Women on Trial – The Reality of the Scottish Witch Hunt

(Published in March 2020)

Introduction:

This research project aims to uncover the women behind the witches persecuted in Scotland. In doing so, I hope to discover the truth regarding witches and share my findings with my peers. It is my belief that most of the women tried and murdered as witches were not evil but wise women unjustly feared and mistrusted. Through the course of this paper, I will be delving deeper into the history of certain women and hopefully create a deeper understanding for those who read it.

Literature Review:

Silva Federici’s ‘Witches, Witch-Hunting, and Women‘ examines the root causes of the surge of violence against women in the form of witch-hunts and argues that the rise of capitalism is what is behind this. “Like at the dawn of capitalism, what we discover behind today’s violence against women are processes of enclosure, land dispossession, and the remolding of women’s reproductive activities and subjectivity.” (Federici, 2018)

In Evelyn Heinemann’s book, ‘Witches, a Psychoanalytical Exploration of the Killing of Women’, she begins with the Early Modern Age and discusses in great detail, how the image of the witch is the opposite of the Virgin Mary. She explains that the ‘Witch’ is an old ugly, impure, and evil woman, where the Virgin Mary is a young, beautiful, pure, and kind woman. Her book dives very deep into “the development of society, with the increasing suppression of drives and the changes in the ego and superego, all of which are reflected in the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.” (Heinemann, 2000)

‘The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context‘ edited by Julian Goodare is a “collection of essays [that] covers the entire period of the Scottish Witch-Hunt.” (Goodare, 2002) The essays discuss Scottish witch-hunting and witchcraft in “their proper contexts of gender relations, folklore, magic, and healing, and the moral regulations by church and state.” (Goodare)

Stuart MacDonald’s ‘The Witches of Fife, Witch-Hunting in a Scottish Shire, 1560-1710‘, tells the story of the witches and witch trials that occurred along the coast of Fife. “That the Witch-Hunt in Scotland, and especially in Fife, should have happened at this time was not accidental.” (MacDonald, 2002) The Witch-Hunt began at a time when society was in the process of being reformed into a righteous and godly one. “As a result, religious authorities had control over aspects of the lives of people.” (MacDonald) When someone failed to conform or simply aroused suspicion, the outcome could be death.

‘A Source-Book of Scottish Witchcraft‘ compiled by Christina Larner, Christopher Hyde Lee, and Hugh V. McLachlan, is a treasure trove of thousands of witch-trial transcripts and names of women and men accused of witchcraft.

‘The Witch’s Way‘ is “A guide to modern-day spellcraft, nature magick, and divination.” (Robbins and Greenaway, 2019)

‘Warriors and Witches and Damn Rebel Bitches: Scottish Women to Live Your Life By’, is a book written by Scottish children’s book author, Mairi Kidd. The book tells the stories of many Scottish women and witches in a very easy-to-read way.

Methodology:

My rationale behind this research is that I believe not enough is known about the women murdered as witches in Scotland. I feel that not enough context is given before performing a song about witches, which I think may be because of a lack of knowledge. I personally was unaware of the torture and brutality that these women endured, and I feel it is necessary to share my findings. What drew me to this research project was also my own curiosity regarding witches. I find the entire topic fascinating and wanted to know more about witches and what led to the Scottish witch-hunt.

The research methods I used were:

Literature review
Auto-ethnographic
- For my auto-ethnographic research, I arranged the ‘Witches Reel’, a song used in court as evidence against multiple women on trial for witchcraft. Learning this song in my principal study lesson is part of what compelled me to pick this topic of research.
- I cast a spell and made a magick cleansing cake.
  - I felt this was not as relevant to my research so I have included the results in the appendices.
Online survey
- - I decided to create a small survey as part of my research so I could find out what people’s perceptions and beliefs of witches were. The questions I asked were:
    - A. When you hear the term ‘Witch’, what are the first few words that come to mind?
    - B. Do you believe in Witches?
    - C. On a moral scale from good to evil, how would you place witchcraft?
    - D. Do you think society’s portrayal of witches is fair/accurate? Please explain your answer.

A problem I encountered which I hadn’t accounted for, was the emotional toll researching for this project would take on me. Many times, I had to take a little break from my reading because of how distressing I found the information. I wasn’t able to keep to the reading schedule I made for that reason.

