Scotix Wica The early Gardnerians of Scotland Scotland has long had a connection with strange happenings.

. Its high mountains, changeable weather, blea moors, remote islands and isolated communities readily lends itself to spoo y tales, paranormal affairs and the preser!ation of old country wisdom and fol healing. The notorious "leister #rowley li!ed there for a while, belie!ing that the surroundings better suited his magical wor , and of course, we cant forget that Scotland is home to that other $beast, the elusi!e, yet infamous, %och &ess 'onster( Scotland also has a strong association with Witchcraft, both medie!al and, as we shall see, modern. )uring the reformation period of the *+th and *,th centuries se!eral thousand cases were bought to trial, with the final properly documented case of death through witch-burning recorded as late as *,.., in Sutherland. /f these cases it is thought that roughly +,0 were executed * and unli e in 1ngland where witches were hanged, Scotland preferred to burn their witches usually following their torture and strangulation2chec this3.Sadly, it is now fairly certain that a lot of these medie!al cases were based on little more than malicious gossip and neighbourhood 4uarrels. 5robably the most famous historical case was that of Isobel Gowdie, whose tales of shape-shifting and ca!orting with the de!il and his unnaturally cold penis, ha!e inspired music, plays and boo s. Gerald Gardner, who was a member of the 6ol lore Society, was fascinated by tales such as this, and owned se!eral boo s on the sub7ect of the Scottish Witch trials as well as its nati!e country fol lore and superstitions. Gardners interest in Scotland was more than 7ust a hobby, in his biography Gerald Gardner Witch* we are told the [Gardner] family had never forgotten that it was of Scottish ancestry, and they traced their descent still further, to Simon le Gardinor, born in the fourteenth Century. hrough three centuries they had remembered the highland country of their grandsires.! Gardner was ob!iously proud of this Scottish ancestry and in his Will explicitly be4ueathed his ilt, plaid and brooch, along with his grandfathers Scottish Sgain )ubh 2stoc ing 8nife3 and )ir , to his sister-in-law 'iriam Gardner, the widow of his brother 6rancis )ouglas Gardner, re4uesting that they should always stay within the family. The #raft historian 5hilip 9eselton, has in!estigated Gardners family tree and has managed to accurately trace it bac to *+:;. "lthough he was unable to find any Scottish ancestors, he was able to disco!er that Gardners grandfather was actually born on the on .nd /ctober *,<* at St. 'ichael=s on Wyre, %ancashire. We might as why then, did his grandfather ha!e these traditional Scottish weapons and why did Gerald co!et his own ilt and plaid> I suspect that, li e his $Scottish ancestry, it may ha!e been a romantic notion that he li ed to foster. Interestingly, in the aforementioned biography, Gardner also suggests to us that his grandfather was in!ol!ed with a witch $up north. In *<?;, whilst on a !isit to 1ngland he went to see his relati!es, the Surgensons. Whilst there, he was introduced to a doctor called Gardner, who was accompanied by his sister. 9e noticed that@ "ccasionally someone would tease them, as#ing whether they had done any magic recently$ or if they had attended any good Witches% Sabbaths. Why should they have, Gardner wanted to #now. &ecause, of course, their mother had been a witch. 'e was e(tremely intrigued by this. Who had their mother been) *nd why had they the same surname as he had) Were they relations) 'e as#ed at home about all this, but once again only received evasive answers. +obody would really discuss the matter. *t last, however, he got the truth, which his brother &ob was able to su,,ort with corroborative evidence. Grandfather -ose,h, the founder of the timber firm in its ,resent name .who had died in /0123 had married a shrew. 4veryone agreed about this5 she had been a thoroughly un,o,ular woman. *s a result, Grandfather reached the end of his tether, cut

