Renfrewshire Witch Hunt 1697
The final item of business today is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-03284, in the name of George Adam, on Renfrewshire witch hunt 1697—shining the light for community-based events. The debate will be concluded without any questions being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament congratulates the Paisley Development Trust and everyone involved with the event, Renfrewshire Witch Hunt 1697; notes that the event took place across Paisley town centre on 9 June 2012 and included storytelling and numerous re-enactments; praises all of the volunteers who gave up time to make what it considers to have been a great and successful day; thanks especially the 250 people who donned historical garments to make the re-enactments as authentic as possible and the estimated 1,000 people from Paisley and Renfrewshire who came out in force to support the day; considers that community-led events such as the Renfrewshire Witch Hunt 1697 are a great way to engage communities, bring people to towns, spark interest in local history and culture and, more generally, provide locally based and produced entertainment and enjoyment for towns as a whole, and believes that more events like this in cities, towns and villages across Scotland would be of great benefit to local communities and would highlight the talent and imagination of so many throughout the land.
17:05
Members might not be aware that we have some visitors in the public gallery who are slightly different from the normal visitors. Rest assured that although Dr Who might be back on the television, he did not drop off our visitors tonight. Steven Moffat, who writes that show, is from Paisley, but our visitors are not to do with him; they are involved with Paisley Development Trust’s Renfrewshire witch hunt 1697 project.
The project was unusual for me, because it dealt with cultural planning, which was a new issue for me and something that I was fairly cynical about. Everyone in Paisley hears the story of the witches in 1697 but, until this year, very few of us would have been able to give the full story and say what actually happened and when. My father told me that the final resting place of the witches was at Maxwellton Cross in Paisley. A horseshoe was put in the middle of the road, which we were always told was where the witches were buried. As a child, that captures the imagination. To this day, when children are told the story, they want to know more. However, my father was a story teller so, as I became an adult, I started to doubt many of the things that he said. In fact, we had a similar relationship to the one in the book “Big Fish” by Daniel Wallace, which is about a father and son as they get older. When we watched the movie version of that, the two of us grat all the way through it, but that is another thing entirely—west of Scotland men bubbling, as usual.
When I found out that the story of the witches was true and learned about it, I could see the benefits of cultural planning and how we could use the story as a lever to develop our economy locally in Paisley. There are similar stories throughout Scotland that members will no doubt tell us about and that can be used in a similar way.
The festival was a new one for Paisley, with 1,000 people attending on the day. It was a fantastic event and we were lucky with the weather. There were almost as many people as were at another famous Paisley event, sma shot day, which has been going for a long time. Liz Gardiner of Fablevision Studios always talks about community planning and how we can use community-led projects to regenerate our town. That is the thing that really got me as the project moved forward. Initially, I was supportive and said that I would help, although I was slightly cynical, but then I saw what happened when the actors got together and started the road show. They went to museums in Paisley and to Renfrewshire schools.
Claire Cassidy, a young teacher from Renfrewshire, has made a pack as a teaching aid for Renfrewshire Council education department. That will be used as part of the curriculum for excellence for primary and secondary school children. The pack goes into the story in great detail. Christian Shaw was an 11-year-old young woman who accused people of witchcraft. The children are asked to think about whether she had a mental health condition or was actually possessed, which gives them a chance to debate the whole history and the ideas. For young people in particular, that lights their imagination and makes them want to learn more about what happened in their area.
The project can also lead to cultural tourism. The 1697 events happened five years after the events in Salem in America, which are a lot more famous than the events in Paisley. Salem has a whole tourism strategy based around the events there. My family on my paternal side have been in Paisley since at least 1759—that is when records began, so they might have been there during that witch hunt period. We have opportunities throughout Scotland to get people to come home to seek out their past—that is cultural tourism. The Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs has talked about that a lot in the past year or so.
The cast are in the public gallery, so I hope to do the story some justice. In 1697 a young girl, Christian Shaw, the daughter of the laird of Bargarran, complained about being tormented by a number of local witches. On 17 August 1696 she caught Catherine Campbell, one of the family’s servants, stealing some milk. When Christian reported the theft to her mother, Catherine Campbell wished the devil to take her soul to hell—I think that what she says is even more brutal than that when it is done in old Scots, but I will not do that. The actors in the public gallery would probably do it a lot better, and once they get the funding for next year members will be able to see the story in its entirety if they come to Paisley on about the 9 or 10 June next year.
