Scottish 'witch' who died in prison before trial inspires 300 years on
Injustice never rests.
More than 300 years ago, Fife woman Lilias Adie died in prison after she was forced to confess to being a witch and having sex with the devil.
Her death came before she could be tried and sentenced, with the case against likely to have ended in her execution.
Adie, of Torryburn in Fife, was one of around 4,000 people accused of witchcraft in Scotland between the 16th and 18th Century.
Now, her case is set to inspire the next generation of law students at Glasgow Caledonian University.
The new Lilias Adie prize will be awarded to the best student in GCU Law’s innovative Miscarriages of Justice module, which explores the main causes and consequences of wrongful convictions in Scotland, the UK and beyond.
The award is supported by Claire Mitchell KC and Zoe Venditozzi, founders of The Witches of Scotland Campaign, which is seeking a legal pardon and national memorial for the women who were convicted of witchcraft and executed between 1563 and 1736.
Dr Andrew Tickell, Head of the Department of Economics and Law at Glasgow Caledonian, said: “One of the key demands of the Witches of Scotland campaign is for a national memorial, recognising the injustice of what happened to these women, and remembering them.
“It seems fitting to be establishing a new living memorial here, for GCU students studying miscarriages of justice, recognising what happened to women like Lilias Adie and identifying the resonances with modern wrongful convictions.”
Adie, who is thought to have been around 60 when she died, was held on suspicion of witchcraft after a bout of sickness among local children.
She was held for a month and interrogated by a local minister and died in 1704 before her confession could be used at her trial to prove her guilt. Some believe she might have died by suicide.
She was laid to rest in the only known witches grave in Scotland and placed under a large stone on the beach closest to her home, perhaps in the belief it would stop her rising from the dead.
It is known that six others from the Torryburn area alone were burnt to death in 1666.
At the time, there was a belief that some people had the power to harm or heal others by preternatural methods and magic was practised by those who had those beliefs.
The Witches of Scotland Campaign believes that those accused and convicted of witchcraft in Scotland suffered a miscarriage of justice because witchcraft did not exist and that crimes of witchcraft could not have been committed.
The Witchcraft Act of 1563 was repealed in 1735, with the new legislation referring to “pretended witchcraft” which led to a sentence of a fine.
On International Women’s Day 2022, then First Minister Nicola Sturgeon issued a formal apology, acknowledging the historic injustice suffered by those accused of witchcraft, in a significant milestone for the campaign.
Ms Mitchell said: “We are absolutely delighted to support the new Lilias Adie award at GCU.
“The witchcraft trials were Scotland’s most brutal miscarriage of justice, where thousands of people, mostly women, were executed for a crime they did not commit.
“It is essential that lawyers of the future know that history teaches us that when times are hard, minorities are likely to be targeted and blamed, and to be on guard to to challenge laws that breach human rights and cause miscarriages of justice.”
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