Dornoch museum Historylinks welcomes First Minister's apology over historic treatment of 'witches'
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First minister Nicola Sturgeon’s posthumous apology for the “unjust” treatment of those historically accused of witchcraft, has been welcomed by Historylinks museum in Dornoch.
The town has an infamous connection with witchcraft, being the place where the last judicial execution of a person charged with witchcraft in Scotland took place.
Janet Horne, who is now thought to have been showing signs of senile dementia, was arrested, jailed and then burned to death in 1727. A stone erected in her memory can be found in Littletown, Dornoch.
Nicola Sturgeon’s apology comes after a two-year campaign by Witches of Scotland to obtain a pardon for those convicted as witches under the Witchcraft Act 1563, to obtain an apology for all those accused; and to obtain a national memorial to remember those killed as witches.
The group’s petition, which received more than 3,000 signatures, explains that between 1563 and 1736, the years when the Witchcraft Act was law, almost 4000 people were accused of witchcraft, the vast majority of whom were woman. Of the 4000 accused, academics estimate that approximately 1500 were executed.
Speaking in Holyrood last week, Nicola Sturgeon described it as “injustice on a colossal scale”.
She said: “Those who met this fate were not witches. They were people and they are overwhelmingly women.
“At a time when women were not even allowed to speak as witnesses in a court room, they were accused and killed because they were poor, different, vulnerable, or in many cases, just because they were women.”
Historylinks curator Lynne Mahoney said: “Here at Historylinks we welcome the announcement by First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, of a posthumous apology to those who have been accused of witchcraft.
“It has been a long time coming and we are pleased that the people tried and executed, the majority of whom were women, will at last be acknowledged as blameless victims.
“It is important that the stone marking Janet Horne’s execution place in Dornoch is seen as a memorial to an innocent woman.”
