The historical record for Margaret Waldon, a resident of the parish of Liberton on the outskirts of Edinburgh, remains frustratingly elusive, reflecting the fragmentary nature of mid-seventeenth-century judicial documentation. In 1661, a period characterized by a notable surge in witch-hunting activity across Scotland, Margaret was formally identified as a witch within the legal proceedings of a separate, contemporary trial. While the specific details of her own life and the nature of the accusations brought against her were likely recorded in a judicial deposition, the primary documentation, catalogued as case JC26/27, has not survived the intervening centuries.
Although subsequent scholarly efforts, including the comprehensive survey conducted by Larner et al., have sought to reconstruct her involvement in the legal system, Margaret remains a figure viewed only through the peripheral vision of other cases. Because no independent trial record exists for her, we are left without insight into her defense, the specific grievances of her neighbors, or the outcome of her prosecution. She stands as a poignant reminder of the countless individuals whose experiences in the Scottish witch trials are now obscured by the loss of archival material, known to history only through the passing mentions of their contemporaries.