In 1591, the legal records of Haddingtonshire document the case of Charles Wat, a resident of the coastal burgh of Prestonpans. During this volatile period in Scottish history, when the apparatus of the state and the kirk were increasingly focused on the identification and prosecution of those suspected of diabolical pacts, Charles was formally brought before the authorities to answer to the charge of witchcraft. His inclusion in the records of the period underscores the regional intensity of the trials that permeated East Lothian, an area particularly noted for its high concentration of judicial activity regarding suspected sorcery.
Despite his place in the historical record, Charles remains a somewhat elusive figure to modern researchers. While his name is explicitly catalogued in foundational academic surveys of the Scottish witch trials, such as those conducted by Christina Larner, the primary documentation detailing the specific nature of the evidence brought against him—or the ultimate verdict of his proceedings—appears to have been lost to the intervening centuries. Consequently, the narrative of Charles stands as a testament to the thousands of individuals caught within the administrative machinery of the early modern Scottish judicial system, representing a brief but significant intersection between an ordinary life and the extraordinary pressures of the 16th-century legal landscape.