I reached out to a Wiccan High Priestess in hopes of interviewing her, but unfortunately, she was unavailable. I also emailed the Scottish Pagan Federation asking for an interview, but received no response.

The Witch Trials

The first recorded trial of a witch in Scotland was in 1561: a woman by the name of Janet Trumbill. From then, witch hunting became more and more commonplace. In the late 1500s, King James VI became obsessed with condemning women as witches. By the end of the 17th century, witch-hunting had reached its peak and slowly, as people began to doubt the validity of many of the witch trials, they began to decline in frequency.

This graph from ‘The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft’ (by, Goodare, Martin, Miller and Yeoman, 2003) shows the number of accused witches by year in Scotland. Screen Shot 2020-02-19 at 9.23.59 PM.png

In, total, it is estimated that 3,837 people were accused of witchcraft in Scotland. Of those, it is believed that around 2570 people were executed (Goodare, Martin, Miller and Yeoman, 2003).

Before the end of the 16th century, witchcraft in Scotland was very common and accepted by most people. “A witch was usually considered to be someone who knew various charms and cures, someone who could heal and harm. The witch was both a valued and a feared member of the community. There were various popular understandings of the witch, but generally, the witch was welcomed as long as she used her power for good (as a white witch) and not to do harm (black witchcraft).” (MacDonald, 2002)

In the late 1400s and early 1500s, there was a witch called Gormal of Lochaber. She “was renowned as the most powerful of a cabal of witches active in the West Highlands and Argyll.” (Kidd, 2019) She was known to have a pack of cats that she had sought wisdom from and had them do her bidding. Her chief, Cameron of Locheil, who was said to be her relative, sought her help on many occasions and was often saved by her gift of foresight. One story about Gormal is that Maclean of Duart fell in love with a woman aboard the Spanish ship Florencia and when his wife found out, she “sent for Gormal to neutralize the threat. Gormal turned up with hundreds of cats and instructed them to attack the ship. The cats scrambled aboard, ate the crew and ignited the ship’s cargo of gunpowder with sparks from their claws.” (Kidd)

It is important to note that even though women who were persecuted as witches were believed to worship the devil, this is, in most cases, very unlikely. A witch today is anyone who practices witchcraft and a witch can follow any religion or belief system. Wiccans, people that practice witchcraft and magick as part of their religion, do not recognize the devil as a deity. It’s impossible to know what religion the witches back in the 15th and 16th centuries were practicing, but the women who confessed to worshipping and having relations with the devil were brutally tortured.

I conducted a survey in which I tried to find out what people’s perception was of the term ‘witch’. Here are all the terms people used to describe what that they thought of when they heard the word ‘witch’:

I find this word-cloud to be quite an accurate representation of how I feel my peers and the people around me view witches. I think most people feel ambivalent towards the term witch but there are a few people who show a lot of animosity towards witches or that term. I have noticed that, recently, more people’s perspective of witches has become favorable. The term witch is becoming less associated with an evil, vengeful woman, and more so with a spiritual, wise woman.

In my survey I also asked people: ‘on a scale from 1-100, 1 being evil and 100 being good, how would they place witches?’ The average number was 46. I feel like this was perhaps quite a difficult question to answer because, witches aside, it’s difficult to rank anyone from good to evil as we all are imperfect and no one is 100% good.

The last question I asked was if they thought that society’s portrayal of witches was fair/accurate. Most of the answers were pretty unanimous – people believed that the portrayal of witches in modern society is not fully accurate. However, there were a few respondents who thought that society portrayed witches fairly.

Respondent #10 “yes. I think that witchcraft is evil, but not that the people that exercise witchcraft (the witches) are evil. I do believe in a satanic power but I think only bad things can come from it.”

Respondent #32 “If witches are truly evil, then yes. But if not, it’s an unfortunate stereotype (like most stereotypes). I guess that because I don’t like the idea of witchcraft (anti-Christian?) I don’t care too much.”

