Between 1563 and 1736, Scotland's witchcraft laws led to thousands of people being accused, and many being put to death. Ayr was no exception.
At the heart of the town stood Loudoun Hall, home to one of the most powerful offices in Ayrshire: the Sheriff of Ayr. It offers a connection to this darker chapter of Scottish history, when an accusation could destroy a life.
The Sheriff of Ayr and Loudoun Hall
Loudoun Hall passed to Sir Hugh Campbell of Loudoun, hereditary Sheriff of Ayr, between 1528 and 1539. His family held the office for three generations.
A sheriff of this period was far more than a judge. He was the Crown's representative in the county, overseeing courts, keeping order and enforcing the law. Loudoun Hall was more than a fine house: it was a home tied to real legal and political power.
Scotland's fear of witchcraft
The Witchcraft Act of 1563 made witchcraft a crime punishable by death.
Accusations grew out of quarrels between neighbours, unexplained illness, failed harvests, dead livestock and ordinary misfortune. Women were accused far more often than men, especially those who were poor, elderly, alone or thought troublesome. Men were accused too.
Ministers and kirk sessions investigated, questioned suspects and gathered testimony. Confessions could be forced through intimidation, long interrogation and sleep deprivation, and suspects were "pricked" to search for the Devil's mark. Local gossip could become a capital charge.
Who could try a witch?
Because witchcraft was a capital crime, trials usually needed authority from central government or the higher courts. Commissions could be issued allowing named local men to hold a trial and pass sentence.
Sheriffs, magistrates and other leading local figures took part in the wider process: investigating accusations, holding prisoners, arranging trials and carrying out sentences. In Ayrshire, as elsewhere, the church played a major part in naming suspects and pressing for prosecution.
Janet Sawer: a woman condemned
One of the best-recorded cases is that of Janet Sawer, also written Jannett Sawer or Janet Sawyer, a married woman of Ayr.
She was arrested on 7 October 1651 with three other women. A former Provost and two former bailies of the town tried to clear their names, but she was "pricked" for the Devil's mark, and her case dragged on for years.
On 31 March 1658 she was summoned to appear before a court at Ayr's Tolbooth, sitting with representatives of the central courts. Thirty-seven people accused her: sixteen women and twenty-one men. On 6 April she was found guilty.
On Friday 23 April 1658 Janet Sawer was strangled and her body burned, the usual fate of those convicted of witchcraft in Scotland.
A circle in the courtyard
Just outside Loudoun Hall, an unusual detail recalls this history. When the forecourt was re-landscaped in 1996 to 1998, the artist Gordon Young set a lead circle into the paving, reputedly where Ayr's first witch was burned.
It remains a quiet reminder of the people who suffered.
Remembering
In March 2022 the Scottish Government formally apologised to the people accused, convicted and executed under the Witchcraft Act.
Loudoun Hall has stood through the Reformation, civil war and centuries of change. Its story is not only one of noble families and wealth. It is also a window on the lives, beliefs and fears of the ordinary people of Ayr, and a place to remember those who were persecuted.
Sources: WMA Group, Survey of Scottish Witchcraft, Gordon Young, Fergusson 1950.