through it and freed himself. 'e stayed at home, but #e,t the lady somewhere u, north. here is some doubt as to whether he really married her. *t all events, he had a second and ha,,ier home, where there were strange goings6 on. his *nn, the tale ran, had led him into wic#ed ways. She had been a witch, and had ta#en Grandfather -ose,h u, into the hills where secret meetings and horrible rites were held. his had set the final seal u,on the scandal5 no one in 7eighton now s,o#e of it, because, if the neighbours got to hear...8! "s for a possible connection with the !isiting Gardersafter searching the 'edical Aegister for *<?; found two )r Gardners listed as li!ing within a reasonable tra!elling distance of Blundellsands, where Gardner was born. Both of these doctors studied at Glasgow Cni!ersity. "fter en4uiring further with the uni!ersity and cross referencing the information with census records only one of the doctors continued to loo li e a possibility he was told DThe first Eames Gardner graduated from Glasgow in *FF.. 9is father was "lexander, a miller, and his home address was =5acemuir=, 8ilmacolm. 9e was born in Greenoc . The second Eames Gardner was also a graduate of Glasgow. 9is father was Eames, a 7oiner, and his home address was gi!en as ., Taylor Street, Glasgow.D Aealistically. Whilst the picture that history seems to portray of Eames Gardner doesnt seem to 4uite fit the picture that Gardner paints for us in his biography, could it perhaps help to explain why he priGed the bladed Scottish heirlooms he recei!ed from his grandfather> 9opefully further in!estigations will e!entually get to the bottom of this little enigma. Gerald would also ha!e us belie!e that not only was his grandfather associated with Witchcraft, but that he also had a distant Scottish relati!e, GriGell GairdenerH, who had been burned as a Witch. In Gardners biography we learn that upon meeting the members of the &ew 6orest #o!en, which he was later to be initiated into, he tells them $I an ancestress of mine had been burned ali!e as a witch at &ewborough in Scotland about *+:?, although I did not mention Grandfather.D There was indeed a $Witch with the name Grissel Gairdner burned at &ewburghH although again, 5hilip 9eseltons research suggests that there is no e!idence for her being a relati!e of Gerald Gardners )espite his lo!e for things Scottish, Gardner ne!er actually li!ed there, although in *<;. he mo!ed to the Isle /f 'an, an island in the Irish Sea not too far from the South Western most tip of Scotland. 9e and his wife )onna, mo!ed into a stone cottage in #astletown and Gardner became the $resident Witch at #ecil Williamsons Isle /f 'an Witchcraft 'useum, usually referred to as The Witches 'ill. "fter a financially difficult couple of years Gardner too o!er the museum in *<;:, and with the help of )onna, set about trying to turn it into a thri!ing and interesting tourist attraction. "lso resident on the island was one 'r 9enri %. )or, who owned a printing press at )ouglas. The $Times 5ress, as it was nown, produced the Isles main newspaper, and in *<+;, 5atricia #rowthers first boo , $The Witches Spea . "nother publication produced by them between the *<;?s and the *<,?s, was entitled 6"T1 and described itself as the DEournal of 6antastic Aeality. 6ate Topics include 5arapsychology, Janished #i!ilisations, Witchcraft, Cfology, 5rediction, 9ealing, spiritism, Aadiesthesia, Aeincarnation. 6rom all newsagents . shillingsD. I suspect that this magaGine was printed there as a result of a smallI. This publication inspired the formation of a small group of li e-minded people that would meet to discuss !arious $alternati!e ideas such as C6/s, uncon!entional forms of healing, psychic phenomena, and Witchcraft. It was at one of these meetings that a man called #harles #lar met Gerald Gardner. "s a result of this meeting, they de!eloped a friendship and #harles was

