In the spring of 1583, the legal machinery of early modern Scotland turned toward Michael Wilson, a resident of Dablaw in the parish of Auchinleck. The archival records, specifically case reference C/LA/3168, indicate that Michael’s parish identity was a subject of contemporary administrative nuance; while he was documented in Auchinleck, records maintained by the clerk Hendry associated him with the neighbouring parish of Cumnock. This discrepancy likely reflects the shifting ecclesiastical and administrative boundaries of the region during the 17th century, when these two parishes underwent a period of partial merger, complicating the formal localization of residents within the burgh and barony courts.
The proceedings against Michael formally commenced on 4 March 1583, as noted in the trial records designated T/LA/1734. Little else remains within the surviving documentation to detail the specific accusations or the ultimate outcome of the trial held that day. The brevity of the record serves as a stark reminder of the fragmented nature of the Scottish witch-trial archives, where the bureaucratic life of a man from Dablaw is preserved only as a series of dates and administrative identifiers, leaving the lived experience of the trial itself largely to the silence of history.