Helen Laying's life and fate were interwoven with the grim tapestry of the Scottish witch trials, a period marked by fear and fervor for the supernatural. Living in the village of Paiston, Crichton, near Edinburgh, Helen was a widow by the age of 32, navigating life with the assistance of her servant, Issobel Eliot. Her household, considered of middling status indicated by her ability to retain a servant, became the scene of dark allegations in the waning months of 1678. Accusations of witchcraft, a charge both dreadful and damning, were thrust upon her, the case beginning with suspicions surrounding the untimely demise of her husband.
Helen was accused of having been a witch for seven years, an admission she purportedly confessed to multiple times prior to her trial on September 20, 1678. Records report three separate confession records, with the earliest dating back to June 29 of that year—a detail pointing to the protracted nature of the interrogations she endured. Her case was burdened by the inclusion of testimonies from others accused of witchcraft, such as Marion Campbell and Margaret Dods, with the latter reportedly denouncing her. These connections within the web of allegations against local women cast a shadow over Helen's prospects for vindication.
The trial took place in Edinburgh, where the assize found Helen guilty, condemning her to death on the very day of her trial's conclusion. The sentence was carried out by the harrowing method of strangulation followed by burning, a common yet gruesome punishment meant to serve as both retribution and deterrence. Helen Laying's story, preserved in the austere language of trial records and confessions, reminds us of the perilous intersection of gender, societal pressure, and justice during one of Scotland's most turbulent periods. Her life, ending in 1678, remains a poignant symbol of the era's tragic witch hunts.