I find it interesting that the two people who thought witches were portrayed accurately in society both mentioned satan or anti-Christian beliefs. I relate these two responses as the term satan comes from the Christian belief. In my own personal life, I have noticed the misconceptions of what a witch is. Many people seem to think that witches are related to the devil or satan in some way. “Witches do not believe in Satan, as he stems from a Christian concept and most Wiccans do not ordinarily believe in Christianity. Satanism and Witchcraft have two completely different followings.” (Robbins and Greenaway, 2019)

Repression of Women

There are a few reasons scholars believe the witch-hunts began. Federici explains that land enclosure was a “major factor in the production of witch hunts.” (Federici, 2018) “In none of the trials of which we possess the records were the women accused described as victims of expropriation. It is acknowledged, nevertheless, that, as in the rest of Europe, in England witch hunts were predominantly a rural phenomenon and, as a tendency, the affected regions in which land had been or was being enclosed.”(Federici)

In the 16th and 17th centuries, when the witch trials began, societies “were being reshaped by the growing importance of the market.” (Federici) The level of impoverishment was on the rise and with the price of grain becoming more inaccessible to the lower class, this left many people with no means to feed themselves. Widows especially were affected by the increasingly high prices of grain. If they didn’t have children or other relatives to support them they were left in the lurch. This was a new problem for society because “in the rural economy of the English manorial society, widows and poor people, in general had been provided for.” (Federici)

Some women were charged with being quarrelsome and causing trouble amongst their neighbors. It’s not hard to understand why – these women resented their fall into poverty and when they asked for help and were turned away, they cast vengeful looks and cursed at people. These women were being marginalized and were rightfully upset.

At this time, women’s actions and bodies were becoming more and more restricted in terms of what was considered proper. ‘Sexually promiscuous’ women who contradicted the feminine model that was being promoted were considered lewd and immoral. Many women later accused of witchcraft had already received a reputation of being a woman of ‘ill repute’ in their youths. Towards the end of the 16th century, a woman “could be severely punished for any demonstration of independence and any criticism she made against [her husband]. Obedience – as the literature of the time constantly stressed – was a wife’s first duty, enforced by the Church, the law, public opinion, and ultimately by the cruel punishments that were introduced against ‘scolds’, like the ‘scold’s bridle’, also called the ‘branks’, a sadistic contraption made of metal and leather that would tear the woman’s tongue if she attempted to talk. This was an iron framework that enclosed the woman’s head. A bridle bit about two inches long and one inch wide, projected into the mouth and pressed down on top of the tongue; frequently it was studded with spikes so that if the offender moved her tongue it inflicted pain and made speaking impossible.” (Federici)

It’s hard to exactly pinpoint one reason why people began to fear women as witches. Federici suggests that as capitalism grew, women with knowledge began to be viewed as a threat to men in power. “At times she was a healer and practitioner of various forms of magic that made her popular in the community, but this increasingly signaled her as a danger to the local and national power structure in its warfare against every form of popular power.” (Federici)

Another factor leading to the persecution of women as witches was the protestant reformation. “The pursuit of witches was an end in itself and was directly related to the necessity of enforcing moral and theological conformity. The fact that a high proportion of those selected in this context as deviants were women was indirectly related to this central problem.” (Larner, 2000) The ruling power suppressed the popular beliefs of the time and the women called ‘witches’ who were thought to worship satan were attacked.

Martin Luther, the bearer of the reformation, believed in witches and “explicitly favoured their burning at the stake: ‘these true harlots of the devil who steal milk, raise storms, ride on goats and brooms and clokes, who shoot, hough or dry out people, who afflict the sucklings in their cradles, who bewitch the marital member and who do more such things … One should not have mercy upon witches and sorceresses, I would even burn them myself.’” (Heinemann, 2000)

Even though Martin Luther had been dead for five years before the first recorded witch trial in Scotland, his messages of hate towards witches most likely had spread and stoked people’s fear and aggression. I also find it very interesting that Martin, a Christian, also believed witches to be associated with the devil. I am finding a common theme that people with an ability beyond what most people can comprehend, whether it be making herbal remedies, cursing people, selling them good luck, etc, are seen to be a threat or in competition with God. I believe this is most likely becasue of fear of the unknown and the anxiety that someone has ‘other-worldly’ power over another.

The Witches Reel

In my principal study lessons, I expressed an interest in learning more songs about witches. Corrina Hewatt introduced me to a song called the ‘Witches Reel’ which she recorded with Elspeth Cowie and Christine Kydd in their album, ‘Primary Colours’.

