New VisitScotland witch-themed trail does not include Dornoch, where last 'witch' in Scotland was executed
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The Sutherland town where the last ‘witch’ in Scotland was executed has not been included in a new VisitScotland witch-themed trail and map.
Dornoch, which has a memorial stone to Janet Horne who was burned to death in 1727, does not feature among the 15 destinations listed on the trail.
VisitScotland says the trail and map “highlight a variety of locations and attracts all with links to themes associated with witchcraft including a love of nature and modern takes on the lore”.
A VisitScotland spokesperson said: “Scotland’s Witch Trail Map is designed to inspire visitors to discover more about Scotland’s witchcraft connections by suggesting lesser known locations and attractions linked to the subject. It aims to complement the country’s well documented links to witchcraft and witch hunts which are represented through the many memorials and sites which can be found across the country.”
The downloadable guide will be hosted on VisitScotland.com alongside a blog which the national tourism organisation say will “take a deeper dive on the subject and offer even more”.
Locations on the map include Calanais Standing Stones in the Isle of Lewis; hotel and restaurant the Witchery by the Castle, Edinburgh; Blair Castle, Perthshire and Kirkwall Witchy Walk, Orkney.
VisitScotland says the initiative is to mark Scotland’s Year of Stories 2022.
Cat Leaver, VisitScotland head of brand and content said: “It is important to showcase tales of all kinds and highlight some of the truly unique experiences on offer in Scotland.
“This new trail and map does exactly this and we know that pre-pandemic, the popularity of attractions thought to be associated with the supernatural and darker aspects of Scotland’s history were on the rise”.
Janet Horne, who is now thought to have been showing signs of senile dementia, was arrested, jailed and then burned to death. A stone erected in her memory can be found in Littletown, Dornoch, and there is information about the incident at Dornoch museum Historylinks.
First minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier this year gave a posthumous apology for the “unjust” treatment of those historically accused of witchcraft.
Her 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 women.
Of the 4000 accused, academics estimate that approximately 1500 were executed.
Speaking in Holyrood in March, 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 courtroom, they were accused and killed because they were poor, different, vulnerable, or in many cases, just because they were women.”
Lynne Mahoney, curator of Dornoch Museum Historylinks, said at the time “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.”
