In Memory of Agnes Sampson
On this day in 1591, Agnes Sampson, grace wife (midwife) of Haddington parish in the Borders of Scotland and celebrated folk healer was executed on the orders of James VI of Scots, whose obsession with witches was fuelled by Calvinist preachers from the continent. Agnes endured horrific psychosexual torture before a room full of pious kirkmen, after which she broke, and then confessed to leading a coven of 200 women who raised storms with the aim of wrecking the King’s ship.
Agnes initially denied the charges of Witchcraft, until such time as she was tortured and questioned before the King’s Grace himself. A sensational propaganda pamphlet, Newes from Scotland, an account of the North Berwick witch trials, lavishly illustrated and widely disseminated, stirred up the populace against healers like Agnes. One of the most chilling sections contains reference to Agnes being sexually assaulted and degraded before the King, the Scottish nobles and churchmen:
Therefore by special commandment, Agnes Sampson had all her hair shaven off, in each part of her body, and her head [constricted] with a rope according to the custom of that Country, being a pain most grievous, which she continued almost an hour, during which time she would not confess anything until the Devil’s mark was found upon her privates, then she immediately confessed whatsoever was demanded of her, and justifying those persons aforesaid to be notorious witches. (modernised).
During sadistic, sexualised torture, Agnes broke down and implicated 59 others, all of whom met a similar fate of torture, followed by strangulation and burning at the stake. Her murder sparked the beginning of the systematic persecution of ordinary women and men accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Century as the Kirk sought to consolidate power and vast amounts of former church lands ended up in the hands of a grasping and opportunistic oligarchy. It was during this period that Scotland lost the bulk of the medieval manuscripts which contained keys to our past and the memory of our people, and the fear of witchcraft—and being accused of witchcraft—became ingrained as intergenerational trauma even up until recent times.
Agnes’ state-sanctioned murder created the blueprint for whipping up a population in fear against a particular social group perceived as a threat, something still happening today in many parts of the world. The clever deployment of propaganda publications, legislation, royal assent and religious zealotry created a perfect storm in Scotland and thousands of peple lost their lives in these islands as a result. We still do not know how many died in prison awaiting trial. Of these murdered innocents, the overwhelming majority were women. Agnes was Patient Zero in an epidemic of Calvinist religious hysteria which so marked the dominion of James VI and his successors in Scotland and England.
Agnes Sampson was an innocent woman who served her community as a healer and midwife, and was sought after by rich and poor alike for her knowledge and skill in healing. She was a widow with several children. She was listed in the court records with testimony of successfully curing people, birthing many bairns and easing the suffering of the dying. She learned her healing art from her father. Her torture, sexual assault and murder is a stain on Scotland’s name, a national shame for which the Kirk and the Crown bear equal responsibility.
Let all within and without bear witness. Agnes Simpson was wrongfully killed at the whim of callous men, in violation of the law of innocents and at the word of King and Cleric, blemished in mind and soul.
Dunta.
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Sources:
Newes from Scotland: See https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/library/files/special/exhibns/month/aug2000.html,
Full text available at https://www.johngraycentre.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Newes-From-Scotland.pdf
The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft: http://witches.hca.ed.ac.uk/