In the spring of 1661, Margaret Baptie, a resident of the village of Samuelston in Haddington, found herself drawn into the judicial machinery of the Scottish witch trials. On April 3, 1661, her name was formally recorded in the legal archives under case reference C/EGD/1950, marking the commencement of proceedings against her. At this time, the legal climate in Scotland was particularly fraught, as the restoration of the monarchy had coincided with a renewed and intense preoccupation with diabolical influence across the Lowlands.
The subsequent procedural history of Margaret’s case is preserved within two distinct trial records, indexed as T/JO/1796 and T/LA/328. These documents trace the movement of her matter through the courts, reflecting the administrative rigor applied to witchcraft accusations during this period. While the extant records serve primarily as a skeletal timeline of her legal experience, they stand as a testament to the gravity with which the Haddington authorities treated the allegations brought against Margaret during those turbulent months.