Christian Caldwell
Christian Caldwell aka John Dickson | |
|---|---|
| Citizenship | Scottish |
| Years active | 1660s |
| Known for | Witch-hunter |
Christian Caldwell (Caddell) was a cross-dressing witch-hunter active in Morayshire, Scotland during the 1660s.
Biography
[edit]Caldwell signed a contract with the shire of Moray (Elgin) under her alias John Dickson, .[1] Her true identity is unknown but as witch-pricking was a trade for men she disguised herself as a man to pursue her career.
Witch-pricking
[edit]Caldwell formed her first contract with the Baillie of Spynie, John Innes, and was granted to live in the shire for one year and in turn would identify witches for a salary of 6 shillings a day.[2] A practice for her identification of witches was testing for the devil's mark:
"[A] spot on the body where a pin could be slipped in without bleeding or pain".[1]
Isobel Gowdie, a Scottish woman who confessed to witchcraft at Auldearn near Nairn during 1662, might have been one of her victims.[1] The practice involved stripping and shaving the victim completely and pushing the pin in repeatedly until the right spot was found.
Accusations and sentence
[edit]In Tain she wrongly accused John Hay, an influential court messenger who ordered her arrest.[1] Dickson was accused of witchcraft and interrogated in Edinburgh on 30 August 1662 on the basis of "false accusation, torture, and causing death of innocent people in Moray".[2] Her true gender was discovered. She was banished to a fever-subjected plantation in Barbados on 4 May 1663, the day her last victim was burnt in Forres.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Yeoman, Louise (18 November 2012). "The woman who became a witch-pricker". BBC News. Retrieved 17 July 2018.
- ^ a b Ewan, Elizabeth; Innes, Sue; Reynolds, Sian, eds. (2006). The biographical dictionary of Scottish women : from the earliest times to 2004. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 9780748626601. OCLC 367680960.