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Janet Boyman, also known as Jonet Boyman or Janet Bowman, was a Scottish woman accused of witchcraft; she was tried and executed in 1572 although the case against her was started in 1570. 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.

Accusations of witchcraft

Boyman was alleged to have predicted the death of the regent.

Personal life

Scant information is available concerning Boyman's personal life; the trial record shows her as living in Cowgate, a street in Edinburgh. No indication is given of her age but she was married to William Steill.

References

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1. Ronald Hutton and others, such as the Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database, list her as Janet Boyman; Henderson refers to her as Jonet Boyman, which is the form used in the criminal records, but Janet Bowman is a further variation.

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1. Hutton (2017), p. 219
2. ^ "Janet Boyman (29/12/1572)", Survey of Scottish Witchcraft Database, University of Edinburgh, retrieved 10 March 2018
3. Henderson (2011), p. 231
4. Anderson (1877), p. 363
5. ^ Henderson (2011), p. 244

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• Anderson, William (1877), The Scottish nation: or, The surnames, families, literature, honours, and biographical history of the people of Scotland, Fullerton
• Henderson, Lizanne (2011), "'Detestable slaves of the devil': Changing ideas about witchcraft in sixteenth-century Scotland", in Cowan, Edward J.; Henderson, Lizanne (eds.), A History of Everyday Life in Medieval Scotland, 1000 to 1600, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0748621576
• Hutton, Ronald (2017), The Witch: A History of Fear, from Ancient Times to the Present, Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-22904-2

• 1572 deaths
• People executed for witchcraft
• People from Edinburgh
• 16th-century Scottish women