Violet Mar (died 1577) was a Scottish woman accused of witchcraft and plotting the death of Regent Morton, the ruler of Scotland.
Violet lived at Kildeis or Keldeis in Muthill or Methven in Perthshire and was accused of using sorcery, witchcraft, incantations, and the invocation of spirits in her alleged plot against Morton. Little is known about her life or motivations. [1]
Robert Murray of Abercairny, a local laird, was involved in her arrest and trial. He sought advice from his sister-in-law, Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar, who was the head of King James VI's household at Stirling Castle at the time. [2]
In September 1577, Annabell Murray advised Robert Murray not to come to Stirling Castle because Regent Morton was coming. The Laird of Abercairny intended to bring Violet Mar to Stirling, and Annabell Murray suggested he obtain written statements from her accusers. [3] This was the second letter on the subject from the Countess of Mar, indicating her active role in planning Violet Mar's trial. It has been suggested that the Countess of Mar's involvement in such cases helped shape James VI's attitudes toward women accused of witchcraft. [4]
On 10 October 1577, a royal messenger, Robert Binning, was sent from Edinburgh to summon Margaret Murray, Lady Clackmannan (another sister of Catherine Murray, Lady Abercairney and the Countess of Mar), the Laird of Abercairny and his wife Catherine Murray, and others to appear before the Privy Council on 18 October. Binning also brought the summons for the assize (trial) of Violet Mar, scheduled for 24 October. [5]
Violet Mar was brought to trial and convicted on 24 October 1577. [6]
In March 2022 Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister of Scotland, apologized for the persecution of alleged witches during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The Scottish government had not apologized previously. [7]
Isobel Gowdie was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn during 1662. Scant information is available about her age or life and, although she was probably executed in line with the usual practice, it is uncertain whether this was the case or if she was allowed to return to the obscurity of her former life as a cottar’s wife. Her detailed testimony, apparently achieved without the use of violent torture, provides one of the most comprehensive insights into European witchcraft folklore at the end of the era of witch-hunts.
The North Berwick witch trials were the trials in 1590 of a number of people from East Lothian, Scotland, accused of witchcraft in the St Andrew's Auld Kirk in North Berwick on Halloween night. They ran for two years, and implicated over 70 people. These included Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, on charges of high treason.
The 1594 trial of alleged witch Allison Balfour or Margaret Balfour is one of the most frequently cited Scottish witchcraft cases. Balfour lived in the Orkney Islands of Scotland in the area of Stenness. At that time in Scotland, the Scottish Witchcraft Act 1563 had made a conviction for witchcraft punishable by death.
Witchcraft in Orkney possibly has its roots in the settlement of Norsemen on the archipelago from the eighth century onwards. Until the early modern period magical powers were accepted as part of the general lifestyle, but witch-hunts began on the mainland of Scotland in about 1550, and the Scottish Witchcraft Act of 1563 made witchcraft or consultation with witches a crime punishable by death. One of the first Orcadians tried and executed for witchcraft was Allison Balfour, in 1594. Balfour, her elderly husband and two young children, were subjected to severe torture for two days to elicit a confession from her.
The Pittenweem witches were five Scottish women accused of witchcraft in the small fishing village of Pittenweem in Fife on the east coast of Scotland in 1704. Another two women and a man were named as accomplices. Accusations made by a teenage boy, Patrick Morton, against a local woman, Beatrix Layng, led to the death in prison of Thomas Brown, and, in January 1705, the murder of Janet Cornfoot by a lynch mob in the village.
Margaret Aitken, known as the Great Witch of Balwearie, was an important figure in the great Scottish witchcraft panic of 1597 as her actions effectively led to an end of that series of witch trials. After being accused of witchcraft Aitken confessed but then identified hundreds of women as other witches to save her own life. She was exposed as a fraud a few months later and was burnt at the stake.
Beatrix Leslie was a Scottish midwife executed for witchcraft. In 1661 she was accused of causing the collapse of a coal pit through witchcraft. Little is known about her life before that, although there are reported disputes with neighbours that allude to a quarrelsome attitude.
Barbara Napier or Naper was a Scottish woman involved in the 1591 North Berwick witch trials. Details of charges against her survive, and she was found guilty of consulting with witches, but it is unclear if, like the other accused people, she was executed.
Issobell Young was a wife of a tenant farmer residing in the village of East Barns in the parish of Dunbar, Lothian, Scotland. She was tried, strangled, and burned at the stake at Castle Hill, Edinburgh for practising witchcraft.
Annabell Murray, Countess of Mar (1536–1603), was a Scottish landowner, courtier and royal servant, the keeper of the infant James VI and his son Prince Henry at Stirling Castle.
Alison Pearson was executed for witchcraft. On being tried in 1588, she confessed to visions of a fairy court.
William Murray of Tullibardine was a Scottish courtier and leader of the Clan Murray.
Margaret Livingstone, Countess of Orkney was a Scottish courtier and landowner. She was a daughter of William Livingstone, 6th Lord Livingston and Agnes Fleming.
Julian Goodare is a professor of history at University of Edinburgh.
Margaret Fleming, Countess of Atholl (1536-1586) was a Scottish courtier and landowner rumoured to be involved in the occult. She served as lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots.
Jean Lyon, Countess of Angus was a Scottish courtier and landowner, who became involved in a witchcraft trial.
Catherine Murray was a Scottish aristocrat and courtier.
Margaret Duchill was a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Alloa during the year 1658. She was implicated by others and she named other women. She was executed on 1 June 1658.
Katherine Campbell was a maidservant accused of theft and witchcraft during the last major witch hunt in Scotland, the Paisley witch trials.
Beatrix Watsone was accused of witchcraft in 1649 at Corstorphine Parish Church, Edinburgh, and died of suicide before trial.