Margaret Smaill, a resident of Humbie in Haddington, found herself at the heart of witchcraft accusations during a turbulent period in Scottish history when fear and suspicion often led to tragic outcomes. At the age of 35, Margaret was accused of practising witchcraft, a charge residing heavily on her claim that she had been engaged in such activities for a decade. Her case is indicative of the climate of fear and the fervent belief in the presence of witchcraft that gripped Scotland in the late 17th century.
The records from her trial show a sequence of confessions obtained in the days leading up to her prosecution in Edinburgh, with formal confessions documented on the 11th and 13th of September, 1678. These confessions were crucial components of her trial, held just a few days later. Among the accusations, Margaret was said to have attended witches' meetings—a grave charge during this period. Her association with Jannet Borthwick, who named Margaret as an accomplice, added weight to the allegations against her. Ultimately, the Lord Advocate, serving as the prosecutor, secured a guilty verdict.
Following the trial, Margaret's sentence was carried out swiftly and definitively, with her execution scheduled for the 18th of September, 1678, just days after her conviction. Her life ended in the customary manner of the time for those condemned of witchcraft, by strangling followed by burning, at Gallow. This rapid transition from accusation to execution underscores the severity with which such cases were treated and highlights the precariousness of life in a period where mere associations or confessions could seal one's fate irrevocably.