'Witches' in the clear after 400 years

(Edinburgh Evening News - free reg req'd) Ceremony to vindicate men and women executed for ‘crimes’

The most famous of East Lothian’s "witches" were burnt at the stake for whipping up a storm to sink one of the king’s ships.

Official forgiveness has come a little late for the scores of women and handful of men executed in one of Scotland’s hot-beds for witch-hunting.

Nevertheless, 400 years after the persecution reached its fevered heights, pardons will be bestowed on them in a ceremony in Prestonpans on Sunday.

Eighty-one victims of the witch-hunts who have been identified by local historians will be pardoned by the 14th Baron of Prestoungrange in the Halloween ceremony...

To make sure the witches’ story continues to be commemorated, the Prestoungrange Baronial Court has also declared Halloween a day of remembrance in honour of those executed.