Scotland killed 15 times as many witches as England. Was the weather to blame? -

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Scotland killed 15 times as many witches as England. Was the weather to blame? Freakslaw author Jane Flett on Scotland's witch-hunt hysteria: In 2022, Nicola Sturgeon issued a formal apology to those accused in the witch trials of early modern Scotland, describing them as “injustice on a colossal scale”. It was about time. Scotland’s history of witch trials is ludicrously bloody and excessive—relative to population, we executed at least fifteen times as many witches as England, by some of the most gruesome methods imaginable. Read more Extraordinary artist who painted everyone from Churchill to IRA rebel Michael Collins He may not be quite as well known today as his fellow Glasgow Boys Edward Hornel or James Guthrie, but John Lavery rose from a humble background in Belfast to become one of the most celebrated society portrait painters of his time, and his work will be reviewed and celebrated this month when a new exhibition of his work is mounted – in Glasgow’s great municipal rival, Edinburgh. Do we really need this hour of unrelenting misery on primetime TV? There is little doubt that Tony Conroy’s voice was one that society needed to hear. The taxi driver focal point of The Night Caller (Channel Five, Sunday) was once a Liverpool school teacher who, after 27 years loyal service, was ‘thrown on the scrapheap’ like an old blackboard duster. Athlete Allan Wells defied Thatcher government after they sent him photo of dead baby Not everyone is loving this summer of sport. My mother has spent the last month moaning at me about the fact that football and Wimbledon have displaced her favourite quiz shows from the TV schedules. So I’m loath to tell her that, come the end of the month, the Olympics begin and the schedules will be cleared once more. Ron Mackenna: I'd love to give it more than 5/5 for service - but I'm not allowed Piggs Bruntsfield, Edinburgh: It comes to me during a fat food critic moment pretty early on in this meal that the genius of Piggs surely can’t be the food, or the menu, both appearing surprisingly ho-hum. So it has to be the service. 'Highland beaches are like Barbados,' says Scots weather presenter Carol Kirkwood At what point is someone considered a “national treasure”? After lighting up our screens on BBC Breakfast for the best part of three decades now, Carol Kirkwood is surely a shoo-in for that mantle. 'It's a sensory overload' - Review: Beyond Van Gogh has the wow factor Picasso and Monet have been so honoured, but for reasons nobody seems clear on the bulk of these events turn on the work of Vincent van Gogh

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