Memorandum regarding the Witch of Monzie and the Graeme family

• Reference:GB 254 MS 135/2
• Former Reference:GB 254 MS 15/31
• Dates of Creation:c 1840
• Name of Creator:
  Possibly Rev George Blair
• Physical Description:
  1 letter

• Scope and Content

  Memorandum regarding the Witch of Monzie and the Graeme family, possibly by Grace Grame

• Administrative / Biographical History

  Kate McNiven (also known as McNieven / Nicniven / Niven), the Witch of Monzie, was nurse to the Graeme family of Inchbrakie, Perthshire. In c. 1715 she was burned at the stake, one of the last women to be executed as a witch in Scotland. Rev George Blair studied at St Andrews. He became pastor of Monzie parish, Perthshire in 1843, but was suspended from the office of holy ministry and resigned the following year. His volume of poetry and prose The Holocaust; or the Witch of Monzie: a poem illustrative of the cruelties of superstition; Lays of Palestine and other poems, to which is prefixed Enchantment Disenchanted; or a treatise on Superstition was published in 1845. He briefly worked as a journalist in Glasgow before travelling abroad and by 1877 was Inspector of Schools in Canada. In the same year, with the backing of influential friends in Canada, he was able to have his sentence of suspension removed by the Presbytery of Auchterarder.

• Access Information

  Open for consultation subject to preservation requirements. Access must also conform to the restrictions of the Data Protection Act (2018), General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR, 2018) and any other relevant legislation or restrictions. Clinical information is closed for 100 years.

• Acquisition Information

  The record was found inside a volume of George Blair's The Holocaust; or, The Witch of Monzie KLoc 828.994 18 B 635

• Note

  Kate McNiven (also known as McNieven / Nicniven / Niven), the Witch of Monzie, was nurse to the Graeme family of Inchbrakie, Perthshire. In c. 1715 she was burned at the stake, one of the last women to be executed as a witch in Scotland. Rev George Blair studied at St Andrews. He became pastor of Monzie parish, Perthshire in 1843, but was suspended from the office of holy ministry and resigned the following year. His volume of poetry and prose The Holocaust; or the Witch of Monzie: a poem illustrative of the cruelties of superstition; Lays of Palestine and other poems, to which is prefixed Enchantment Disenchanted; or a treatise on Superstition was published in 1845. He briefly worked as a journalist in Glasgow before travelling abroad and by 1877 was Inspector of Schools in Canada. In the same year, with the backing of influential friends in Canada, he was able to have his sentence of suspension removed by the Presbytery of Auchterarder.

• Physical Characteristics and/or Technical Requirements

  The record is on paper

• Archivist's Note

  Description compiled by Kenneth Baxter

• Conditions Governing Use

  Reproduction is available subject to preservation requirements. Charges may be made for this service, and copyright and other restrictions may apply; please check with the Duty Archivist.

• Accruals

  Not expected

• Additional Information

  Published