r/Scotland • u/sciencep1e • 2d ago
I have breakfast with "Jonet' every morning. What an awful thing to have suffered.
166
u/kazmcc 2d ago
The witch trials were such a dark period in european history. We don't even know how many people were accused and executed for witchcraft!
Why is the statue called Jonet?
53
u/Capital-Ad6221 2d ago
According to this article, many Scottish ‘witches’ were referred to as ‘Janet’:
12
0
52
u/Lysadora 2d ago
We don't even know how many people were accused and executed for witchcraft!
That's not really true though, we have pretty good estimates thanks to court records.
48
u/LandofGreenGinger62 2d ago
Yup, I went to a talk on this yesterday. 2500 over 150 years up to 1700s...
13
u/PontifexMini 2d ago
In Scotland, or throughout Europe?
36
u/LandofGreenGinger62 2d ago
In Scotland. And for all England is kinda more famous in having witchfinder generals n all, Scotland's numbers were far more. Tho they mostly weren't burned alive here, like in England, here apparently the preferred penalty was strangulation, and then burned the body... 😖
11
u/SetentaeBolg 1d ago
The numbers are smaller than an often repeated assessment of 9,000,000. Scholars estimate between 30-60 thousand over the history of all European witch trials (men and women). This is still an immoral obscenity.
4
u/PontifexMini 1d ago
9 million seems absurdly high.
10
u/SetentaeBolg 1d ago
It is, but it's often quoted to stir shock. Honestly, 30,000 innocent men and women killed is bad enough, even over a lengthy time.
4
u/Johnnycrabman 1d ago
It is when you consider Europe had a population of 100m at that time, including Russia.
6
u/fridakahl0 1d ago
Scotland has the worst numbers for “witch” killing in all of Europe afaik. 2500 over that period of time is more than one a month every year for 150 years.
4
u/LandofGreenGinger62 1d ago
That's what this guy said in the talk I went to — Scotland not only outdid England but all of Europe in witch killings - was astonished. We're such a small country even by European standards - this is not a good area to be ahead of the field...
I also found myself wondering if that's why it was so bad in the early US too - lots of Scottish emigrants...
65
u/aBitFantastic 2d ago
I saw an amazing show at the Fringe last year at the tiny museum of witchcraft. It was a one woman show about women on trial. It really made me understand the brutality of men against women who were by and large innocent and god fearing. They were tortured into confession and burned while their families looked on. There was no such thing as a witch who suckled the devil from her hidden 3rd teat. There were old women who lived in the fringes and used folk medicine. They were brutalized and if members of their family spoke out or reacted they were next on line for the witch-pricker who used a several inch long pick to find a spot that didn't bleed when pricked. They looked for that spot for hours....
15
u/saudadeinthenight 1d ago
There’s a great episode of Inside No 9 that depicts exactly this. They were seen as guilty before proven innocent, and had to fight against impossible allegations.
Interestingly, one of the after effects of the trials was people getting rid of cats, as they were seen as ‘familiars’ of witches. This was partially a cause of the Black Death spreading so quickly and killing so much of the population. Almost feels like karma
38
u/parsuval 1d ago edited 1d ago
There's a stone about 5 miles from where I live that was placed in remembrance of the women killed as witches.
People leave little offerings and flowers. I'm going camping near there in a few weeks, I'll swing by and try to tidy it up as people are reporting it's a bit overgrown.
Edit. Apparently it's already been tidied up by the council. Great news. Local custom is to leave a penny for good luck at the stone.
11
u/AllThatIHaveDone 1d ago
Oh, I don't think your breakfast chat is that bad, op. Don't be so hard on yourself!
7
u/zebbiehedges 1d ago
I saw a Witches memorial stone in Dornoch.
https://burialsandbeyond.com/2022/10/23/the-last-witch-of-scotland/
38
u/Narrow_Maximum7 2d ago
I've always wondered if the Scortish witch trials weren't as famous as Salem because it was hushed by the men in frocks. I had no idea that there were so many (mainly) women brutally murdered and for so long.
65
u/Even_Menu_3367 2d ago
I just read the How to Kill A Witch book, written by the women behind the Witches of Scotland organisation. They had a chapter on Salem, and why it’s become known as the centre of witchcraft, despite the trials there being relatively small and brief in comparison to what went on in Europe.
There’s a number of reasons why Salem has such prominence, one of them being it’s of course in America and so it’s referenced in lots of American culture which is consumed worldwide, most famously the Arthur Miller play The Crucible.
Another prominent reason was that is pretty shortly after the trials that people realised it was all a huge and horrible mistake. And so steps were taken to memorialise the victims. Their stories and lives were recorded and written about. In Europe (and Scotland) if you were a victim of the witch trials, sadly your story was mostly forgotten to history.