The lyrics to Witches Reel can be found in the transcripts from the North Berwick trails making it the earliest reel ever to have a written recording in Scotland. The song was recorded as evidence against the women on trial that they had been meeting up, dancing and singing, trying to sink James VI’s wife’s ship.

“King James VI had recently traveled to Copenhagen to marry Princess Anne of Denmark. On the way home, the royal couple were beset by terrible storms and forced to take shelter in Norway for several weeks. Transport delays resulted in outcry then as now, and the admiral of the Danish fleet was keen to find someone to blame. He quickly pointed the finger at the wife of a high official in Copenhagen, on the basis that he had recently insulted her.” (Kidd, 2019) The admiral’s accusation started a witch panic in Denmark and a “number of women confessed to having used sorcery to raise the storms that beset Queen Anne’s ship.” (Kidd) James, who had previously been lenient about witchcraft, became obsessed with finding any more witches responsible for his misfortune.

During the North Berwick trials, more than 100 people were accused and tortured for witchcraft. After severe torture, many people confessed to having caused the storms that affected Jame’s ship.

One woman, in particular, was Euphame MacCalzean (Maclean). She was accused of being a controlling woman who used magic to bend people to her will. She was accused of manipulating her husband and father and bringing about the deaths of her cousin and nephew. What is interesting about Euphame’s case is that she was the “daughter of Tomas MacCalzean, Lord Cliftonhall, an eminent Edinburgh lawyer. Euphame was Clifton’s only child, and he recognized her as his legal heir.” (Kidd) She kept her own name when she married and her husband took her last name as well as there eventual five children. Her husband was in France when she was accused, therefore, “looking like a serious threat to the social order of the day.” (Kidd) One of the people who accused her of witchcraft was a relative who had previously tried to sue her “on the basis that he should have inherited her father’s property instead of her.” (Kidd)

Euphame’s story is tragic yet doesn’t sound all that unbelievable, even today. Of course in 21st century Scotland we don’t execute people, but women generally still take their husband’s name and often times are accused of being ‘controlling’ where a man would be referred to as ‘authoritative’.

My arrangement of The Witches Reel can be heard below on SoundCloud.

Appendices

Magick Cleansing Cake

As part of my auto-ethnographic research, I decided to cast a spell. It was my hope to be able to speak to a practicing witch but unfortunately, that never came to fruition. I decided that if I couldn’t interview a witch I would try a spell out myself. I followed the instructions from one of Harmony Nice’s YouTube videos. Harmony is a Wiccan who practices witchcraft. I decided to do her Magick lemon cake cleansing spell.

As Harmony says, to get the best results, the spell should be cast on a waning moon on either a Tuesday or a Saturday as they are best for cleansing spells.

Here is the recipe:

Cleansing cake recipe

2 ¼ cups of four

1 cup of sugar

1 teaspoon of baking powder

100ml of oil

Poppy seeds (I used about 2 tablespoons)

275 ml of water

Juice of 1 lemon

Icing recipe

Juice of 1 lemon

Zest of 1 lemon

Icing sugar

As I added the poppy seeds into the bowl I said,

“Allow these Poppy seeds to calm my home, combine with these grains to bring peace, relieve my exhaustion and make my environment whole.”

After all the ingredients were combined I stirred the batter one last time and said,

“Allow these ingredients to bond together, creating peace and cleansing this sacred area. Bring but only good fortune from today, Banish the negative, bring forward the positive, with the healing to this place, so mote it be.”

I baked the cake at 180 Celcius until a knife came out clean in the middle of the cake.

The cake turned out lovely and it was shared with everyone in my flat.

I must admit I’ve made the cake many more times and it has become a personal favorite recipe.

I really love the ritual of making the cake and saying the incantations. It puts me in a good mindset and that alone helps make me feel cleansed.

Survey Results:

Question 1: When you hear the term ‘Witch’ what are the first few words that come to mind?

