Anna Kemp, a married woman residing in the parish of Bolton in Haddington, became entangled in the judicial processes of the Scottish witch trials during the summer of 1661. Her involvement in these proceedings began in earnest on 2 June 1661, when she provided a formal confession to the authorities. This acknowledgment occurred during a period of heightened scrutiny regarding local occult activities, and her name subsequently appeared in the broader legal documentation under case reference C/EGD/1374, which specifically catalogued charges related to her participation in a prohibited witches’ meeting.
The legal trail surrounding Anna continued well into the autumn, as evidenced by records dated 14 November 1661. Her association with other accused individuals was solidified through the testimony of Margaret Ker, who identified Anna as an accomplice during the course of her own trial. Despite the existence of multiple administrative records concerning her case—including files T/JO/1028 and T/LA/404—the surviving documentation provides little insight into the specific day-to-day proceedings of her trial. The extant archive remains focused on her recorded confession and her confirmed connection to the wider network of individuals brought before the court in Haddington that year.