Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Vendula Heczková

The Influence of Superstition on Daily Life, Culture and Politics in Scotland during the Reign of James VI and I Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Dr. Stephen Paul Hardy, M.A., Ph.D.

2014

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature

Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Dr. Stephen Paul Hardy, M.A., Ph.D. for his guidance and help, my family and Bc. Michal Žák for their support and Mr. Euan Cameron and his mother Mrs. Gillian Cameron for all their help and for being amazing.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction ...... 5 Chapter 2: Scotland under the Rule of James VI ...... 7 2.1 Historical background ...... 7 2.2 Society in Scotland ...... 8 2.3 Religion during the Reign of James VI ...... 10 Chapter 3: Religion and Superstition ...... 12 3.1 Nature of Belief ...... 12 3.2 Protestantism versus Catholicism ...... 14 3.3 Examples of specific superstitions ...... 15 Chapter 4: The Good Neighbours ...... 18 4.1 The types of Fae and their Hierarchy ...... 19 4.2 Fairies in Daily Lives of Common People ...... 21 4.3 Legends and Poems ...... 23 Chapter 5: Witchcraft ...... 27 5.1 The Presence of Magic in Everyday Lives ...... 28 5.2 The Witch Hunts and Trials ...... 30 5.3 The Attack on James VI ...... 33 5.4 The Witchcraft Act of 1604 ...... 35 5.5 Witches in Literary Works ...... 36 Chapter 6: Conclusion ...... 39 Works cited ...... 40 Résumé ...... 44

Chapter 1: Introduction

The reign of James VI and I in Scotland was accompanied by a multitude of supernatural creatures, superstitions and witch hunting. In my thesis, I focus on the time period between 1567 and 1625 and I try to explain how these beliefs came to be so significant in a strictly Protestant country and how they influenced and shaped the daily lives of people, culture and even politics. As hundreds of individual superstitions exist and it is impossible to include them all, I show how deeply ingrained these beliefs were in people‘s lives. I explore the effect of the Reformation and Protestant attempts to dispose of the supernatural elements of faith.

Following the Introduction I divide my work into five chapters. In the second chapter I describe the historical background of Scotland at this time, the hierarchy of society of the era and religious context. In the third chapter I offer the history of beliefs in Scotland and I explain the origins of superstitions. Chapter four focuses on a specific belief in fairies, how these creatures influenced the everyday lives of people and the way they are reflected in literature. The fifth chapter explores the matter of witchcraft, laws concerning witches, the King‘s attitude towards witchcraft and the representation of witches in literature. The Sixth chapter offers a conclusion and a summary of the points I make throughout my thesis.

One of the main sources is Scottish Fairy Belief: A History by Lizanne

Henderson and Edward J. Cowan, which examines the history and nature of fairy belief and its place in the complex religious situation; "The Mingling of Fairy and Witch

Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Scotland" by J. A. MacCulloch explores

5 the mixing of Christian tradition with pagan beliefs and how this fusion figured in witch trials; and "Magic and Witchcraft" by James A. Sharpe focuses on the connection between the Reformation and the tradition of superstitions among the people.

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Chapter 2: Scotland under the Rule of James VI

James VI ascended the Scottish throne very early in his life. At the age of thirteen months James was proclaimed the Scottish King after his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, was compelled to abdicate in his favour. Regents ruled in his stead before his coming of age in the year 1578 but for full control of his position James VI had to wait until 1583. During his reign Scotland underwent numerous changes in every aspect from politics through religion to culture.

2.1 Historical background

Scotland during the reign of James VI in the years 1567 – 1625 underwent major changes and crises. After the rule of a mostly absent Queen Mary came another troubled period of regency government as James VI had not come of age. Following the abdication of Queen Mary, the Marian civil war took place in years 1568-1573. This civil war was a conflict between the supporters of an exiled Queen Mary and those who ruled in the name of the infant King James VI. The war was fought mainly in the

Lowlands and focused on Edinburgh ending only after an English intervention when

Edinburgh Castle, which was garrisoned in the name of Queen Mary, surrendered.

King James VI was brought up in a Protestant faith by George Buchanan.

Buchanan‘s aim was to make James VI into a god-fearing Protestant king who accepted the limitations of monarchy. James was taught of his mother‘s treachery and that

Roman Catholicism was not right or moral and in these Buchanan succeeded as even

Mary‘s execution at English hands was not reason enough for James not to maintain good relations with England with the goal of succeeding Elizabeth on English throne.

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However, the limitation of monarchy was never a topic on which James agreed with his tutor as he later demonstrated in his works The True Law of Free Monarchies (1598) and Basilikon Doron (1599) where he sets out the divine right of kings.

The second half of sixteenth century also saw a growing problem of poverty and vagrancy. The parliament reacted with three pieces of legislation in years 1574, 1579 and 1592 which established kirks1 as major elements within the poor relief system.

Deserving poor were chosen by elders and other overseers and they received a limited poor relief, whereas undeserving beggars were harshly punished.

Increasing problems with ―barbarians‖ on the Scottish islands led to the attempt to abolish the Gaelic language as it was perceived as foreign and the main cause for all the problems with the Islands. The clans were forced by the Statutes of Iona to put their heirs into Lowland schools to be educated by English-speaking Protestant teachers. This was seen as an attempt to destroy the traditional culture and language of the Islands that led to an unsuccessful rebellion against James.

2.2 Society in Scotland

Scotland was no longer under a feudal system during this period of time. The strict hierarchy of society was still maintained, but the nobility‘s power was no longer based on landholding as land was becoming more and more a commodity of trade and the nobility became honorary peerage. Below the king was a small group of dukes and a larger group of earls. These usually held major offices or places on the king‘s council.

Dukes and earls were also found taking part in major crises or rebellions. Below dukes

1 Kirk can mean church in general or Church of Scotland in particular. 8 and earls were lairds - a group that advised dukes and earls and were often considered as the most important persons in local communities. Lairds ran baronial courts, acted as sheriffs-depute, sat on local assizes and held the position of private arbitrators. After the

Reformation and creation of the Presbyterian Kirk, they gained even more power as they were overseeing the behavior of local communities through disciplinary functions of kirk sessions. Below lairds were yeomen that together with lairds held heritable possessions of land. Below these land owners were agricultural workers who usually inhabited settlements where a few families held land rights.

