On March 2, 1613, Katheriene Vertie, a married woman residing in Corhous, Haddington, became the subject of legal proceedings recorded under case reference C/EGD/857. The administrative documentation of the era captures the start of a process that would soon move from the initial accusation toward the formal courtroom setting of the trial, cataloged as T/LA/215. While the records provide little narrative elaboration on the specific charges brought against her, her inclusion in these legal registers marks her place within the broader framework of the Scottish witch trials that characterized the early seventeenth century.
The transition of Katheriene’s case from the preliminary investigative stage to the formal trial indicates the seriousness with which the local authorities in Haddington viewed the allegations leveled against her. As a married resident of Corhous, she was subject to the rigorous judicial scrutiny of the period, which sought to address reports of maleficium or other spiritual infractions. Though the specific nature of the evidence presented against Katheriene remains limited to these archival entries, the documents provide an essential record of her experience within a judicial system that meticulously tracked every individual brought before it during this period of intense legal activity.