On Saturday 25th October we shared a hugely successful afternoon with some of the people who have joined us in collecting and sharing stories related to the Renfrewshire witch hunt of 1697. What better time to talk about witches? We had something for adults, and something for children (and those adults who have never grown up!) 

Many people joined us to listen to the wonderfully witchy poetry of Betty McKellar. Betty has already given a wonderful interview to one of our volunteers, and we are grateful to her for her willingness to recite for our guests. It started off the day on a very special note. Two of the artists who have contributed to our project, John McDougall, and Kevin Cantwell, were on hand to present their superb creations to our audience of adults. Commissioning original art related to the story of 1697 has been one of the main aims of our project, and it was a real treat for our guests to listen to both John and Kevin discuss the artistic process.

We then had the pleasure of listening to a couple of expert papers based on the story of 1697, before everyone had a chance to ask questions, and share stories and opinions with one another relating to this very special community story. Everyone then had a good laugh as we enjoyed refreshments together, especially as our chairman, Hugh, had some fresh victims for his repertoire of bad jokes!

Meanwhile, in the next room, we invited some children to a Halloween party. The children listened to some storytelling, before enjoying some arts and crafts under the expert supervision of Rachel Kelly, ably assisted by Susan. Lots of owls were produced, and lots of cak was consumed! There was also face painting, and many thanks go to the wonderful and talented Elaine Muir for taking the time to share her skills. Elaine is also one of our lovely project volunteers. The children, and the adults, also got to enjoy some film based on previous oral history training given to local children by expert oral historian Dr Sue Morrison, filmed and edited by Tim Mitchell of Rubikon Pictures. We are extremely grateful to both of them for that, and for their tireless assistance on the day. 

Most of all, we would like to thank everybody who came along and contributed to a wonderful community event.

Finally, the highly talented Donnie MacLean was on hand all afternoon to take snaps of the events as they unfolded. As you can see from the select photographs in our gallery below, he expertly recorded the day, and we are grateful for his time and talent on the day.