seventeenth century, 1661. when i was a kid i used to love sitting on my bed listening to these witch story's as i live in forfar, & hear's the story. in the old,en days if you had any of these things you would be classed as a witch.: if you went by a nickname instead of the name you where baptised with; there was a mark on your body (some people call it a third nipple. or if you practiced 'malefice', which was the use of supernatural means to do evil: well if you used or done any of these things you would be classed as a witch. it was the scene of a terrible witch hunt, which resulted in the torture and execution of several local women. According to the town council's records, the witch hunt appears to have been triggered in 1661 by an argument between Isobel Shyrie, a poor woman who was unable to pay her taxes, and Baillie George Wood, a tax collector. During the quarrel, Isobel cursed Baillie Wood so, when the unfortunate man dropped dead suddenly, all fingers pointed at Isobel. In those days, there were three ways to spot a witch - she went by a nickname instead of the name she was baptised with; there was a mark on her body that was impervious to pain; or she practiced 'malefice', which was the use of supernatural means to do evil. Isobel was widely believed to be guilty of malefice which was proof enough for her to be sent to the dungeon below the Tolbooth, which was situated on the road next to the Town House in Forfar town centre. Stirred up by the burgh's new minister, James Robertsone, the hunt was soon underway for the other witches in Isobel's coven. Helen Guthrie, Isobel's best friend and well-known for her knowledge of the healing powers of herbs, was next to be taken to the Tollbooth for 'questioning', along with her 13-year-old daughter Janet Howatt, who was judged to be a witch simply because her mother was a witch. Helen knew the terrible fate that lay in wait for her now she had been named as a witch but she was determined to save her daughter. So she named names and gradually confessed to the terrible things the coven had carried out, confident the Town Council would not execute her or her daughter as long as she was providing them with information. Drinking in the graveyard at midnight, dancing on gravestones, digging up an unbaptised baby to concoct magic potions, performing rites of black magic on the beach at Barry, cavorting with the devil on the island in the centre of Forfar Loch. The witches had indeed been up to no good and Helen, Janet and Isobel were soon joined in the dark, cold dungeon by more women, who were all tortured mercilessly until they also confessed to being witches. The first witch to die was Girsel Simpsone. However, it appears that this was more a case of a mob lynching than an execution as the Town Council records include a bill for a rope for the 'down-letting' of Simpsone from the top floor window of the tollbooth. Janet Bertie and Helen Alexander were banished from the town - which was basically a sentence to a long, slow death from cold and starvation - while Christen Person had to promise to return to prison if anyone ever again accused her of witchcraft. At least six suspected witches were executed on the Playfield, which is now Victoria Street, in full view of the inhabitants of Forfar, who treated each execution as a day out. The women were strangled first and then their bodies burnt in a barrel of tar, with the heavy smoke blowing across the cheering spectators and right over the town. Helen Guthrie was one of the witches executed on the Playfield but, for some reason, her orphaned daughter, Janet, was left behind in the dungeon. In 1666, James Guthrie, a lawyer from Dundee, pleaded with the Town Council for Helen Guthrie's daughter to be set free. The council responded by setting the date for another trial and, as there is no note of a further execution, it can only be assumed that, at the age of 18 year, Janet was finally released from her dark and lonely prison. The Forfar witch hunt was finally over. And, although most of those accused of being witches met a very nasty end, a few survived and it may well be that there are descendants of the women accused of being the Forfar witches living in the town today.

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