In the summer of 1661, the life of Beatrix Leslie, an 84-year-old midwife from the village of Blackcoat in Newbattle, came to a sudden and violent conclusion. As a woman of lower socioeconomic status living within a coal-mining community near Edinburgh, Beatrix was deeply embedded in the daily rhythms of her neighbors, including local collier families. Tensions surfaced when an incident involving a "pock"—a small bag or pouch she had left at a collier’s home—escalated into a heated confrontation, with Beatrix returning to the residence to retrieve her belongings in a state of visible anger.
Following this disruption, the accusations against Beatrix quickly intensified, culminating in formal charges brought before the court in Edinburgh on August 3, 1661. Beyond her occupation as a midwife, she was held accountable for the catastrophic collapse of a local coal pit and subsequent property damage, events that the authorities attributed to her alleged participation in a witches' meeting. Following a confession recorded on July 20, 1661, the legal process moved with rapid finality. On the same day as her trial, Beatrix was found guilty and sentenced to be strangled and burned, a penalty carried out immediately.