spirites, that were called by the auncients by diuers
names, according as their actions were. For if they were spirites that
haunted some houses, by appearing in diuers and horrible formes,
and making greate dinne: they were called Lemures or Spectra. If they
appeared in likenesse of anie defunct to some friends of his, they
wer called vmbr.x mortuorum: And so innumerable stiles they got, ac­
cording to their actiones, as I haue said alreadie. As we see by experi­
ence, how manie stiles they haue given them in our language in the
like maner: Of the appearing of these spirites, wee are certified by
the Scriptures, where the Prophet ESAY 1 3 . and 34. cap. [marginal
gloss: Easy. 13 Jere. 50] threatning the destruction of Babell and Edam:
declares, that it shal not onlie be wracked, but shall become so gre­
ate a solitude, as it shall be the habitackle of Howlettes, and of ZIIM
and liM, which are the proper Hebrewe names for these Spirites.
The cause whie they haunte solitarie places, it is by reason, that they
may affraie and brangle the more the faith of suche as them alone
hauntes such places. For our nature is such, as in companies wee are
not so soone mooued to anie such kinde of feare, as being solitare,
which the Deuill knowing well inough, hee will not therefore assaile
vs but when we are weake: And besides that, GOD will not permit
him so to dishonour the societies and companies of Christians, as in
publicke times and places to walke visiblie amongst them. On the
other parte, when he troubles certaine houses that are dwelt in, it is
a sure token either of grosse ignorance, or of some grosse and slan­
derous sinnes amongst the inhabitantes thereof: which God by that
extraordinarie rod punishes.
PHI. But by what way or passage can these Spirites enter in these
houses, seeing they alledge that they will enter, Doore and Window
being steiked?

EPI. They will choose the passage for their entresse, according
to the forme that they are in at that time. For if they haue assumed


266 APPENDIX A


a deade bodie, whereinto they lodge themselues, they can easely
inough open without dinne anie Doore or Window, and enter in
thereat. And if they enter as a spirite onelie, anie place where the
aire may come in at, is large inough an entrie for them: For as I said
before, a spirite can occupie no quantitie.
PHI. And will God then permit these wicked spirites to trouble
the reste of a dead bodie, before the resurrection thereof? Or if he
will so, I thinke it should be of the reprobate onely.
EPI. What more is the reste troubled of a dead bodie, when the
Deuill carryes it out of the Graue to serue his turne for a space,
nor when the Witches takes it vp and joyntes it, or when as Swine
wortes vppe the graues? The rest of them that the Scripture speakes
of, is not meaned by a locall remaining continuallie in one place,
but by their resting from their trauelles and miseries of this worlde,
while their latter conjunction againe with the soule at that time to
receaue full glorie in both. And that the Deuill may vse aswell the
ministrie of the bodies of the faithfull in these cases, as of the vn­
faithfull, there is no inconvenient; for his haunting with their bod­
ies after they are deade, can no-waies defyle them: In respect of the
soules absence. And for anie dishonour it can be vnto them, by what
reason can it be greater, then the hanging, heading, or many such
shameful deaths, that good men will suffer? for there is nothing in
the bodies of the faithfull, more worthie of honour, or freer from
corruption by nature, nor in these of the vnfaithful, while time they
be purged and glorified in the latter daie, as is dailie seene by the
vilde diseases and corruptions, that the bodies of the faythfull are
subject vnto, as yee will see clearelie proued, when I speake of the
possessed and 0C£moniacques.
PHI. Yet there are sundrie that affirmes to haue haunted such
places, where these spirites are alleaged to be: And coulde neuer
heare nor see anie thing.


APPENDIX A 267


EPI. I thinke well: For that is onelie reserued to the secreete

knowledge of God, whom he wil permit to see such thinges, and
whome not.

PHI . But where these spirites hauntes and troubles anie houses,
what is the best waie to banishe them?
EPI. By two meanes may onelie the remeid of such things be
procured: The one is ardent prayer to God, both of these persones
that are troubled with them, and of that Church whereof they are.
The other is the purging of themselues by amende ment of life from
such sinnes, as haue procured that extraordinarie plague.
PHI. And what meanes then these kindes of spirites, when they
appeare in the shaddow of a person newlie dead, or to die, to his
friendes?
EPI. When they appeare vpon that occasion, they are called
Wraithes in our language. Amongst the Gentiles the Deuill vsed that
much, to make them beleeue that it was some good spirite that ap­
peared to them then, ether to forewarne them of the death of their
friend; or else to discouer vnto them, the will of the defunct, or
what was the way of his slauchter, as is written in the booke of the
histories Prodigious. And this way hee easelie decciued the Gentiles,
because they knew not God: And to that same effect is it, that he
now appeares in that maner to some ignorant Christians. For he
dare not so illude anie that knoweth that, neither can the spirite of
the defunct returne to his friend, or yet an Angell vse such formes.
PHI. And are not our war-woolfes one sorte of these spirits also,
that hauntes and troubles some houses or dwelling places?
EPI. There bath indeede bene an old opinion of such like thinges;
For by the Greekes they were called AUKavSpconot which signifi­
eth men-woolfes. But to tell you simplie my opinion in this, if anie
such thing hath bene, I take it to haue proceeded but of a naturall
super-abundance of Melancholie, which as wee reade, that it hath
made some thinke themselues Pitchers, and some horses, and some
one kinde of beast or other: So suppose I that it hath so viciat the


268 APPENDIX A


imagination and memorie of some, as per lucida interualla, it hath
so highlie occupyed them, that they haue thought themselues ver­
rie Woolfes indeede at these times: and so haue counterfeited their
actiones in goeing on their handes and feete, preassing to deuoure
women and barnes, fighting and snatching with all the towne
dogges, and in vsing such like other bruitish actiones, and so to be­
come beastes by a strong apprehension, as Nebucad-netzar was seuen
yeares: [marginal gloss: Dan. 4.] but as to their hauing and hyding of
their hard & schellie sloughes, I take that to be but eiked, by vncer­
taine report, the author of all lyes.


CHAP II. ARGV.
##### The description of the next two kindes of Spirites, whereof the one

followes outwardlie, the other possesses inwardlie the persones that
they trouble. That since all Prophecies and v ones are nowe ceased,
all spirites that appeares in these formes are euill.


PHILO MATHES.


COme forward now to the reste of these kindes of spirites.
EPI. As to the next two kindes, that is, either these that outward­
lie troubles and followes some persones, or else inwardlie possesses
them: I wi conjoyne them in one, because aswel the causes ar alike
in the persons that they are permitted to trouble: as also the waies
whereby they may be remedied and cured.
PHI. What kinde of persones are they that vses to be so trou­
bled?
EPI. Two kindes in speciall: Either such as being guiltie of greeu­
ous offences, God punishes by that horrible kinde of scourdge, or
else being persones of the beste nature peraduenture, that yee shall
finde in all the Countrie about them, GOD permittes them to be
troubled in that sort, for the tryall of their patience, and wakening

vp of their zeale, for admonishing of the beholders, not to truste


APPENDIX A 269


ouer much in themselues, since they are made of no better stuffe,
and peraduenture blotted with no smaller sinnes (as CHRIST saide,
speaking of them vppon whome the Towre in Siloam fell:) [marginal
gloss: Luc. 1 3 . ] And for giuing likewise to the spectatators, matter to
prayse GOD, that they meriting no better, are yet spared from being
corrected in that fearefull forme.
PHI. These are good reasones for the parte of GOD, which appa­
rantlie mooues him so to permit the Deuill to trouble such persones.
But since the Deuil hath euer a contrarie respecte in all the actiones
that GOD employes him in: which is I pray you the end and mark he
shoots at in this turne?
EPI. It is to obtaine one of two thinges thereby, if he may: The
one is the tinsell of their life, by inducing them to such perrilous
places at such time as he either followes or possesses them, which
may procure the same: And such like, so farre as GOD will permit
him, by tormenting them to weaken their bodie, and caste them in
incurable diseases. The other thinge that hee preases to obteine by
troubling of them, is the tinsell of their Soule, by intising them to
mistruste and blaspheme God: Either for the intollerablenesse of
their tormentes, as he assayed to haue done with lOB; [marginal
gloss: Iob.l.] or else for his promising vnto them to leaue the trou­
bling of them, incase they would so do, as is knowen by experi­
ence at this same time by the confession of a young one that was
so troubled.
PHI. Since ye haue spoken now of both these kindes of spir­
ites comprehending them in one: I must nowe goe backe againe in
speering some questions of euerie one of these kindes in speciall.
And first for these that followes certaine persones, yee know that
there are two sortes of them: One sorte that troubles and tormentes
the persones that they haunt with: An other sort that are seruice­
able vnto them in all kinde of their necessaries, and omittes neuer to
forwarne them of anie suddaine perrell that they are to be in. And
so in this case, I would vnderstande whither both these sortes be but


270 APPENDIX A


wicked and damned spirites: Or if the last sorte be rather Angells,
(as should appeare by their actiones) sent by God to assist such as he
speciallie fauoures. For it is written in the Scriptures, that God sendes
Legions of Angells to guarde and watch ouer his elect. [marginal gloss:
Gen.32. 1Kin.6 Psal.34.]
EPI. I know well inough where fra that errour which ye alleage
hath proceeded: For it was the ignorant Gentiles that were the foun­
taine thereof. Who for that they knew not God, they forged in their
owne imaginationes, euery man to be still accompanied with two
spirites, whereof they called the one genius bonus, the other genius
malus: the Greekes called them Evoaq .tova & KaKooa q .wva:
wherof the former they saide, perswaded him to all the good he did:
the other entised him to all the euill. But praised be God we that
are christians, & walks not amongst the Cymmerian conjectures of
man, knowes well inough, that it is the good spirite of God onely,
who is the fountain of all goodnes, that perswads vs to the thinking
or doing of any good: and that it is our corrupted fleshe and Sathan,
that intiseth vs to the contrarie. And yet the Deuill for confirming
in the heades of ignoraunt Christians, that errour first mainteined
among the Gentiles, he whiles among the first kinde of spirits that I
speak of, appeared in time of Papistrie and blindnesse, and haunted
diuers houses, without doing any euill, but doing as it were necessa­
rie turnes vp and down the house: and this spirit they called Brownie
in our language, who appeared like a rough-man: yea, some were
so blinded, as to beleeue that their house was all the sonsier, as they
called it, that such spirites resorted there.
PHI. But since the Deuils intention in all his actions, is euer to do
euill, what euill was there in that forme of doing, since their actions
outwardly were good.
EPI. Was it not euill inough to deceiue simple ignorantes, in
making them to take him for an Angell of light, and so to account
of Gods enemie, as of their particular friend: where by the contra­
rie, all we that are Christians, ought assuredly to know that since the


APPENDIX A 271


comming of Christ in the flesh, and establishing of his Church by the
Apostles, all miracles, visions, prophecies, & appearances of Angels or

good spirites are ceased. Which serued onely for the first sowing of

faith, & planting of the Church. Where now the Church being estab­
lished, and the white Horse whereof I spake before, hauing made his
conqueste, the Lawe and Prophets are thought sufficient to serue vs,
or make vs inexcusable, as Christ saith in his parable [marginal gloss:
Luk. 16.] of Lazarus and the riche man.


CHAP III. ARGV.


The description of a particular sort of that kind of following spirites,
called Incubi and Succubi: And what is the reason wherefore these
kindes of spirites hauntes most the Northerne and barbarous partes
of the world.


PHILOMATHES.


