Margaret Burges

Burges was married to a boatman named John Gillespie before her second husband, John Dalyell.^[1] She was a successful figure in middle-class Cramond business, renting property to several tenants and employing a number of servants.^[1]

Burges was first accused of witchcraft following a dispute in front of her home.^[2] Burges had sent away a beggar named Elspeth Baird for her 'evil brint.'^[3] As revenge, Baird accused Burges of witchcraft. Burges then attempted to clear her name by filing a slander suit, which backfired and led to her trial and eventual execution.^[4] From testimony in the slander suit, the Cramond Kirk Session determined there was sufficient evidence against Burges for a formal investigation by the Privy Council.^[2] This testimony included a line of questioning with Burges' teenaged servant, who claimed that Burges had kissed her repeatedly on many occasions.^[4] Further evidence against Burges was a Devil's mark located on her leg.^[1] Following her trial on 27 January 1629 she was strangled and burnt on Castle Hill in Edinburgh.