I've been to a number of historical talks over the last few years at Dunfermline Library. As I type, I'm booked in for a couple of lectures this month: Air raids on the River Forth and the life of Lillias Adie, the West Fife witch whose remains were disposed of along the Torryburn foreshore. The slab marking her watery grave can still be spotted. Social media is naturally a good way of finding out about local happenings and I'm a member of various Facebook groups. These channels have alerted me to a number of events. I spotted a post on Inner Forth Wanderings from a lady who was preparing to speak at a meeting of the Gellet Society (based in Charlestown). The topic was the development of formal path networks along both banks of the firth. Right up my street I thought. I browsed the society's website and discovered this talk was the first of their 2019/20 season. It was £15 to join for a year but guests could pay £3 on the night. Quite a few of the lectures looked interesting and I decided to attend as a visitor and see if I liked the set-up. The event was being held in the village hall and there must have been nearly 50 people present. I bumped into an old colleague, Ken McFee, with whom I used to play five-a-side football and it was nice to catch up. The talk was indeed interesting and - as expected - there was a question and answer session at the end. I'm certainly considering joining as a full member. The bit I hadn't really bargained for was just how many of these local history groups are in existence! A pin-board displayed the programmes for societies based in Inverkeithing, Dollar and Dunfermline. I've since attended a brilliant talk on Scotland and slavery at the latter. On that particular night, I also heard about a similar organisation in Saline. To top it off, I found my way to the opening session for the year at the Torryburn & District History Group, just down the road from me. Basically, these clubs are all over the place. I plan to delve in and have already programmed several dates into my phone.
On a related note, I went along to a public meeting in Torryburn regarding the proposal to erect a monument to the Scottish women accused of witchcraft. The case of Lillias Adie recently made the national newspapers and TV channels. She is the only victim for whom a known resting place exists. This is due to the fact she was buried (dumped being a more accurate description) after dying in custody. Experts performed a facial reconstruction last year from a cast of the skull. The normal fate of these accused women was burning or drowning. Around 30 people were in attendance at the meeting, split roughly 50/50 between villagers and those from further afield. The suggested memorial was in the form of a decommissioned warning beacon sited previously in the Forth. It could be mounted on a plinth and illuminated during the hours of darkness. What a great idea! A feather in the cap for a West Fife village and something that would draw interest from far and wide....the locals are going to love this. I couldn't have been more wrong. A wall of negativity was thrown up and apparently visitors wouldn't come to Torryburn because the village has no infrastructure. Or so the argument went. Inadequate parking, a lack of public toilets....I'm sure you get the picture. I tried to point out that Dunning in Perthshire attracts people to its witch memorial despite the far more isolated location. Moreover, a nationally endorsed tribute would surely bring footfall and a financial boost to Torryburn. That's basic economics, isn't it? Nope! People are only interested in going to nearby Culross. As I've said in other posts, Culross is indeed booming, due in no small part to the Outlander connection. Why wouldn't you want to tap into that? Every counter argument fell upon deaf ideas. The chairman of the Community Council was present, as was the secretary. Their closing remarks did leave a slightly bitter taste. Rejection of the idea is one thing but to suggest the meeting should have been restricted to villagers was taking parochialism too far. One woman in the audience had travelled from Inverkeithing and stood up to say she had been made to feel most unwelcome.
In the meantime, I've heard that Culross Community Council was approached and gave positive feedback regarding the beacon. Apparently, the views expressed at the Torryburn meeting don't reflect the position of all the village reps and certainly not the residents in general. Let's see what comes out in the wash. What actual clout do community councils have? The tail must never be allowed to wag the dog.
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