Urban society lived in administrative entities called burghs. Those were autonomous settlements, usually towns, headed by wealthy merchants who held offices such as burgess or baillies – check spelling or were the members of burgh council. The majority of the urban population was made up of workers and craftsmen. Both merchants and craftsmen usually served a long apprenticeship before they could become freemen of a burgh with rights and privileges and they often argued about the political control of the burgh.

On the bottom of the social hierarchy were masterless men and women, vagrants and beggars. Masterless men and women were people without a clear social relationship with a social superior such as apprenticeship or service. Masterless women especially worried authorities. Most of these people had some kind of disability such as blindness or suffered a personal disaster like fire or theft. Some were sailors and discharged soldiers looking for work, some were seasonal agricultural workers and the remainder were beggars, orphans, servants, journeymen, artisans and casual labourers. In times of

9 extreme hardships such as famines or plague outbreaks the poor would seek help in larger centres where poor relief was abundant.

The society in Scotland was patriarchal and women had a very limited legal status. They were not recognised as witnesses or independent criminals by criminal courts instead the responsibility for their crimes lay with their husbands or fathers. This changed after the Reformation and women were largely criminalised. The reformed kirk saw women as a moral threat which led to disciplining in kirk or court sessions for deviances such as prostitution or public scolding. The Witchcraft Act of 1563, passed just three years before James VI was crowned as King of Scotland, made the practice of witchcraft and consulting with witches capital crimes, which led to Great Scottish Witch

Hunt of 1597 and North Berwick witch trials where victims were predominantly women.

2.3 Religion during the Reign of James VI

The issue of religion in the period of 1560 – 1660 was very problematic. James

VI ascended the throne of a country that was already a Protestant nation. As Sarah

Dunnigan and Elizabeth Ewan claim in ―Introduction: A Century of Disorder and

Transformation—Scotland 1550–1650‖: ―In matters of religion and royal power,

Scotland found it difficult to adopt the compromise position of many European states, of cuius regio, cuius religio2, for in Scotland the Reformation had been established in spite of, rather than by, the sovereign.‖ (6) In fact, it was James‘ first parliamentary session in 1567 that officially ratified the Acts that abolished the old faith in Scotland as

Mary the Queen of Scots declined to endorse them. James‘ mother, Queen Mary, was a

2 Whose realm, his religion. 10

Roman Catholic with strong ties to France and by marrying French Dauphine Francis II she helped to restore the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. During her reign she was regarded with suspicion as many of her subjects already acknowledged the

Protestant belief. John Knox, the Protestant reformer, preached against Mary and criticized her for hearing Mass, dancing and wearing elaborate dresses. Yet Mary tolerated the newly established Protestantism, which later led to her failure to appoint pro-Catholic council and her early death by execution.

The Scottish Parliament met on 10 July 1560 and recommended condemnation of transubstantiation, indulgences, purgatory and papal authority. In August the

Parliament approved the Reformed Confession of Faith also called Scots Confession.

All of these were ratified during the first parliament of James VI, who was only one year old at that time. Despite these Acts being passed, the new church did not have a concrete shape until 1689 but meanwhile most of Protestant regulations were already in use such as iconoclasm. As Protestantism was strongly focused on The Bible as the major source of moral authority, Bibles themselves often became the subject of superstition. Fundamental to Reformed Protestantism was discipline. Kirk sessions were able to apply religious sanctions, to enforce godly behaviour or to try and stop activities like bonfires, dancing or well-dressing. Protestantism changed the character of religious culture by closing many song schools of the abbeys and cathedrals and disbanding choirs.

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Chapter 3: Religion and Superstition

The reign of James VI was a time of religious crisis. From his birth until his death there were problems with fully establishing the Protestant Kirk throughout the

Lowlands, but more so the Highlands and the Islands. It took years before Protestantism settled in rural Scotland partly due to the character of the land with the moutainoius terrain meaning that villages were far removed from one another. This was also the main reason why old traditions and superstitions survived even the Christianisation of the Picts who were the original inhabitants. Pictish religion is presumed to be similar to

Celtic polytheism with typical animistic elements of worship. While it is presumed that the Picts were literate, no written documents were found except for words on burial mounds. Yet, due to similarity of Celtic traditions and rituals with more modern superstitions it can be assumed that it was the Pictish culture which was the source of pagan beliefs in Scottish Christian society. As J.A. MacCulloch claims in The Religion of the Ancient Celts: ―Valuable hints are furnished by early ecclesiastical documents, but more important is existing folk-custom, which preserves so much of the old cult, though it has lost its meaning to those who now use it. Folk-tales may also be inquired of, if we discriminate between what in them is Celtic and what is universal. Lastly,

Celtic burial-mounds and other remains yield their testimony to ancient belief and custom.‖ (2)

3.1 Nature of Belief

The animistic religions or religions containing animistic elements such as Celtic polytheism are mostly a mixture of beliefs of underworld, animal worship and cults of

12 spirits influencing the world of humans. All of these elements can be found in later superstitions or they can be considered to be sources for said superstitions.

Celtic polytheism had an extensive pantheon of gods. (To the matter of) In relation to superstitions, the animistic worship of spirits is the most important aspect of

Celtic religion. J. A. MacCulloch explains their place in the Celtic belief system saying: ―While the greater objects of nature were worshipped for themselves alone, the

Celts also peopled the earth with spirits, benevolent or malevolent, of rocks, hills, dales, forests, lakes, and streams, and while greater divinities of growth had been evolved, they still believed in lesser spirits of vegetation, of the corn, and of fertility, connected, however, with these gods.‖ (173) If this is taken into consideration, it is obvious that

Celts, and in association with them Picts, believed that the world was inhabited by entities of considerable power that were both helpful and cruel to humans. Thus, in an effort to win their favour people brought gifts to rivers, hills and other places where these spirits were believed to live. In turn, any happening that could not be explained by people‘s knowledge was considered an omen or a punishment from the discontented spirits.

With the arrival of Christianity the worship of Celtic gods and the worship of nature spirits is denunciated.

