In the winter of 1629, the legal net surrounding those suspected of witchcraft in East Lothian tightened around Katherine Lawder, a resident of Stobstane in the parish of Haddington. Her association with the grave charges of the era began formally on December 4, 1629, when she was denounced as a witch by Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, himself described in legal records as a warlock, consistently implicated Katherine in his own testimonies, identifying her as a known practitioner within the local community.
By the summer of 1630, the judicial machinery had advanced to the stage of formal adjudication. On July 2, 1630, presbytery records indicate that the brethren were summoned to Haddington to appear at the assize for the purpose of trying Katherine. This session, documented under reference T/JO/81, marked the culmination of the proceedings against her. Following her denunciation by Hamilton and her subsequent appearance before the court, Katherine remains a significant figure in the historical record of the Haddington witch trials, representing the dense web of accusations that characterized the period.
