In the summer of 1649, legal records from the Presbytery of Duns document the case of Alisone Cairnes, a woman residing in the border town of Berwick. On the 8th of July, Alisone became the subject of formal proceedings under the classification C/EGD/1332, marking her entry into the formal judicial machinery of the mid-seventeenth century. At a time of intense religious and social upheaval in Scotland, her case was processed through the established ecclesiastical and civil channels intended to address allegations of maleficium and spiritual transgression.
Following the initial registration of her case, Alisone was subjected to the formal trial process cataloged as T/LA/1020. This documentation reflects the structured response of local authorities to those brought before the courts on suspicion of witchcraft during this period. By examining these specific archival entries, historians can trace the intersection of Alisone’s life in Berwick with the rigorous judicial standards and community pressures that defined the trials of the era, providing a precise, grounded glimpse into the legal realities faced by women accused in the seventeenth century.