Janet Boyman (died 1572), also known as Jonet Boyman or Janet Bowman, [a] was a Scottish woman accused of witchcraft; she was tried and executed in 1572 although the case against her was started in 1570. [5] Her indictment has been described by modern-day scholars, such as Lizanne Henderson, as the earliest and most comprehensive record of witchcraft and fairy belief in Scotland. [5]
Janet Boyman lived in the Cowgate of Edinburgh, and was said to have been from Ayrshire. [5] She was married to William Steill. [5] In early modern Scotland married women did not change their surnames. [6] [7]
Boyman was identified as "Dame Steill" in the trial of accused witch and conspirator William Stewart of Luthrie. [8] She was alleged to have predicted the escape of Mary, Queen of Scots from Lochleven Castle in 1568 and the death of Regent Moray who was assassinated in January 1570, [9] and her accusation was the first to be made in connection with a political conspiracy. [2] [10]
She told her interrogators that she made contact with the supernatural world at a well on the south side of Arthur's Seat a hill close to Edinburgh. [11] There she conjured spirits who would help her heal others. [12] Sometimes she worked cures by washing the patients's shirt at the well at St Leonards. [13]
She was condemned as:
ane wyss woman that culd mend diverss seikness and bairnis that are tane away with fairyie men and wemen
a wise woman that could heal diverse illnesses and children taken away by fairy men and women. [5]
Jonet Boyman was executed on 29 December 1572. [5]
There is little information available concerning Boyman's personal life; however the trial record shows her as living in Cowgate, a street in Edinburgh. [5] No indication is given of her age but she was married to William Steill. [5]