It is a strange story indeed. An upright, seemingly godfearing Presbyterian – a pillar of Edinburgh society – suddenly confessed to being a witch. Not only that, he implicated his own sister, Grizel, and she confirmed it!
No-one could fathom out where the confession had come from. Major Weir of all people - a black-hearted witch, guilty of the most heinous crimes and satanic rituals. And he confessed to his crimes during a church service in 1670. The congregation could not and would not believe his confession and doctors were summoned. Sure enough they concluded that Weir was mentally unstable but not insane. Nevertheless, the Major was having no one of it. He was a witch, so was his sister and they must both pay the penalty which, in those days meant death.
Apparently these two, while living in a smart
house in West Bow, had regularly met with a ‘dark stranger’ who escorted them
to meetings in Dalkeith in a fiery coach drawn by six horses. Weir and his
sister had indulged in an incestuous relationship, they said. Their confessions
became wilder and wilder. They had inherited their practice of the dark arts
from their mother and Weir claimed to derive supernatural powers from a black
staff he used which had been given to him, so he said, by the devil himself.
Weir admitted to bestiality and all manner of
sexual acts with servant girls as well as devil worship. As if that were not
enough, the Major claimed to have only listed some of his crimes – the others
being too awful to recite.
Grizel said that a horseshoe-shaped mark on her
forehead had been put there by the devil and he had given her the power to spin
yarn at an astonishing rate but this yarn would break if anyone else tried to
use it.
The Major and his sister claimed to be able to
commune with the dead. Still no one would believe them but they insisted that
every claim they made was true. They demanded to be tried and punished.
Eventually they got their wish and both were
found guilty as a result of their own confessions. Grizel was hanged (after
first slapping the executioner) and the Major was initially strangled and then
burned. Witnesses reported that their executions took far longer than usual. Evidently
the devil didn’t want them to die.
Wow. The description of their empty home gave me chills. Well, if you're going to build something over a haunted location, a church is probably the best thing to build!
ReplyDeleteYou have a point there, Priscilla!
DeleteAh the good major. I remember doing the 'piece' on him many years back in another writing life for a ghost book. Good to revisit.
ReplyDeleteIt is a fascinating tale indeed. Thanks, Shey!
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