The story went on and over the weeks, as things progressed, the family believed that Christian Shaw was possessed. They took her to a doctor in Glasgow, who said that nothing could be done. The whole presbytery arrived in Paisley and decided that it was witchcraft. It is worth bearing it in mind that the events took place in 1697, so only 10 years before the act of union we were killing people for being witches. Maybe we were not in a good frame of mind to go for the act of union in 1707.
Seven people—Margaret Lang, John Lindsay, James Lindsay, John Reid, Catherine Campbell, Margaret Fulton and Agnes Naismith—were found guilty of having bewitched Shaw and were condemned to death. One subsequently committed suicide by hanging himself in his prison cell, while the other six were hanged and then burned on the Gallow Green in Paisley on 10 June 1697. It was the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe.
It was great to watch the story unfold as the actors showed us what happened. They did such a great job that although young people initially looked on the re-enactment as a pantomime and shouted “Burn the witches, burn the witches!”, when the court scene was re-enacted outside Paisley abbey children shouted words such as “Mercy, mercy.” They became involved in the story because it was local to them and they understood it. It was a fantastic achievement on the part of every actor who took part on the day. Such re-enactments are something that we could do in a greater way in Paisley and in other places in Scotland. We have so many stories to tell and such events enable our young people to become involved in and proud of their local heritage. It is about not only Scotland’s heritage, but local heritage.
The project has created another great festival for Paisley. Community planning is a fantastic lever and provides an opportunity for us to regenerate towns throughout Scotland. As I say, Scotland has many stories to tell. Such stories can lead to tourism opportunities and to educational opportunities for our young people. They give us the chance to embrace our past—the good and the bad.
17:13
I thank George Adam for securing the debate. On the Labour side of the chamber, Mary Fee, Hugh Henry and I were keen to support the motion. It is important that we take the time to recognise not only the success of local events but their significance to the community and the dedication and hard work of those involved in their organisation and delivery.
A number of excellent events were held in Renfrewshire over the summer. The Renfrewshire witch hunt was the newest and most innovative event on the Renfrewshire events calendar. As has been said, the Renfrewshire witch hunt event in June was a huge success. An estimated 1,000 people came out to support it and a number of volunteers gave up their time to help re-enact an event of historical significance in Paisley’s history and to educate people about what is perhaps one of the darkest chapters in our local history.
It is also important to note that the event on 9 June did not stand alone but was a culmination of a near year-long series of works by the Paisley Development Trust, which was formed to take forward community renewal through the arts and culture.
Paisley town centre has undoubtedly benefited from most of the trust’s projects to date and I am sure that that will be welcomed across the chamber.
One of the most interesting parts of the witch hunt project was the inclusion of a school pack and a touring exhibition, which George Adam mentioned. As well as events and activities, such initiatives are equally important to local engagement and generating interest in local history.
I congratulate everyone at Paisley Development Trust on their work on the project and on the wider work that they continue to do to benefit Paisley. I was pleased to hear that everyone who attended the feedback session following the Renfrewshire witch hunt event agreed that a re-enactment should take place annually, and I look forward to attending the event in the years to come.
Of course, we must not forget the financial contributions that have been made by individuals and organisations, including the heritage lottery fund and Renfrewshire Council, which make such projects possible.
Community events have a wide range of positive effects. They bring local people together, provide entertainment and activities and often generate a small boost to the local economy. With that in mind, I was pleased to see a range of upcoming events on the Renfrewshire Council website, which lists events in a wide range of categories, from community events to comedy, books and business events. I was particularly pleased to see that a section is dedicated to events that are aimed at young people.
All levels of government have a role to play in encouraging and supporting community-led events. I hope that a number of events in the future will prove to be just as successful as the Renfrewshire witch hunt.
I thank Paisley Development Trust, all the volunteers who are here and the volunteers who are not here for contributing to a fantastic family day out. I look forward to more successful community-led events in Paisley and across Renfrewshire.
17:16
I congratulate George Adam on lodging the motion, although it is disappointing that he did not take his lead from the visitors in the gallery and turn up in costume. It certainly sounds as if the Renfrewshire witch hunt 1697 event was an experience that was well worth having.
