Catherine Campbell

One of the four women of the Paisley Witches

In 1697 Paisley was the last town in western Europe to conduct a mass execution for witchcraft

The Paisley witches, also known as the Bargarran witches or the Renfrewshire witches, were tried in Paisley, Renfrewshire, central Scotland in 1697. Eleven-year-old Christian Shaw, daughter of the Laird of Bargarran, complained of being tormented by some local witches; they included one of her family's servants, Catherine Campbell, whom she had reported to her mother for stealing a pint of milk

Seven people – Catherine Campbell(pictured), Margaret Lang, Margaret Fulton, and Agnes Naismith along with John Lyndsay (11), his brother James Lyndsay (14), and James Reid – were found guilty of having bewitched Shaw and were condemned to death

James Reid subsequently committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell, the others were hanged and then burned on the Gallow Green in Paisley on 10 June 1697, the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe

Local Minister of Killallan James Hutchison delivered a damning sermon which sealed the accused’s fates

Hutchison placed great store on the presence of witches marks on the bodies of the accused, and cast doubt on the natural explanations of those marks offered by some physicians: "And however doctors may say such and such things of it [a witches' mark], we know not upon what ground. It may be that they have been budded and bribed to say such things"

Hutchison told the jury: “You would be accessory to all the blasphemies, apostasies, murders, torture, and seductions whereof these enemies of heaven and earth shall [carry out]” if they did not find the accused guilty

And so the accused were found guilty of the crimes of witchcraft, sorcery, necromancy and charming - all valid crimes to prosecute under in 17th century Scotland

During their public hanging, it is said that Agnes laid a dying woman’s curse on the town; and for years after their execution, every tragedy which took place in Paisley was blamed on the witch's curse

In May 2008 a memorial was laid at the site of their burial which consists of a horseshoe and the words "Pain-Inflicted-Suffering-Endured-Injustice-Done" to pay tribute to the torturous death these people went through as a result of a misplaced law

One of a series working with AI to give face to women executed as witches; these form part of a broader collection of Horror Portraits at www.horrorportraits.xyz

#WitchingHourOnHEN

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