Witch trials like those in Salem have had their history highly publicised across the world as a part of feminist history. But what about trials a bit closer to home, where thousands were trialled and executed as witches in Scotland?
The Witches of Scotland campaign was set up a year ago on International Women’s Day by Claire Mitchell QC and Zoe Venditozzi. It’s aiming to achieve a pardon for those accused and convicted as witches, an apology to the accused and convicted, and a national memorial where people can go to respect the memories of the witches of Scotland.
“I’ve always had an interest in Scottish history and the witch trials but from a legal perspective,” says Claire of the campaign’s roots. Upon seeing the Witches’ Well in Edinburgh and realising that there was no space in Scotland that properly commemorated the people murdered as witches, she went home and decided to start campaigning for their justice.
Zoe got involved a short time later, and now the campaign has a website, social media presence, a podcast, and – crucially – a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for a pardon, an apology, and a memorial. They want to bring “some dignity to the memory of these people, by not making them witches of Scotland but returning them to women of Scotland.”
Though the campaign has only been running for a year, Witches of Scotland has achieved a lot. Their petition, which has over 1,500 signatures, has been signed by people across the world, in countries Claire says that “you wouldn’t naturally think a Scottish petition with the Scottish Parliament about a Scottish issue would.” They agree that it proves there’s a “worldwide appetite” for justice to be given to the thousands killed as witches in Scotland.
For now, you can support the Witches of Scotland campaign by signing their petition here, open until the 17th of March. You can also listen to their podcast or chat with them on their social media. It’s always incredibly important to learn the history of witchcraft so we can appreciate our freedoms as practitioners in the 21st century.
A longer version of this interview appears in Issue 1 of The Ünfamiliar Høur, out 21 April 2021.