The burning: A play

The Scottish Library

by Stewart Conn

Through the power struggle between James VI and his cousin the Earl of Bothwell, divine right and individual freedom, this play explores the themes of superstition and witchcraft, and the way the innocent can be mercilessly caught in the middle.

Towards the end of the play Bothwell says to the King, “We are the upper and nether millstones, you and I. One way or another, it is those trappt in the middle must pay the price”.

101 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1973

About the author

Stewart Conn is a Scottish poet and playwright, born in Hillhead, Glasgow. His father was a minister Kelvinside Church but the family moved to Kilmarnock, Ayrshire in 1941 when he was five. During the 1960s and 1970s, he worked for the BBC at their offices off Queen Margaret Drive and moved to Edinburgh in 1977, where until 1992 he was based as BBC Scotland's Head of Radio Drama. He was the inaugural Edinburgh City Makar from 2002 to 2005.