In the spring of 1650, Alisone Johnstoune was drawn into the legal machinery of the Scottish witch trials. A resident of North Berwick in Haddington, Alisone was one of a group of ten individuals brought before the authorities during a period of intense judicial scrutiny. On May 29, 1650, her name was formally entered into the records of the court alongside her co-accused, marking the commencement of a process that would result in a documented confession.
Following this initial appearance, Alisone was subjected to the procedures typical of a trial regarding witchcraft. While the surviving archive provides no granular narrative of the accusations brought against her, the existence of the confession recorded on the same day as her court appearance remains the primary testament to her experience. This brief administrative trail—beginning with her arrest in North Berwick and concluding with her formal statement—is all that survives of Alisone’s encounter with the Scottish justice system during that volatile year.