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Agnes Sampson

Agnes Sampson (died 28 January 1591) was a Scottish healer and purported witch. Also known as the "Wise Wife of Keith", Sampson was involved in the North Berwick witch trials in the later part of the sixteenth century.

Sampson lived at Nether Keith, a part of the Barony of Keith, East Lothian, Scotland. She was considered to have healing powers and acted as a midwife.

The craze for witch hunts in Europe in the 16th century was as brutal as it was bloody. It is estimated that over a period of about 200 years, about 40,000 women, men and even children were executed for the "crime" of witchcraft. Agnes Sampson was one of those victims, and now it is rumored that her ghost haunted the halls of Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.

Sampson was a midwife and healer at the end of the 16th century who used her knowledge of herbal remedies and related (sometimes questionable) medical procedures for the sake of benevolence. Besides, she was so expert that many attributed supernatural or paranormal powers to her. But at that time, Scotland was a deeply superstitious place with mass fears regularly triggered by alleged evil forces.

Agnes's success as a midwife and healer was fatal, as she quickly became an easy target for extremist fanatics, while in addition, at that moment, a wave of religious fervor swept the world away. Scotland in the 1590s, Agnès was quickly accused of having made a deal with the devil and found herself in a group of about 100 suspects, who were arrested for practicing witchcraft in North Berick. Agnes has fiercely denied the accusations against her.

Unfortunately for Agnes Sampson, James VI of Scotland took a particular interest in his case. She was brought to a councilofhernobilityandwasinterrogatedfiercely.Agnes'srefusaltosubmittotheking's accusations weakens the monarch. She was, by consent, admitted to a dungeon where she was brutally tortured until a so-called confession was finally extracted.

Remarkably, Agnes could withstand her ordeal without confessing for days. However, after being shaved all the hair, she was forced to stand naked, fixed against a wall by a painful mouthpiece known as "Witch's Bride", an iron instrument with four sharp teeth placed in the mouth, two pressed against the cheeks and two against the tongue, preventing any movement of the mouth and all speech She stood like that for days without sleep or sustenance. Despite this inhuman treatment, Agnes maintained her innocence, begging for her freedom.

Frustrated by Agnes's resilience to torture, the guards decided to in crease their torture and rolled out the use of a tourniquet. In the hour following the setting of the rope, Agnès confessed to the multitude of charges she has been accused of .After this, she was removed from her cell to be tide to a stake and then slowly burned until she died, the common fate of those who were accused of witchcraft.

The execution of Agnes Sampson was only one tragedy among other thousands of cases that took place during this witch hunt in Scotland. Her sad story became particularly important, not least because her tormented ghost, often seen running through the corridors of Holy rood Palace, where she was tortured, naked and bald.

Agnès' observations date from the time of his execution to the present day. One of the most recent observations would have been in 2014, when a maintenance man was working late, trying to repair a faulty lock. He says he saw the ghost of Agnes appear at the end of a well-lit corridor and she would have walked in her direction with slow, dying movements. Surprised, the worker let out a cry of terror but at that moment, she had already disappeared ....