The face of a forgotten 17th century Fife witch has been revealed, thanks to the work of a Scottish artist.
Karen Strang from Stirling has managed to reconstruct the weathered features of Lillias Adie, one of 141 accused women who died in custody in Scotland during the witch hunts.
Using only photographs of the Fifer’s lost skull, the Glasgow School of Art graduate has captured how Adie would have looked, complete with hideously bucked teeth, before she died in a Culross jail cell in 1705.
Karen was commissioned by Fife author Leonard Low, who uncovered the story of the tragic Torryburn woman as he carried out research for his next book, The Lowdown on Witches.
Leonard, 49, who has already published three books — The Weem Witch, St Andrews Untold Stories and Largo’s Untold Stories — said Lillias’ body had been buried in sand off Culross, where it remained for 80 years until it was found by a local weaver.
The weaver’s son, skilled artist Sir Noel Paton, enjoyed displaying “curiosities” and took Lillias’ skull and some other bones for display.
They were then bought at auction in 1874 by St Andrews University doctor William Dow, who studied and photographed the skull for research purposes.
But when he retired, the bones vanished and only the photographs remain.
Leonard managed to get his hands on the pictures and passed them to Karen to see if there was anything she could do.
“You could see from the photos that her teeth stuck out almost horizontally from her face,” said Leonard.
“Karen’s finished work shows a well weathered face, sporting those remarkable teeth.”
He added: “Of course, we have no idea of her hair and Karen has painted that to the period’s fashion.
“With Lillias’ head still missing, this is the nearest we are going to get to a recreation.
“I feel Karen Strang has done a fine job to put a face back on Lillias and give her a bit more dignity.”
The illustration will feature in Leonard’s new book when it is published later this year.
