In the autumn of 1661, the ecclesiastical and judicial records of Dalkeith, near Edinburgh, documented the proceedings against Bernard Brown. While historical details concerning his life remain sparse, the archival evidence confirms that his legal ordeal was deeply embedded in the religious administrative structures of the time. On August 3, 1661, a presbytery note recorded that Bernard had formally confessed to the crime of witchcraft, implicating himself alongside four other unnamed individuals.
The chronology of the case suggests a protracted involvement with the authorities. Although the final stages of his trial culminated in his execution, the records indicate that his first recorded confession was documented much earlier, on November 15, 1649. While the specific nature of his activities was not preserved in the surviving fragments of his trial notes, Bernard’s case remains a significant instance of the mid-seventeenth-century pursuit of those alleged to be engaged in witchcraft within the Lothians.