Row flares over Edinburgh holiday flat tribute for witch trial minister
Scotland's biggest conservation charity is at the centre of a witchcraft row after revealing plans to name a new holiday apartment in a 500-year-old Edinburgh townhouse after a minister linked to the persecution of witches.
The National Trust for Scotland has been forced to apologise for suggesting it was planning to honour the Reverend William Struthers in a 500-year-old building near Edinburgh Castle thanks to his involvement in 17th century witch trials.
Experts say Struthers, minister at St Giles’ Cathedral on the Royal Mile, who lived in Gladstone’s Land, was implicated in the death of at least one woman and the torture of two others.
Campaigners fighting to secure an official apology and pardon for thousands of women persecuted between 1563 and 1736 have asked the charity to rethink its plans for the historic visitor attraction, which is currently undergoing a £1.4 million makeover.
The witch es of scotland campaign, which has secured more than 3400 signature son an official petition to the Scottish Parliament,has accused the trust of being “extraordinarily insensitive” in its plans for Gladstone’s Land, which was once one
Ntsh as instead been urged to find a woman to honour instead of strut hers, who it described as “the 17 th century equivalent of a multi-millionaire.”
The magazine states :“famous for his rousing sermons, he published books with fearsome-sounding titles such as A Resolution For Death and was involved in the trial of women suspect of witchcraft – among them Marion Mure of Leith, who was executed in 1632.
“The new William Struthers holiday apartment, named after him, includes playful references to the life and times of this cantankerous figure.”
Historian DJ Johnstonsmith, who tackled NTS on social media, said: “In case anyone is wondering why an official acknowledgement of the historic wrongs of the Scottish witch mania is so important, look no further than the latest edition of the National Trust for Scotland magazine and its puff piece on the refurbishment of Gladstone's Land. In an act more befitting a horrorthemed venue than a national heritage body, NTS have decided to honour an obscure former owner of part of the building, who is implicated in death of one‘ witch’ and the arrest and torture of at least two others, by naming a holiday flat after him.
“As most public bodies are reassessing sites and modes of public commemoration this is an extraordinary action.”
Claire mi tc hellqc,c o-founder of the campaign, said although Nts had apologised and admitted its article was“written rather insensitively” it was still pressing ahead with the tribute.
She said: “I’ve no difficulty with history being recorded, but the naming of a room after this man elevates his status as someone who should be remembered. As a society, we never name rooms, streets, places or erects statues to those who we want to remember for the negative things that they did. The fact that a‘ holiday apartment’ is being named after him seems extraordinarily insensitive.”
A spokesman for NTS insisted Struthers had played a “minor role” in the trial of Mure and said there was no evidence he was involved in the decision to execute her.