(In a forthcoming post, a subscriber will be sharing her discovery of various artifacts during a renovation of her properties at The Falls. Before posting her very interesting research, it might be useful to review the topic in general as it relates to the district).
In 1727 in the shire town of Dornoch in Sutherland, Janet Horne made history as the last witch to be executed in Scotland. To put into local perspective, the spectacle of this execution was likely witnessed by some grandparents of the early settlers to Earltown.
Janet Horne was likely not her real name. It was a title of derision applied to presumed witches and others living outside the norms of the times. She was a one time maid originally from Loth to the north of Clyne. Her neighbours, for motivations unknown, accused her of turning her daughter into a pony and having Satan shoe her.
In real terms, Janet was likely suffering from what is now known to be dementia and thus living in an alternate reality. The daughter was said to suffer from physical deformities of the hands which may have had a likeness to hooves. Both were arrested on suspicion of witchcraft and tried at Dornoch. Unfortunately the magistrates, who were no more enlightened than the general population, found both women guilty and ordered that they be burned to death the following day.
The daughter mercifully escaped but Janet, as a result of her natural confusion, made no effort to follow. On the appointed day she was stripped naked, covered in tar and paraded through the town on a barrel. Before a large assembly, she was set on fire at which time she smiled and said that was “bonny warm”. Whatever the theatrics of the event, it was a gruesome event. Nine years later it became unlawful to execute anyone for alleged witchcraft.
Because it was unlawful to prosecute supposed witches, it didn’t mean such accusations didn’t persist for many years and the concept migrated with the Scots to Nova Scotia.
Patterson’s History of Tatamagouche makes mention of the persistence of witchcraft beliefs during the 19th century in North Colchester. He recounts the cherished story of Mrs. Mac, a old lady generally believed to have been a witch. Mrs. Mac went to her neighbour Mrs. M to procure pigs and was annoyed that the pigs on offer had already been sold. Likely there was a regrettable exchange before Mrs. Mac went home. That evening Mrs. M’s milk cow went inexplicably dry leading to the conclusion that Mrs. Mac was extracting revenge through the cow. Mrs. M was not to be put off by this devilment and conjured a remedy whereby she boiled a sod of grass that the unfortunate cow had grazed. The sod was tortured with pins. The cow miraculously returned to production. Later neighbours visiting Mrs. Mac reported that the old lady was nursing sore feet that were inexplicably scalded. And from there the tale continued with its embellishments. Patterson in 1917 wisely spared the surviving children embarrassment by not publishing the name but descendants assured me the alleged witch was Margaret MacKay “Black”, wife of Jim “Tailor” of Balfron. [1]
On a related note, the late Dick Gordon of Golspie, Sutherland, told me several stories of underperforming milk cows being bedeviled by witches who often took the form of hares.
Another story told around The Falls pertained to Laughing Christy. The daughter of an overzealous catechist, Christy was a bit of a rebel and never shy with opinions. On one occasion she and her husband Sandy were visited by the local tax collector, Strachan Mackay. Like present times, nobody enjoyed their interaction with the tax man. After a tense visit, MacKay prepared to leave with his horse and wagon when Christy inquired about how many horses he owned. MacKay replied that he had three of the finest horses in the district. Christy replied that one or more would be dead before long. A few days later one of the horses died or, as some versions proclaim, all three died. Perhaps she knew her horses but the local consensus was that it was witchcraft.
Another story tells of Christy asking a neighbour for a ride home from The Falls church in his horse drawn carriage. The request was denied because, to be polite, she didn’t meet certain standards of hygiene. In retort, Christy hoped they would have to walk just like her. As one would expect, the horse died in the shafts a short distance up the road.
Every culture has ghosts and the Gaidhealtachd of Earltown was no exception. There are scattered stories of the sightings of deceased relatives or strange sounds in certain buildings were death occurred. (That was every house as there were no hospitals or nursing homes in those days). Vacant houses, which abounded in the early 29th century, were venues for the imagination to run wild. Strange lights have appeared in the area cemeteries at night. Murray’s Cemetery, remote and spooky at the best of times, is said to be the scene of floating objects. That can probably be explained as fog rising from the nearby river and swamps.
Bluenose Ghosts by Helen Creighton recounts a dramatic scene on the night that Dump MacDonald took leave of this world. He had been ailing of influenza and was nearing his end. A group of neighbours assembled to assist Mrs. MacDonald as Dump was a big man and difficult to manage. While eating some pablum, Dump took to staring at the wall before suddenly rising from his bed, yelled and fell back dead. At same time the upstairs of the house shook violently followed by a gust of wind that blew off the henhouse door with the result being a hail of chickens hitting the house windows. Various phenomena was experienced in the house and a man believed to be Lucifer was spotted in a window. This story was given to Miss Creighton by John George Ferguson of Bayhead whose parents were living at Central Earltown when these events occurred.
John Dan Ferguson of Balmoral and Bayhead shared the story of a recurring ball of fire that used to rise over Spiddle Hill at Ross’s Rock. It was called Ross’s Torch but didn’t seem to be an omen of anything in particular. When the Ross family moved to Wallace, the Torch was no longer seen. It should come as no surprise that Mrs. Ross was a sister of Laughing Christy.[2]
Complementary to the belief in such things, there were measures taken to protect a household from witches and unsavoury supernatural experiences. Stay tuned for a future post by Joyce Ferguson on Concealment Shoes and Witches Bottles………….
[1] Patterson, Frank H., History of Tatamagouche, Royal Print and Litho, 1917
[2] Creighton, Helen Bluenose Ghosts, McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1957
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