John Paterson, a resident of Gills in Renfrew, found himself drawn into the legal machinery of the late seventeenth-century Scottish witch trials due to the accusations of a young girl named Margaret Laird. In Paisley, during the spring of 1699, Laird frequently suffered from fits which she claimed were caused by the torment of witches. In the state of these afflictions, she denounced a significant number of individuals, Paterson among them. The subsequent investigation relied heavily on the testimony of local observers in Paisley, who provided accounts not only of Laird’s visible distress but also of the specific names she uttered while in these states of agitation.
The legal process that followed was protracted and marked by procedural shifts. Following the initial depositions taken in Paisley in April 1699, a trial was scheduled to take place in Glasgow the following month; however, this proceeding does not appear to have occurred. The case eventually moved to the High Court in Edinburgh, where the legal diet against John was finally deserted on 12 March 1700. Following this conclusion, the court record indicates that he was released, effectively ending the proceedings brought against him.