In Memory of Agnes Sampson, the Wise Woman of Keith

As I have already indicated, Agnes Sampson was one of the women implicated in the North Berwick Witch Trials. Also known as the Wise Wife of Keith, Agnes was a healer and a mid-wife, well known in her local community, the Barony of Keith in East Lothian. The records of the day detail the agonies she was forced to endure prior to confession;

This aforeaside Agnis Sampson which was the elder Witch, was taken and brought to Haliruid house before the Kings Maiestie and sundry other of the nobility of Scotland, where she was straitly examined, but all the perswasions which the Kings maiestie vsed to her with ye rest of his counsell, might not prouoke or induce her to confesse any thing, but stood stiffely in the deniall of all that was laide to her charge: whervpon they caused her to be conueied awaye to prison, there to receiue such torture as hath been lately prouided for witches in that country: and forasmuch as by due examination of witchcraft and witches in Scotland, it hath latelye beene found that the Deuill dooth generallye marke them with a priuie marke, by reason the Witches haue confessed themselues, that the Diuell dooth lick them with his tung in some priuy part of their bodie, before hee dooth receiue them to be his seruants, which marke commonly is giuen them vnder the haire in some part of their bodye, wherby it may not easily be found out or seene, although they be searched: and generally so long as the marke is not seene to those which search them, so long the parties that hath the marke will neuer confesse any thing. Therfore by special commaundement this Agnis Sampson had all her haire shauen of, in each parte of her bodie, and her head thrawen with a rope according to the custome of that Countrye, beeing a paine most greeuous, which she continued almost an hower, during which time she would not confesse any thing vntill the Diuels marke was found vpon her priuities, then she immediatlye confessed whatsoeuer was demaunded of her, and iustifying those persons aforesaid to be notorious witches.

Agnes Sampson was garrotted and burned to ashes on 28 January 1591.

To Kill a King: the Story of the North Berwick Witches

Picture the scene. It’s September 1589; the wind is howling and the rain lashing. A ship tries to leave the port of Burntisland on the north side of the Firth of Forth in Scotland, making for Leith on the south; not a long journey, but the weather is fierce, and the wind blows in the wrong direction. On board is Jean Kennedy, destined to be a lady-in waiting to Anne of Denmark, soon to be Queen of Scotland. Also on board are the jewels that James VI, the young king, has bought for his prospective wife. The boat struggles on, but is caught on a wave, carried into the air, and crashes down on a nearby vessel. Jean is drowned, her companions are drowned; the jewels are lost. On the opposite bank of the estuary near Leith a dead cat is found, weighed down with the bones of a man.

Now the scene switches, all the way across the North Sea. That same month fifteen-year-old Anne, the daughter of King Frederick II, sets out for her new home. Her vessel is beaten back to the Norwegian coast, where it is forced to take refuge. In Scotland James anxiously awaits. Anne does not come; no news comes. The King decides to set out across the sea in person, carried forward by the winds that had beaten his Queen back. It’s not until early the next month that he finally receives news that Anne’s flotilla has been diverted to Oslo. The couple, now united, decide to winter in Copenhagen.

It’s while he is in Denmark that James becomes aware that the mishaps that have afflicted him and his bride are being blamed on witchcraft. The following summer, after James and Anne had crossed to Scotland, several women are executed in Copenhagen on a charge of having bewitched the princess’ fleet.

A few weeks beforehand a Scottish connection is discovered. A number of people are arrested, women mostly, many of then from the town of North Berwick at the mouth of the Forth. The arrested include Anne Koldings, who claimed to have long practiced magic. But the charge that emerges is not just witchcraft; it’s attempted regicide. It was Anne and her companions who had raised the storms that drowned Jean Kennedy and scattered the king’s fleet as it returned from Denmark. James and his wife arrive home safely, though their fleet has been scattered by fresh April storms.

