On September 26, 1679, James Stewart of Stobo, Peebles, appeared before the court to answer charges of witchcraft. The legal proceedings, documented under case file C/EGD/825 and trial record T/LA/1184, took place within the town of Peebles, a region where anxieties concerning the supernatural were frequently addressed through the machinery of the Scottish judicial system. At this time, the prosecution of witchcraft was a matter of state concern, requiring the involvement of local authorities to manage allegations that often centered on maleficium, or harmful magic.
However, the legal process surrounding James reached an abrupt conclusion. The records note that his diet—a term used in Scots law to refer to the scheduled court session—was deserted. In the context of seventeenth-century criminal procedure, this formal abandonment of the proceedings meant that the prosecution failed to move forward, effectively halting the case against him. Consequently, James was released from custody, bringing his involvement in the judicial process to an end without a conviction or further sentencing.