In the summer of 1602, the wife of Poil Watson found herself at the heart of a witchcraft accusation in the small and rugged community of Waiss, Shetland. The historical records, which curiously do not preserve her first name, suggest a community fraught with tension, wherein mistrust and fear were not uncommon companions. On July 30th of that year, she was summoned to the Sheriff court at Skeldevo, a setting that would have been profoundly intimidating, given the era's fraught relationship with alleged witchcraft.
The accusation leveled against Poil’s wife involved damage to a property, specifically targeting the local dairy—an essential component of the community’s sustenance and economy. It was said that through some ill-omened act, she had supposedly inflicted harm upon this vital resource. In the eyes of the law, however, there was a pathway to exoneration. The trial notes detail a process known as "dempt," whereby the accused could clear their name through a form of communal oath-taking. Essentially, Poil's wife had the opportunity to absolve herself of the witchcraft charge by gathering six neighbours who would swear an oath - a "saxter aith" - to her innocence. Alongside this community testimony, a fine of six merk silver would also ostensibly help erase the stain of the accusation from her name.
This instance encapsulates the precarious nature of life during the Scottish witch trials, where communal ties could both condemn and redeem. Through the support of her neighbours, whose testimony could sway the verdict, the wife of Poil Watson stood a fighting chance against the shadow of witchcraft accusations—a stark reminder of the delicate balance between communal solidarity and suspicion in early modern Scotland.