―The denunciations of these cults throw some light upon them. Offerings

at trees, stones, fountains, and cross-roads, the lighting of fires or candles there,

and vows or incantations addressed to them, are forbidden, as is also the worship

of trees, groves, stones, rivers, and wells. The sun and moon are not to be called

lords. Wizardry, and divination, and the leapings and dancings, songs and

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choruses of the pagans, Ie. their orgiastic cults, are not to be practised. Tempest-

raisers are not to ply their diabolical craft.‖ (MacCulloch 174-175)

Yet the old customs and practices survived and were still practised if sometimes under a Christian camouflage with one major change - for as these beliefs were practiced secretly as they became associated with a darker tone and later even with the worshipping of the Devil with spirits as evil demons. This ―culminated in the mediæval witch persecutions, for witchcraft was in part the old paganism in a new guise‖

(MacCulloch 175). Yet even this did not destroy these traditional beliefs as the superstitions associated with spirit worship were still alive among the folk of 16th and

17th century Scotland. Even if ―the actual worship of nature-spirits has now disappeared‖ (MacCulloch 175) and it is no longer remembered why the rituals were being performed.

3.2 Protestantism versus Catholicism

During the Reformation it was Catholicism that was associated with superstitions. When Catholicism spread to Scotland, many rituals, holidays and traditions of the Picts were simply painted with Christian colours and only slightly modified as abolishing them were impossible because they were so deeply rooted.

James Napier in Western Scottish Folklore & Superstitions claims: ―… they ascribed to unseen supernatural agency, working in a capricious fashion, all phenomena which appeared to differ from, or disturb the ordinary course of events. Upon such matters heathen and Christian ideas commingled and thus heathen ideas and practices were incorporated with Christian ideas and practices.‖ (Napier 28) This meant that Christian

14 and Pictish superstitions and rituals fused and were practised even if the original purpose was lost.

Protestants with their stance against superstitions were convinced that superstitions were a threat to foundations of Godly church and thus sought to eradicate them. What Catholicism saw as miracles, was seen as devil play by Protestants. Yet

Protestantism did not succeed in abolishing these ungodly falsities and what is more they developed some of their own. Helen Parish and William G. Naphy in Religion and

Superstition in Reformation Europe explain that: ―…one may note that Protestants, for all their cries of superstition against Catholics, did not hesitate to accommodate in both their thinking and their practice the notion that adverse weather was not simply a natural occurrence, but contained either a preternatural or a supernatural element which humanity ignored at its peril.‖ (171) This shows that even though there were attempts to destroy superstitions, they were too ingrained in people for these attempts to succeed.

3.3 Examples of specific superstitions

As the majority of the population were illiterate most superstitions were shared orally and later described for example by Anglican priest Alexander MacGregor, naturalist Sir John Graham Dalyell, minister of Tiree John G. Campbell or William G.

Stewart. However, none of these were contemporaries of James VI, the oldest account being written in 1834. Yet this shows that superstitions were alive even much later after the reign of James VI.

The following paragraph is a quote from Alexander MacGregors Highland

Superstitions that should serve to better illustrate the number of superstitions people observed and how trivial or conversely how dangerous they could be.

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―In Shetland there was once an idea that it was unlucky to save drowning

men. It is unlucky to throw out water after sunset, and before sunrise. It is

unlucky to have a grave open upon Sunday, as another will be dug during the

week for some of the family. If a corpse does not stiffen after death, there will be

another death in the family before the end of that year. … The howling of a dog

at night, and the resting of a crow or magpie on the house-top, are warnings of

death. It is unlucky to weigh infants; they are sure to die. Cats sleeping near

infants suck their breath and kill them. When children begin to walk they must

go up-stairs before they go down-stairs, otherwise they will not thrive in the

world, and if there is no stair they should climb a chair. A mother after the birth

of a child must not go outside beyond her house door until she goes to be kirked.

If you rock an empty cradle you will soon rock a new baby in it.‖ (36)

Many of the superstitions also concerned mythological creatures. As Scotland is a country of hills and lochs it is not surprising that these figure in the beliefs of common people. Particularly lochs and seas were rich in mystical creatures such as mermaids, selkies3 or kelpies4. Mermaids and selkies were more known in the north of Scotland, on the islands and in the regions where fishing was the dominant occupation. In most of the legends mermaids were depicted as a bad omen, usually announcing shipwrecking or terrible weather if not directly causing it. There are some exceptions where mermaids were believed to be generous to those who treated them kindly or helped them. Selkies on the other hand were known as peaceful and even shy. They were creatures with two different appearances. In the sea they took upon themselves the form of a seal and while

3 Also known as silkies or selchies. Usually described as creatures with the form of seals that are able to shed their skin to become human. 4 Water horse, described as a strong and powerful horse, usually white or blue with dripping mane and skin similar to that of a seal. 16 walking on the land they shed their skin and became human. The folk tale ―The

Mermaid Wife‖ is actually about a selkie trapped by a human who took her seal skin so she could not return to the sea.

Kelpies or water horses were supposedly water spirits that devoured human flesh. While kelpies used tricks such as transformation into beautiful women to lure men into the water and then kill them, water horses did not change their appearance but behaved in a friendly manner as to persuade people (and children in some of the folk tales) to get onto their back at which point the kelpie‘s skin became adhesive and the creature rode its victim into the lake.

The number of superstitions alone presents a picture how common and omnipresent they were. Even if a person regarded some of them as foolishness they were bound to believe others. Nonbelievers in supernatural simply did not exist on the level of common people. While upper class people were more sceptical about the occult thanks to their better education, to find a person who did not believe in the occult sphere among the ranks of sorcerers and alchemists was practically impossible. Even the

Protestant ministers that battled against what they saw as Catholic superstitions and pagan myths were not void of superstitions. Although Protestants regarded astrology as superstitions while the Catholic Church was more interested in drawing a line between stars as a cause for events happening on Earth and celestial objects as simple signs that something is going to happen, the Protestants sometimes managed to arouse interest in astrology instead of diminishing it.

