In October 1649, Robert Acreskine, a resident of Borthwick in the county of Edinburgh, became caught within the judicial machinery of the Scottish witch trials. Robert was not an isolated figure in these proceedings; he was listed alongside several other individuals in case file C/EGD/1990, indicating that his examination took place amidst a wider effort by local authorities to investigate allegations of maleficium or diabolical association within the parish.
The legal process moved with relative swiftness, as evidenced by the confession documented later that same month. While the surviving records in T/JO/368 do not preserve the specific testimony or the particular charges brought against him, the existence of this formal confession underscores the gravity with which the court approached his case. Having been identified alongside his peers on October 24, 1649, Robert remained part of the official record of the Midlothian trials, a period characterized by intense scrutiny of those suspected of breaching the covenant between the community and the divine.