The Witches’ Well (1894) is a drinking fountain dedicated to over 300 witches burned at the stake here at the Castlehill in Edinburgh. Hundreds of people, mainly women, were executed at this site for crimes of witchcraft. Here, they were burned at the stake after being strangled to death.
The Witches’ Well was designed and sculpted in cast-iron relief by beloved Scottish artist John Duncan. He was commissioned by his friend, social and urban reformer Sir Patrick Geddes, after painting murals for Patrick’s home in nearby Ramsay Garden. John Duncan was part of the artistic Celtic Revival in Edinburgh, interested in reviving fairy myths and Celtic legends. Patrick Geddes headed the Social Union‘s plan to bring beauty to the urban environment as well as improving the health of the disadvantaged of Old Town Edinburgh. Their sympathy for the plight of the witches was clear.
John Duncan (1866 – 1945)
University of Dundee Fine Art Collections
Artist John Duncan was born in Dundee in 1866. He trained at Dundee School of Art and Dusseldorf Art Academy. Also, he’d worked as a newspaper illustrator in Dundee and London. John returned to Dundee in 1889 as a portrait painter as well as making artworks in the Symbolist style. He spent some time living in Edinburgh in 1892 to join the Celtic Revival movement.
Patrick Geddes met the artist in Dundee when he was Professor of Botany at Dundee’s University College. Some say John Duncan was a mystic and he claimed to hear fairy music whilst painting. He returned to Dundee in 1897 where he became a founding member of Dundee Art Society. In 1900 he became a Professor of Art in Chicago, USA. He returned from Chicago to settle again in Edinburgh in 1903.
A closer look at The Witches’ Well
Photo ©Artravelist
The location of The Witches’ Well is also the old site for Castlehill reservoir. It provided the local water supply. The image on the back-plate of the well shows two faces, entwined by a serpent and includes the foxglove flower.
Asclepius, on the left, is the Greek god of medicine. It is said that in return for some kindness, a serpent licked Asclepius’s ears clean and taught him secret knowledge. Asclepius is typically depicted holding a rod with a serpent coiled around it – an image that became associated with healing and inspires the Hippocratic oath medical symbol. The face on the right is Asclepius’ daughter Hygieia. She represents health, cleanliness, and sanitation. So, she’s associated with well-being and the prevention of sickness. It’s also related to the idea of clean water being essential for health.
Creative Commons Attribution only licence CC BY 4.0
There’s a lot of symbolism here. A serpent can be considered both evil and wise. The same is true for the foxglove which has strong connections to fairy mythology and is considered both a healing and a poisonous plant. Also, foxglove is known as ‘witches’ gloves’ as it is associated with midwifery, healing and female magic. The Roman numerals refer to the year 1479 (top left) and 1722 (bottom right), a reminder that the height of witch hunt executions in Scotland was between those years. The bottom left shows 18 (JD) 94 – for John Duncan and the year of the artwork. The bolts on the upper corners could possibly represent pagan symbols of air and water.
The trough is sculpted on three sides. Continuing the duality theme, look to the sides of the trough and you will also see an ‘evil eye’ on one side and ‘healing hands’ on the other. The front depicts plants with roots and shoots – symbolic of healing and dual forces. The symbolism gives equal weight to both preventative and curative health.
So this artwork is asking us to think about how and why ‘witches’ came to be terrorised and demonised. Was it someone with esoteric knowledge, demonic interests or just a woman with power and knowledge? It criticises those who thought it morally right to rid society of women who were a nuisance or misunderstood.
history of witches in Scotland
c. 1300-1350
Some possible reasons why witch persecution was so prevalent in Scotland compared to other countries:
- James VI’s obsession with treason and not wanting to die horrifically. Add to this what seems to be a mistrust of powerful women. This resulted in large numbers of witch trials in Scotland.
- Protestantism, John Knox-style, which sought to wipe out any social and political powers that may be attributed to women. It’s also thought it was a plan to wipe out any superstitious rituals that were associated with Catholicism.
- Profit. An attempt to denigrate domestic production and trade of ale in cauldrons by ‘ale wives’ to create a profitable beer-brewing industry. Ale was popular as it was more sanitary and tasty than the local water supply. Broomsticks were a symbol of domestic trade.
- Scottish pagan culture particularly had a long-held belief in fairies that was hard to shift. Many ordinary folks believed in magic, curses and mysterious cures.
Witch trials had no sense of justice. They were merely a ritualised terror campaign mostly against women. Indeed, there was little evidence of satanic arts other than details such as red hair, oddness, seductive powers, an illegitimate pregnancy, being old, having ancient wisdom or recipes for healing, skills of midwifery. A hearing of accusation and evidence would take place at the local church and then be referred to the High Court. An accused witch might be tied up and dunked into the loch to see if she floats, then strangled or hanged and the body burned at the stake.
Remembering some of the women executed at Castlehill near the Witches’ Well
- Marion Mure of Leith: executed in 1632 for having hypochondriac tendencies which caused her to confess to being a witch.
- Euphane MacCalzean: executed in the infamous 1591 North Berwick witch trials for casting a spell to create the storms that prevented King James VI’s new wife from joining him from Holland.
- Geillis (Gellie) Duncan: also executed in the 1591 North Berwick witch trials after some of her healing cures were questioned. Outlander fans will recognise this name.
The plight of the persecutions of witches is fought in contemporary times by the Witches of Scotland campaign. The campaign calls for:
- A pardon for those convicted of witchcraft
- An apology for all those accused and executed
- A national memorial to respect their memory
You can find The Witches’ Well between the entrance to the esplanade at Edinburgh Castle and Ramsay Garden.
This is object 91 in the Edinburgh 101 list of objects to seek out in Edinburgh.
