Margaret Wightman, a resident of Lauder in the county of Haddington, found herself entangled in the web of early modern Scotland's witchcraft trials on September 9th, 1679. Her case, referenced as C/EGD/820, is indicative of the turbulent period when alleged witchcraft was pursued vigorously by town and shire authorities. On the day scheduled for her trial, Margaret was to appear in Haddington, a central locale for judicial proceedings in that region. However, records indicate a curious predicament; she was declared a fugitive, not having appeared before the court.
The trial records contained mixed locations, suggesting potential administrative confusion. While the primary record pinpoints Haddington as the trial scene, a secondary note cryptically points to Edinburgh as a possible venue. This duality could reflect the chaotic nature of 17th-century record-keeping or Margaret's flight's impact, leaving her unaccounted for by the legal machinery in either location. Her absence from the trials resulted in the label 'fugitive'. The records do not divulge the motivations or circumstances behind her nonappearance, leaving a silence where one might expect pleas, defenses, or community testimonies in her favor. It is within these silences and absences that Margaret Wightman's story, like many others of the time, remains partially obscured, a testament to the complexities and shadows cast by witch trials of that era.