Injustice then, justice now: apology to the thousands of

The age- old image of witches with pointy hats, brooms and black cats has gripped our imaginations since the Weird Sisters of Macbeth.

But the traditional occultists of stage and page cloud a grim and tragic historical reality – the execution of thousands of women during wave after wave of brutal witch hunts.

Now a campaign is under way to posthumously pardon Scottish women who were accused of witchcraft, tortured into confessing, put on trial, and strangled to death before being burnt at the stake.

The move comes as Carnoustiebased author Sandra Ireland releases a new novel inspired by the real histories of Scotland’s witches. The thriller

writer researched the fate of women such as Isobel Gowdie, Janet Cornfoot and Lilias Adie, who were subjected to sleep deprivation and other kinds of torture to make them confess to having entered into a pact with the devil.

“I wanted to give these women a voice, so I stitched together their stories to create the ‘every witch’ at the centre of my novel,” said Sandra, who releases Sight Unseen in August.

“These women were persecuted because they were troublesome or talked back, or someone held a grudge against them. I was moved by their plight as a woman in my 50s, because as you get older you’re inclined to speak your mind more and aren’t worried about what other people say.”

Moves to redress the wrongs of the past and commemorate Scotland’s witches include calls for a national monument and a pardon for their convictions.

Claire Mitchell QC is seeking justice for thousands of people who were convicted of witchcraft and executed. She wants a legal pardon for those who fell victim to the Witchcraft Act of 1563 and an apology from the Scottish Government.

“The Witchcraft Act remained law for nearly 175 years, until 1736, and an estimated 3,837 people, the vast majority women, were accused of witchcraft, a capital crime. Some 2,600 people are thought to have been executed,” said Claire.

“The witch trials

Geillis Duncan, played by Lotte Verbeek and named after a real-life maid accused of

world- famous but involved only 200 people accused of witchcraft, 30 convicted and 19 hanged.

“Salem has reversed the convictions of all those who were executed, and t h e Ma s s a c h u s e t t s Ho u s e of Representatives has passed a resolution honouring those who died. A memorial park was created in Salem with a bench for each person. But if you did that here, there just wouldn’t be enough room in a Scottish park.”

The Witches’ Well on the Royal Mile in Edinburgh marks the spot where some 300 women were burned at the stake after being accused of witchcraft, and Claire said: “I felt a real anger that there was no apology for these people, no recognition of the terrible wrong done to them. I think, like Salem, it’s

Macbeth and the Three Witches in William Turner’s painting based on Shakespeare tragedy