In the late 17th century, amidst a climate rife with suspicion and fear of the supernatural, Mary Morisone, a woman of middling status residing in Greenock, Renfrew, found herself at the center of a dramatic series of events that encapsulated the era’s fraught relationship with witchcraft. Mary's encounter with the Scottish legal system began when she was confined to Edinburgh by the Privy Council on September 6, 1698. She was required to answer allegations of witchcraft, a mandate she was to fulfill by November 15 of that year. This initial confrontation foreshadowed further legal entanglements and painted a grim picture of the precarious position women held during witch trials, often reliant on the whims of societal fear and superstition.
The charges against Mary had their genesis in the unsettling testimonies of two young girls—Margaret Laird from Paisley and Margaret Murdoch from Govan—who, while in the throes of fits, claimed to be tormented by witches and implicated numerous individuals, including Mary, in their alleged plight. The testimonies of witnesses during Laird’s fits in Paisley between April 19 and 21, 1699, and Murdoch’s fits in Glasgow on April 22 of the same year, contributed to the mounting pressure against Mary and others accused. Her husband’s firm support is evidenced by his bond of caution dated May 20, 1699, possibly reflecting the couple’s continued assertion of her innocence and the community’s concern for family integrity amidst a gothic tapestry of community-driven fear.
Despite the gravity of the accusations, the procedural aspects of her trial reveal the complex interplay between legal structure and societal perception. Initially indicted in 1697, Mary was released due to her pregnancy—a provision that temporarily stalled the proceedings. This interlude, however, did not shield her permanently from the clutches of accusation, as she was rearrested in 1699. It was not until March 12, 1700, that her ordeal saw a formal resolution with the trial in Edinburgh being marked by the desertion of her diet, effectively leading to Mary’s release. Her case, akin to that of Annabel Reid’s trajectory in the judicial system, highlights the volatility and eventual dissipation of some witchcraft charges, marking an intricate chapter in the broader narrative of the Scottish witch trials, offering insights into the intersection of gender, law, and social dynamics at the threshold of the 18th century.