subse4uently initiated into the #raft of the Wica by Gerald and his wife, )onna, at their home in 'alew Street. "t that time Gerald was especially eager to spread the $#ult, as he often called it, and #harles, who was a customarily enthusiastic man, made it his mission to help Gerald by helping the spread of the #raft in Scotland. 5A/B%1' WIT9 6"T1 5CB%I#"TI/& "&) GA/C5 2*<;: at earliest>3 #harles #lar li!ed in a small council house in Saltcoats on the West coast of Scotland with his wife, "nnie, and their two children. Cnfortunately "nnie did not share her husbands interest and so #harles had to be 4uite co!ert about his #raft acti!ities. 9owe!er, by the late *<;?s he had managed to in!ol!e se!eral students from the Cni!ersities at Glasgow as well as a nurse, a butcher, an artist and a few other people. 1dith 9yslop, a librarian and student at the School of #ommerce at 5itt Street, Glasgow, became the 9igh 5riestess of the group. /n meeting nights #harles would tell his wife that he was to hold a 'asonic meeting at their home and she would go out with the children lea!ing him to the business of treading the circle and wor ing magic. /n occasion Gerald Gardner would come o!er from the Isle of 'an to attend these meetings, bringing with him magical items to gi!e to the !arious members. "t that time, you couldnt 7ust order a wand or athame on online li e you can nowadays but fortunately Gerald had the necessary tools and s ills to ma e magical e4uipment. )ue to the notoriety of Gardner as a writer on Witchcraft, he would recei!e in4uiries from people all o!er the world. Gardner li ed to tra!el often, especially during the cold British winter when he would head for sunnier climes, so he enlisted !arious people to help him reply to these in4uiries. #harles was one such person and at time handled tens of letters a wee for Gerald. I suspect that this is how #harles, in *<+?, first came to hear about 'r and 'rs #ampbell Wilson, who at that time were li!ing in 5erth. /f all the Wica in Scotland at that time, this meeting ultimately came to be responsible for one of the biggest influences on the #raft and its history, that being its export to the CS". 'rs 'oni4ue Wilson was born in 9aiphong, Jietnam to 6rench parents. She met her husband, #ampbell Wilson, when he was an A.".6. 6light %ieutenant stationed in 9ong 8ong. They subse4uently mo!ed to 5erth and #ampbell went to wor for the local gas board. #harles considered it particularly efficacious to initiate a couple as the two hal!es of a magical partnership were already in place with the polarity already established and he 4uic ly ele!ated 'oni4ue, ma ing her a 9igh 5riestess by *<+*. "s is customary she too a #raft name, /lwen, and her husband became $%oic. #harles encouraged the Wilsons to set up their own #o!en in 5erth, and furnished them with the !arious #raft tools that they would need. In *<+*, #harles wrote excitedly to Gerald to tell him about four $Gardnerian #o!ens in Scotland that he K#harlesL had helped to establish. These were located in Glasgow, 1dinburgh, 5erth and Saltcoats, with a further one planned for 6ife although it is unclear whether this one e!er got off the ground. Shortly after this, #harles had an altercation with 'oni4ue and #ampbell Wilson regarding a lady whom they wanted to initiate. 6or !arious reasons, #harles felt that the proposed candidate was unsuitable for the #raft of the Wise and could potentially attract unwanted media attention which he thought could pose a real ris to the #rafts integrity. In light of the !arious $re!elations about the Wica which had hit the tabloid newspapers in the late *<;?s, this was naturally something that he was !ery een to a!oid. Cnfortunately the situation between the 5erth #o!en and #harles intensified, the rift widened, and Gerald Gardner got in!ol!ed. #harles was not happy about this as he hadnt wanted to trouble Gardner with internal s4uabbles, especially when Gardner had been ill following the passing of his wife )onna the year before. Cltimately, this incident led to #harles resigning his help not only from the 5erth #o!en, but from the #raft mo!ement in Scotland

