On September 21, 1631, legal proceedings were initiated against Christian Paterson, a married woman residing in Hirdmestoun, within the jurisdiction of Haddington, Edinburgh. As recorded in case file C/EGD/1260, the legal apparatus of the time focused its attention on her, leading to her formal arraignment and subsequent trial under reference T/LA/801. The judicial process moved with the characteristic swiftness of seventeenth-century Scottish witch trials, placing Christian at the center of a rigorous examination within the Haddington court.
Following the evidence presented to the court, the verdict returned against Christian was one of guilt. In accordance with the statutes governing the prosecution of witchcraft during this period, the sentence mandated her execution. Historical records confirm that this sentence was carried out, and Christian was executed, marking the finality of the legal process initiated against her in the autumn of 1631.