Scotland
Scotland names 3 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Scotland (For early matter see the article Celts .) Witchcraft
An Encyclopaedia of Occultism (1920)
(For early matter see the article Celts .) Witchcraft .-Witchcraft and sorcery appear to have been practised in the earliest historical and traditional times. It is related that during the reign of Natholocus in the second century there dwelt in Iona a witch of great renown, and so celebrated for her marvellous power that the king sent one of his captains to consult her regarding the issue of a rebellion then troubling his kingdom. The witch declared that within a short period the king would be murdered, not by his open enemies but by one of his most favoured friends, in whom he had most especial trust. The messenger enquired the assassin's name. "Even by thine own hands as shall be well-known within these few dayes," replied the witch. So troubled was the captain on hearing these words that he railed bitterly against her, vowing that he would see her burnt before he would commit such a villainous crime. But after reviewing the matter carefully in his mind, he arrived at the conclusion that if he informed the king of the witch's prophecy, the king might for the sake of his personal safety have him put to death, so thereupon he decoyed Natholocus into his private chamber and falling upon him with a dagger slew him outright. About the year 388 the devil was so enraged at the piety of St. Patrick that he assailed the saint by the whole band of witches in Scotland. St. Patrick fled to the Clyde embarking in a small boat for Ireland . As witches cannot pursue their victims over running water, they flung a huge rock after the escaping saint, which however fell harmless to the ground, and which tradition says now forms Dumbarton Rock. The persecution of witches constitutes one of the blackest chapters of history. All classes, Catholic and Protestant alike, pursued the crusade with equal vigour, undoubtedly inspired by the passage in Exodus xxii., 18. While it is most probable that the majority of those who practised witchcraft and sorcery were of weak mind and enfeebled intellect, yet a large number adopted the supposed art for the purpose of intimidation and extortion from their neighbours. Witches were held to have sold themselves body and soul to the devil. The ceremony is said to consist of kneeling before the evil one, placing one hand on her head and the other under her feet, and dedicating all between to the service of the devil, and also renouncing baptism. The witch was thereafter deemed to be incapable of reformation. No minister of any denomination whatever would intercede or pray for her. On sealing the compact the devil proceeded to put his mark upon her. Writing on the Witches' Mark" Mr. Bell, minister of Gladsmuir in 1705 says: "The witches' mark is sometimes like a blew spot, or a little tale, or reid spots, like fleabiting, sometimes the flesh is sunk in and hollow and this is put in secret places, as among the hair of the head, or eyebrows, within the lips, under the armpits, and even in the most secret parts of the body." Mr. Robert Kirk of Aberfoill in his Secret Commonwealth states: "A spot that I have seen, as a small mole, horny, and brown coloured, throw which mark when a large brass pin was thrust (both in buttock, nose, and rooff of the mouth) till it bowed (bent) and became crooked, the witches, both men and women, nather felt a pain nor did bleed, nor knew the precise time when this was doing to them (their eyes only being covered)." 66 In many cases the mark was invisible, and as it was considered that no pain accompanied the pricking of it, there arose a body of persons who pretending great skill therein constituted themselves as "witch prickers" and whose office was to discover and find out witches. The method employed was barbarous in the extreme. Having stripped and bound his victim the witch pricker proceeded to thrust his needles into every part of the body. When at last the victim worn out with exhaustion and agony remained silent, the witch pricker declared that he had discovered the mark. Another test for detection was trial by water. The suspects were tied hands and great toes together, wrapped in a sheet and flung into a deep pool. In cases where the body floated, the water of baptism was supposed to give up the accused, while those who sank to the bottom were absolved, but no attempt was made at rescue. When confession was demanded the most horrible of tortures were resorted to, burning with irons being generally the last torture applied. In some cases a diabolic contrivance called the "witches' bridle" was used. The "bridle" encircled the victim's head while an iron bit was thrust into the mouth from which prongs protruded piercing the tongue, palate and cheeks. In cases of execution, the victim was usually strangled and thereafter burned at the stake. Scotland Witches were accused of a great variety of crimes. A common offence was to bewitch milch cattle by turning their milk sour, or curtailing the supply, raising storms, stealing children from their graves, and promoting various illnesses. A popular device was to make a waxen image of their victim, thrust pins into it and sear it with hot irons, all of which their victim felt and at length succumbed. Upon domestic animals they cast an evil eye, causing emaciation and refusal to take food till at length death ensued. To those who believed in them and acknowledged their power, witches were supposed to use their powers for good by curing disease and causing prosperity. Witches had a weekly meeting at which the devil presided, every Saturday commonly called "the witches' Sabbath," their meetings generally being held in desolate places or in ruined churches, to which they rode through the air mounted on broomsticks. If the devil was not present on their arrival, they evoked him by beating the earth with a fir-stick, and saying "Rise up foul thief." The witches appeared to see him in different guises; to some he appeared as a boy clothed in green, others saw him dressed in white, while to others he appeared mounted on a black horse. After delivering a mock sermon, he held a court at which the witches had to make a full statement of their doings during the week. Those who had not accomplished sufficient evil were belaboured with their own broomsticks, while those who had been more successful were rewarded with enchanted bones. The proceedings finished with a dance, the music to which the fiend played on his bagpipes. Robert Burns in his Tale of Tam o' Shanter gives a graphic description of this orgy. There were great annual gatherings at Candlemas, Beltane and Hallow-eve. These were of an international character at which the witch sisterhood of all nations assembled, those who had to cross the sea performing the journey in barges of egg-shell, while their aerial journeys were on goblin horses with enchanted bridles. Witchcraft was first dealt with by law in Scotland when by a statute passed in 1563 in the Parliament of Queen Mary it was enacted: "That na maner of person nor persons of quhatsumever estaite, degree or condition they be of, take upon hand in onie times hereafter to use onie maner of witchcraft, sorcerie, or necromancie, under the paine of death, alsweil to be execute against the user, abuser, as the seeker of the response of consultation." The great Reformer, John Knox, was accused by the Catholics of Scotland of being a renowned wizard and having by sorcery raised up saints in the churchyard of St. Andrews when Satan himself appeared and so terrified Knox's secretary that he became insane and died. Knox was also charged that by his magical arts in his old age he persuaded the beautiful young daughter of Lord Ochiltree to marry him. Nicol Burne bitterly denounces Knox for having secured the affections of "ane damosil of nobil. blude, and he ane auld decrepit creatur of maist bais degree of onie that could be found in the country." There were numerous trials for witchcraft in the Justiciary Court in Edinburgh and at the Circuit Courts, also session records preserved from churches all over Scotland show that numerous cases were dealt with by the local authorities and church officials. A. J. B. G. "From Rodgers, in his Social Life in Scotland, says: the year 1479 when the first capital sentence was carried. out thirty thousand persons had on the charge of using enchantment been in Great Britain cruelly immolated; of these one fourth belonged to Scotland. No inconsiderable number of those who suffered on the charge of sorcery laid claim to necromantic acts with intents felonious or unworthy. When James VI. of Scotland, in the year 1603, was called upon to ascend the throne of Great Britain and Ireland, his own native kingdom was in rather a curious condition. James himself was a man of considerable learning, intimate with Latin and Theology, yet his book on Demonology marks him as distinctly superstitious ; and, while education and even scholarship were comparatively common at this date in Scotland, more common in fact than they were in contemporary England , the great mass of Scottish people shared abundantly their sovereign's dread of witches and the like. The efforts of Knox and his doughty confrères, it is true, had brought about momentous changes in Scottish life, but if the Reformation ejected certain superstitions it undoubtedly tended to introduce others. For that stern Calvinistic faith, which now began to take root in Scotland, nourished the idea that sickness and accident are a mark of divine anger, nor did this theory cease to be common in the north till long after King James's day. It is a pity that the royal author, in the curious treatise mentioned above, volunteers but few precise facts anent the practitioners of magic who throve in Scotland during his reign. But other sources of information indicate that these people were very numerous, and whereas, in Elizabethan England, it was customary to put a witch to death by the merciful process of hanging, in Jacobean Scotland it was usual to take stronger measures. In short, the victim was burnt at the stake; and it is interesting to note that on North Berwick Law, in the county of East Lothian, there is standing to this day a tall stone which, according to local tradition, was erstwhile used for the ghastly business in question. Yet it would be wrong to suppose that witches and sorcerers, though handled roughly now and then, were regarded with universal hatred; for in seventeenth century Scotland medicine and magic went hand in hand, and the man suffering from a physical malady, particularly one whose cause he could not understand, very seldom entrusted himself to a professional leech, and much preferred to consult one who claimed healing capacities derived from intercourse with the unseen world. Physicians of the latter kind, however, were generally experts in the art of poisoning; and, while a good many cures are credited to them, their triumphs in the opposite direction would seem to have been much more numerous. Thus we find that in July, 1702, a certain James Reid of Musselburgh was brought to trial, being charged not merely with achieving miraculous cures, but with contriving the murder of one David Libbertoun, a baker in Edinburgh. This David and his family, it transspires, were sworn enemies of a neighbouring household, Christie by name, and betimes their feud grew as fierce as that between the Montagues and Capulets; SO the Christies swore they would bring things to a conclusion, and going to Reid they petitioned his nefarious aid. His first act was to bewitch nine stones, these to be cast on the fields of the offending baker with a view to destroying his crops; while Reid then proceeded to enchant a piece of raw flesh, and also to make a statuette of wax-the nature of the design is not recorded, but presumably Libbertoun himself was represented-and Mrs. Christie was enjoined to thrust the meat under her enemy's door, and then to go home and melt the waxwork before her own fire. These instructions she duly obeyed, and a little later the victim breathed his last; but Reid did not go unscathed, and after his trial the usual fate of burning alive was meted out to him. A like sentence was passed in July 1605 on Patrick Lowrie, a native of Halic in Ayrshire, and known there as "Pat the Witch," who was found guilty of foregathering with endless sorceresses of the neighbourhood, and of assisting them in disinterring bodies which they afterwards Scotland dismembered. Doubtless "Alloway's auld haunted Kirk," sacred to the memory of Burns, was among those ransacked for corpses by the band; yet if the crime was a gruesome one it was harmless withal, and assuredly Lowrie's ultimate fate was distinctly a hard one! On the other hand Isobel Griersone, a Prestonpans woman, received no more than justice when burnt to death on the Castle Rock, Edinburgh, in March 1607; for the record of her poisonings was a formidable one, rivalling that of Wainewright or that of Cellini himself, while it is even recorded that she contrived to put an end to several people simply by cursing them... Equally wonderful were the exploits of another sorceress, Belgis Todd of Longniddry, who is reported to have compassed the death of a man she hated just by enchanting his cat; but this picturesque modus operandi was scorned by a notorious Perthshire witch Janet Irwing, who about the year 1610 poisoned sundry members of the family of Erskine of Dun, in the county of Angus. The criminal was detected anon, and suffered the usual fate; while a few years later a long series of tortures, culminating in burning, were inflicted on Margaret Dein (née Barclay), whose accomplishments appear to have been of no commonplace nature. The wife of a burgess of Irvine, John Dein, this woman conceived a violent aversion for her brother-in-law, Archibald; and on one occasion, when the latter was setting out for France, Margaret hurled imprecations at his ship, vowing none of its crew or passengers would ever return to their native Scotland. Months went by, and no word of Archibald's arrival reached Irvine; while one day a pedlar named Stewart came to John Dein's house, and declared that the baneful prophecy had been duly fulfilled. The municipal authorities now heard of the affair, and arresting Stewart, whom they had long suspected of practising magic, they commenced to cross-examine him. At first he would tell nothing, but when torture had loosened his tongue he confessed how, along with Margaret Dein, he had made a clay model of the ill-starred barque, and thrown this into the sea on a particularly stormy night. His audience were horrified at the news, but they hastened to lay hands on the sorceress, whereupon they dealt with her as noted above. No doubt this tale, and many others like it, have blossomed very considerably in the course of being handed down from generation to generation, and no doubt the witches of Jacobean Scotland are credited with triumphs far greater than they really achieved. At the same time, scanning the annals of sorcery, we find that a number of its practitioners avowed stoutly, when confronted by a terrible death, that they had been initiated in their craft by the foul fiend himself, or haply by a band of fairies; and thus, whatever capacities these bygone magicians really had, it is manifest that they possessed in abundance that confidence which is among the secrets of power, and is perhaps the very key to success in any line of action. Small wonder, then, that they were dreaded by the simple, illiterate folk of their day; and, musing on these facts, we feel less amazed at the credulity displayed by an erudite man like James VI., we are less surprised at his declaring that all sorcerers ought to be put to death according to the law of God, the civill and imperiale Law, and municipall Law of all Christian nations." 66 The last execution of a witch in Scotland took place in Sutherland in 1722. An old woman residing at Loth was charged amongst other crimes of having transformed her daughter into a pony and shod by the devil which caused the girl to turn lame both in hands and feet, a calamity which entailed upon her son. Sentence of death was pronounced by Captain David Ross, the Sheriff-substitute. Rodgers relates : "The poor creature when lead to the stake was unconscious of the stir made on her account, and warming her wrinkled hands at the fire kindled to consume her, said she was thankful for so good a blaze. For his rashness in pronouncing the sentence of death, the Sheriff was emphatically reproved." The reign of ignorance and superstition was fast drawing to a close. Witchcraft, if it can be so called nowadays, is dealt with under the laws pertaining to rogues, vagabonds, fortunetellers, gamesters, and such like characters. (See Fortunetelling.) Magic and Demonology. - Magic of the lower cultus, perhaps the detritus of Druidism, appears to have been common in Scotland until a late period. We find in the pages of Adamnan that the Druids were regarded by St. Columba and his priest as magicians, and that he met their sorcery with a superior celestial magic of his own. Thus does the religion of one race become magic in the eyes of another. Notices of sorcery in Scotland before the thirteenth century are scanty, if we except the tradition that Macbeth encountered three witches who prophesied his fate to him. We have no reason to believe that Thomas the Rhymer (who has been endowed by later superstition with adventures similar to those of Tannhauser) was other than a minstrel and maker of epigrams, or that Sir Michael Scot was other than a scholar and man of letters. Workers of sorcery were numerous but obscure, and although often of noble birth as Lady Glamis and Lady Fowlis, were probably very ignorant persons. We get a glimpse of Scottish demonology in the later middle ages in the rhymed fragment known as "The Cursing of Sir John Rowll," a priest of Corstorphine, near Edinburgh, which dates perhaps from the last quarter of the fifteenth century. It is an invective against certain persons who have rifled his poultry-yard, upon whom the priest calls down the divine vengeance. The demons who were to torment the evildoers are: Garog, Harog, Sym