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Chapter 4: The Good Neighbours

The belief in fairies, or the Good Neighbours5 as the fairies are often called, is shared throughout the Gaelic mythology which means not only that it was passed on by

Picts to Christians but also that many abilities and descriptions of fae6 creatures are attributed both to fairies in Ireland and to fairies in Scotland. In addition, most of these attributes are contradictory. As R. U. Sayce in "The Origins and Development of the

Belief in Fairies" claims: ―…they are said to live under water, at other times under ground, or on the hillside; they may be well disposed or full of ill-natured tricks; they may be small or of normal size.‖ (101) Even within this one quote indications of the origin of the fairies can be found. In the regions where Good Neighbours lived within hillsides or cairns it was often believed that they are spirits or souls of the dead. This belief probably resulted in the tradition of bringing gifts or putting rocks on top of cairns to appease the dead or the fairies. Lizanne Henderson and Edward J. Cowan mention in Scottish Fairy Belief: A History that ―…the depositions given by accused witches Bessie Dunlop (1576) and Alison Peirson (1588), who both clearly maintained a linkage to the fairy realm through men who were once ordinary living, breathing mortals.‖ (19). This hints at the belief that people kidnapped by fairies could possibly come back as spirits or ghosts which linked the fairies with the land of dead. Different theory states that fairies are simply water and tree spirits and thus firmly linking fairies to the pagan religions and worship of nature, and some believed that fairies were in reality the Picts, the original inhabitants of Scotland.

5 Different spelling occurs such as ―gud neighbours‖, ―guid neighbours‖ or even Secret Nation or Good People. 6 Alternative name for fairy, also possibly derived from archaic Scottish variant for foe . 18

However Christian thinkers had the tendency to associate fairies with witchcraft and developed yet another possible explanation. J. A. MacCulloch in "The Mingling of

Fairy and Witch Beliefs in Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Scotland" claims: ―The official orthodoxy of Europe had long regarded all spirits as either angelic or demoniac.

Fairies, elves, brownies, water-sprites, forest and woodland folk, were certainly not angels; therefore they must be demons.‖ (230). Because of this doctrine all the creatures of the fae kind were simply called demons in Christian philosophical works dealing with this kind of folklore. The main sources concerning the types and hierarchy of fairies are therefore folk tales, legends, poems and documents from the witch trials.

4.1 The types of Fae and their Hierarchy

Fairies in the 16th century Scotland had diverse abilities and appearances. People of that time knew many kinds of different fairies, some of the more popular included brownies, dwarfs, trolls, elves or hobgoblins. The fairies were divided into two groups called Seelie7 and Unseelie Court. This was the basic division where the Seelie Court contained the fae folk that was helpful and returned the kindness of humans, even if they were known to be occasionally mischievous or vengeful if insulted badly enough.

The Unseelie Court on the other hand was believed to be assaulting travellers, forcing humans to do evil deeds or simply beating them. Yet, just as Seelie Court was not always helpful, the Unseelie one could sometimes be kind. According to fables, it usually depends on the character of the human they encounter. Their kindness could

7 The word is derived from ―silly‖ meaning happy or lucky in Middle English. 19 however seem a little strange as even though they did not harm the human, they made him their pet.

A different division is used by some of the scholars: trooping fairies, solitary ones and domesticated ones. The trooping fairies are usually described as the nobles of

Elfland. People imagined them similar to the royal court and knew them for their long processions. Solitary fairies on the other hand were those living alone and often malicious to travellers. Domesticated fairies were a subcategory of solitary fairies.

Domesticated because they were known to adopt a family to help and protect them in exchange for food such as honey. The most common fairy in this group is the brownie or urisk as brownies were called in Scotland. Urisks lived on the outside of human‘s houses and were less likely to help with household chores than the English brownie, but they particularly liked milk and helped out with the cattle and harvest. The belief in brownies and urisks lasted till 20th century and even today many manors have Seòmar

Bhrùnaidh, Brownie‘s room in English.

The most commonly known fairies were the Queen and her king consort. They were often mentioned in witch trials as those who gave the gift of healing or magic to people. In most legends it was they who kidnapped young humans to their court. The royals of Elfland were said to live inside cairns where they held their courts and merry balls. In Lowland Scotland the Queen of Fairies is traditionally called the Queen of

Elphame. The Queen was described as seductive and beautiful but also deadly. In the

Scottish ballads the Queen is usually pictured as a sole ruler, although sometimes a king consort is mentioned, traditionally named Auberon or Oberon. The Queen of Elphame and Auberon were the royalty of the Elfland, holding courts inside cairns and travelling

20 in processions which are often mentioned in ballads and give the name to the category of trooping fairies.

4.2 Fairies in Daily Lives of Common People

Fairies accompanied people during their whole lives from birth until death. As the elves were known to kidnap babies in order to exchange them for their own offsprings generally known under the term of changelings that looked exactly like the child kidnapped but behaved wildly and maliciously, many superstitions concerning the protection of the child existed in order to prevent the elves from taking them to Elfland.

The most common being an ordinary iron that should protect or help fight the fairies off. Children were not the only ones in danger of being taken as elves were said to have a particular fondness for beautiful young people and bards. There are legends mentioning the Fairy Queen luring a youth to her kingdom, describing in great detail the difficulty with which the kidnapped then escaped, only to realize that what they thought were hours were in fact years in the real world.

People believed fairies lived everywhere around them, be it some kind of hobgoblin in the forest or by a stream, fairy court inside a cairn or a hill or an urisk inside their own home. Children were taught through tales that offending a fairy could be deadly, that not leaving food for an urisk will lead to mischievous plot and then the fairy will leave and never help the family again. To fully understand the impact of these lessons it must be remembered that children usually received very little formal schooling. The belief was made stronger still by physical evidence such as stone arrow tips found throughout the Scotland. Those were Neolithic arrowheads, remnants of the previous cultures. However, the common folk believed that these arrowheads belonged

21 to elves. Those who were shot by an elfin arrow suffered great pain or disease. On the other hand, those who found an arrowhead lying around could expect to be protected against elves and their arrows altogether.

These physical proofs were taken very seriously; blocking fairy paths had grave consequences and people would rather knock the corners of their houses away than block the path of a fairy procession (Silver 47). Houses were built with front and back doors in a straight line if they were built on a fairy path as to leave the door open for the fairies to pass through (Lenihan and Green 146). Fairy rings were considered portals that lead to other worlds, be it Fairyland or even Underworld as in the land of dead.

Some of the rings were said to be able to kill whoever stepped into them.

Witch trials also produced evidence where it was not uncommon for people to claim they were kidnapped by fairies or spirits. The description of a man or woman in all green clothes was usually enough to convince people that they were dealing with a fairy. Similarly, a person in grey could be easily considered a spirit or a ghost. An interesting aspect of witchcraft in 16th and 17th century Scotland was a fact that witches seldom came into their gifts and powers through pacts with the Devil. Much more common were cases in which persons in green or grey gifted the witches with spells or magic in general to accomplish or help with accomplishing a task the fairy or ghost presented. Therefore, it was not that rare that cunning men and women, who were usually present in most of the villages, claimed they had meetings with fairies or spirits of different kinds.

