A survey of necromancers and elite magic in Scotland with two sixteenth century case studies: firstly the 1568 political conspiracy of Sir William Stewart of Luthrie, during which he ritually summoned a lunar spirit called ‘Obirion’ and consulted prophetic witches from Scotland and Norway, and secondly Ritchie Graham of North Berwick witch fame, 1590. The lecture will argue that ‘necromancers’ need to be understood in the context of broader practices of elite magic, and their connections to popular magic.

Louise Yeoman is the producer of BBC Radio Scotland’s podcasts ‘Witch Hunt’ and ‘Time Travels’. She is co-director of the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft and was previously a curator of early modern manuscripts at National Library of Scotland. Her research interests lie in Early Modern Scottish piety and belief. She is the author of the book Reportage Scotland and has been a radio producer for nearly twenty years now. Julian Goodare is Emeritus Professor of History, University of Edinburgh. His books include The European Witch-Hunt (2016). His most recent edited books are Demonology and Witch-Hunting in Early Modern Europe (2020), co-edited with Rita Voltmer and Liv Helene Willumsen, and The Supernatural in Early Modern Scotland (2020), co-edited with Martha McGill. He is director of the online Survey of Scottish Witchcraft.