THE next question that I would speere, is likewise concerning this
first of these two kindes of spirites that ye haue conjoyned: and it

is this; ye knowe how it is commonly written and reported, that

amongst the rest of the sortes of spirites that followes certaine per­
sons, there is one more monstrous nor al the rest: in respect as it
is alleaged, they converse naturally with them whom they trouble
and hauntes with: and therefore I would knowe in two thinges

your opinion herein: First if suche a thing can be: and next if it be:
whether there be a difference of sexes amongst these spirites or not.
EPI. That abhominable kinde of the Deuils abusing of men or
women, was called of old, Incubi and Succubi, according to the dif­

ference of the sexes that they conuersed with. By two meanes this

great kinde of abuse might possibly be performed: The one, when
the Deuill onelie as a spirite, and stealing out the sperme of a dead
bodie, abuses them that way, they not graithlie seeing anie shape or
feeling anie thing, but that which he so conuayes in that part: As


272 APPENDIX A


we reade of a Monasterie of Nunnes which were burnt for their
being that way abused. The other meane is when he borrowes a
dead bodie and so visiblie, and as it seemes vnto them naturallie as a
man converses with them. But it is to be noted, that in whatsoeuer
way he vseth it, that sperme seemes intollerably cold to the person
abused. For if he steale out the nature of a quick person, it cannot
be so quicklie carryed, but it will both tine the strength and heate
by the way, which it could neuer haue had for lacke of agitation,
which in the time of procreation is the procurer & wakener vp of
these two natural qualities. And if he occupying the dead bodie as
his lodging expell the same out thereof in the dewe time, it must
likewise be colde by the participation with the qualities of the dead

bodie whereout of it comes. And whereas yee inquire if these spir­
ites be diuided in sexes or not, I thinke the rules of Philosophie may
easelie resolue a man of the contrarie: For it is a sure principle of
that arte, that nothing can be diuided in sexes, except such liuing
bodies as must haue a naturall seede to genere by. But we know spir­
ites hath no seede proper to themselues, nor yet can they gender one
with an other.
PHI. How is it then that they say sundrie monsters haue bene
gotten by that way.
EPI. These tales are nothing but A niles fabulce. For that they haue
no nature of their owne, I haue shewed you alreadie. And that the
cold nature of a dead bodie, can woorke nothing in generation, it is
more nor plaine, as being already dead of it selfe as well as the rest
of the bodie is, wanting the naturall heate, and such other naturall
operation, as is necessarie for woorking that effect, and incase such a
thing were possible (which were all utterly against all the rules of na­
ture) it would bread no monster, but onely such a naturall of-spring,
as would haue cummed betuixt that man or woman and that other
abused person, in-case they both being aliue had had a doe with
other. For the Deuilles parte therein, is but the naked carrying or
expelling of that substance: And so it coulde not participate with no


APPENDIX A 273


qualitie of the same. Indeede, it is possible to the craft of the Deuill

to make a womans bellie to swel after he hath that way abused her,
which he may do, either by steiring vp her own humor, or by her­
bes, as we see beggars daily doe. And when the time of her deliuery
should come to make her thoil great doloures, like vnto that naturall
course, and then subtillie to slippe in the Mid-wiues handes, stockes,
stones, or some monstruous barne brought from some other place,
but this is more reported and gessed at by others, nor beleeued by
me.
PHI. But what is the cause that this kinde of abuse is thought to
be most common in such wild partes of the worlde, as Lap-land, and
Fin-land, or in our North lies of Orknay and Schet-land.

EPI. Because where the Deuill findes greatest ignorance and bar­
baritie, there assayles he grosseliest, as I gaue you the reason where­
fore there was moe Witches of women kinde nor men.
PHI. Can anie be so vnhappie as to giue their willing consent to
the Deuilles vilde abusing them in this forme.

EPI. Yea, some of the Witches haue confessed, that he hath per­
swaded them to giue their willing consent thereunto, that he may
thereby haue them feltred the sikarer in his snares; But as the other
compelled sorte is to be pittied and prayed for, so is this most highlie
to be punished and detested.
PHI. It is not the thing which we cal the Mare, which takes fol­
kes sleeping in their bedds, a kinde of these spirites, whereof ye are
speaking?

EPI. No, that is but a naturall sicknes, which the Mediciners hath
giuen that name of Incubus vnto ab incubando, because it being a
thicke fleume, falling into our breast vpon the harte, while we are
sleeping, intercludes so our vitall spirites, and takes all power from
vs, as maks vs think that there were some vnnaturall burden or spir­
ite, lying vpon vs and holding vs downe.


274 APPENDIX A


CHAP IIII. ARGV.


The description of the Dcemoniackes & possessed.
By what reason the Papistes may haue power to cure them.


PHILOMATHES.


WEL, I haue told you now all my doubts, and ye haue satisfied me
therein, concerning the first of these two kindes of spirites that ye
haue conjoyned. Now I am to inquire onely two thinges at you con­
cerning the last kinde, I meane the O<emoniackes. The first is, whereby
shal these possessed folks be discerned fra them that ar trubled with a
natural Phrensie or Manie. The next is, how can it be that they can be

remedied by the Papistes Church, whome wee counting as Hereticques,
it should appeare that one Deuil should not cast out an other, for then
would his kingdome be diuided in it selft, as CHRIST said. [marginal gloss:
Mat. 12 Mark. 3]
EPI. As to your first question; there are diuers symptomes,
whereby that heauie trouble may be discerned from a naturall sicke­
nesse, and speciallie three, omitting the diuers vaine signes that the
Papistes attributes vnto it: Such as the raging at holie water, their
fleeing a back from the Croce, their not abiding the hearing of God
named, and innumerable such like vaine thinges that were alike fash­
ious and feckles to recite. But to come to these three symptomes
then, whereof I spake, I account the one of them to be the incred­
ible strength of the possessed creature, which will farre exceede the
strength of six of the wightest and wodest of any other men that are
not so troubled. The next is the boldning vp so far of the patients
breast and bellie, with such an vnnaturall sturring and vehement agi­
tation within them: And such an ironie hardnes of his sinnowes so
stiffelie bended out, that it were not possible to prick out as it were
the skinne of anie other person so far: so mightely works the Deuil
in all the members and senses of his body, he being locallie within
the same, suppose of his Soule and affectiones thereof, hee haue no


APPENDIX A 275


more power then of any other mans. The last is, the speaking of
sundrie languages, which the patient is knowen by them that were
acquainte with him neuer to haue learned, and that with an vncouth
and hollowe voice, and al the time of his speaking, a greater mo­
tion being in his breast then in his mouth. But fra this last symptome
is excepted such, as are altogether in the time of their possessing
bereft of al their senses being possessed with a dumme and blynde
spirite, whereof Christ releiued one, in the 12. Of Mathew. And as
to your next demande, it is first to be doubted if the Papistes or anie
not professing the the onelie true Religion, can relieue anie of that
trouble. And next, in-case they can, vpon what respectes it is pos­
sible vnto them. As to the former vpon two reasons, it is grounded:
first that it is knowen so manie of them to bee counterfite, which
wyle the Clergie inuentes for confirming of their rotten Religion.
The next is, that by experience we finde that few, who are possessed
indeede, are fullie cured by them: but rather the Deuill is content to
release the bodelie hurting of them, for a shorte space, thereby to
obteine the perpetual hurt of the soules of so many that by these
false miracles may be induced or confirmed in the profession of that
erroneous Religion: euen as I told you before that he doth in the
false cures, or casting off of diseases by Witches. As to the other part
of the argument in-case they can, which rather (with reuerence of
the learned thinking otherwaies) I am induced to beleeue, by reason
of the faithfull report that men sound of religion, haue made ac­
cording to their sight thereof, I think if so be, I say these may be the
respectes, whereupon the Papistes may haue that power. CHRIST
gaue a commission and power to his Apostles to cast out Deuilles,
which they according thereunto put in execution: The rules he had
them obserue in that action, was fasting and praier: & the action it
selfe to be done in his name. This power of theirs proceeded not
then of anie vertue in them, but onely in him who directed them. As
was clearly proued by Iudas his hauing as greate power in that com­
mission, as anie of the reste. It is easie then to be vnderstand that the


276 APPENDIX A


casting out of Deuilles, is by the vertue of fasting and prayer, and
in-calling of the name of God, suppose manie imperfectiones be in
the person that is the instrumente, as CHRIST him selfe teacheth vs

[marginal gloss: Mat. 7.] of the power that false Prophets sall haue
to caste out Devils. It is no wounder then, these respects of this ac­
tion being considered, that it may be possible to the Papistes, though
erring in sundrie points of Religion to accomplish this, if they vse
the right forme prescribed by CHRIST herein. For what the worse is
that action that they erre in other thinges, more then their Baptisme
is the worse that they erre in the other Sacrament, and haue eiked
many vaine freittes to the Baptisme it selfe.
PHI. Surelie it is no little wonder that God should permit the
bodies of anie of the faithfull to be so dishonoured, as to be a dwell­
ing place to that vncleane spirite.
EPI. There is it which I told right now, would prooue and
strengthen my argument of the deuils entring in the dead bodies
of the faithfull. For if he is permitted to enter in their liuing bod­
ies, euen when they are ioyned with the soule: how much more will
God permit him to enter in their dead carions, which is no more
man, but the filthie and corruptible caise of man. For as CHRIST
sayth, It is not any thing that enters within man that defiles him, but onely
that which proceedes and commeth out of him. [marginal gloss: Mark. 7.]


CHAP. V. ARGV.


The description of the fourth kinde of Spirites called the Phairie:
What is possible therein, and what is but illusiones. How far
this Dialogue entreates of all these thinges, and to what end.


PHILOMATHES.


NOW I pray you come on to that fourth kinde of spirites.
EPI. That fourth kinde of spirites, which by the Gentiles was
called Diana, and her wandring Court, and amongst vs was called


APPENDIX A 277


the Phairie (as I tould you) or our good neighboures, was one of
the sortes of illusiones that was rifest in the time of Papistrie: for
although it was holden odious to Prophesie by the deuill, yet
whome these kinde of Spirites carryed awaie, and informed, they
were thought to be sonsiest and of best life. To speake of the many
vaine trattles founded vpon that illusion: How there was a King and
Queene of Phairie, of such a iolly court & train as they had, how
they had a teynd, & dutie, as it were, of all goods: how they natu­
rallie rode and went, eate and drank, and did all other actiones like
naturall men and women: I thinke it liker VIRGILS Campi Elysij, nor
anie thing that ought to be beleeued by Christians, except in gener­
al!, that as I spake sundrie times before, the deuil illuded the senses
of sundry simple creatures, in making them beleeue that they saw
and harde such thinges as were nothing so indeed.

PHI. But how can it be then, that sundrie Witches haue gone
to death with that confession, that they haue ben transported with
the Phairie to such a hill, which opening, they went in, and there
saw a faire Queene, who being now lighter, gaue them a stone that
had sundrie vertues, which at sundrie times hath bene produced in
judgement?
EPI. I say that, euen as I said before of that imaginar rauishing of
the spirite foorth of the bodie. For may not the deuil object to their
fantasie, their senses being dulled, and as it were a sleepe, such hilles
& houses within them, such glistering courts and traines, and what­
soeuer such like wherewith he pleaseth to delude them. And in the
meane time their bodies being senselesse, to conuay in their hande
any stone or such like thing, which he makes them to imagine to
haue receiued in such a place.
PHI. But what say ye to their fore-telling the death of sundrie
persones, whome they alleage to haue seene in these places? That is,
a sooth-dreame (as they say) since they see it walking.

EPI. I thinke that either they haue not bene sharply inough exam­
ined, that gaue so blunt a reason for their Prophesie, or otherwaies,


278 APPENDIX A


I thinke it likewise as possible that the Deuill may prophesie to them
when he deceiues their imaginationes in that sorte, as well as when
he plainely speakes vnto them at other times for their prophesying,
is but by a kinde of vision, as it were, wherein he commonly coun­
terfeits God among the Ethnicks, as I told you before.
PHI. I would know now whether these kindes of spirites may
only appeare to Witches, or if they may also appeare to anie other.
EPI. They may do to both, to the innocent sort, either to affraie
them, or to seeme to be a better sorte of folkes nor vncleane spirites
are, and to the Witches, to be a cullour of safetie for them, that ig­
norant Magistrates may not punish them for it, as I told euen now.
But as the one sorte, for being perforce troubled with them ought to
be pittied, so ought the other sorte (who may bee discerned by their
taking v on them to Prophesie by them,) That sorte I say, ought as
seuerely to be punished as any other Witches, and rather the more,
that that they goe dissemblingly to woorke.
PHI. And what makes the spirites haue so different names from
others.
EPI. Euen the knauerie of that same deuil; who as hee illudes
the Necromancers with innumerable feyned names for him and
his angels, as in special, making Sathan, Beelzebub, & Lucifer, to
be three sundry spirites, where we finde the two former, but
diuers names giuen to the Prince of all the rebelling angels by
the Scripture. As by CHRIST, the Prince of all the Deuilles is called,
Beelzebub in that place, which I alleaged against the power of any
hereticques to cast out Deuils. By JOHN in the Reuelation, the old
tempter is called, Sathan the Prince of all the euill angels. And the last,
to wit, Lucifer, is but by allegorie taken from the day Starre (so named
in diuers places of the Scriptures) because of his excellencie (I meane
the Prince of them) in his creation before his fall. Euen so I say he
deceaues the Witches, by attributing to himselfe diuers names: as if
euery diuers shape that he trans formes himselfe in, were a diuers
kinde of spirit.


