In May 1683, Helen Wilson, a widow residing in Barhoys, Mauchline, found herself at the centre of a formal legal proceeding regarding accusations of witchcraft. Her entanglement with the mechanisms of the Scottish judicial system had begun earlier, in June 1681, when she appeared before the Mauchline kirk session. During those proceedings, Helen had provided a confession regarding an act of fornication with her servant, George Wallace. This prior record of moral transgression likely situated her within the purview of local authorities, setting the stage for her subsequent inclusion on a Porteous roll—a list of individuals summoned to face trial before the justiciary court.
The case against Helen, documented under the reference C/EGD/710, culminated in a trial held in May 1683. Despite the gravity of the witchcraft charge and her previous disciplinary history with the kirk, the legal process reached a definitive conclusion when she was acquitted of the crime. The trial record (T/LA/1793) explicitly notes a verdict of "Not Guilty," marking the end of her involvement in the state-sanctioned pursuit of alleged practitioners of sorcery. Following this final legal determination, the records provide no further account of her life in Ayrshire.