This story is quite moving, but it leads her to fallacious reasoning. Just as she argues without direct evidence that misogyny was the main cause of witchcraft accusations, she suggests that her own experiences in late-twentieth-century California were also at the root of why seventeenth-century women in Scotland were often accused of witchcraft. Misogyny, disability, and a culture of sexual violence might very well have been essential factors in the Scottish witchcraft trials, but until the author lays out a range of historical evidence, readers should remain open to other possibilities as well. This book is subtitled ‘A Scottish Journey in Search of Witches and Witness’ and is a combination of a personal/travel memoir and an examination of the history and legacy of the Scottish witch trials. Overall, ‘Ashes & Stones’ was an inspiring, beautifully written book, rich in descriptions of the Scottish landscape and powerful accounts of those who were victims of these trials. It concludes with a glossary and bibliography.

Ashes and Stones asks pertinent questions that are ever necessary in considering how we relate to the past and how we action remembrance. What does public memory look like, especially when it involves the state-sanctioned murder of hundreds of women? (If you walk down Edinburgh’s royal mile in the month of October you’ll find a profitable embodiment). Allyson Shaw invites us to envision the women as they existed outside of their accusations, as active participants - as well as victims - of Scottish and local society. The Scottish landscape has witnessed all of it, the burnings and the outcry and the passage of time, and Shaw’s lyrical descriptions of the local sceneries as she searches for answers for these women reminds us that the ghosts of the pasts linger and are not always as distant as we may think - or wish - them to be. A little girl stopped and asked her mother what I was doing. Her mother said: “She’s come to remember people who died.” For a moment, we were united through time and space in this place – the mother and daughter, Helen and Joanet, and me. Nor does Shaw appear interested in the fact that both men and women were accused of witchcraft, although the percentage of accused men was significantly lower. The author argues without evidence that men faced “markedly different” experiences from what accused women faced. Shaw’s assumption predetermines her conclusion: because “those who died were women and not witches,” she assumes that the only explanation is hatred of all women. “The overwhelming majority were targeted simply because they were women,” she says. “What drove this misogyny?” Feminist scholars might ask different questions: how did the practice of accusing and convicting a very small percentage of women affect all women, even those who never became suspects? Did the threat of accusation, for example, limit their willingness to risk conflicts with people in authority? Did it change what they could do in public venues, perhaps? Local court records might show changes over time which would suggest particular answers. It’s getting darker. Join us at Conway Hall as we explore the Haunted Landscape – our annual gathering of witchcraft, folklore, ghosts, and fairies from the British Isles.Documenting both his own intellectual development and the emergence of a new and influential field of study, Brown describes his childhood and education in Ireland, his university and academic training in England, and his extensive travels, particularly in the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. He discusses fruitful interactions with the work of scholars and colleagues that include the British anthropologist Mary Douglas and the French theorist Michel Foucault, and offers fascinating snapshots of such far-flung places as colonial Sudan, midcentury Oxford, and prerevolutionary Iran. With Journeys of the Mind, Brown offers an essential account of the "grand endeavor" to reimagine a decisive historical moment. A creative non-fiction book detailing Allyson’s investigation of the women hunted and killed during the Scottish witch trials that occurred during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Allyson provides a perfect description of what she has written:

One early spring day the stone was surrounded with snowdrops. I was sitting beside it and thinking of accused witches in Forfar, specifically Helen Guthrie and her daughter Joanet. The book also touches on the broader implications of witch trials and persecution of women. The writings helps us connect this history to present-day issues such as gender inequality and violence against women, making the book both timely and relevant. A sin-eater was a ‘long, leane, ugly, lamentable poor raskal’ (Aubrey, 1687) who, by eating a special meal over the coffin, consumed a dead person’s sins and thus helped them enter heaven. In this talk Dr Helen Frisby surveys the historical evidence for this fascinating old funerary character and their mysterious rituals in service of the souls of the dead. As it turns out, things aren’t quite what they might first seem – but Helen will suggest that it’s the sin-eater’s very elusiveness within the historical record which has enabled them to rise again in present-day film, TV and literature. I have always been fascinated by the history of the witch trials, but Shaw's book has to be one of the most thought-provoking, most human-centred accounts to have been written. It is a book that will stay with me for a very long time indeed. In conversation with Alistair Braidwood on the Scots Whay Hae! Podcast. The episode is archived here.The chapter looking at Maggie’s Wall in Dunning, Perthshire was particularly unnecessary. Don’t get me wrong, it was appropriate to include the memorial but she used it as an opportunity to tell us about Ian Brady and Myra Hindley visiting it on holiday, why on earth was that deemed appropriate?! She also uses it to tell readers about the horrific 2019 murder of Annalise Johnstone, but when discussing the trial of her alleged killer, gets the jury verdict wrong. Shaw said: “I longed for an authentic glimpse of the women executed for witchcraft hundreds of years ago, and I went out into the landscape to meet them. Their voices and lives became braided with my own in moving and unexpected ways. I’m excited that Sceptre will bring this humanising perspective on the accused to a wider audience.”

Allyson Shaw untangles the myth of witchcraft and gives voice to those erased by it. Her elegant and lucid prose weaves together threads of history and feminist reclamation to create a vibrant memorial. This is the untold story of the witches' monuments of Scotland and the women's lives they mark. Ashes and Stones is a trove of folklore linking the lives of contemporary women to the horrors of the past, a record of resilience and a call to choose and remember our ancestors. Throughout the recorded history of Britain, belief in earthbound spirits presiding over nature, the home and human destiny has been a feature of successive cultures. From the localised deities of Britannia to the Anglo-Saxons’ elves and the fairies of late medieval England, Britain’s godlings have populated a shadowy, secretive realm of ritual and belief running parallel to authorised religion. Francis Young traces Britain’s ‘small gods’ to a popular religiosity influenced classical learning. It offers an exciting new way of grasping the island’s most mysterious mythical inhabitants. One is a journey to find the Scottish Witches who were accused, convicted and killed in staggering numbers and who are now mostly forgotten or even worse, remembered for the wrong reasons, their history dismissively mis-told. A beautifully written journey through Scottish history and across the Scottish landscape in search of the women accused and killed during the witch hunts. The depth of research is fascinating and I think anyone reading will only be encouraged to investigate more into this aspect of history that is not spoken about enough.But, for me, what really set Ashes and Stones apart was the way it was written. Without wishing to spoil it, the author herself had an extremely compelling reason not only to write the book, but to include within it, a memoir of why she has chosen to do this. This lends added poignancy to each piece of information she uncovers and each grave she stands overs. I would like to thank #NetGalley and #hodderandstoughton for the opportunity of reading this advanced copy of #AshesandStones in exchange for my own honest review. Shaw's attention to detail and careful research make the historical setting of the book come to life, providing us readers with a deeper understanding of the cultural and social environment in which these prejudices occurred. Despite the subject matter, Shaw's writing style is engaging and accessible, striking a balance between providing enough historical context and keeping the narrative flowing.