This pioneering collection concentrates on witchcraft beliefs rather than witch-hunting. It ranges widely across areas of popular belief, culture and ritual practice, as well as dealing with intellectual life and incorporating regional and comparative elements.

'This is an excellent collection of academic essays on various aspects of early modern Scottish witchcraft...Highly recommended as a serious research book for anyone who is interested in historical witch beliefs and practices in Scotland.' - The Cauldron

Shortlisted for the 2008 Katharine Briggs Folklore Award

Autorentext
HUGH CHEAPE Head of the Scottish Material Culture Research Centre, National Museums Scotland, UK EDWARD J. COWAN Professor of Scottish History, the University of Glasgow, UK OWEN DAVIES Reader in Social History, the University of Hertfordshire, UK JULIAN GOODARE Reader in Scottish History, the University of Edinburgh, UK LIZANNE HENDERSON Lecturer in History, the University of Glasgow Crichton Campus, Dumfries, UK BRIAN P. LEVACK John Green Regents Professor of History, University of Texas at Austin, USA LAUREN MARTIN PhD Graduate in Anthropology, New School University, New York, USA JOYCE MILLER Researcher and part-time lecturer, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Stirling, UK MICHAEL WASSER Lecturer at Dawson College and at McGill and Concordia Universities in Montreal, Canada

Inhalt
Introduction; J.Goodare & J.Miller Scottish Witchcraft in its European Context; J.Goodare Some Findings from the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft; L.Martin & J.Miller Witch Persecution and Popular Belief in Lowland Scotland: the Devil's Decade; E.J.Cowan Witch Hunting and Witch Belief in the Gàidhealtachd; L.Henderson Scottish Witchcraft Panics Re-examined; L.Martin Men in Black: Appearances of the Devil in Early Modern Scottish Witchcraft Discourse; J.Miller Demonic Possession in Early Modern Scotland; B.P.Levack A Comparative Perspective on Scottish Cunning-Folk and Charmers; O.Davies The Mechanical World-View and the Decline of Witch-Beliefs in Scotland; M.Wasser 'Charms against Witchcraft': Magic and Mischief in Museum Collections; H.Cheape Further Reading