In the autumn of 1649, the judicial machinery of seventeenth-century Scotland turned its attention toward Margaret Richeson, a resident of the burgh of Haddington. Amidst a period of intense religious and social upheaval, Margaret was brought before the authorities to answer for allegations of witchcraft. The surviving archival record is sparse, offering no glimpse into the specific nature of the grievances leveled against her, the identities of her accusers, or the social circumstances that led to her arrest within the burgh.
On the 26th of September, 1649, Margaret’s legal journey reached a pivotal moment when she provided a confession, a document recorded in the official registers under case file C/JO/2691. While the precise contents of this statement remain lost to history, the act of confession was a defining feature of the judicial process during this era. Her case, documented across multiple trial records including T/JO/135 and T/LA/1069, serves as a quiet witness to a life interrupted by the complex legal and spiritual anxieties of the mid-seventeenth century.