On February 17, 1642, the legal machinery of the Scottish witch trials ensnared John Crods, a resident of Berwick. Recorded under case number C/LA/3344, John was brought before the authorities during a period when the prosecution of alleged malefices was deeply integrated into the local administrative and judicial landscape. His appearance in the records marks a formal point of transition from social suspicion to the gravity of legal proceedings, eventually leading to his trial documented under reference T/LA/2135.
The records provide little surrounding context for the specific accusations levied against John, yet his case stands as a testament to the structured process of the seventeenth-century judiciary. Following his initial entry into the legal system in mid-February, the subsequent trial process moved through the established court mechanisms of the time. While the final outcome remains absent from these specific notes, the documentation of John’s name and residence underscores the reach of the statutes concerning witchcraft as they were applied to individuals within the Berwick community during the mid-1600s.