In which we learn about a woman called Christian Shaw, who as a child of 11, 'rid' her Scottish County of 7 witches, and then went on to singlehandedly improve the quality of Scottish Linen! There may have been some espionage involved, definitely a curse, and the famous linen 'bleaching fields' in the Netherlands. What a tale!

References & Further Reading:

1.        Levack, Brian P. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe – A broader look at the social and political climate that led to cases like the Bargarran Witch Trials.

2.        Beveridge, Craig. Scottish Industrial History: A Study of Textiles and Innovation – Examines the development of the Scottish textile industry, including early industrial espionage.

3.        Wikipedia: Christian Shaw – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Shaw

https://www.paisley.org.uk/famous-people/christian-shaw/

JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Genesis of the Linen Thread Trade

H. C. Lawlor

Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Third Series, Vol. 6 (1943), pp. 24-34 (11 pages)

https://www.jstor.org/stable/20566424