More arrests follow, and the focus of interest switches to a coven held at St. Andrew’s Auld Kirk in North Berwick, where the Devil appeared to his devotees at night. There the conspiracy to murder the King takes shape. Those implicated include one Agnes Sampson, who convinced James of the truth of the allegations, so is said, by repeating the words he had used to Anne on their wedding night.

The trails that follow, which were conducted over a two year period, also touch on the high politics of the day, as Francis Stewart, Earl of Bothwell, James’ mercurial cousin, is implicated in the attempted regicide. The king personally supervises the torture of some of the suspects, and in an act of personal vindictiveness succeeds in having Eupheme MacCalzen burned alive without the ‘mercy’ of strangulation beforehand. Agnes, too, is executed along with several others, after having confessed under the extremes of torture.

But these wretched women had served a clear political purpose: they had proved that the Devil had limited powers, that Bothwell had limited powers, that the witches had limited powers: the king was truly under protection of God.

Of Seers and Wolves

My family have a cottage in Easter Ross, which we visited just about every August when I was growing up, so I acquired over time a detailed insight into the myths and history of much of that part of Scotland, from the Dornoch Firth to Strathspey and Badenoch. Here are two of my favourites.



The Brahan Seer

I touched in a another blog on the case of Mother Shipton, an English wise-woman and prophet. I thought I might complement that with a Scottish tale, that of Coinneach Odhar, the so-called Brahan Seer. He is reputed to have lived in the seventeenth century and been employed by the Mackenzie, Earls of Seaforth, though contemporary evidence is non-existent. He may, and the emphasis is on may, have been the descendant of a man of the same name who lived in the previous century, arrested in 1577 as ‘an enchanter.’

Odhar is remembered, like mother Shipton, for the prophecies he allegedly made, anticipating such things as the Battle of Culloden and the building of the Caledonian Canal. But he seems not to have anticipated his own gruesome demise. Having supposedly offended Lady Seaforth, he found himself arraigned on a charge of witchcraft. Having bn found guilty he was taken to Chanory Point on the Black Isle and there burnt to death in a spiked tar barrel.

The Wolf of Badenoch

Alexander Stewart, Lord of Badenoch and later Earl of Buchan, was one of the younger sons of King Robert II. Because of his fearsome reputation he was destined in pass into history as the Wolf of Badenoch. At no point was this reputation better deserved than in the destruction of Elgin Cathedral.

Alexander had married Eupheme, Countess of Ross, in 1382. But as the marriage proved childless in 1389 he asked for the assistance of the Bishop of Ross in obtaining a divorce. After the Bishop came down on the side of Eupheme, Alexander simply sent her packing, installing Mariota Athyn, his mistress, in her place. He was at once excommunicated and, in response to this, gathered a force of “wild, wykked Heilandmen”, in the words of the contemporary record, sacked the town of Forres, destroyed Pluscarden Abbey, finally arriving in Elgin, where the Cathedral, known as the Lantern of the North, was set alight. A little excessive, don’t you think? :))

Battle Thoughts from Abroad

My boyfriend and I are actually in Edinburgh at the moment-we have been since Saturday-for the International Festival. It’s an exciting place to be at this time of year, with so much to do and to see, lots and lots of shows, too much, really, to take in properly. Edinburgh itself is a lovely city, in my opinion one of the three most beautiful in Britain, along with York and Bath. It’s a bit grimy at the moment (I think there is a local bin strike or a go slow) and-my God-the seagulls, what a racket they make! From our hotel in the centre we can hear them kaa, kaa kaaing right through the night: they never seem to sleep!

What I really wanted to talk about was a piece I caught in the Saturday edition of The Daily Telegraph about the Battle of Culloden. I’m not sure if this appeared nationally or in the Scottish edition only. Anyway, it was a report on plans to offer a better commemoration of those who died on the government side, often described wrongly as either ‘Hanoverians’ or English. Indeed, at the moment all there is to compare with the many clan memorials a rather sad stone on the so-called ‘field of the English.’ So, it’s time to explode a few more myths and recall the brave men, Scots as well as English, who fought and died on that day in April 1746 for King and Country.

