Margaret Barclay, was an accused witch put on trial in 1618, 'gently' tortured, confessed and was strangled and burned at the stake in Irvine, Scotland.
11 Facts About Margaret Barclay
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Margaret Barclay's case was written about with horror by the romantic novelist Sir Walter Scott, and in the 21st century, a campaign for a memorial in the town and for a pardon for Barclay and other accused witches was raised in the Scottish Parliament.
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Margaret Barclay was married to Alexander Dein, a burgess and merchant in the town or Irvine, Ayrshire.
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Margaret Barclay was known to have a 'fiery temper' and poor relationships with her husband's family.
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Margaret Barclay had a daughter, Isobel Insch, and said to have had a servant.
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Margaret Barclay was accused of being the leader of a witches' coven by her sister-in-law and others, involved in cursing the Irvine ship The Gift of God and causing it to sink near Cornwall, killing all on board, including the owner and skipper, her brother-in-law John Dein and the town Provost Andrew Tran.
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One piece of evidence of witchcraft against Margaret Barclay was that she 'carried a piece of rowan tree and coloured thread' to make her cow produce milk.
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Walter Scott 8.
Margaret Barclay was subjected to what was called a 'gentle' or 'tender' torture to elicit confessions, namely increasing weights placed on her outstretched legs held in iron stocks.
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Margaret Barclay's case highlighted cruelty and unreliability of evidence under torture, and her case was still referred to centuries later.
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Margaret Barclay's case was described in modern times as 'merciless justice' in an article about persecuted Scots emigrating to Northern Ireland in the 17th century, as Margaret Barclay could not escape her accusers.
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In 2023, Margaret Barclay was one of thirteen accused witches included in a display Witches in Word, Not Deed by Carolyn Sutton, exhibited in the Edinburgh Central Library.