Margaret Dalgleish, a resident of Humbie in Haddington, finds herself ensnared within the harrowing tapestry of Scotland's witch trials in the year 1678. This period, a dark chapter in history marked by suspicion and fear of witchcraft, saw many individuals stand accused under a climate charged with paranoia and rooted in socio-political upheaval. Margaret, a married woman whose name was woven into the legal annals of the time, faced allegations of witchcraft that precipitated a legal proceeding against her, scheduled for the 13th of September in Edinburgh.
Upon the designated day of her trial, Margaret's absence was strikingly noted; she did not present herself before the court. Such an absence led to her being judicially declared a fugitive. The proclamatory status of "put to the horn" signified that she was proclaimed an outlaw, marking her not just legally culpable but socially ostracized, with her assets liable to confiscation. The term, emanating from the practice of publicly declaring someone an outlaw by blowing a horn, underscored the severity and finality of the court's judgement. Despite the lack of direct confrontation in the courtroom, the consequence of her absence left Margaret in a precarious position, severed from the communal and legal support of seventeenth-century Scotland. Through this act, her tale becomes part of a larger narrative of those ensnared by the witch trials, reflecting both the societal tensions of the era and the personal tragedies that accompanied them.