Scottish witch report shows executioners’ crisis [View all]

IT WAS a macabre and dreaded career to take, during one of the darkest chapters in Scotland’s history when superstition brought about a culture of fear and panic that claimed the lives of hundreds of people.

Now, research into the grim role of the men who ended the lives of the nation’s witches has revealed how they were handsomely rewarded for their deeds yet feared by ordinary people.

A new book exploring the history of witch hunting throughout the 16th and 17th centuries shows that there was a recruitment crisis for executioners

http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/scottish-witch-report-shows-executioners-crisis-1-3247012