In the waning years of the 17th century, Anna Hill found herself entangled in the complexities and dangers of witchcraft accusations that beset Govan, Lanark. Anna, a single woman of middling social status, was the daughter of a local smith, a profession that provided her family with a modest but respectable standing within the community. Her family history, however, was marked by turbulence, as her mother too had been accused of witchcraft—a shadow that perhaps made Anna more vulnerable to suspicion.
The catalyst for Anna's ordeal was the testimony of a young girl named Margaret Murdoch, who, amid fits of seemingly bewitching torment, accused numerous individuals, including Anna, of witchcraft. Margaret was the daughter of John Murdoch of Craigtown, a well-regarded figure in the parish of Govan. Her claims, made during fits observed by various witnesses in Glasgow in April 1699, thrust Anna into a court case that highlighted the dangers of superstition and the fervent search for causes of misfortune in the community.
Despite the serious nature of the accusations and the weight placed on witchcraft trials in this period, Anna's case did not proceed to a full trial as expected. Set initially for hearing in Glasgow in May 1699, the proceedings faltered and ultimately were dismissed at the High Court in Edinburgh in 1700. This resulted in Anna's release, a conclusion that perhaps speaks to the scrutiny and procedural hesitancy that began to characterize Scottish witch trials at the turn of the 18th century, as societal and legal perceptions of witchcraft accusations started to shift.