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Janet Boyman
Janet Boyman (died 1572), also known as Jonet Boyman or Janet Bowman,[a] was a Scottish woman accused of witchcraft; she was tried and executed in 1572 although the case against her was started in 1570.[5] Her indictment has been described by modern-day scholars, such as Lizanne Henderson, as the earliest and most comprehensive record of witchcraft and fairy belief in Scotland.[5] Accusations of witchcraftJanet Boyman lived in the Cowgate of Edinburgh, and was said to have been from Ayrshire.[5] She was married to William Steill.[5] In early modern Scotland married women did not change their surnames.[6][7] She was alleged to have predicted the death of Regent Moray who was assassinated in January 1570, and her accusation was the first to be made in connection with a political conspiracy.[2][8] She told her interrogators that she made contact with the supernatural world at a well on the south side of Arthur's Seat a hill close to Edinburgh. There she conjured spirits who would help her heal others.[9] Sometimes she worked cures by washing the patients's shirt at the well at St Leonards.[10] She was condemned as:
Jonet Boyman was executed on 29 December 1572.[5] Personal lifeThere is little information available concerning Boyman's personal life; however the trial record shows her as living in Cowgate, a street in Edinburgh.[5] No indication is given of her age but she was married to William Steill.[5] ReferencesNotesCitations
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