APPENDIX A 279


PHI. But I haue hard many moe strange tales of this Phairie, nor

ye haue yet told me.
EPI. As well I do in that, as I did in all the rest of my discourse.
For because the ground of this conference of ours, proceeded
of your speering at me at our meeting, if there was such a thing
as Witches or spirites: And if they had any power: I therefore haue

framed my whole discours, only to proue that such things are and
may be, by such number of examples as I show to be possible by
reason: & keepes me from dipping any further in playing the part of
a Dictionarie, to tell what euer I haue read or harde in that purpose,
which both would exceede fayth, and rather would seeme to teach
such vnlawfull artes, nor to disallow and condemne them, as it is the
duetie of all Christians to do.


CHAP. VI. ARGV.


Of the tryall and punishment of Witches. What sorte of
accusation ought to be admitted against them. What is the cause
of the increasing so far of their number in this age.


PHILOMATHES.


THEN To make an ende of our conference, since I see it drawes late,
what forme of punishment thinke ye merites these Magicians and
Witches? For I see that ye account them to be all alike guiltie?
EPI. They ought to be put to death according to the Law of God,
the ciuill and imperial law, and municipall law of all Christian na­
tions.
PHI. But what kinde of death I pray you?
EPI. It is commonly vsed by fire, but that is an indifferent thing to
be vsed in euery cuntrie, according to the Law or custome thereof.
PHI. But ought no sexe, age nor ranck to be exempted?


280 APPENDIX A


EPI. None at al (being so vsed by the lawful Magistrate) for it is
the highest poynt of Idolatrie, wherein no exception is admitted by
the law of God.
PHI. Then bairnes may not be spared?
EPI. Yea, not a haire the lesse of my conclusion. For they are not
that capable of reason as to practise such thinges. And for any being
in company and not reueiling thereof, their Jesse and ignorant age
will no doubt excuse them.
PHI. I see ye condemne them all that are of the counsell of such
craftes.
EPI. No doubt, for as I said, speaking of Magie, the consulters,
trusters in, ouer-seers, interteiners or sturrers vp of these craftes­
folkes, are equallie guiltie with themselues that are the practisers.

PHI. Whether may the Prince then, or supreame Magistrate,
spare or ouer-see any that are guiltie of that craft? vpon som great
respects knowen to him?
EPI. The Prince or Magistrate for further tryals cause, may con­
tinue the punishing of them such a certaine space as he thinkes
conuenient: But in the end to spare the life, and not to strike when
God bids strike, and so seuerelie punish in so odious a fault & trea­
son against God, it is not only vnlawful, but doubtlesse no Jesse
sinne in that Magistrate, nor it was in SAYLES sparing of AGAG

[marginal gloss: I. Sam. 15.]. And so comparable to the sin of Witch­
craft it selfe, as SAMVELL alleaged at that time.
PHI. Surely then, I think since this crime ought to be so seuerely
punished. Judges ought to beware to condemne any, but such as they
are sure are guiltie, neither should the clattering reporte of a earling
serue in so weightie a case.
EPI. Judges ought indeede to beware whome they condemne:
For it is as great a crime (as SALOMON sayeth,) To condemne the in­
nocent, as to let the guiltie escape free; [marginal gloss: Pro. 1 7.] neither
ought the report of any one infamous person, be admitted for a suf­
ficient proofe, which can stand of no law.


APPENDIX A 281


PHI. And what may a number then of guilty persons confessions,

woork against one that is accused?

EPI . The assise must serue for interpretour of our law in that
respect. But in my opinion, since in a mater of treason against the
Prince, barnes or wiues, or neuer so diffamed persons, may of our
law serue for sufficient witnesses and proofes. I thinke surely that by
a far greater reason, such witnesses may be sufficient in matters of
high treason against God: For who but Witches can be prooues, and
so witnesses of the doings of Witches.
PHI. Indeed, I trow they wil be loath to put any honest man
vpon their counsell. But what if they accuse folke to haue bene pres­
ent at their Imaginar conuentiones in the spirite, when their bodies
!yes sencelesse, as ye haue said.
EPI. I think they are not a haire the Jesse guiltie: For the Deuill
durst neuer haue borrowed their shaddow or similitude to that
turne, if their consent had not bene at it: And the consent in these
turnes is death of the law.
PHI. Then SAMVEL was a Witch: For the Deuill resembled his
shape, and played his person in giuing response to SAVLE.
EPI. SAMVEL was dead aswell before that; and so none coulde
slander him with medling in that vnlawfull arte. For the cause why,
as I take it, that God will not permit Sathan to vse the shapes or
similitudes of any innocent persones at such vnlawful times, is that
God wil not permit that any innocent persons shalbe slandered with
that vile defection: for then the deuil would find waies anew, to ca­
lumniate the best. And this we haue in proofe by them that are car­
ryed with the Phairie, who neuer see the shaddowes of any in that
courte, but of them that thereafter are tryed to haue bene breth­
ren and sisters of that craft. And this was likewise proued by the
confession of a young Lasse, troubled with spirites, !aide on her by
Witchcraft. That although shee saw the shapes of diuerse men &
women troubling her, and naming the persons whom these shad­
dawes represents: yet neuer one of them are found to be innocent,


282 APPENDIX A


but al clearely tried to be most guilty, & the most part of them con­
fessing the same. And besides that, I think it hath ben seldome harde
tell of, that any whome persones guiltie of that crime accused, as
hauing knowen them to be their marrowes by eye-sight, and not by
hear-say, but such as were so accused of Witch-craft, could not be
clearely tryed vpon them, were at the least publickly knowen to be
of a very euil life & reputation: so iealous is God I say, of the fame
of them that are innocent in such causes. And besides that, there are
two other good helpes that may be vsed for their trial: the one is the
finding of their marke, and the trying the insensiblenes thereof. The
other is their fleeting on the water: for as in a secret murther, if the
deade carcase be at any time thereafter handled by the murtherer,

it wil gush out of bloud, as if the blud wer crying to the heauen for
reuenge of the murtherer. God hauing appoynted that secret super­
naturall signe, for tryall of that secrete vnnaturall crime, so it ap­
peares that God hath appoynted (for a super-naturall signe of the
monstruous impietie of the Witches) that the water shal refuse to
receiue them in her bosom, that haue shaken off them the sacred
Water of Baptisme, and wilfullie refused the benefite thereof: No
not so much as their eyes are able to shed teares (thretten and tor­
ture them as ye please) while first they repent (God not permitting
them to dissemble their obstinacie in so horrible a crime) albeit the
women kinde especially, be able other-waies to shed teares at euery
light occasion when they will, yea, although it were dissemblingly
like the Crocodiles.
PHI. Well, wee haue made this conference to last as long as Iea­
sure would permit: And to conclude then, since I am to take my
leaue of you, I pray God to purge this Cuntrie of these diuellishe
practises: for they were neuer so rife in these partes, as they are now.
EPI. I pray God that so be to. But the causes ar ouer manifest,
that makes them to be so rife. For the greate wickednesse of the
people on the one parte, procures this horrible defection, whereby
God justlie punisheth sinne, by a greater iniquitie. And on the other


APPENDIX A 283


part, the consummation of the worlde, and our deliuerance drawing
neare, makes Sathan to rage the more in his instruments, knowing
his kingdome to be so neare an ende. [marginal gloss: Reuel. 12.] And
so fare-well for this time.


FINIS.


Newes from Scotbnd.
##### Declaring the damnable: l1fe of Do<44>



tor FiJn a not4ble Sorcrr<'r,who was burned



at Edcnbrough in Janu.arie Ian.



l <20> 9 I.
##### Which Voflorrvar r<>giflrr to the deuiU.

that fundric times preached at Notth &ride
Kirke,to a number of notol'ious
Witches.


With the true cx:1minariom ofthc f:tid Dot **r** - ancl
witches,as v **t** crcd them in d1c prcfcncc

Scottilh <20>ng.


Difi:ouering how they prc **t** ndcd to b"'\'itch and
drowne his M:Ucf **i** c in the ft".:t comming from Dcn­
marke, with fuch other wondt·rfull marrcrs
as the like hath nor bin heard
araruc time.


Figure 20


### A PPENDIX B
#### Original text of News from Scotland

Newes from Scotland,

Declaring the Damnable life and death of Doctor Fian

a notable Sorcerer, who was burned at Edenbrough in Ianuary last.

1 5 9 1 .


Which Doctor was regester to the Diuell,

that sundry times preached at North Barrick Kirke, to a number of

notorious Witches.


With the true examinations of the saide Doctor and Witches, as they

vttered them in the presence of the Scottish King.


Discouering how they pretended

to bewitch and drowne his Maiestie in the Sea

comming from Denmarke with such

other wonderful! matters as the like

hath not been heard of at

any time.


Published according to the Scottish Coppie.


AT LONDON

Printed for William

Wright.


### TO TH E R EA DE R

THE MANIFOLDE vntruthes which is spread abroade, concerning the detest­
able actions and apprehension of those Witches wherof this Historye following
truely entreateth, hath caused me to publish the same in print: and the rather
for that sundrie written Copies are lately dispersed therof, containing, that the
said witches were first discouered, lry meanes of a poore Pedler trauailing to
the towne of Trenent, and that lry a wondnfoll manner he was in a moment
conuayed at midnight, from Scotland to Burdeux in Fraunce (beeing places
of no small distance between) into a Marchants Seller there, & after, being
sent from Burdeux into Scotland lry certaine Scottish Marchants to the Kinges
Maiestie, that he discouered those Witches and was the cause of their appre­
hension: with a number of matters miracu I lous and incredible: All which in
truthe are moste false. Neuertheles to satisfie a number of honest mindes, who
are desirous to be enformed of the veri tie and trueth of their conftssions, which
for certaintie is more stranger then the common reporte runneth, and yet with
more trueth I haue vndertaken to publish this short Treatise, which declareth
the true discourse of all that hath hapned, & aswell what was pretended lry
those wicked and detestable Witches against the Kinges Maiestie, as also lry
what meanes they wrought the same.
All which examinations (gentle Reader) I haue heere truelye pub­
lished, as they were taken and vttered in the presence of the Kings Maies­
tie, praying thee to accept it for veri tie, the same beeing so true as cannot
be reproued.


288 APPENDIX B


A true discourse,
Of the apprehension of sundrye
Witches lately taken in Scotland: wherof
some are executed, and some are
yet imprisoned.


With a particuler recitall of their examinations,
taken in the presence of the Kinges Maiestie.


GOd by his omnipotent power, hath at a! times and daily doth
take such care, and is so vigillant, for the weale and preseruation of
his owne, that thereby he disapointeth the wicked practises and euil
intents of all such as by any meanes whatsoeuer, seeke indirectly to
conspire any thing contrary to his holy will: yea and by the same
power, he hath lately ouerthrown and hindered the intentions and
wicked dealinges of a great number of vngodly creatures, no better
then Diuels: who suffering themselues to be allured and inticed by
the Diuell whom they serued, and to whome they were pritiatelye
sworne: entered into ye detestable Art of witch-craft, which they
studied and practised so long time, that in the end they had seduced
by their sorcery a number of other to be as bad as themselues: dwell­
ing in the boundes of Lowthian, which is a principall shire or parte
of Scotland, where the Kings Maiestie vseth to make his cheefest resi­
dence or abode: and to the end that their detestable wickednes which
they priuilye had pretended against the Kings Maiestie, the Common­
weale of that Country, with the Nobilitie and subiects of the same,
should come to light: God of his vnspeakeable goodnes did reueale
and lay it open in very strange sorte, therby to make knowne vnto the
worlde, that there actions were contrarye to the lawe of God, and the
naturall affection which we ought generallye to beare one to another:
the manner of the reuealing wherof was as followeth.
Within the towne of Trenent in the Kingdome of Scotland, there
dwelleth one Dauid Seaton, who being deputie Bailiffe in the saide
Towne, had a maide seruant called Geillis Duncane, who vsed secretly
to be absent and to lye foorth of her Maisters house euery other


APPENDIX B 289


night: this Geillis Duncane took in hand to help all such as were trou­
bled or greeued with any kinde of sicknes or infirmitie: and in short
space did perfourme manye matters most miraculous, which thinges
forasmuch as she began to doe them vpon a sodaine, hauing neuer
doon the like before, made her Maister and others to be in great ad­
miracion, and wondred thereat: by meanes wherof the saide Dauid
Seaton had his maide in some great suspition, that she did not those
things by naturall and lawfull wayes, but rather supposed it to be
doone by some extraordinary and vnlawfull meanes.
Whervpon, her Maister began to growe very inquisitiue, and ex­
amined her which way and by what meanes she were able to per­
fourme matters of so great importance: whereat she gaue him no
answere, neuerthelesse, her Maister to the intent that he might the
better trye and finde out the trueth of the same, did with the helpe
of others, torment her with the torture of the Pilliwinckes vpon
her fingers, which is a greeuous torture, and binding or wrinching
her head with a corde or roape, which is a most cruell torment also,
yet would she not confesse any thing, whereupon they suspecting
that she had beene marked by the Diuell (as commonly witches are)
made dilligent search about her, and found the enemies marke to be
in her fore crag or foreparte of her throate: which being found, she
confessed that all her dooings was doone by the wicked allurements
and inticements of the Diuell, and that she did them by witchcraft.
After this her confession, she was committed to prison, where
she continued for a season, where immediatly she accused these per­
sons following to be notorious witches, and caused them foorthwith
to be apprehended one after an other, vidz. Agnis Sampson the eldest
Witch of them al, dwelling in Haddington, Agnes Tompson of Eden­
brough, Doctor Fian, alias John Cunningham, maister of the Schoole
at Saltpans in Lowthian, of whose life and strange actes, you shall
heare more largely in the ende of this discourse: these were by the
saide Geillis Duncane accused, as also George Motts wife dwelling in
Saltpans, Robert Griersonn skipper, and Iennit Bandilandis, with the


