A new dress created in memory of an Orkney woman executed for witchcraft in 1624 is set to be unveiled at Orkney Library and Archive.
The dress honours Marabel Couper, who was condemned to death by public strangulation and burning at Gallow Ha.
She was one of thousands of women accused under the Witchcraft Act in Scotland, often targeted through fear, ignorance or long-held grudges.
Artist Carolyn Sutton has created the dress as part of her moving memorial project, Witches in Word, Not Deed.
The exhibition has toured the country with 13 dresses commemorating women from the 1500s to early 1700s.
The Marabel dress, specially created for Orkney, will remain in the county as a permanent piece of remembrance.
It will be officially revealed on Saturday 26 April at 1pm during a reception event at the Orkney Library and Archive.
Following the unveiling, Carolyn will host a textiles workshop using materials from the wider exhibition.
Spaces are limited, with bookings available via Eventbrite for both the talk and the workshop.
Marabel’s story is rooted in the parish of Birsay, where she lived with her husband and son.
Known for her charms and potions, she was already once banished from the parish under suspicion.
She returned to her home, but was later accused again by neighbours who blamed her for illnesses and poor harvests.
She was imprisoned in Marwick’s Hole and brought before a local assize of 15 men at St Magnus Cathedral.
The charges against her included harming livestock, healing the sick, and a so-called devilish prank.
Each charge ended with the damning words “which, rank witche, ye can not deny.”
She was found guilty without evidence, judged instead on reputation and rumour.
Carolyn was moved by the efforts in Orkney to remember these victims and wanted to contribute something lasting.
She had already created a dress inspired by another Orkney figure known in folklore as Scota Bess, Queen of the Orkney Witches.
The dress for Marabel is the fourth piece from the exhibition to become a permanent memorial.
Carolyn described the support from Orkney Library, St Magnus Cathedral and the local council as deeply generous.
Her wider exhibition aims to restore dignity to victims and provoke conversation around power, justice and memory.
The project acknowledges the roughly 4000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland, 85% of them women.
Each dress is shaped around the real or remembered words used to condemn these women.
The absence of a living body inside these garments powerfully signals the silencing of voices and stories.
Marabel’s story, and the stories of many others, are part of a movement not to let history forget.
The dress will be on display at Orkney Library before it is hoped to find a permanent home in the Orkney Museum.
For details of Marabel’s trial and more on witchcraft memorials in Orkney, readers can visit the Orkney Heritage Society.
