In 1649, the judicial records of East Lothian identified Begis Bathcat, a resident of Baigbie in Haddington, as a subject of legal proceedings concerning the crime of witchcraft. Her entry into the judicial system is preserved within the case files of the Justiciary Court, specifically documented under reference C/EGD/1348. This period marked a time of heightened scrutiny across Scotland, where local communities and the state frequently converged to address accusations of diabolical pacts and harmful sorcery.
Following the initial filing of her case, the legal process surrounding Begis transitioned toward a formal trial, recorded under reference T/LA/1033. While the specific nature of the allegations brought against her remains confined to these archival designations, her trial stands as part of the broader administrative efforts to adjudicate such charges in mid-seventeenth-century Haddingtonshire. Through these surviving records, the documentation of her experience remains preserved within the historical archive of the Scottish witch trials.