During our third week in Scotland, the group embarked on a Scottish adventure across the Fife coast and southern Highlands. Bright and early, we were off with the Little Treasures tour crew, Penny and Harry. As a tour guide, Penny was the perfect storyteller and super sweet throughout the entire excursion. Most importantly, Harry was a great tour bus driver and prevented us from getting stuck in the narrow motorways of the Highlands. They really made the experience meaningful and run smoothly by being so supportive and resourceful.
The theme of the week was based on the topic of our study abroad program, Magic and Witchcraft in Scotland. Through a specially crafted schedule, Penny and Harry guided us across the countryside to enhance our learning about the brutal period in Scottish history. Day one focused on exploring the villages of the Fife coast and the historical sites and memorials present in those spaces. To begin with a bang, the group was guided through a private tour of the Wemyss Caves. Inside these caves lie ancient, premodern, and modern carvings on their walls, worshiping many local legends. Here is a depiction of a horse carved out thousands of years ago!
Later, we visited Pittenweem, a quaint coastal village with a dark secret. During the witchcraft trials, Pittenweem was rife with accusations and executions of innocent individuals. There is one woman who was accused of witchcraft and lynched by a bloody thirsty mob, making the site particularly well-known. Our final stop of the day before heading to our hotel in Dunfermline was a “thin” place, or space that has a closer connection to the other world. Famous for its carved face, Dunino Den is a hub of natural beauty and serves as an escape from reality. The only sound created is the dull roar in the stream with the occasional bird song chirping above, calming the minds and evoking the senses. Hundreds of years prior, women were accused of using Dunino Den as a center for casting spells and magic.
In my opinion, the second day of our trip was the most exciting and mentally stimulating. Our first part of the day was involving the town of Torryburn and visiting the only grave site of an accused witch in Scotland. Lilias Adie was an older woman in 1704 who was thought to be a witch by the local community. She was detained by the authorities, but died before she could be persecuted and executed. Absolutely fear-stricken, the citizens of the area chose to bury Lilias under a stone on the coast to prevent her from rising again. We paid a visit to this notorious site and to my surprise the stone was much smaller than I’d imagined. This reveals the utter dehumanization of Lilias at the time, stuck under a stone alone.
Next up was a town well-known for a completely different reason. Filmed in a few episodes of the show Outlander, Culross is one of the most beautiful villages in Scotland. With the historic buildings still intact, the town is part of a conservation mission to preserve the historical appearance of Scottish villages. When I walked through Culross, it was like entering the 17th century.
For day three, Penny took us through the Highlands, including a stop by the Maggie Wall Monument. This memorial is the most mysterious of them all, as we don’t even know if there was a Maggie Wall accused of witchcraft. We aren’t even sure who keeps repainting the white letters on the stone every so often. In turn, this memorial proves that these sites can be socially constructed and not entirely align with historical record. After a scenic drive into the Highlands, the group ended up in the village of Killin. Known for its rushing falls, the town is steeped in folklore and even has a neolithic stone circle, further proving Scotland’s ancient history. In the evening, we drove along the banks of Loch Lomond and arrived at the Loch Lomond Hotel.
The next day we finished the tour program in Glasgow, where we met with RAWS. This organization helps to advocate for the recognition of the atrocities taken out against innocent women during the Scottish witch trials. In 2022, RAWS was able to persuade the Scottish government to offer a national apology for every person lost during the witch trials. After this experience, I am taking away a plethora of on site experience and valuable knowledge about the witchcraft trials of Scotland. Being present in these spaces shifted my initial perceptions of them. In addition, the differences in memorial sites and lack of memorialization in some places gave me insight into how separate communities remember this part of Scottish history.
