In 1644, Catherin Thompson, a resident of the burgh of Queensferry in Linlithgow, found herself caught within the legal apparatus of the Scottish witch trials. During this period, the judicial machinery regarding charges of maleficium was highly active, reflecting a society deeply preoccupied with the perceived influence of the supernatural. The archival documentation concerning Catherin, indexed as case C/EGD/2343, provides a stark record of her formal involvement in these proceedings.
The outcome of her trial stands as a significant point in the historical record, distinguishing her experience from the thousands who were convicted during the seventeenth century. The historian Christina Larner, a foundational scholar of the Scottish witch-hunts, noted that Catherin was ultimately acquitted of the charges brought against her. While the specific nature of the allegations remains obscured by the lack of further primary documentation, the formal acquittal of Catherin serves as a reminder of the complexities inherent in the local and national judicial processes of the time.