On January 21, 1650, Thomas Paton, a resident of Dumfries, was brought before the presbytery as part of a collective investigation into seven individuals suspected of witchcraft. Historical evidence suggests that Thomas occupied a middling socioeconomic position within his community, a status supported by his household’s possession of horses, sheep, and the employment of a servant. Within the domestic sphere, he and his wife, Bessie, operated as a collaborative healing team, though the records indicate that Bessie acted as the primary figure in these practices.
The inquiry into Thomas’s activities occurred amidst the heightened scrutiny characteristic of the period’s ecclesiastical and judicial oversight. While his role as a healer placed him at the center of the presbytery’s proceedings, the documentation focuses on his association with Bessie and their joint status within the town. Following the initial examination by the local church authorities, the legal process against Thomas moved toward a formal trial, as indicated by the subsequent record (T/LA/1502), which formalised his case within the judicial framework established for addressing charges of maleficium in mid-seventeenth-century Scotland.