On the 5th of May 1636, William Hutchen, a resident of Easter Kinghorn in Fife, became the subject of a legal proceeding concerning allegations of witchcraft. Recorded under case file C/EGD/2544, the documentation of this event remains limited, reflecting the gaps often encountered when examining the extensive legal archives of seventeenth-century Scotland. Despite the scarcity of surviving details regarding the specific charges leveled against him, his inclusion in the judicial record highlights the administrative process through which the Scottish state and local kirk sessions addressed suspicions of maleficium during this period.
The archival evidence for William provides little insight into the specific testimony, the identity of his accusers, or the final outcome of the proceedings. As a male inhabitant of the burgh of Kinghorn, he stands as a representative figure within the broader context of the 1563–1736 witch trials, a era characterized by profound socio-religious anxiety and strict legal oversight. While the absence of a full citation or additional case notes limits our ability to reconstruct the narrative of his experience, the record serves as a testament to the vulnerability of individuals who found themselves caught within the formal machinery of the early modern Scottish judicial system.