Margaret Patoune, a widow residing in the settlement of Howret within the parish of Dalry, Ayrshire, first appears in the judicial records during the spring of 1658. Her case, documented under reference C/EGD/266, emerged during a period of heightened legal scrutiny regarding witchcraft. Although archival annotations in a later hand suggest a connection to 1650, the original manuscripts clearly establish the date of her legal proceedings as April 6, 1658.
On that day, Margaret was brought before the court in Ayr to answer charges of witchcraft. She had been summoned alongside a broader group of individuals, as indicated by the existence of two porteous rolls—the official indictments issued by the Justice Court. One of these rolls, dated March 31, 1658, had formally ordered this collective group to appear for trial. Despite the archival precision regarding her summons and the administrative documentation of the proceedings in the Ayr court, the specific nature of the allegations brought against Margaret remains unrecorded in the surviving papers.