In the summer of 1661, the life of Margaret Reid, a resident of Gilmerton in the parish of Liberton, near Edinburgh, was brought to a decisive and tragic conclusion. Historical records, which occasionally denote her surname as "Rid," place her at the center of the intense legal scrutiny that characterized the witch trials of mid-seventeenth-century Scotland. On June 28, 1661, legal proceedings were formalized under case file C/LA/2805, marking the commencement of a process that would move from the local environs of Gilmerton to the capital’s judicial system.
Following the judicial processes recorded in trial documents T/JO/429 and T/LA/396, Margaret was ultimately condemned by the Edinburgh authorities. The sentence imposed upon her was carried out in full, and she was executed by burning. Her case remains part of the formal archival history of the period, reflecting the administrative reach of the Scottish courts during a time of widespread legal preoccupation with allegations of witchcraft.