In the spring of 1662, the legal mechanisms of early modern Scotland reached into the burgh of Haddington to ensnare Robert Baxter. His case was part of a broader, volatile climate of accusation sparked by the testimony of a youth named James Welch. Although the authorities determined that Welch was too young to undergo a formal trial and subsequently ordered his imprisonment, the gravity of his confessions was not dismissed. Instead, his detailed denunciations provided the necessary foundation for the state to pursue those he had implicated, casting Robert directly into the reach of the judicial process.
On 17 April 1662, the legal proceedings against Robert commenced under reference C/EGD/534. As a married man living within the community of Haddington, his sudden identification by Welch fundamentally altered his standing, bringing him under the scrutiny of the local magistracy. The records, filed under T/LA/1392, mark the official progression of his trial, documenting how the assertions of a sequestered boy became the catalyst for Robert to be brought to account before the authorities of the period.