Making lives grievable: Crime, culture and remembering the accused witches of Scotland

Abstract

Recent campaigns to remember those accused during the witch-hunts of the sixteenth and seventeenth century in Scotland have exposed the vindictiveness of law and kirk (church). The practice of ‘witchcraft’, or consulting with a ‘witch’, though ill-defined, was a capital offence under the Witchcraft Act of 1563 resulting in the execution of over 2500 people, mainly women. For the convicted, execution was frequently followed by the eradication of their lives from local history. Grieving is a powerful individual and cultural response to loss and an expression of mourning. In the case of controversial deaths, the right to grieve is often removed, and drawing on the work of Judith Butler, some lives are considered ‘un-grievable’. By exploring this concept through primary research into contemporary campaigns to memorialise the historic Scottish witch-hunts, this paper highlights the ways in which campaigners have resisted the distortion and eradication of some lives. Importantly, the paper argues that the cultural power of memorialisation is a form of resistance and witnessing, making ungrievable lives grievable through collective acts of remembrance.