Edinburgh’s Witches, Warlocks & the Winter Queen

A 90-min walk into the winter dark through witch hunts, executions and fae folklore, and the women who did, and didn’t, survive being called

About this Event

Hallowe'en is over, they say. The pumpkins have gone in the food bin, and the city has strung up its fairy lights (ironically).Not quite ready for tinsel? Neither is the Cailleach, the Queen of Winter.

In Scotland, it is said, she takes her throne on Samhain night, and rules until Beltane—which means her reign has barely begun.

Our Hallowe'en walk began with the North Berwick witches in 1590, who confessed—under torture—to dancing with the Devil. But not every accused witch in Scotland was charged with meeting him. Some were tried for keeping company with the fairies: riding out with them, feasting under their hills, learning cures from the Queen of Elphame (The Otherworld, Fairyland) herself. It's all there in the court records, written down by men who took it entirely seriously.

So, we start our tour where many of those accused met t