The case of Janet Miller, Old Liston

Janet was originally named as a witch in 1650 by six other suspected witches from Kirkliston, who were questioned by the Kirk Session and Presbytery. It was another nine years before more detailed questioning and confessions led to Janet eventually being tried in 1661/2. The investigation and trial process was complicated and lengthy: she was imprisoned in the tollbooth in Edinburgh and initially acquitted at her first trial in 1661.

This talk will be delivered by Dr Joyce Miller. After completing her PhD on healing rituals, magic and witchcraft for Stirling University she was a research fellow at Edinburgh University on the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft. Since then she has taught courses in Scottish History at Stirling and Edinburgh, including ones focusing on the history of witchcraft. Joyce is currently a teaching fellow at the Centre for Open Learning at Edinburgh. She is also a researcher and project worker with the Living Memory Association, and has worked on a number of oral history projects including ‘Strike Up the Band’ a project on brass bands in West Lothian.