Culloden, fought on 16 April 1746 on Drumossie Moor close to Inverness, is usually celebrated as the last major land battle to take place on British soil. In essence it was a struggle for the throne, between those who supported George II and the Hanoverian succession and those who supported the Jacobite pretenders, the descendants of James II, whose grandson, Charles, commanded the rebel troops that day. It was a straightforward dynastic war, though complicated by the fact that the Jacobites had rather cynically attached a Scottish nationalist gloss to their campaign. It is through this glass darkly that a great many Scots still perceive Culloden, as a struggle between themselves and the wicked English, who did the most awful things during and after the battle.

Sorry, I really do not wish to be facetious: the government troops did behave abominably, bayoneting many of the wounded as they lay on the field. But the point is these government troops contained a large number of Lowland Scots, as many as three full regiments, as well as a significant body of anti-Jacobite Highland militia. And if anyone hated the Jacobite Highlanders it was these men, not the English. Some of the worst post-battle atrocities were committed by Scots, in times and in places were they could not be excused by heightened passions. You see, for centuries past, even before the Union of the Crowns, the English-speaking Lowlands had demonstrated an intense dislike of the Gaelic-speaking Highlands. Governments in Edinburgh had even considered what would now be described as forms of genocide or ethnic cleansing.

The other thing some Scots tend to overlook in a view of the past that is both romantic and maudlin is that the crimes committed after the battle were fairly typical of the times. The Highlanders were massacred not because they were Sots but because they were rebels. It’s all very well to damn the memory of Butcher Cumberland but, for the sake of balance, have a look at what the Stuarts did to the English rebels of the West Country after the Battle of Sedgemoor in 1685. It’s time for a more realistic view of the past; time for Scotland to dispense with the myths.

So, that’s it, just some thoughts from 'abroad'. I really hope I haven’t made some fresh Scottish enemies because I really do love the country, its past and its exciting present. And Edinburgh would be so much nicer to live in than London if only it wasn’t for those blasted seagulls!

Freedom for Scotland; Independence for England

I should say, to begin with, that I love Scotland as a country: I even love some of the people! My family has a cottage in Easter Ross in the north of the country, and we went there just about every August when I was growing up. There was so much that I absorbed, so much of the history, the culture and the folklore of the place; tales of seers, and of witches; of heroes and of villains: people like Alexander Stewart, the wonderfully named Wolf of Badenoch.

I imagine that most English people really don’t know all that much about our closest neighbour and oldest partner. Well, let me begin by saying that if it wasn’t for England Scotland would not exist. Yes, I can hear those Caledonian roars! What exactly do I mean? Just this: it was medieval English aggression, most forcefully expressed during the reign of Edward I, the anti-hero of that awful Braveheart movie, which began the process of forging a specific Scottish identity, something that hardly existed before the thirteenth century.

Ever since that time the Scots have continued to define themselves less by what they are than what they are not: and what they most assuredly are not is English. But they need us, oh my goodness how they need us, and not just as a source of subsidy. For, you see, the aforesaid Scottish identity also contains a deep mood of inferiority, almost of helplessness. I simply don’t believe that the Scots will ever take that final step and break with the Union. They need us to do it for them. Let me explain.

Scotland now has its own parliament; it has for some years now. It even has an administration headed by the Scottish National Party (SNP), dedicated to something called ‘Independence in Europe’. Independence in Europe-is that not a wonderful contradiction, casting off London to embrace Brussels?! This administration is also committed to holding a referendum on the question of independence, though it seems doubtful that it will be able to press the point for the present, given that it does not hold a majority of seats and given the opposition of the other parties.

But even if there was a referendum I do not believe that the majority of Scots would vote in favour because they would then be left to face themselves; and, as I have already said, Scotland has depended too long on England for its sense of what it is and where it stands. Scotland will remain in the house, almost like an unruly and surly teenager. So, there is no other way: England has to declare independence; England has to throw the cuckoo from the nest.

