"A treasury of primary material about cases of witchcraft in East Lothian. This marvellous, vast compendium of transcribed documentation, with useful annotation and perceptive commentary, is a most welcome contribution to the study of Scottish witchcraft in the 16th and 17th centuries. Seasoned academic scholars of witchcraft will find much useful, challenging material - and read of witches and witchcraft cases that they have never come across before. Even with some familiarity with the cases that the author presents, it is fascinating to read different accounts given by different witnesses of the same case and the same alleged incidents. In addition to the annotated transcriptions there is a summary of James VI and I's short treatise on witchcraft, in the form of a dialogue, called: Daemonologie. And a long, closing chapter on the analysis and interpretation of witchcraft in East Lothian. I might not agree with every single claim that David Robertson makes - but I can heartily endorse the general tenor and commendable balance of his judgement. He says: 'We must avoid the "all or nothing" attitude, where either everything is true or everything is a farrago of ludicrous nonsense. We can accept what is probable, dismiss what is clearly impossible, but we should keep an open mind on the admittedly vast area in between'. That is an appropriate attitude with which to approach this remarkable and very fine book." -- from the Introduction by Hugh V. McLachlan

This book is about the famous outbreak of witchcraft allegations and prosecutions associated with Christian Shaw, the so-called 'Bargarran Impostor' in Renfrewshire, Scotland in the 1690s. Much of the material it comprises was written then, in particular, the pivotal publication: A True Narrative of the Sufferings and Relief of a Young Girle; Strangely molested by Evil spirits and their instruments in the West: With a preface and postscript containing Reflections on what is most Material or Curious either in the history or trial of the Seven Witches who were Condemn'd to be Execute in the country There are similarities and links between this Renfrewshire case and the prior Salem case in New England in 1692. For instance, the sorts of fits that Christian Shaw and the other New England and Scottish alleged victims of witchcraft were said to have experienced are remarkably similar. Both cases involve children as alleged victims. Clergymen play important parts in both cases. The material presented here shows that the Salem case and the Renfrewshire one are better understood with reference to each other. The core of this book was first published as A History of the Witches of Renfrewshire in 1809 and again in 1877 with additional material. This 3rd edition of A History of the Witches of Renfrewshire reprints the 2nd edition and contains, as well as additional material about the Salem case and about the Renfrewshire case, a new, comprehensive introduction to witchcraft in New England and in Scotland. Therein, it is shown that although they are of great interest in their own rights, the Salem and Renfrewshire cases were not typical ones and that witch-hunting in New England and in Scotland was not as irrational, unjust, cruel and unfair as it is commonly thought to have been. Dr McLachlan is a Reader in the School of Law and Social Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University. He is the author of Social Justice, Human Rights and Public Policy (Humming Earth, 2005) and joint author of A Source-book of Scottish Witchcraft (The Grimsay Press, 2005). He is an elder in the Church of Scotland and worships at Paisley Abbey.

First published in 1977 and now reprinted in its original form, A Source-book of Scottish Witchcraft has been the most authoritative reference book on Scottish Witchcraft for almost thirty years. It has been invaluable to the specialist scholar and of interest to the general reader. It provides, but provides much more than, a series of lists of the 'names and addresses' of long-dead witches. However, although it is widely quoted and held in high esteem, few copies were ever printed and most are owned by libraries or similar institutions. Until now, it has been difficult to obtain and even more difficult to buy. In 1938, George F. Black, a Scotsman who was in charge of New York Public Library, published A Calendar of Cases of Witchcraft in Scotland 1510-1727. This was a fairly comprehensive compilation of brief accounts of references, in printed sources, to Scottish witchcraft cases. The Source-book built upon this study but went beyond it by including, through an examination of actual ancient manuscripts, information on previously unpublished cases. It also presented the material in a more systematic way in relation, where known, to the names of the accused witches, their sex, their fate, the place of the case, its date and the type of court that dealt with it. Some such information is presented in the form of tables. Transcriptions of documents pertaining to witchcraft trials- such as examples of the evidence of supposed witnesses, and other salient legal documents - including, for instance, an ancient account of when and why the testimony of female witnesses might be legally acceptable in Scottish courts - are also presented.