Feminism, empowerment, independence, spirituality
eccentric old women; and Shakespeare’s MacBeth
wicked witch; white witch
Older woman, midwife, herbal medicine, magic, pointed hat, broomstick
Wicca, women, nature
I’ve known about witches for as long as I can remember, but I grew up on folklore! I think of power, and healing, and spirituality when I think of witches.
A woman that worships Satan
evil, spells, woman
Persecution, magic, otherworldliness
Halloween, lore, magic
A being who is able to do something beyond the boundaries of ordinary scientific logic
Sorcery, make believe, Salem, Wizard of Oz
Supernatural
Mysterious
Pagan druid magic
Black magic, black cats, burning
misogynistic, brave, wise, earthy, caring
Scary, sorcery, haggard
Magic, spells, crystals, pagan, sorcery
Broomstick, Hocus Pocus, Black Cats, cunning
evil, disguised, dark
Hocus pocus
Historic bias and killings taking place around the UK and probably the world
hogwarts, harry potter
Potions and energy
Wart, broom, cauldron, spell
Satan
magic, women, spiritual,
Sorcerers, spells, magic
Magic, witchhunters and black cats
Reminds me of a fun American show, “Bewitched” that I watched and loved as a kid! I wanted their powers.
Woman, folklore, oppressed, misunderstood
Bonfire Arthur Miller McCarthyism
evil, scary, satanic
counter culture, desperate for attention
Stake, fire
Spells, potions, magic
Songs & Ballads like ‘The Witch of Fife’
Not real/don’t believe in it. English.
Woman, eye of newt, cackle, toad, burning at the stake, drowning
Woman, dark
Scots song, evil, murder, drowning
Burn, Cackle, Cauldron, Hat, Hunt

Question 2: Do you believe in Witches?

Yep!
I don’t doubt anecdotal accounts/
Depends on the definition of witch
I believe in witches but not magic
No
Yes, I’ve always thought about witches in the historical sense as being educated women, or women who couldn’t be fucked with the patriarchal norms in historical society. Witches in a modern context are more about using historical knowledge of plants and spirituality for good in modern society.
I know there are women who worship Satan and call themselves witches
no
I’m not sure. I feel the term ‘witch’ describes a very wide spectrum and there are parts I’d be more inclined to believe (or perhaps a better description would be to have faith in) than others.
No
I believe in Witchcraft of the positive type
Not really
No
Yes
In a way
well there’s the you tubers that say they’re witches and if somebody says there something, then who am I to say there not
No
Yes
I don’t think so
sort of… I believe people can try to engage in witchcraft. I don’t support that though
Yes to some extra
No
yes
Yes
Yes, there are people who practice “witchcraft”
I believe there are people who practice witch craft so yes
yes
No
I believe there is some basis of their existence, depends how you define what a witch is I suppose
Yes
I think the women labelled as witches are very real, but I don’t think all accusations of witchcraft are fair
Yes.
yes
No
Somewhere between yes and no.
Yes, but not in the way movies/tv portrays them
In songs…
Nope
You haven’t asked about what kind of witches? But yes I do believe in witches.
Yes
No
Not in the fairytale sense, but I believe that some people practise witchcraft.

Question 3: On a moral scale from good to evil, how would you place witchcraft? (0 being evil and 100 being good)

Question 4: Do you think society’s portrayal of witches is fair/accurate? Please explain your answer.

