Thomas Weir

Major Thomas Weir (Carluke, South Lanarkshire 1599 -Edinburgh 1670) was a Scottish soldier and presumed occultist, executed for witchcraft.

Weir was a Scottish Covenanter who professed a particularly strict form of Presbyterianism, and whose spoken prayers were popular and attracted visitors to his home in Edinburgh. He served under James Graham, Marquis of Montrose, as a Covenanter lieutenant. He was known as the "Bowhead Saint".^[1] This links to his residence on West Bow, off the Grassmarket.

Biography

Weir was a native of Carluke ( Kirkstyle ) in Lanarkshire, a signatory of the Solemn League and Covenant, and an officer in the Scottish Anti-Royalist army. As a Lieutenant, he served in Ulster during the Irish Rebellion of 1641. In 1650, after retiring with the rank of Major, he obtained the post of commander of the Edinburgh Town Guard. When the defeated Jacobite General, James Graham, 1st Marquess of Montrose, was in custody in Edinburgh before his execution, Weir notoriously mocked and abused him.^[2]

Weir became ill in 1670, and from his sick-bed began to confess to a life of crime and vice. The Lord Provost initially found the confession implausible and took no action, but eventually Weir and his sister were taken to the Edinburgh Tolbooth for interrogation. Major Weir continued to expand on his confession, and Jean Weir, seemingly having entirely lost her wits, gave an even more exaggerated history of witchcraft, sorcery and vice. Whilst at first this high-ranking public figure was not believed, his own confession coupled by a witness, stating that they saw his walking stick walking down the street in front of him, sealed his fate.

Both he and his sister were quickly found guilty at their trial and sentenced to death, Major Weir to be garotted and burned, and Jean Weir hanged.^[2][3]

Awaiting execution they were confined in the former leper colony near Calton Hill. He was strangled and burned, at the Gallowlee^[4] (literally field with the gallows at the end) between Edinburgh and Leith.^[5]. This site is now occupied by the Shrubhill Garage site, near Pilrig on Leith Walk. The execution followed a further public confession of incest with his sister Jean (sometimes known as 'Grizel'), who was also executed.^[6]

They were buried at the base of the gallows, as was the custom of the times.

Legacy

The story of Weir has been proposed as an influence on Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson^[7]

References

1. ^ Clan Weir
2. ^ ^{a b} James Grant, Cassell's Old and New Edinburgh, a partwork published by Cassells from 1880.
3. ^ The Grassmarket.com an Edinburgh tourist site.
4. ^ Edinburgh and The Lothians
5. ^ Grassmarket- Edinburgh.Com - History- Major Thomas Weir
6. ^ Major Weir Scottish Clans Tartans Kilts Crests and Gifts
7. ^ .BBC - Press Office - Ian Rankin investigates Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde for BBC Four

Further reading

• David Stevenson, Major Weir: a justified sinner?, Scottish Studies, 16 (1972)

External links

•  "Weir, Thomas". Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900. 
• Major Thomas Weir
• Witches and Witch Trials in Scotland

Persondata
Name	Weir, Thomas
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1599
Place of birth
Date of death	1670
Place of death