Margaret Smaill, a resident of Humbie in Haddington, found herself at the center of a witchcraft trial that had profound implications on her life. At the age of 35, Margaret stood accused of partaking in a witches' meeting—a common charge during a period marked by widespread fear and suspicion across Scotland. Historical records detail her confession, noting that she admitted to being a witch for a period of ten years, a confession she first recorded on the 11th of September, 1678. This admission, whether coerced or voluntary, sealed her fate in the eyes of the authorities.
Margaret's trial took place in Edinburgh on the 13th of September, 1678, under the watchful prosecution of the Lord Advocate, an authoritative figure in the Scottish legal system at the time. The trial swiftly concluded with a guilty verdict, a determination compounded by her previous recorded confessions. Margaret was subsequently sentenced to execution, a sentence carried out on the 18th of September, 1678, at Gallow. The method was characteristically harsh, reflecting the period's brutal approach to such charges: she was strangled and then burned.
Margaret's story intersects with that of Jannet Borthwick, who mentioned her in another trial as an accomplice, indicating potential communal links or networks that might have driven—or been exploited by—accusations of witchcraft. The tragic journey from accusation to execution encapsulates the pervasive nature of the witch trials in 17th century Scotland, where suspicion and societal pressures could rapidly escalate to fatal consequences.