In the shadow of the pastoral hills of Roxburghshire, in the year 1608, Meg Lyell found herself ensnared in the merciless machinery of the Scottish witch trials. Residing in the small settlement of Spital, a place noted in presbytery records yet ambiguously positioned between two local hospitals, Meg's life was abruptly cast under the scrutiny of those times steeped in superstition and fear. Her trial, recorded on the 20th of April, suggests the charged atmosphere of the early 17th century, where communal anxieties surrounding witchcraft ran high amidst societal and religious upheavals. These proceedings were recorded under the name "Lyell, Meg," a detail that stamps her identity in the annals of legal history, separated yet not entirely divorced from another potential identity—Marjorie Lyell—who was tried in Jedburgh five years later.
The trial documentation, under the reference T/JO/785, offers a formal glimpse into the institutional channels through which accusations such as these flowed, reflecting broader patterns of persecution common in Scotland during this era. However, the specifics of the charges that were leveled against her or the outcomes of the trial remain shrouded with the passing of centuries. Throughout the witch hunts of 1563–1736, women like Meg were often drawn into these proceedings through a labyrinth of local fears, familial vendettas, or misinterpreted misfortunes. Her story, though fragmented and standing largely in the shadows of archival records, echoes the larger tragedy of the countless individuals caught in one of Scotland's darkest chapters.