In June 1629, Patrick Lintoun, a resident of Melvingsland in Peebles, became caught within the judicial machinery of the Scottish witch trials. His legal entanglement is recorded under case reference C/EGD/646, marking him as one of twenty-seven individuals swept up in a collective accusation during that period. While the archival trail for Patrick remains brief, this naming alongside a significant group suggests that his case was part of a larger, coordinated inquiry into alleged maleficium or diabolical association within the local community.
The records for Patrick’s subsequent trial (T/JO/565) provide no further specifics regarding the charges brought against him or the eventual outcome of his proceedings. In the context of early modern Scottish jurisprudence, the absence of detailed trial notes often reflects the variable nature of record-keeping in the Justiciary Court records of the seventeenth century. Consequently, Patrick remains a figure defined by his inclusion in this judicial process, representing the documented experience of those whose lives were disrupted by the widespread anxieties and legal interventions of the era.