Elspeth McEwen or McKewan or Elizabeth MacEwan (died 24 August 1698) of Balmaclellan was the most famous convicted witch in Galloway and the last to be burnt at the stake there.
[1] As an elderly educated woman (the 'old wife of Bogha') who lived alone, she was accused of tormenting her neighbours, for example by bewitching their poultry, causing hens, ducks or geese to stop (or increase) laying, fall ill or die.
In March 1698 she was tried for the "horid cryme of witchcraft"[4] and confessed to "a contract and regular commerce with the Devil, and of practising charms and other evil magical acts to the harm of the people".
[5][6] The expenses were carefully accounted:[4]Item given to the Proveist to give him the day of execution — £2 16s 0dItem for peits to burn Elspet wt.
— £1 4s 0dItem for twa pecks of colls — £0 16s 0dItem for towes, small and great — £0 4s 0dItem for ane tarr barle to Andrew Aitken — £1 4s 0dItem to Hugh Anderson for carrying of the peits and colls — £0 6s 0dItem to William Kirk qn she was burning, ane pint of aill — £0 2s 0dItem paid to Robert Creighton, conform to precept, viz., eight shill Scots for beating the drumm at Elspet M‘Queen’s funerall, and to James Carsson, his wife threeteen shillings drunken by Elspet’s executioner, at seall times — £1 1s 0d