Personally I would be sorry to see the end of Britain because I believe the whole has been so much greater than the sum of its parts. But think of the benefit for both nations. The Scots would at last be able to find a true identity, not one that is simply anti-English. They would, one hopes, bit by bit loose that deeply ingrained sense of national inferiority. They would have to live on their own resources-and subsidies from Brussels. They can do this, at least the SNP believes so; and who am I to argue with that?

For England it would mean that our tax subsidies would no longer flow north. Our resources would be just that-our resources. There would no longer be a danger of a Labour administration propped up in the south by votes from the north. We would no longer have the invidious situation whereby Scottish MPs can vote on English domestic policy, whereas English MPs have no say whatsoever on that of Scotland. The situation as it stands is quite intolerable. Oh, yes, we could also send Joker Brown and Eyebrows Alistair back home, where I feel sure they will make a welcome contribution to the affairs of their native land. Indeed, is there any better argument than that for English independence?

Yes, lets part as friends: freedom for Scotland and independence for England.

Falkirk v Aberdeen Bagpipes

Falkirk v Aberdeen

Listen to the half-time entertainment at Falkirk

Scotland the Brave was part of the half time entertainment as Falkirk faced Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup at the weekend.



The match ended in a 2-2 draw and was watched by 5,700 spectators at the still under-construction Falkirk Community Stadium.



Sounds & Images by Ross Clegg



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A Kingdom United in hope and grief

Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson will tell you otherwise, but it if anyone in the UK thought club international football was no longer the best, they only needed to follow this weekend's relevant Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The fact remains no one club's Champions League success can inspire a country like their national team can on the edge of glory.

After a week of nationalistic hyperbole at the prospect of making the finals ahead of the Sassenachs (their derogatory term for the English), Scotland failed heroically by losing 2-1 at home to Italy and will stay on the Eurostar platform, while England advanced to within a point of qualification without playing a game, thanks to Russia's equally calamitous 2-1 loss to Israel.

You can have all the confidence in the world but that's not enough if you don't have the quality was the painful lesson of the Scots' narrow loss to the Italians in Glasgow.

The gods had done their best to help the home team, chilling the air and opening the heavens to welcome the Azzurri to a Hampden Park that recalled the glorious days of the 'Hampden Roar', when the national stadium was Europe's largest.

But the world champions showed their class by grabbing the game by the neck with a second-minute strike from Luca Toni, and then having weathered the inevitable Scottish storm and equalizer, they stole their hosts' thunder by snatching a last-gasp winner through Christian Panucci.

For England, their late late goal was scored by Israel's Omer Golan in Tel Aviv, but was cheered up and down the land as if it had been struck by Wayne Rooney himself, awarding the little-known Maccabi Petah Tikva striker cult status in the home of football.

Three Lions boss Steve McClaren must have felt like Mark Twain reading his own obituary this week in every newspaper, only to prove reports of death had been greatly exaggerated. Few entertained the possibility of Russia falling short in Israel but with only a point to gain at home to already-qualified Croatia on Wednesday, McClaren has had the last laugh and forced Fleet Street's hacks to file away their epitaphs for another day.

Scotland are still the brave in most people's eyes, but time was when the Scots were shoe-ins for international tournaments and Hampden one of the most feared venues in UEFA. Their near miss in 2007, thanks to a superb team ethic, should not disguise the fact the Scots are still a long way short of their sides of yesteryear and have a lot of catching up to do.

For England the picture is no brighter in reality. The zeitgeist is gloomy in fact. Complaints about the high numbers of overseas players in England grow louder by the hour with more famous players and coaches adding their names to calls for a re-Anglicisation of the national sport.

While laments about the lack of home-grown talent increase, one can't help thinking this was the same crop of players that was called England's 'golden generation' last summer.

There are three other nations in these islands of course, none of whom have much to cheer about either.