290 APPENDIX B


Porters wife of Seaton, the Smith at the brigge Hallis with innumer­
able others in that partes, and dwelling in those bounds aforesaide:
of whom some are alreadye executed, the rest remaine in prison,
to receiue the doome of Iudgement at the Kings maiesties will and
pleasure.
The said Geillis Duncane also caused Ewphame Meealrean to be ap­
prehended, who conspired and perfourmed the death of her Godfa­
ther, and who vsed her art vpon a gentleman being one of the Lords
and Iustices of the Session, for bearing good will to her Daughter:
she also caused to be apprehended one Barbara Naper, for bewitch­
ing to death Archibalde, last Earle of Angus, who languished to death
by witchcraft and yet the same was not suspected, but that he died
of so strange a disease, as the Phisition knew not how to cure or
remedy the same: but of all other the saide witches, these two last
before recited, were reputed for as ciuill honest women as any that
dwelled within the Citie of Edenbrough, before they were appre­
hended. Many other besides were taken dwelling in Lieth, who are
detayned in prison, vntill his Maiesties further will and pleasure be
known: of whose wicked dooings you shall particularly heare, which
was as followeth.
This aforeaside Agrtis Sampson which was the elder Witch, was
taken and brought to Haliciud house before the Kings Maiestie and
sundry other of the nobility of Scotland, where she was straitly ex­
amined, but all the perswasions which the Kings maiestie vsed to
her with ye rest of his counsell, might not prouoke or induce her
to confesse any thing, but stood stiffely in the deniall of all that was
laide to her charge: whervpon they caused her to be conueied awaye
to prison, there to receiue such torture as hath been lately prouided
for witches in that country: and forasmuch as by due examination
of witchcraft and witches in Scotland, it hath latelye beene found
that the Deuill dooth generallye marke them with a priuie marke,
by reason the Witches haue confessed themselues, that the Diuell
dooth lick them with his tung in some priuy part of their bodie, be

APPENDIX B 291


fore hee dooth receiue them to be his seruants, which marke com­

monly is giuen them vnder the haire in some part of their bodye,
wherby it may not easily be found out or seene, although they be
searched: and generally so long as the marke is not seene to those
which search them, so long the parties that hath the marke will
neuer confesse any thing. Therfore by special commaundement this
Agnis Sampson had all her haire shauen of, in each parte of her bodie,
and her head thrawen with a rope according to the custome of that
Countrye, beeing a paine most greeuous, which she continued al­
most an hower, during which time she would not confesse any thing
vntill the Diuels marke was found vpon her priuities, then she im­
mediatlye confessed whatsoeuer was demaunded of her, and iustify­
ing those persons aforesaid to be notorious witches.
Item, the saide Agnis Tompson was after brought againe before the
Kings Maiestie and his Counsell, and being examined of the meet­
ings and detestable dealings of those witches, she confessed that
vpon the night of Allhollon Euen last, she was accompanied aswell
with the persons aforesaide, as also with a great many other witches,
to the number of two hundreth: and that all they together went by
Sea each one in a Riddle or Ciue, and went in the same very sub­
stantially with Flaggons of wine making merrie and drinking by the
waye in the same Riddles or Ciues, to the Kerke of North Barrick in
Lowthian, and that after they had landed, tooke handes on the land
and daunced this reill or short daunce, singing all with one voice.


Cammer goe ye before, commer goe ye,
Gif ye will not goe before, com mer let me.


At which time she confessed, that this Geilles Duncane did goe be­
fore them playing this reill or daunce vpon a small Trump, called a
lewes Trump, vntill they entred into the Kerk of north Barrick.
These confessions made the King in a woderful admiration and
sent for ye said Geillis Duncane, who vpon the like Trump did playe
the said daunce before the Kings Maiestie, who in respect of the


292 APPENDIX B


strangenes of these matters, tooke great delight to bee present at
their examinations.
Item, the said Agnis Tompson confessed that the Diuell being then
at North Barrick Kerke attending their comming in the habit or
likenes of a man, and seeing that they tarried ouer long, he at their
comming enioyned them all to a pennance, which was, that they
should kisse his Buttockes, in signe of duetye to him: which being
put ouer the Pulpit barre, euerye one did as he had enioyned them:
and hauing made his vngodly exhortations, wherein he did great­
lye enveighe against the King of Scotland, he receiued their oathes
for their good and true seruice towards him, and departed: which
doone, they returned to Sea, and so home againe.

At which time the witches demaunded of the Diuel why he did
beare such hatred to the King, who answered, by reason the King is
the greatest enemy he hath in the worlde: all which their onfessions
and depositions are still extant vpon record.
Item, the saide Agnis Sampson confessed before the Kings Maies­
tie sundrye thinges which were so miraculous and strange, as that
his Maiestie saide they were all extreame lyars, wherat she answered,
she would not wishe his Maiestie to suppose her woords to be false,
but rather to beleeue them, in that she would discouer such matter
vnto him as his maiestie should not any way doubt off.
And therupon taking his Maiestie a little aside, she declared vnto
him the verye woordes which passed betweene the Kings Maiestie
and his Queene at Vpslo in Norway the first night of their mariage,
with their answere eache to other: whereat the Kinges Maiestie won­
dered greatlye, and swore by the liuing God, that he beleeued that
all the Diuels in hell could not haue discouered the same: acknowl­
edging her woords to be most true, and therefore gaue the more
credit to the rest which is before declared.
Touching this Agnis Tompson, she is the onlye woman, who by the
Diuels perswasion should haue entended and put in execution the
Kings Maiesties death in this manner.


APPENDIX B 293


She confessed that she tooke a blacke Toade, and did hang the
same vp by the heeles, three daies, and collected and gathered the
venome as it dropped and fell from it in an Oister shell, and kept the
same venome close couered, vntill she should obtaine any parte or
peece of foule linnen cloth, that had appertained to the Kings Maies­
tie, as shirt, handkercher, napkin or any other thing which she prac­
tised to obtaine by meanes of one John Kers, who being attendant in
his Maiesties Chamber, desired him for olde acquaintance betweene
them, to helpe her to one or a peece of such a cloth as is aforesaide,
which thing the said John Kers denyed to helpe her too, saying he
could not help her too it.
And the said Agnis Tompson by her depositions since her appre­
hension saith, that if she had obtained any one peece of linnen cloth
which the King had worne and fouled, she had bewitched him to
death, and put him to such extraordinary paines, as if he had beene
lying vpon sharp thornes and endes of Needles.
Moreouer she confessed that at the time when his Maiestie was
in Denmarke, she being accompanied with the parties before spe­
cially named, tooke a Cat and christened it, and afterward bound
to each parte of that Cat, the cheefest partes of a dead man, and
seuerall ioynts of his bodie, and that in the night following the saide
Cat was conueied into the midst of the sea by all these witches say­
ling in their riddles or Cities as is aforesaide, and so left the saide Cat
right before the Towne of Lieth in Scotland: this doone, there did
arise such a tempest in the Sea, as a greater hath not beene scene:
which tempest was the cause of the perrishing of a Boate or vessell
comming ouer from the towne of Brunt Iland to the towne of Lieth,
wherein was sundrye Iewelles and riche giftes, which should haue
been presented to the now Queen of Scotland, at her Maiesties com­
ruing to Lieth.
Againe it is confessed, that the said christened Cat was the cause
that the Kinges Maiesties Ship at his comming foorth of Denmarke,
had a contrary winde to the rest of his Ships, then being in his


294 APPENDIX B


companye, which thing was most strange and true, as the Kings
Maiestie acknowledgeth, for when the rest of the Shippes had a
faire and good winde, then was the winde contrarye and altogither
against his Maiestie: and further the saide witche declared, that his
Maiestie had neuer come safelye from the Sea, if his faith had not
preuailed aboue their ententions.
Moreouer the said Witches being demaunded how the Dwell
would vse them when he was in their company, they confessed that
when the Diuell did receiue them for his seruants, and that they had
vowed themselues vnto him, then he would Carnallye vse them, al­
beit to their little pleasure, in respect of his colde nature: and would
doo the like at sundry other times.

As touching the aforesaide Doctor Pian, alias Iohn Cunningham,
the examination of his actes since his apprehension, declareth the
great subtiltye of the diuell, and therfore maketh thinges to appeere
the more miraculous: for being apprehended by the accusation of
the saide Geillis Duncane aforesaide, who confessed he was their
Regester, and that there was not one man suffered to come to the
Diuels readinges but onlye he: the saide Doctor was taken and im­
prisoned, and vsed with the accustomed paine, prouided for those
offences, inflicted vpon the rest as is aforesaide.
First by thrawing of his head with a roape, wherat he would con­
fesse nothing.
Secondly, he was perswaded by faire means to confesse his follies,
but that would preuaile as little.
Lastly he was put to the most seuere and cruell paine in the
world, called the bootes, who after he had receiued three strokes,
being enquired if he would confesse his damnable acts and wicked
life, his tung would not serue him to speak, in respect wherof the
rest of the witches willed to search his tung, vnder which was
found two pinnes thrust vp into the head, whereupon the VVitches
did laye, Now is the Charme stinted, and shewed that those charmed
Pinnes were the cause he could not confesse any thing: then was he


APPENDIX B 295


immediatly released of the bootes, brought before the King, his con­
fession was taken, and his owne hand willingly set ther-vnto, which
contained as followeth.
First, that at the generall meetinges of those witches, hee was
alwayes preasent: that he was Clarke to all those that were in subiec­
tion to the Diuels seruice, bearing the name of witches, that alwaye
he did take their othes for their true seruice to the Diuell, and that
he wrot for them such matters as the Diuell still pleased to com­
maund him.
Item, he confessed that by his witchcrafte he did bewitch a Gen­
tleman dwelling neere to the Saltpans, where the said Doctor kept
Schoole, onely for being enamoured of a Gentlewoman whome he
loued himselfe: by meanes of which his Sorcerye, witchcraft and
diuelish practises, he caused the said Gentleman that once in x.xiiij.
howres he fell into a lunacie and madnes, and so cotinued one whole
hower together, and for the veritie of the same, he caused the Gen­
tleman to be brought before the Kinges Maiestie, which was vpon
the x.xiiij. day of December last, and being in his Maiesties Chamber,
suddenly he gaue a great scritch and fell into a madnes, sometime
bending himselfe, and sometime capring so directly vp, that his head
did touch the seeling of the Chamber, to the great admiration of
his Maiestie and others then present: so that all the Gentlemen in
the Chamber were not able to holde him, vntill they called in more
helpe, who together bound him hand and foot: and suffering the said
gentleman to lye still vntill his furye were past, he within an hower
came againe to himselfe, when being demaunded of the Kings Ma­
iestie what he saw or did all that while, answered that he had been in
a sound sleepe.
Item the said Doctor did also confesse that he had vsed means
sundry times to obtain his purpose and wicked intent of the same
Gentlewoman, and seeing himselfe disapointed of his intention, he
determined by all waies he might to obtaine the same, trusting by
coniuring, witchcraft and Sorcery to obtaine it in this manner.


