A memorial made to wear

Zoe Venditozzi and Claire Mitchell, Witches of Scotland campaigners | John Devlin

The non-profit organisation Witches of Scotland has registered an official tartan into the Scottish Register of Tartans, designed to memorialise the women and men who were accused and executed during the Scottish witch hunts.

Witches of Scotland, founded by Claire Mitchell KC and Zoe Venditozzi, has been campaigning for a national memorial for those accused and convicted of witchcraft since 2020. A mission they have now accomplished, be it in a rather unconventional way.

After being shut down by the Parliamentary Committee due to a lack of funds, Mitchell and Venditozzi went through multiple alternative options to a monument, including a trust and a Memorial Day, but eventually came up with the idea of an official Witches of Scotland tartan, a memorial people could wear. “I have a flat on the Royal Mile and every second shop is a tartan shop,” says Mitchell. “I didn’t have to look far to come up with that as an idea. We think of it as a memorialisation in the sense that people can wear it and see this is the Witches of Scotland tartan. This is to commemorate those who were killed as witches in Scotland.”

Witches of Scotland Tartan Pattern

The black and grey colours in the tartan represent the “dark times” of the witch hunts, and the ashes of those who were burned, while the red and pink stand for the legal tapes that are still used to bind papers. The large black section of the tartan contains 173 threads, symbolising the number of years between 1563 and 1736, when the Witchcraft Act was in place. 

Through a Kickstarter campaign, people can now purchase various items with the tartan’s design, including scarves, patches and throws. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to charity.