Skulferatu #34 - Tranent Doocot, Dovecot Brae, Tranent, East Lothian

 

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 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.
 
 
*           *           *
 
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.

 

Skulferatu #34

 

Skulferatu #34 in hollow of wall at Tranent Doocot

 

Skulferatu #34 in hollow of wall at Tranent Doocot

 

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #34

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are –

 

Latitude 55.950036

Longitude -2.957936

 

I used the following sources for the tale of Geillis Duncan -

 

Witchcraft in Early Modern Scotland

edited by Lawrence Normand and Gareth Roberts (2000)

 

Sketches of Tranent in the Olden Times

by J Sands (1881)

Available digitally at https://electricscotland.com/history/tranent/chapter03.htm

 

Tranent and its Surroundings

by P McNeill (1884)

https://archive.org/details/tranentitssurrou02mnei/mode/2up

 

Geillis Duncan, Witch

https://engole.info/geillis-duncan-witch/

 

Wikipedia - Morrison's Haven

Morrison's Haven - Wikipedia

 

 

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise stated.

Skulferatu #18 - The Site of Major Thomas Weir's House, Victoria Terrace, Edinburgh

 

On a cold, damp, and dreich day I trudged around the empty streets of Edinburgh’s old town.  Well, when I say empty, what I mean is there was hardly anyone else out walking the streets, but there were workmen everywhere.  At the moment every second building seems to be shrouded in scaffolding and protective sheets of polythene.  When the Covid is over it looks like we’re going to have a shiny, newly refurbished city to run around in. 

 

So anyway, today I walked up the Canongate into the High Street and onto the Lawnmarket where I turned into Riddles Court.  This place is one of the architectural gems of old Edinburgh, however I wasn’t here to see quaint old buildings, but rather the dull back wall of the Quaker Meeting House.  A dull back wall steeped in the history of a notorious figure in Edinburgh- Major Thomas Weir.  His is a story of hypocrisy, cruelty, bigotry, sexual depravity, and supposedly black magic and pacts with the Devil.

 

Entrance into Riddle’s Court, Edinburgh

 

Riddle’s Court – the lower building in background is reputed to be the remains of Major Weirs House.

 

Thomas Weir was born in 1599 in Lanarkshire.  He was the son of Thomas Weir, the Laird of Kirkton and his wife, Lady Jean Somerville.  His mother was reputed to have clairvoyant powers and was said to have taught her son the art of sorcery.  As a young man, Thomas joined the Scottish Army and in 1641 served in Ulster protecting the Scottish settlers there.  Before returning to Edinburgh, he is believed to have fought at the Battle of Benburb in 1646 when the Scots were defeated by the Irish Confederate army. 

 

Thomas was described as being a tall, thin man with a big nose who always looked severe and gloomy.  He dressed in black and wore a long, black cloak.  He always carried a staff with him wherever he went. He was a Covenanter, a strict Presbyterian and anti-Royalist and by all accounts was a humourless zealot, and a religious bigot, who was given to preaching and praying.  Amongst the other Covenanters he gained a reputation for being very pious and many gathered around him for private prayer meetings.  It is written of him that - ‘He had acquir’d a particular Gracefulness in Whining and Sighing, above any of the sacred Clan; and had learn’d to deliver himself upon all serious occasions, in a far more ravishing Accent than any of their ministers could attain unto.’   Amongst some of those who attended his prayer meetings Thomas was known as ‘Angelical Thomas’, as he seemed to them to be more angel than man.  Locally, he and those he met with were referred to somewhat sarcastically as the ‘Bow-Head Saints.’   The name coming from their perceived piety and that they usually met in the home Thomas shared with his sister Jane, near the top of the West Bow in Edinburgh. 

 

In 1650 Thomas was appointed to the rank of Major in the Edinburgh Town Guard.  During this time there he was very active in seeking out and imprisoning Royalists and gained a reputation for cruelty in the way he treated his prisoners.  It was said that he would insult and ‘triumph over’ those sentenced to death and would laugh and make sarcastic remarks to those on their way to the gallows.

