‘Declaration Jonet Morisone the said day being 18th January 1662 in the afternoon before John Glass proveist Mr John Stewart minister, Ninian Bannatyne of Kames, Walter Stuart, Neill McNeill Duncan McAllester.’

Our December seminar will take place via Zoom on Friday 6 December 2024 at 19:30 UK time when Caroline Anderson will present ‘The Bute Witchcraft Confessions – A Closer Look’.

This talk will look at a period of Scotland’s history which saw mainly women persecuted as witches. We will take a closer look at some of the women accused of witchcraft on the Island of Bute, and we will also look at the fusion of cultures and beliefs of the Gaelic and the Scots speaking population. Using extracts from the confession documents held in the archives at Inveraray Castle, kirk session records, and cases from the justiciary records for the period, we will get an insight into what life was like in seventeenth century Bute.

Having lived and worked in Mid Argyll all her life but coming late to study, Caroline recently gained a degree in Scotland’s Culture and Heritage. As part of her studies she came across the persecution of witches during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It came as a surprise to find out that the scale of Scotland’s witch hunt made those of England and elsewhere look insignificant. Caroline found she couldn’t quite give up researching the witch accusations and trials, and continues to investigate and do a personal remembrance every month to one of the cases. She hopes you will join her to find out a bit more.

The seminar will be given on Zoom.

Attendance at the seminar is free to members of the Friends. Non-members are asked to make a £10 donation to the Friends at Donate to Friends of the Argyll Papers (enthuse.com).

All attendees should book their place by emailing Alison at: friendsoftheargyllpapers@gmail.com