Skynar, Devetinus "the devill that maid the dyce," Firemouth, Cokadame, Tutivillus, Browny, and Syr Garnega, who may be the same as that Girnigo, to whom cross children are often likened by angry mothers of the Scottish working-classes, in such a phrase as "eh, ye're a wee girnigo," and the Scottish verb, to "girn," may find its origin in the name of a mediæval fiend, the last shadow of some Teutonic or Celtic deity of unlovable attributes. In Sym Skynar, we may have Skyrnir, a Norse giant in whose glove Thor found shelter from an earthquake, and who sadly fooled him and his companions. Skyrnir was, of course, one of the Jotunn or Norse Titans, and probably one of the powers of winter; and he may have received the popular surname of Sym" in the same manner as we speak of "Jack" Frost. A great deal has still to be done in unearthing the minor figures of Scottish mythology and demonology, and even the greater ones have not received the attention due to them. In Newhaven, a fishing district near Edinburgh, for example, we find the belief current in a fiend called Brounger, who is described as an old man who levies a toll of fish and oysters upon the local fisherman. he is not placated with these, he wreaks vengeance on the persons who fail to supply him. He is also described as a Flint and the son of a Flint," which proves conclusively that, like Thor and many other gods of Asia and America, he was a thunder or weather deity. In fact his name is probably a mere corruption of an ancient Scandinavian word meaning "to strike," which still survives in the Scottish expression to "make a breenge" at one. To return to instances of practical magic, a terrifying and picturesque legend tells how Sir Lewis Bellenden, a lord of session, and superior of the Barony of Broughton, near Edinburgh, succeeded by the aid of a sorcerer in raising the Devil in the backyard of his own house in the Canongate, somewhere about the end of the sixteenth century. Sir Lewis 66 66 If Scotland was a notorious trafficker with witches, with whom his barony of Broughton was overrun. Being desirous of beholding his Satanic majesty in person, he secured the services of one Richard Graham. The results of the evocation were disastrous to the inquisitive judge, whose nerves were so shattered at the apparition of the Lord of Hades that he fell ill and shortly afterwards expired. The case of Major Weir is one of the most interesting in the annals of Scottish sorcery. "It is certain," says Scott, "that no story of witchcraft or necromancy, so many of which occurred near and in Edinburgh, made such a lasting impression on the public mind as that of Major Weir. The remains of the house in which he and his sister lived are still shown at the head of the West Bow, which has a gloomy aspect, well suited for a necromancer. It was at different times a brazier's shop and a magazine for lint, and in my younger days was employed for the latter use; but no family would inhabit the haunted walls as a residence; and bold was the urchin from the High School who dared approach the gloomy ruin at the risk of seeing the Major's enchanted staff parading through the old apartments, or hearing the hum of the necromantic wheel, which procured for his sister such a character as a spinner. " The case of this notorious wizard was remarkable chiefly from his being a man of some condition (the son of a gentleman, and his mother a lady of family in Clydesdale), which was seldom the case with those that fell under similar accusations. It was also remarkable in his case that he had been a Covenanter, and peculiarly attached to that cause. In the years of the Commonwealth this man was trusted and employed by those who were then at the head of affairs, and was in 1649 commander of the City-Guard of Edinburgh, which procured him his title of Major. In this capacity he was understood, as was indeed implied in the duties of that officer at the period, to be very strict in executing severity upon such Royalists as fell under his military charge. It appears that the Major, with a maiden sister who had kept his house, was subject to fits of melancholic lunacy, an infirmity easily reconcilable with the formal pretences which he made to a high show of religious zeal. He was peculiar in his gift of prayer, and, as was the custom of the period, was often called to exercise his talent by the bedside of sick persons, until it came to be observed that, by some association, which it is more easy to conceive than to explain, he could not pray with the same warmth and fluency of expression unless when he had in his hand a stick of peculiar shape and appearance, which he generally walked with. It was noticed, in short, that when this stick was taken from him, his wit and talent appeared to forsake him. This Major Weir was seized by the magistrates on a strange whisper that became current respecting vile practices, which he seems to have admitted without either shame or contrition. The disgusting profligacies which he confessed were of such a character that it may be charitably hoped most of them were the fruits of a depraved imagination, though he appears to have been in many respects a wicked and criminal hypocrite. When he had completed his confession, he avowed solemnly that he had not confessed the hundredth part of the crimes which he had committed. From this time he would answer no interrogatory, nor would he have recourse to prayer, arguing that, as he had no hope whatever of escaping Satan, there was no need of incensing him by vain efforts at repentance. His witchcraft seems to have been taken for granted on his own confession, as his indictment was chiefly founded on the same document, in which he alleged he had never seen the devil, but any feeling he had of him was in the dark. He received sentence of death, which he suffered 12th April, 1670, at the Gallow-hill, between Leith and Edinburgh. He died so stupidly sullen and impenitent as to justify the opinion that he was oppressed with a kind of melancholy frenzy, the consequence perhaps of remorse, but such as urged him not to repent, but to despair. It seems probable that he was burnt alive. His sister, with whom he was supposed to have had an incestuous connection, was condemned also to death, leaving a stronger and more explicit testimony of their mutual sins than could be extracted from the Major. She gave, as usual, some account of her connection with the queen of the fairies, and acknowledged the assistance she received from that sovereign in spinning an unusual quantity of yarn. Of her brother she said that one day a friend called upon them at noonday with a fiery chariot, and invited them to visit a friend at Dalkeith, and that while there her brother received information of the event of the battle of Worcester. No one saw the style of their equipage except themselves. On the scaffold this woman, determining, as she said, to die "with the greatest shame possible" was with difficulty prevented from throwing off her clothing before the people, and with scarce less trouble was she flung from the ladder by the executioner. Her last words were in the tone of the sect 66 to which her brother had so long affected to belong : Many," she said, "weep and lament for a poor old wretch like me; but alas, few are weeping for a broken covenant." 6 , Alchemy.-James IV. was attached to the science of alchemy. "Dunbar speaks of the patronage which the king bestowed upon certain adventurers, who had studied the mysteries of alchemy, and were ingenious in making 'quintiscence' which should convert other metals into pure gold; and in the Treasurer's Accounts there are numerous payments for the 'quinta essentia,' including wages to the persons employed, utensils of various kinds, coals and wood for the furnaces, and for a variety of other materials, such as quicksilver, aqua vitæ, litharge, auri, fine tin, burnt silver, alum, salt and eggs, saltpetre, etc. Considerable sums were also paid to several 'Potingairs for stuff of various kinds to the Quinta Essentia. Thus, on the 3rd of March, 1501, 'the king sent to Strivelin (Stirling) four Harry nobles in gold,'-a sum equal, as it is stated, to nine pounds Scots money-' for the leech to multiply.' On the 27th of May, 1502, the Treasurer paid to Robert Bartoun, one of the king's mariners, ' for certain droggis (drugs) brocht home by him to the French leich, £31:40. On the IIth of February, 1503-4, we find twenty shillings given to the man suld mak aurum potabile, be the king's commands.' And on the 13th of October, 1507, the Treasurer paid six pounds for a puncheon of wine to the Abbot of Tungland, to 'mak Quinta Essentia.' The credulity and indiscriminate generosity of the Scottish monarch appear to have collected around him a multitude of quacks of all sorts, for, besides the Abbot, mention is made of the leech with the curland hair'; of 'the lang Dutch doctor,' of one Fullertone, who was believed to possess the secret of making precious stones; of a Dr. Ogilvy who laboured hard at the transmutation of metals, and many other empirics, whom James not only supported in their experiments, but himself assisted in their laboratory. The most noted of these adventurers was the person who is variously styled in the Treasurer's Accounts 'the French Leich,' 'Maister John the French Medicinar,' and 'French Maister John.' The real name of this empiric was John Damian; and we learn from Dunbar that he was a native of Lombardy, and had practised surgery and other arts in France before his arrival in Scotland. His first appearance at the court of James was in the capacity of a French leech, and as he is mentioned among the persons who received 'leveray' in 6 Scotland 1501-2, there can be no doubt that he held an appointment as a physician in the royal household. He soon succeeded in ingratiating himself with the king, and it is probable that it was from him that James imbibed a strong passion for alchemy, as he about this time erected at Stirling a furnace for prosecuting such experiments, and continued during the rest of his reign to expend considerable sums of money in attempts to discover the philosopher's stone. 