In January 1662, Christian Simson, a resident of Penicuik, Edinburgh, became the subject of a legal proceeding that remains preserved in the records of the Scottish courts under case number C/EGD/1437. During this period of intense judicial scrutiny regarding the crime of witchcraft, Christian was brought before the authorities to answer for her actions. The administrative trail of her case marks a definitive moment on January 23, 1662, when the legal mechanisms of the time were formally engaged in relation to her residence in Penicuik.
Shortly before this court appearance, Christian provided a confession, which was formally recorded by the authorities in the same month. While the surviving trial notes (T/JO/859) do not retain the specific testimonies or the final verdict rendered by the court, the existence of the confession record stands as the primary documentary evidence of her engagement with the judicial system. This brief archival trace captures the intersection of Christian’s life with the prevailing legal and ecclesiastical frameworks of seventeenth-century Scotland.