The Witch – An Illustrated Story

[Steve]

Thank you again, everyone. Your enthusiasm has driven me throughout this series.

With this penultimate set and climax of THE WITCH, Agnes Walker, convicted of a crime she didn’t commit, finally meets her end …

“Repose”
By William Fowler
16th Century Scottish Poet

“O though mine heart full fraughted with regret,
what can be let to sunder not for woe? …”

 

[Steve]

“ … Though mine also, with craved cares be fret,
with pains ourself, cannot her death forgo? …”

 

[Steve]

“… No! Surely no! Her courtesies does crave
that I should have her lasting in my thought, …”

 

[Steve]

“… whom Death has brought to sum unto her grave,
and does receive the mold that nature wrought. …”

 

[Steve]

“… Might mends be sought off thee, o murdering Death,
that He has enwreathed the glory of earth’s defeat? …”

 

[Steve]

“… Then though in haste, though wasted be my breath,
even as He has determined, I should be chaste …”

 

[Steve]

“… where I have placed a flood out from me
to drown thee, Death, that you have so cruel been.”

 

[gerembeau]

It's complicated, fans always want more, do requests.....Enthusiasm can be boring too.

But you have certainly a point of view on the last days of Anne Askew ? -)))))))

 

[mp5stab]

Dear God, you have produced a masterpiece. This is such a beautiful set!

 

[Loinclothslave]

Dear God, you have produced a masterpiece. This is such a beautiful set!

I agree,@Steve that’s an amazing exhibition of your very real talent! Thank you for the journey. I’m not big on hanging executions but you made it a spectacle I couldn’t tear my eyes from (the amazing whip marks really helped because that IS my kink)

Thank You!

 

[Steve]

A heartfelt thank you to all of you. I am humbled by your praise and so gratified that you've enjoyed THE WITCH, which was a risk for me as I had never done something of this length and this topic before.

The finale will be around 4 illustrations to close out Gilly's segment of the story. When that is done, I'll repost the entire story in sequence, with some of the illustrations being updated from their original posting.

 

[mp5stab]

The volume of output in these last few days has been stupendous. Hats off to you, I can’t wait to see those last few pictures!

 

[wulf]

Thank you for all your work, and sharing this amazing series here. Well done, Sir.

 

[Yupar]

Magnificent set @Steve

 

[Steve]

Thank you, everyone, for taking this journey.

Now, the finale of THE WITCH …

On the evening of 18 September 1591, Agnes’ body was cut down from the gallows, along with Alanis’ and Barbera’s bodies because the following day was the Lord’s Day. Denying their grief-stricken families proper funerals and burials, the bodies of the three convicted witches were tossed into a bonfire outside the burgh.

An unusual somber mood befell Edinburgh after the execution. Growing sentiment was that Agnes’ public humiliation on top of her hanging was excessive. One final punishment was enough for an otherwise upstanding woman and anything more betrayed Protestant ideals. The execution crowds were smaller the following week and smaller still the week after that.

 

[Steve]

Despite the public outcry, the display of Agnes’ tortured body during her execution had its intended consequences. None of the remaining accused women made it as far as the Inverse Saltire, with each confessing earlier during their ordeals.

As a final torment, Gilly, a shell of herself in both body and spirit, witnessed the executions of all the remaining women she had falsely accused before her own sentence was carried out. On the cold Saturday morning of 4 December 1591, Gilly was led to Castlehill beyond the Lawn Market and garroted.

 

[Steve]

In the shadow of Castle Rock and Edinburgh Castle, Gilly’s execution was a sad spectacle with no one in attendance. The people of Edinburgh had had enough of the witch hunts and the weekly public carnage.

After Gilly had expired, her body was burnt at the stake – the last of the convicted witches to die.

 

[Steve]

The North Berwick Witch Trials that Gilly’s confession sparked and Agnes Walker’s ordeal was part of became known as the First Great Scottish Witch Hunt.

In its wake, a collective trauma gripped the people of Edinburgh and its surrounding areas, such as East Lothian. This was especially the case for the women, who were forced to mourn their beloved dead in silence and feared when the witch hunts would return. They vowed never to forget those who were lost.

Although Agnes did not survive, her hopes were answered six years later when her husband’s cousin Marion Walker stopped the Second Great Scottish Witch Hunt by exposing the unscrupulous accusers who spurred that latter witch panic as frauds.

From the enactment of the Witchcraft Act in 1563 until its repeal in 1736, Scotland executed nearly 2,000 people, much more than neighboring England and Ireland. The vast majority of the executed were women. On International Women’s Day in 2022, the First Minister of Scotland officially apologized on behalf of the Scottish government to those accused under the Witchcraft Act and pardoned all the convicted, thereby clearing their names.

THE END.

 

[mp5stab]

A marvelous conclusion to the series. The question is not if it is worthy of our archives, but if our archives are worthy of it. That final shot with their white robes and hair blowing in the breeze is fantastic. But the hanging of Agnes was spectacular , one of the best I’ve seen. But try not to make me get *too upset* for how much I enjoyed myself during their torture and execution.

 

[Steve]

Thank you @mp5stab for such lofty praise, and everyone for your likes and comments.

A little “making of” info. Gilly Duncan is the central character in the real-life story of the North Berwick Witch Trials. What was done to her was horrifically unjust. She was kidnapped by her boss and illegally tortured until she confessed to being a witch and implicated others. I suspect that the real-life David Seton was financially motivated. Gilly had implicated Seton’s relative who happened to be a rich widow and Seton would get the money if his relative was convicted of witchcraft, which was a capital crime under Scottland’s Witchcraft Act.

Seton also likely appreciated that what he was doing was illegal (in early modern times, despite being a noble you weren’t permitted to torture your employees) and made Gilly confess to a bizarre story that the coven of witches she was part of plotted to assassinate King James VI and his new bride, Anne of Denmark. By covering up his money-grab and illegal torture of his employee by concocting a treason story, Seton got cover and King James VI himself got involved and oversaw the whole witch hunt. The real-life Gilly personally met with King James VI to petition for leniency and to recant her confession. David Seton is one of history’s true villains who suffered no consequences for what he did.

For THE WITCH, I wanted to make Gilly a secondary character and turn it into a story of betrayed friendship, to emphasize the tragedy. So, I created Agnes Walker to be my protagonist.

Agnes’ body and face are modeled after 2 different people. Her body is of Alina from Cruel World fame, and her face is modeled after none other than the quintessential blonde-bombshell, Marilyn Monroe. Agnes is younger than Marilyn in her heyday, and she was pregnant 3 times, so her cheeks and lips are fuller (as are her breasts and hips). I did not approach this like Marilyn playing Agnes in a movie, but perhaps Agnes being a distant relative. I couldn’t let Gilly pale in comparison to Agnes, so her face is modeled after a young Jane Seymour. Take a look...