 

After retiring from the Edinburgh Town Guard, Thomas fell ill with a severe sickness.  In 1670, from his sick bed, he began to make a series of confessions.  These were that he had been for many years in an incestuous relationship with his sister Jane, that he had committed adultery with many women, fornicated with beasts and had made a pact with the devil to be kept safe from harm. Those in his church were very worried by these confessions, and fearing the scandal they would cause, sought to keep them quiet.  However, rumours about Thomas were soon circulating around Edinburgh.  One of the ministers of his church then informed the Lord Provost, Sir Andrew Ramsay of Abbotshall, of Weir’s confessions.

 

On hearing of the horrendous crimes that Thomas had accused himself of, the Lord Provost at first refused to believe it could be possible and assumed him to be mad.  He asked two doctors to attend Thomas and see what mental ailment he was suffering from, however after examining him they concluded he was not mentally ill, but rather suffering from a guilty conscience.  This was then confirmed to the Lord Provost by several of the ministers from the church in which Thomas had preached, who stated that he was suffering from ‘the terrors of God, which were upon his soul.’

 

Given what he had been told, the Lord Provost ordered that Thomas, and his sister Jane be taken to the public gaol at the Tolbooth.  When the guards seized them at their home, Jane told the guards not to let Thomas get hold of his staff, as it was given to him by the Devil and had certain powers.  The brother, sister and the staff were all then taken to the Tolbooth.

 

While in prison Thomas confessed to committing adultery with some of the most devout women from his church and told how he had persuaded and seduced them.  He then told of one devout woman who had refused his advances, with help from the Devil he had entered her home and found her in bed.  She had then awoken and caused a great scene so, again with the help of the Devil, he had fled.  This woman had then fallen into a great melancholy and depression and died a few weeks later.  Thomas went on to confess that the Devil appeared to him as a beautiful woman and that his staff, a gift from the Devil, was what gave him the power to be so eloquent in prayer.

 

In prison Jane confessed that she had been an accomplice to her brother’s crimes and went on to tell a tale that in September 1648, she and her brother had been transported from Edinburgh to Musselburgh and back again in a flaming coach pulled by six horses.  In Musselburgh they had met with the Devil who told Thomas that the Royalist and Scots army had been defeated in Preston (Battle of Preston – 17 to 19 August 1648, when the Royalists and Scots, commanded by the Duke of Hamilton, were defeated by the New Model Army under the command of Oliver Cromwell).  This meant that Weir was aware of this event several days before the news arrived back in Edinburgh.  He used this knowledge to make people believe he had the spirit of prophesy. Jane said that she had gained little from their dalliances with the Devil, but she did have a familiar spirit who had spun her enormous quantities of yarn, more yarn than four women together could have spun.

 

On 9 April 1670 Thomas and Jane appeared for trial.  The charges against Thomas all related to incest, adultery, and bestiality.  The charges against Jane related to incest with her brother, committing sorcery and witchcraft and consulting with witches, necromancers, and devils.  Various witnesses were called, and they mainly confirmed the admissions that Thomas had made to them.  However, another of Thomas’s sisters was called as a witness and she stated that when Thomas was around 27 years of age, she had found him and her sister Jane naked together in bed and that the ‘bed did shake’, and she heard some ‘scandalous language between them’.  Evidence was also given that Thomas had committed incest with the daughter of his first wife, now deceased.   It was then declared to the court that in the year 1651 or 1652 there had been a report that Thomas had committed bestiality with a mare and had been seen by a witness to do this.

 

Thomas then spoke to the court and admitted to the charges against him.  In regard to the act of bestiality with the Mare, he admitted to this and said that the matter had been reported, as a woman had seen him and gone to tell a local minister.  He had later been seized by some soldiers but was freed, as they could find no evidence against him.  The woman who had made the allegation was then whipped as a punishment for slandering him.

 

Thomas was found guilty of all the charges against him and was sentenced to death.  The Judge ordered that on the 11 April 1670 he be taken and strangled at the stake and his body then burnt to ashes.  His staff was to be burned with him.  Jane was found guilty of the charge of incest and was also sentenced to death.  The Judge ordered that she be hanged at the Grassmarket the day after her brother was executed.

