Sat, October 30, 2004
A SCOTTISH township plans to mark Halloween by officially pardoning 81 people -- and their cats -- executed centuries ago for being witches. "There'll be no witches' hats, dress-ups or that sort of thing. It will be a fairly solemn occasion," Adele Conn, spokesman for the baronial court that granted the pardons, said yesterday.
Tomorrow's ceremony in Prestonpans will publicly declare pardons for 81 people executed in the 16th and 17th centuries.
The pardons were granted under ancient feudal powers due to be abolished within weeks.
More than 3,500 Scots, mainly women and children, and their cats were killed in witch hunts at a time of political intrigue and religious excess. Many were condemned on flimsy evidence, such as owning a black cat or brewing homemade remedies.
'SPECTRAL EVIDENCE'
Prestonpans has recorded one of the largest numbers of witch executions in all of Scotland, said Conn, spokesman for the Barons Courts of Prestoungrange & Dolphinstoun.
She said Gordon Prestoungrange, the 14th baron, granted the pardons in the last session of his court, which is due to be abolished on Nov. 28.
"'Most of those persons condemned for witchcraft ... were convicted on the basis of spectral evidence -- that is to say, prosecuting witnesses declared that they felt the presence of evil spirits or heard spirit voices," the court said in its written findings.
"Such spectral evidence is impossible to prove or to disprove; nor is it possible for the accused to cross-examine the spirit concerned."
The court declared pardons for all those convicted, "as well as to the cats concerned."