Recently added records
Witches Knowe, execution site of Unknown (Alleged) Witches near Innerwick Farm
A number of (alleged) witches are said to have been burnt on the slightly raised ground of Witches Knowe.
Witches' Cairn, Named in Memory of Unknown (Alleged) Witches
Ancient grass-covered cairn 58 feet in diameter and 4' high - there is currently no additional reference to this, other than that the name is verified and appears on OS and other maps.
Unknown (Alleged) Witches
Lizzie Brice
Lizzie Brice was an elderly woman who, in her dotage, shouted at children and gained the reputation of being a witch.
Lizzie Brice's roundabout
None
Flame Mosaics commemorating Grissell Jaffray
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Plaque to Grissell Jaffray
Grissell Jaffray
Spaewife
?-1669
This is no. 23 on the Dundee Women's Trail.
Grissell Jaffray
Grissell Jaffray, the wife of James Butchart, a burgess in Dundee, was strangled, then burned as a witch in 1669. She was the last person burned for witchcraft in Dundee.
Wall fountain in memory of over 300 women burned at the stake
THIS FOUNTAIN, DESIGNED BY JOHN DUNCAN, R.S.A.
IS NEAR THE SITE ON WHICH MANY WITCHES WERE
BURNED AT THE STAKE. THE WICKED HEAD AND SERENE
HEAD SIGNIFY THAT SOME USED THEIR EXCEPTIONAL
KNOWLEDGE FOR EVIL PURPOSES WHILE OTHERS WERE MISUNDERSTOOD AND WISHED THEIR KIND NOTHING
BUT GOOD. THE SERPENT HAS THE DUAL SIGNIFICANCE
OF EVIL AND WISDOM. THE FOXGLOVE SPRAY FURTHER
EMPHASISES THE DUAL PURPOSE OF MANY COMMON OBJECTS.
The fountain on the west wall of the former Castlehill Reservoir (which served the castle with water from Comiston Springs), facing Edinburgh Castle Esplanade, commemorates these women and was designed by John Duncan, R.S.A. It is near the site on which many of these women were burned at the stake.
This plaque accompanies the fountain and explains the symbolism on the fountain. The two heads, one apparently evil, the other calm signify that some used their knowledge and alleged powers for evil purposes while others used their talents for good. This duality is emphasized by the inclusion of a serpent and the foxglove plant (a name for which is witches' gloves) which have positive and negative connotations in relation to having the potential to heal and poison, for good and evil.
Over Three Hundred Women, Alleged to be Witches
In the 16th Century more torture and killing of women, alleged to be witches, were carried out at Castlehill than anywhere else in Scotland. They were burned, hanged or drowned, often after being tested in ways which were designed to kill them whatever the outcome.. In Edinburgh they were often nearly drowned by being douked (submerged) in the Nor' Loch (an artificial loch, now filled in, the location of Princes Street Gardens) before being killed.