A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight (c. 1820) - David Webster, compiler

A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight (1820)

Compiled by David Webster · Edinburgh · 1820

Witches accused of raising storms against a king. A healer tortured for her supposed gifts. The chilling accounts of Scotland's witch trials, preserved alongside contemporary arguments, court records and the mysterious tradition of the Second Sight.

First published in Edinburgh in 1820, this remarkable anthology gathers rare Scottish witchcraft pamphlets, legal documents, confessions and writings on supernatural vision. Rather than offering a single author's narrative, it places sensational early-modern allegations beside accounts of persecution and an unusually forthright introductory essay condemning the injustice of the witch hunts.

The volume is associated in library catalogues with David Webster as compiler; its individual historical tracts have multiple authors, and the introductory essay is signed only “Editor.”

What you will discover

• The North Berwick witch trials: the notorious News from Scotland pamphlet about Doctor Fian, Geillis Duncan and Agnes Sampson, including allegations of a witches' gathering and an enchanted storm threatening King James VI.
• King James VI's Daemonologie: selected passages from the king's influential treatise on witches, sorcery and spirits.
• The Pittenweem controversy: opposing letters on the barbarous treatment of accused witches, revealing disputes over violence, responsibility and justice.
• Original legal records: indictments and trial material from Borrowstounness and the cases of Isobel Elliot and other accused women.
• Witch-pricking and confessions: testimony associated with Helen Taylor, Manie Haliburton and the professional witch-pricker John Kincaid.
• The price of persecution: extraordinary itemised accounts recording the costs of imprisoning and executing accused witches, including William Coke, Allison Dick and Margaret Denham.
• Lillias Adie of Torryburn: kirk-session minutes and her recorded confession, an important survival from the later Scottish witch trials.
• The Second Sight: John Frazer's discussion of visions, apparitions, foreknowledge and the supernatural traditions associated with Scotland's Highlands and islands.

The anthology's opening essay is especially striking. Writing in 1820, its editor questions confessions obtained through torture and sleep deprivation, attacks the credulity of witch-hunters and credits science and philosophy with weakening the fear that sustained witch prosecutions.

Why this edition matters

These pages preserve the voices and prejudices of different centuries: persecutors who believed they were confronting the Devil, accused people whose statements were recorded under pressure, officials keeping meticulous accounts, and later writers questioning the entire machinery of the witch hunt. For readers of witchcraft history, Scottish folklore, folk magic and early modern belief, this is an unusually rich documentary collection.

About this digital edition

188-page scanned PDF facsimile of the 1820 Edinburgh edition, retaining its original title page, contents, historical spellings and typography. The original printed volume runs to 183 numbered pages; the PDF includes preliminary pages.

Historical study notice: The accusations, supernatural claims, alleged confessions and descriptions of magical acts are historical source material, not evidence that witchcraft or paranormal phenomena occurred as reported. Some documents describe torture, persecution and executions. The text is provided for educational, historical and folkloric research.

Hearthwise Historical Library · Digital facsimile
Title: A Collection of Rare and Curious Tracts on Witchcraft and the Second Sight; with an Original Essay on Witchcraft
Compiler: David Webster (catalogue attribution); various historical contributors
Publisher: Printed for D. Webster, Edinburgh; printed by Thomas Webster
Year: 1820
Format: Downloadable scanned PDF · 188 pages · English