People recognized many types and kinds of fairy creatures. Most of them reflected in ballads, fairy tales, theatre plays or geographical names for their supposed

22 homes. The Gaelic word for fairy is sìth or sìdh (pronounced shee) and it occurs in numerous place names mainly hills even today. The area around Glen Shee (Gleann

Sith) is punctuated with fairy references in names for local landscape such as the river

Shee Water, hill Dun Sith, deeper in the Highlands can be found for example Sìdhean

Dubh or 'black fairy hill' but there are traces of fairy names even further away from the

Scottish Lowlands such as the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye. Isle of Skye has numerous other fairy meeting points such as the Fairy Glen, series of grassy hills with a rock tower Castle Ewen, or even a buried giant of Trotternish who was buried with his one finger sticking out of the ground. That finger is now called the Old man of Storr.

Just like the Old man of Storr, most of the other prominent and famous places in

Scotland have their fairy legend of origin.

4.3 Legends and Poems

One of the most famous legendary ballads about fairies is ―The tale of young

Tamlin8‖. The earliest version is mentioned in The Complaynt of Scotland in 1549. The tale originated somewhere around the Scottish borders and described the romance of the protagonist Tamlin and a young girl Janet or Margaret. Tamlin was a mortal man rescued after an accident, usually involving a fall from a horse, by a Fairy Queen and then kidnapped by her to spend years in the land of elves. The tale describes a tradition known as teind or tithe to Hell, which involves giving one of the elf folk to Hell as payment of some sorts. Tamlin fears it will be him the next time teind is required.

Despite the fairies trying to confuse the girl by transforming Tamlin into all sorts of beasts, she manages to save him. This legend has dozens of variations, sometimes even

8 Also called Tamas Lin, Tamlin, Tam Lien, Tamlane, Tam-a-Line, Tam Lane, Tomlin, Tamlane or Tam Lyn. 23 begins with a warning that Tamlin collects virginity of any maiden passing through his forest (―Tamlin‖ at Sacred-texts.com).

Another famous story was focused on the character of Thomas the Rhymer.

Thomas of Erceldoune better known as Thomas the Rhymer or True Thomas was a

Scottish laird in 13th century who was supposedly captured by the Fairy Queen and given a gift of prophecy. The romance originated around the 15th century, later it was rewritten in the form of a ballad; today there are at least five versions of the tale one of them written by Sir Walter Scott who added the prophecies ascribed to Thomas.

Thomas the Rhymer became a popular character, especially in Scotland, where he was held in high regard, sometimes even considered as the best prophet in all history.

Prophecies were said to be his if only to help their authenticity.

Thomas‘ most famous prophecy is probably his prediction of one ruler for the whole Britain supposedly foreseeing James I as both Scottish and English ruler. The prophecy as printed in The Whole Prophecie of 1603:

"Who shal rule the ile of Bretaine / From the North to the South sey?"

"A French wife shal beare the Son, / Shall rule all Bretaine to the sey,

that of the Bruces blood shall come / As neere as the nint degree."

This wording was often changed during the years and versions with different clans or noble names appeared and were passed as the real prophecy. Even the version from The Whole Prophecie is a much later print and thus it can be expected for it to be altered.

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While the versions of the Thomas‘ story differ in some details or occasionally in slightly more important parts, the core of the story is the same in each of them. Thomas the Rhymer lying outside his domain met with a Fairy Queen while she was out riding and either consented or was taken to visit her land. The description of her horse follows all the traditional characterizations as it is said to be decorated with bells. In all versions she shows him three marvels, the road to Hell, to Heaven and to Land of Elves. After seven years he is returned to the human world. In one version it is because of the time for tithe is close and the Queen would not allow for Thomas to become the fee fairies pay to Hell. In others the tithe is not mentioned and Thomas is simply allowed to return to his home. When he begs the Queen for a token to remember her by, he is presented with a choice between the talents of a harpist and a prophet. He chooses the latter.

Fairies were frequent characters in fairy tales or nursery rhymes. In these the reputation of Seelie and Unseelie courts are strengthened. The tales were altered as suited the people in different regions but the essential story remained. The fairies in fairy tales are rewarding those that help them either with material gifts or occasionally with promises such as that no child will die from disease as can be seen in ―The Isle of

Pabaidh‖ from Campbell‘s Popular Tales of the West Highlands:

―THERE came a woman of peace (a fairy) the way of the house of a man

in the island of Pabaidh, and she had the hunger of motherhood on her. He gave

her food, and that went well with her. She stayed that night. When she went

away she said to him, "I am making a desire that none of the people of this

island may go in childbed after this." None of these people, and none others that

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would make their dwelling in the island, ever departed in childbed from that

time.―

The message meant for children and adults is clear. The fairies will reward those who have respect for them or help them and they will punish anyone who insult them or hurt them in any way.

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Chapter 5: Witchcraft

Witchcraft, and the definition of it, was largely influenced by the works of

Christian scholars. One of the best known works, Daemonologie, by King James I, was written ―to proue two things, as I haue alreadie said: the one, that such diuelish artes haue bene and are. The other, what exact trial and seuere punishment they merite."(James I 9) This and other works influenced the development of the term

‗witch‘. Scholars analyse the best process of recognizing a witch, Christian thinkers focus on defending their faith against superstitions or even using superstitions as a defence. While very few of the accused mention the Devil, a large number of them claims that their powers and abilities were granted to them by Fairy Queen thus making the Elves one of the major topics in superstitious beliefs.

While it is true that the majority of witchcraft happened amidst the lower class people, in some trial documents magic-wielding nobles are mentioned, both men and women. While in the higher circles the ability to control magic was considered by the scholars to be a learned skill often even admired, lower class magic was usually thought of as something lesser, often a result of possession, a deal with the devil or a gift from the Queen of Elves. Although it was fairly rare to see a noble or an upper class person involved in witchcraft, the database of witch trial documents created by the University of Edinburgh shows some of the cases in which a common ―witch‖ was able to influence a person of higher standing in society. These documents are evidence that people throughout the society believed in magic regardless of the level of education they received and that they were influenced by superstitions just as James Sharpe in

"Magic and Witchcraft" writes: ―...―magic‖ was the label attached to the activities of

27 occult practitioners who were upper class, educated, and male, while ―witchcraft‖ was the label attached to the activities of those occult practitioners who were poor, uneducated, and female.‖(441).

