Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters - (Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic) by J Goodare (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Bringing together twelve studies, this book provides an overview of the key issues of on-going interest in the study of Scottish witchcraft. The authors tackle various aspects of the question of witches; considering how people came to be considered 'witches', with new insights into the centrality of neighbourhood quarrels and misfortune; and delving into folk belief and various acts of witchcraft. It also examines the practice of witch-hunting, the 'urban geography' of witch-hunting, Scotland's international witch-hunting connections and brings fresh insights to the much-studied North Berwick witchcraft panic. Reconstructions of the brutal and ceremonial punishments inflicted on 'witches' offers a gruesome but compelling reminder of the importance of the subject"--

Book Synopsis

This book brings together twelve studies that collectively provide an overview of the main issues of live interest in Scottish witchcraft. As well as fresh studies of the well-established topic of witch-hunting, the book also launches an exploration of some of the more esoteric aspects of magical belief and practice.

Review Quotes

"This is a book that is fresh and thought-provoking, and its authors are to be congratulated on their varied, precise, and well-researched contributions. ... Scottish Witches and Witch-Hunters is a fantastically useful resource, and can only further stimulate work in the area. Julian Goodare and his team of contributors have given us a wide-ranging, provocative, and deeply scholarly volume, in which all the chapters are valuable, and the whole really is more than the sum of the parts." (Marion Gibson, Folklore, Vol. 126 (3), 2015)

About the Author

Victoria Carr, Postgraduate student, University of Bristol, UK Anna Cordey, teacher, Robert Gordon's College, Aberdeen, UK Margaret Dudley, community worker, Edinburgh, UK Alistair Henderson, archivist Alexandra Hill, solicitor, London, UK Paula Hughes, PhD graduate, University of Strathclyde, UK Lauren Martin, Director of Research, University of Minnesota, USA Laura Paterson, Postgraduate student, University of Strathclyde, UK Michael Wasser, teacher, Dawson College, Montreal, Canada Emma Wilby, Honorary Fellow, University of Exeter, UK Liv Helene Willumsen, Professor, University of Tromsø, Norway