In the early seventeenth century, the town of Berwick became the site of legal proceedings against William Mearns, an individual whose entanglement with the judicial system is preserved in the records of the Scottish witch trials. William first appears in the historical record in the autumn of 1633, when he faced examination on September 9th. During these proceedings, the focus of the inquiry turned toward his connection with another resident, Elizabeth Bathgate, as authorities sought to understand their association within the context of the accusations leveled against him.
The legal process surrounding William continued into the following year, with a formal case recorded on June 4, 1634. By this time, the judicial authorities had secured a confession from him, a document that serves as the final insight into his experience under the scrutiny of the courts. While the specific content of his testimony remains confined to the administrative records of the period, the existence of this confession marks the culmination of the proceedings against William, providing a stark documentation of a life caught within the mechanisms of early modern Scottish law.