I think they’re mocked and invalidated, if not shamed. Witchcraft has been portrayed in mainstream culture as gimmick or Halloween costume
No, particularly in the past. Modern ‘witches’ can speak for themselves.
No. In the Western Isles many people regarded divination as quite normal in society, and not evil. Some people were regarded as being able to curse a person or animal (by making effigies etc.). This was regarded as witchcraft. Others could remove a “curse”, or could cure people and animals (using threads, usually red-coloured).They were not spoken of as being witches and used rhymes which were religious in content. The term “witch” in Gaelic is derogatory.
Not fair or accurate. I think witches were probably community figures and midwives. they probably tried to heal people and make crops grow (using methods as effective as anything else at the time). I also think the witch hunts were part of a sexist power and knowledge grab and probably contributed to patriarchal, colonial and capitalist state of the world now. A powerful, intelligent woman whose power doesn’t come from the system/men but from community/knowledge/magic seems very un capitalist and at odds with the world that the ruling classes were creating at the time so it was in their interests to demonise witches. Even if witches were evil it wouldn’t excuse the witch hunts. I hope the witch hunts get taken very seriously as a historical atrocity.
There are a couple different portrayals now! The classic one of witch burning and witches being the devil is super inaccurate, they were just women using traditional medicine to help people but because society was afraid of women’s autonomy they all got burned. The portrayal of modern witches/wiccans is one of incredulity and kind of like they’re crazy, but wicca is a religion just like any other. Finally, the portrayal of indigenous peoples’ witches (aka voodoo or similar) by European culture is just pretty racist.
Nope – for me the idea of witches being ugly old women has a lot to do with history being written by men. Witches were healers and women who looked out for other women.
Not always – as some are simply called witches for other reasons and not because they themselves actually are practicing Satan worship
i think it was probably a way to blame women for certain societal failures
I don’t feel I have a huge understanding of witchcraft, however, I would say there have been a range of portrayals of witches over the years, but society’s portrayal is very generalised and probably not accurate. From my understanding, women who were outspoken or stood out from the crowd were often accused of being witches.
I don’t know what “fair” is on the subject, but because of the many cultures and tales of witches, it’s hard to say anything is truly accurate because each culture has its own beliefs.
No, because the word has evolved into one which suggests evilness.
If witches are truly evil, than yes. But if not, it’s an unfortunate stereotype (like most stereotypes). I guess that because I don’t like the idea of witchcraft (anti-Christian?) I don’t care too much.
Yes
No. Witches have been demonised by the church
Sometimes- there was probably bad witches but it was more likely just early science or something and they were percievrd as evil cos it wasnt the church and god.
NAW! torcher and burning is never humane. Also, respect older women, more!
No, witches are always portrayed as demonic, evil and ugly
Probably not. I know some people who have explored witchcraft and although I don’t know much about it, I don’t think that it has much to do with forces of ‘darkness’ like movies etc. portray it to. My main media source with witches is American Horror Story: Coven, which is definitely not accurate
I think in the media they’re usually portrayed as being pretty evil, but if we’re talking Hermione Granger then I think there’s an exact split between the two.
Ir depends. I do think there is a major difference in how witches are portrayed in fantasy films (such as Harry Potter) and people choosing to, in real life, engage in these practices.
No. Witches can be good too, but they are often portrayed as solely evil.
I think the historic persecution of innocent women without any kind of fair trial overrides any positive folklore relating to witchcraft, although it is certainly interesting
i think they’re misrepresented as there is a lack of knowledge regarding them
I don’t think so, unless you’re in a group of like minded people that are intrigued and fascinated by witches. I think most of society only has a stereotypical ideal of witches and the days of Salem.
Not all is fair or accurate. There are rumors, misrepresentation, and fallacies.
No I believe there are superstitious beliefs that have caused people to be falsely accused of being witches
no, i think people have both good and bad in them and witches are no different – majority of witches can be good but the select few who use their witchcraft for evil give a bad name/ reputation for the entire community
No, I think they could be portrayed in a better way
It’s generally negative, but again it depends what you do define a witch to actually be
Hmm, tough question. I think people feared people that had unique gifts of working with herbs, manipulating the body, an intuitive “sixth sense” and labeled evil and witchcraft. I believe many innocent people suffered and died because of that. Even though I’ve read in the Bible that as a Christ follower I’m not to practice witchcraft and I believe that’s what motivated others to justify the horrific treatment of those they perceived to be witches
No. I think many women have been unfairly prosecuted for the benefit of others
Probably inaccurate.
yes. I think that witchcraft is evil, but not that the people that exercise witchcraft (the witches) are evil. I do believe in a satanic power but i think only bad things can come from it.
They always had a bit of a raw deal imo.
I think they are portrayed as mostly evil. But it’s not fair to label them all bad – each person & how they use their belief is different, whether they use it for good or bad, and should be judged as such
In the present day, I hear very little spoken about witches. Historically, they were unfairly abused.
Probably not, as they don’t dress up as old hags. Int be same wha the devil looks red, it’s just commercialised
Completely wrong! Society needs to always have a scapegoat, or ‘someone to blame’, and witches became that scapegoat. Firstly, women always got persecuted by the patriarchy, and they were the carers in society, therefore the ones to blame most easily. You will always find a man behind the damning of women. (NB: even if other women then jumped on the band wagon and started to do the same – it was usually to save their own skin! “Look, it wasn’t me, it was her!” We have the same damning of women today, just disguised a bit better. (We must look good (and maintain this even when ill/pregnant/dying), smell good (as good grief, why would a man be with us if we smelt human??!!), never age (or we’ll be discarded for a younger model), look after everyone (as men have a born right to be looked after by mum/wife/child), clean (because that’s our job obvs), cook (even if you are not hungry), and be completely at the mercy of the man’s desire (sleep with them when required or again, a younger/more responsive model of woman will be accessed!). I sound crazy. But actually this is still what happens today! And will have done then. But men had more power then and now we have the power of the internet, calling it out and the world knowing. Of course we also run the risk of the tables being turned/fake news and it all turning against us if we are not believed. Sound familiar? Jeez, there was another woman who committed suicide at the weekend purely through the condemnation of the public (who actually know NOTHING about her personally!!) It is a shocking state of affairs. So no! Society’s portrayal of witches is NOT FAIR!
No. I think our current view is skewed by history’s writers (the with hunters) and the storytelling that this evoked. Much like the modern perception of medieval piracy as romantic, happy and free, our view of witches has become fictionalised and detached from the real people who lived those lives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I feel that witches were and still are a misunderstood group. I think my research shows from my survey results that many people are much more open-minded to the idea of witches but I can also see that we still have a ways to go in terms of fully understanding, respecting, and excepting witches. I feel very passionate about sharing the knowledge I have gathered and using it in my future musical endeavors. My year III recital will be entirely about women, witches, and the supernatural.

