In July 1661, Aleson Berrie, a resident of the burgh of Haddington, became the subject of a judicial proceeding recorded under the reference C/JO/3138. The legal processes surrounding her case appear to have been part of the intense period of witch-hunting that surged through the Scottish Lowlands during the mid-seventeenth century. On July 7, Aleson was formally processed by the local authorities, marking the beginning of a period of legal scrutiny that would fundamentally alter her standing within the Haddington community.
Following the initial record of her case, Aleson was subjected to a trial documented under reference T/JO/1633. Within the framework of the Scottish criminal justice system of the era, the court examined the evidence brought against her to determine whether her actions constituted the crime of witchcraft. The documentation provides a stark outline of her encounter with the Haddington judiciary, reflecting the rigorous, and often fatal, administrative procedures that defined the lived experience of those accused during this volatile decade in Scottish history.