MAJOR THOMAS WEIR - THE WIZARD OF WEST BOW

Major Thomas Weir was born in 1599 and lived in Edinburgh's West Bow, a ‘Z’ shaped street between the Castle and the Grassmarket.

He was a frequent attendee of his local Protestant prayer meetings and a respected pillar of the community. The Major fell sick however, and became compelled, in his feverish state of mind to divulge his secret life to his fellow worshippers.

He admitted crimes against man and God that included depravity, necromancy and other supernatural activities that resulted from his witchcraft. He was taken into custody by the provost Sir Andrew Ramsay, as was his sister Jean, who was his partner in these black arts. Both were tried on April 9, 1670 and sentenced to death.

While Jean was hung in the Grassmarket, Major Weir was burned alive somewhere between Edinburgh and Leith.
He was noted for his fervent reluctance to repent his sins and his resolve to accept his hopeless, defiled state.

Instead of asking for God’s mercy at the moment before death he exclaimed,

“let me alone - I will not - I have lived as a beast, and I must die as a beast!".

The house where Weir and his sister lived and practiced their debauched devil worship stands to this day and neighbours have confirmed sightings of his ghost and strange lights from within his former residence; so too sounds of laughter and revellery – a macabre sign that the Major and his cohorts still enjoy their unholy distractions to this day!