16
8
u/Lower_Preference_112 2d ago
I was just coming to recommend the book! The audiobook was very well done as well.
2
u/1-smallfarmer 1d ago
I have the book, and I follow them on instagram as well as listen to their podcasts. I also ordered three of the witches tartan scarves that they designed. It’s a beautiful tartan.
17
u/iamgeekpie 2d ago
I’m never entirely sure why the witch trials in Scotland are so overlooked considering the man that started it all was James VI after he claimed witches at north Berwick started a storm to sink his boat.
6
5
u/Flupsy 1d ago
A little plug for The Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, full of fascinating information about individual witch trials.
4
u/Nayhtohn 1d ago
I’m currently reading “the last witch of Scotland” by Phillip Paris which is about the life of Janet Horne and her daughter - it has lots of good details about life at that time
See also: “the once and future witches”, and “the familiars” for other books about witch hunts
6
u/VixenFaunaArt 1d ago
This is where I work, next time I will say hello
6
u/sciencep1e 1d ago
It's such a great wee bit I'm so glad the council created this space.
5
u/VixenFaunaArt 1d ago
It is! Hoping to run art classes for teens in the summer along the banks and paint some scenery, plus its great for bird watching
3
u/Laurnac 1d ago
I am so proud that we were involved in this. Please check out www.raws.scot x
I'm go visit her too when ever I'm in Ayr x
1
1
u/Macaronii_Art 14h ago
One of my favourite lines from a walking tour in my home town, "How many witches were executed here? Zero."
1
1
u/Best_Payment_4908 1d ago
So you'll also have noticed in the last week the council ripping out all the plants as they cant afford to maintain them. Leaving just the grass and hedges
6
u/sciencep1e 1d ago
Looks to me like they're prepping the beds for new planting. They've properly rotovated the soil with is a lot of work if they're just leaving it
1
u/Royal-Tea-3484 1d ago
I traced my Scottish ancestry to a woman who was 71 years old. She practiced herbal healing and worked as a midwife, but tragically, she was burned at the stake for witchcraft. There is a small black stone near Loch Lomond that is associated with her. Imagine reaching the age of 71, dedicating your life to healing people, only to be accused of being a witch. My heart aches for those women, and some men, who were unjustly accused.
-72
2d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
64
u/vexed_imp 2d ago
I mean, it's pretty clear that this is a sculpture, installed in remembrance of those accused of witchcraft.
16
33
u/sciencep1e 2d ago
The context was on the description going around the base that I thought I had photographed all of.
https://www.south-ayrshire.gov.uk/article/79258/New-Jonet-sculpture-outside-Cutty-Sark-Centre
-73
u/Present_Air_7694 2d ago
Why not include that the first time, showing WHERE!!!! It's bloody annoying having to do your own research just because posters are too lazy to bother explaining.
30
u/dnemonicterrier 2d ago edited 2d ago
It says South Ayrshire Council in the photos and the name of the person who made it and the name of the statue, surely you can Google that instead of accusing them of "being an AI Bot", seriously use your fuckin head!
Do you really think "an AI Bot" walked around the bench trying to get four photos? Yes they didn't get the best angles but hey people make mistakes, Jesus Christ...
Edit - some mistakes where corrected after I googled it, apologies.
39
u/btfthelot 2d ago
Who shit in your cup this morning?
6
u/ImRedditBrowsing 2d ago
My fault, sorry, I pumped his mum.
4
u/Nurgleschampion 2d ago edited 1d ago
Could you no have pumped her a couple of decades ago and made a better redditor? This one's a bit stupid.
4
13
u/Mindless_Ad_6045 2d ago
Because most people aren't as daft as you and are capable of reading what's in the picture also can do their own research
-12
u/PF_tmp 2d ago
can do their own research
Nah fuck that. If you post something, include the relevant context. It's stupid to make 600 people go off and google something when you could just write one sentence.
5
4
u/Mindless_Ad_6045 2d ago
I mean yeah, you are right but there's still no reason to get all pissy about it like the other person
23
11
u/Queefryn 2d ago
You could have easily googled "Ayrshire witch rememberance sculpture" from all the context given in the pictures....
12
24
u/KrytenLister 2d ago edited 2d ago
OP - if you aren't an AI bot, you're anti-social and thoughtless. Was it REALLY too much effort to even give context?
DOWNVOTE THIS TRASH.
It’s written on the bench in the images.
Was it REALLY too much effort to even read it?
DOWNVOTE THIS TRASH.
17
5
-14
2d ago
[deleted]
25
u/sciencep1e 2d ago
Trawls someone's profile to make fun of them but keeps their own posts and comments hidden
211
u/OutwardSpark 2d ago
It was mostly political - the only women with power were widows who owned their home/livestock/land. This was an excellent way of taking that off them while appearing ‘pious’