In the early months of 1641, the legal machinery of the Scottish kirk and state turned toward Katherin Wod, a resident of Edinburgh. While the historical record for Katherin remains sparse, the documentation indicates that her case was not an isolated incident; she was processed alongside one other individual, suggesting a collaborative or communal aspect to the suspicions leveled against them. The initial momentum for the proceedings originated beyond the capital, as the minister of Inveresk and Musselburgh formally presented a complaint to the presbytery, bringing Katherin’s case into the formal sphere of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Though the precise nature of the allegations against Katherin is not preserved in the surviving archives, her appearance in the records on February 4, 1641, marks a specific point of intervention by the local clergy. The judicial trail for Katherin concludes abruptly thereafter, as there are no extant details regarding the subsequent trial proceedings, her defense, or a final verdict. Consequently, Katherin remains a fleeting presence in the history of the Scottish witch trials, known to us only through the initial administrative actions taken by the presbytery in the winter of that year.