On August 30, 1662, John Dickson was accused of witchcraft and brutally interrogated in Edinburgh, one among 1000’s who met such a destiny.
Nonetheless, Dickson was accused of a really particular crime, of “false accusation, torture and inflicting the demise of harmless individuals in Moray” after a distinguished profession as a witch pricker.
It was on today that John’s secret was found, to the shock of the torturers.
The Witch hunt
The witch searching in Scotland started round 1590 as a bunch from North Berwick had been charged and killed as “witches”.
Over the following 100 years, between 4 and 6 thousand individuals had been tortured and murdered after being accused of witch craft.
Many of the accused, over 75%, had been girls.
In April of final 12 months, the Scottish Parliament issued a proper apology to all those that misplaced their life through the witch trials.
Witch Pricker
A witch pricker was often a spiritual man who carried out this merciless and brutal practise on these accused on witch craft.
They might use pins and needles to pierce the pores and skin of their sufferer, whereas trying to find the satan’s mark – a spot on a “witches” physique that may really feel no ache.
Many would use their place of energy to inflict extreme ache and struggling, above what they had been paid for. Most had been sadistic and merciless.
It was solely one among many strategies used to torture “witches”, and to extract a false confession.
John Dickson
John Dickson labored within the Moray space of Scotland, signing a contract to hunt out native witches for six shillings a day, with a bonus for each witch recognized.
In Tain, Dickson accused a person named John Hay, an influential man, who batted the accusation proper again at his accuser.
Being a courtroom messenger, he was believed and Dickson was arrested and transported to Edinburgh for interrogation.
I used to be now that the reality was revealed, John Dickson was truly a girl, who had dressed as a person to reap the rewards of the profitable and barbaric profession.
Her actual identification isn’t identified, although she is now generally known as Christian Caldwell.
As a punishment, she was banished from the nation and despatched to a plantation in Barbados. It isn’t identified if she survived the journey.
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