In the autumn of 1649, Agnes Johnston, a resident of the parish of Pencaitland in Haddington, became the subject of legal proceedings under the designation C/EGD/1657. The judicial process unfolded during a period when the Scottish courts were deeply occupied with investigations into the crime of witchcraft, with the formal trial—catalogued as T/LA/1989—commencing on September 27, 1649. As the inquiry progressed, the mechanisms of the seventeenth-century Scottish legal system necessitated a formal examination of her conduct and spiritual standing within the community.
The surviving records indicate that the legal proceedings culminated in a confession. Agnes, having been brought before the authorities to answer for the charges levied against her, provided a formal admission of involvement, which was subsequently transcribed and preserved within the case file. While the specific nature of the allegations remains confined to the administrative documentation of the court, this confession served as the definitive conclusion to the judicial process initiated against her in Haddington, marking the end of her involvement with the legal machinery of the time.