StoryGnat #4: Agnes
How goes it, StoryGnatter?
Well, I hope. We’re rapidly approaching Halloween, so this one feels quite apt.
The Calder Witch Hunt
Witchcraft. It seeps through our history and throughout cultures the world over, and it’s been popularised in fiction for new generations with the phenomenon that is Harry Potter – with a new TV series in development, no less. The historical record of witchcraft, however, is brutal.
Today, I want to tell you about Agnes.
Agnes was born in the late sixteenth century and lived in the parish of Calder, around 15 miles West of Edinburgh. In 1644, she was put on trial for being a witch – the first person to be accused in what would become known as the Calder Witch Hunt.
I’ve always been fascinated by the driving forces behind witch hunts and witch trials. It’s a heady mix of genuine fear, religion, misogyny, sheer pragmatism (if you were being tortured for names, whose would you give?), the conflict between traditionally female healers and midwives and the newly-emerging male medical profession... All these, plus that age-old, irresistible momentum that takes hold amongst paranoia and group think.
I think these are all at play in Agnes’ tale, as I think they’d be in most cases – just with a slightly different mix depending on the individual community.
The records about Agnes’ life are patchy - but patchy records can be patched together, and they do tell her story. I think it’s best if I let you explore it for yourself, right here.
One last thing. Why Agnes?
Well, if you follow her family down through the generations for, oh, about 380 years, you find me. This is my way to remember Agnes, her story and the stories of the other women in her local community – and worldwide – who’ve been tormented by witch hunts over the generations.
Other resources you might like:
I think Lucy Worsley did an excellent job of telling the wider story here.
And I’ve been recommended (but not yet watched) the Channel 4 series here.
And finally, if you’ve not already explored the rest of the Calder Witch Hunt site, you can find that here.
Happy Halloween to all who celebrate!
Meg