Series 5 > Miscellany [of the Scottish History Society] XIII

TRIAL OF GEILLIS JOHNSTONE, 1614
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Parkyns,1 and that part of Prosperus2quhair he wrytis de delictis et poenis.3
And quhair it is allegit in the first article of the dittay that the panned
upone malice consivet aganis hir servand come to the kill4 the samyn to
haif bene David Baimefather’s, hir servand’s shoe, quhilk was offerit be
hir with thre dropis of hir blood to the Devill, quhairupon the death of her
sone followit, etc.: that [[pairt thairof]] article is nawayis relevant except
it war condiscendit thairin quhat war the wordis of invocationes uset be
hir et quibus mediis5 the conjurationes and offering war maid and quhat
the forme of the diseas was that was laid upone hir sone quhilk is nocht
set in the dittay. Nather is it condiscendit thairin [[the dittay]] quhat
answer was gevin be the Devill eftir the words of invocation and how the
seiknes was laid upon hir sone quhairof he deceissit et quibus mediis,
without the quhilkis war speciallie condiscendit upone, the first article of
the said dittay is nocht relevant and consequentlie can nocht pass to ane
assize.
It is answerit thairto be the persewar that the definition maid be Bodyn of
witchcraft, citet be the panned, is onlie philosophical! ressoning thairupon
and sould nocht be respectit in this caice, seing the dittay bearis that the
panned, being offendit with her servand, consivet ane evil! will aganis
him, and for revenge of the adegit wrang done be him to hir, put the
witchcraft in practiye [as] contenit in the dittay. In respect quhairof,
[[the]] and of the dittay relevantlie sett doun, the said first article sould be
put to the knawlege of ane assyse. And as to the cleir definition of
witchcraft, quhat it is, citet de moderius resolutions6 thairupon.
The Lordis findis the first article relevant conjunctim,7 and remittis the
1 William Perkins, 1558-1602, an important English Calvinist and writer. The reference is
to his book, A Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft. For more information on
Bodin and Perkins, see S. Clarke, Thinking With Demons: the Idea of Witchcraft in
Early Modem Europe (Oxford, 1997) and S. Anglo (ed.). The Damned Art: Essays in
the Literature of Witchcraft (London, 1977).
2 This is apparently a reference to Prospero Farinacci, 1554-1618, an Italian legal theorist
and lawyer whose works on criminal law were widely available at this time. It is almost
certainly from his Praxis et Theoricae Criminalis Libri Duo in Quinque. Titulos
Distributi Quorum Prior Inquisitionis: Accusationis: Delictorum: Poenarum: Carcerum
et Carceratorum Materiam... Frankfurt 1597; see Book I, Title III, ‘De Delictis et
Poenis’, 286-91.
3 of crime and punishment
4 kill—a kiln
5 and by which ways
6 Joost de Damhoudere [lodocus Damhouderius] Praxis Rerum Criminalium, 1st edition,
Antwerp, 1554. The pursuers were not using such modem authorities as the defence.
7 conjunctly