Remembering the Accused Witches of Scotland

Liz McMann and Sheila Gaul were the guests of the club to talk about RAWS, a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation that campaigns to raise awareness of the ordinary women and men who were accused of witchcraft during this dark period of Scottish history.

Liz gave a presentation in a detailed diary form. Sarah Kelly and Kate Stewart got together and laid the foundations of the original group.

The group called Fife Witches Remembered, a non-political, non-affiliated group raised the awareness of the history of men and women in Fife that were accused.  This led to conference in the Glen Pavilion attended by academics - Professor Julian Goodyear, Edinburgh University, Dr Lizanne Henderson from Glasgow University, Dr Louise Yeoman and Douglas Speirs, Fife Council archaeologist. From this conference, bigger and better things evolved including the formation of RAWS (Remembering the Accused Witches of Scotland).

Key aims of RAWS

Educate and Raise Awareness
An apology for all those persecuted and prosecuted 
A National Monument to all those accused

In September 2020, they supported the West Fife Heritage Network, opening the Accused Witches Trail with plaques in Culross, High Valleyfield and Torryburn.  Amongst them is Lillias Adie, Scotland's only accused witch who has an identifiable name. She was buried on the shoreline that Torryburn bay and a great big slab laid on top of her.

STV YouTube - https://youtu.be/i2skwNwpuTM

In March 2022, Liz and Sheila went to St Ninian's opencast site just outside Kelty. There they met Irene Wissett and Andy Whitlock from a company called National Pride UK. They hope to develop 960 acres which will include a building to start off the plans for the national memorial.

On International Women's Day, 8th March 2022, one of their aims came to fruition when Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister at the time, made an apology on behalf of the Scottish Government. Then on 24th May 2022, Reverend Professor Susan Hardman-Moore, delivered the proposal, that sailed through the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland formally apologising for their part in the witch trials.

The 4th June, 1563 was the date of the first Witchcraft Act. So June is a month of remembrance. Various events were held to mark the 461st anniversary of the introduction of the Witchcraft Act.

RAWS now deliver talks to numerous groups, spreading the word slowly via in person talks and by online talks. 

In Q&A that followed PP Donald asked if things like children’s books and Shakespeare perpetuate the notion about witches without people understanding it?  For instance, Hubble Bubble, Toil and Trouble and so on, that relates to plants that were used in potions, etc, not to eyes of newt or anything like that. So does that still perpetuate some of these notions? 

Sheila replied:-

“Your kiddies books and stories - yes. Whenever somebody says witch, you're going to see the lady with the big nose and the warts and the fingers and the pointy hats and things. That still does get perpetuated a fair bit by Hollywood as well. But one of the talks that we do, we actually ask the question, well, who could be a witch? What does a witch look like? Where would you find them? Any one of us in this room could be because they're ordinary folk, they look like you, me, your mum, your gran, your granddad.

“They were just folk and a lot of your memorials, your smaller memorials say just that they were just folk. There's a memorial just outside Forfar that just says just folk.

“The idea of the Green Witch and the Wizard of Oz and Wicked and all that, that's not what we're talking about. We're talking about real people in the 15, 16 and 1700s who had real lives and families who were accused of crimes they couldn’t possibly have committed. So you have to acknowledge the fact that it's two separate things, but there's this idea of this malevolent, and it's usually an evil old woman, like the stepmother evil, which is not real, because there's lots of step parents that aren't evil.

“Disney seems to like to make them not only the villain, not only the stepmom, but also a witch as well. So it tells you a bit about society, which is quite interesting but it's not great.”