However, I say to my colleague George Adam that such memorable and attention-grabbing historical re-enactments are not confined to Paisley or Renfrewshire. We in Angus have a tradition that stretches back to 1947 of re-enacting another famous moment in Scottish history. Arbroath Abbey Pageant Society, which became Arbroath Abbey Timethemes five years ago, was formed in 1947 to commemorate the signing of the Declaration of Arbroath. The big date in the organisation’s calendar is, of course, 6 April, when a re-enactment is staged just outside the abbey. I have attended a couple of the re-enactments and have even had my picture taken with Robert the Bruce. I do not normally seek such mementos; the only other famous person with whom I have had my picture taken—which I treasure—is Bruce Foxton. Some in the chamber will be asking, “Bruce who?”, but I know that, with her impeccable taste in music, the cabinet secretary will concur that such a photograph is worthy of being treasured.
There is something particularly special about the re-enactment of the signing of the declaration when it occurs at the abbey, but Timethemes is also active throughout the year and throughout the area in bringing to life the events of 1320. Participants regularly attend various houses and castles across Angus and the Mearns. Earlier this year, they were asked to stage a re-enactment in front of Glamis castle, at the gathering to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee.
Public engagement by Timethemes goes beyond that. It takes the declaration’s signing and its significance into schools across the county. Participants attend in full costume with a range of items to help to explain what life was like in medieval Scotland. Pupils are allowed to dress up and the roles of each character involved—of barons, knights, monks and so on—are explored, along with the food, living conditions and farming of the day. The children stage a declaration signing of their own. Through their engagement with Timethemes, a number of schools have produced artwork that relates to the signing of the declaration, and some of those items are on show at Arbroath railway station.
Timethemes is a strictly non-political organisation that performs a fantastic service in bringing to life a hugely significant moment in Scotland’s history. I know that Timethemes is delighted that Historic Scotland has offered it the chance to help to add to the visitor experience at Arbroath abbey. Historic Scotland has advised members of Timethemes that they are welcome to attend the abbey in costume at any time to assist in getting across the story of the declaration to visitors.
I very much welcome the opportunity that the motion has provided to highlight the work of volunteers such as those from Timethemes, and those who were involved in the Renfrewshire witch hunt 1697 event, in raising awareness of significant moments in the country’s history and making them seem that bit more real. I confess that, until the debate, I was largely unaware of the case of the Bargarran witches, its parallels with events in Salem four years earlier and the fact that Paisley staged the last mass execution for witchcraft in western Europe. I wish I had been able to attend the re-enactment, if only to see how they were able to stage the scenes in which Christian Shaw is said to have pulled straw, coal, gravel, chicken feathers and cinders from her mouth.
I congratulate the people behind local re-enactments such as those in Paisley and Angus, and I support the closing lines of the motion, which encourage other towns, cities and villages throughout Scotland to follow their lead.
17:20
I, too, thank George Adam for securing the debate. His motion eloquently celebrates an event that is of great historic significance to Paisley, and it highlights the wider benefits of such occasions to all communities. I observe, in relation to our visitors in the gallery, that proceedings in Parliament can be very unpredictable. Who knows what might unfold during the debate?
When I was a small child, my parents regularly pointed out to me the circle in the Paisley street where the charred remains of the last perpetrators of witchcraft were buried, and that became part of my local folklore. As both George Adam and Graeme Dey have said, the unfortunate individuals had allegedly bewitched an 11-year-old Bargarran girl, Christian Shaw. Bargarran lies between my home village of Bishopton and the town of Erskine. She was supposedly a smart and lively girl. Well, we are all like that in my area—the people in the public gallery this evening are testament to that. She alleged that she had been cursed by the servant Catherine Campbell, as a consequence of which poor Christian took fits, saw strange visions, levitated and claimed that others were torturing her body. We have not seen any of that in this Parliament—at least, not yet.
As George Adam and Graeme Dey said, an unhappy fate awaited the perpetrators. One miscreant—James Reid—hung himself in his cell and the remaining six were strangled at the stake on the Gallow Green in Paisley, after which their bodies were burned on a blazing bonfire. Afterwards, their charred remains were buried at Maxwellton cross at a site that is marked by a horseshoe and the circle of cobbled stones to which I have referred.
All that is gruesome, ghastly and ghoulish but is, in its own way, a rich cultural legacy. What became of young Christian? She went on to become a successful businesswoman and manufacturer of thread. She and her mother became the founders of Renfrewshire’s textiles industry.
