In the year 1669, Hendry Wilson, a loadman residing in Fogo Milne, a small settlement in Berwick, became embroiled in the fervour of Scottish witch trials that characterised the era from 1563 to 1736. Hendry was a man of lower socioeconomic status, whose labour-intensive occupation as a loadman involved the transportation of goods, likely across challenging terrain. Nestled in the rural landscape of Fogo, life for Hendry would have been both physically demanding and economically precarious, a reality that could easily render an individual vulnerable to accusations in a time heavily shrouded in superstition and fear.
The historical records mark his case with the identifier C/EGD/1726, dated the 8th of April 1669, though they tell little beyond its mere existence. The details of the allegations, the nature of his supposed transgressions, and even the specifics of the trial proceedings registered as T/JO/640 have regrettably been lost to the sands of time. What remains evident, however, is that Hendry found himself trapped in the sweeping judgements of an era where communal anxieties about witchcraft often targeted those least protected by societal structures—including individuals like Hendry, whose social standing offered little defense.
Though the outcome of Hendry's trial remains undocumented, his story is a poignant reminder of the widespread reach of the witch trials, touching the lives of not only women, as often stereotypically depicted, but men as well. Every name recorded tells of a life deeply impacted by the pervasive dread and societal measures taken against witchcraft in early modern Scotland, a chapter of history where livelihoods were overshadowed by the turbulent whispers of dark arts.