Witch
of Balwearie
The
Witch of Balwearie
In
1597 Margaret Aitken, the witch of Balwearie, Fife, under
threat of torture, confessed to the practise of Witchcraft.
In exchange for her life Margaret offered to betray all the
Witches in the area to her prosecutors. Margaret told her
prosecutors that all Witches had a secret mark of sorts in
their eyes and she could tell if the person standing before
her was a Witch.
The
prosecutors believed her tale and for three to four months
she was carried from town to town condemning innocents to
be put to death. In the end she was found to be a deceiver.
The authorities carried out a test and placed people, already
condemned by Margaret, into different garb and a different
town. It was found that Margaret cleared people that earlier
she had condemned as Witches.
