Marione Corsan of Irongray, Dumfries, first appears in the judicial records during the intense period of witch-hunting that gripped the region in 1650. At that time, she was identified alongside seven other individuals in a process initiated by the Presbytery of Dumfries, which sought a formal commission to proceed with a trial. The records indicate that Marione’s own mother was among those imprisoned during this same wave of accusations, though the mother’s identity remains unconfirmed within the surviving documentation. Ultimately, the Presbytery determined that the evidence gathered in 1650 was insufficient to justify Marione’s continued incarceration, and she was released without a verdict.
The legal proceedings against Marione were revived nearly a decade later, culminating in a second investigation in July 1659. Unlike the inconclusive efforts of the previous decade, this process resulted in a formal confession recorded on July 20, 1659. The dittays against her included specific allegations of property damage, specifically concerning the destruction of ale. By examining her case—which spanned these two distinct interventions by the local ecclesiastical authorities—one gains insight into the persistent scrutiny faced by families in early modern Dumfries and the shift in investigative outcomes that could occur within the same judicial framework over the span of nine years.