In the spring of 1648, the legal apparatus of seventeenth-century Fife turned its attention toward Margaret Holden, a resident of the royal burgh of Culross. On the first of March, her name was formally entered into the judicial records under case number C/EGD/2600. While the broader sociopolitical climate of the mid-seventeenth century often saw accusations of maleficium arise from communal tensions and the rigorous oversight of local kirk sessions, Margaret’s specific interaction with the court remains documented primarily through this surviving legal filing.
The scarcity of surviving details regarding Margaret reflects the fragmentary nature of the archival evidence for many individuals swept into the proceedings of this era. Although historical scholarship, including references by researchers such as MacDonald, has identified her case as part of the broader pattern of witchcraft prosecutions in Scotland between 1563 and 1736, the specific allegations leveled against her are not elaborated upon in the extant summary. Consequently, the record serves as a stark administrative marker of a life suddenly ensnared by the formal mechanisms of the Scottish justice system during a period of intense scrutiny.