In November 1649, a forty-five-year-old resident of Borthwick in Edinburgh named George Simbeard was formally brought before the authorities to answer for his alleged involvement in witchcraft. The archival record, catalogued under reference C/JO/2810, suggests that George had been a person of significant concern within his community for some time, with authorities noting that he had been suspected of practicing witchcraft for twenty years prior to his formal trial.
The weight of the case against George was solidified by the testimonies of others, as he was explicitly named by eleven individuals already identified as witches. While the specific trial notes under record T/JO/369 remain unrecorded, the collaborative nature of the accusations highlights the interconnectivity of the investigations occurring in Borthwick during this period. For George, the proceedings on November 6, 1649, represented the culmination of two decades of suspicion, drawing him directly into the formal machinery of the Scottish witch trials.