generally. 6or the rest of his life he ept a low profile whilst periodically ta ing the odd magical student under his #rafts wing. 6ollowing these e!ents, 'oni4ue still felt that she had much to learn and so approached Gardner to as him if he would now help to train her. 9e subse4uently re-initiated 'oni4ue Wilson ma ing her one of se!eral 9igh 5riestesses that were acti!e in the #raft at that time. 'eanwhile, on the other side of the "tlantic, Aaymond Buc land had been reading Gerald Gardners boo s and decided to write to him about the Wica. "s a result of this correspondence it was arranged for him to be initiated by 'oni4ue Wilson following a *? day intensi!e course and on the .*st &o!ember *<+M, Aaymond flew to the C8 to begin his program. Gardner had sent mail en4uiries he recei!ed from the CS" to Aaymond and so, upon his return to the C.S."., Aaymond initiated his then-wife Aosemary, and together they proceeded to establish the first $Gardnerian #o!en in "merica, located in the Town of Islip in Suffol #ounty, %ong Island. In *<++, Buc land, following in the footsteps of the then-deceased, Gerald Gardner, established the $6irst 'useum of Witchcraft and 'agic in his basement. The museum is still going but now has its own premises atII %ess than a couple of months after Aaymond Buc lands initiation, whilst sailing bac from his holiday in I.. Gardner passed away on board $The Scottish 5rince. on the *.th 6ebruary *<+: whilst sailing bac from his holiday in I.. 'oni4ue Wilson inherited I.. whilst W I.. was be4ueathed I. /ther beneficiaries includedII The Wilsons left their home in &immo "!enue, 5erth and mo!ed into the Witches #ottage on the Isle of 'an where they set about trying to continue the wor of Gerald Gardner. The relationship between the Wilsons and many of the members of the #raft was by now 4uite strained. 5atricia #rowther and Aay Bone strongly ob7ected to her proclaimation that she was the $Nueen of a Witches a title she claimed she inherited in Gardners Will. In fact his Will mentions no such thing. This caused a stir in the newspapers, but as these things so often do, the media attention 4uic ly died down. Then in *<;< the &ews of the World ran a story about the Wilsons ** year old daughter Je!ette whom had been initiated by her parents bac in *<+. at the age of :. The headline read $Witchcraft puts their little girl in peril. The courts and local school authority got in!ol!ed and 'oni4ue went on a hunger stri e in protest. This e!ent was a lin in the chain of e!ents that ultimately led to the Wilsons deciding to mo!e to Spain in the *<,?s. They decided to sell many of the items from the struggling Witchcraft 'useum to Aipleys in the CS", in order to fund their emigration. " large chun of the collection was purchased by Aichard and Tamarra Eames of the &ew Wiccan #hurch in #anada, who still own it. Throughout the *<+?s the #raft mo!ement in "merica was a rapid and successful one. Its arri!al coincided with the $free lo!e mo!ement, and interest in alternati!e spiritualities helped to ensure its popularity. Today there are now many different types and traditions of $Witchcraft and nearly all of them ha!e been influenced to some extent by the wor of Gerald Gardner and the early #raft pioneers. If it wasnt for people li e them, we would ha!e had no foundation on which to build the spiritual beliefs that we ha!e. Therefore, I thin it is appropriate to finish with a 4uotation ta en from one of #harles letters to Gerald Gardner where he is relating his efforts to get the #raft of the Wica well and truly established in Scotland. $If the foundation is laid with lo!e and perfect wor manship, then thro time shall stem the perfect edifice, only the way I am wor ing things 7ust now, will we e!er prosper here in Scotland, and it will be as has been since I came into the craft. This to me is not an interest li e most fol , but my life wor , I now it may seem to one loo ing on that I ha!e not achie!ed much, but gi!e me timeI

6ootnotes * httpOPPwww.arts.ed.ac.u PwitchesPintroduction.html . "ctualy Gairdner, Grissel (1610) see http://webdb.ucs.ed.ac.uk/witches/index.cfm? fuseacti n!h me.search "ri#ell GG$ % &a"e 1'( )*+! editi n httpOPPwww.scan.org.u P nowledgebasePtopicsPwitchcraft.htm
Fear of witches and witchcraft trials Persecution of supposed witches started in medieval times. However, in Scotland the phenomenon became most intense between 1563 and about 1700, when witchcraft was a criminal offence punishable b death. Popular fear of witchcraft ma have increased after the !eformation, althou"h the shorta"e of record sources prior to the rei"n of #ames $% ma&es this difficult to verif . 'itch(huntin" was suppressed b the )romwellian administration of the 1650s, but witch(hunts reappeared in various parts of Scotland in the last *uarter of the seventeenth centur . +he method of e,ecution was normall stran"ulation, followin" which the bod was burnt in public to prevent re(animation b demonic forces. -fter 1763 courts could onl prosecute for .pretended witchcraft. and impose a ma,imum penalt of a ear.s imprisonment. )ases could be investi"ated b local church courts or landowners. courts, but most trials were conducted b special /usticiar commissions sent from 0dinbur"h. +rials often too& place in the bur"h nearest to the alle"ed crime, since towns had "aols to hold the accused, buildin"s in which a lar"e court could sit and the financial resources to accommodate a trial and sta"e an e,ecution.

