Enemies of God Revisited: Recent Publications on Scottish Witch-hunting

Abstract

Great books are always great books, but there does come a point when the analysis they offer needs to be reconsidered or re-evaluated. Christian Larner’s, Enemies of God: The Witch-hunt in Scotland (1981) is a great book, arguably one of the most significant published in Scottish history in the last twenty-five years. Its influence has been felt not only within Scottish studies, but in the larger European debate on the experience of witch-hunting to which Enemies of God made a significant contribution. Indeed Larner’s contribution through this major book, her other writings and the research project on which she worked with Christopher Lee and Hugh McLachlan which resulted in A Sourcebook of Scottish Witchcraft (1977), has dominated the field since its publication. For many people, Enemies of God answered all of the questions about the Scottish witch-hunt. It was now time to move on to other topics in Scottish history. Yet for Christina Larner while the book served as an opportunity to answer some questions, it also served as a chance to raise many others and to call for further studies. Larner was aware of how little had been written on the Scottish witch-hunt in modern times, requiring her to answer almost every conceivable question that might be posed. The result is a book that is broad and complex, covering large topics for the first time, offering multiple and often qualified explanations, but resulting in a picture of the Scottish witch-hunt. The very strengths of the book and its dominance may have resulted in the last thing Christina Larner would have desired. The publication of Enemies of God did not immediately stimulate further research and may have acted as a disincentive. What was there left to say? As Julian Goodare recently commented: ‘This brilliant work so dominated the field that until recently it was difficult for anyone to think of new things to say about it.’ 4 There were notable exceptions, but it has been only in the last decade that a large number of new publications looking at various aspects of the Scottish witch-hunt have begun to be published. Historians have found things to say. New research has both amplified