Scotland May pardon thousands of women executed for witchcraft centuries ago

 Here in the U.S. the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts is the tragic, historic epicenter for religious hysteria that led to the execution of people falsely accused of witchcraft. In Sept. 2021, some Salem, Mass. students set out to clear a wrongly accused witch. Now, Scotland is looking to do the same. Here's the story from Euronews about Scotland's actions. 

Scotland could soon pardon thousands of women executed for witchcraft centuries ago 

EURONEWS Jan 14, 2022

Scotland May pardon thousands of women executed for witchcraft centuries ago

The Scottish Parliament could soon consider pardons for thousands of people -- mostly women -- who were put on trial and executed centuries ago for witchcraft.

Scottish parliament member Natalie Don wrote on social media that she would begin the process of a members' bill in parliament "to seek a pardon for those convicted and executed."

"The incorrect criminalisation of these women only strengthens gendered stereotypes in the modern-day and I believe righting this wrong will make a real impact in challenging gendered and patriarchal attitudes which still exist in society," Don, a member of the majority Scottish National Party, said.

She thanked the "Witches of Scotland" group led by lawyer Claire Mitchell QC which has been campaigning for those accused of witchcraft between 1563 and 1736 to receive a legal pardon, obtain an official apology and a national monument.

(Image: Maggie Wall memorial, Dunning, Scotland. A collection of stones, topped with a cross in honour of Wall, who was burned in 1657 as a witch. Photograph: Geoffrey Davies/Alamy)

OVER 3,800 ACCUSED IN SCOTLAND

Historians say that around 3,837 people were accused of witchcraft under Scotland's Witchcraft Act which remained in effect for nearly 200 years.

During this time, witchcraft was considered a mortal crime, and those convicted of it were strangled to death and then burned at the stake so that there wasn't a body to bury. Two-thirds of the suspects suffered this fate -- a huge figure for the small country.

Suspects were also imprisoned and tortured in order to obtain confessions as they awaited trial and women were not allowed to speak in their own defence. Sleep deprivation was used as a form of torture as well as stabbing suspects with pins to find evidence of the Devil's mark.

"One of the first ways of proving that (a woman was a witch) was that there was evidence laid at trial if you were what is described as a 'quarrelsome dame.' So a woman who would argue with people," Mitchell explained.

"That means that if you are a person known to argue about how much meat the butcher gave you or that you argue with your neighbours or you are generally an outspoken person, that would be used against you as an allegation of witchcraft." 

KING JAMES VI OF SCOTLAND... Wacky, Self-proclaimed "Witchcraft Expert"

 King James VI of Scotland, who ruled from 1566 to 1625, considered himself an expert in witchcraft and in 1597 wrote the philosophical text "Daemonologie". During his reign, the witch hunt was especially brutal. It was finally recognised in 1736 that witchcraft did not exist and the law was changed.