A CAMPAIGN will be launched on Saturday to find the missing skull of a Torryburn witch who died more than 300 years ago.

West Fife Villages councillor Kate Stewart is hoping that members of the public can help locate the remains of Lilias Adie, which were removed from her grave.

In 1704, Lilias, a poor and confused old woman from Torryburn, confessed to being a witch and having sex with the devil.

She died in prison before she could be tried and to prevent her coming back from the dead to torment the living, she was buried under a large stone on the village's beach.

Fife Council archaeologist Douglas Speirs, who uncovered the stone in 2014, previously said: “She would have found herself in front of some mad Presbyterian minister and tortured with beatings, sleep deprivation and all manner of cruelties.

“She would have confessed to just about anything in short order, and she died one month and a day after being apprehended, most likely because of suicide.

“To the people of the time, her suicide and her pact with the devil meant she could return from the grave as a ‘revenant’ – basically a zombie. So she was buried under something which would keep her in place.”

A wreath will be laid at her grave on Saturday by Cllr Stewart, who said: "Lilias Adie is the only witch’s grave in Scotland – the rest were all burned.

“I don’t think even a lot of local people are aware of just how important the grave is, or even that it’s there.”

She added: “There’s also the campaign to return Lilias’ bones. They were sold to St Andrews students in the 1800s. We’re trying to trace her to bring her home to Torryburn.”

Lilias' grave was opened and pillaged in 1852 by curio-hunters. Exactly how much of her skeleton was removed is not clear but her skull, some ribs and a femur were definitely removed.

Two walking sticks were made from the wood from her timber coffin – they are on display in the Dunfermline Carnegie Library & Galleries and Dunfermline Carnegie Birthplace Museum – but none of her bones can be found.

Photos of her skull were taken 100 years ago at St Andrews University which allowed a facial reconstruction to be created in 2017 by Dr Christopher Rynn at the University of Dundee.

It has provided us with the only known face of a Scottish woman accused of witchcraft.

As well as finding Lilias' remains, Cllr Stewart is championing two more projects: a proposed Witches Memorial Trail along the coastal path in West Fife; and the re-erection of the Beamer navigation beacon at Torryburn, as a memorial to Lilias Adie and the thousands of women who were wrongly persecuted and executed as witches in Scotland.

The aim is to highlight the history of witch persecution in the Kingdom and "address the misguided modern 'Hallowe'en-style' perception of Fife's, and Scotland's, accused witches, re-positioning them from the figures of fun they have become, to the innocent victims of unimaginable gender-bias injustice they really were".

There will be an information and discussion from 12.45pm at Torryburn Hall on Saturday, before the wreath-laying and eulogy at the grave at 2pm.