Notes on the Coven at the Crook

In the mid seventeenth century, Crook of Devon was a small Scottish village with a grain mill. Tullibole Castle, then owned by Sir William Halliday, was located nearby. On its grounds were the local cemetery and the local Kirk (church). The village folk were hardworking but poor. The Kirk was highly conservative and deeply involved in the life of every member. Being a member was essentially obligatory. The village was not unusual in any particular way. How then did the largest witch trial in Scottish history take place there, convicting 13 witches, one of them a man? Pursuing that question resulting in my writing a historical novel about the situation and all that led up to it.