 

On 11 April 1670 Thomas was taken to Gallowlee, between Edinburgh and Leith.  There, before the sentence was carried out, he was asked to request God’s mercy.  To this Thomas replied – ‘Let me alone.  I will not.  I have lived as a beast, and I must die as a beast.’  He was then strangled, and his body burnt along with his staff.

 

Jane was hanged in the Grassmarket the next day.  As the rope was placed around her neck, she tried to strip off her clothing.  One of the presiding officials was so scandalised by this that he told the hangman to hurry up and get the job done.  For this Jane slapped him about the face, before being ‘thrown over’ and hanged. 

 

For years after, the house the Weirs had lived in was used during the day by various businesses, but no-one would stay the night in it.  It was believed to be haunted by Thomas and the devils and spirits he had summoned.  Those who lived nearby said that at night terrible noises came through the walls of the house and anyone passing by would hear what sounded like a crowd of ghouls and demons howling and spinning and dancing.  Some even told tales of seeing Thomas, in the dead of night, leaving the house to mount a headless black horse and ride off into the darkness.  One couple were enticed to stay the night in the house, but fled in terror after a demonic calf entered their bedroom and stood by their bed staring at them.

 

Scary stuff or what!!! 

 

The house was eventually torn down to make way for a new building and the Quaker Meeting House on Victoria Terrace, by Upper Bow now stands upon part of the land where the house once was.

 

View up Victoria Street to Quaker Meeting House

 

Quaker Meeting House – encompasses part of land that Major Weir’s House stood on

View of Quaker Meeting House from Victoria Terrace

 

As there was no access to the back wall of the Weir’s house, I walked round to Victoria Street and up the steps to Victoria Terrace.  There I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on today’s walk on a ledge above a pillar at the front of the building.  Its silent scream can join in with those from the demons who reside here at night.

Skulferatu #18

 

Skulferatu #18 on stone ledge at site of Major Weir’s house

Skulferatu #18 on stone ledge at site of Major Weir’s house

 

Google Map showing location of Skulferatu

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are:

 

Latitude 55.948816

Longitude -3.193375

 

I used the following sources for the tale of Major Weir – 

 

The Spirit of Fanaticism exemplified in the trials of Mr James Mitchell (a Presbyterian Minister, who was Hang’d at Edinburgh, for an Attempt made upon the Archbishop of St. Andrews) and Major Thomas Weir (a Gifted Brother at the Knack of Extempore Prayer) who was Burnt between Edinburgh and Leith April 11^th, 1670 for Adultery, Bestiality with a Mare and a Cow, and Incest with his own Sister, who was likewise Hang’d the next Day after him.

Published, London 1710

Available on Google Books

Note: Reading this document does make one see the story of Major Weir in a different light from the tale normally told.  If the Devil and witchcraft aspects are put to one side, then the tale of Major Weir is one of a sexual predator who has sexually abused and taken advantage of those around him, including his young stepdaughter.  He has used his position within his faith to badger and harass women to have sex with him and his actions appear to have caused the death of one of the female followers of his faith.  Also, his sister Jane can be seen as someone who has been destroyed by years of abuse, someone driven mad by her brother’s lusts.  It is interesting how in the main she is the one who when questioned talks of witchcraft and devils, almost as a way of explaining her brother.  Or could it be that Thomas used stories of his pact with the Devil to control her and keep her silence about his sexual proclivities?  It is something we will never know.  It does appear that the pacts with the Devil, the witchcraft and other magical elements of this tale have been embellished over the years, especially by later writers who have removed or lessened the sexual aspects to Weir’s crimes.)

 

Satan’s Invisible World Discovered

by George Sinclair 

Published, Edinburgh 1779

Available on Google Books

 

Old and New Edinburgh, Volume 1

Published 1883

by James Grant

 

Edinburgh and the Lothians (Chapter XVI)

By Francis Watt

Published 1912

Available at https://electricscotland.com

 

Wikipedia article on Major Thomas Weir

Article and photographs are copyright of © Kevin Nosferatu, unless otherwise specified.