The song ‘Bonnie Susie Cleland’ tells a particularly brutal tale of a young Scots woman being burned at the stake by her family for falling in love with an Englishman.
witchcraft
Witchcraft in Dundee – An Interview
As we mentioned in our ‘Black Magic & The Occult’ section, rumours have been rife for decades about witchcraft and black magic rituals being undertaken in various locations around the city such as ruined castles, parklands and gloomy, wooded areas. If we look at the rumours on a national scale, the stories of witchcraft, devilment […]
Magickal Coffee
I’ve got to say, when I first realised I’d upset some witches earlier this year, I was a bit panicked! I mean, it’s not every day you get a duo of witches telling you they are pissed off with what you’ve written about their craft, is it? Well that’s what happened to me – and […]
Dark Dundee Video Series – Grissell Jaffray
Our first video explores the story of Grissell Jaffray, famous in Dundee’s history for being the last witch to be burned in public in 1669. In this video we explore the story told of Grissell, as few of the facts remain, and how witchcraft was feared and those accused were tortured in this dark time […]
Glamis Castle
Whilst not actually in Dundee, per se, we couldn’t let a wee treasure like Glamis Castle fly under the radar. Steeped in centuries of dark, blood-soaked history and with more legends attached to it than almost any other castle in Scotland, Glamis Castle was too hard to resist. The Castle was presented to Sir John […]
Hurkle Jean
Grissell Jaffray is undoubtedly the most famous witch of Dundee, having been the last witch to be executed in Dundee, but Dundee’s superstitious side was still alive and well in the 19th century, when Janet Kindy, or ‘Hurkle Jean’, was believed to be responsible for a number of afflictions that allegedly beset the town. Sickness […]
Mary Slessor
Now, you might be thinking, what has Mary Slessor got to do with Dark Dundee? Sure, she’s from Dundee, but as a missionary, she is hailed as somewhat of a heroine. Of course she is, and we’re not denying that…but what’s truly dark about Mary Slessor are the things she witnessed during her lifetime. Her father, […]
The Common Book of Witchcraft and Wicca
Booksworld.com recently reported the release of “The Common Book of Witchcraft and Wicca. What’s all the fuss about, you ask? Isn’t it just someone trying to sell a book? No, apparently it’s not – the book is available completely free, under a creative commons license, which allows anyone to freely share and republish its contents […]
Persecution of witches
The 16th century was a time of religious upheaval caused, in part, by the Protestant Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation. As the shockwave of religious division extended across Europe, fear spread that the Day of Judgement had arrived.
Malleus Maleficarum
The Malleus Maleficarum (“The Hammer of Witches”) is the classic Catholic text on witchcraft and was first published in 1487. The book was notorious for its use in the Witch-hunts which were started on a national scale across Europe.