On Saturday 9 June 2012, Paisley town centre returned to 1697 and every citizen of Renfrewshire was invited to dress in historical attire, come into town and join in the re-enactment of the event. The Renfrewshire witch hunt 1697, which was spearheaded by the Paisley Development Trust, involved schools, businesses and community groups. Our visitors in the gallery this evening are an impressive representation of the event.
I believe that such community-based events are vital to community spirit. They encourage pride in the local area and nurture relationships across all sectors of society. Whether it is the witch hunt in Paisley, the annual papingo shoot at Kilwinning Abbey, Bishopton gala day or a street party for the diamond jubilee, I congratulate everyone who is involved in such community activity and who demonstrates such community spirit. Far too often, we are told that community spirit is dead, but that is certainly not what I see. There are countless examples of it to be found in the west of Scotland, from the events in Paisley to community fairs, gala days, school fêtes and other charitable events.
There are also the volunteers who clean up beaches, villages or urban spaces or who just give of their time to help others. I have recently visited Age Concern in Largs, Engage Renfrewshire, the Renton Community Development Trust, Volunteer Centre East Dunbartonshire and the Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Trust treatment centre—all of which are made possible by volunteers.
I congratulate and support the Paisley Development Trust and everyone who is involved with the Renfrewshire witch hunt 1697 event, including our visitors to the gallery this evening. I also congratulate all the people in our local communities who go that extra mile to support their local heritage and identity, to sustain their local culture and to foster community spirit so that their communities can flourish.
17:24
I congratulate George Adam on bringing the motion to the chamber. I turn to the witches of Galloway. I once went to a part of the River Cree where I lived and was told that three witches had been tied to stakes in the middle of the river, which is tidal. When the tide came in, if they drowned that proved that they were not witches and if they survived, they were witches. There you are: heads you lose, tails you lose. That was the story for witches.
Had I been living in the 17th century, I have no doubt that I would have qualified for the title “witch”. I live alone. I have a black cat, which has fangs, evil eyes and answers with a variety of yowls when I speak to it . He weaves in and out between my feet as I try to walk, squawking as he goes and responding to my comments. In the 17th century, I would have been wearing a long skirt, and the yowling cat seen weaving in and out between my legs under my long skirt would have been deemed to be the devil in feline form. Sometimes, appearances were all that it took to be condemned as a witch. However, I would probably also have been just as outspoken, which would not have helped.
I make a serious point, which was reflected towards the conclusion of George Adam’s speech, when he talked about children going from seeing the re-enactment as a pantomime to realising that it had involved the demise of real people. Persecution, injustice and superstition are the dark and sombre side of parts of our history. Unfortunately, in some parts of the world, they persist—although the title “witch” is perhaps not given to the people who suffer a similar fate. I am sorry to end on such a serious note, because some people think that I still have witch-like qualities.
That is for others to judge.
17:26
I congratulate George Adam on securing the debate, and welcome our visitors. By highlighting the event in an interesting contribution, George Adam has brought to members’ attention the vital role played by local communities in preserving our nation’s rich history and the way in which those communities make our heritage come to life with entertaining and engaging activities.
Inevitably, as the case of the Bargarran witches sadly highlights, our nation’s story has some dark periods. However, it is testimony to our local communities’ desire to retain and own their part of the nation’s story that events such as the Paisley witch trial re-enactments still grip the local and national psyche.
As we heard, as a result of a child’s statement, seven Paisley residents were arrested, later found guilty under witchcraft legislation, sentenced to death, hanged and then burned on the Gallow Green in Paisley.
It is estimated that across Scotland, up to 4,000 innocent individuals were accused of witchcraft and killed between 1560 and 1707. Christine Grahame just spoke of the Galloway witches.
History may provide the facts and our national records may hold some of the accounts, but it is to communities that we look to maintain a living memory of our history. The passion that exists locally for local history, combined with the determination to keep alive the part that towns and communities played in Scotland’s rich story, no matter how small, ensures that a living memory is retained. Annabel Goldie and Neil Bibby reflected that in their contributions.
This year, for example, Historic Scotland has appointed three tourism and community managers to cover properties in north, central and south regions. Their focus is to work with community groups, schools and colleges, external partners such as VisitScotland, destination management organisations and local tourism groups to build and develop business links and joint promotions and to help raise awareness of what Historic Scotland can contribute to a growing area of cultural tourism, which, as George Adam pointed out, also has an economic benefit.
