Paper short abstract:

Walking the Scottish landscape as embodied methodology amongst people doing memory work for accused witches of the early modern period inform how land in Scotland became sites of connection with the past. Through walking, memory work and identity intersect to create geographies of remembrance.

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines the interplay between walking, landscape, and memory work in Scotland, concerned with how people make kinship and connection with the people accused of witchcraft in the 16th-18th centuries. Through walking methodologies, landscapes become sites of personal and collective memory, where past violence and contemporary activism intersect. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork with activists, artists, and historians engaged in memorialising the accused witches, this paper explores how physical movement through the landscape fosters connections with the long-dead, evokes powerful emotional responses, and inspires motivation to action.

By walking the hills of Abernethy, sites of execution in Edinburgh, and the old kirkyards of Stirling, participants engaged with the land as both a repository of memory and a medium for reconstructing histories. To help me better understand their experiences, ‘Big Days Out’ were planned by interlocutors. This example of facilitated walking methodologies enable a deeply embodied form of research that reveals how landscapes are imbued with narratives of injustice and resilience. While on these walks, cell phones were relied upon heavily for taking fieldnotes, recording conversations, and taking photos; thus facilitating an experience that blended technology and landscape.

The paper also reflects on the role of personal geographies in shaping memory work, questioning how individual and collective experiences of the land inform perceptions of justice and belonging. In doing so, it contributes to the understanding of how sensory and embodied engagement with the land can transform both memory studies and activism, challenging the boundaries between past and present.