Numerous things were labelled as witchcraft yet not all of them were a reason for a trial and eventual punishment. The conditions were modified by a Witchcraft act of 1604 that provided the guidelines for judges. Even healing, veterinary services, charm making or relations with suspicious men and women often wearing green or grey clothes were commonly considered as witchcraft. Yet these were considered a felony only if there was a maleficium9 involved. The view on magic was diverse and complicated especially for the Church.

5.1 The Presence of Magic in Everyday Lives

While anthropologists agree that every civilization or tribe believed in some kind of occult sphere or magic, it is usually associated with the uneducated classes. Magic in the 16th and 17th century throughout Europe required intellect as it was believed that sorcery is a learned ability. The spread of these ideas of controlling magic was mostly influenced by the Greek translations of Plato‘s work and general ―...westward movement of Ancient Greek texts. Plato‘s works were not unknown in the Middle

Ages, but now Platonic, or perhaps more accurately Neoplatonic, learning attracted considerable attention, and this learning was virtually designed to reinforce a belief in the occult‖ (Sharpe 441).

9 ―Maleficium: An act of witchcraft performed with the intention of causing damage or injury; the resultant harm; (also) the power of Satan (rare). Now hist.‖(OED) 28

Texts such as De Occulta Philosophia, by Henry Cornelius Aggripa attracted the attention of the upper classes and nobles took up sorcery and alchemy. That is not to say that the lower type of magic did not occur amidst the nobles. In the early trials political motives of witchcraft were fairly common as it was for example in the case of Lady

Fowlis‘ supposed plot to destroy her family in order to alter the inheritance of land and titles. While in comparison with the number of witches from lower classes of society where the noble witches are frankly rare, the same cannot be said when nobles were the supposed victims of maleficium. When a lord or a lady accused a witch in most cases it was on the ground of a botched healing attempt or inflicted disease as was the case with

Marioun McIngaruch who was tasked with healing one Hector Munro but in order to do so someone of his blood had to die in his stead. He chose his brother.

The spread of magical doings while not exactly promoted by the Church were not prohibited either. During the Reformation, when the followers of John Knox still attempted at stabilization of their principles the attitude of the Church to sorcery amidst of the higher classes was ambivalent. As James Sharpe claims: ―Most contemporaries would have agreed that there were two types of magic: ―demonic‖ magic, which everybody condemned, and ―natural‖ magic, whose status in the eyes of the church was less clear-cut. Most Christian theologians who committed their thoughts on the subject to print apparently regarded magic as something of a grey area.‖ (443). Thus alchemy and sorcery were usually regarded as the natural magic and learned ability and trials with sorcerers were rare.

The popular practitioners of magic did not have the access to many learned books and their activity is noted mostly in the document from their trials or in folk tales.

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Their abilities were considered as manifestations of demonic magic and generally condemned us ungodly superstitious conduct. Cunning men and women as they were called provided a number of services ranging from healing of diseases to providing lucky charms and protecting against evil magic. There is not much known about the specifics of their profession, but it is generally accepted, that they had at least a limited access to some of the texts on astrology and the occult. As James Sharpe claims: ―The worlds of village cunning folk and of the educated magical practitioner were very distant, although the spread of literacy over the early modern period meant that at least a few popular magicians were reading books on natural magic, the occult, and astrology as they went about their business.‖ (443)

5.2 The Witch Hunts and Trials

The witch hunts and trials were not as common as it may seem relative to the attention paid to them in today‘s pop-culture. Lizanne Henderson in "The Survival of

Witchcraft Prosecutions and Witch Belief in South-West Scotland" explains: ―Witch belief operated on a more subtle and complex level—there were peaks and troughs and the outcome of an accusation was often very dependent upon the belief of the minister involved.‖ (5) That was true especially in Scotland for while the elders and passionate ministers in the smaller villages considered hunting witches as an almost patriotic duty, this ―local enthusiasm for retribution received a tepid reception in Edinburgh‖

(Henderson 24). This was mainly due the fact, that most of the suspects were guilty of no more than veterinary practices or folk healing or that they were simply known as misfits.

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One of the major problems with witchcraft was the identification of a witch.

This is because that, traditionally, it was enough if neighbours accused someone of being a witch for them to be recognised as such, and as a result a whole system of accusations developed. Macfarlane links the system of accusations to socioeconomic changes of that time. Typically, it was the rich accusing the poor and Macfarlane expounds an explanation that the attitude towards the rising numbers of poor people was a question of transfer of guilt as ―it was not the refuser of charity who was breaking village norms, but rather the woman perpetrating witchcraft‖ (Sharpe 448). However, even if the socioeconomic theory is refuted, one of the reasons for denouncing a witch was simply the fact that the informer was rewarded. This had a serious impact on relationships amidst the communities. The system kept the informers out of danger‘s way, for the accused could prove their innocence only by a series of absurd trials. As

John Dalyell in The Darker Superstitions of Scotland describes: ―Informers, whose presence indignation should have spurned, were eagerly heard, and warmly applauded.

The guiltless were dragged from the sanctuary of their private abodes, to undergo tests of criminality so absurd, so cruel, and so wicked, as covered justice with opprobrium, and converted the name of law to ridicule.‖ (617) The atmosphere that arose because of these facts was tense and people were bound to be suspicious.

Another problem of the accusatorial system was the feudal context around it.

Neighbourly disputes or supposed attacks on farmer‘s cattle carried out by another farmer were often the source of accusations of witchcraft. These problems were judged according to the local knowledge of the ministers who could in this case be unbiased. A different situation was when the accused was an individual of upper class and the

31 accuser was a farmer or a peasant. In these cases the judges were practically always biased against the accusing side of the trial. Mentioning how easy it was for the nobles to accuse common people of witchcraft is not even necessary.

