In June 1629, William Mathesoun, a resident of Kirnauche in the county of Peebles, became caught in the legal machinery of the Scottish witch trials. His inclusion in the judicial record (C/EGD/657) occurred during a period of heightened scrutiny, as he was named alongside twenty-six other individuals in a mass accusation. Such collective indictments were not uncommon in the early modern period, often reflecting the deep-seated social anxieties and localized tensions that characterized rural communities during the seventeenth century.
Beyond the date of June 11, 1629, and his association with this larger group, the archival trail for William remains sparse. The subsequent entry in the Justiciary records (T/JO/555) provides no further elaboration on the specific charges leveled against him or the outcome of his proceedings. As a result, the documentary evidence preserves only the stark administrative footprint of his involvement, marking him as one of many Scots whose lives were briefly and profoundly impacted by the complex intersection of law, belief, and community suspicion that defined this era.