,
8 tweets,
4 min read
Read on Twitter
Today a thread about the Scottish witchcraft trials for #BankHolidayMonday . The Scottish witchunts were the worst in Europe - rates 5 times higher than most other countries. Only 4% of those were herbalists or had links with medicine. However, 84% of those killed were women. /1 
Most Scottish women convicted of witchcraft were strangled & had their bodies burned so they couldn't rise from the dead. Once charged it was almost impossible to be acquitted if poor. Rich women cd hire a lawyer & be referred to the High Court. For them, success was 50:50 /2
Women weren't allowed to testify in 'serious' cases in court so most testimony was given by men. Often the families of the accused women were shunned by the community and had to leave their homes and jobs. /3
Torture was illegal for most of the period of the witchhunts but was still used. The most notorious 'witch pricker' was Christian Caldwell, who was uncovered as a woman in Moray after sending several witches to trial. She was deported - a lesser fate than her victims. /4
Unsurprisingly, some witches were defiant. Moneylender, Agnes Finnie died in 1645 cursing those around her, wishing that ‘the devill blaw yow blind.' /5
The last woman in Scotland to be prosecuted for witchcraft was Helen Duncan during WW2. Helen was a medium who in 1941 received a message from a sailor on HMS Barham saying the ship had been sunk. This was a national secret & Helen was sent to prison for the rest of the war. /6
Obviously I wrote about all this & told the stories of a few of the more than 2000 women who died. Walk this way whydontcha 👉 historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-r… A national monument to this slaughter is long overdue and, in my view, a proper apology from the church. Yes, please. /ends
Bonus tweet: My perfume co @REEKPerfume makes a haunting eau de parfum in memory of these women. Blood orange, malt, lavender, leather & riverbank. It was the beauty editor's pick in the Stylist and featured in Grazia. Sisterhood sniffs? Walk this way 👉 reekperfume.com/witches