References

BBC. 2020. Witch Hunt – Peak Witch Hunt – BBC Sounds. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p07vdzxh> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

Bbc.co.uk. 2020. BBC Iplayer – Witch Hunt – Injustice In 16Th Century Scotland. [online] Available at: <https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p07t23yv/witch-hunt-injustice-in-16th-century-scotland> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

Digital.nls.uk. 2020. 1590 – North Berwick Witch Hunt. [online] Available at: <https://digital.nls.uk/scotlandspages/timeline/1590.html> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

Federici, S., 2018. Witches, Witch-Hunting, And Women. PM Press.

Gla.ac.uk. 2020. University Of Glasgow – Myglasgow – Special Collections – Virtual Exhibitions – Damned Art – Scotland. [online] Available at: <https://www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/specialcollections/virtualexhibitions/damnedart/scotland/> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

Goodare, J., 2002. The Scottish Witch-Hunt In Context. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.

Hari, J., 2009. Witch Hunt: Africa’s Hidden War On Women. [online] The Independent. Available at: <https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/witch-hunt-africas-hidden-war-on-women-1642907.html> [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Heinemann, E., 2000. Witches. London: Free Association Books.

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HistoryCollection.co. 2020. The Bloodiest Tales Of Scottish History. [online] Available at: <https://historycollection.co/the-bloodiest-tales-of-scottish-history/7/> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

Kidd, M., 2019. Warriors And Witches And Damn Rebel Bitches. Black and White Publishing.

Larner, C., Lee, C., McLachlan, H. and Black, G., 1977. A Source-Book Of Scottish Witchcraft. Glasgow: University of Glasgow, Dept. of Sociology.

MacDonald, S., 2014. Witches Of Fife. New York: Birlinn.

Robbins, S. and Greenaway, L., 2019. The Witch’s Way. Sterling Publishing Co Inc.

Sangstories – Stories of Scottish Songs. 2020. Sangstories – Stories Of Scottish Songs. [online] Available at: <https://sangstories.webs.com/witchesreel.htm> [Accessed 11 March 2020].

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The history of witches in Scotland has no doubt been a very bloody one. I think fear was behind the killing of women as witches and even though it doesn’t occur in Scotland anymore the fear of witches still results in deaths for women in countries such as Kenya and Tanzania. (Hari, 2009) We can’t ignore the fact that ‘witch’ has become a derogatory term in some places and is used as an excuse for violence against women.

What I hope for the future is that my research will influence my music and, in turn, educate others on the seriousness of the issue while also encouraging other musicians to give context to their own music regarding witches.