In the summer of 1630, the legal machinery of the Scottish state focused its attention upon Marion Ritchie, a resident of Newtown in the burgh of Ayr. On the 8th of June, Marion was formally processed through the judicial system under case reference C/EGD/1223. This administrative step marked the beginning of a formal inquiry into her conduct, positioning her within the broader wave of judicial activity that characterized the seventeenth-century Scottish approach to perceived supernatural transgression.
Following the initial registration of her case, the legal proceedings advanced to a formal trial, documented under reference T/LA/693. While the records provide a precise account of the temporal and geographical context of her ordeal—anchoring Marion firmly within the social fabric of Newtown—the documentation serves as a stark testament to the structured, bureaucratic nature of the witch trials of the period. Through these archival traces, Marion remains a distinct figure in the legal history of Ayrshire, representing the individuals swept up in the judicial scrutiny of the early modern era.