'Maister John,' says Bishop Lesley, 'caused the king believe, that he by multiplying and utheris his inventions sold make fine gold of uther metal, quhilk science he callit the Quintassence, whereupon the king made great cost, but all in vain.' There are numerous entries in the Treasurer's Accounts of sums paid for saltpetre, bellows, two great stillatours, brass mortars, coals, and numerous vessels of various shapes, sizes, and denominations, for the use of this foreign adept in his mystical studies. These, however, were not his sole occupations; for after the mysterious labours of the day were concluded, Master John was wont to play at cards with the sovereign-a mode by which he probably transferred the contents of the royal exchequer into his own purse, as efficaciously as by his distillations.' We find that on the 4th of March, 1501, nine pounds five shillings were paid 'to the king and the French leich to play at cartis.' A few months later, on the occasion of a temporary visit which the empiric found it necessary to pay to France, James made him a present of his own horse and two hundred pounds. Early in the year 1504, the Abbot of Tungland, in Galloway, died, and the king, with a reckless disregard of the dictates of duty, and even of common decency, appointed this unprincipled adventurer to the vacant office. On the 11th March, the Treasurer paid 'to Gareoch Parsuivant fourteen shillings to pass to Tungland for the Abbacy to French Maister John.' On the 12th of the same month, 'by the king's command,' he paid 'to Bardus Altovite Lumbard twenty-five pounds for Maister John, the French Mediciner, new maid Abbot of Tungland, whilk he aucht (owed) to the said Bardus; ' and a few days later on the 17th, there was given to Maister John the new maid Abbot of Tungland, seven pounds.' Three years after, in 1507, July 27, occurs the following entry: 'Item, lent, by the king's command to the Abbot of Tungland, and can nocht be gettin fra him £33:6:8.' An adventure which befel this dexterous impostor afforded great amusement to the Scottish court. On the occasion of an embassy setting out from Stirling to the court of France, he had the assurance to declare that by means of a pair of artificial wings which he had constructed, he would undertake to fly to Paris and arrive long before the ambassadors. 'This time,' says Bishop Lesley, 'there was an Italiane with the king, who was made Abbot of Tungland. This abbot tuke in hand to flie with wings, and to be in France before the said ambassadors; and to that effect he caused make ane pair of wings of feathers, quhilk bein festinitt uponn him he flew off the castle-wall of Stirling ; but shortly he fell to the ground and broke his thie-bane; but the wyte (blame) thereof he ascribed to their beand some hen feathers in the wings, quhilk yarnit, and coveted the myddin and not the skies.' This incident gave rise to Dunbar's satirical ballad entitled, 'Of the Fenyeit Friar of Tungland,' in which the poet exposes in the most sarcastic strain the pretensions of the luckless adventurer, and relates with great humour the result of his attempt to soar into the skies, when he was dragged to the earth by the low-minded propensities of the 'hen feathers,' which he had inadvertently admitted into the construction of his wings. The unsuccessful attempt of the abbot, though, according to Lesley, it subjected him to the ridicule of the whole kingdom, does not appear to have lost him the king's favour, for the Treasurer's books, from October, 1507, to 6 Y August, 1508, repeatedly mention him as having played at dice and cards with his majesty; and on the 8th of September, 1508, 'Damiane, Abbot of Tungland,' obtained the royal permission to pursue his studies abroad during the space of five years. He must have returned to Scotland, however, before the death of James; and the last notice given to this impostor is quite in character. On the 27th of March, 1513, the sum of twenty pounds was paid to him for his journey to the mine in Crawford Moor, where the king had at that time artisans at work searching for gold." From this reign to that of Mary no magician or alchemical practitioner of note appears to have existed in Scotland, and in the reign of James VI. too great severity was exhibited against such to permit of them avowing themselves publicly. In James's reign, however, lived the celebrated Alexander Seton (q.v.), of Port Seton near Edinburgh, known abroad as 'The Cosmopolite' who is said to have succeeded in achieving the transmutation of metals. 66 LS. Highlands. Pagan Scotland appears to have been entirely devoid of benevolent deities. Those representatives of the spirit world who were on friendly terms with mankind were either held captive by magic spells, or had some sinister object in view which caused them to act with the most plausible duplicity. The chief demon or deity-one hesitates which to call her was a one-eyed Hag who had tusks like a wild bear. She is referred to in folk tales as "the old wife" (Cailleach), "Grey Eyebrows" "the Yellow Muitearteach," etc., and reputed to be a great worker of spells. Apparently she figured in a lost creation myth, for fragmentary accounts survive of how she fashioned the hills, brought lochs into existence and caused whirlpools by vengeful operations in the sea. She is a lover of darkness, desolations and winter. With her hammer she alternately splinters mountains, prevents the growth of grass or raises storms. Numerous wild animals follow her, including deer, goats, wild boars. When one of her sons is thwarted in his love affairs by her, he transforms her into a mountain boulder looking over the sea," a form she retains during the summer. She is liberated again on the approach of winter. During the Spring months the Hag drowns fishermen and preys on the food supply: she also steals children and roasts them in her cave. Her progeny includes a brood of monstrous giants each with several heads and arms. These are continually operating against mankind, throwing down houses, abducting women and destroying growing crops. Heroes who fight against them require the assistance of the witch who is called "Wise Woman," from whom they obtain magic wands. The witch of Scottish folk tales is the "friend of man," and her profession was evidently regarded in ancient times as a highly honourable one. Wizards also enjoyed high repute; they were the witch-doctors, priests and magicians of the Scottish Pagans, and it was not until the sixteenth century that legal steps were taken to suppress them in the Highland districts. There was no sun-worship or moon-worship in Scotland; neither sun nor moon were individualised in the Gælic language; these bodies, however were reputed to exercise a magical influence. The moon especially was a Magic Tank" from which supplies of power were drawn by those capable of performing requsite ceremonies. But although there were no lunar or solar spirits, there were numerous earth and water spirits. The "water wife," like the English "mere wife," was a greatly dreaded being who greedily devoured victims. She must not be confused with the Banshee, that Fate whose chief business it was to foretell disasters, either by washing blood-stained garments or knocking, knocking on a certain boulder beside a river, or in the locality where some great tragedy was impending. The water wife usually con- 66 دو 66 66 Scotland دو 66 fronted a late traveller at a ford. She claimed him as her own and if he disputed her claim, asked what weapons he had to use against her. The unwary one named each in turn, and when he did so the power to harm her passed away. One story of this character runs: "The wife rose up against the smith who rode his horse, and she said, "I have you : what have you against me? My sword," the man answered. "I have that," she said, "what else? My shield," the man said. "I have that and you are mine." But," protested the man, “I have something else." "What is that?" the water wife demanded. To this question the cautious smith answered, "I have the long, grey, sharp thing at my thigh." This was his dirk, and not having named it, he was able to make