Kevin Nosferatu: Dr John Fian

I took a cycle out to Tranent in East Lothian and stopped off along Dovecot Brae, by a crumbling, old building that is now virtually hidden amongst trees and undergrowth. If it weren’t for the stairs leading up from the road, it would be easy to go right past this place and not even notice it was there. At first this building, Tranent Doocot, appears to have no great importance or relevance, but there is a dark history associated with the man who ordered its construction.

Stairs leading up to Tranent Doocot, which is almost hidden in the deep green of trees and undergrowth. Photograph by Kevin Nosferatu for The Skulferatu Project.

Stairs leading up to Tranent Doocot, which is almost hidden in trees and undergrowth

Tranent Doocot – almost hidden in trees and undergrowth

According to J Sands in his book published in 1881 'Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Times', Tranent Doocot used to bear the name of David Setoun and the date 1587. In the present day, this inscription is completely illegible, which is not a bad thing given that David Setoun or Seton, as he is now known, was one of the main instigators in starting what later became known as the North Berwick Witch Trials.

Entrance to Tranent Doocot

Pigeonholes inside the doocot for the birds to nest in.

David Seton was the Deputy Bailiff in Tranent to Lord Seton and to make things nice and confusing David Seton also had a son called David. In various descriptions of him, David Seton Snr appears to be a mean spirited, suspicious man who believed that his woes and financial difficulties were caused by others committing ungodly acts against him. He, and his family resided in Tranent in a house that was commonly known as the Royal George, and in their employment was a maid servant called Geillis Duncan. Duncan is believed to have been in her early to mid-teens when employed by Seton and is described as being '...young and comely, and distinguished for her readiness to attend the sick and infirm, and for her wonderful skill in curing diseases.'

In November 1590 David Seton became suspicious of Duncan’s growing reputation as a healer and became convinced that witchcraft must be involved. He then questioned her about this, and she denied the accusations. Not satisfied with this Seton gathered together some associates and together they tortured Duncan. First, they used an item called the 'pilliwinks' on her, or what we would today call thumbscrews. These crushed the thumbs and caused great pain. However, despite this Duncan would not confess. Seton and his associates then bound and wrenched her head with a rope to cause her extreme agony, but still, she would confess nothing. They then stripped and shaved her and examined her body for the mark of the Devil, as it was believed that those in the service of Satan had a mark put upon them that was insensible to pain and did not bleed when pricked. On 'finding' this mark on Duncan's neck Seton and his cronies stated that she then admitted that her looking after the sick had been done at the suggestion of the Devil and that her curing of disease was done by witchcraft. She went on to name thirty accomplices. Duncan, and all those she had named, were then imprisoned.

Terrified, tormented and tortured those imprisoned soon confessed to a multitude of bizarre crimes including attempting to bring about the death of King James VI. The strange and wonderful story that emerged was that the coven of witches met in the house of Barbara Napier in Edinburgh. Napier was a member of Edinburgh high society and was Lady-in-Waiting to the Countess of Angus. She had fallen out with the Countess and had then supposedly brought about the death of the Earl of Angus through the use of witchcraft. As well as meeting at Napier’s house, there had been a meeting of around two hundred witches at Acheson's Haven (now Morrison's Haven, Prestongrange) and later another meeting at the Kirk of North Berwick. The Devil presided over these gatherings and Dr John Fian, a schoolteacher from Prestonpans, acted as the secretary. The coven had met to devise a plan to destroy the ship that carried the newly married King James and his wife Anne from Denmark to Leith. At one of these meetings another member of Edinburgh high society, Euphame MacCalzean, handed a waxen image of King James to the Devil and hinted that the Earl of Bothwell, with whom she was closely connected, would be the new king.

