In the summer of 1636, the legal machinery of East Lothian turned toward Marie Patersone, a married woman of middling socioeconomic status residing in the burgh of Dunbar. Her husband, who earned his livelihood as a cordiner, shared in the domestic and social implications of her position within the community. As recorded in the judicial archives under case reference C/LA/3330, the administrative process against her reached a significant juncture on July 28, 1636, when her case was formally registered within the local legal system.
The movement of the case from initial accusation to the subsequent trial, documented as T/LA/2120, reflects the standard procedural journey for those facing such charges in seventeenth-century Scotland. Though the historical records provide little detail regarding the specific grievances brought against her, the formal classification of Marie’s case confirms her integration into the broader pattern of witchcraft prosecutions that characterised the period. Her status as a tradesman’s wife in a prominent burgh like Dunbar places her experience firmly within the context of early modern Scottish social structures, where such accusations frequently intersected with the local life of the community.