Margaret Anderson, a widow from Birnstown in the parish of Humbie, Haddington, found herself at the centre of a witchcraft accusation during the tumultuous years of the Scottish witch trials. Known for its unrelenting pursuit of alleged witches, 17th-century Scotland cast its net wide, catching individuals in a web of suspicion and fear. Margaret's case was brought forward on the 13th of September, 1678, a period when witch trials were not uncommon, as communities looked for scapegoats to explain misfortune and calamity.
Margaret's trial was scheduled to occur in Edinburgh, a hub for such proceedings, where the judicial system often assumed a rigorous stance against those accused of witchcraft. However, the records indicate that Margaret herself never appeared in court. On the day of her trial, she was declared a fugitive—an official status that marked her as someone who had failed to stand before the court's judgement. Consequently, she was "put to the horn," a dramatic legal proclamation that essentially branded her as an outlaw. This declaration often involved a public ceremony with a blast of a horn to announce one’s outlawry. Despite the ominous implications of such a charge, the records remain silent about her fate following this declaration. Margaret Anderson's story, encapsulated by these scarce yet telling details, is a poignant reminder of the era's capricious and perilous uncertainties faced by those accused of witchcraft.