Posted on 10/29/2004 10:04:08 AM PDT by presidio9
Accused witches -- and their cats -- executed during a wave of hysteria and religious ferment centuries ago will be pardoned on Halloween in this Scottish township.
"There'll be no witches' hats, dress-ups or that sort of thing -- it will be a fairly solemn occasion," Adele Conn, spokeswoman for the baronial court that granted the pardons, said by telephone interview Friday.
Sunday's ceremony will publicly declare pardons for 81 local people executed in the 16th and 17th centuries for being witches. The pardons have been granted under ancient feudal powers due to be abolished within weeks.
More than 3,500 Scots, mainly woman and children, and their cats were killed in witch hunts at a time of political intrigue and religious ferment. Many were condemned on flimsy evidence, such as owning a black cat or brewing homemade remedies.
Prestonpans region had recorded one of the largest numbers of witch executions in all of Scotland, said Conn, who is the "mountjoye," or official spokeswoman, for the Barons Courts of Prestoungrange & Dolphinstoun.
She said Gordon Prestoungrange, the 14th baron, granted the pardons for the convictions in the last session of his court, which is due to be abolished on November 28.
"'Most of those persons condemned for witchcraft within the jurisdiction of the Baron Courts of Prestoungrange and Dolphinstoun were convicted on the basis of spectral evidence -- that is to say, prosecuting witnesses declared that they felt the presence of evil sprits 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."
(snip)
The court declared an absolute pardon to all those convicted, "as well as to the cats concerned."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
That's big of them. Snort.
Better late than never I guess.
Homemade remedies. You mean like soaking white raisins in Gin?
BEDEVERE:
Exactly. So, logically...
VILLAGER #1:
If... she... weighs... the same as a duck,... she's made of wood.
BEDEVERE:
And therefore?
VILLAGER #2:
A witch!
It was a fair cop. They weighed the same as a duck and were made of wood. Guilty as charged, m'lud.
They shouldn't be pardoned they confessed to the crime.
Just what this place needs, a bunch of smart-@$$ Monty Python fans...
taxpayers money hard at work
Finally, some really happy news!
I find that repeated exposure to Monty Python is very good for my health :)
Are there any other kind?
"Eu sou rico vou a foda você mesmo!!!"
I'll go to my grave saying that the invention of canned cat food was the beginning of the end of civilized society.
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