use of it. As he spoke he flung his plaid round the water wife and lifted her up on his horse behind him. Enclosed in the magic circle she was powerless to harm him, and he rode home with her, deaf to her entreaties and promises. He took her to his smithy and tied her to the anvil. That night her brood came to release her. They raised a tempest and tore the roof off the smithy, but the smith defied them. When day dawned they had to retreat. Then he bargained with the water wife, and she consented if he would release her that neither he nor any of his descendants should ever be drowned in any three rivers he might name. He named three and received her promise, but as she made her escape she reminded him of a fourth river. is mine still," she added. In that particular river the smith himself ultimately perished." To this day fishermen will not name either the fish they desire to procure or those that prey on their catches. Haddocks are "white bellies," salmon "red ones," and the dog-fish "the big black fellow." It is also regarded unlucky to name a minister, or refer to Sunday, in a fishing boat-a fact which suggests that in early Christian times fishermen might be pious churchmen on land but continued to practise paganism when they went to sea, like the Icelandic Norsemen who believed that Christ ruled their island, and Thor the ocean. Fairies must not be named on Fridays or at Hallowe'en, and Beltain (May. Day) when charm fires were lit. "It Earth worship, or rather the propitiation of earth spirits, was a prominent feature of Scottish paganism. There again magic played a leading role. Compacts were confirmed by swearing over a piece of turf, certain moors or mounds were set apart for ceremonial practices, and these were visited for the performance of child-procuring and other ceremonies which were performed at a standing stone. In cases of sickness a divination cake was baked and left at a sacred place; if it disappeared during the night, the patient was supposed to recover; if it remained untouched until the following morning it was believed that the patient would die. This practice is not yet obsolete. Offerings were constantly made to the earth spirits. In a witch trial recorded in Humbie Kirk Session Register (23rd September, 1649) one Agnes Gourlay is accused of having made offerings of milk, saying, "God betuch ws to; they are wnder the yird that have as much need of it as they that are above the yird"; i.e., "God preserve us too; they are under the earth that have as much need of it as they that are above the earth." The milk poured out upon the earth at magical ceremonies was supposed to go to the fairies. Gruagach stones have not yet entirely vanished in the Highlands. These are flat stones with deep cup" marks. After a cow is milked, the milker pours into a hole the portion of milk required by the Gruagach, a long-haired spirit who is usually "dressed like a gentleman." If no offering is given to him, the cream will not rise on the milk, and, if it does the churning will be a failure. There are interesting records in the Presbytery records of Dingwall, Ross-shire, regarding the prevalence of 66 Scott “ دو milk pouring and other ceremonies during the seventeenth century. Among the abominations referred to are those for which Gairloch parish continued to be notoriousfrequent approaches to some ruinous chappels and circulateing them; and that future events in reference especiallie to lyfe and death, in takeing of Journeyes, was exspect to be manifested by a holl (hole) of a round stone quherein (wherein) they tryed the entering of their heade, which (if they) could doe, to witt, be able to put in their heade, they exspect thair returning to that place, and failing they considered it ominous." Objection was also taken by the horrified Presbytery to "their adoring of wells and superstitious monuments and stones," and to the "sacrifice of bulls at a certaine tyme uppon the 25 of August" and to "pouring milk upon hills as oblationes." The seer was usually wrapped in the skin of a sacrificed bull and left lying all night beside a river. He was visited by supernatural beings in the darkness and obtained answers regarding future events. Another way to perform this divination ceremony was to roast a live cat. The cat was turned on a spit until the "Big Cat" (the devil) appeared and either granted the wish of the performer of the ceremony, or foretold what was to take place in answer to a query. At the present day there are many surviving beliefs regarding witchcraft, fairies, the evil eye, second sight and magical charms to cure or injure. 66 66 " 66 Individuals, domesticated animals and dwellings are charmed against witchcraft by iron and certain herbs or berries. The evil eye influence is dispelled by drinking water of silver from a wooden bowl or ladle. The water is taken from a river or well of high repute; silver is placed in it; then a charm is repeated, and when it has been passed over a fire, the victim is given to drink and what remains is sprinkled round the hearth-stone with ceremony which varies in districts. Curative charms are handed down in families from a male to a female and a female to a male. Blood-stopping charms are still regarded with great sanctity and the most persistent collectors have been unable to obtain them from those who are reported to be able to use these with effect. Accounts are still given of blood-stopping " from a distance. Although the possessor of the power has usually a traditional charm, he or she rarely uses it without praying also. Some Highland doctors bear testimony in private to the wonderful effects of blood-stopping" operations. A few years ago a medical officer of Inverness-shire stated in his official report to the County Council that he was watching with interest the operations of "King's Evil Curers" who still enjoy great repute in the Western Isles. These are usually "seventh sons." "Second-sight," like the power to cure and stop blood, runs in families. There is not a parish in the Scottish Highlands without its family in which one or more individuals are reputed to have occult powers. Some have visions either while awake or asleep. Others hear ominous sounds on occasions and are able to understand what they signify. Certain individuals confess, but with no appreciation of the faculty, that they are sometimes, not always, able to foretell that a person is likely to die ere long. Two instances of this kind may be given. A younger brother caught a chill. When an elder brother visited him he knew at once the young man would die soon, and communicated a statement to that effect to a mutual friend. According to medical opinion the patient who was not confined to bed, was in no danger, but three months afterwards he developed serious symptoms and died suddenly. When intelligence of the death was communicated to the elder brother he had a temporary illness. The same individual met a gentleman in a friend's house and had a similar experience: he "felt he could not explain how, that this man was near death. On two دو occasions within the following week he questioned the gentleman's daughter regarding her father's health and was informed that he was as usual." The daughter was surprised at the inquiries. Two days after this meeting the gentleman in question expired suddenly while sitting in his chair. Again the individual, on hearing of the death, had a brief but distressing illness, with symptoms usually associated with shock. The mother of this man has a similar faculty. On several occasions she has seen lights. One day during the Boer War an officer passing her door bade her good-bye as he had been ordered to South Africa. She said, "He will either be slain or come back deformed," and turned ill immediately. A few months afterwards the officer was wounded in the lower jaw with a bullet and returned home with his face much deformed. 66 The Second-sight" faculty manifests itself in various ways, as these instances show, and evidence that it is possessed by individuals may occur only once or twice in a lifetime. There are cases, however, in which it is constantly active. Those who are reputed to have the faculty are most reticent regarding it, and appear to dread it. At the close of the nineteenth century tow-charms to cure sprains and bruises were sold in a well-known Highland town by a woman who muttered a metrical spell over each magic knot she tied as the afflicted part was treated by her. She had numerous patients among all classes. Bonesetters still enjoy high repute in localities: not many years ago a public presentation was made to a Ross-shire bone-setter in recognition of his life-long services to the community. His faculty was inherited from his forbears. Numerous instances may be gleaned in the Highlands of the appearance of the spirits of the living and the dead. The appearance of the spirit of a living person is said to be a sure indication of the approaching death of that individual. It is never seen by a member of the family, but appears to intimate friends. Sometimes it speaks and gives indication of the fate of some other mutual acquaintance. DONALD MACKENZIE.
