The North Berwick witch scare of 1590-91 generated a set of security operations in which James VI's government hunted down accused witches across East Lothian and the Edinburgh area. Armed parties searched farm steadings and cottages, arresting those named in confessions. The operations were a combination of genuine fear of supernatural assassination plots and political persecution of Bothwell's network. The accused were held in various Edinburgh and Haddington locations. The scale of the hunt — eventually implicating over 70 people — required sustained military organisation to execute.
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