In the spring of 1662, the judicial authorities in Haddington directed their attention toward the woman identified in the court records simply as the wife of Archibald Manners. Her inclusion in the legal proceedings of April 17, 1662, was a direct consequence of a series of sweeping denunciations made by a youth named James Welch. While the authorities acknowledged that Welch was too young to stand trial himself, and subsequently committed him to imprisonment, the gravity of his testimony meant that his accusations were treated with significant procedural weight.
As a result of these accusations, Manners found herself entangled in the formal machinery of the state’s pursuit of witchcraft under case reference C/EGD/543. The legal process initiated against her moved forward under the categorization of T/LA/1384, reflecting the period's intense scrutiny of those named during the confession of the imprisoned accuser. Despite her status as a married woman within the Haddington community, Manners was drawn into a broader investigative effort that relied heavily upon the detailed, if legally contested, claims provided by the young Welch.