Scholars argue whether the witch hunts were driven by the government or if it was the other way around and the government restrained them. The Witchcraft Act of

1604 does not exactly speak for a government restraining enthusiastic locals. As a sterner stature than the previous Elizabethan one it punished a wider range of actions associated with witches by harsher punishments. On the other hand it does not speak for a bloodthirsty government trying to obsessively hunt down anyone dealing with the occult. Stuart MacDonald comes with a third possible explanation for the witch hunts in his "Creating a Godly Society: Witch-hunts, Discipline and Reformation in Scotland":

―It was the church, and church courts, which were the key participants in the initial investigations of accusations of witchcraft. It was in the Kirk sessions, the church courts located in the local community, where we often find the initial accusations against a witch appearing. Alison Dick, to return to her, was first named in a Kirk session in Kirkcaldy as a suspected witch. The church played a vital role in beginning the entire process.‖ (11)

The beginning of the Reformation in Scotland is not clearly cut. In 1525 the

Scottish parliament forbade the importation of Lutheran books. Three years later a nobleman Patrick Hamilton became the first Protestant martyr when he was burned at a stake for heresy. Peter G. B. McNeill and Hector L. MacQueen in Atlas of Scottish

History to 1707 observe: ―By the 1590s Scotland was organized into about fifty

32 presbyteries with about twenty ministers in each. Above them stood a dozen or so synods and at the apex the general assembly.‖ (390) Just as the organization of the

Church was completed, the witch hunts of 1590-91 happened. The Church quite naturally sought to establish a godly society. To do that it was necessary to eradicate sinful behaviour such as sex outside of marriage, skipping church services or creating cures and charms. ―A godly community prayed. Godly people did not seek the assistance of the fairies, or know cures and charms, or seek help from the village witch.‖ (MacDonald 12) This would explain why the trial documents rarely mention pacts with Devil and very frequently cite consorting with fairies or folk healing.

However a number of witches were accused due to the magical attack on the king.

5.3 The Attack on James VI

The involvement of the king in the problem of witchcraft was rather direct in the case of James VI It was partly due to James‘ fascination with occult and partly due to the alleged assassination attempt. As Alexander MacGregor writes in Highland

Superstitions: ―The mind of King James VI was deeply impressed with the flagrant nature of the crime of witchcraft. Soon after his arrival from Denmark in 1590, to conduct his bride home, the Princess Anne, a tremendous witch conspiracy was formed against his Majesty's prosperity.‖ (21) As the main culprit Agnes Sampsoune10, commonly known under the nickname of ―the wise wife of Keith‖, confessed during a trial before the king that the planning of the assassination also implicated other 59 people who were supposedly involved.

10 The name Sampsoune has different spelling in different sources; most common are Sampson, Sampsoune and Samson. 33

The plot the witches were accused of was murder, first the Queen Anne on her way home to Denmark and then the King James VI, when he sailed out to get her.

Agnes Sampsoune confessed to spells such as melting a toad over a fire and similar to change the weather in order to sink two royal ships. According to Daemonologie, Agnes confessed ―...that vpon the night of Allhollon Euen last, she was accompanied as well with the persons a foresaide, as also with a great many other witches, to the number of two hundreth: and that all they together went by Sea each one in a Riddle or Ciue, and went in the same very substantially with Flaggons of wine making merrie and drinking by the waye in the same Riddles or Ciues, to the Kerke of North Barrick in Lowthian...‖

(James VI 92) Later Agnes owned up to a pact with the Devil that supposedly wanted to destroy the king by creating a storm to sink the royal ships for the king was ―the greatest enemie hee [the Devil] hath in the world" (James VI 94).

The attempt on the king‘s life led to a full-scale investigation nowadays called the North Berwick witch trials. More than 200 hundred individuals were accused of witchcraft, among them even Francis Stewart, the 5th Earl of Bothwell (charged with high treason), and tortured in Edinburgh to extract a confession. James VI was present during some of the trials and even participated in interrogations of the suspects. The witches suffered the treatment common at that time; they were tortured, shaved all over in order to make the finding of a devil‘s mark easier, and tried before a court to receive punishment, which has been usually strangled and burning. The king summarizes this incident in his book Daemonologie as follows:

―Againe it is confessed, that the said christened Cat was the cause that the

Kinges Maiesties Ship at his comming foorth of Denmarke, had a contrary winde to the

34 rest of his Ships, then being in his companye, which thing was most strange and true, as the Kings Maiestie acknowledgeth, for when the rest of the Shippes had a faire and good winde, then was the winde contrarye and altogither against his Maiestie: and further the saide witche declared, that his Maiestie had neuer come safelye from the

Sea, if his faith had not preuailed aboue their ententions.‖ (James VI 96)

Daemonologie, a book written by James VI, contains a discourse full of details about individual witches, the methods used to make them confess and their sentences.

Thus, it is quite obvious that the King James VI was profoundly interested in the problem of witchcraft and everything occult and it shows that even an educated man that James VI without a doubt was, was confident that magic was real. As he was present and interested in the trial of Agnes Sampsoune, where the involvement of fairies and white magic was discussed, in cannot be all blamed on the Devil and Christian doctrine as there are clearly folk beliefs of the supernatural involved. This is later proved in his Daemonologie, where he dedicates first part of the book to magic and necromancy especially, the second to witches and the last to all kinds of spirits.

5.4 The Witchcraft Act of 1604

The witchcraft act of 1604 was passed by James VI as a law subsequent to the one queen Elizabeth passed in 1563. As Elizabethan law was somewhat less severe,

James VI updated it by adding harsher punishments for a larger range of crimes. The

Elizabethan statute included three degrees of the crime of witchcraft where the less offensive crimes were not punished by death but only by imprisonment. The death sentence was given only for the second offence in case of malicious magic or when the suspect was proven guilty of conversing with evil spirits no matter the purpose for these

35 pacts. The Elizabethan statute was in a way extension of a previous law against witchcraft in a same way as James‘ VI act was an updated version of the act of 1563.

The Witchcraft Act of 1604 was a harsher statute. It no longer focused on malicious intent or the distinction between evil and good spirits but considered witchcraft as naturally criminal. Additionally, the statute listed as crimes using witchcraft for locating treasure, procuring unlawful love or attempting to hurt people or cattle even if the culprit failed to do so. Second offence in case of these crimes was no longer punished by imprisonment but by death. James‘ law (1 Jac. I, c. 12), passed in

1604, was the final witchcraft statute passed in England. It expanded the felonious degree of witchcraft (a capital offence) beyond murder to include witchcraft that resulted in injury, as well as the use of sorcery and invoking of evil spirits for any intent, malicious or not. Yet in practice even lesser crimes when found that they were done with malicious intent were not punished by imprisonment (for a first offence) but by death. At the same time not all forms of witchcraft or sorcery were considered a felonious crime. One important consequence of the Elizabethan and James‘s statutes was the fact that witchcraft was considered to be a felony and thus no longer under the ecclesiastical court.

