In the spring of 1662, a resident of Haddington named William Martin was swept into the widening web of judicial scrutiny that defined the mid-seventeenth-century witch trials in Scotland. His involvement began as part of a significant wave of accusations initiated by James Welch, whose denunciations implicated a large number of individuals across the region. Despite the gravity of the charges brought against him in case C/EGD/487, the legal authorities determined that William was too young to undergo a formal trial.
Consequently, rather than facing the high court, William was committed to imprisonment. While his youth spared him from the proceedings typically reserved for adults, his engagement with the judicial process remained substantial. During his confinement, he provided a formal confession and offered his own denunciations of others. These statements were recorded and treated with professional seriousness by the authorities, demonstrating the unique position William held as both an accused subject and a source of testimony within the broader legal investigation of 1662.