296 APPENDIX B


It happened this gentlewoman being vnmaried, had a brother
who went to schoole with the said Doctor, and calling his Scholler to
him, demaunded if he did lye with his sister, who answered he did,
by meanes wherof he thought to obtaine his purpose, and therefore
secretlye promised to teach him w'tout stripes, so he would obtain
for him three haires of his sisters priuities. at such time as he should
spye best occasion for it: which the youth promised faithfullye to
perfourme, and vowed speedily to put it in practise, taking a peece
of coniured paper of his maister to Iappe them in when he had got­
ten them: and therevpon the boye practised nightlye to obtaine his
maisters purpose, especially when his sister was a sleepe.
But God who knoweth the secrets of all harts, and reuealeth
all wicked and vngodlye practises, would not suffer the intents of
this diuilish Doctor to come to that purpose which he supposed
it would, and therefore to declare that he was heauilye offended
with his wicked entent, did so woorke by the Gentlewomans owne
meanes, that in the ende the same was discouered and brought to
light: for she being one night a sleepe, and her brother in bed with
her, suddenlye cryed out to her mother, declaring that her Brother
would not suffer her to sleepe, wherevpon her mother hauing a
quick capacitie, did vehemently suspect Doctor Fians entention, by
reason she was a witche of her selfe, and therefore presently arose,
and was very inquisitiue of the boy to vnderstand his intent, and the
better to know ye same, did beat him with sundry stripes, wherby he
discouered the trueth vnto her.
The Mother therefore being well practised in witchcrafte, did
thinke it most conuenient to meete with the Doctor in his owne
Arte, and therevpon tooke the paper from the boy, wherein hee
should haue put the same haires, and went to a young Heyfer which
neuer had borne Calfe nor gone to the Bull, and with a paire of
sheeres, clipped off three haires from the vdder of the Cow, and
wrapt them in the same paper, which she againe deliuered to the


APPENDIX B 297


boy, then willing him to giue the same to his saide Maister, which he
immediatly did.
The Schoolemaister so soone as he had receiued them, thinking
them indeede to bee the Maides haires, went straight and wrought
his arte vpon them: But the Doctor had no sooner doone his intent
to them, but presentlye the Hayfer or Cow whose haires they were
indeed, came vnto the doore of the Church wherein the Schoole­
maister was, into the which the Hayfer went, and made towards the
Schoolemaister, leaping and dauncing vpon him, and following him
foorth of the church and to what place so euer he went, to the great
admiration of all the townes men of Saltpans, and many other who
did beholde the same.
The reporte whereof made all men imagine that hee did woorke
it by the Dwell, without whom it could neuer haue beene so suf­
ficientlye effected: and thervpon, the name of the said Doctor Fien
(who was but a very yang man) began to grow so common among
the people of Scotland, that he was secretlye nominated for a no­
table Cuniurer.
All which although in the beginning he denied, and would not
confesse, yet hauing felt the pain of the bootes (and the charme
stinted, as aforesayd) be confessed all the aforesaid to be most true,
without producing anie witnesses to iustifie the same, & thervpon
before the kings maiesty he subscribed the sayd confessions with his
owne hande, which for truth remaineth vpon record in Scotland.
After that the depositions and examinations of the sayd doc­
tor Pian Alias Cuningham was taken, as alreadie is declared, with his
owne hand willingly set therevnto, hee was by the master of the
prison committed to ward, and appointed to a chamber by himselfe,
where forsaking his wicked wayes, acknowledging his most vngodly
lyfe, shewing that he had too much folowed the allurements and en­
tisements of sathan, and fondly practised his conclusions by coniur­
ing, witchcraft, inchantment, sorcerie, and such like, hee renounced


298 APPENDIX B


the deuill and all his wicked workes, vowed to leade the life of a
Christian, and seemed newly connected towards God.
The morrow after vpon conference had with him, he granted
that the deuill had appeared vnto him in the night before, appar­
eled all in blacke, with a white wand in his hande, and that the deuill
demaunded of him if hee would continue his faithfull seruice, ac­
cording to his first oath and promise made to that effect. Whome (as
hee then sayd) he vtterly renounced to his face, and sayde vnto him
in this manner, Auoide Satan, auoide, for I haue listned too much vnto
thee, and by the same thou hast vndone mee, in respect whereof I
vtterly forsake thee. To whome the deuill answered, That once ere
thou die thou shalt bee mine. And with that (as he sayde) the deuill
brake the white wande, and immediatly vanished foorth of his sight.
Thus all the daie this Doctor Fian continued verie solitarie, and
seemed to haue care of his owne soule, and would call vppon God,
shewing himselfe penitent for his wicked life, neuerthelesse the
same night hee founde such meanes, that hee stole the key of the
prison doore and chamber in the which he was, which in the night
hee opened and fled awaie to the Salt pans, where hee was alwayes
resident, and first apprehended. Of whose sodaine departure when
the Kings maiestie had intelligence, hee presently commanded dili­
gent inquirie to bee made for his apprehension, and for the better
effecting thereof, hee sent publike proclamations into all partes of
his Iande to the same effect. By meanes of whose hot and harde
pursuite, he was agayn taken and brought to prison, and then being
called before the kings highnes, hee was reexamined as well touch­
ing his departure, as also touching all that had before happened.
But this Doctor, notwithstanding that his owne confession ap­
peareth remaining in recorde vnder his owne hande writing, and the
same therevnto fixed in the presence of the Kings maiestie and sund­
rie of his Councell, yet did hee vtterly denie the same.
Wherevpon the kinges maiestie perceiuing his stubbourne wil­
fulnesse, conceiued and imagined that in the time of his absence


APPENDIX B 299


hee had entered into newe conference and league with the deuill
his master, and that hee had beene agayne newly marked, for the
which hee was narrowly searched, but it coulde not in anie wise bee
founde, yet for more tryall of him to make him confesse, hee was
commaunded to haue a most straunge torment which was done in
this manner following.
His nailes vpon all his fingers were riuen and pulled off with an
instrument called in Scottish a Turkas, which in England wee call
a payre of pincers, and vnder euerie nayle there was thrust in two
needels ouer euen up to the heads. At all which tormentes notwith­
standing the Doctor neuer shronke anie whit, neither woulde he
then confesse it the sooner for all the tortures inflicted vpon him.
Then was hee with all conuenient speed, by commandement,
conuaied againe to the torment of the bootes, wherein hee con­
tinued a long time, and did abide so many blowes in them, that his
legges were crushte and beaten togeather as small as might bee, and
the bones and flesh so brused, that the bloud and marrowe spouted
forth in great abundance, whereby they were made unseruiceable
for euer. And notwithstanding al these grieuous paines and cruell
torments hee would not confesse anie thing, so deepely had the
deuill entered into his heart, that hee vtterly denied all that which
he had before auouched, and woulde saie nothing therevnto but this,
that what hee had done and sayde before, was onely done and sayde
for feare of paynes which he had endured.
Upon great consideration therefore taken by the Kings maiestie
and his Councell, as well for the due execution of iustice vppon such
detestable malefactors, as also for example sake, to remayne a ter­
rour to all others heereafter, that shall attempt to deale in the lyke
wicked and vngodlye actions, as witchcraft, sorcery, cuniuration,
&such lyke, the sayde Doctor Fian was soone after araigned, con­
demned, and adiudged by the law to die, and then to bee burned
according to the lawe of that Iande, prouided in that behalfe.
Wherevpon hee was put into a carte, and beeing first strangled, hee


300 APPENDIX B


was immediatly put into a great fire, being readie prouided for that
purpose, and there burned in the Castle hill of Edenbrough on a sater­
daie in the ende of Ianuarie last past. 1 59 1 .
The rest of the witches which are not yet executed, remayne in
prison till farther triall, and knowledge of his maiesties pleasure.


This strange discourse before recited, may perhaps giue some occasion
of doubt to such as shall happen to reade the same, and thereby coniecture
that the Kings maiestie would not hazarde himselfe in the presence of such
notorious witches, least therby might haue insued great danger to his person
and the generall state of the land, which thing in truth might wel haue bene
ftared. But to answer generally to such, let this suffice: that first it is well
knowen that the King is the child & seruant of God, and they but seru­
ants to the deuil, hee is the Lords annointed, and they but vesselles of Gods
wrath: he is a true Christian, and trusteth in God, they worse than Infidels,
for they onely trust in the deuill, who daily serue them, till he haue brought
them to vtter destruction. But heereby it seemeth that his Highnesse caried
a magnanimious and vndanted mind, not ftared with their inchantmentes,

but resolute in this, that so long as God is with him, hee .feareth not who is
against him. And trulie the whole scope of this treatise dooth so plainely
laie open the wonderful! prouidence of the Almightie, that if he had not
bene defended by his omnipotencie and power, his Highnes had neuer re­
turned aliue in his voiage fro Denmarke, so that there is no doubt but God

woulde as well defend him on the land as on the sea, where they pretended
their damnable practise.


FINIS.


### A PPE N DI X C
#### Witchcraft Act and Tolbooth Speech of james the First

THE WITCHCR AFT ACT OF 1604


One of the first things James did upon being crowned king of Eng­
land was to set about repealing the Witchcraft Act of 1 563 that had
been in force for most of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. The history
of the civil witchcraft laws in England began with the statute of

1 542, passed under the reign of King Henry VIII. This statute was
found to be unenforceable and was repealed in 1 547. In 1 563 Eliz­
abeth brought the witchcraft laws back onto the books in a form
somewhat more severe than had existed so briefly under the rule of
her father. However, they were not severe enough for James, who, if
he had been allowed free action in drafting the new statute, would
probably have made every act of magic or witchcraft punishable by
death.
The text below is faithful to the original text of the statute. Only
the spelling and some of the punctuation have been modernized to
make comprehension easier.


An Act against conjuration, witchcraft and dealing with

evil and wicked Spirits.

s. Eliz.c 1 6. Be it enacted by the king our sovereign lord of the Lords
Spiritual and Temporal and the Commons in this present Parliament


302 APPENDIX C


assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the Statute made
in the fifth year of the Reign of our late Sovereign lady of the most
famous and happy memory Queen Elizabeth, entitled An Act against
Conjurations, Enchantments and witchcrafts, be from the Feast of St.
Michael the Archangel next coming, for and concerning a Offenses to
be committed after the same Feast, utterly repealed.

II. And for the better restraining of said offenses, and more severe
punishing the same, be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid,
That if any person or persons, after the said feast of Saint Michael
the Archangel next coming shall use, practice, or exercise any Invo­
cation, or Conjuration of any evil and wicked spirits, or shall con­
sult, covenant with, entertain, employ, feed or reward any evil and
wicked spirit to or for any intent or purpose, or take up any dead
man, woman or child out of his or her or their grave, or any other
place where the dead body resteth, or the skin, bone, or any other
part of any dead person, to be employed or used in any manner of
witchcraft, sorcery, charm, or Enchantment; or shall use, practice, or
exercise any witchcraft, Enchantment, charm, or sorcery whereby
any person shall be killed, destroyed, wasted, consumed, pined, or
lamed in his or her body, or any part thereof; then that every such
Offender or Offenders, their Aiders and Abettors and Counselors,
being of any the said Offenses duly and lawfully convicted and at­
tainted, shall suffer pains of death as a Felon or Felons, and shall lose
the privilege and benefit of Clergy and Sanctuary.

III. And further, to the intent that all manner of practice, use,
or exercise of Witchcraft, Enchantment, Charm, or Sorcery should
be from henceforth utterly avoided, abolished, and taken away, Be it
enacted by the authority of this Present Parliament, that if any Per­
son or Persons shall, from and after the said feast of Saint Michael
the Archangel next coming, take upon him or them by Witchcraft,
Enchantment, Charm, or Sorcery to tell or declare in what place any
treasure of Gold or silver should or might be found or had in the
earth or other secret places, or where Goods or Things lost or stolen


APPENDIX C 303


should be found or be come; or to the intent to Provoke any person
to unlawful love; or whereby any chattel or Goods of any Person
shall be destroyed, wasted, or impaired; or to hurt or destroy any
Person in his or her body, although the same be not effected and
done: that then all and every such Person and Persons so offending,
and being thereof lawfully convicted, shall for the said Offense suffer
Imprisonment by the space of one whole year, without bail or main­
prize [surety], and once in every quarter of the said year, shall in
some market town, upon the market day, or at such time as any Fair
shall be kept there, stand openly upon the pillory by the space of six
hours, and there shall openly confess his or her error and offense.
And if any person or persons being once convicted of the same of­
fenses as is aforesaid, do eftsoons perpetrate and commit the like of­
fense, that then every such Offender, being of the said offenses the
second time lawfully and duly convicted and attained as is aforesaid,
shall suffer pains of death as a Felon or felons, and shall lose the ben­
efit and privilege of Clergy and Sanctuary: saving to the wife of such
person as shall offend in anything contrary to this Act, her title of
dower; and also to the heir and Successor of every such person, his
or their titles of inheritance, succession, and other Rights, as though
no such Attainder of the Ancestor or Predecessor had been made;
provided always that if the Offender in any cases aforesaid shall hap­
pen to be a Peer of this realm, then his Trial there is to be had by his
Peers, as is used in cases of Felony or Treason and not others.
1 603-4 in the year of his majesty james Stuart of England and Scot­

land VI


The Tolbooth Speech of 1 59 1
The original Tolbooth was constructed in Edinburgh in 1 501 to
house the parliament and courts of justice. A new building replaced
it in 1 563 . It later served as a prison, and was finally torn down in
1 8 1 7. It was located in what is presently the lower High Street, just
a few blocks east of Castle Hill where many of the North Berwick
witches were burned.


