Margaret Dalgleish, a married woman residing in Humbie, Haddington, found herself ensnared in the harrowing witch trials that swept through Scotland from the mid-16th century to the early 18th century. On the 13th of September, 1678, Margaret's name was associated with a case of witchcraft, as her community stood against a backdrop of heightened suspicion and fear of malevolent forces. The specific allegations against her are not detailed in the surviving documents, yet her absence at the appointed trial in Edinburgh implies a complex picture likely involving both fear and survival.
On the day of her trial, Margaret did not make an appearance; as a result, she was declared a fugitive. Scottish legal proceedings during this era allowed for those who failed to present themselves in court to be "put to the horn," a process that symbolically and publicly denounced them as outlaws. For Margaret, being put to the horn meant a life on the run, estranged from her home and community. Her non-appearance thus became a defiance of both the immediate legal authority and the broader socio-religious norms that sought to root out witchcraft—a testament to the perilous tightrope walked by those accused.
Margaret's case, while not providing an account of the evidence or testimony against her, highlights the precarious position of women during the witch hunts—their lives subject to disruption based on suspicion and accusation alone. Her declaration as a fugitive underscored the zero-sum nature of witch trials: absence and presence in court each carried grave risks. Her story, encapsulated in the sparse record of her legal transgression, serves as a fragmentary reflection of the era's tumult and the individuals caught in its tide.