Scotland the northern division of the island of Great Britain
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the northern division of the island of Great Britain; separated from England substantially by the Solway, Cheviots, and Tweed, the border isthmus being abo about 60 miles across; but the irregular boundary line measures fully 100 miles. On all other sides it is bounded by the sea. Area, 29,797 square miles. The greatest length, from N. N. E. to S. S. W., between Dunnet Head and the Mull of Galloway, is 287 miles. The breadth varies from 140 miles to less than 26, the latter in the N., between Dornoch Firth and Loch Broom. Few points in the mainland are more than 40 miles from the sea, the country being so much penetrated by inlets. The country was formerly divided into a number of districts, many of the names of which are still familiar, such as Lothian, Tweeddale, Galloway, Breadalbane, etc., but for political purposes it is now divided into 33 The population in shires or counties. counties. estimated popu- 1911 was 4,760,904; the estim the lation in 1919 was 4,894,100. cities, with their The most important int estimated population in 1918, are: Glasgow, 1,111,428; Edinburgh, 333,883; Dundee, 181,777; and Aberdeen, 166,564. Islands and Coasts. - The islands of Scotland are said to number aber altogether nearly 800. On the E. coast they are few and small; but on the N. E. are the two large groups of the Orkneys and Shetlands, the former numbering 90 islands, 28 permanently inhabited; the latter 100 islands, 29 inhabited; while on the W. coast the islands are large and numerous. Here the Hebrides extend for 200 miles from N. to S., and are divided into the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the former lying close to the W. coast of the mainland and stretching from Skye to Islay; the latter parted from the Inner Hebrides by the straits of the Minch and the Little Minch, comprise the long chain of islands from Lewis to Benbecula. Inclosed in the Firth of Clvde are the islands of Arran, Bute, and the Cumbraes, forming a themselves. The W. coast of county by ther the mainland is generally a wild, deeply indented mountain wall, pre presenting a series of inlets or sea lochs, while toward the middle the coast is cleft by two great inlets with openings to the S. W., the Firth of Lorn and its continuation Loch and its Linnhe, and the Firth of Clyde lyde ramifications running far inland. The E. coast is sometimes low and sandy, but is rocky cliffs of conoften formed of steep teep siderable elevation, the chief inlets being the Firths of Forth and Tay, and the Moray Firth, Cromarty Firth, etc. Surface. Both from the configuration of the surface and the geological structure the country divides into three divisions, the Highlands, Central Lowlands, and Southern Uplands. The first of these divisions lies N. of a line stretching in a S. W. direction from the coast of Kincardineshire to the Firth of Clyde; the third is the country S. of a line drawnfrom Dunbar S. W. to Girvan; the country between these lines forms the Central Lowlands. The Highland division is remarkable for the number and elevation of its mountain masses, many of the summits being over 4,000 feet high. The mountains best known by name are the Grampians, which form a system or series of masses covering a large area, and culminating on the W. coast in Ben Nevis, 4,406 feet high; while 55 miles to the N. E. rises a remarkable cluster of summits reaching in Ben Macdhui the height of 4,296 feet. The Grampians and their connections are separated from the mountains farther to the N. by Glenmore or the Great Glen of Scotland, a remarkable depression stretching quite across the country from sea to sea, and forming, by and the the series of lakes occupying it pying it Caledonian canal connecting them, n, a waterway from the W. coast to the E. The Southern Uplands are also essentially of over a mountainous region, summits its 2,000 feet being frequent, though none exceed 3,000 feet above the sea. The central region, though much less elevated than the other two divisions, has none of the monotony usual in flat countries. Though occupying not more than a sixth of the whole surfac surface , the fertility of the soil and its mineral treasures make this part by far the wealthiest and most populous. The present form of the land surfaces of Scotland is the effect of erosion. or denudation. The country was at one time an elevated table-land, the upper surface of which is indicated by the summits of the mountain masses, but has been deeply trenched and furrowed in all directions by the erosive action of water, ice, and frost. The slope of the ancient plateau may be determined by the direction of the principal rivers; in the N. part it is chiefly toward the E., in the S. more equally E. and W. Rivers and Lakes. The chief rivers flow (roughly speaking) to the E., and enter the German ocean, the largest being the Tweed, Forth, Tay, South Esk, North Esk, Dee, Don, Deveron, Spey, and Findhorn; those entering the sea on the W. are the Clyde, Ayr, Doon, Dee, Nith, Annan, and Esk. The Tay carries to the sea a larger quantity of water than any river in in Great Britain, but neither it nor most of the others, except when they form estuaries, are of much use for navigation. The Clyde, however, in its lower course carries a vast traffic, this being rendered possible chiefly by dredging. Many of the rivers are valuable from the numbers of salmon they produce. A striking feature of the country is the great multitude of lakes, varying in size from Loch Lomond (28 square miles) to the pool-like mountain tarns. In the Northern Highlands almost every glen has its lake and every mountain hollow is filled by a stream or spring. Among the more noted are Lochs Lomond, Katrine, Tay, Earn, Rannoch, Awe, Shiel, Laggan, Lochy, Ness, Maree, Shin, in the Western and Northern Highlands; and St. Mary's Loch, Lochs Ken, Dee, and Doon in the Southern Uplands. Geology. As regards geology the older or palæozoic rocks predominate almost everywhere in Scotland. The Highlands are composed almost entirely of crystalline schists, gneiss, and quartzites; the Central Lowlands of odd red standstone, carboniferous, and Permian strata; the Southern Uplands mostly of rocks of Silurian age. In certain localities remains of secondary formations are represented over small spaces, while volcanic rocks cover considerable areas. Granite exists in great masses in many localities, and in some parts is extensively quarried. The most valuable mineral region is the Central Lowlands, where coal and iron exist in such quantity as to make this one of the most important mineral fields of Great Britain. For agricülture, manufactures and commerce, see GREAT BRITAIN. Political Constitution. - The Parliament of Scotland anciently comprised all who held any portion of land, however small, from the crown by tenure of military service, till the reign of James VI., when the small barons or freeholders were excused from attendance in person, "two or more wise men" being deputed from each county in proportion to its size. Its powers were nominally extensive, but the supreme power was virtually in the king, who by his influence often entirely controlled its proceedings. The Parliament in the whole consisted of three estatesthe nobility, the dignified clergy (consisting of bishops, abbots, and priors), and the lesser barons, or representatives of shires and burgs. When PRESBYTERIAN- ISM (q. v.) was formally ratified by law after the revolution of 1688, the ecclesiastical estate ceased to have a place in Parliament. Every measure brought before Parliament was previously prepared by a committee, styled the lords of the articles, chosen from each of the three orders, but in effect little better than royal nominees. Before the Union there were four great officers of state-the lord highchancellor, the high high-treasurer, r, the lord privy-seal, and the secretary; and there were also four lesser officers-the lord clerk-register, the lord-advocate, the treasurer-depute, and the justice clerk. Previously to the era of the Revolution the privy council of Scotland assumed inquisitorial powers, and even torture was administered under the sanction of its authority; but it is now entirely merged in the privy council of Great Britain. The number of peers in the Scotch Parliament was formerly 160, and of commons 155, and all sat in one house and voted promiscuously. y. At the union of the kingdoms the political system of Scotland was almost entirely incorporated with that of England. (See GREAT BRITAIN, Government.) The Court of Sessions is the supreme civil court of Scotland. The Court of Justiciary, or criminal court, composed only of judges of the Court of Session, is supreme in the highest sense, since its decisions in criminal cases are not subject to any review. The principal subordinate judicatories are sheriff courts, established in each county or stewartry. Sheriff-substitutes, or judges ordinary, one or more holding separate courts in different districts, decide in the first instance, subject to the review of the principal sheriff or sheriff depute, whose decisions, though final within the limits of his jurisdiction, are reviewable by the Court of Session, with the exception of classes of cases provided for by special statutes. Besides the sheriff court, each county or district of a county has its justice of peace courts, in which judges, not stipendiary, decide on principles of equity in minor crimes; and in every town of any importance are bailie, dean of guild, and police courts, with limited jurisdictions. Education.