The Witch Hunts

Lucy begins her investigation in North Berwick, a seaside town near Edinburgh where the first witch hunts began. The story goes that in 1590 a coven of witches gathered here to cast a spell to try to kill the King of Scotland, James VI. Viewing an account from the time, called Newes From Scotland, and other first-hand sources, Lucy uncovers a web of political intrigue that led to a woman called Agnes Sampson, a faith healer and midwife, being investigated. Agnes is accused of witchcraft and interrogated at Holyrood Castle by King James himself, before being tortured and executed.

Agnes was caught in a perfect storm - hard-line Protestant reformers intent on making Scotland devout, a King keen to prove himself a righteous leader, and a new ideology which claimed the Devil was actively recruiting women as witches. Under torture Agnes gave the names of her supposed accomplices, some 59 other innocent people, making hers the first successful large-scale witch hunt in Scotland. Its brutal success became the model for witch trials rolled out across Scotland and England for the next 100 years.