Who were Scotland’s witches? The tale of the Pittenweem Witches! Amazing Mudlarking harbour finds!

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We're in Pittenweem, a beautiful fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife. We've come along here today for our Halloween special because Pittenweem was the location of one of Scotland's last witch trials... and, not least so, because it is such a gorgeous village on Scotland's East Coast.
The name, Pittenweem, like so many other places along this coast, is reckoned to come from an old Pictish name meaning, the place of the cave - the cave in question is St Fillans cave, once thought to be the hermitage of St Fillan, and others... The cave was also used by smugglers, fishermen, and, sadly, as a dumping ground. We do not visit the cave because of current restrictions, but we are happy to say that it was cleared around the turn of the millennium and has been open to the public since.
These days, Pittenweem stands out among its neighbors because it remains an active and very busy fishing village. Its harbour is packed with fishing vessels, and is often a hive of activity... A fish market sits on the harbour side and continues to sell fish, fresh off the boat!
We get down into the slipway section of the harbour where we are both surprised to find so many things! Some really lovely glass and pottery shards here! As the sun pokes out from behind the clouds, the pebbles take on its light and the glass between the rock glistens, and flickers at us! The sun really gifts us with some really lovely finds - check out Sunday's short additional video to see what Nicole makes from today's finds, and, not least, where we say a huge thank you to you all for supporting this channel.
We decided that we would take a look at a real story of horror today - Scotland has so many ghost stories, we were spoiled for choice, but then we remembered an old poem of 1842, by David Vedder, called, The Witch O' Pittenweem - a lurid account of witchcraft and trial, though hardly an historical document! So, we thought, why not tell the tale of Betrice (Betrix) Laing and how an unfortunate encounter with a blacksmith's son began a series of events that would see witchcraft accusations fly; imprisonment, torture and death by neglect and by lynching.
A second, shorter video will appear on Sunday to show a little additional footage from our day in Pittenweem, some jewellery making and, a long overdue but heartfelt, thank you to everyone who has supported us and the channel!
Thank you so much for watching, we hope you enjoyed the video.
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Social Distancing: Although we would love to take you further afield, we will have to wait until we are allowed to do so. At present, we are following guidance to only travel short distances, remain local, and adhere to social distancing recommendations. We are very fortunate to live in the Kingdom of Fife where places like Kirkcaldy, with its vast beach front, are on our doorstep and are seldom visited by any more than a handful of people at any time.