- Scotland has had the advantage of a national system of elementary education for over two centuries, a school having been established in every parish by a law of 1697, according to a system proposed by John Knox long before. This scheme did effective service for the education of the people, till the great increase of population, especially in towns, rendered it unequal to the task laid on it, and this notwithstanding the erection of many schools by various religious denominations. By the passing of the Education Act of 1872 board schools have superseded the old parish schools, there being also numerous grammar or high schools and academies in every town of any size, though no systematic scheme of secondary education. Other institutions are the normal or training schools and colleges of the different religious bodies, and the four universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and St. Andrews. The first university was that of St. Andrews, dating from 1451; next came that of Glasgow (1450), then King's College and University Aberdeen (1494), then Edinburgh University (1582), lastly Marischal College and University Aberdeen (1593). The two Aberdeen universities were united in 1860. History. Scotland was first visited by the Roman troops under Agricola, who penetrated to the foot of the Grampian mountains. It was afterward exposed to the ravages of the Norwegians and Danes, with whom many bloody battles were fought. Various contests were also maintained with the Kings of England. Robert Bruce, however, secured the independence of the country and his title to the throne by the decisive battle of Bannockburn in 1314. He was succeeded by his nephew, Robert Stewart, and he by his eldest son, Robert. He being a weak prince, the reins of government were seized by the Duke of Albany, who stoned to death the eldest son of the king. James, his second son, to escape a similar fate, fled to France; in the year 1424 he returned to Scotland, and having excited the jealousy sy of the nobility, he was assassinated in a monastery near Perth. James II., his son, an infant prince, succeeded him in 1437. He was killed by the bursting of a cannon at the siege of the castle of Roxburgh. James III. ascended the throne at the age of seven years. His reign was weak and inglorious, and he was murdered in the house of a miller, whither he had fled for protection. James IV., a generous and brave prince, began his reign in 1488. He was slain at the battle of Flodden. James V., an infant of less than two years of age, succeeded to the crown. He died in 1542, and was succeeded by his daughter, the celebrated Queen Mary, whose history and tragical end are well known. She was succeeded by her son James, who, in 1603, ascended the throne of England, vacant by the death of Queen Elizabeth, when the two kingdoms were united into one great monarchy which was legislatively united in 1707. In 1715 and 1745, unsuccessful attempts were made for the restoration of the exiled Stuarts.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
a division of the United Kingdom . It occupies the northern part of the island of Great Britain . It is separated from England chiefly by the Firth of Solway, the Cheviot Hills , and the Tweed. The distance from sea to sea is about sixty miles in a straight line; but the "Border" with its windings is about one hundred miles in length. The mainland is surrounded, especially on the west and northwest, by numerous islands. There are 160 islands of some size and about 600 smaller islets. The shores are, for the greater part, rocky and abrupt. They are penetrated on the west and north by deep firths whose beds were furrowed out in glacial times by streams of ice. Leaving out of consideration the Cheviot region, Scotland may be said to be divided into two physical regions, the Highlands and the Lowlands. The Highlands, occupying the northwestern two-thirds of the country, are mountainous. The best known peaks are Ben Nevis and Ben Lomond. The surface is intersected by glacial valleys and contains a very great number of fine, clear lakes. The larger are known as lochs; the smaller as tarns. Among the more noted are Lochs Lomond, Katrine, Ness, Leven, and St. Mary's. The more noted of the rivers flowing easterly are the Tweed, the Forth, the Tay, and the smaller Spey. The Clyde is the chief river of the west. Other western streams are the Ayr, the Doon, the Nith, and the Annan. Scotland is rich in rocks and minerals. The Highlands may be said to be composed of schists, gneiss, and other old rocks. The granite quarries of Aberdeen are noted. Enormous bodies of coal and iron are found in the lowlands, and make that district one of the wealthiest regions in the world. The most southerly point of Scotland lies five degrees farther north than the most northerly point of the United States . The northern extremity of Scotland lies farther north than Sitka, Alaska. The climate, however, is oceanic. The summers are cool; the winters are comparatively mild and cloudy. The coasts are swept by more severe storms than are known in the interior of the United States. Sleet, hail, and snow are common; but blizzards, as we have them, are unknown. The lochs freeze over in winter. At this season curling is the national pastime. Forests cover about four per cent of the total area. They lie chiefly in the northern counties. One-fourth of the surface is devoted to grazing, fifty-nine per cent is in field and meadow, and twenty-one per cent is described as uncultivated, being chiefly rock or morass. Agriculture is confined chiefly to the Lowlands. Scottish plowmen are noted for even, straight furrows. Oats and hay are the chief field crops. The soil and climate are well adapted to turnips, potatoes, and other root crops. The summers are too cool for the production of corn or melons. Orchard fruits, strawberries, and other small fruits do well. American farmers are indebted to Scottish stock raisers for Clydesdale horses, Polled Angus and Galloway cattle, and for the Ayrshire strain of dairy cows. The population in 1905 was rated at 4,676,-603, somewhat in excess of 150 to the square mile. About one-tenth of the people of Scotland are engaged in farming. Another tenth follow commercial pursuits. About half are engaged in mining and manufacturing. Owing to the growth of manufacturing, the rural population is decreasing; the town and city population is growing. The leading manufactures are those of iron, woolens, and cotton goods. There were, in 1903, 3,580 miles of railway and 150 miles of canals. In a recent year the postal authorities delivered 222,000,000 letters, 54,000,000 post cards, 87,000,000 book packets, and 21,000,000 newspapers. The express system of this country is replaced by a parcel post in connection with the postoffice. Ten million packages are delivered a year. In 1870 telegraph lines were taken over by the state. Ten million telegrams are sent yearly. Savings banks in connection with the postoffice held $28,000,000 in 1902. Scotland is divided into thirty-three shires or counties. The criminal judge of a county is known as the sheriff. There are nine cities having a population of over 30,000 each. Named in order of population they are