In the spring of 1613, the judicial machinery of the Scottish Borders converged upon Marioun Hendirsoun. Although her origins were tied to Edinburgh through her deceased father, Marioun was residing in Roxburgh at the time the authorities initiated proceedings against her. The transition from her local life to the confines of a cell was swift; on April 8, 1613, she was recorded as being held in custody within the royal burgh of Jedburgh, the administrative center for the shire where the legal mechanisms of her trial were set in motion.
The surviving documentation, cataloged under case reference C/EGD/866 and trial reference T/JO/783, preserves the stark administrative reality of Marioun’s predicament. These records place her squarely within the broader landscape of the Scottish witch trials, a period during which the legal system frequently relied on local testimony to initiate inquiries into the lives of individuals such as Marioun. Though the specific charges leveled against her remain buried within the abbreviated entries of the court registers, her presence in the Jedburgh prison stands as a testament to the gravity of the legal process she endured during those months.