Euphame MacCalzean (born before 1558, died 25 June 1591 in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

) was a victim of the

North Berwick witch trials The North Berwick witch trials were the trials in 1590 of a number of people from East Lothian, Scotland, accused of witchcraft in the St Andrew's Auld Kirk in North Berwick on Halloween night. They ran for two years, and implicated over seventy ...

of 1590–1591.

Early life

She was born at Clifton Hall, west of

, the only child of

Thomas McCalzean Thomas McCalzean, Lord Cliftonhall (pronounced and sometimes spelled McCalyeane, Macalzean or Macallyean) (c. 1520 – 1581) was a 16th-century Scottish judge, rising to be a Senator of the College of Justice and a local politician who was bri ...

(Lord Cliftonhall), an eminent Edinburgh judge, future Provost of Edinburgh, and

Senator of the College of Justice The senators of the College of Justice are judges of the College of Justice, a set of legal institutions involved in the administration of justice in Scotland. There are three types of senator: Lords of Session (judges of the Court of Session); ...

from 1570, who recognized Euphame legally as his daughter and heir in 1558. MacCalzean married Patrick Moscrop or Moscrope, who served as a Justice deputy, but the relative power of their families meant that Patrick took her father-in-law's surname of MacCalzean. This was normal practice where trying to preserve a family name where the sole heir was female. They were married by December 1579 when they made a joint contract with a Canongate burgess. In 1586 Eufame and Patrick were involved in a dispute with Edinburgh town council. During an outbreak of plague, on Christmas Day 1585, the council had moved the quarantined and infected people from the Borough Muir, or modern

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifici ...

, to her property at "Quhytehous", or Whitehouse, without permission or compensation. The

Privy Council A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a state, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the mon ...

found in her favour. Euphame and Patrick had at least five children.

North Berwick witch trials of 1590–1591

The cause of the events that led to the North Berwick Witch Trials was the behavior of a maid named Geillis Duncan. Duncan had ostensibly cured illnesses, raising suspicions, in November 1590. Her employer became suspicious that she was deriving her powers from the

Devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

. Duncan confessed, possibly under duress, to witchcraft and she implicated others including John Cane and Euphame MacCalzean. MacCalzean,

Agnes Sampson Agnes Sampson (died 28 January 1591) was a Scottish healer and purported witch. Also known as the "Wise Wife of Keith", Sampson was involved in the North Berwick witch trials in the later part of the sixteenth century. Background Sampson live ...

and several others were accused of witchcraft. It was alleged that they had killed the

Earl of Angus The Mormaer or Earl of Angus was the ruler of the medieval Scottish Provinces of Scotland, province of Angus, Scotland, Angus. The title, in the Peerage of Scotland, is held by the Duke of Hamilton, and is used as a courtesy title for the eldes ...

by witchcraft, and planned to murder the first king of England and Scotland,

James VI James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. James was a king by divine right and he was seen as the chief defender against the Devil. James was convinced that magic was involved when Agnes Sampson recounted details of James' first night with his wife

Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark (; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619) was the wife of King James VI and I; as such, she was Queen of Scotland The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the constitutional fo ...

. The prosecutors cast MacCalzean as a controlling personality who used magic to bewitch her husband. She allegedly tried to cause the deaths of her husband, his father, and his extended family. The charges included the accusation that she had used her skills to relieve the God-ordained pain of women giving birth. Macalzean was said to have caused the death of her cousin and her nephew. She had argued with her uncle over the ownership of some land at Cliftonhall in

Kirkliston Kirkliston is a small town and parish to the west of Edinburgh, Scotland, historically within the county of West Lothian but now within the City of Edinburgh council limits. It lies on high ground immediately north of a northward loop of the Al ...

and it was alleged that she had killed his son, her nephew, because of this dispute. MacCalzean was said to have attended an assembly of witches at Acheson's Haven where an image of

was given to the devil for the destruction of the king.

Death

MacCalzean was found guilty and burnt alive on 25 June 1591 on the southern slope of the Castle Hill below

Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...

. The fire was built with materials bought by the town council for the execution of Barbara Napier, which was deferred.

Marguerite Wood Marguerite Wood (30 August 1887 – 19 August 1954) was a Scottish historian and archivist who specialised in Scottish history. She served as Keeper of the Burgh Records of Edinburgh and was a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a member o ...

, ''Extracts from the Records of the Burgh of Edinburgh: 1589-1603'' (Edinburgh, 1927), p. 334. A plaque on the Castle Esplanade remembers the event. James VI gave her estate of Cliftonhall to his favourite Sir James Sandilands of

Slamannan Slamannan ( gd, Sliabh Mhanainn) is a village in the south of the Falkirk council area in Central Scotland. It is south-west of Falkirk, east of Cumbernauld and north-east of Airdrie. Slamannan is located at the cross of the B803 and B8022 ...

References

{{Magic and Witchcraft in the British Isles 1591 deaths North Berwick People executed for witchcraft Year of birth uncertain People executed by Scotland by burning 16th-century Scottish women Witch trials in Scotland Criminals from Edinburgh