There are so many people who were accused of witchcraft throughout history. Many of the accused were unfortunate innocent victims of a trying time, when many accused others with completely unfounded claims. Others may have been beautiful souls who were trying to help others. From time to time, I come across their stories, and I would like to share one of them with you today.
Lilias Adie, also known as Lilly Addie, was a woman who lived in Scotland during the 1600s. She lived by the ocean in a village called Torryburn in Fife, Scotland. It was previously known as Torry or Torrie. During this time, Scotland held many witchcraft trials, and if you were a female, especially an older female woman living alone, you had a lot to be worried about.
In 1704, illness took over the town, and hysteria started among the residents. Lilly was accused by her neighbor, Jean Bizet, and taken to jail, held on the charges of practicing witchcraft. Lilly was born in 1640 and at the time of the accusation was 64. She was held in prison, where she saw a local minister and was tortured daily until they finally obtained a confession out of her. In her confession, she admitted to meeting with the devil in a cornfield at sunset. She claimed that he had hooves like a cow and came to her in her house frequently. He also visited her and others in meetings of witches. She never revealed the names of any other witches. So was she actually a witch, or do you think maybe she was hoping that the confession would give them what they wanted, and they would finally sentence her to death, bringing her relief from the torture that she was enduring in prison? She passed away in prison before they were able to complete the investigation into her claims.
She was never convicted of being a witch, so this made things a bit confusing when it came to her burial. She couldn’t be buried in consecrated ground because of the accusations. They decided to bury her in a wooden box under a sandstone slab in the rocks by the ocean with an iron ring on the slab to mark the place of burial. The slap was to ease the fears of the town people that she would be able to rise again. Her burial place was located between the low and high tide marks.
If you live near this area, the sandstone slab that she was buried under can still be found if you go near low tide. Unfortunately, the coffin, as well as most of her remains, were looted through the years and destroyed by time, so you won’t find anything left there but the slab that marks where she once was laid to rest. She is the only person who was accused of Witchcraft in Scotland who has a marked grave.
In 2019, Smithsonian Magazine ran an article about her. They are hoping to find the rest of her remains. If you are interested in learning more about her and seeing a picture of her, you can read the article here: Wanted: The Missing Bones of a Scottish ‘Witch’.
I hope that you have an amazingly magickal day!
Much Love and Many Blessings,
Jasmeine Moonsong