Scottish seaside town has easily missed sign of most 'brutal witch trials ever'

dailyrecord.co.uk:

North Berwick, a popular seaside town in Scotland known for its family-friendly appeal, has a dark past that many may not be aware of.Before King James VI of Scotland also became the ruler of England, he presided over one of Europe's most brutal witch trials.Visitors to St Andrew's Church in North Berwick might spot a memento mori - a skull and bones symbol - a grim reminder of those falsely accused and executed for witchcraft between 1590 and 1592.An estimated 70 to 200 individuals, predominantly women, from North Berwick and nearby towns were put on trial, tortured, and executed.The trigger for these events was a storm that prevented Anne of Denmark, betrothed to King James, from travelling from Norway to Scotland for their wedding in 1589.

This led to James making a perilous journey to Norway.After their wedding in Oslo, the Royal couple's return to Scotland was again delayed by severe storms.

This coincided with numerous witch trials taking place in Germany, and the combination of these trials and the storms that stranded the royals sparked an interest in witch trials in Denmark-Norway.This led to several women being tortured into confessing that they had used witchcraft to conjure up storms that threatened Queen Anne's voyages.

At least two of these women were later burned at the stake for this.After returning to Scotland, King James developed an obsession with the idea that witches in Scotland were also part of this conspiracy.The notion of a conspiracy between Scottish and Danish-Norwegian witches was ignited following the confession of Gillis Duncan (or Geillis Duncan), a servant of David Seaton, who suspected her of being a witch.Seaton had Duncan tortured after accusing her of suddenly displaying healing