In August on 1696, eleven-year-old Christian Shaw — the daughter of the Laird of Bargarran, a local landowner — caught her servant Catherine Campbell stealing a drink of milk and reported the incident to her mother. The servant, Catherine Campbell, apparently didn’t appreciate being tattled on and responded by wishing that the Devil would “haul [Shaw’s] soul through Hell.” A few days later, Shaw started suffering from mysterious and violent fits, including seizures, convulsions, and unresponsive trances. All, incidentally, quite similar to symptoms reported by the accusers in the Salem witch trials of 1693.
Initially, Shaw’s accusation were leveled only at Catherine Campbell and Agnes Naismith, an old local woman already reputed to be a witch. Over time, however, the recriminations ballooned, and she eventually had implicated 35 people in being involved with the sorcery that afflicted her, but only 7 were brought to trial. 6 were burned at the stark, 1 however John Reid hung himself before he could be burned alive.
At her execution, Agnes Naismith laid a “dying woman’s curse” on all present and their descendants into perpetuity. Since then, many local misfortunes and tragedies have been blamed on this curse, and the grave was marked with a horseshoe to keep the curse at bay.
To solve the Mystery Cache you will need to complete three stages.
Stage One.
This is the location of the Mass Grave where 6 of the Witches lie. To solve the location of Stage two, use the image of the bronze plaque with the inscription to work out the coordinates of Stage Two. You can visit the location if you wish, but please bare in mind that the plaque lies in the middle of a busy intersection.
N 55° 54.(PAIN - 231) W 004° 26.(ENDURED + 296)
A = 1, B = 52 , C = 89, D = 13 , E = 22 , F = 47 , G = 9 , H = 58 , I = 30 , J = 99 , K = 178 , L = 111 , M = 666 , N = 45 , O = 33 , P = 532 , Q = 79 , R = 4 , S = 87 , T = 31 , U = 62 , V = 252 , W = 67 , X = 84 , Y = 7 , Z = 585.
Stage Two. You will have to drive to this location.
This is an approx location of Bargarran House, the exact location is hard to get to with the development of Erskine and Erskine Bridge. The location of Bargarran House is also hard to tell exactly where it is due to looking at old maps, but it is known to be beside Erskine Estate, now known as Mar Hall. The coordinates of the final location are within this unique container.
Final Location. This stage will require driving to this location.
The location itself is a bit neglected, a hidden little treasure of Paisley and Scotlands history. This is where people found to be witches were burned alive.