Europe's inner demons

They went to Mary Rynd’s house and sat down together at the table, the devil being present at the head of it; and some of them went to John Benny’s house, he being a brewer, and brought ale from hence....and others of them went to Alexander Hieche’s and brought aqua vitae from thence, and thus made themselves merry; and the devil made much of them all, but especially of Mary Rynd, and he kissed them all except the said Helen herself, whose hand only he kissed; and she and Jonet Stout sat opposite one to another at the table.⁽¹⁹⁾

Herself, Isobell Shyrie and Elspet Alexander, did meet together at a house near to Barrie, a little before sunset, after they had stayed in the said house about the space of an hour drinking three pints of ale together, they went forth to the sands, and there three other women met them, and the Devil was there present with them all.... and they parted so late that night that she could get no lodging, but was forced to lie at a dike side all night.⁽²⁰⁾

All very normal — until one looks at the original source and discovers what those sets of dots represent. With the lacunae filled in the passages read as follows:

....and brought ale from hence, and they (went) through at a little hole like bees, and took the substance of the ale....

.... and the Devil was there present with them all, in the shape of a great horse; and they decided on the sinking of a ship, lying not far off from Barrie, and presently the said company appointed herself to take hold of the cable tow, and to hold it fast until they did return, and she herself did presently take hold of the cable tow, and the rest with the Devil went into the sea upon the said cable, as she thought, and about the space of an hour thereafter, they returned all in the same likeness as before, except that the Devil was in the shape of a man upon his return, and the rest were sorely fatigued.... ⁽²¹⁾

After this it comes as no surprise to learn that another member of the group was accustomed to turn herself into a horse, shod with horseshoes, and in that guise transport her fellow witches, and even the Devil himself, to and from the sabbat — with the result that the following day she was confined to bed with sore hands. Nor is it unexpected that the Forfar witches should sometimes have had less ordinary meals than those described above. In the event they confessed to digging up the corpse of a baby, making a pic of its flesh, and eating it; the purpose being to prevent themselves from ever confessing to their witchcraft — just as, five centuries earlier, the heretics of Thrace and of Orléans were supposed to have been inwardly and irrevocably bound to their sect by consuming the ashes of babies’ bodies. In the case of the Forfar witches it was a vain hope, for in Scottish trials torture was commonly employed until a confession was obtained.

Similar use is made of Isobel Gowdie’s confession (or rather confessions, for under increasing pressure she made four) at Auldearn, in Nairn, in 1662: