INTRODUCTION

Margaret Crawford lived in the parish of Denny, where she was a midwife. She was an older woman, the widow of George Horne. She was imprisoned on 14 January 1596 and brought before the presbytery of Stirling, accused of being a witch and an abuser of the people. She confessed that she had never received the sacrament of the Lord's Supper since before the Reformation. She denied all accusations.

The presbytery then questioned witnesses. On 19 January, several neighbours were summoned to testify against her. Out of fifteen witnesses, four did not want to testify. The same date, Crawford was interrogated, but she denied all charges and did not confess to witchcraft.

On 20 January, a female witness testified against her. On 28 January, nine witnesses were called to testify, but two of these persons did not come. On 4 February, new witnesses were summoned, one man and three women. Of these, one man and one woman testified against her.

On 25 February, the brethren of the presbytery wrote to the sheriff of Stirling and requested him to raise a commission to have Crawford tried for ‘witchcraft or abusing of the pepill’ (a phrase, echoing the 1563 witchcraft act, that later became ‘wichcraft and abusing of the pepill’). Thus, the case was moved from the presbytery to secular authority. This is the last information we get in her case.

Crawford was interrogated on an individual basis. No other persons suspected of witchcraft were mentioned, and no description of her alleged witchcraft was given. At the beginning of her confession, the sacraments of the church are mentioned. Witchcraft was not brought to the fore during the interrogation.

The brief entries are interesting because they show the relations between the presbytery and the sheriff.