In August 1661, the life of Christiane Wilsone, a resident of Dalkeith, reached a somber conclusion following her appearance before the High Court of Justiciary. Although a commission from the Committee of Estates had initially been prepared for her case, the legal proceedings were instead conducted directly through the Books of Adjournal, with the substitute to His Majesty’s Advocate traveling to Dalkeith to preside over the trial. Christiane had been embroiled in persistent domestic strife, characterized by deep-seated conflicts with her brother and her nephew, neighbors with whom she maintained a fraught proximity in their shared or semi-attached living arrangements.
The central allegation against Christiane concerned the death of her brother, an event that dominated the testimony of numerous witnesses. Throughout the proceedings, she offered a formal confession and expressed profound remorse for this loss, even stating her belief that she deserved to die for her actions. Her case was further complicated by the accusations of others; she was named as an accomplice in the witchcraft trials of Bernard Brown, Jonnet Hislop, Adam Poluck, and Janet Grahame. Following a verdict of guilty, Christiane was executed in Dalkeith on August 3, 1661, through the customary method of strangulation followed by burning.
