The Witches of Fife: Witch-hunting in a Scottish Shire, 1560-1710 [Paperback]

Stuart Macdonald (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2002

Along the coast of Fife, in villages like Culross and Pittenweem, historical markers and pamphlets now include the fact that some women were executed as witches within these burghs. Still the reality of what happened the night that Janet Cornfoot was lynched in the harbour is hard to grasp as one sits in the harbour of Pittenweem watching the fishing boats unload their catch and the pleasure boats rising with the tide. How could people do this to an old woman? Why was no-one ever brought to justice? And why would anyone defend such a lynching? The task of the historian is to try to make events in the past come alive and seem less strange. This is particularly true in the case of the historian dealing with the witch-hunt. The details are fascinating. Some of the anecdotes are strange. The modern reader finds it hard to imagine illness being blamed on the malevolence of a beggar woman denied charity. It is difficult to understand the economic failure of a sea voyage being attributed to the village hag, not bad weather. Witch-hunting was related to ideas, values, attitudes and political events. It was a complicated process, involving religious and civil authorities, village tensions and the fears of the elite. The witch-hunt in Scotland also took place at a time when one of the main agendas was the creation of a righteous or godly society. As a result, religious authorities had control over aspects of the lives of the people which seem every bit as strange to us today as might any beliefs about magic or witchcraft. That the witch-hunt in Scotland, and specifically in Fife, should have happened at this time was not accidental. This book tells the story of what occurred over a period of a century and a half, and offers some explanation as to why it occurred.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stuart Macdonald teaches at Knox College, Toronto, Canada.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Tuckwell Press, Ltd.; First Edition edition (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862321469
• ISBN-13: 978-1862321465
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,363,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars "The Witches of Fife", January 28, 2004

By 

unterberger barbara (Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witches of Fife: Witch-hunting in a Scottish Shire, 1560-1710 (Paperback)

Stuart Macdonald's book is full of information about the the witch-hunting in the Scottish Shire Fife. The witch-hunt, which is described in such a detailed way in this book, is a fascinating topic and by studying it we gain a greater understanding of the nature of society in Scotland in the period from 1560 to 1710.
Stuart Macdonald allows his readers a view on such different areas as village life, the legal system and - of course - the activity of the church.

Furthermore, "The witches of Fife" gives an insight on how factors like gender and social status were evident in the accusations of witchcraft in Fife. Every presbytery of Fife is discussed in a separate chapter and there is also an informative chapter which deals with the comparison of Scottish and European witches.

Macdonald also stresses what impact the fears of the elite and the tensions within the villages had. A whole chapter refers to the witches of Fife in which a lot of noticeable case studies can be found. In this chapter the author did a really good job in research, because the cases are presented in a very detailed way.

Although the book is both fascinating and complex, it's stories tend to end quite frustrating, because of missing data a lot of key questions cannot be answered. Appendics and footnotes of each chapter give further references and even more informations can be found in several charts and maps. This gives the book a very scientific touch.

All in all, "The Witches of Fife" allows the reader to explore all the aspects of witch-hunt in a Scottish Shire in a detailed way with a lot of background information. If the reader is a scholar with an academic interest in this specific topic, he will be satisfied after reading this book. But, if one just wants to be informed about witchcraft in general, this information-packed book might also be a bit boring in some chapters.

3.0 out of 5 stars a very detailed account, January 5, 2004

By 

Martina (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Witches of Fife: Witch-hunting in a Scottish Shire, 1560-1710 (Paperback)

This non-fiction book, which is about a dark period in the history of Scotland, sheds light upon the hunting of witches in the shire of Fife.

In the opening chapter, the author gives general information on witch-hunts, therefore he introduces the reader to this topic. After this very brief overview, MacDonald begins to discuss the controversial history of witch-hunts concerning Scotland, and, in particular, the shire of Fife.

These introductory chapters are well written because even readers without prior knowledge can follow without problems. Maps and charts illustrate MacDonald's explanations and remarks and make them more easily comprehensible.

The subsequent chapters concern the four presbyteries of Fife. These chapters are very detailed; a lot of names and dates are mentioned, which might often be confusing. Individual stories of women and men are explained in great detail, and if you just want to get a basic knowledge about witch-hunting in Fife, this might not interest but rather bore you.

In the last part of his book, MacDonald turns again to a general explanation concerning different aspects of witch-hunts in Fife. Like the introductory chapters, this part of the book is well written and interesting.

The appendices as well as the footnotes of each chapter give even more detailed information and point out further references.
From my point of view, this book is often written in a dry and scientific manner. The maps and charts are well done, but with more illustrations the reader could imagine this part of the history of Fife more lively. When reading a book about history, the reader should feel as if he/she were back in past times - MacDonald does not achieve this.

Also non-native speakers of English are able to read this book if they have above-average reading and comprehension skills. A disadvantage to these readers might be that some quotations with which MacDonald provides the reader are in Scottish. However, this also adds a great deal of authenticity to the stories told.

On the one hand, the introductory and closing chapters are very well written and interesting if you want to get a general idea of witch-hunts in Scotland. However, the chapters in the middle of the book offer too many details and you might start losing interest in the matter.
On the other hand, if you are particularly looking for a book which offers great details on the witch-hunt of Fife, this book is for you. If you read this book for academic purposes, for example, it will be a great help to you.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars facts, facts, facts, February 1, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Witches of Fife: Witch-hunting in a Scottish Shire, 1560-1710 (Paperback)

The author tries to explain the various factors that lead to the horrible events of the witch-hunting. He also examines the role of the church and the clergy in these events and in how far they were involved in the witch-hunting. Quite remarkable is the fact that those accused of witchcraft were mainly women which made witch-hunting equivalent to women-hunting.

The book itself has a clear structure with four of the eleven chapters dealing with one of the four Presbyteries of Fife each. It contains several maps, graphs and tables as well as a comprehensive bibliography.

The whole book is written from a historian's perspective and the blurb claims that it wants to "make events in the past come alive". To make it short, in my opinion, this did not really work out, at least for me. One has to be really interested in the topic to enjoy reading it, but for those who are, this book offers all the details one ever wanted to know about the witch-hunting in Fife.