INTRODUCTION

Jean Craig lived in the parish of Tranent in Haddingtonshire. She was married to William Steill, a coal-miner; she herself also worked in a coal-pit, probably as a coal-bearer. Her mother was Beigis (Margaret) Wallace, who had been burned as a witch in 1629, during the panic of 1628–31. Wallace had named her daughter as a witch shortly before her execution. Family relations among women came to the fore in this trial, as one of the witnesses against Craig was her sister-in-law. The voices of the witnesses, the accused and the judiciary come to the fore.

Craig's investigation and trial took place in March and April of 1649, which was another period of panic over witchcraft. Our earliest dated evidence, from 17 March, is a letter from James Baillie, brother of the politician Sir William Baillie of Lamington who was a member of the committee of estates that then governed Scotland. Lamington was in Lanarkshire, but Sir William Baillie also owned a coal-mining estate at Penston in Haddingtonshire, which James Baillie seems to have managed. Craig had worked at Penston when she had allegedly bewitched Beatrix Sandilands; James Baillie's letter outlined this incident, which would soon be investigated in much more detail. He also mentioned Craig's association with the witches of the 1620s. He wrote his letter, to the minister of Tranent, in response to an enquiry from the parish elders; we do not know what prompted these elders to open the investigation.

By 28 March, Craig had been arrested and imprisoned in the tolbooth of Tranent. This was by warrant from the chancellor, according to the presbytery record. Local secular authority, in the form of the baron bailie of Seton and Tranent, was also operating in co-operation with the ministers.