5.5 Witches in Literary Works

As superstitions were one of the major literary topics at the time, the others being philosophical and religious debate or scientific discoveries, witches, fairies and everything occult became a part of the most famous works of 16th century. Elves, dwarfs and fairies of many kinds the same as spirits and ghost can be found throughout

36 the Scottish poetry, witches were important characters in theatre plays, fairy tales and legends were full of monsters. At first witches were only part of the background. They helped to create familiar atmosphere or were parodies of themselves, a comical aspect of the plays and literary works. With time the character of a witch became an initiator of the whole plot or at least an important influence upon the story. Witches became important and expected characters in many literary works.

The comic role of a witch in theatre during the years of the reign of King James

VI and I would seem unexpected due to the horrors of witch hunts and trials. Yet the comical portrayal was not so rare. Apart from pamphlets where the source of comedy was usually the bumbling victim such as in G.B.‘s A Most Wicked Work of a Wretched

Witch (1592) in which the victim Richard Burt when presented with implied hell and tormented souls which he finds to be ―exceeding hot‖ his only difficulty is finding a pub where he could spend his penny (G.B. 6). While the witch stays mainly in the background, the character is without a doubt more humorous than terrifying. Similar occurrences can be seen in The Severall Practises of Johane Harrison and Her

Daughter that was a part of a longer pamphlet from 1606 or in Witches Apprehended

(1613) (Bourke 41).

Slightly more terrifying were the witches in Shakespeare‘s Macbeth. Apart from mentioning Hecate as a spirit witch, the three witches that set the story into motion are given plenty of screen time. As it was already entrenched in popular belief that witches are ugly, usually old and evil crones, Shakespeare played into this stereotype using wit when Banquo upon seeing the three witches says: ―… you should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are.‖ (Shakespeare). The more horror-like

37 aspect of witchcraft is demonstrated during the infamous cauldron scene when the three witches are casting a spell, naming all the ingredients such as eye of newt or toe of frog and chanting: ―Double, double toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble.‖

(Shakespeare) Despite the comic side witches are described as very powerful beings able to influence people‘s lives. Yet it can be seen that even during the dangerous times of witch hunts, witches were not portrayed only as fear inducing monsters but also ridiculed.

Macbeth is a very good example on the topic of superstitions. Not only are the witches the characters of great importance but additionally a series of myths and superstitions evolved influenced all sorts of accidents that happened during rehearsals or performances. Actors never mention the name of the play, simply opting for periphrasis of that Scottish play, when in theatre as it is supposed to cause accidents or even death. This is supposedly the consequence of Shakespeare using the spells of real witches and thus angering them and causing them to curse the play. As with every other superstition even in this case there is a method of how to protect oneself against the curse. In this instance there is more than one attributed to various actors usually involving leaving the building, rotating on the spot, swearing or quoting from Hamlet or

The Merchant of Venice.

Witches were and still are popular characters - nowadays not only in plays but in books, TV shows and other genres of modern popular culture. Some of the roots of this popularity can be found in pamphlets from 16th and 17th century Scotland or in famous plays such as Macbeth.

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Chapter 6: Conclusion

Superstition in Scotland is a complex issue that involves history, religion and cultural tradition. To understand how ingrained the superstitions were it is necessary to know the religious history. Christians and Protestants both were able to eliminate neither superstitions nor beliefs in pagan spirits/fairies and in the process both religions equally acquired their own share of superstitions.

Common people observed hundreds of minor superstitions that influenced every little thing they did. The belief in Good Neighbours influenced how people built their houses or made them give up their food.

Superstitions were one of the sources which underpinned witch hunts as they were perceived to be the cause of an ungodly society that Protestants were attempting to reform. This calling for a reform and godly society was so strong it produced laws against witchcraft which were strictly adhered to and resulted in torture and death of numerous, usually innocent, people.

The Scottish fascination with witches and supernatural creatures such as fairies made it possible for numerous invaluable written works to be created; be it plays, novels, ballads or poetry.

In light of these facts, it is obvious that superstitions and belief in the supernatural influenced every aspect of people‘s lives from the education of small children through fables and legends about Good Neighbours or urisks and laws and prosecuting of witchcraft to creation of invaluable works such as Macbeth.

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Résumé

This bachelor thesis deals with the influence of superstitions on life during the reign of James VI in Scotland. It explains how superstitions came to be in a strictly

Protestant country and how much they influenced the daily lives of common people, literature and politics of the period. As examples the specific superstitions from

Alexander MacGregor‘s Highland Superstitions are used.

Each chapter is dedicated to different phenomenon, exploring the different ways in which the previous religion of Celts reflected in everyday beliefs. It shows the complexity of the origin of fairy belief and the consequences it had during everyday lives and the witch trials. The next part is dedicated to the matter of witches, their impact on politics and law-making and on the person of the king due to extensive witch hunts and supposed attacks on the king.

Also the importance of superstitions as a major topic of legends, folk tales and plays is shown both in the case of fairy belief and in the case of witches.

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Tato bakalářská práce se zabývá vlivem pověr na život během vlády Jakuba VI. ve Skotsku. Vysvětluje, jak pověry přetrvaly až do doby striktní protestantské země a do jaké míry ovlivnily každodenní život běžného lidu, literaturu a politiku tohoto období.

Jako příklady jsou použity specifické pověry z knihy Highland Superstitions od

Alexandera MacGregora.

Každá kapitola je věnována jinému úkazu, zabývají se různými způsoby jakými se předešlé keltské náboženství promítlo do každodenní víry. Práce ukazuje komplexnost původu víry ve víly a následky, které tato víra měla v každodenním životě a čarodějnických procesech. Další část je věnována problematice čarodějnic, jejímu dopadu na politiku a vytváření zákonů a na osobu krále z důvodu rozsáhlých honů na

čarodějnice a údajného útoku na krále.

Taktéž je poukázáno na důležitost pověr jako význameného námětu k legendám, lidovým příběhům a divadelním hrám jak v případě víry ve víly, tak i v případě

čarodějnic.

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