Summary
Meilan Solly, in her article published in 2019 and titled “This Map Shows the Scale Of 16th and 17th Century Scottish Witch Hunts”, explains the stories of witchcraft practice in Scotland between 1590 and 1727. Analysis of the article reveals that Scottish witch hunts happened at a time of instability and intense conflict, affecting all corners of the country (Solly, 2019). With the ascension of James I to the English throne, the political power over both England and Scotland was, for the first instance, legitimately vested in one individual (National Library of Scotland). The Reformation period, religious wars, and monarchy restoration, coupled with the Glorious Revolution of Mary and William, established a dynamic social and political environment before which the surfs of witchcraft dread swept Scotland.
Details from The Article
The article reveals that witchery was a secular offense between the 16th and 17th centuries and nearly all trials occurred during this time. With about 3141 recorded cases, a rich statistical sense of the trend of accusation was derived (Solly, 2019). The dataset shows a considerable case of gender disparity from the accused list, where women were the majority. Specifically, the excerpt demonstrates the linkage between witch-hunting and women in Scotland, where associations are established between witchcraft indictments and women’s economic and social position in society. The scale of the witch hunt, however, appears to be set in the milieu of the Scottish’s bigger attack on moral idiosyncrasy.
Following this, women were criminalized in mass, with more prominence on sexual transgressions where witchcraft allegations were associated with women’s rivalries and quarrels. However, the article does not offer an account of shared mentalities and cultural nuances that could have influenced the women’s behavior towards witchcraft practice. For instance, the connection between the fairies and how individuals in Scotland perceived mental illnesses with the supernatural.
References
National Library of Scotland. (n.d.). The context of the Scottish witch-hunts. Web.
Solly, M. (2019). This map shows the scale of 16th – and 17th -century Scottish witch hunts. Smithsonian. Web.