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Mrs. Bob the Mul is in this picture.. but which witch is she?OFFICIALS AT one of Perthshire’s top tourist attractions have apologised after they billed the “persecution and torture” of a witch as a “fun” Hallowe’en bash for all the family.
Perth resident Louise Park branded it grossly insensitive and insisted tourism chiefs were guilty of “glorifying the persecution of innocent women.”
Officials last night said sorry for any offence caused, but insisted much positive feedback had also been received.
Visitors to Scone Palace had been invited to witness the trial of Isobel Grierson, who was strangled and burned after being accused of turning the important people of Edinburgh into cats.
“I was shocked to find this event advertised on the VisitScotland website,” Ms Park said.
“It stated it would be ‘fun’ for children to learn about the Scottish witch trials.
“Persecution and torture are hardly fun—the witch trials in Scotland involved the scapegoating of vulnerable women for the misfortunes of individuals or towns or villages as a whole.”
Ms Park said she “could not believe” that children were encouraged to heckle the accused woman during the re-enactment.
“The old festival of Samhain, on which Hallowe’en was based, is about remembering and showing respect for our ancestors, not about re-enacting their abuse.”
A petition calling for a posthumous pardon for women and men who were executed as British witches was presented to Jack Straw on Friday. Campaigners hope evidence of eight grave “miscarriages of justice” will persuade the Justice Secretary to take action.
More than 2000 people were executed in Scotland for alleged witchcraft before the 1735 Witchcraft Act put an end to the trials. The bid to get justice for the victims follows an official pardon granted earlier this year by the Swiss government to Anna Goeldi, beheaded in 1782 and regarded as the last person executed as a witch in Europe.
Perth resident Louise Park branded it grossly insensitive and insisted tourism chiefs were guilty of “glorifying the persecution of innocent women.”
Officials last night said sorry for any offence caused, but insisted much positive feedback had also been received.
Visitors to Scone Palace had been invited to witness the trial of Isobel Grierson, who was strangled and burned after being accused of turning the important people of Edinburgh into cats.
“I was shocked to find this event advertised on the VisitScotland website,” Ms Park said.
“It stated it would be ‘fun’ for children to learn about the Scottish witch trials.
“Persecution and torture are hardly fun—the witch trials in Scotland involved the scapegoating of vulnerable women for the misfortunes of individuals or towns or villages as a whole.”
Ms Park said she “could not believe” that children were encouraged to heckle the accused woman during the re-enactment.
“The old festival of Samhain, on which Hallowe’en was based, is about remembering and showing respect for our ancestors, not about re-enacting their abuse.”
A petition calling for a posthumous pardon for women and men who were executed as British witches was presented to Jack Straw on Friday. Campaigners hope evidence of eight grave “miscarriages of justice” will persuade the Justice Secretary to take action.
More than 2000 people were executed in Scotland for alleged witchcraft before the 1735 Witchcraft Act put an end to the trials. The bid to get justice for the victims follows an official pardon granted earlier this year by the Swiss government to Anna Goeldi, beheaded in 1782 and regarded as the last person executed as a witch in Europe.
In a similar vein...I'm going to see if I can get an apology from the Norwegian people for all those nasty Viking raids. Anytime I see someone wearing a horned helmet and sporting a platted beard, I think "Shame on them!"; they are glorifying 100s of years of raping and pillaging... jerks!
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