http122members.aol.com2S& elander2witch1.html

Although literally thousands of people were burned throughout Europe for being convicted of these crimes the situation in Britain was comparatively mild to the Continent, for these beliefs spread slowly and in crossing the Channel they lost much of their potency. The practice of burning witches was never really adopted in England although direct dissenters with the established religion were treated as heretics and then burned (not much better). itches were burned in !cotland and, again unli"e England, torture was used to gain confessions of guilt from them. #ot only was much of the potency of the witch$hysteria in Europe lost in reaching Britain, but it arrived at a later date and the type of heretic$witch who was constantly pursued by the %n&uisition in Europe was virtually un"nown in !cotland, until a law was passed against them by 'ary (ueen of !cots in )*+,. 'ary was the wife of the -auphin of .rance and inherited the throne of !cotland on the death of her mother ('ary of /uise). !he brought many European ideas with her and her itchcraft Act was based on the assumption that witchcraft e&uated with heresy, hence burning became the prescribed punishment for a traitor, a heretic or a witch $$ but not for a murderer.

$"lso of the circle were a doctor called Gardner, and his sister. "lthough they were often there, they were a little older than the others, and tended to stay near &ellie. /ccasionally someone would tease them, as ing whether they had done any magic recently@ or if they had attended any good Witches=

Sabbaths. Why should they ha!e, Gardner wanted to now. Because, of course, their mother had been a witch. 9e was extremely intrigued by this. Who had their mother been> "nd why had they the same surname as he had> Were they relations> 9e as ed at home about all this, but once again only recei!ed e!asi!e answers. &obody would really discuss the matter. "t last, howe!er, he got the truth, which his brother Bob was able to supportwith corroborati!e e!idence. Grandfather Eoseph, the founder of the timber firm in its present name 2who had died in *F+;3 had married a shrew. 1!eryone agreed about thisO she had been a thoroughly unpopular woman. "s a result, Grandfather reached the end of his tether, cut through it and freed himself. 9e stayed at home, but ept the lady somewhere up north. There is some doubt as to whether he really married her. "t all e!ents, he had a second and happier home, where there were strange goings-on. This "nn, the tale ran, had led him into wic ed ways. She had been a witch, and had ta en Grandfather Eoseph up into the hills where secret meetings and horrible rites were held. This had set the final seal upon the scandalO no one in %eighton now spo e of it, because, if the neighbours got to hear...( from GG WIT#9

In fact it is has been suggested that it is from the Scots dialect word $Wice meaning $wise one, that the word $Wica was deri!ed and used by Gerald Gardner to refer to the witches he met in the &ew 6orest in the *<M?s. The Scots ha!e also long li ed their $secret societies with masonic lodges, unli e in 1ngland, maintaining a strong, proud and noticeable presences in most Scottish towns and cities. There are many ancient sites and stone circles, especially on some of the islands off the west coast of Scotland. although I doubt the authenticity of this story as Gardner often li ed to exaggerate things. 9e also tell us inI.. that his grandfather was rumoured to ha!e married a witch 2S11 59 GA"&)6"T1A "&) T91 WIT#93

%i e many islands, old customs tend to be preser!ed better than on the mainland, where the constant influx and outflux of people tend to dilute this sort of nowledge.

"t that time the Isle of 'an was easy to get to from Scotland./ne could fly form Glasgow airport, or ta e a ferry from "rdrossen 2picture of boat that goes ot the isle of man>3 Shortly after this there was a ma7or disagreement between #harles and the Wilsons. 9e felt that they were not ta ing the #raft seriously and he feared that they see ing to exploit Gerald. "dditionally they had also gone against #harles ad!ice and initiated an unstable lady along with her lo!er which had cause problems with her husband. #harles worrieds that things would escalate out of control and unwanted attention would come noc ing on the #rafts door.

1ach year a huge 5agan e!ent nown as 5antheacon attracts thousands of people ..I. 'argot "dler comment P 9utton comment. httpOPPwww.magictorch.netPwitchcraft.htm Gerald owned se!eral family heirlooms with connections to a Scottish heritage. These included his grandfather Scottish dir , s ign dooh 2stoc ing nife3, ilt and plaid. Cpon Gardners death these were specifically be4ueathed to his sister-in-law 'iriam Gardner, the widow of his brother 6rancis )ouglas Gardner, and Gardner re4uested that they should always stay in the family.