304 APPENDIX C


It was here that James confronted the jury that acquitted Barbara
Napier of witchcraft on June 7, 1 59 1 . James was furious at the ac­
quittal, which seemed to him to fly in the face of the evidence that
he had heard given out of the very mouths of the witches; he also
regarded it as an affront to his authority since he had made plain
his interest in seeing all the North Berwick witches condemned. He
charged the members of the jury with "willful error on assize, ac­
quitting a witch" and later had them all tried on this account.


june 1 591 King]ames' speech to accused jurors:
"For witchcraft, which is a thing grown very common amongst us, I
know it to be a most abominable sin, and I have been occupied these
three quarters of this year for the sifting out of them that are guilty
herein. We are taught by the laws both of God and men that this sin
is most odious, and by God's law punishable by death. By man's law
it is called maleficium or veneficium, an ill deed or a poisonable deed,
and punishable likewise by death. Now if it be death being practiced
against any of the people, I must needs think it to be-at least the like if it be against the King . . . As for them who think these
witchcrafts to be but fantasies, I remit them to be catechized and
instructed in these most evident pointes . . . . because I see the pride
of these witches and their friends, which cannot be prevented but by
mine own presence. And for these witches, whatsoever hath been
gotten from them hath been done by me myself; not because I was
more wise then others, but because I was not partial, and believed
that such a vice did reign and ought to be repressed.
"The thing that moved [the men of the assize] to find as they
did, was because they had no testimony but of witches; which they
thought not sufficient. By the civil law I know that such infamous
persons are not received for witnesses, but in matters of heresy and
lesae majestatis. For in other matters it is not thought meet, yet in
these matters of witchcraft good reason that such be admitted. First
none honest man can know these matters; secondly, because they


APPENDIX C 305


will not accuse themselves; thirdly, because no act which is done by
them can be seen.
"Further, I call them witches which do renounce God and yield
themselves wholly to the Devil; but when they have recanted and re­
pented, as these have done, then I account them not as witches, and
so their testimony sufficient. In this I refer myself to the ministers.
Besides, the inquest is to judge of the quality of the testimony and
circumstances concerning the same. Also it may be observed that
never any of good life were charged with that crime."


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Pegasus Press, 1998.


### I N DE X



Abingdon, 9
act, witch, 42 (see al.so: statute,

witchcraft)

Acts (Bible), 58, 1 08

Adam, 69

admiral, 12, 21-22

Admonitio de superstitionibus
magicis vitandis (Hemming­

sen), 51

Adonai, 70
Aeneid, The (Virgil), 1 77
Agag, 180, 280

Agrippa, Cornelius, xi, 5, 25,
47-48, 50-5 1, 70, 75, 77, 84,
88, 223, 233
Ahab, King, 58

Aicheson, Margaret, 204-205

Aicheson, Masie, 204

All Hallow's Eve, 213
Amaymon, 96
Anaphaxeton, 88

angel, 36, 57, 94, 1 2 1, 153, 160

Angus, Earl of, 192, 209

Anne of Denmark, 2-3, 1 1-12,
21-22



ape, 89, 92, 1 16, 128, 237, 239,
249, 255
Apollonius of Tyana, 95

apostles, 160, 1 7 1, 271, 275

apparition, 14, 57, 83-84, 93,
153, 225, 236
arithmancy. See numerology

arts, 6, 28-29, 46-47, 49, 55, 63,
67, 69, 90-91, 1 15, 143-144,
1 76, 222-223
Asmoday, 96
assize of error, 19, 209-210

Astaroth, 97

astral projection, 126

astrology, 29, 68, 70, 73-75,
78-79

astronomy, 70, 73, 78


Babylon, 1 50, 1 56
Bailzy, Marion, 205
Bandilandis, Janet, 191, 289

baptism, 1 1, 39, 97, 1 12, 1 16,
171, 1 83

barbarous words, 70-71
Barnstone, Willis, 108



313


314


Barrett, Francis, 93
Beast, the, 65, 85, 89, 1 19, 122,
1 53, 156, 237, 252, 267
Begton, Meg, 204
bell<EFBFBD>36, 165, 167, 1 70, 1 72, 209
Beelzebub, 97, 1 75, 278
beggars, 165, 1 67, 273
Bel and the Dragon (Apocrypha),
121, 151
bewitch, 1 7, 59, 1 13, 129, 1 86,
197, 214, 285, 295
Bible, 4, 28-29, 3 1, 59-61, 70,

108, 154
birds, 86, 1 19
bleeding, 109
blood, 4, 25, 30, 73, 76, 85-86,
92, 96-97, 109, 1 1 7, 154, 183,
202, 207, 232
Bodin, Jean, 47, 50, 225
Bodley Head, 41-42
boot, 217-21 8
Bordeaux, 187-188

Bothwell, Earl of, 13, 26, 204,
208, 216
Bowes, Sir Robert. 205, 209
breath, 32, 60, 122, 125, 154, 214,
25 1
bridle, witch's, 24
Brounhill, Thomas, 205
Brown, Bessie, 205
brownie, 160, 270
Buchanan, Duncan, 205
Buckingham, Duke of, 1 1



INDEX


Burghley, Lord, 12, 20, 209-210,
212
burning, 8, 1 7, 204, 208
Burntisland, 13, 1 7, 22, 195
buttocks (see also: hinder parts),
xi, 1 8, 32, 120, 194, 214


Calicut, 1 17, 120
Campbell, Janet, 205
Cardano, Girolamo, 78-79
Cardanus. See Cardano,
Girolamo

cards, 91
Carmichael, James, 41, 188
Carrington, Christian, 205
Carschoggill, Laird of, 208
Castle Hill, 18-19, 27, 202, 204,
208-209, 300, 303
cat, 7, 12, 25, 89, 132, 195, 21 1,
217, 293
Catholic, 3, 34, 37, 59, 97, 145,
161
Cockburn, Thomas, 205
charms, 7, 19, 23-24, 29, 50, 60,
73, 76, 8 1, 1 1 1, 212
Chelmsford, 8
Cimmeria, 160
circles, 26, 29-30, 49, 57, 69,
81-83, 87, 1 39, 225, 23 1, 235236, 260
Chaldeans, 67, 100
Charybdis, 124, 126, 254
Chirnside, Ninian, 205


INDEX


Christ, 5, 37, 90, 97, 1 1 5, 123,
128, 132, 143, 158, 160-161,
169-171, 1 75, 238, 248, 253,
255, 258, 261, 269, 271, 274276, 278
Christians, 35, 57, 75, 143, 150,
153, 159-160, 173, 176, 226,
233, 262, 265, 267, 270, 277,
279
church, 3, 9, 14, 1 7, 2 1, 37, 97,
108, 1 1 7, 120, 122, 133, 152,
160-1 61, 169, 199, 21 1, 213215, 2 1 7, 250, 252, 267, 271,
274, 297
Church History of Britain (Fuller),
9
Clark, Michael, 205
clay, 33, 128, 1 33, 255
cleanliness, 120
Clement of Alexandria, 108
Cliftonhall, Lord, 16, 207
Colington, Marion. See Congliton, Marion
Coke, Edward, 9
color of safety, 1 75
confession, 8, 10, 13, 23, 25-26,
106, 124, 141, 1 58, 174, 182,
1 87, 191, 196, 201, 208, 243,
269, 277, 281, 289, 295, 298
Congilton, Marion, 205
conjurations, 29, 57, 69, 81-83,
139, 23 1, 235, 302
conjurer, 85, 199



315


conjuring, 198, 200
contract (see also: pact), 30, 7 4,
82, 89, 92, 96-97, 122-123,
230, 235, 237, 240
consultations, 127, 129
conventions, 24, 39, 1 1 5-1 16,
121-122, 139, 1 8 1, 206, 217
convulsions, 9
Cooper, John, 205
Copenhagen, 12, 22, 5 1
corpse (see also: dead body),
8, 1 7, 25, 34, 36, 69-70, 88,
94-95, 128, 132-1 33, 217, 254
Corson, 96
Cowan, Bessie, 205
coven, 14, 18
cow (see also: heifer), xiii, 7, 1 88,
199, 219, 296-297
craft, 12, 1 5, 49, 57-58, 82, 89,
1 1 1, 1 14, 124, 127-129, 1 3 1,
138, 165, 180, 182, 225, 227,
235, 237, 245-246, 253-255,
258-259, 273, 280-281
craftsfolk, 45, 49, 1 80
cross, 37, 169
crown, 13-14, 28
crystal gazing, 80
Cunningham, John (see also: Pian,
John), 191, 196, 199, 289, 294
curses, 58, 135, 227


Darnley, Lord, 1
David, 15, 18, 23, 48, 190, 205-206


316


Day Star (see also: Venus), 275,


278

De ecclesiasticis disciiplinis
(Regino of Priim), 1 76
De Formandis Concionibus (Ger­
hard of Ypres), 5 1
De lege naturae apodictica metho­

dus (Hemmingius), 5 1
De praestigiis daemonum (Weyer),
48
De Vita Propria (Cardano), 79
dead body (see also: corpse), 7,


90, 123, 140, 1 5 1, 1 53, 1 64, 302

Decretum (Gratian), 48
Dee, John, 84
Delphi, 59
demoniacs, 106, 130, 1 52, 1 69
demonologists, 5, 25, 33, 1 66
Demonology (James), 5, 10, 28,
40-42
Demonology and Witchcraft
(Scott), 2 1 2, 219
Demonomania (Bodin), 50
demons, 5, 12, 30, 47, 77, 86,
96-97, 1 76
Denmark, 2-3, 1 1-12, 21-22,
186, 195, 203
Deuteronomy (Bible), 86, 108
Devil (see also: Satan), 1 7 4
Devil's school, 28-29, 68, 75,
81-82, 92, 190, 196-197
Devil's rudiments, 28-29, 68, 73,


8 1



INDEX


Diana, 1 73, 1 76, 276
dice, 9 1, 2 1 7, 239
Discoverie of Witchcraft (Scot), 47
disease, 33, 109, 1 3 1, 133-134,


192, 2 1 1, 258, 290

disjoint, 128, 1 5 1
divination, 7, 23, 29, 38, 6 1,
69-70, 76, 79-80, 86, 108,
1 1 8-1 19, 21 1, 2 1 7
diviners, 86, 1 06
dog, 7, 89, 2 1 1, 237
Drummond, Janet, 205
Dun, Meg, 204
Duncan, Catherine, 204-205
Duncan, Gilly, 1 6, 23, 190-1 9 1,
193, 204
Duncan, Janet, 191, 204-205


Earl of Angus, 192, 208-209
ecstasy, 122-123
Edinburgh, xvi, 1, 3, 13, 16-20,
22, 25, 42, 1 86, 1 88, 19 1-192,


202, 204, 207, 2 1 0-213, 303

Edward VI, 79
Egypt, 3 1, 49, 71, 100
Eheieh, 70
elementals, 238
elements, 18, 90, 95-96, 109
elf-shot, 1 77
Elimi, 97
Elizabeth, Queen, 2, 301
Elohim, 70
Elva, 2 1 1


INDEX


Elworthy, Frederick, 133

Elysian Fields, 1 77
Encyclopedia of Witchcraft and
Demonology (Robbins), 10, 97
enchantment, 7, 60, 86, 200,
302
enchanters, 45, 64, 106, 108, 228,
244
enchantress, 60
endaimona, 1 59, 270
England, 2-3, 5-6, 8-12, 1 8, 2 1,
40, 42, 47, 79, 133, 201, 205206, 299, 301, 303
Enoch, 85
entrails, 1 1 7, 1 19, 1 54
Ephesians, 130
Erinyes, 176
Ersche, Marion, 204
Etruscans, 1 19
Etymological Dictionary, An
(Skeat), 1 14
Eumenides, 1 76
Evangel, 143, 145
Evans-Wentz, Walter Yeeling,
1 77
Eve, 33, 128, 1 72, 193, 213, 219
evil eye, 60, 76, 126, 133
Evil Eye, The (Elworthy), 133
execution, 18-20, 27, 38, 42, 127,
135, 1 55, 171, 194, 202, 204,
208, 210, 212, 254, 275, 292,
299
Exodus (Bible), 59



