In June 1629, the life of Katherine Wode, a resident of Spittelhauche in the parish of West Linton, Peebles, was irrevocably altered by her inclusion in a formal legal proceeding. On the 11th of that month, Katherine was identified alongside twenty-six other individuals in a case recorded as C/EGD/650. The scale of this event suggests a period of significant judicial scrutiny within the region, as authorities gathered a substantial group of neighbors and acquaintances to answer to the serious charges associated with witchcraft.
The archival trail for Katherine remains brief, confined to the cold precision of judicial record-keeping. While the documentation of her trial, cataloged as T/JO/561, lacks the descriptive depositions or confessions that provide insight into the specific accusations leveled against her, the administrative records confirm that she was brought before the court during this coordinated effort. Through these documents, Katherine emerges as one of many voices caught within the complex interplay of community tension and the early modern Scottish legal apparatus.