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Creative Crone - Story Spinner - Word Weaver
Voices and Visions of the Witch
Visual and Literary Art Exhibition
by the Creative Coven
The Scottish Witchcraft Act (ANENTIS WITCHCRAFTIS) came into effect on the 4th of June 1563. Under this law, the practice of witchcraft and consulting with witches became capital offences. It is estimated that in Scotland alone, around four thousand people (84% of whom were women) were persecuted, with two-thirds of these executed for the crime of witchcraft. The Act remained on the Scottish statute books until it was repealed in 1735.
This innovative exhibition is a creative response to the deadly law penned by the hands of men, that lit the spark of the burning times. The exhibition has been curated by Rowan Morrison and features a collection of multimedia art, poetry and prose from a coven of creatives whose artistry is interwoven with remembrance of the Scottish witch hunts.
It resurrects personal interpretations of witch persecution without the bias of an accompanied history written from the viewpoint of the patriarchal elite. To allow you to experience this dark period in Scottish history and bear witness to emotive visual and literary art that unveils the souls and empowers the voices of the many accused witches. This will take you back to a time when the skies above Scotland were lit with flames, fuelled by the flesh of burning women.
Get in touch if you would like to host this exhibition.
Lilias Aide's Death Mask
1704 - Lilias Adie - Torryburn
It is believed that Lilias was at least sixty years old, around six feet tall, with a smaller-than-average head and protruding front teeth. These physical characteristics marked her out in a small village. Differences that likely led to this vulnerable older woman being accused of witchcraft.
She became one of the most famous witches in Scotland, not for unholy crimes of witchcraft, but for her intertidal revenant burial.
It was long believed that Lilias was the only accused witch in Scotland with a known grave site. During my research for WITCH, the Book of Remembrance, I discovered another 3 women with graves and evidence that points to the likely-hood of another 2 witch burials. I have been reluctant to share this information, as they should be allowed in the peace in death that was not afforded them in life but facts are important, so the other women are mentioned in my book.
Having died in prison before righteous men could condemn her for witchcraft at trial. They did not want to bury her alongside the Godly people who lay uncorrupted by evil in the local kirkyard. They feared Llias would rise up to haunt them, so they locked her large corpse in a wooden chest, buried her at low tide and placed a huge sandstone slab on top of the watery grave.
Lilias was still unable to find peace. Her resting place was disturbed, and her skull, ribs and femur were stolen in 1852. Her remains became trophies for rich men like Dunfermline damask designer Joseph Neil Paton, who desired dead-witch curiosities for their lavish phrenology cabinets. His son, the renowned artist Joseph Noel Paton, painted Dawn, Luther of Erfurt, which many believe depicts Lilias’s skull; he also created an imagined drawing of Lilias and the Devil. His brother, Waller, recreated the slab stone in a painting.
It is believed that her skull eventually ended up in the University of St Andrews, but has since gone missing. It was last seen during the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow in 1938. However, photographs of it, taken over 100 years ago, clearly show pronounced teeth and cheekbones, which enabled Dr Christopher Rynn to create a facial reconstruction in 2017.
The wood from her coffin was turned into a walking stick for Andrew Carnegie, which is now kept in a glass cabinet at Dunfermline Library and Galleries. Let us hope that one day her missing bones will be returned and Lilias can rest in peace.
Our Faither in heiven,
be hallowt thy name;
thy Kíngdom come;
thy will be dune
on the yird, as in heiven.
Gíe us our breid for this incomin day;
forgíe us the wrangs we hae wrocht,
as we hae foríen the wrangs we hae dree’d;
an sey-us-na sairlie, but sauf usfrae the Ill Ane:
for the Kíngdom, the pouer an the glorie ar thine
for ivver an aye. Amen.
I named this portrait the Lamb of God. I had many visions of Lilias praying in the wretched cell where she died. Her constant recitation of the Lord’s prayer haunted and humbled me. A poignant reminder of the importance of faith to those who existed during this dark period in Scottish history.
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WITCHES OF CULROSS - AMAZON BOOK REVIEW
This book is a very powerful read. It truly brings alive the terrible time of the witch trials in a visceral way as it not only brings to life the harsh realities of life in those times but also the unforgivable injustices that happened against the accused. It is a story that has long needed to be told and very much needs to be read. The storytelling is vivid and also beautiful as it captures some of the old ways and language of rural Scotland in its telling. I couldn't put it down until I finished it. This really is a must read book.