The Republic of Ireland and Wales played out a 2-2 draw in Cardiff knowing they had both already been eliminated from UEFA 2008, and while Northern Ireland overcame Denmark 2-1 in Belfast in appalling weather, their qualification for Austria and Switzerland hangs on the unlikely scenario of them winning in Spain and Latvia winning in Sweden on Wednesday.

England look like scraping through to the finals now, but the cradle of the game, the British Isles, is inescapably one of UEFA's weaker regions in 2007.

Beyond these shores, notable mentions must go to Croatia, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, who all booked their tickets to Euro 2008 on Saturday. The Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Romania will be there too.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile


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Euro 2008 qualifiers: Gloom for Scotland and England

European championship qualifiers

Rumania, Greece and Czechia through;
disasters for England, Scotland and Turkey

A blind referee, Gerrard's glaring miss, Hiddink's magic, Terry's injury: so many adverse factors conspired to push England on the brink of elimination in Moscow. How terrible: Rooney, who had finally reencountered his scoring touch, tugged at Zhiryanov's shirt just in front of England penalty area, but the ref, strolling at a significant distance from the action, thought the foul was inside the area.
Now England do not depend on themselves: they depend on Israel holding Russia or Macedonia beating Croatia on November 17th. One of the two results must go England's way for the final game against Croatia at Wembley to count for anything.

Option no. 1: Russia fail to win in Israel

Are there any real chances of that happening? Well, yes, but they are slight. Israel's coach Dror Kashtan has just extended his contract until 2010 thanks to what the Israelis see as a good showing of the national team. Kashtan already started to rejuvenate his squad and a team with six debutants did quite well losing 1-0 in Zagreb. Croatia only created two more chances which proves Israel still have their own pride to defend. A draw with Russia in Tel Aviv is not impossible. After all, Israel did not even lose in Moscow in their first encounter 14 months ago.

Option no. 2.: Croatia lose in Macedonia

And Macedonia could pull it off against Croatia because we are talking about the Balkans rivalry. The Macedonians have largely underperformed in the current qualifiers, but they played best against the best: they drew 0-0 away to England and lost in Zagreb 2-1 with a late goal from Eduardo da Silva. It is true that Croatia have not lost a qualifying game in the past 50 months, never a single match against another team from the former Yugoslavia and not one game since Slaven Bilic took over. But, a defeat will come sooner or later.

Should Russia fail to win in Tel Aviv, England would have to beat Croatia by any margin, which would be made easier since the Croats would already have qualified at the Russian expense. In the latter case, that is if Russia win and Croatia lose in Macedonia, England would have to win their last game by 2-0 or by three goals because they had lost in Zagreb by 0-2. The away goals would count just as they do in the UEFA's club competitions so a 3-1 win would not see Steve McClaren's squad through; 2-0 would suffice, though, because England would have a superior overall goals difference.

Scotland's case is certainly more ridiculous than England's. McClaren's side at least lost to a known soccer power coached by a superior coach. McLeish's boys were capable of beating France twice, but they got beaten fair and square by an unimpressive Georgia; still, Scotland at least depend on themselves, the only British side to have that privilege. A win over Italy in Glasgow would guarantee a place over the Azzurri in the final standings. A draw could only be enough should France fail to win in Ukraine, which would also fall within the footballing logic.

Ironically, even Northern Ireland still have a chance of qualifying. For that they must defeat Denmark at home and Spain away, but at least one other score would have to be favourable to them. Either Spain would have to lose to Sweden at home (and Sweden are not certain yet!), or the Swedes would have to lose both their remaining games. A very long shot, longer even than Nayim's against David Seaman in 1995's Cup Winners' Cup finals.

Of the big teams, Turkey have commited a double-suicide by drawing away to Moldova and losing at home to Greece. Now the Greeks will be in Austria and Switzerland to defend their crown, but Turkey will have to beat Norway away; a mere glance at the form of both teams suggests that the Scandinavians are huge favourites to qualify.

