Doctor John Fian, alias John Cunningham, is "worriett" [strangled and then burned] on the Castlehill for witchcraft. He was alleged to have been the leader of a coven of witches based in North Berwick who had conspired to take the life of King James VI and his new bride, Princess Anne of Denmark by raising terrible storms in the North Sea during the royal newlyweds' return voyage. This heinous act had, it was claimed, been instigated by Francis Stewart, 5th Earl of Bothwell, one of the King's less-loyal cousins (and subsequently another famous escapee from the apparently somewhat insecure Edinburgh Castle).
The good Doctor and some of his co-accused had made lurid confessions after being subjected to the most vicious tortures available to Scottish justice. Later, however, Dr. Fian surprised his accusers by retracting his confession and denying any knowledge of witchcraft, claiming that: "what he had done and said before was only done and said for fear of pains which he had endured."
Naturally, it was presumed that the Devil had interceded, rendering Dr. Fian "taciturn": immune to torture and incapable of confessing. Consequently, "for example sake, to remain a terror to all others hereafter that shall attempt to deal in the like wicked and ungodly actions", Dr. Fian was sentenced be strangled with a rope, and his corpse immediately burned.
The North Berwick witchcraft trials dragged on for almost two years, and saw nearly 70 people executed for witchcraft. The trials convinced James VI of the danger posed by the witches to the people of Scotland (not to mention his own well-being), and sparked a nationwide witch-hunt lasting over 150 years, which may have killed as many as 4,500 people.