House of Lords Scotland and Ireland. The House of Lords was reduced to a largely powerless body, with Cromwell and his supporters in the Commons dominating the Government. On 19 March 1649, the House of Lords was abolished by an Act of Parliament, which declared that "The Commons of England [find] by too long experience that the House of Lords is useless and dangerous to the people of England." The House of Lords did not assemble again until the Convention Parliament met in 1660 and the monarchy was restored. It returned to its former position as the more powerful chamber of Parliament—a position
Great Scottish witch hunt of 1649–50 a suspect's skin was pierced with needles, pins and bodkins as it was believed that they would possess a Devil's mark through which they could not feel pain. This was often undertaken by professional witch prickers, such as John Kincaid, who was active in finding marks on Patrick Watson and Manie Halieburton at Dirleton Castle before June 1649 and George Cathie, who was operating in Lanarkshire in November 1649. The Newcastle trials began after the town council engaged a Scottish witch pricker, who was paid 20s for each guilty witch, but his methods raised the suspicions of the English Lieutenant-Colonel