In Conversation with Dee Lawlor about the Aberdeen Witch Trials!

Join us in store at 5.30pm on the 6th March for a conversation with Dee Lawlor about their new book examining the historical witches and witch trials of Aberdeen!

The history of witchcraft is particularly rich in Scotland with the notorious North Berwick Witch Trials being mentioned in most general texts about the European Witch Trials and our King James VI helping to fuel the fires of persecution with the publication of his Daemonologie. With their new book, Contagious Enemies: The Aberdeen Witch Trials, Dee Lawlor now throws a spotlight on Aberdeenshire’s role in this bloody part of Scotland’s history.

The author will be in conversation with one of our booksellers in our cafe, concluding with an audience Q&A and a book signing. The event is ticketed and we will have books available in store to purchase on the day of the event.

Synopsis:

Witches have existed in society for centuries. Traditionally, they were the midwives, the providers of herbal medicines, the people who understood biology and nature. They were real people who lived amongst you. They were your neighbours – you knew them. But when the Scottish Reformation Party pushed through the Witchcraft Act in 1563, the healers would become the hunted.

The Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archive is a treasure trove of documentation, dating as far back as the twelfth century. Amongst its shelves are the original, handwritten court records from the Aberdeen witch trials of 1597 – first-hand accounts of the words spoken on those dreadful days. Covering a brief history of the Scottish witch trials, the role of an obsessed king, and how it all came to an end, Contagious Enemies: The Aberdeen Witch Trials brings you these court records, transcribed and translated into modern day English.

None were guilty, few were innocent.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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Host or Publisher Waterstones