After the meeting at North Berwick a group of witches and wizards set sail in sieves to meet the Royal ship. During their voyage they boarded a passing ship and after helping themselves to food and drink, sunk it. They then carried on with their voyage and on sighting the Royal ship the Devil handed a cat, that had earlier been baptised, to Dr Fian and ordered him to throw it into the sea and cry 'Halo!' On his doing this a tremendous storm arose and being convinced that nothing but a miracle could save the Royal ship from destruction, the Devil and all those gathered returned to North Berwick. There they marched with their sieves in their hands to the Kirk. Geillis Duncan led the procession playing a quick step on the Jews Harp. At the Kirk they all entered, and the Devil preached a sermon to them from the pulpit. He asked all those assembled to do all the evil in their power and that if they did so, they'd be handsomely rewarded. He then bent over the pulpit and asked those assembled to kiss his buttocks as a token of their allegiance. They all did so before making their way out into the churchyard where they feasted on the dead and were given parts of human bodies by the Devil as powerful charms. Geillis Duncan then played a reel on the Jews Harp called - 'Cummer, go ye before Cummer, go ye.'

All those seized and accused of witchcraft were tortured horribly to make them confess to their roles in the plot. Dr Fian, the alleged secretary to the Devil and cat thrower, had his legs crushed in the 'bootikens' until 'the blood and marrow spouted out'. His fingernails were then pulled out and pins pushed into his fingers, however unlike many of the others, he refused to confess to anything.

King James took a keen interest in all the proceedings of these witch trials, as he fully believed that an attempt had been made on his life by Satan and his little helpers. Though why Satan would be interested in the King of a small, poor country at the arse end of Europe is anyone's guess. You would have thought that given the chaos that would later be caused by King James' son Charles, that the Devil would have been only too keen to keep James and his offspring on the throne. Though maybe, unlike God, the Devil does not reside outside of time and is therefore unaware of what is to come. Anyway, getting back to the story - King James attended to see the witnesses examined and put to torture and also had Geillis Duncan brought to Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh. There he had her play the reel on the Jews Harp that she had played for the Devil and all the assembled witches and wizards at North Berwick.

Various trials then took place and on 26 December 1590 John Fian was tried and found guilty of numerous charges including being involved in the plot against King James. He was sentenced to death and it appears that he may have been taken to Castle Hill and strangled and burned there later on the same day.

Barbara Napier was tried and found guilty of consulting with witches and was sentenced to death. On 10 May 1591 she was taken to Castle Hill, Edinburgh where she was bound to a stake to be strangled and burned. However, she claimed to be pregnant and was given a stay of execution. It is unclear what then happened to her.

Euphame MacCalzean was found guilty of being a witch and consulting with witches. She was sentenced to death, though cruelly and unusually was sentenced to death by being burned alive. The sentence was carried out on Castle Hill on the 25 June 1591.

No trial records have ever been recovered for Geillis Duncan. However, she was convicted of witchcraft and was executed on 4 December 1591 at Castle Hill in Edinburgh, presumably like the others by being strangled and then burned to ashes. She was executed along with Bessie Thomson, another woman convicted of witchcraft, and both recanted their confessions prior to execution. On being asked why she had confessed and named others such as Barbara Napier and Euphame MacCalzean in her confessions Duncan stated that she had been made to by the two David Setons in Tranent and others, but that it was all lies and for this she begged God's forgiveness.

Many of those named by Duncan went on to name others involved in the so called plot against the King, and by 1593 over 70 people had been implicated and many had been executed. Now, I may be being very cynical about the reasons for many of these people being accused, as I am aware that there were many religious, political, and socio-economic things going on at this time. However, it is very interesting to note that Dr John Fian had been in a long running dispute with David Seton, while Euphame MacCalzean was Seton’s sister-in-law. Seton was angry with her, as she had inherited money from a relative that he thought should have been bequeathed to him. So, at the very least Seton would appear to be guilty of capitalising on a situation, he had started, for revenge against enemies, perceived and real.

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Tranent Doocot stands near to Tranent Old Parish Church and was built to house 1122 pairs of pigeons. The pigeons were a good supply of fresh meat for the local population, who would take the young pigeons, as their meat was the most tender and juicy. The building has been partially restored but is again in a state of disrepair. I'm glad that the name of David Seton has faded from this building, as it is a name that deserves to be forgotten. Instead let us remember the names of those who died in an age of paranoia, religious intolerance, and political intrigue.

Tranent Old Parish Church with Doocot on right hand side

I left a Skulferatu here for Geillis Duncan and all the others who were persecuted and murdered for imaginary crimes created in the overactive imaginations of jealous or malicious peers and a paranoid ruling class.