317


fairies, 34, 37-39, 149, 1 73-1 77,

1 82
Fairley, Janet, 205
Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries, The
(Evans-Wentz), 1 77
fairy knoll, 1 77
Fairy Mythology, The (Keightley),
160
fairy queen, 3 7, 173-1 7 4
faith, 2, 4, 10, 35, 1 3 1, 137-138,
144-145, 1 50, 160, 166-1 67,
1 76, 196, 257, 259, 265, 271,
294
familiar, 7, 26, 30, 40, 46, 59, 70,
95, 108-109, 2 1 1, 222
Farneyer, 205
Farquhar, Archie, 205
fasting, 37, 171, 275-276
Faust (Goethe), 95
ferryboat, 17, 21, 209
Fian, John, 1 1, 1 6, 1 8-19, 191,
196, 204-205, 214
Pian, Thomas, 204-205
fingers, 15, 1 7, 76-77, 132-133,
190, 201, 207, 217, 289, 299
Finland, 36, 165, 167
fire, 4, 8, 33, 38, 86, 90, 95-97,
109, 123, 129-130, 133, 155,
1 79, 202, 204, 209-210, 216,
238, 252, 256, 279, 300
Firth of Forth, 13, 16-1 7, 22,
207, 213
fits, 9, 1 72


318


floating, 39, 1 82
flying, 32
Fontenay, Marquis de, 2
Foras, 96
forespeak, 59, 75

Four Books on the Study of Theol­
ogy (Gerhard of Ypres), 5 1
Fourth Book of Occult Philosophy
(anon.), 5 1, 92-93
freits, 73-74, 1 1 1, 171
Fuller, Thomas, 9
Furies, 176


Gaia, 59
Gall, Janet, 205
Geddie, Malie, 205
Genesis (Bible), 63, 69, 1 59
genitals, 24, 50, 217
Gennesaret, 90
Geography of Witchcraft (Summers), 6, 216
geomancy, 75, 79
Gerhard of Ypres (writer), 5 1
Gesenius, William, 60, 1 54
ghosts, 34, 144-145, 153
Givry, Grillot de, 77, 97
glamour, 50
Gnomes, 95
Gnostics, 71
Goap, 96
goat, 76
goblin, 160
God of the Witches (Murray), 1 1



INDEX


God's ape (see also: Devil, Satan),
92, 1 16, 128
Goetia, The (Mathers), 87,
96
Golden Ass, The (Apuleius), 219
Gordon, John, 204
Gospel (Bible), 143, 145, 261
Graham, Richard, 204
Grandier, Urbain, 96-97
grave, 1 6, 94, 1 5 1, 21 1, 302
Gray, Katherine, 204
Graymeal. See Gordon, john

Greece, 49, 71
Grierson, Isabel, 204
Grierson, Robert, 204, 215
griffon, 1 7
grimoires, 30, 49, 5 1, 70-71, 85,
88, 94
Gunter, Anne, 9
Gwlene, Bessie, 205
Gylor, Isabel, 205
Gypsy Sorcery and Fortune Telling
(Leland), 50


Habbacuc, 121
Hades, 71
hair, 10, 39, 73, 133, 1 56, 160,
1 80-1 81, 192-193, 212, 219
Halloween (see also: All Hallow's
Eve), 1 7-19, 213,
217
Hamilton, Archbishop, 79
hanging, 7-8, 95, 1 5 1, 266


INDEX


hangman, God's, 46
Harsnett, Samuel, 9
healer, 15, 23-24, 26, 21 1
Hebrews (Bible), 64
heifer (see also: cow), 199

hell, 30, 69, 71, 90, 123, 1 54, 194,
23 1, 253, 292
Hemmingius. See Hemmingsen,
Neils
Hemmingsen, Neils, 5 1
Henill, Archie, 205
Hepburn, Jane, 13
herbs, 5, 29, 49, 73, 165, 167, 21 1
heretics, 37, 169, 1 75
high priest, 1 1 8
hinder parts (see also: buttocks),
xi, 1 8, 32, 120, 194, 214
Histories Prodigious, 1 52, 267
History of Magic, The (Selig­
mann), 97
History of the Church of Scotland
(Spottiswoode), 21 1
History of Witchcraft and Demonology, The (Summers), 9
hola, 12, 21 1
Holy Ghost, 64, 101, 242
holy water, 83, 169
Holyrood, 14, 192
Homer, 160
homosexual, 2
horoscope, 79
horse, white, 4, 25
humiliation, 10, 24



319


humor, 35, 105, 107, 109-1 10,
1 12, 129-130, 1 65, 243-245,
256, 273
hunting Mass, 83
hydromancy, 75, 80
Hyperius. See Gerhard of Ypres
Hypnos, 126


I Ching, 79
liM, 1 50, 1 54, 265
image, 13, 1 7, 39, 63, 65, 87, 133,
214, 227
incubi, 36, 163, 271
India, 95, 120
interrogation, 24, 1 72, 208, 218
invisible, 32, 122, 134
Irenaeus, 1 08
Isaiah (Bible), 60
Israel, 57, 1 18, 226
Italy, 13, 79, 204


James, King, 1-6, 9, 1 1-14, 1 6,
18-20, 22, 24-28, 41-42, 47,
50, 59-60, 69, 84-85, 95, 1 55,
1 72, 1 88, 206, 209-210, 214,
216-21 7, 219, 301, 303-304
James the Fifth, 12-13, 49-50,
301
Jehovah, 70
Jeremiah (Bible), 75, 1 50
Jethro, 100
Jew's harp (see also: trump), 1 7,
213-214


320


Job, 129, 1 3 1, 133, 1 58, 208
Job (Bible), 133, 1 58
John (Bible), 129

John Dee: 1 527-1608 (Smith),
84-85, 94
joints, 1 7, 25, 132-133,
195
Jonson, Ben, 109
Judas, 171
jugglery, 96
Kabbalah, 70
kakodaimona, 159, 270
Keightley, Thomas, 160
Kelley, Edward, 94
Kers, John, 195
Key of Solomon the King, The
(Mathers), 86, 95-96
Killigrew, Sir Henry, 1
Kinghorn, 13, 1 7, 209
Kings, I (Bible), 58
kirk, 3, 14, 1 7-1 8, 1 86, 193-194,
213, 215-21 7
kiss, 120, 194, 214
knee, 1 7, 132-133
knots, 78
Knox, Ronald, 59
knucklebones, 25, 217
kobold, 160
Koldings, Anna, 12
Kramer, Heinrich, 50, 1 57


languages, different, 1 70
Lapland, 36, 165, 167



INDEX


lares, 1 53
Latter Day, 90, 123, 1 51-1 52
Lauder, Helen, 205
Lauder, Isabel, 205
laws, 6, 2 1, 33, 35, 38, 301, 304
Lazarus, 160, 271
Leicester, 9
Leith, 12-13, 16-17, 22, 192, 195,
209, 213
Leland, Charles, 50
lemures, 34, 1 53, 265
Leviathan, 97
Leviticus (Bible), 86, 1 18
Life of Apollonius (Philostratus),

linen, 4-5, 25, 195
Linkup, Marian, 12, 205
liver, 1 19
Logan, Janet, 205
Longniddry, Marion, 205
Loudoun, 96
love, 1, 7-8, 23, 33, 1 10, 129, 303
Lowthian, 288-289, 291
Lucifer, 90, 97, 1 75, 1 78, 238, 278
Luke (Bible), 1 58, 160
Luther, Martin, 79
Lyon, Sir Thomas, 2


madness, 3 1, 33, 197
magi, 69
magic, 3, 5-8, 1 1, 16-17, 19-23,
25-3 1, 37-38, 40-42, 45,
47-49, 5 1, 53, 60, 65, 67,

95


I NDEX


69-70, 73, 76-78, 81-82,
84-86, 88, 94-97, 99-100, 105,
1 1 6, 122, 132-133, 1 39-141,
1 76, 180, 206, 21 1-212, 214,
2 1 7, 301
magic, stage, 96,
108
magicians, 28-3 1, 38, 46, 49-50,
65-66, 70, 8 1, 89, 91-92,
95-97, 99, 101, 105-106, 1 1 1,
1 15, 1 79, 237, 239-244, 246,
248, 279
magistrate, 33, 38, 137-138, 1 80,
1 84, 258-259, 280
Magus, The (Barrett), 93
Maitland, John, 20, 208-209
Malleus Maleficarum (Kramer
and Sprenger), 50
Malpas, Katherine, 9
man-wolves (see also: werewolves), 1 53
Mare, 37, 165, 168, 273
Mark (Bible), 30
mark, 7, 10, 1 5, 30, 32, 39, 57, 65,
92, 97, 1 12, 1 1 6, 132, 1 58, 169,
1 72, 182, 190, 192-193, 2 12,
258, 269, 274, 276
Mary, Queen of Scots, 1, 13-14
Mass, 83, 123
mathematics, 74-75
Mathers, S. L. MacGregor,
86-87, 96
Matthew (Bible), 90, 169-171



321


McCalyan, Effie, 204, 207-208,
2 1 5
McGillis, Catherine, 204-205
McGillis, Gilbert, 204
McGillis, John, 204-205
mediciners, 74, 128, 166, 209,
232, 255, 273
melancholy, 3 1, 35, 105-107,
109-1 10, 1 53
melancholy, heroic, 109-1 10
Melville, Lady Mary, 13
Melville, Sir James, 13
Memoirs (Melville), 13, 1 7, 41,
1 88
Mephistopheles, 95
meteor, 133
Micaiah, 58
midwife, 1 1, 23-24, 26, 36, 165,
2 1 1
miracles, 5, 58, 89, 91-92, 106,
1 60-161, 1 70, 227, 237, 239,
243, 271, 275
mirror script, 97
Moon, 87-88, 1 18
Morning Star (see also: Day Star,
Venus), 1 78
Morpheus, 126, 253
Moscrop, Patrick, 207
Moses, 3 1, 58, 92, 99-101, 106,
1 18, 227
Mott, George, 205
Muirhead, Katherine, 205
Munk, Peter, 2 1


322


Murray, Margaret, 13, 205,
2 1 5-216
Murray, Nichol, 205
mysteries, heavenly, 91


names, 12, 16, 1 8, 25, 34, 38, 47,
49, 70-71, 83, 94, 1 50, 1 75,
205-206, 235, 265, 278
Nairn, A ie, 205
Napier, Barbara, 19, 204, 209210, 215
Nebuchadnezzar, 1 53, 1 56
necromancers, 28-29, 3 1, 49, 57,
64-66, 68, 99, 101, 105, 108,
1 1 1, 1 1 5, 123, 1 75, 228, 240,
242-243, 246, 248, 253, 278
necromancy, 6, 8, 28-29, 45, 49,
65, 67, 69-70, 84, 94, 105
Nero, 1 08
Nesbitt, David, 205
News From Scotland (anon.), xii­
xiv, 1 1 . 27. 41-42, 59, 120, 1 72,
1 88, 204-205, 217, 219
Nicholson, Janet, 205
Nicholson, Marion, 205
Nis, 160
North Berwick, 3, 5-6, 10-1 1,
13-18, 20-21, 23, 25-26, 28,
41-42, 59, 120, 132-134,
141, 1 55, 186, 1 88, 193-194,
206, 21 1, 213, 2 1 5-217, 219,
303-304
Nostradamus, 80



INDEX


number of the Beast, 65, 236
numerology, 29, 80
nuns, 36, 97, 163


obsession, 145
Occult Philosophy, Three Books of
(Agrippa), 5 1
Orkney, 36, 1 65
Oslo, 3, 21-22, 24, 194, 2 1 7
Other Bible, The (Barnstone), 1 08
overlooking, 36, 60
oyster shell, 1 9 5


pact (see also: contract), 7, 23, 30,
70, 95-97
pagans, 43, 59, 75, 1 1 7, 1 52, 1 59,
1 73-1 74
palm reading, 29
paper, 133, 1 88, 198-199, 2 1 7,
296
Papists, 34, 37, 83, 123, 169-1 71
Paracelsus, 95-96
paralysis, sleep, 168
parliament, 6, 14, 42, 84, 210,
302-303
Parnassus, 59
Pasiphae, 219
Paul, 57, 94, 100, 108, 226
Peter, 12, 21-22, 50, 107-108,
123, 1 55, 245, 252
Pavia, 78-79
peddler, 187-188
pentacles, 49


INDEX


Persia, 69
pestilence, 13 7
Peter of Palude, 50
Peterson, Marion, 205
Pharaoh, 58, 9 1, 106, 244
Philo Judaeus, 1 18
Philostratus, 95
physiognomy, 75, 80, 91
pig, 1 1
pillory, 7, 303
pilliwinks (see also: thumbscrews), 190, 207
pins, 133, 196
Pluto, 69, 71
po<EFBFBD>on, 33, 124, 128
poisoner, 60
poppet, 133
possession, 9, 96, 145, 1 72
powder, 17, 132

praye<EFBFBD>33, 35, 37, 108, 132, 1 52,
1 7 1, 21 1, 258, 267, 276
pregnant, 19, 36, 167, 208-210
Prestonpans, 1 7, 207, 213
pricking, 97
priests, 37, 48, 1 1 7, 1 19-120, 249
Primeumaton, 88
Prince of the Air (see also: Devil,
Satan), 130, 257
princes, 90-91, 99-100, 238-239,
241
prison, 7-8, 1 6, 19, 34, 90, 94,
123, 137, 139-141, 191-192,
200-202, 204, 238, 252, 258,



