Witch hunt: a Halloween trail through Scotland’s haunty past

Combining hard-hitting history and hands-on adventures, a new trail reveals stories of sorcery and the healing powers of nature

The tourists crowding into Edinburgh Castle can be forgiven for overlooking a small fountain and plaque near the entrance; it is easily missed. But we have come here especially to see the Witches’ Well. This modest monument marks the spot where more than 300 women were murdered – strangled and burned at the stake – in the 16th century. More “witches” were killed here than anywhere else in Scotland.

We are on a Real Women of Edinburgh walking tour with Invisible Cities, which employs people who have experienced homelessness. Our gregarious guide, Sonny, tells us with tales of witch-hunts, but also of women such as Maggie Dickson, who miraculously survived a public execution in the early 1700s, and Agnes Maclehose, for whom a besotted Robert Burns wrote Ae Fond Kiss.