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

264
MISCELLANY XIII
[fo. 26r.]1 whereby also be the lawis both of God and this realme ye
deserve death, and to injoy him the more friely ye conceaved a devillish
and abhominable malice and hatred against the said Johne, your lawfull
husband, and resolved be any meanes to dispatch him and to that effect,
ye consulted with the devill how ye might get the same easiliest
effectual. Quha adviset and consellet yow to mak a drink of foxtrie
leives and sum uther divillish ingredientis best known to yow and him,
the composeris therof, and gave it to the said umquhill Johne quhilk
devillish counsell and advyse ye did malitiously obey, and composed
the drink and gave it to your umquhill husband, quho within three
houris efter he had drunken it, died be the same devillish and venemous
drink, and this ye did for no uther caus nor occasion offered unto your
said husband, but onlie becaus he was aged and was ane impediment to
your free enjoying of your present husband, who then dwelt in Wynram
(or Mynram) neir by the part where your umquhill husband and ye
dwelt, quhilk ye have already confessit and cannot deny.
Siklyk ye are indyttit and accused for the cruel and abhominable and
ungodlie and unnatural murder and dounputting of your umquhill
daughter Elizabeth Johnstoun, procreat bewteen yow and the said
William in the forsaid adulterous marriage, and of ane young infant in
hir wombe for the said Elizabeth, being as ye confessit with child
(whom to few bot yourself knawis naither will ye reveill the truth of it),
and appearandlie loath to let it be known to quhom the child belongit,
scho and ye socht all meanes to kill to murther the child in hir bellie,
that it micht not come to licht quho was the father therof, or how it was
gotten quhidder in adulterie or incest, or quhat uther unlawfull way and
to that effect ye consultit with divers of your confederatis anent fra
quhom, ye gat sundrie feall counsellis and be advyse, administrat feall
drinks to your dochter but these not doing your tume and all uther
menaes failling yow, ye ged to your old maister the devill and consulted
and advysed with him how to get the samen effectual, whom being as
cruelly and malitiously set as yourself gave yow advyse to buy ane
mulching of quhyt wyne, and mix a pint therof with salt and minster the
same unto your dochter, and it would do your tume. Quhilk cruell and
divillish counsell ye willinglie obeyit and fetcht the wyne mixt with the
same with salt and gave it to your dochter to drink. By quhilk scho
presentlie swelled and schortlie therefter both scho and the child died. In
The foliation here jumps to fo. 26. There is a note claiming that fo. 25 is missing but
the text follows on without interruption, so the clerk must have misnumbered the
folios.