Maze memorial to victims of Crook of Devon witch trials
A unique memorial commemorating the lives of 11 men and women executed during the Crook of Devon witch trials is to be created near Kinross.
Gillian Forbes gets ready to work on the maze's centrepiece.
- By Sandra Gray
- Published in the Courier : 04.09.10
- Published online : 05.09.10 @ 09.12am
Lord Moncrieff is building a maze in the grounds of his ancestral home of Tullibole Castle to honour the victims, who were put to death almost 350 years ago.
Although 2000 beech trees have already been planted to form the intriguing puzzle, it will not open to visitors until next year to allow the walls time to reach a more challenging height.
At the heart of the labyrinth will be an elaborate sandstone pillar, created by stone carver Gillian Forbes from Path of Condie.
She will carve the names of those executed onto the stone, along with etchings of herbs and animals that were used to cure illness at the time.
There will also be 10 other pillars placed throughout the maze, which will consist of five "good" stones and five "bad" stones.
Tullibole Castle has strong links with the witch trials as it was once the home of William Halliday, who along with his son James and three others, presided over the court dealings.
Lord Moncrieff described it as one of the "worst cases" of witchcraft persecution in Scotland, which saw those who survived imprisonment and trial taken to a mound to be strangled and burned.
He said, "Sadly there is nothing in the village to commemorate these people, so I decided to create a memorial maze in their honour in 2003.
"Instead of being a simple memorial, I want it to work on several levels.
"The witches' pillar will be protected by five stones to symbolise the five trials, which are decorated with what I call 'good' words," he said.
These are the words that he believes were missing from Scottish society during the trials and include logic, justice and tolerance.
Ignorance
Mirroring this, the maze also features a series of dead ends, which will be marked with negative words such as superstition, prejudice and ignorance.
Lord Moncrieff hopes that this will highlight to visitors what occurs when logic isn't used, as he plans to include other meanings and deeper symbolism in the maze.
He is also adamant that it will never be adopted by modern-day champions of the supernatural.
"I really don't like how other memorials to victims of witch hunts in Salem in the US and Glastonbury in England have largely been take over by people who believe in the supernatural," he added.
"If society had not believed in the paranormal in the 1660s, then these so-called 'witches' would not have been prosecuted.
"The maze will be open to everyone, but the symbolism inside makes it abundantly clear that it is very much in favour of rational thought over superstition," he said.
Although the maze does not officially open until next year, visitors are welcome to look at the work in progress, which is on the Gelvan Road, half a mile north-west of Tullibole Castle.
The castle is open until September 30, Tuesday to Sunday, 1-4pm.
06.35pm - 06.09.2010 K. Stovold - Cork, Ireland Report This
Like the idea. Only thing is this: "If society had not believed in the paranormal in the 1660s, then these so-called 'witches' would not have been prosecuted." It's not about believing in 'paranormal' things, it's fearing them or any belief that you do not understand.
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