Tain writer enchanted by story of last witch to be executed in Britain
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It is probably about four years since the story of Janet Horne from Dornoch, the last witch to be executed in Britain, cast its spell over Philip Paris.
Now, after a great deal of research, and a lot of writing, his book The Last Witch of Scotland is out next Thursday.
When writer Philip talks you through the process that has put the book in front of you, it definitely seems less about magic and more about hard graft!
But with scant facts about a lot of the story of Janet Horne, Philip has taken up another challenge.
If any of us have ever wondered what it would have been like to be one of the thousands of unfortunate people accused of witchcraft back in the times of the Scottish Witchcraft Trials, finding their lives stolen from them in the cruel and terrifying ways witches were dealt with, Philip Paris has been living it in his imagination to create his story.
And in his vividly imagined historical novel, readers get to step into the shoes of Janet Horne and her daughter, whom Philip has named Aila, to bring to life two women – who are not witches – but who live through the terrifying experience of being accused and treated like witches in an era when the punishment for witchcraft was savage and pitiless.
Philip paints in meticulous detail his picture of that life in 1727 which in some ways is surprisingly sophisticated in the way people lived then in the Highlands, trying to create comfortable lives for themselves. So it comes as a chilling shock to witness the ignorant attitude people succumb to when a minister’s malicious scaremongering turns neighbours and friends against Janet and Aila and their ‘crimes’ in Philip’s imagined version.
But the writer only let his imagination get to work when he was satisfied he had as accurate a picture of exactly how people lived in their day-to-day lives as he could.
One of the most powerful moments in the book comes in the explosive court scene set in Dornoch in which Janet and Aila have to answer charges against them. And by giving the women unique experiences in their past, he allows a spirited defence from Aila to be utterly credible.
“Aila is a bit ahead of her time,” Philip says. “She is highly intelligent and very well educated because, though it is fictitious, I made her father a sea captain, so that Aila could have a wide knowledge of things and you couldn’t say ‘She wouldn’t have known that’ because you don’t know what her father might have taught her. And her mother too had travelled as the companion of a rich Highland lady – that was one of the stories that went around about Janet.”
Storytelling is one of the themes, Aila discovering her own talent for it, inherited from her parents. It blossoms relatively late for her, as it did for Philip himself, who only came to writing novels in his 40s.
Moving north from Kent when he met his future wife Catherine and they honeymooned in Orkney, Philip found the Italian Chapel there inspiring his first novel.
“This has been a very different novel to write. With Janet and Aila I very much had to try and imagine their lives and I wanted to give them a voice. What would their feelings have been like, being falsely accused of something and fighting against injustice? Then I brought in a troupe of performers. I wanted a love story and Aila to find a future.”
Philip wanted to honour the facts known about the Hornes, and Janet’s daughter escaped the night before the planned execution of both women.
With Janet, there are difficult moments for the reader to face – and the writer too, as it turns out.
Philip said: “Writing any fiction, the characters develop and sometimes they tell you what should be happening – you can feel that as you are writing it. It just seemed right Janet’s fate came out of love in a book about love, loyalty, sacrifice ...”
And a twist.
The Last Witch Of Scotland (Black & White Publishing, hardback £14.99) is out next Thursday (April 13) April 13.
Philip’s talks on the book are at: Waterstones Inverness on April 18 at 3pm; Dingwall library on April 20 at 2pm; Dornoch social club on April 22 at 10am; Tain’s Piper’s coffee house (upstairs) on April 26 at 10am; Beauly Old School gift shop on April 28 at 11am; Nairn library on May 2 at 10am; Golspie library, May 12 (11am).
And visit some of the locations of Janet Horne's life in Dornoch as the Northern Bibliosphere Podcast sees writer Philip Paris guide the podcast's Federica Stefani to important places in the story. Here:
