In the spring of 1659, the legal records of Haddingtonshire formalised a case against Margaret Cutchmoulie, a married woman residing in the town of Preston. Identified in the registers as a *hussie*—a term denoting her status as a housewife—Margaret was drawn into the rigorous machinery of the Scottish judicial system during a period of heightened scrutiny regarding witchcraft. Her case was officially recorded on March 29, 1659, under the reference number C/LA/3162, marking the beginning of a process that would ultimately see her brought to trial.
The subsequent proceedings, documented under reference T/LA/1716, placed Margaret at the centre of a formal legal inquiry. As the local magistrates and commissioners navigated the statutes governing such accusations, the case of Margaret became part of the broader administrative record of early modern Scotland. Following the initial filing, the judicial process moved forward to resolve the charges brought against her, reflecting the specific social and legal anxieties that characterised the mid-seventeenth century in East Lothian.