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Janet Boyman

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Contents

Biography

Janet (Jonet?) Boyman was possibly born in Ayrshire, Scotland, of unknown parents. She later lived in the Cowgate, a street in Edinburgh, Scotland and had married William Steill. [1][2][3][4][5]

Accusations of witchcraft

"In the name of the father, the son, King Arthur and ‘quene Elspeth!" [6]

On 31 Dec 1570, she was accused of witchcraft, involving "Fairies, Folk healing, Treason, and Unorthodox religious practice." She had also "predicted the death of the regent," (Regent Moray, assassinated in January 1570). [4][7][3]

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." [7]

Traditional Practices Became Associated with Witchcraft

  • "growing awareness of the rise of demonic power infiltrating the world." [7]
  • Fairy beliefs, "charming practices," became associated with the devil and witchcraft. [7]
  • healing arts became associated with witchcraft. [7]
  • "significance of holy or healing wells to everyday life is evidenced in this account. Wells were often regarded as liminal places where the natural and supernatural worlds intersected." [7]

Emerging Concepts of Witchcraft

  • ...her accusation was the first to be made in connection with a political conspiracy [8]

Execution

Janet Boyman was executed on 29 December 1572. [7]

Sources

  1. Henderson, Lizanne (2011), "'Detestable slaves of the devil': Changing ideas about witchcraft in sixteenth-century Scotland", in Cowan, Edward J.; Henderson, Lizanne (eds.), A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland, 1000 to 1600, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0748621576, p. 244, citing,"The trial of Jonet Boyman is the first Scottish witch trial, so far, for which a detailed indictment has been found and is one of the richest accounts of sixteenth- century Scottish witch and fairy belief as well as charming practices. Condemned as ‘ane wyss woman that culd mend diverss seikness and bairnis that are tane away with the faryie men and wemin [changelings]’, she was charged with witchcraft, sorcery, charming and diabolical incantation. Proceedings against her were first lodged in 1570 and came to an unfortunate conclusion with her execution on 29 December 1572. It is not certain where Jonet actually came from, one source claiming she was from Ayrshire, but her place of residence is given as the Cowgate, in Edinburgh, in the trial document. Her age is unrecorded though it is known that she was married to William Steill. The record strongly suggests that she was a practising healer, and a fairly popular one at that."
  2. Jenny Wormald, Court, Kirk, and Community (London, 1981), p. 30.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Hutton, Ronald (2017), The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-22904-2, p. 219, citing, "A connection between such beings [fairies] and accused witches has also long been recognized…Starting in Scotland, such a connection appears in the very first trial for witchcraft to leave a detailed indictment, that of Janet Boyman of Edinburgh, probably in 1572. She said that she had learned healing skills from a rite taught by a fellow service magician which had called up the ‘good neighbours’, a normal pseudonym for fairies, and with them gained knowledge of the ways of the ‘seely wights’, which enabled her to protect people against them. Unhappily, her cures were clearly not sufficiently effective, and she dabbled in political prophecy as well, and was arrested."
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Janet Boyman (29/12/1572)", Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database, University of Edinburgh, retrieved 10 March 2018 Janet Boyman (29/12/1572)
  5. Anderson, William (1877), The Scottish nation: or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland, Fullerton, p. 363
  6. Henderson, Lizanne (2011), "'Detestable slaves of the devil': Changing ideas about witchcraft in sixteenth-century Scotland", in Cowan, Edward J.; Henderson, Lizanne (eds.), A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland, 1000 to 1600, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0748621576, p. 245, citing, "She made contact with the otherworld at an ‘elrich well’ on the south side of Arthur’s Seat. Here she uttered ‘Incantations and Invocations’ of the ‘evill spreits quhome she callit upon for to come to show and declair’ what would happen to her patients. To bring forth the spirits, she would conjure ‘ane grit blast’ like a whirlwind out of which there appeared the shape of a man who stood on the other side of the well, a further hint at the liminality involved in this ritual. She stood accused of performing this ‘diabolicall incantation’ to cure a sick man by the name of Allan Anderson. After raising the spirit, she commanded it in the name of the father, the son, King Arthur and ‘quene Elspeth’, to reveal to her the method of curing Allan. Elaborate instructions were relayed to Jonet who later communicated them to Allan’s wife; mostly they involved procedures surrounding washing the ill man’s shirt."
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Henderson, Lizanne (2011), "'Detestable slaves of the devil': Changing ideas about witchcraft in sixteenth-century Scotland", in Cowan, Edward J.; Henderson, Lizanne (eds.), A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland, 1000 to 1600, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0748621576, p. 244-245.
  8. Hubble bubble, toil and trouble: Scotland's dark past as a witch-hunting nation". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 8 March 2019.

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