323


260-261, 289-290, 297-298,
300, 303
prophecy, 57, 67, 1 60, 1 74
prophetess, 59
prophets, 57, 9 1, 123, 160, 171,
225-226, 238, 253, 271, 276
Protestant, 2-3, 34, 5 1, 59
Proverbs (Bible), 181
Psalms (Bible), 1 59
punishment, 6, 8, 19, 33, 35, 38,
40, 46, 69, 99, 101, 13 1-132,
145, 1 79, 1 83, 210, 222, 23 1,
240, 242, 257-258, 279
pulpit, 1 7, 1 1 7, 120, 194, 210,
214-215, 250, 292
purity, 94
Python, 58-59, 106, 227, 244
Pythoness, 56, 59, 106


Ramsey, John, 205
Ranking, Marion, 205
Rashi, 1 1 8
reel, 193, 214
register, 1 86, 196
religion, 144, 168, 1 70-1 71, 226,
262, 275-276
Revelation (Bible), 4
revenge, 28, 3 1, 65-66, 1 12, 1 15,
183, 229
Richardson, A e, 205
riddle, 73, 76, 1 1 1, 193, 212, 232,
246, 291
ring, 26, 90, 95, 1 77, 2 14, 237


324


Robbins, Rossell Hope, 9-10,

Robinson, Donald, 204
Romans, 71, 1 19, 1 53-1 54
runes, 26, 76
Ruthven, 2


sabbat, 13, 1 7-19, 213, 216
sacraments, 128
sacrifice, 85-86, 132, 135, 258
Sadducees, 45, 143, 145, 222

saints, 57, 97, 101, 161
Salem, 9
Saltpans, 1 7-1 8, 25, 191, 197,
199, 207, 213, 289, 295, 297
Saltpreston, 1 7, 207
Sampson, Agnes, 23-25, 132,
191, 193-194, 204-206, 212214, 289
Samuel, 9, 39, 56-58, 6 1, 144,
180, 182, 225-226, 262
Samuel, I (Bible), 58
Satan (see also: Devil), xi, 3-5, 12,
14-17, 23, 25, 27, 30, 32-33,
40-41, 45, 48-49, 57, 65, 82,
91, 97, 1 15-1 16, 121, 132,
143, 1 59, 161, 1 75-1 76, 1 78,
182-1 82, 200, 298
Salamanders, 95
Saltpreston, 1 7, 207
Saul, 39, 56-58, 101, 106,
1 80, 182, 225-226, 243244

97



INDEX


sciences, 67, 69, 91, 99-100, 229,
23 1, 239, 241
Scheill, Marion. See Shaw, Marion
Scot, Reginald, xi. 47
Scoto, 91, 239
Scott, Sir Walter, 219
Scripture, 55-56, 91, 105-106,
130, 1 5 1, 1 75, 224, 238, 243244, 257, 266, 278
scryer, crystal, 94
Scylla, 124, 126, 254

Seaton, David, 190, 205

seed, 36, 164
Serpent, 33, 65, 92, 128, 229, 239
sex, 36, 38, 128, 1 66, 1 79
Shaddai, 70
shades, 34, 153, 182
Shaw, Marion, 205
Shetland, 36, 165
Sibbet, John, 205
sieve, 76-77, 193, 212
Siloam, 158, 269
Simon Magus, 58, 106, 108, 227,
243-244
Simonians, 108
Simson, Annie, 205
sin, 28, 35, 58, 63-64, 100-101,
144-145, 161, 180, 183, 227228, 242, 280, 304
Skeat, Walter W, 1 14
slaves, 29, 45, 68-69, 1 17, 129
sleep, 1 5, 24, 126, 168, 198, 212
Smith, Charlotte, 3 1 1


INDEX


Smith, John, 85

Solomon, 85-87, 96, 181
soot-ball, 12
sooth-dream, 1 74
sorcerers, 28-29, 3 1, 49, 59,

65-66, 101, 106, 154, 229, 242,
244
sorceress, 60
sorcer<EFBFBD>6-7, 28, 3 1, 45, 49-5 1,
65, 103, 105, 1 1 1, 155, 189,
197-198, 200, 202, 288, 295,
299, 302
soul, 14, 32, 35, 37, 46, 68, 83-84,
97, 123, 132, 138, 149, 1 5 1,
1 58, 1 70-1 71, 201, 236
specters, 34, 45
spectra, 149-1 50, 264-265
spells, 33, 141
sperm, 36, 163-164
Sprenger, james, 50, 167
spirit, 2, 7, 26, 35-38, 46, 56-59,
64-65, 68, 82-83, 87-88,
90-91, 94-95, 100, 106,
108-109, 1 16, 121-124, 129130, 1 5 1-1 54, 1 59-160, 163,
166, 170-1 71, 1 74-1 75, 1 8 1,
21 1-212, 222, 225-228, 230,
235-236, 238, 241, 244, 249,
270, 278, 302
stake, 8, 19, 204, 208-209, 212
stars, 29, 70, 74-75, 86, 95, 134
statute, witchcraft (see also: act,
witch), 5-6, 42, 84, 94, 108



325


Sterling Castle, 1

Stewart, Francis, 13, 216
stick, enchanted, 26
stigmata, 161
Stillcart, Meg, 205
stone, 37-38, 73, 1 74, 177, 23 1,
277
stoop. See stake
storm, 3, 12-13, 21-22, 24-25,
48
strangulation, 8, 19, 204
Straton, janet, 205
Straton, Agnes, 205
Styx, 71
succubi, 36, 163, 271
Summers, Montague, 5-6, 10,
13, 1 54-1 55, 1 76, 216
Sylphs, 95


table, 95
tears, 39, 183
tempests, 33, 130
testimony, 6, 9, 17, 21, 24, 28,
38-39, 64, 120, 166, 188, 206,
213-214, 216-21 7, 304-305
Tetragrammaton, 70, 88, 1 1 8
Tetragrammaton (Tyson), 1 1 8
Thomson, Bessie, 205-206
Thomson, Margaret, 205-206
thrawing (see also: wringing),
207, 294
thrawn, 193
Thummim, 1 1 7-1 1 8, 249


326


times, observer of, 86

tinsel, 1 38, 1 58
Thompson, Edward H., 1 88
thumbscrews, 1 5, 207

toad, black, 1 94

Todd, Begie, 204

Todd, Christian, 204

Tolbooth Speech, 3, 19, 42, 2 1 0,

301, 303

Tompson, Agnes, 207

tongue, 106, 144, 1 92, 1 96, 2 1 3,

262

torture, 3, 8, 10, 1 5-1 6, 20-2 1,

23, 25, 28, 39, 1 07, 141, 1 72,

1 83, 1 90, 1 92, 204-205, 207208, 2 1 2, 2 1 6-2 1 8, 245, 282,

289-290
Tragical History of Doctor Faus­

tus (Marlowe), 95

trance, 32, 38-39, 1 26

Tranent, 16, 23, 25, 1 87, 205
207, 213

treason, 1 9-20, 39, 1 80-1 8 1, 2 1 0,

280-28 1, 303

triangle, 87-88
tripod, 59
trump (see also: Jew 's harp), 1 93,

2 1 3, 29 1

turkas, 201, 299


umbrae mortuorum, 1 50

Underworld, 7 1

Undines, 95



INDEX


Ur, 100

Urim, 1 1 7-1 1 8


ventriloquists, 1 72

Venus, 1 78

Virgil, 1 73, 1 77

voice, hollow, 37,

1 70

Vulgate (Bible), 60


Wallace, Catherine, 205
Walton le Dale, 94

wand, white, 200, 298
wands, 92

Waring, Paul, 94
Watt, Charles, 204

wax, 1 3, 1 7, 33, 1 28-129, 133,

209, 2 1 2, 2 1 4-2 1 6

werewolves, 3 5, 1 53,

55

Westham, 9
Weyer, johann, 25, 48-49
whirlpool, 126

White, Helen, 205

Whitelaw, Alexander, 205
wicca, 1 13-1 14
Wierus. See Weyer, 47

wind, 12, 22, 25, 32, 48, 96, 122,

1 95
winding sheet, 133
window, 35, 1 08, 1 5 1, 265-266

wine, 46, 1 88, 1 93, 2 1 2-2 1 3, 2 1 6,

222, 29 1


INDEX


Wise Wife of Nether-Keith, 1 6,

23
Witchcraft, Magic and Alchemy (de
Givry), 77, 97
Witchcraft Statute, 4-10, 2 1, 42,
84, 94, 108, 301
Witch-cult In Western Europe,
The (Murray), 14, 215-216
witnesses, 27, 39, 107, 122, 167,
181, 199, 252, 281, 297, 304
wizards, 60, 108
women, 8-10, 12, 16, 27, 33,
36-37, 39, 41, 46, 48, 8 1, 107,
127-129, 147, 153, 163, 166,
173, 176, 182, 192, 213, 215,



327


222, 234, 245, 254-256, 264,

268, 271, 273, 277, 281-282,
290
words of God, 29, 40, 57, 69, 74,
82, 88, 101, 194, 23 1
words of power, 29, 40, 49, 67,
69-71, 74, 229, 23 1
wraiths, 35, 152
Wright, Bessie, 205
Wright, William, 42, 219
wringing (see also: thrawing), 196


Zimimay, 96
ZIIM, 1 50, 1 54


ILLUSTRATION SOURCES


The modernized texts are based on my copy of the 1 924 Bodley
Head edition of King James the First Daemonologie, to which the
tract Newes From Scotland, declaring the Damnable Life and death
of Doctor Pian is appended. According to its editor, G. B. Harrison,
these works are "reprinted line for line and page for page" from the
original 16th century texts. The Bodley Head edition was published
jointly by John Lane the Bodley Head Ltd., London, and by E. P. Dut­
ton and Company, New York.
All of the woodcuts used to illustrate this book were selected
from the same historical period during which the book was writ­
ten, as nearly as this was possible. Where necessary for clarity I have

cleaned and enhanced the images, but their contents have not been
altered.
Illustrations 1, 1 4, 1 5, 1 6, 1 7, and 1 8 are to be found in the 1 924
Bodley Head edition of King James the First Daemonologie, pub­
lished by John Lane the Bodley Head Ltd., London, and E. P. Dutton,
New York, in 1924.
Illustrations 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 1 1 and 13 are to be found in Picture
Book of Devils, Demons and Witchcraft by Ernst and Johanna Leh­
ner, published by Dover Publications in 1971 .
Illustration 2 is to be found in the first volume (p. 597) of Hein­
rich Cornelius Agrippa's two volume collection of works, Opera
omnia, which bears no date but was first published around the year
1600. This Latin work was reproduced in facsimile in two volumes
by Georg Olms Verlag of Hildesheim and New York in 1970.
Illustration 4 is found on p. 244 of the Discoverie of Witchcraft by
Reginald Scot, first published 1 584. The 1972 Dover Publications edi­
tion is a reprint of the 1930 edition of John Rodker, London.
Illustration 12 is from Olaus Magnus's Historia de gentibus sep­
tentrionalibus, 1 5 55. It is reproduced on the second unnumbered
plate following page 200 of A Treasury of Witchcraft by Harry E.
Wedeck, published in 1 96 1 by Philosophical Library, New York.


328


Illustration 19 is found on page 1 3 1 of the second volume of
Charles Mackay's Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and

the Madness of Crowds, published in its Third Edition in 1856 by G.

Routledge & Co., London. Mackay derived it from page 26 of the

first volume of the Pictorial Edition of the Works of Shakspere by
Charles Knight, published in 8 volumes in 1839. Knight's version is
a redrawing of a woodcut in the Praxis criminis persequendi by Mil­

laeus, published at Paris in 1 541 . This woodcut appears as the fifth

plate following page 128 of Daniel P. Mannix's The History of Tor­

ture, published in 1964 by Dell Publishing Company, New York.
Illustration 20 forms the title page of the first edition of
Newes from Scotland, published in 1 592 (not 1 59 1 even though

this date appears on the page). It is to be found on the Internet at

the Web site of Edward H. Thompson (http: I / homepages.tesco.

net/ <20>eandcthomp /newes.htm), and on several other Internet sites.