In 1683, the judicial records of Berwick identified a man named John Black as the subject of legal proceedings concerning allegations of illicit supernatural practice. The documentation surrounding the case, classified under reference C/EGD/721, indicates that John was slated to appear before a circuit court, as evidenced by his inclusion on a porteous roll—a formal register of individuals summoned to face trial.
The precise nature of the charges against John remains a subject of historical ambiguity. While some academic analysis suggests he may have been accused of operating as a "charmer"—a role traditionally associated with the provision of folk remedies or protective spells—the lack of surviving trial records prevents a definitive classification of his alleged activities. Due to the absence of conclusive documentation in the relevant archives, the final outcome of the proceedings against John remains unknown, leaving his experience within the Scottish legal system of the late seventeenth century a fragment of the broader, complex history of early modern social discipline.