Bernie Bell.

In July 2023, I wrote of Evie Donaldson’s wonder-full circle of light in St. Magnus Cathedral

“Sun-Circle in St. Magnus

After visiting the Museum, we crossed the road to St. Magnus Cathedral to sit quietly and absorb what we’d just seen/experienced.

And we saw…..

‘Annular’ by Evie Donaldson. 

I’ll quote from the information card

‘An annular solar eclipse happens when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, but when it is at or near its farthest point from earth….it appears smaller than the sun….creating what looks like a ring around the moon.’

Circles & Stones.

Orkney – what a place to live – in any time.”

Then added an after-thought

“Evie’s circle of light
An un-expected delight

Circles of light
Arches of stone

And the peace of St. Magnus
Over all”

BB 23

I recently met Evie, who told me of her inspiration for this piece.  Evie told me that, stepping through the archway and looking up to the right, the entrance to Marwick’s Hole can be seen.

I’d read about this as being the dungeon where the poor souls who were accused of being witches were imprisoned and had presumed that it was a hole, down from the floor of the Cathedral, but didn’t know where it was.  I didn’t particularly want to know, as the use of such a place in such a way in a Cathedral is deeply disturbing.

The darkness of what happened there inspired Evie to bring light to that space and she created her Annular specifically for that situation.

I’ve admired it since I first saw it, and now see more levels and depths of meaning to it.

Looking at the pictures I took in July ‘23, I like to think that Evie’s circle of light just about encompasses the darkness of Marwick’s Hole.

Next time I visit St. Magnus Cathedral I’ll stand and look at that dark space in the wall and send love, light and Healing down into the dungeon in hope of helping to clear the darkness of the place, and the suffering of the people who were thrown down there.

If anyone wants to mock me for doing so – they can.  ‘It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.’

I’ll quote from a piece by Tom Muir on the Orkney Museums site….

The Witch’s Spell Box

“Around 72 people were tried for witchcraft in Orkney, although recent research puts the figure at 80. Of the 72 on record only nine of them were male.

They were mostly poor women living on the outskirts of society…

…St Magnus Cathedral is unique as being a cathedral with its own dungeon. A cell known as ‘Marwick’s Hole’ is at the south crossing. Originally the opening that we see today was a window, but an extension to the crossing blocked it up. It is a bottle dungeon, with an arched floor, like the bottom of a champagne bottle. This was where those accused of witchcraft were held before their trial and execution.

In 2019 a memorial to the Orkney ‘witches’ was placed at the Gallow Ha’ in Kirkwall, now a traffic island at the head of the Clay Loan. This site, as the old name suggests, was the site of public executions, which included the Orkney ‘witches’. The memorial was the work of Dr Ragnhild Ljosland and Helen Woodford-Dean, who brought together local heritage, church and community groups to create a permanent memorial to those who were killed.”