Glasgow, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Paisley, Leith, Greenock, Kilmarnock, and Perth. The chief magistrate of a town is known as a provost. Aldermen are called bailies. The counties are subdivided into parishes. Each parish maintains a clergyman of the Established Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) at public expense. A parallel system of independent churches, known as the United Free Church , is maintained by voluntary contributions. The Church of Scotland and the United Free Church have about half a million adherents each. Third in order comes the Roman Catholic church with 400,000 adherents. Education is looked after with care. Il-literacy is rare. Parish schools were maintained for two or three centuries. In 1872 a system of public schools was inaugurated. It does not differ materially from the American organization. As a consequence, most of the parish and private schools have been discontinued. Of 3,145 schools in 1902, 2,786 were public schools, with an average attendance of nearly 600,000 pupils. In the more advanced schools, instruction is given in domestic economy, needlework, and the use of tools. The state maintains several training schools for teachers, Various municipalities support high schools. There are four Scottish universities. They are situated at Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Saint Andrews respectively. Prior to the dawn of history it is thought that a people similar to the Basques inhabited the greater part of Scotland. When the Romans invaded Scotland, however, a Celtic people occupied the country north of the Firth of Clyde. They were called Caledonians by the Romans. The country was called Caledonia. The southern part of Caledonia was occupied by another Celtic tribe more closely related to the Welsh. These Celts or Caledonians were later called Picts. About the sixth century a horde of Scots, a third Celtic tribe from Ireland, invaded western Scotland and gave their name to the country. The Highlanders are descendants of the Picts and Scots; the Lowland Scotch, like the English, are the descendants of Teutonic tribes who crossed the North Sea into Britain during the fourth century and later. Norse colonies also were established in the Highlands of the north and west, as far south as the Isle of Man. The Donalds, Kenneths, Malcolms, Duncans, and Macbeths of early Scotch history were Celtic. The Teutonic or Lowland element asserted itself later. At present the various elements are hardly distinguishable. The political history of Scotland is one of constant warfare with the Irish, the Norse, the Danes, and the English. The annals are filled also with a long series of conflicts between rival chieftains, a sufficient account of which has been given under separate titles. In 1603 James VI of Scotland inherited the throne of England. The two kingdoms were united into one monarchy. In 1707 the English and the Scottish parliaments were united, at which point the political history of Scotland as a separate nation ceases. See Macbeth ; Wallace ; Bruce ; Alexander ; Stirling ; Argyll ; James ; Mary ; Glasgow ; Edinburgh ; St. Andrews; Ayr ; Golf ; Curling ; Bagpipe ; Scone ; Tartan ; Scott ; Burns ; Baillie ; Hogg ; Campbell ; Hume ; Smith ; Robertson ; Law ; Carlyle ; Clyde ; Covenanters ; Free Church ; Lomond ; Balmoral
Scotland CHURCH OF, the original Scotch Church seems to have been that of the Culdees
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
CHURCH OF, the original Scotch Church seems to have been that of the Culdees, then in mediæval times the Roman Catholic Church was, to a certain extent, the national church in Scotland, not merely as having within its pale at least by profession all the people, but as maintaining its independence of its powerful S. neighbor. The church resisted the claims of supremacy over it put forth at one time by the Archbishop of York, at another by the Archbishop of Canterbury; and in 1176 in self-defense cast itself into the arms of the Roman pontiff. When the Reformation struggle began, the crown remained adherent to the old faith, while the nobility tended to adopt the new. From the war of independence Scotland had considered it good policy to guard against any aggression on the part of England by a close alliance with France, and when the Reformation began there were actually French troops in Scotland. On these the crown rested to resist the religious movement which had been begun, but the Protestant "Lords of the Congregation," who had taken up arms to defend their cause, applied for aid to Queen Elizabeth, who sent troops to aid them in expelling the French. By a treaty signed on July 7, 1560, it was stipulated that both the French and the English troops should withdraw from Scotland. On Aug. 24 of the same year the Scotch Parliament abolished the papal jurisdiction, prohibited the celebration of the mass, and rescinded all the laws made in favor of Roman Catholicism. The reformers adopted what is now called PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (q. v.) government, though certain superintendents were appointed, with the sanction of John Knox, the great Scotch reformer, whose offices after a time were swept away. The first General Assembly was held on Dec. 20, 1560. When the victory over the Church of Rome was complete, the alliance between the nobility and the Protestant preachers which had effected the triumph showed symptoms of dissolving, and a large section of the former viewed with distrust, and even active hostility, what they regarded as the too democratic measures which Knox aimed at carrying out. But one inestimable boon was gained before they parted, the universal establishment of parish schools. The semi-republican constitution of the Church, which became more marked after the office of superintendent had been swept away, and the second book of dis cipline published (the latter event in , regents and of sovereigns, and four or five generations of Stuart kings put forth long and determined efforts to transform Presbyterian into Episcopal government. The project cost the lives and liberties of far more people than the short, sharp Reformation struggle had done, and ended at last in failure. The Revolution settlement of 1690, re-established Presbyterianism, and the General Assembly, which had been interrupted for nearly 40 years, began again to sit and has done so annually from that time till now. Prior to the union with England in 1707, an Act of Security was passed, designed to preserve the Scotch national Church from being overthrown by S. votes. In 1712 an Act of Parliament reintroduced patronage which had been swept away. The operation of this enactment was one main cause of these secessions; that of the Secession, pre-eminently socalled, in 1733; the Relief in 1752; and, the greatest of all, that which created the Free Church in 1843. The Church of Scotland leads the Presbyterian denomination with a membership of over 700,000. It has missions in India, Africa, and elsewhere. In 1784 the Patronage Act of 1712 was repealed, own and each congregation now elects its pastor. Its chief rivals, the United Presof Scotbyterian and the Free Church land, were amalgamated as the United Free Church of Scotland. A small number of the old Free Church members declined to join the union and remain an independent body. The United Free Church membership (1919) was 522,028. SCOTS. See PICTS.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
When the Encyclopaedia of Occultism set this down in 1920, it recounted the witch-pricker, the "witches' bridle" and the water ordeal as curiosities of a closed chapter, mixing them with legends of Iona seers and St Patrick's flight to the Clyde. Scholarship has since put numbers to the horror: the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, published by the University of Edinburgh in 2003, documented close to 4,000 people accused under the Witchcraft Act of 1563, of whom perhaps 2,500 were executed before the Act was repealed in 1736. Attitudes have moved from antiquarian interest to public remorse — in March 2022 First Minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a formal apology in the Scottish Parliament to those convicted as witches. Britain's last prosecutions under the successor Act of 1735 came as late as the 1940s, and it was finally swept away by the Fraudulent Mediums Act of 1951.
Written for this edition, 2026.