The events that take place and the public programmes at sites of Historic Scotland’s responsibility explore how we can link with other events and activities happening across the country. That is a positive step. Graeme Dey, speaking about Arbroath, is another example of an MSP who is actively engaged with Historic Scotland in his area to try to maximise the cultural, heritage and economic impact to help his constituency.
A number of community-based events tell the story of places in Scotland. The Dirleton castle witch event tells to a family audience the story of the East Lothian witch trials of the 16th and 17th centuries. The event was attended by more than 400 people, although I suspect from George Adam’s figures that they may have been outnumbered by those who attended the Paisley event.
Hallowe’en in Huntly at the end of October will be an innovative community-led event, organised by the arts agency Deveron Arts in collaboration with Historic Scotland, local schools and the wider community. There will be a masked pipe band lit by lanterns and a creepy ceilidh for all the family.
Following the success of “Macbeth” at St Andrews castle in April this year, the St Andrews university production company asked if it could perform it at Inchcolm abbey as part of the Edinburgh fringe festival, as Inchcolm is referred to in the play. “Macbeth” was last performed on the island in the 1980s. Historic Scotland officials worked in partnership with the university production team and collaborated with it to see this most famous of plays return to Inchcolm.
Elgin cathedral will enjoy a series of carol concerts this year as a result of the local youth band and local churches approaching Historic Scotland officials to request that the cathedral be made available to support their wishes.
As well as Historic Scotland, Creative Scotland also works tirelessly to engage communities in order to offer as diverse a range of cultural events as possible. Festivals are wonderful celebrations and Scotland truly is a festival nation. We have over 370 festivals this year alone—large and small, of all kinds, taking place year-round and across the length and breadth of the country. New festivals emerge each year and these, alongside existing events, are now all brought together in an extremely useful annual guide produced jointly by Creative Scotland and The List.
Scotland’s festivals span a range of activities and different forms of entertainment including the visual, performance and literary arts; food, heritage, sport and multi-media events; and we should not forget the festival of politics, which has just finished in this very building. We also have the Imaginate children’s festival each May. A new festival of arts and ageing will be held for the first time this year, in different parts of Scotland. Twelve festivals are held annually in Shetland as well as festivals in Dumfries and Galloway, the Western Isles and the Scottish Borders. As we have heard, community-based festivals play a very important role in the health, wellbeing and cohesion of our places.
Creative Scotland, our national agency for the arts and creative industries, has established its touring, festivals and arts programming investment stream, which develops opportunities for audiences to access the arts through new festivals, events and programmes. There are a number of opportunities and I encourage members to take them up on behalf of festivals in their constituencies.
Over the autumn and winter months, there will be different events and festivals including those based around Hallowe’en, the changing seasons or, as we have heard, local historical events such as Viking raids—another focal point for local legends and traditions. The planning, preparation and enjoyment of those events ensure that people meet and engage with one another, help bring communities together and tell the story of Scotland and its local places.
Activities such as researching local heritage, devising events and making costumes, props and floats bring together families and the wider community, as they work together to make a successful festival. Annabel Goldie was correct to praise the volunteers who are involved. Sometimes festivals bring economic benefits and sometimes they raise money for local charities—that is an important part of participation.
We have all heard of Up Helly Aa in Shetland and we are increasingly seeing the revival of Celtic pagan traditions around Beltane—the ushering in of springtime.
Lastly, I mention Scotland’s history festival, held in November each year, which brings together many talks and events that present episodes of local and national historical importance in unexpected ways and in a wide variety of places. Audiences and participants alike find that those experiences add substantially to their lives and to their understanding of cultural activities and what they can bring to local communities.
However, at the end of the day we need to reflect on the source of our heritage and recognise the suffering that is sometimes involved. Looking at the story of the Bargarran witches, I was struck to hear about the memorial that was built in May 2008 at Maxwellton cross in Paisley—the site where the witches’ charred remains were buried. The bronze memorial has a stainless steel horseshoe embedded in it and includes the inscription, “Pain Inflicted, Suffering Endured, Injustice Done”. On that note, we can reflect on the contribution of the re-enactments and the way in which they act as memorials, and we can also reflect, as George Adam has done, on the contribution that festivals can bring in telling all these stories to Scotland.
Meeting closed at 17:34.