On the final day of December in 1644, the judicial machinery of the Lanarkshire parish of Carnwath focused its attention upon Maillie Pattersone. As recorded in the legal registers under case C/EGD/1307, Maillie was identified as a resident of the area and formally accused of witchcraft. While the specific nature of the allegations remains contained within the broader, often fragmented documentation of the seventeenth-century Scottish courts, the initiation of these proceedings placed her within the intense administrative scrutiny that characterized the period.
Following this initial charge, the progression of her case is documented in the archival records of the trial, filed under T/LA/1082. The transition from accusation to trial signifies Maillie’s entry into a rigorous legal process overseen by local and regional authorities. As a subject of this historical record, Maillie remains a distinct figure in the chronicle of the 1644 witch trials, illustrating the intersection of ecclesiastical pressure and secular law that defined the lived experience of those summoned before the courts of Carnwath.