Czechia have also made sure of their place in the final stage, perhaps even the top spot, as they thrashed Germany by 3-0 creating a better head-to-head record with respect to their hosts who have, incidentally, also qualified thanks to a draw in Dublin.

Finally, Romania have also qualified by beating Holland and Luxembourg in the space of four days, while Bulgaria have virtually bid goodbye after being incapable of overcoming Albania in Tirana.

Portugal look good in the Group A since six points from the two remaining home games would see them through, while Poland have a tougher task when their entertain Belgium and travel to Belgrade to meet Serbia, also with an outside chance of making it to the final stage.

Copyright Soccerphile/Ozren Podnar

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European Championship Qualifiers Preview

Euro 2008 Qualification Prospects

Will Scotland miss out on yet another finals?

Natjecanje u kvalifikacijama započinje 2. rujna ove godine. Iz svake skupine dvije prvoplasirane putuju u Austriju i Švicarsku. Obje zemlje domaćini automatski su uključene u završnicu.

Skupina A

Portugal
Poljska
Srbija i Crna gora
Belgija
Finska
Armenija
Azerbajdžan
Kazahstan

Jaka skupina s četiri momčadi koje mogu na Euro. Poslastica će biti i "derbiji začelja", dvoboji kavkaskih neprijatelja Armenaca i Azerbajdžanaca. Ovi potonji su Srbiji i Crnoj gori uzeli četiri od šest bodova u kvalifikacijama za Portugal 2004., pa je srpski tv-komentator na vijest da će opet igrati s Azerbajdžancima kliknuo: "Kud, bre, opet ovi!"

Skupina B

Francuska
Italija
Ukrajina
Škotska
Litva
Gruzija
Farski otoci

Jadna će Škotska preskočiti još jedno prvenstvo. Francuska i Italija veliki su favoriti, mada su naše simpatije s Ukrajincima. Prevelik je ulog u igri da bi bilo Francuska bilo Italija kiksali.

Skupina C

Grčka
Turska
Norveška
Bosna i Hercegovina
Mađarska
Moldavija
Malta

Najizjednačenija skupina, jedina iz koje se pet momčadi smije nadati plasmanu. Da, i naši pobratimi Mađari. Možda je Turska za nijansu iznad ostalih, dok su Grčka i Norveška podjednake. Zaboravimo da su Grci europski prvaci, ove će kvalifikacije biti sasvim druga pjesma.

Skupina C

Češka
Njemačka
Slovačka
Irska
Wales
Cipar
San Marino

Češka i Slovačka, bratske reprezentacije, teško će se zajedno plasirati u završnicu. No, jedna od njih bi to mogla učiniti, vjerojatnije Češka. Njemačka nikada ne posrće u kvalifikacijama, čak ni kad igra ispod svake kritike.

Skupina E

Engleska
Hrvatska
Rusija
Izrael
Estonija
Makedonija
Andora

Engleska je najjača, nema dvojbe. Jasno je i da će Rusija biti naš najžešći rival za drugo mjesto, dok je Izrael nagazna mina u grupi. Opasne Hrvatskoj mogu biti i Estonija i Makedonija, ne u smislu da će se plasirati iznad nje, nego da joj mogu otkinuti koji bod, kao što su već činile.

Skupina F

Švedska
Španjolska
Danska
Latvija
Island
Sjeverna Irska
Lihtenštajn

Neugodna skupina. Španjolska bi mogla, prvi puta nakon 1992., ostati bez nastupa u završnici. Švedska i Danska oduvijek se dobro razumiju a najbolje će im odgovarati po jedna pobjeda, umjesto dva neriješena.

Skupina G

Nizozemska
Rumunjska
Bugarska
Slovenija
Albanija
Bjelorusija
Luksemburg

Slovenija vjeruje da može dalje kao druga, iza Nizozemske. Međutim, odlučujući će dvoboj za to drugo mjesto biti između Bugarske i Rumunjske. I Albanija i Bjelorusija mogu nekome uzeti važne bodove.

Copyright Soccerphile/Zri Sport

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