A different kind of witch hunt – Scottish officials are searching for the remains of an 18th-century woman accused of witchcraft

Over 300 years after her death, officials in Scotland are requesting the return of the remains of a local woman accused of witchcraft so she can be properly laid to rest.

Lilias Adie passed away in prison in 1704 before she could be convicted, strangled, and burned at the stake for reportedly confessing to being a witch and having sexual relations with the devil.

She was buried on a beach in Torryburn, Fife by locals who feared she might 'reanimate' and rise from her grave, so they placed a large stone over her resting place.

Despite their precautions, Adie’s skull and bones were exhumed by curiosity hunters in 1852. Her skull ended up in St Andrew’s University Museum, where it was photographed in 1904 before vanishing along with the rest of her remains.

A team at Dundee University has recently used photographs to create a digital reconstruction of Adie’s face.

Now, a local official from Fife Council is spearheading a campaign to locate all of Adie’s remains so she can finally be laid to rest.

'It’s crucial to understand that Lilias Adie, along with thousands of other men and women accused of witchcraft in early modern Scotland, were not the villains history has made them out to be. They were innocent victims of a darker time,' said councillor Julie Ford, who is leading the campaign, in a statement.

'It’s time to acknowledge the injustice done to them. By highlighting Lilias’s story, I hope we can find her missing remains and give her the respectful burial she deserves,' she added.

Douglas Speirs, an archaeologist with Fife Council, told Dinogo that records show around 3,500 women were executed as witches in Scotland between 1560 and 1727, though the actual number may be closer to 6,000.

Speirs mentioned that a 'brief witch-hunting frenzy' occurred in the Fife region, triggered by local illnesses, which eventually led to the arrest of Lilias Adie, who was in her late 50s or early 60s. Adie was 'mistreated' in prison, according to Speirs, subjected to harsh interrogation and sleep deprivation until she confessed.

Although the team has not yet located Adie’s remains, they have found walking sticks crafted from the woman’s coffin.

In addition to seeking Adie’s remains for burial, Speirs explained that the team aims to raise awareness about the suffering and persecution of women accused of witchcraft in Scotland.

'We need to shift the narrative away from the Halloween caricature of the 'fun witch' and instead recognize the historical gender bias and the suffering women endured during witch hunts,' he said.